Thanksgiving 2014

How is it already Thanksgiving?!  We had another wonderful Thanksgiving this year with all our family!  My mom has been sick with the flu so Justin and I offered to host Thanksgiving at our house.  As soon as Camden arrived, I tried to get a couple pictures of our little turkeys:

The sweet turkey.

 The grouchy turkey.

 The diva turkey.

Mason dried up his tears so I could get one semi-decent picture.

 Since we were in charge of cooking the turkey, Justin and Papa offered to fry it.  I have always wanted to try fried turkey and it was delicious!  Super moist. I think it might be something we try again next year!

 The turkey cooks.

 While we were getting lunch ready, Kate helped make Indian headbands for all the kids and one for daddy.  Meanwhile, the boys rode the tractor around the yard.

 Three little Indians.

  I love this picture.  Can you see the circle in the grass?  Mason doesn't know how to steer so he held the wheel in one position and they rode around and around in a circle.  The entire time.

 That's a sweet daddy to wear his Indian headband.

 So blessed to call them family:

Happy Thanksgiving from the Evers!

Mason's Two Year Update

Mason has turned two! It breaks my heart seeing my baby growing up so quickly – it has happened in the blink of an eye. I know the terrible twos are already upon us because I hear “mine” repeated daily, but Mason has challenges that Kate never had at this age – an older sibling. I have never seen something so angelic and so devilish wrapped up in one tiny package. One minute he will make me want to scream and the next, he melts my heart. But every day I am so thankful God gave him to us – he makes our family complete.

Mason’s vocabulary is taking off and he will try to repeat whatever we say. I didn’t think he would ever talk, but it so exciting to hear what new words he says each day. He can say Mommy, Daddy, Kate or Sissy, Mase-ee (Mason), Gigi, Gee-Daddy (Granddaddy), Mimi, Papa, Nanny, truck, bus, car, book, Bible, Mickey (for Mickey Mouse), Elmo, cup, eat, bath, potty, tractor, jeep, and many, many more. Mason is even beginning to say two and three word sentences such as: “All done”, “No-no”, “I stinky”, “Book Mommy” “Big Truck!”, “I pooped” “Go Noles”, “Yep”, and “I love you”. Every day he says something new and now when he starts to whine, I can ask him to use his words and he will try. Whenever I praise him and say, "Yay Mason" he starts clapping and says "Yay Momma!"  It is too cute!

Mason still takes a two hour afternoon nap and sleeps from 7:30pm to 6:30am every day. He loves to “read” in bed before he falls asleep and first thing in the morning when he wakes up. We often hear the music playing from his aquarium in the mornings, a sign that he’s awake. When we walk in to get him in the mornings, he’s sitting there reading under the dull blue light of the aquarium. So sweet.

This boy still eats anything and everything - he has always been the best little eater. His favorite foods include pizza, chicken nuggets (sound familiar?!), rice, baked ziti, sweet tea, peanut butter crackers, fruit snacks, chocolate chip muffins, pancakes, bacon, doughnuts, cinnamon rolls (sounds like “Seminole” when Mason says it), apple sauce, mandarin oranges, cake (like his momma), M&Ms and sour patch kids.

At this time, I’m not in a rush to potty train Mason. He still wears a size 5 diaper during the day and a size 6 at night (to avoid leaks). Kate was 3 and a half by the time she was fully potty trained so we still have some time before we encourage Mason. Who knows, he might be super easy to potty train.

Earlier this month, Mason had a follow up appointment with the ENT Doctor about the tubes in his ears. His right ear drum has completely healed but the tube is still in the ear canal (it should fall out on its own). His left ear drum still has the tube in place (thank goodness). The tubes have worked wonders for Mason. He only had a couple more infections we were aware of after the tubes were inserted and they worked perfectly to drain the infection and not cause Mason any more pain or disrupted sleep. Unfortunately, Mason has already had another ear infection since the drum has healed in his right ear. I hope this isn’t going to be a regular occurrence but I was pleased to hear that the tube can be reinserted if needed.

Mason is such a wonderful blessing. He loves to snuggle and give kisses. He’s very independent and adventurous and is willing to try something by himself before he asks for help. He loves to ride his Jeep or Zebra all around the house, read books, put together puzzles, play with his trucks and play outside. Kate’s room is another one of Mason’s favorite places to play. He loves to put on her necklaces, wear her princess shoes and carry her purses around. Whatever keep him happy at this age is fine with me!

On the other hand, he also knows how to aggravate Kate and gets great entertainment out of it. It’s amazing to me how devious he can be at the tender age of two. While she’s watching TV, he loves to scoot his chair as close as he can to hers, but not touch her. She gets upset and relocates her chair and he quickly follows with his chair, laughing. As Mason gets older, Kate is willing to play with him more. It is so adorable watching them interact and most of the time, I let them stay up past bedtime just to listen to them cooking together, playing with Lego's or building forts. Love them!

Here's a couple pictures of our little two year old:

Mason's favorite books:

Love this FSU shirt Gigi got him for his birthday:

 "Obviously I'm a Seminole, they don't make Gators this cute!"

I can’t wait to see how much our little man grows over this next year!

My Birthday Weekend

This past Saturday was my 32nd birthday.  I had grand plans to celebrate but most of it was not as planned.  I have been sick with a terrible head cold for over a week now.  I was out of the office two days last week and still haven't fully recovered. On Friday, I met mom, dad, Jordan and Justin for lunch at Logan's.  It's been a nice family tradition we started this year and I hope we can continue it!

 I got a call from daycare on Friday afternoon to pick up Mason.  He had come down with the same congestion I have had so Friday night we spent a couple hours at Urgent Care.  The poor little guy had pink eye in both eyes and an ear infection.  On Saturday, Mason slept in until 8 so that meant I got to sleep in too on my birthday!  Sometimes that's the only perk to having a sick child, they sleep late.  Since Mason was sick and the weather was rainy, we skipped going to Bradley's Family Fun Day and just stayed close to home.  We went to Cracker Barrel for a late breakfast and it was packed.  Since it was raining, everyone was inside the store so it was less than ideal but the delicious food was worth it!  That evening, we went over to my parent's house to celebrate my birthday.  We had hamburgers for dinner and an FSU themed birthday cake for dessert!  All of my family was able to come over except Uncle Jordan (he was out of town for a golf tournament).  

 My gift from Kate:

 She drew me five red roses.  So precious.

 Helping mommy blow out the candles:

  

After I saw Mrs. Ashleigh-Anne and Kyndall's matching sweatshirts, I had to order some for Kate and I.  And lucky me they arrived that day in the mail!

 Don't we look cute?!

Happy 32nd birthday - to me!

School Pictures Fall 2014

Here are the kids school pictures from this fall. Kate's are great, Mason's make me laugh.  

 Somehow Kate ended up with only one pose and Mason has several. 

Really Mason?!

I can always count on Kate to cooperate...maybe one day Mason will too.

Halloween 2014

We have had a super busy Halloween this year!  I had tried my best to convince Kate to pick a different costume this year since Frozen was the biggest movie of the year, but she insisted she wanted to be Anna.  I was actually surprised that there weren't more Annas, but Princess Elsa seemed to be the most popular choice this year.  We kicked off the Halloween events that morning with Kate's Halloween party at school.

 Kate sang and danced her heart out during their class performance for the parents, so she was picked to be the flag holder during the pledge.  She earned it!

 Saying a prayer at the end of the program.  So sweet.

 Princess Elsa (Sterling) and Princess Anna (Kate).  

 Enjoying the costume parade.

 Kate, Sterling and Hayden.

 The best group shots I could get - terrible, I know.  But I guess it's better than nothing!

 Kate's class.

 Pretty girl!

 Thank you Gigi for coming with us!  Gigi and Granddaddy also went on Thursday to Mason and Camden's Halloween party at GSA.  

After the morning party, I went back to work for a couple hours and then picked up the kids early to go trick-or-treating at my office.  Revenue also does a huge event and puts a lot of effort into making it fun for the kids (and adults).  Kate and Mason had a great time and wasted no time collecting as much candy as possible!

We ran home and took a couple pictures before we headed out for the night:

 My beautiful princess Anna.

 My grouchy fireman.  Thankfully he gave me a smile before we had to leave:

 Handsome boy!

 They are so cute!

Before we headed to my parent's house for our annual Halloween event, we stopped by Nanny's house to trick-or-treat.  

Trick or Treat!

Once we arrived at my parent's house, we ate a quick dinner and headed out around 6:30 to trick-or-treat.  This year, the Mundies and the Stewarts joined us and we all had a great time!  Uncle Jordan brought his golf cart and trailer so the kids enjoyed a hay ride all around the neighborhood.  It worked out perfectly - thank you so much Uncle Jordan for all your hard work!

 Cousin Camden - cutest little cow I've seen.

 Group picture! 

The Mundies were the cutest Ninja Turtles, Levi was a Dusty from the Disney movie "Planes" and Izzy was a princess. From left to right: Maclain, Maddox, Mason, Miller, Camden, Levi, Izzy and Kate.

 And they're off!

 Izzy and Kate.

 Maclain and Camden picking out their candy.

 Happy boys.

 The littlest ninja turtle and Mrs. Katie.

 Riding for a little bit for a candy break.

 Famously known as the "Eyeball House" (look closely at the second story windows), it was grand finale for our group:

Happy Halloween!