The Butterfly Effect

We escaped to a tropical climate with lush, green plants, warm air, and exotic birds and insects.

Well, for a few minutes at least.

The Detroit Zoo was our playground this past Saturday.  With temps in the 40's and a forecast projecting colder weather again, I knew this was our opportunity to get some fresh, brisk air while doing something we haven't done since the summer.

See, there's reality.  Winter coats, hats, gloves, and boots.

One of the many benefits of going while the weather was still cool was the fact that many of the animals were indoors.  This gave us time to warm up and it allowed us to be up close and personal with some of the animals that are normally farther away.

The kids had a great time and both Scott and I commented on how quickly the time goes when you're out and about.  The boys didn't bicker, there wasn't a mess to clean up, and both kids were so tuckered out that they took a 3 hour nap!

In other news, we've been keeping busy at home and at work.  March starts the busy season at the high school with ACT testing, spring conferences, and all the senior events including the Mr. Thurston contest I judged last night and Prom that I'll be chaperoning in May.

Sean and Evan are growing so fast!  Evan was measured at his well-visit appointment at few weeks ago and he's already 33.5" tall!  No wonder some people have asked us if the boys were twins.  He's catching up to Sean!

Sean is working hard at his handwriting skills and bike-riding skills.  His new tractor I scored at a Mom2Mom sale is helping keep him motivated at learning how to peddle.  We just need some warmer weather to justify being outside on this thing every day!

We are starting to really get excited about our Portland trip in June!  I even ordered a travel cot for Evan to sleep on at my brother's place.  We booked a return trip to the Great Wolf Lodge in August since we had such a blast a few weekends ago!  This time we're bringing my parents being as though they've never been to an indoor water park.  And there's even talk of a Disney trip next year.  Whether it's in February during mid-winter break or the summer.  We ordered our free Disney planning DVD and all it took was a 30 second clip of Magic Kingdom and Sean was jumping around in excitement.  He didn't quite understand that we couldn't just put our shoes and coat on that minute and go...

In the meantime, I'm gearing up for a field trip this week with my Spanish 2 students at the DIA in Detroit and picture day at the daycare!  It's never a dull moment, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

My lil' leprechauns...

While I'm not quite sure they get the point of St. Patrick's Day, that didn't stop us from making a hand print rainbow with a pot of gold.

Nor did it stop us from dressing in green, talking about leprechauns, and splitting a Shamrock Shake.  Yum!

A little throwback from their first St. Patrick's Day:

Sean is less than thrilled to be wearing that silly hat.

Evan sitting in a bowl of Lucky Charms.  Oddly enough, it was something I craved a lot during my pregnancy with him.

This is so much fun!

Happy St. Patty's Day from my little leprechauns!!

Is it Spring yet?

Hello, Spring?  Are you coming anytime soon?

Way to fake us all out.  It's so funny how we Michiganders quickly forget that it's normal to go from 56 degrees one day to 7 inches of snow the next.  I was so excited to see the grass peeking through the melting snow today.  I guess the one positive is that it totally justified spending good money on snow gear for the kids this year.  They've certainly gotten their use of it.

I've been so desperate for fresh air and sunshine that we've bundled up and headed outside to for a walk...or sled ride down the street multiple times in the past week.

I mean, geez, 30 degrees this past weekend felt like a heat wave.

56 today and we were cruising down the street in rain boots and the wagon.

Thanks to my in-laws, we were able to escape overnight to Ohio to visit the Great Wolf Lodge.  An indoor water park was just what we needed to rid our winter blues.  With the sun shining through the windows, for a minute there, it almost felt like we were somewhere warm.

This was our second indoor water park that we've stayed at so this time around we seemed fully prepared.  Puddle Jumpers for both of the boys, matching swim suits and towels, a sound machine and monitor for the room, and snacks galore!

Even more impressive was the boys' ability to sleep through the night in the same room in a bunk bed.  Evan on the bottom with a bed rail and Sean on top, they did great!  If we go back this summer, which we're talking about doing, we will definitely get the Wolf Den Suite again!

It's hard to believe it was only an overnight trip.  Swimming for hours, a pizza party in their Aunt Jackie and Uncle Josh's room, playing with their cousins, building a stuffed animal at the "Creation Station", and more, they had a jam packed 24 hours!

As the boys continue to get older and as they're able to do more things, I can't help but get excited to see what the summer has in store for us!  If how much fun we had at the Great Wolf Lodge is any indication of how much fun we'll have this summer, then I may never go back to work in the fall!

Evan is 18 months old!!

Reality has set in.  I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  And it's a beautiful thing.

My little Ev monster is 18 months old.  He's no longer my little baby.

He is full of energy, spouting off new words and running around exploring everything he can get his hands on to.  He sleeps through the night consistently, goes down for bed wide awake after a few books and his sippy cup of milk, and naps like a champion.  Speaking of sippy cups at bedtime, we have ditched the bedtime bottle and we haven't looked back!  He didn't even fuss about it.  Yup, life is good.

When he's willing to sit down long enough, he loves to do the shape sorter and work on chunky piece puzzles.  He's also a fan of coloring...for a few minutes at least.  He loves picture books so he can practice some of his new words, but his absolute favorite book is "Brown Bear, Brown Bear".  It's absolutely adorable to read the book to him because he can barely contain the excitement with each page turn as he is so proud to show off his animal sounds.  Cats, dogs, horses, sheep, bears, birds, and even fish (gup, gup), he loves mimicking the animals in the book.

After a month of picking at every meal, we finally realized we could attribute his poor eating to him cutting five teeth at once.  He finally has all four top front teeth, all four bottom front teeth, and he's cut all four of the first round of molars.  Poor thing!  And to think we were worried about him going from August until January with no new pearly whites.

I think we're in the clear for a little while before he pops out any new ones.  So, his eating is slowly starting to pick back up.  The boy is one picky guy.  His favorites change on a weekly basis.  Just when I think I've got what he likes figured out, he decides he won't eat any of it.  But, for now, he's digging broccoli, yogurt, any fruit, black beans, and soup.  He loves feeding himself with forks and spoons and does a great job manipulating the food on his silverware.  Even better than Sean it seems...

As much as he loves his Elmo, I'm grateful that he's also started to make some attachments to stuffed animals.  Every night he sleeps with his stuffed animal dog and the caterpillar from Eric Carle's book.  His newest love though, is for his baby.  The thing is adorable with a yellow shell that you can put him in since he's a "Little Peanut".  It's too cute for words to see how much love he can give his baby.  Not to mention, his air kisses and real kisses, complete with sound, for me, Sean, or daddy makes my days complete.

His true love, though, is for a ball.  Soccer ball, bouncy ball, basketball.  You name it, he'll play with it.  And now the kid is so advanced, he can let go of the ball and repeatedly catch it.  I'm amazed!  I can't wait to get him enrolled in something like soccer or basketball.  I know he'll love it!  In the meantime, we just play catch with him or we pass the ball back and forth to each other.  Future athlete in the making...
Check Evan out catching the soccer ball here.

Well, as each milestone continues to blow by, I can't help but get excited.  I'm loving this stage that Evan is in; curious about everything around him and learning new things every day.  The baby toys are put away, the bottles are gone, and the bottom shelf of my kitchen cabinet now finally stores sippy cups and plastic dishes for the boys.  It's hard to imagine that at the end of this year we'll be starting potty training with him and transitioning him out of the crib.  He looks more and more like a little boy and less of a baby every day.  And his mannerisms are those of a toddler.  We're so proud of how much he's grown and how much of a bright, passionate, and busy little boy he's become.

Happy half birthday, Evan!

Love,
Mommy xoxo