Mr. Fix-it

Nate has been playing with his tools a lot the past few days. I'm sure it's because he's been watching Stephen working on all his summer projects, and of course he wants to be just like his dad! Stephen walked outside and captured this sweet picture.

Who Dey, Andy!

Andy Dalton was a star quarterback for Texas Christian University, which is right down the road from us, and he was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals to be the post Carson Palmer quarterback. Since he's a TCU grad, he was at a local mall on Saturday signing autographs. Stephen remembered at the last minute that he was going to be there, so he threw a Bengals shirt on Nate (that was way too small and fits Evie now) and went. Nate got his picture taken with Andy. Stephen got to talk to Andy's dad and calm his fears about the Bengals' lack of offensive line depth and indoor practice facilities. Go Bengals!

They were at the end of the line, but Stephen sent Nate up to say "Who Dey, Andy!

He was surprised by his little visitor.

It cost $40 to get him to sign something. We're way too cheap for that, so they waited until he was finished with autographs and grabbed a picture with him. Thanks, Andy!

Saturday

Our weekend plans were changed when Evie came down with another (another!) stomach bug on Friday. She was pitiful all weekend, but her fever is gone and she's finally up and playing some now. Nate had been asking to make heart shaped cookies for a few days, so Saturday morning was the perfect time to let him.

It was also a good opportunity to talk to Nate about some friends in Iraq who provide lifesaving heart surgeries for babies in Iraq. Our Father's Day gift to Stephen was to help save the life of one of these babies. You can read more about it here.

Yes, he chose to make pink icing.

 Nate has always been very particular, so he did a good job of not making a mess with the icing.

 I thought Stephen was supervising, but I turned around to see him taking pictures of Nate licking the knife instead of telling him not to!

While we made cookies Evie just laid in the chair. So sad!

**I'm adding one more thing to this post. I'm not a sugar cookie lover, but the recipe for this one really is the best. A year ago, my sister baked 250+ of these cookies and we spent hours decorating them as a favor for her wedding. I'm sad we don't have any pictures of all those cookies! After trying a few different recipes in preparation for that, this recipe for the cookies and this recipe for the icing were far better than the rest. And because Nate was so anxious to cut the hearts out, I didn't chill the dough, but the cookies still kept their shape really well. Highly recommended for your next sugar cookie bake-a-thon!

Digging Himself a Hole

Stephen started the work for our basketball goal this week, and just like every other DIY project we've attempted, it turned into a much larger job than expected. He had to dig a four foot hole through our Texas yard, aka sheet of rock. There really is a reason why there aren't basements in Texas houses - pure rock! He rented some equipment from Home Depot to break through it, but it still took him about 8 hours of hard labor in the 95+ degree weather to finish that part of the job. Then he filled the hole with concrete, and as soon as it dries he'll recruit some suckers friends to help him install the goal.

 Digging through the rock.

 The hole.

 Unfortunately, Stephen's arms aren't four feet long, so the deeper he dug the harder it was to get the pieces of rock and dirt out. Yes, he has heard of a post hole digger, but believe it or not this method was faster. Evie wasn't much help!

Topping off the concrete and installing the anchor for the goal.
Such a sweet little audience!

Fort Worth Cats

Stephen's last day of school was Saturday, and we kicked off our summer of family fun (that also includes a long list of projects!) Sunday evening with our first baseball game as a family. We went with some friends to see the independent baseball team in town, the Fort Worth Cats. I miss my Cincinnati Reds, but the kid-friendliness and smaller atmosphere was great!

 A picture before the game. You can tell by the red, sweaty faces that we're well into our Texas summer!

Evie was giddy!

 She loved watching the Cat mascot and pointed to him all evening. Nate got to spend the evening with his friend, Adelia, which made the game even better for him.

All the kids get to run the bases at the end of the game.
Here's Nate running towards home.

Backing Up

Let's back up a little bit. Here are a few pictures that should have been posted earlier.

First, I know this isn't a great picture, but I love it because it's a good picture of our life. We spend A LOT of time playing outside, and a lot of that time is spent dribbling, kicking, throwing, or hitting a ball. Nate has been working hard on his basketball skills, so here he's focusing hard on dribbling and Evie is in the background kicking the soccer ball. This is what we do. We're excited for Stephen to install our new basketball goal next week!

Nate ended up having a good soccer season. He even kicked a goal, although we're pretty sure it was an accident. Right place at the right time! He got over his fear of playing about the same time others were tired of playing, so it worked out well.

 One final attempt at a team picture. Nate was standing next to Bruno, the Brazilian superstar. Seriously, if you could go pro at age 4, I think he'd be drafted.

Coach giving Nate his trophy.

Evie's 2nd Birthday

Evie turned two last Wednesday! She visited the doctor on her birthday, and she's a healthy little girl. I'm also happy to say that we've reintroduced milk into her diet and she's doing really well with it. I guess it was a temporary lactose intolerance, so we're very thankful for that. Here are some pictures of my sweet birthday girl:

 Eating french toast for her birthday breakfast.

 Nate needed to be in the picture too!

 Opening her gift from Aunt Liza - a baby feeding and diapering kit. It's definitely the new favorite toy around here!

 Her baby went mysteriously missing when we opened the gift, so Teddy had to wear the bib and diaper and eat baby food!

 I made a teddy bear cake to match Evie's teddy bear. My creativity was running kind of low this birthday, but I was happy with how it turned out. And she loved it!

We had a small party for Evie Friday night, but we only have video from that. I made sure we got our picture taken together with the cake before the gang arrived!

Baby Blan #3

I'm pregnant! We've been telling our good news for almost a week now, but I've failed to post it here. Baby Blan #3 is due to arrive December 16th. And I can finally give my real reason for a recent lack of posts: fatigue and nausea. First trimester gifts! I guess baby #3 means three times the fun? But I'm almost 11 weeks now, so it should be ending soon.

The following picture is obviously not a recent one, but we've had a serious lack of picture taking lately. And I've been thinking about my big, round baby bellies, so this one came to mind. We were sitting next to the Bosphorus in Istanbul about a month before Nate arrived. Sweet memories.

Soy Cheese Doesn't Melt

One of the reasons I haven’t blogged much in the last few weeks is that I’ve had the extra task of figuring out what to feed my probably lactose intolerant/possibly dairy allergic daughter. We’ll visit a pediatric gastroenterologist on Thursday to try to get some answers.

Anyway, a couple months ago Evie had an awful stomach bug that completely wiped her out. But after she was over it she continued to have diarrhea, going through at least ten diapers a day. That continued for three or four weeks while I continued to talk to the doctor, giving stool samples for parasite analysis and to see if she had an intestinal infection.  Everything came back negative, so they finally told me to eliminate milk and anything containing milk from her diet.

When we returned from Kentucky three weeks ago I started her on a milk-free diet, and within three days she had normal bowel movements. So we’ve just been waiting for her doctor’s appointment (and you know you can’t see a doctor in a reasonable amount of time in America) to know what to do next.

Meanwhile, I’ve had what has been one of the most challenging tasks – to eliminate milk and cheese from Evie’s diet. Baking with soy milk (yuck!). Substituting oil for butter (isn’t butter a super food?). Fixing cheese-free meals. Enduring fits because I’ve tried not to alter Nate’s diet more than is necessary, so she doesn’t understand why he gets to eat cheese crackers and yogurt and she doesn’t. Eating out even less than our rare outing because I’m not yet up for figuring out what in the world doesn’t have milk in it, and then deciding what she might eat from that small selection. The list goes on.

So, to anyone out there who has experience with lactose intolerance, I’d love some advice! I’m still hoping this is a temporary thing, but until then I could seriously use some help. I’ll keep you posted.

Getaway

The kids and I escaped to Kentucky last week. I, once again, braved a couple flights by myself with the kids and visited my sister for about 6 days. It worked out perfectly for us to be there last weekend because we got to spend Easter with my brother and his wife's family. I can't remember the last time the three of us were together on Easter, but I know it's been at least 8 years. Besides leaving Stephen behind in Texas, it was a really good visit.

As usual, I didn't capture many pictures. But Mom's piano is at my sister's house now, so I did get some pictures of Nate and Evie playing it. It's always a lot of fun for them. I can't wait for the day we have a piano here! Maybe then I'll actually get a chance to play too. Little piano hogs!

Their first duet!

Nate giving a music lesson.

Singing and playing ...

You know she's serious when she takes out the pacifier!

Date with Dinosaurs

Today was the first day of Dinosaurs Unleashed at the Fort Worth Zoo. It's a temporary exhibit that includes 12 life-size dinosaurs who open and close their mouths, roar, and move limbs. And they all once lived in Texas. There was a special zoo member preview this morning before normal zoo hours, so Nate and I made a date of it.

 First things first - complimentary Krispy Kreme donuts and milk for early comers.

They looked very real. I was impressed!

 Nate refused to get any closer than that to this one. I guess he was extra scary!

 Members also got to ride the carousel and train for free today.

We took advantage of it and rode both. I'd rather stand in a long line to ride for free than pay any day. Nate would beg to differ!

N-A-T-E

I've been teaching Nate to recognize, spell orally, and write his name. We bought these Super Why learning game cards, and he's been using them to spell his name and other words (with my instruction of course). And I've printed some traceable letter sheets from the internet so he can practice writing his letters. Here's a picture of his name written with sidewalk chalk. The one he wrote is closest to him. Not bad!

Sick Girl

Evie has been sick AGAIN! Maybe it's because Nate so rarely gets sick, but it seems like Evie is sick all the time. And she has a really sensitive gag reflex, so when she gets sick it usually involves lots of vomiting, which involves lots of mess! She's been in someone's arms or in her bed since Sunday night, but she's FINALLY happy and playing a little. Stephen stayed home today because I'm on the edge of craziness after the last couple days. No comments please.

I put Evie down for a minute on Monday to change the laundry, and this is how I found her when I came back. This is just the second time one of our kids has fallen asleep in the living room. Maybe they're a little too trained to only sleep in their beds!

Botanic Garden

Last week was Stephen's spring break. We stayed in town and did a whole lot of nothing (except for stay up too late watching movies). But we did spend one morning at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden, where Stephen captured these sweet pictures of the kids. Thankfully we visited the pond before Nate chased the soccer ball through muddy grass and soaked his shoes and jeans with muddy water, or these wouldn't have been taken!

First Game

Nate had his first soccer game yesterday. Here's the recap:

 He was really excited before the game.

 He was a bit disinterested once we got to the field.

He played for about three minutes the first quarter, and then he spent the rest of the game with me on the sidelines crying because he didn't want to play anymore, begging for Evie's snacks, and playing in the grass. He said he was afraid of the purple guys (the other team was purple). Maybe he's too young to play after all!

Biker Chick

When Nate got this little motorcycle for his second birthday, his legs were barely long enough to ride it. Evie will turn two in May, and she's already tall enough to ride it! She's a little slow still, but I'm really glad to not be pushing her around anymore.

 It takes a lot of concentration to get those legs coordinated.

 Stopping for a cheesy smile.

Soccer practice

I never understood why parents would make their kids start playing sports at such early ages. Until I had my own kid! Nate LOVES anything that involves hitting, kicking, or throwing a ball. So he's playing spring soccer for a YMCA team. He had his first practice last night. Here are the pics:

 I put Nate's shin guards and cleats on early and told him to go run around to make sure they fit well. Evidently they do. He couldn't stop running!

 Nate was supposed to put his arm around Evie's shoulder for the picture. 

I think he confused her neck for her shoulder.

 At practice.

Showing off his skills.