Pumpkin Laugh

I just thought you'd like to know that this cute little pumpkin laughed for the first time today!

It's Time For A Rest

Here's what happens when *someone* (not naming any names) decides he's "too bigger" for a rest (aka nap).

3-Months!

Baby boy you are 3-months-old now! You are a delight to my heart and a joy in my life.

You are now smiling and cooing all the time. You'll talk to almost anyone but you certainly reserve the best smiles and stories for your family. You're a social little guy, and you've started recognizing when you're missing out on all the fun. You complain about being left alone and you complain when things aren't going just right. Your "complaints" are the cutest ever! It's not really a cry but your sounds are of obvious dislike.

You're growing so fast. Just the other day I started pulling out the 0-3 months clothes and bringing in the 3-6 months. You may indeed grow out of your brother's clothes putting you in a size that doesn't match the season. That's one way to get new clothes I suppose! I'm not sure of an exact weight but when I put you on the produce scale today it teetered around 10 pounds.

You love your milk. You love your Mom. You love your worm hanging above the playmat. You love your Dad. You love your fishies (Fisher Price aquarium crib toy). You love your brother. You love attention. You love your family. You love your pacifier (sometimes), but you're starting to love your hands more. You love being held. You love being in the wrap and with the cooler weather coming we'll get to have that more often. You love looking in the mirror.

You don't love gas. Yes...your tummy issues are still our biggest struggles. I'll be glad when they aren't issues anymore. You're taking Gripe Water daily and meds for reflux. Sometimes the only thing that works is laying on your belly across my arm while I walk around the house. You're just so gassy. Sometimes it's funny though. You can toot with the best of them and I know that no one would be believe me if I placed blame on you for some of the loud sounds that you do indeed make. Something has changed in your system. You used to have a little of #2 with each diaper. Now you're saving it all for one big *gift*. And let me tell you!...sometimes it's BIG! Just the other day you had one of those up-the-back, out-the-legs, and everywhere in between jobs. We were in Lowe's and you left the store in nothing more than a diaper but I kept you covered in my jacket. And...yes...one day I know you'll probably hate that I talked about these things, so here's my apology in advance (but I'm not deleting any of it!).

My Little Evan I love you so much. It's such a joy to see you grow and develop. It's delightful to watch the sparkle in your eyes as you talk and smile at your family. It's exciting to see your interest in your brother. He's really the most interesting one around here most of the time. He's also the one to watch out for as you seem to have learned. It's a little funny how you almost cringe when he comes running up. Pay backs! That's all I'll say...pay backs! It's wonderful to snuggle with you on the chair early in the morning. It's great when you give me more than 3 or 4 hours of sleep at a time too (which happens occasionally...but only occasionally). It's fun to take you places. It's so very exciting to think about the moments and days and years to come with you in our family. I love you Evan Alexander Stanfill.

At The Great State Fair of OK-lahoma!

The boys and I went with Nana to the Oklahoma State Fair. We had a marvelous day! We did everything *just right*. Today was "Senior Citizen's Day" at the fair which meant Nana got in free. I was the only paying member of our clan of 4. We got to the fair at about 9 this morning and parked about 50 yards from Gate 1. The morning was warm but not too hot with a nice breeze and the crowds were not...crowded that is. 90% of the people at the Fair were Senior Citizens. We spent a couple hours looking through buildings...you know, the exhibits and junk! At Noon we stopped for a bite to eat, cringing at the outrageous prices but un-willing to pass up some good decent fair food...corn-on-the-cob and gyros for us today. After lunch we strolled through another building but Ryan's patience for inactivity had reached it's limit. We headed for the RIDES! It was great. Ryan was just beginning to get tired of everything but perked right up for the rides. He rode everything allowed for kids his size. (He just barely made the height requirement for the kiddie rides). Cars. Fish. Trains. Balloons. Bumper Boats. And more!

Here was Evan's ride for the day...
He did great at the Fair. Of course nothing is *for* him but he looked around, smiled at some other grandmas, got lots of compliments on his cuteness, slept some, ate some (breast-feeding is so amazingly convenient!), and was just generally cute. He had had enough by early afternoon and indicated his over-stimulation (heat, sounds, smells, noise) with screaming unless he was tucked away close to me and completely covered.

We saw a kangaroo...
Fed a super-cute calf. (I would have taken him home...he was sweet.)...
Fed a donkey...
Fed an ornery emu...
Sat on a really old tractor...
Petted a really nice horse named Rocky...
Looked at some new baby chickens. Some were still wet from their obviously recent escape from their oval offices...
Rode on a blue tractor...
And a pink tractor...
Played on a $$$$ playground inside...
Touched the water (but we couldn't *play* in it)...
And RODE RIDES!!!

Cars...
Fish...
Boats (the ummm incompetent nice man working this ride sat Ryan and another boy in the boat backwards and when the boat got stuck he continued talking with his friend and ignored the traffic jam. I'm surprised both of the boys stayed in the boat!)...
A Blue Motorcycle...
A *Hot Air* Balloon...
Bumper Boats! ( I wanted to play too!)...

A Loud Dragon Rollercoaster...
And a Choo Choo Train...
We had a great time. We left the Fair around 3 this afternoon completely worn out! Ryan didn't even make it to the car before crashing. Evan woke up as soon as we got to the car. Nana and I just hobbled along with sore feet, but HAPPY HEARTS!

Yellow on White

I really don't remember the story that goes with this particular picture, but I'm sure it was a good one.
I have a good bath-time story though. It's one of those "Yep! She's a Mom! story" We were invited to attend church this past Saturday evening with some friends. I made the mistake of telling Ryan we were going to church with our friends BEFORE nap-time. Nap-time went something like this:

Me: Ryan it's time for a rest.
Ryan: No!!!! I need to go see my friends!
Me: Ryan we need to take a rest so we can feel good when we go to church and see our friends.
(Ryan goes to bed)
5 minutes later...
Ryan: It's time to go to church and visit our friends!
Me: Not yet. It's time for a rest.
(Ryan goes to bed)
5 minutes later...
Ryan: It's time to go to church and visit our friends!!!
Me: Go to bed!
(Ryan goes to bed)
10 minutes later...

This went on for quite some time and after about the 5th time he came bouncing out of his room proclaiming his excitement and readiness for going to church and seeing our friends I threw in the towel. Nap-time was a bust.

We needed to leave the house around 3:45 p.m. Around 3 or a little before I started getting myself and the boys ready to go. I ironed clothes and readied myself. Next Ryan was dressed. It was then that I looked up at the clock and noticed we were already running late. I grabbed Evan and began getting him ready for a quick bath. I undressed him down to the diaper and carried him into the kitchen. I unsnapped his diaper and began lifting him into the tub when I looked down. Yellow. Yellow mustardy poop. Yellow mustardy poop all over my WHITE shirt. Ugh! I quickly bathed my little boy. Dressed him. I ran to the bedroom and grabbed the first thing I could find that somewhat matched what I was already wearing. Whew! We left late, but we managed to make it to the Shellem's on time.

Church was fabulous!

Sleeping Sweety

Free Stuff

I got this stuff for free!

Puddle Jumping

Just in case you were wondering...we DID go puddle jumping while Hurricane Hermine dumped it's remnants on us. But this isn't a picture of that...because that would be just silly...to take a good camera out in the pouring rain and all. This is a picture of Ryan stomping around in the lake by our house after he *accidentally* fell in. :)

Lip Smackin' Good

Brothers

Day of Owies

Yesterday was a day of owies. Ryan smacked the side of the swingset and got a fat lip...
Poor little guy.
Of course everything can be fixed with Momma's good lovin's and of course...

Band-Aids!

Have no fear...the lip, finger and thumb were feeling much better by the end of the night.

Happy Birthday

Happy birthday baby girl. I miss you my sweet little Brandy. Today you would have turned 7!

Priceless

Ryan's Gymnastics

Ryan is in gymnastics once a week. Today was the third week of gymnastics, but Ryan missed last week's class because he was sick. He did great today. He is, surprisingly, very timid when it comes to some of the elements. I think it's just going to take some to time for him to overcome some of his fears and insecurities.

Ryan also seems to get "lost" more easily than the other kids. He doesn't intend to not follow directions but he can only process one or two instructions at a time and the coach gives 4 or 5 instructions at a time...roll down the mat, jump on the spring-board, roll into the tube, climb up the rope, slide down the slide, hang upside down on the parallel bars and then start all over again. He gets lost after roll into the tube and has no idea where to go after that so he starts wandering. During the first class his coaches seemed to get irritated at him a lot (and constantly reprimanding him), but today they took the time to help him stay focused on what he was doing and re-directed to the next set of skills when he got lost. I was upset the first class (momma bear thing) but today I really tried to watch him and see if he was trying to obey or intentionally being a brat. I really think he tried very, very hard to do exactly as he was told at all times. For example when they lined the kids up and Ryan was last in line he always stayed last in line by his choosing and had a hard time "letting go" of that "instruction" when they put another boy last in line. When they said make a train by putting your arms on the shoulders of the person in front of you. He didn't let go until the poor kid in front of him was ducking away out of his grasp. When he was told to sit on the star he sat on the star and they had to coax him up when it was time to go. He was constantly looking at and waiting on one of his coaches to make sure he was doing it right. He sought their instruction and their approval. He seems so "developmentally young" compared to the other kids...consequence of prematurity perhaps. He's such a good kid...he just needs a little extra...extra patience, extra time, extra praise.

(This really could lead into a great post about education and why I want other alternatives, but alas...I'll wait for another time.)

Ryan loves to go to gymnastics and always has a great time! After every class he comes bouncing out of the room with a great big grin and tells me all about it! I love to hear him explain it all even though I sit behind a wall of glass and watch everything he does. I was extremely skeptical after the first class but after today I think this is going to be a really good thing for Ryan.

Here he is swinging (the blur)...
And the layout of the place...

My Kiddos At 2 Months

Princess Brandy...


Master Ryan...
(2-months actual)
(2-months adjusted, 6-months actual)

Sir Evan...