Rex's First Soccer Season (and possibly last...for awhile)

If any of you know Rex, you know he is quite the little ball of energy.  This is the reason we decided to enroll him in soccer for the spring season, to hopefully give him an outlet for all that energy.  We registered him for a 4 and under team, so most of the kids were about his age (although, they were all bigger than him - he's a little guy).  I also couldn't resist seeing how cute he looked in all that over-sized soccer gear.

Pretty cute, right?!

Here he is just minutes before his first practice (still smiling)

We showed up to practice and all went well for the first 45 minutes of the hour long practice.  Each kid had their own ball and he loved listening to his coach and following along with the drills.  It wasn't until the coach put away all the balls except for one that the fun REALLY started.  He totally freaked out (it didn't help that his was the one ball used to play with). He did not want anyone else kicking, touching, or so much as looking at his ball.  We left humiliated.  We continued to go to practices and games for most of the season, but it usually ended with the same result.  We would get him all excited to play and then halfway through the game he would kick the ball once only to have it stolen away by some extra large 3 year old on the other team.  This was a little too much for our little control freak to handle.  Here are some pictures of him playing in a game.  At least he looks like he's having fun!

And I just have to add this picture because it captured his emotion perfectly when he realized the ball was leaving his possession and he couldn't do anything about it.

Oh man.  Someday I know we'll look back and laugh at how intense our son is.  And probably someday it will work in his favor!

Backyard Picnic

[Written by Josh]

So Emily got to have a little (much deserved) girls' night out with some friends.  I got to watch the ninos.  Rex was jonesing for a trip to the park, which wasn't happening.  So I made him a deal (he likes deals right now).  In exchange for giving up the park, I would set up a candle-lit picnic in the backyard.  And so, we did a picnic.

During the picnic there were a couple exciting moments.  The first came when our mentally incapacitated dog, Harley, decided to try to lunge forward and steal one of Rex's chicken nuggets.  What he didn't realize that stepping through the citronella candle to achieve his objective was a dumb idea.  He smashed his entire front paw in piping hot wax and wound up nugget-less in the process.  That's a lose-lose scenario.  Fortunately, no damage done and the amazing cleaning powers of a dog's tongue removed the unwanted wax.  On the upside, he wreaks of citronella, so won't be attacked by any mosquitoes for a few days.

After the incident happened Rex said "When I was a widdle doggie, I do dat one time.  It hurt."  I was a tad confused.  I don't recall Rex ever being a dog, nor do I remember him burning himself with wax.  So I asked "When were you a little doggie?"  His response:  "Afore I was a widdle kid."  Very matter of factly, I might add.

The baby got fussy, so I took her inside and started to clean up the picnic.  When I came back outside I found Rex kneeling on the blanket with a banana sitting right in front of him.  It looked like he was praying.  I tiptoed a bit closer and heard:  "and bwess Heavenly Father to help me open this banana.  In the name of Jesus Christ, amen."  The little guy had tried to open his banana, but couldn't.  So rather than pitching a fit, he prayed that Heavenly Father would help him!  So proud.  We got the banana open--prayer answered.

Evelyn - 2 months

Evelyn had her 2 month appointment last week - it really amazes me how quickly she is growing up compared to Rex.  With Rex, I waited with great anticipation for each and every milestone.  With Evelyn, I keep thinking, "you're already doing that?" or "when did you learn how to do that?!"  She continues to be the sweetest, easiest, most peaceful baby I've seen.  She is much less active, much more sleepy and much MUCH quieter than someone I know (cough...Rex).  We love her!

Strawberry Picking

I took Rex and Evelyn strawberry picking on Friday with our business school families group.  Rex loved picking out his very own strawberries and putting them in his basket.  He also loved eating a couple along the way!  

Rex and his buddy, Julia, who he is going to miss dearly when we move next month :(

Evelyn's Quilt Is Done!

Remember that quilt I spoke of a few posts ago?  Well, it's complete.  My hand aches from all the snipping of seams, but what a fun reminder of all the love that went into this thing!  

A little back story on this quilt pattern:  I actually bought the pattern back when Rex was only a few months old.  I just couldn't leave it there at the quilt store - it begged me to take it home and drool over the possibility of needing to make this quilt for a little baby girl someday.  Well, at the exact moment the ultrasound tech told us we were expecting a girl, I started thinking of color combinations for her quilt!  It's been in the making for many years and it's so fun to see it finished!  Better than I could have imagined.  Thanks to my Mom for the work she put into it while she was here.

Happy Easter!

 

My Mom Is Amazing

So, here goes a little tribute to my Mom's time here in Durham while Evelyn was being born.  It was pretty amazing to have her here, it would have been SO much harder without her help.  I literally called her the morning I went to the hospital to let her know I would be induced that day.  She threw some things in a suitcase and caught a flight later that afternoon.  She made it in time to stay with Rex over night so Josh could be with me at the hospital. Superwoman, I tell ya.

In addition to cooking, taking care of me, taking care of Rex, dishes, cleaning, and running errands, my mom spent a good chunk of her time working on the quilt we made for Evelyn.  It is going to be darling!  She took the last square home to embroider Evelyn's name on it and then she'll send it back to me so I can finish everything up.  Once it's finished I'll be sure to post pictures.

And of course my mom spent lots of time cuddling this sweet little chick. 

 

Oh Mom, I don't think you check our blog often, but in case you see this I hope you know how much we love and appreciate how you dropped everything to come help us.  Since we got the royal treatment with Rex we knew what we were in for this time and we loved every minute of it.  It was really special to have you here, we love you SO much.