Fall Break Part 2: Mississippi Trip

At the end of Tony's Fall Break week, we packed up the kids and headed to Mississippi. First we stopped off at D & Dean's house. We had a great time with Tony's grandparents complete with tractor rides, delicious home cooked meals & lots of good visiting time. Tony's aunt Pat & cousin Karen & her new baby, Ryder, came to visit while we were there too. Ryder is just 1 month older than Evan and we look forward to watching the two boys grow up and play together.

From there we travelled to visit with Tony's grandmother, uncle Ronald, and aunt Lee. On Saturday afternoon we headed to Starkville with Robert, Kelly, Ronald & Lee to watch the Bulldogs (both of them!) play. Tony's dad & all of his uncles went to Mississippi State & Tony grew up a Mississippi State Bulldogs fan (until he went to UGA and switched to the REAL DAWGS!! haha...just kidding if you're reading this Robert!) so it was a game he has been looking forward to for years. We tailgated with Robert's cousins Mary Elizabeth, Eric & their 3 boys and had a great time (even though our Dawgs lost, AGAIN...groan!!!) We had a great trip and were so glad for family to get to meet Evan for the first time and see Owen too. Here are a few pictures from our trip to Mississippi...

At D & Dean's house...With cousins Karen & Ryder

Owen's favorite thing--sitting on Daddy D's tractor

Taking a ride with Grandpa

UGA vs. Mississippi State game...Our family in our Game Day finest :)

...Evan was unhappy because big brother had just accidentally bumped his head :(

this is how Evan spent most of his time at the tailgate

...and this is how Owen spent his time, he LOVED playing football with the big boys!

Back at Grandmother's watching the Georgia game...I think the boys look SO much alike in this picture!!!

Evan ADORES Owen...and the feeling is clearly mutual :)

Fall Break Part 1: family time at home

We are so fortunate that a Fall Break was added to Tony's school calendar this year! We had a GREAT week with lots and lots of wonderful family time!!! We took one last trip to the pool before it closed, spent a great day at the park with a picnic & fun playground time, and ended the week with a trip to Mississippi to see family & attend the festivities for the UGA/Mississippi State football game. More about our Mississippi trip in the next post, but here are some highlights from the first part of our week...Owen sportin' his cool shades on the playground

Me & my boys :)

Daddy & Owen--one of my favorites of these two!

Evan enjoying our picnic

Evan's first swim in the pool with Daddy

Pretty content little fella!Cute little baby bootie in swim trunks :)

Owen became quiet the pro in the pool this summer!

One of Owen's favorite pool games with Daddy :)

Evan's 1st trip to see the Bulldogs play

Several weekends ago, we took Evan to Athens with us for the UGA/Arkansas game. We left Owen at home with my parents, but Robert & Kelly (Tony's parents) along with Robert's intern from Germany, Serge, joined us at our tailgate. Our friend, Matt, home for the weekend from Louisanna where he is serving in the Air Force came with us as well. The weather ended up being surprisingly pleasant for September which worked out perfectly for our 6 week old baby's first trip to the Classic City :) During the game, Evan & I went with my good friend Amanda & her son, Hampton, to watch the game in the air conditioning at her sorority house. Even though the Dawgs lost that day, we still had a great time at Evan's very 1st trip to see the Bulldogs play! Mama & Daddy with their littlest Dawg fan

Evan with Noni & Grandpa

Good buddies :)

I think growing up, a lot of girls and their friends dream that they will live in the same neighborhood, have kids at the same time, and raise them together to be good friends too....well, one of my dear friends, Sara, and I are actually doing just that :) Sara had her firstborn, Jack, just 5 months after Owen was born and then she had her little girl, Marley, 3 weeks to the day after Evan was born. Owen & Jack are good buddies and love playing together and I am sure that Marley & Evan will follow in the footsteps of their older brothers & be good pals too. We love the Dunns dearly and are so blessed to call them friends AND neighbors too!!! Here are a few pictures we took of our kiddos a few weeks ago...Evan & Marley

Owen & Evan and Jack & Marley

Sweet big brothers loving on baby brother & baby sister!

1 Month Old & UGA Season Opener

Our little bulldog is getting life off to a great start! Evan turned 1 month old last Saturday, the very same day as the UGA season opener. Our youngest Dawg fan was decked out in his red & black to watch the Bulldogs crush UL-Lafayette a whopping 55-7. This little guy must be a lucky charm :)

At one month Evan is...

• a great night sleeper--waking up (actually usually being woken up!) only once at night to eat
  
• a man of structure--starting to get on a nice little schedule of eating every 3 hours, having some "awake" time, and then taking about a 1 to 1 1/2 hour nap...repeat.
• a hearty little eater!--he has exceeded his birth weight, by how much I do not know, because we don't go back to the doctor until 2 months. He sure does have some cute little rolls on his arms & legs though :)
• a heart stealer--this little guy has stolen his mama's, his daddy's, AND his big brother's hearts...we are so in love with this precious gift from God!
  

Here are some pictures of Evan at 1 month old...

I don't really know why Evan's hair looks reddish in the last 2 pictures. It's is still just as dark brown as the day he was born, but I guess the lighting is doing some funny tricks :P

Evan's Newborn Photo Shoot

My sweet friend Karen of Karen Baker Photography has blessed us once again with her gift of amazing photography. When Evan was 10 days old, Karen came and captured some precious newborn shots of Evan, some of Owen & Evan together, as well as some of the whole family. These are pictures that I know we will treasure forever. Thank you once again Karen, you are a talented photographer & a wonderful friend too! Though it was extremely hard to narrow it down, here are a few of my favorites...but who am I kidding, they are really ALL my favorites! :)

Evan's First Bath

I quite often hear mamas say that they just didn't take as many pictures once the second child came along...and I can TOTALLY see exactly how the camera falls by the wayside when there are two schedules to coordinate, two mouths to feed, two to play with, two to put down for naps....you get the picture, the list goes on! Even with that in mind, I am determined to make my very best effort to capture as many "firsts" with Evan as I did with Owen. I may not get these pics edited, blogged and/or printed quite as quickly, but I'm gonna do my very best to take them...I'll worry about the other details later (even if that isn't until my boys are in college, hehe!) So without further ado, here is Evan's 1st bath! (which by the way was WEEKS ago...don't worry folks, my 1 month old did not just have his first bath today!) Extra special to have big brother helping!

Evan enjoying his bath...kind of :) All clean! Getting warm & snuggly afterward

My Boys :)

...my boys...

Oh how I just LOVE saying that! Every time I say it or think it I just have to sing praises to my Lord & Savior for the showers of blessings He has rained upon our family! We do not deserve them, yet He continues to bless us beyond measure. Oh what an AMAZING God we serve!Evan all ready to go home from the hospital!

Leaving the hospital...Hooray!

Headed home as a family of 4 for the very 1st time!

This big brother stuff really tires a fella out!
Life as a family of 4 is wonderful! We have our moments of craziness, moments of quietness, and everything in between. Owen is absolutely over the moon in love with his baby brother! He wants to kiss him ALL the time. Big brother is willing & ready to help with anything & everything that has to do with "Eh-ben" (Owen's pronunciation of Evan, so sweet!) at all times. We occasionally have to remind Owen to be gentle, but it's really just because he's so enthusiastic :) Sweet brothers!!!

Silly boy!

Such a proud big brother :)

Tony is back to work now and while that has been an adjustment for sure, I have had plenty of help from both my mom & mother in law which has been a HUGE blessing! I just don't know how families who live far away from their realitives do it--having our family close by is a gift that we certainly don't take for granted!

Owen has started preschool now & he absolutely LOVES it! He goes 2 days a week for 3 hours--just enough time for him to get some energy out, play with his friends, & give mama some one on one time with Evan. Owen is attending the same preschool that I attended when I was little (just in a different location) which is pretty special to me. We are all thoroughly enjoying preschool! 1st day of preschool!

Excited about the car ride to school!

Owen's classroom

Evan is such a little sweetie! He loves to be held and cuddled and loved on--and this boy LOVES to eat! At his 2 week appointment he was back to his birth weight (8lbs, 7oz) after dipping to 8 lbs when we left the hospital. While I know it's not a huge weight gain, it's quite a change from big brother--Owen took almost an entire month to regain the weight he lost initially :) He is a great night sleeper too! I feed him at 10pm, wake him up to feed him at 3am, and then he doesn't wake to eat again until about 7am--1 night feeding at 3 weeks old isn't too shabby if you ask me!

I'm completely, madly, deeply in love with my boys--ALL 3 of them!!!

God is SO good!!! :)