6 months

Evan is already 6 months old! That means there is only 6 more months until Christmas!

He is doing great and is learning new things every day. He weighs 16 pounds 8 ounces and is 26 1/2 inches long now. He can easily sit up on his own and when put on his tummy, he tries to push up to his knees. This latest development signals the beginning stages of crawling - yikes! I don't want my baby to be mobile quite yet!

He had his 6 month professional pictures taken recently. He wore the same outfit that Luke wore for his 3 month pictures! Evan is still such a little peanut compared to Luke!

Evan - 6 months

Luke - 3 months

Trip to DC - Part II

(Click on the pictures to see them bigger.)

On with the story...

We did the quick tour of the DC sites. We saw the Washington Monument, World War II Memorial, Abraham Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial, and the White House. It was a lot of walking, but I think the grown ups all got tired before Luke did.






Trying to see if they can get themselves to wrap all the way around one of the giant pillars at the Lincoln Memorial.


Evan, on the other hand, slept through it all.



Luke kept saying that he liked the statues. So, every once in awhile, we would all freeze and pretend to be statues. Here is Luke and Aunt Danielle being statues outside of the Abraham Lincoln Memorial.



We also visited the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum at Dulles Airport. It was a giant airplane hanger with different kinds of aircraft inside. Any kind of old or new aircraft was included in the exhibit. There was even a space section with a huge space shuttle inside. Luke loved running from plane to plane and checking out each one.



Luke was absolutely smitten with his Aunt and Uncle. I feel so lucky to have such special people in the lives of my children. Thanks for a great visit that we won't soon forget!

Serious and silly.

Our Trip to DC

(If you click on the pictures, they will open up and be bigger.)

We took a great trip this past weekend. We went to visit my brother, Mark, and his wife, Danielle. They are more commonly known as Uncle Mark and Aunt Danielle 'round these parts.

The 7 hour drive started out a bit rough,



but once we arrived, Luke took to Mark and Danielle like they were long lost friends.

We spent Thursday evening and Friday enjoying their new home. We went to the neighborhood pool, playground, watched a movie, and then went and played miniature golf on Friday evening. Luke liked to be sure that Uncle Mark knew where the hole was, so he pointed it out to him.

Evan got in on the action by being the "flag" and signaling where the hole was, by sitting next to the hole (sucking his thumb - big surprise!).



At the end of a good round of mini golf, there must be a group shot of all of the players.

Oh, and Mom was there, too.

Grrr. Blogger is having problems uploading pictures. I will continue with the rest of the pictures and more details of our trip tomorrow!

Father's Day Fun

Happy Father's Day!

Luke and Evan gave Dan a card that included stickers. Dan's said, "Super Dad" and the boy's stickers said, "My Dad is my Hero!" They all wore their stickers to church.

We took Dan to lunch after church and then spent the afternoon watching Luke play on his new slip and slide. It was quite entertaining.

After the regular slip and slide fun, Daddy and Luke made a homemade water slide using the playset and slip and slide.

Luke's Last Day

Luke had his last day of school today. Luke has been going to Sunshine Station for three years. He started when he was 1 1/2 years old. We have been very happy with the care and education that he received while he was there, but it is time for him to move on.

For a goodbye celebration, Luke picked out a cake from the store and we brought cake and juice to share with his friends. Here are a few pictures of Luke with his good buddy Maxton. (Maxton and Luke are about 1 week apart in age and started at Sunshine Station within the same month. Maxton also has a new baby brother that is 3 weeks younger than Evan. It's kind of strange how much they have in common!) The last picture is of Luke and his current teachers, Ms. Charmaine and Ms. LaTonya. Luke was a little embarrassed to have everyone looking at him get his picture taken with his teachers.

Evan and Mommy

Today was my first day home for the summer. Luke went to school, since he only has 3 days left, and Evan and I played all day!!! It is nice to have time with just Evan. Now that he's older, he's so much more fun to play with. My maternity leave was great, too, but since he was smaller and crankier, he wasn't as fun to be home with all day. However, at almost 6 months old, he has quite a personality and is very entertaining!

I've added pictures of Evan doing some of his favorite things.

Swinging.

Sucking on things.

Sitting up all alone.

Playing with his bucket of toys.

Sucking his thumb.

Being cute.

Playing in his exersaucer...

... while sucking his thumb.

Summer has begun

Today was my last day of work for 5 glorious weeks! I am looking forward to my time off and I plan to keep very busy. Luke's last day of school at Sunshine Station will be this Friday, the 13th, and then we will have all summer to be together.

We are planning a last day of school party for Luke and his buddies at Sunshine Station. Luke has been going to SS since he was 18 months old and we have been very happy there. However, the time has come for Luke to move on, and next school year, he will be attending Pre-K at my school. I am looking forward to having Luke at my school, and I think this is a good time for a change for him. It will be a nice transition for him before he starts Kindergarten. (Did I just say my BABY is going to be in Kindergarten soon!?!?! When did THAT happen!?!?!)

This summer we are going to visit my brother and his wife in the DC area. I am teaching Vacation Bible School at our church, and Luke is attending VBS. We are going to be at the beach for a week over the July 4th holiday. And, we have several playdates confirmed for both Luke and I. I think the 5 weeks is going to fly by!

Check back for pictures of all of our summer adventures!

Heat Wave

It's a heat wave!!! We've had temperatures in the 90's all week and today was supposed to reach 100 degrees, so we decided to beat the heat by playing in the water.

We created a water slide by putting the hose at the top of the slide. Luke zipped down the slide and slid across the wet grass at the bottom.

Next, we used the hose to spray Luke as he ran around the yard. Then, he tried to get us back, but we hid inside.

Here is a short video of Luke taking on the water slide a few times.

Season's First Waterpark Visit

We visited our local waterpark for the first time this season. At the beginning of every summer, Luke says he's afraid to go on the slides. Then, we get him up on the small kiddie slides and push him down and he remembers how fun it was. This year was no different. When we arrived, he was scared to even put his feet in the water. By the time we left (3 hours later!) he was going down the big, adult size slides!

Evan got to put his feet in the water, but it was still too cold for him to enjoy sitting and playing in his floatie. Dan held him and walked around in the water for awhile.

This wore him out and he took a nap while Luke continued to play.

First Foods

Evan had his first taste of food this weekend.

I've been holding off starting him on baby food because it's quite nice to not have to carry around bowls, food, spoons, bibs, etc. when we go out. However, Evan has been grabbing at our food and watching us with a great amount of interest when we eat, so I thought he might be ready for his own food. He sure was ready. Young babies have a reflex to push the spoon and food out of their mouth. Until this reflex is gone, it is very difficult for babies to be spoon fed. Evan's reflex has gone away. This boy sucked down his rice cereal like a champ! Luke even got in on the action and fed Evan.

Evan, who likes to grab any and everything within reach, was all about his spoon and wanted to feed himself most of the time.

Looks like we have another champion eater on our hands!