Evie's "Average" ???

Average? I think NOT! :) No really though... we just got back from Evie's 1 year appt with our pediatrician and she IS "average". She's 20lbs 6oz - which is just under the 50th percentile.... and is 29 1/4 inches - which put her almost at the 60th percentile. She checked out on everything else as well and took her 4 shots (including the new flu vaccine) like a champ. Bawled uncontrollably and screamed during them, but quickly calmed down and went back to being her happy and smiley self by the time she was back in the car. Speaking of car... we've now moved her into her "big girl" car seat and is forward facing - which she loves. We turn around to look at her and she gets the biggest kick out of seeing us and being able to see where she is going.... though I think she misses all the toys we had strapped to her old seat as there is no way to attach them on this new one.

Some more news with Evie - she's starting to cut another tooth.... or so we think. The signs are all there.... horrible diaper rash (she gets it so bad) and just the general irritability at nighttime. The other night she woke a couple hours after she had gone down and was just miserable and crying and screaming, pulling at her ears, hands crammed into her mouth. She was wriggling like she wanted to be put down but when we would try that she would scream even louder wanting to be held again - she was just out of sorts. Even had given her motrin when she first woke up crying... but it took a couple hours before that kicked in and she was able to calm down... she eventually went back to bed at around 11:30 - exhausted (Evie and parents). So hopefully that little tooth pops soon so she can get over this horrible part of teething. Other than that... she is her normal happy little self. She's a babbler, and loves to imitate singing... when the boys sing their songs (which they do often) she chimes in babbling and humming tunes along with them. She loves to have conversations with you too - she even imitates the changes in tone we use and just babbles as many sounds as she can at this stage. She's understanding a lot more too. We can tell her to go get things (sippy cup, juice, bottle, bib, baby doll, blanket, Elmo, book, remote control etc) and she will go fetch that item and bring it to us - very proud of herself. And when we tell her "Thank You" she must be paying attention... cuz often when I give her things she wants she will babble out this two syllable response, with the correct inflection imitating our "Thank You." She already a little smarty pants. :) And she's starting to eat a little more "real people" food. Our issue with using more "real people"/table food is not that she won't eat it... or cannot. It is that she more enjoys PLAYING with her food and smearing and smashing it around on her tray than actually eating it. So we're trying more "real people" foods... but we're having to feed them to her to make sure she is actually getting it in her mouth. I don't mind the mess so much... it's just that NONE of the food makes it in her mouth if we just place a bunch of it on her tray. I have found that if I just put one thing (pretty monotonous) at a time on her tray (like a blueberry etc) she will eat them. But like I said - if you put a ton, they will all be smashed to oblivion. But she has tried pizza, whole blueberries, bigger chunks of other fruits she's eaten before (apples, strawberries etc), cut up grapes, peas, green beans, chicken, hot dogs, ground beef patties, pancakes, waffles, breakfast bars etc. And she does fine with the chewing and handling bigger pieces .... but just not good with the feeding vs smashing concept.

MacKay and Oscar are pretty much the same - although on a daily basis shocking me with how much they know and understand about the world around them. They are so entertaining and humorous with the things that come out of their mouths lately. I think every day I have something comical to share with Chris when he gets home about things they do and say. For example, they saw this shiny metal garbage can at the park the other day (not something you see often anymore as most people now have the big plastic bins) and they got SO excited proclaiming "Oscar the Grouch lives in there, Mommy.... let's go see Oscar the Grouch." I quickly had to tell them we couldn't go see Oscar as he was at work ..... as I really didn't want to open the lid to that as I've myself dropped our left over food containers and dirty diapers in there before and have noticed it doesn't get emptied very often... so that canister had to be pretty ripe and I wasn't about to subject my kids to that :) The other day I was showering and Oscar walked in on me to chat for a while and when he left the bathroom to go back to watching his movie I heard a loud bump on the wall and I called out to him "Oscar, what are you doing?".... and he came back around the corner and in an almost annoyed tone said "I'm OKAY, Mommy." They both love to sing... tho Oscar tends more toward the ABC Song... and MacKay to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. They now have learned "Ring Around the Rosie" and fully enjoy doing the actions that accompany the song..... and they also like to sing along with me on songs for shows that they like (Sesame Street, Dinosaur Train, Super Why etc) with their favorite being Little Einsteins - they LOVE the Little Einsteins and beg to watch them constantly. They both also love counting things and are so proud of themselves when they get it right. MacKay and Oscar both know their full names now too - though MacKay gets a little mixed up with his as Oscar was the first to show interest in learning his name so MacKay seems to think his name is Christopher MacKay Dean Hoglund (MacKay Christopher Hoglund). Oscar has been spouting "Oscar Dean Hoglund" for a while.... so I think it stuck with MacKay and he thinks that "Dean Hoglund" is the end to both of their names. :) They seem to be growing like weeds too as they are starting to wear their 4T tops (still 3T bottoms - tho we're on the last setting on the adjustable waists)... and I swear they need new shoes soon, tho Chris still thinks there is a lot of wear left in the shoes they have. :) Evie is going to be needing some shoes for winter... so we'll get them checked again soon anyway. Another new activity for the boys is wrestling and fighting. Usually it is fun... though almost always results in someone crying. But many times they get in these knock down brawls where I will find one sitting on top of the other just beating on them... and usually over a stupid toy or something. Wow .... it's begun. And of course Chris just sits there watching it, being entertained..... meanwhile I'm worried someone's gonna get their eye poked out so I'm trying to stop it. Boys will be boys eh?

What's going on with us?.... Not too much. We have a photo shoot with Trina Sutton (LuminousPrints.com) this weekend for Evie's 1 year pictures as well as some family pictures. Excited about that, yet also terrified as I need to figure out the wardrobe for the entire family (Evie is taken care of thanks to MatildaJaneClothing.com) AND I'm not sure how much I really want to be photographed as I'm not quite back to where I want to be yet .... but hopefully some slimming clothes (do I have any of those) and some strategic planning for poses will help to make me feel a little better about it all. :) On that note.... I'm so disappointed as my darn scale seems to be stuck on the same number lately. I am walking 6-7 miles daily with the kids (usually just over 6 miles) at a pretty brisk pace (15-16 minute miles). I'm amazed I can get the kids to sit in the stroller for that long but they seem to like the scenery - not to mention we sing and count and talk about things ... and they know at the end of the walk they get to go to the park at the end of our block and play for a while. They love playing at that park cuz it has a bunch of trucks (bulldozers, back hoe loaders, dump trucks etc) to play in the sand with - they keep pretty busy, which works well as I have to direct ALL my attention to Evie while we are there cuz she picks up everything (toys, sticks, pine cones... mainly acorns) and puts them in her mouth. But anyway... back to the weight loss effort....I've also been eating more healthy, adding more fiber to my diet etc..... and the scale still just likes to blink that same number at me. Though I am pleased that my clothes seem to be fitting better.... so if I can just now get the scale to cooperate, I'll be golden. Other news.... my mom is going to be retiring in a week or so - I'm hoping that means she'll be up here more often to visit and help - eventually maybe me even going back to work and her being my daycare for the kids. Maybe Chris and I can get out for a few date nights then too .... I haven't been to a movie in.... well, it's been a while. Cannot even remember the last one I went to.

We also just got back from a weekend at Gma Bonnie and Gpa Dean's ... very fun as always. MacKay and Oscar got to ride on their beloved jet ski again, and go tubing as well. MacKay got to ride on his favorite horsie tree swing (Sugarfoot) and they got to play in the lake. And all the kids enjoyed riding on "Gpa Dean's Pontoon Boat" - especially Evie. Last time she didn't quite enjoy the boat experience (July 4th) as she wasn't sure on her feet so she had to be held almost all of the time, AND she was NOT a fan of the life vest we put on her. But this time she was jetting all around the boat and loving the wind in her face and hair. All in all a good weekend and was able to snap quite a few fun pictures while we were there.

Well, that about wraps it up for now ..... tons of pictures as usual. Enjoy.

Some pictures of the kiddos having fun playing outside with their cars, trikes and T-Ball set. Evie more enjoyed walking up and down our front walk and checking out the flowers. (btw - check out the swing she's got while she walks... the pictures show it all) :)

Evie with her new baby stroller for her dolls.... playing with her kitchen set (trying to chew on some bacon) ... and hanging with her bud, Angus.

A play date with Jackson and Wyatt (their mom had an appt so they got to come over and play for a bit) ... and some pictures of the kiddos hanging out during their visit.

Just a few of the many silly smiles Evie gives off daily ... and Evie with two of her buds: Angus and Elmo

WWF at the Hoglund Household: If you lie on the ground (aka Chris pictured here) you are fair game to be pounced on... and that is exactly what our kids did to their beloved Daddy. Love the pictures of MacKay grabbing Oscar and tackling him to the ground REPEATEDLY... and Evie trying to get in on the fun occasionally. Tried to get the boys to each take a picture with Daddy on the couch (in between rounds of "chase" with me) .... MacKay wasn't wanting to cooperate much with that, though I was able to snap one decent picture of him with his Daddy.

Evie on her new ride along (Little People) toy - a birthday present from the Hehir family. She loves the music that it plays as she just wiggles to the beat every time it plays. And a picture of Evie after eating a good portion of my DQ dipped cone - probably screaming here cuz she wanted more and there was no more left.

Evie and her pal, Angus. She just loves to hug him.... will just walk up to him and lean on him, or lounge on him - just cuddle up.

Weekend at Gma Bonnie and Gpa Dean's:

Oscar and MacKay donning their swim gear... waiting to go on a jet ski ride with Daddy.

FINALLY... the jet ski ride they talked about for days leading up to our visit. You bring up "Gpa Dean" and immediately the boys start talking about the jet ski :) Even got to go on a ride on the "tube" - which they loved, up until Oscar got pummeled by a huge wave at the end of the ride. You should have seen them pull in.... MacKay casually leaning back relaxed in his seat, and Oscar with a white knuckled grasp on the handle bars looking terrified....

MacKay and Oscar hanging out on the lake patio telling me about their jet ski and tube ride ....the one picture is of Oscar's wet face as he wanted me to see how wet he was from the wave.

MacKay with his beloved "Sugarfoot" .... and Oscar with the tree swing he was more into (he doesn't quite know what to think of Sugarfoot). And Oscar plying in the lake with some beach toys.

Pontoon Ride on Pleasant Lake:

Grandpa Dean with his little "co-captains" .... the boys loved getting to drive the boat and flipping all the different switches on the dash board... even Evie got her turn sitting in the drivers seat with Gpa.

Evie enjoying her ride around the lake .... even tried desperately to get herself a beer... :)

Evie back on dry land... having fun running around in Gma and Gpa's yard picking up acorns (and putting them in her mouth as usual)

Playing at the Park across the street from Gma and Gpa's:

Evie swinging. I know it's a ton of pictures, but they were all so cute.... couldn't pare them down :)

Oscar and MacKay climbing up the jungle gym (giving me a heart attack .... MacKay has NO fear and wants NO help while he scales things 6 feet in the air).. and Oscar going down the slide.

MacKay made a new friend there.... a caterpillar that was slinking along one of the slides. He was completely obsessed with it....

Evie of course playing with rocks and anything she can get in her mouth....

Grandma Bonnie showing off her balancing skills on the wobbly foot planks, while Gpa Dean and Oscar watched, and Oscar laughing hysterically at Gma being silly when she was coming back the other way.

Gpa Dean with Oscar, and Gma Bonnie with MacKay - helping them walk across the wobbly foot planks.

Silly Gma and Gpa on the teeter totter.

Lastly .... back at home, the boys wearing Daddy's glasses (that were in much need of a cleaning after they got ahold of them)

Come back again soon - hopefully will have some pictures to post from the photo shoot we have coming up this weekend. Take care and enjoy the rest of what summer has to offer.