More Pictures!

Grandpa and Bonnie Mom wanted to do a photo shoot with all three of their grandchildren. Unfortunately, getting two babies to be awake, in a good mood and ready to cooperate for picture taking at the same time seemed like a very difficult task. They decided to do three individual photo sessions and they got great pictures of all three kids! Here are some of my favorite pictures of my sweet boys.

Preston

Evan

Evan is a Reader!

As with most all of Evan's major achievements, such as potty training, learning to ride a bike without training wheels, or learning to swing without someone pushing, Evan learned to read as soon as he decided to be ready. Evan has known his letters and sounds for quite sometime and he is a pretty smart kid, so I KNEW he could read. However, he rarely showed much interest when I would try to work with him on his reading skills. One day a couple of weeks ago, Evan and I sat down to play some letter games online. Once we got to the website, Evan said, "I don't want to do letters. I want to read!" I clicked the online stories and was ready to read to him, but he read to me! I was SHOCKED and VERY impressed! He did SO well and needed minimal help. Over the past few weeks, he has continued to read several online books, as well as some books from my kindergarten reading class. He is SO excited to be reading and we are excited as well! WAY TO GO EVAN!

"I can read!"

Evan's Final Day of Preschool

Today was Evan's final day of preschool. In August, he will start kindergarten! Everyone says time flies and it certainly does. I can still remember Evan's first steps, first words, etc. and now he run, swim, count, and even READ! He is an amazing little boy and we are so proud of him! He has had three very successful years at preschool and we are sad to have to have to leave such a wonderful place. Thankfully, he will be going to another great place in August. He will be going to school with me at Chancey Elementary School. I am so excited because I know it is a wonderful school and I am sure he will love love his teachers and make many new friends. In the meantime, we are looking forward to a fantastic and relaxing summer!

Evan was so happy to see Bonnie Mom and Grandpa!

Evan and his favorite teacher, Mrs. Arbough. (She is our favorite teacher too!)

Evan and Grammy

Evan and Daddy

 Evan and Mommy

Evan and Preston (My Angels)

Walking in the Woods

Ever since they started opening the trails in our neighborhood, we have found that a fun family event is to walk in the woods. Although Daddy and Evan have been walking in the woods already this year, we went on our first family walk in the woods since last fall. We had a really fun hike and we saw lots of animals including a skink, a snake, and a HUGE millipede. Of course, Evan loved all of the animal sightings! When we made it to Harrods Creek, Evan wanted to use his sand toys to dig in the sandy banks. Once Daddy got Evan settled, Preston decided he wanted to join in the fun too! Preston was not big on digging, although he loved holding the shovel and dipping his toes in the cool water. Evan and Daddy found LOTS of fossils while digging and Evan now has a pretty cool collection of cool creek finds! I am sure we will be back soon for more fun and fossils!

"I am going to dig for fossils!"

"I found some!"

Preston really enjoyed dipping his toes in the water! I bet he will LOVE the ocean this summer in Key West!

Mother's Day 2013

We began our Mother's Day celebration the Thursday before Mother's Day this year, since Grammy was going to be out of town on Mother's Day. We went to Claudia Sanders Dinner House for dinner. Unfortunately, Carl had to work late, so I was on my own with the two boys. Preston was super tired and was in no mood to sit, so I spent most of the dinner outside with him. This helped him to be quiet, but I barely got to eat. Oh well! At least Grammy had a good time, which is good because we are very grateful for Grammy and all that she and Granddaddy do for the boys and for us and because we love her very much! (I have no pictures from this night, because after dinner, when I thought I could take a few pictures, Preston got so worked up from crying that he threw up. At that point, I just cleaned him up and took him home to rest and decided that it was o.k. to not have pictures!)

On Mother's Day, my boys gave me some great presents and then we headed out to the track to meet up with Bonnie Mom, Grandpa, Aunt Rachel, Uncle Teddy, and Caroline. While we had fun seeing everyone, we were not too thrilled with Churchill Downs that day. The lines were long for EVERYTHING and they were running out of things, like ketchup and programs. Needless to say, we did not want to stay too long, since it was difficult to eat, drink, place a bet, etc. After coming home, we all napped, which was FANTASTIC! Then, we had Chinese take out for dinner and played together, which was the best part of the day! (We wish we could have seen Bonnie Mom more on her special day. We all love her very much and she is a wonderful grandmother!)

I am SO blessed to be a mommy. There were times when I thought that I would never be able to have children and I am so grateful for my two boys. They are SO precious to me and I love the dearly.

I thought Evan looked SO handsome in his shades!

I just love this guy!

Happy Mother's Day, Bonnie Mom!

Although I did not get a picture with Preston at the track, I did manage to get one after dinner! (He is missing his pants because he was a messy eater!)

Throo the Zoo

We participated in the Throo the Zoo run this year, since Evan really enjoyed racing with Daddy in the family race that Humana sponsored this spring. (Evan ran over a mile in that race!) Since Daddy is only real runner, the plan was for him to run the race and then meet back up with me and the boys. My plan to was have Evan walk/run with me and I while I pushed Evan in the jogging stroller. Well, the plan sort of worked. Daddy ran the race, but Evan was in no mood to run or walk for the first part of the race and insisted on hanging on to the front of the jogging stroller while I pushed him AND Preston. Needless to say, I only ran in little spurts, since pushing about pounds is not easy! Evan did get excited about running when we entered the zoo, but once he saw the animals, he wanted to stop and see them! Once Daddy met up with us, I thought he would be ready to run, but he was hungry and he thought it was too hard to walk! Oh well! We did mange to finish the race and after a snack, Evan was happy and we did get to spend some time in the zoo looking at some of the animals that were awake. (Here's hoping our next race involves a bit more running!)

Derby Time Fun

The days leading up to Derby are always full of fun! This year, Evan and Daddy began the Derby fun by visiting Pony Tales Farm, where Evan got to ride a horse, play in the bounce houses, ride on the tractor, etc. Evan enjoyed this special time with his friends AND with Daddy.

The kids were so excited to get to ride the horses!

Evan loved riding the "yellow" horse! 

Preston and I started off our Derby week fun by attending Evan's Derby party at school. There was a great Derby parade, followed by food and LOTS of games. Evan had a great time and Preston and I did too!

Evan was the cutest little jockey in the Derby parade!

 

Ice cream!

 Ready to race!

 Evan and his good buddy, Isaac, got matching "tattoos!"

 "Go Baby Go!"

Later that day, all three of us joined Daddy downtown at Fest-a-ville to see The Great Steamboat Race. The Belle of Louisville did not pull off the win this year, but we still had fun cheering her on. We also enjoyed eating yummy carnival food, seeing the hot air balloons, playing games, and riding the rides.

The hot air balloons were super cool!

 Preston enjoyed the boat race too!

We tried to take a family picture, but Preston was much more interested in the boats!

Evan LOVED the cotton candy! It was delicious!

Evan wanted to to climb the rock wall and he did well, until he looked down and got scared. Poor thing! Thankfully, he was able to jump right down as soon as he got frightened!

Our Belle of Louisville did not win this year, but we still enjoyed the race! (We will be the winner next year!)

Carl and I went to the infield for Oaks this year, which to my surprise, was a ton of fun. Although we did not win much money on the races, we enjoyed eating drinking, people watching, etc. We even ran into a few friends!

Evan and Preston stayed with Grammy and Granddaddy while we went to Oaks. As soon as we got to their house, Evan ran to go help Granddaddy in the yard. It was so sweet!

Although we went by ourselves, Carl and I enjoyed our day at the track. Instead of date night, it was date day! 

 

Derby Day was quite busy. In addition to going to a Derby Party/Engagement Party for Greg and Allison, we also shopped for a new microwave and had Carl's family over to watch the race. The weather was awful on Derby, so we were stuck inside at both gatherings, but we still managed to have a good time. (Evan learned a lot about The Kentucky Derby at school, so he was VERY excited to watch the race this year.)

Evan LOVED his balloon because it was yellow, like the "yellow" horse he rode!

Preston and Caroline had fun playing together, but were not too interested in the race!

As always, we were sad when the race was over and all of the fun Derby festivities were over. Derby is such a fun time of year in Louisville and it is disappointing when it is all over. Thankfully, there is always more fun to look forward to next year!

Happy First Birthday, Preston!

Preston celebrated his first birthday on April 22nd. (I can't believe he is a year old already! How did the last year pass so quickly?) Preston is now a big, one year old! He is super sweet, loves to "cruise" and crawl, and almost ALWAYS in a good mood. He loves to give kisses and he loves to play with his big bother. We can't imagine life without him! He is such as blessing!

We celebrated Preston's birthday at home on his actual birthday. We were all excited about his birthday, but I must say that Evan was the most excited by far! He insisted that Preston open his card before we all left in the morning and as soon as we got home, he ran to get all of Preston's presents for him! Evan helped Preston open all of his gifts and then he showed him how to use each one. It was really sweet! Preston's favorite toys were the basketballs that went with the mini basketball goal and the boats for the bathtub/pool. We ate Mexican food that night for dinner, which we all enjoyed. Preston then went to bed a little early, since he was teething and started to not feel so well. All in all, it was a great night.

Our families and the Congleton family celebrated Preston's birthday with us the following Saturday. (Poor Grandpa was on call and not able to make it to the party.) I had hoped that the weather would be good and that we could all be outside, but it was chilly and damp, so we had to stay inside. The big kids had a lot of fun playing Star Wars, while Preston and Caroline had fun playing with the baby toys. We had pizza for dinner, which is one of Preston's favorite foods and we also enjoyed birthday cupcakes that Aunt Heather made. My favorite part of the party was watching Preston eat his cupcake. He LOVED it and he was SO happy while he ate it! Of course, I also really enjoyed having  our friends and family here to celebrate with Preston!

Happy birthday, Preston!

Preston enjoyed opening his birthday gifts. (Evan was a BIG help!)

Preston has ALWAYS done a great job when I take his monthly picture. I was CERTAIN that this 12 month birthday picture was going to be easy and look SO cute! Boy, was I wrong! Preston was in NO mood for pictures! He wanted to MOVE! He took off his sticker and tried to eat it, hr rolled, he stood, up, etc. I only got one picture of his face and it was as he was trying to wiggle out of the chair! What a funny boy!

Preston enjoyed dinner and then a special birthday cupcake! Yummy!

"I am ready to party!"

The cupcakes were delicious! 

Preston really enjoyed his cupcake! He was such a ham!

Evan made a special sign to decorate for Preston's party. What a sweet boy!

A party isn't complete without balloons!