Happy 4th of July!!!

We hope yours was a blast!!

Evelyn Update

Evelyn Joy is becoming a little imp-ier by the day, but as she bypassed the terrible two's, we can't complain too much. At 3 1/2 years old, Evie loves to shadow Mommy and Daddy and then do things exactly like them (in that too familiar, disturbing, toddler kind of way...). She is our little imitator. However, unique to Evelyn is her love for her blanky and her sippy cup. As you can see (above) she takes the sippy everywhere... EVERYWHERE! She is having a hard time right now transitioning into summer, as she refuses most every day to wear shorts and short sleeves. Mommy is a little worried about heat stroke. She is still wearing winter jammies, too. In addition, she sleeps with a stuffed bunny from Grandma Riggs and a stuffed American eagle from Grandpa Conway. She loves swimming, riding her tricycle, reading books, singing, dancing, drawing and swinging on everything she can find. She has a chipped front tooth from when she insisted on exiting the car by herself and landed face-first on the pavement. She loves helping Mommy and Daddy and doing things independently. She tries to hold and cuddle AJ, but he freaks out every time. She is a big time lover and cuddler, but she and AJ are always literally fighting for lap time. She also likes to steal his toys. Otherwise, they get along fine.
One thing that makes Evie very unique is her amazing recollection of songs. At age three, she probably knows the tune and words to over a hundred, and she'll pull them out at random times. Her favorite right now is "If You're Happy and You Know It." She LOVES her grandparents and is horribly spoiled by them! And, of course, she is adorable!!! :)



...Sweating profusely through the summer night (in winter jammies).

AJ Update

AJ is 13 months old, now, and still a complete Mommy's Boy! His teeth total eight now and are sprouting up like mad. He is somewhat slight (his pants fall off of him), somewhat serious, uncompromising, persistent and bright. AJ likes opening and closing things--doors, drawers, containers of all shapes and sizes. He can push shapes through his shape sorter, and so far he uses the following words: book, dog, ball, up, sippy, outside, look, "yuck," no, "yeah," stair, momma, dada, "quack." :) He loves singing the "Five Little Ducks" song with Mommy and Evie. He loves making faces with Evie and playing peekaboo. He is ALWAYS sucking his thumb!! He loves balls, trucks, animals and books. He loves baths but not the pool (yet) and swinging but not the slide (yet). He LOVES to be held! He can't stand NOT being held when he's with a babysitter. He is standing, cruising, and walking while holding one of Mommy or Daddy's hands, but he will not walk on his own, yet, and I have the feeling he will not be coerced into it, as everything he does must be completely his own decision. :)

As you can see, he is also adorable.