Mother's Day and Memorial Day

The day before Mother's Day, our church hosted a Mother Daughter Tea. It was alot of fun for both of us!! 

Mother's Day 2016

A few weeks later in May we had family in town to celebrate Baby Harper Evans being born! 

Harper Elizabeth

The new family of 3

All the Evans side cousins in one picture! 

Corbin and Ember at Buffalo Park

Reece - 9 Months Old

Another month we were blessed to spend with this sweet little boy! 

Reece now weighs 17 pounds and 12 ounces. He is constantly moving so I bet his weight is going to stabilize for a little bit. His sleep patterns are not very consistent but he wakes up 1-2 times at night and then usually takes 2 naps a day.

Reece loves crawling around and pulling up and standing by things. He still loves baths and eating food. He loves when people talk to him - especially his sister. He dislikes having to take medicine or having his snot sucked out of his nose so he can breathe enough to eat. He also dislikes waiting for us to give him his food.

Reece's favorite toys are his activity cube and the play kitchen. His favorite games are "peek-a-boo," being tickled, and standing by Ember's toddler bed and trying to "eat" her (good thing he still has no teeth.) 

Reece can now sit on his knees and bounce and pull up on everything he can reach the top of. He can now clap with open hands and he is starting to say things like "daw daw." 

Since he is standing so well now, we had to move his crib mattress down and he quickly learned how to stand in his crib. He tried his first sqeeze pouch and can drink them well with Mommy's help holding it. And this little sweetie is turning into quite the cuddler. He will often times just lay his head on your shoulder when you first pick him up. It is just so sweet and adorable.

This little guy is always on the move and plays hard! And it has been so fun to watch the relationship between Ember and Reece become more two sided and grow. I love watching my kids love each other! 

Here are some more pictures from the month!

Reece - 8 Months Old

This sweet boy is 8 months old!! 

Reece is a big 8 month old! He has been waking up two times a night right around 11pm and than 3 am. And he is almost completely transitioned to only 2 naps per day which is really nice because it makes it a lot easier to do things at night without having to bring a pack n' play. 

He loves to crawl, crawl, crawl all over the place! He especially likes to go to Maci's food and water dishes and make a mess and go to Maci's bed and try and play with her toys with her. Reece loves eating solids with the family in his booster. He dislikes having his face wiped after eating. And he doesn't like us stopping him from getting into mischief. 

His favorite game is "Peel-a-boo" and he loves to explore and play with anything new. He still loves his bouncer and is becoming really interested in his activity cube as well. He still loves flying like super man, playing with toys in the bath, and being tickled. 

The new things that Reece has learned this month is being able to master picking up finger foods and getting them into his mouth on his own. He can now crawl on his hands and knees and sit up by himself from the laying position. Reece also learned how to spit and blow bubbles and he clapped with his hands closed.

There have been some more firsts for Reece this month. He had his first bath in the bathtub without his infant tub. He tried carrots, zucchini, and kale. And we also introduced him to puffs! He got to sit in a shopping cart for the first time this month which makes running errands so much easier. And finally, he went swimming for the first time. He really seemed to enjoy it! But he does like water so I wasn't too surprised.

It was another busy month for this little guy! We all grow to love him more and more and it is so much fun watching him grow and learn new things! 

Here are a few more pictures from the month!

Mexico in April!

Beautiful weather this trip in Mexico! It couldn't have been better. Plus, our cousin Matt and his daughter Sophie came too. Sophie is a little over a year older than Ember but they had so much fun playing together! 

Quad ride with Mima and Pappy and Bella

Ember and Sophie playing in the sand

Ready to hit the beach! 

Dinner on the boardwalk at a nice restaurant overlooking the ocean at sunset.

:) :) :)

We don't usually celebrate half birthdays but Uncle Lee bought a cake and it just so happened to be Ember's half birthday so we sang to her. And since then she hasn't stopped telling people that she is 3 and a half years old! 

I love the ocean because it is always full of surprises. You never know what is going to wash up on the shore. This trip a turtle shell appeared. So cool to look at.

Ready to go kayaking! 

Dustin snorkeling!

Ember got so brave on this trip and wanted to actually go in the ocean more than just up to her knees. She mostly hung onto Dad's hands but would let go for a few seconds at a time which is really good for her. We were proud of her.

Can't beat kiddos on the beach at sunset for some good pictures. And add in some jean overalls .... too cute to not take a ton of pictures. Here are just a few! 

It was a lovely time with perfect weather and great memories! 

Reece - 7 Months Old

Oh my goodness! I just can't get enough of this boys cuddles, smiles, squeals, and personality! Reece is now 7 months old! 

(Haha - this facial expression cracks me up every single time!)

Reece is now about 16 lbs 2 oz. and about 26.5 inches tall. He is consistently still waking up two times a night but still does great going right back to bed most nights. He has started waking up around 6 am which has pushed him back to 3 naps a day on most days.

Reece really really loves his bouncer! I usually have to take him out of it before he starts fussing because he would stay in there all day if we let him. He loves that he can bounce around and see everything going on around him. He loves to scoot around on his tummy and get to things that are near him. He loves exploring and eating any new toys. Reece has quickly become a fan of eating and really seems to enjoy meal time. He doesn't enjoy tipping and falling over when he is sitting and looses his balance.

Besides liking any new toys he comes across to explore, he still really likes his Sophie the giraffe. He loves pulling himself over to Maci's bed and "pet" her and play with her toys. He loves playing with his wipe container that is out in the living room for diaper changes. He also loves these little rubber finger puppets of Ember's for chewing on. 

Reece has learned quite a few skills this month. He can now eat pureed food and soft finger foods. He has tried avocado, peas, sweet potato, butternut squash, banana and apple. He sometimes likes them and sometimes doesn't right now. He scoots all over the place and pulls his body weight using his arms to get where he wants to go. Reece can also rock on his hands and knees now but isn't quite crawling. He has also found his tongue and sticks that in and out for fun. He can sit by himself really well too! 

Reece had some more first this month too. Obviously he had a lot of firsts as he entered solid food scene. He had two new cousins born - Drayden Brucks and Harper Evans. We had to move his pack and play bassinet out and put the pad all the way on the bottom for naps. And finally, Reece got to celebrate his first Easter complete with his very first Easter basket and lots of plastic eggs to chew on.

There is just something about a little boy that truly tugs on a Mommy's heart. I am loving being this little boys mom and he definitely is turning out to be a "mamma's boy" - which I love! I can't wait to see more and more of who God has created this little boy to be! 

Here is a picture of the big boy in his booster!