Evan had a great 4 month checkup, he weighed in at 16 pounds and 9 ounces (81st percentile) and was 25.5 inches long (72nd percentile), and very healthy overall, screamed for a minute during shots and then went to sleep! He talked and laughed and raised his head up from his tummy and was just a little doll. She said to have food introduced before his 6 month check up, once he is sitting a little bit better. So, we will probably start with some cereal here in a few weeks and see how it goes! On Sunday, he weighed in at 16 pounds and 13 ounces, so he is steadily gaining and definitely pacing ahead of Graham! I packed up all the 0 - 3 month clothes this weekend and a lot of the 3 - 6 month stuff! He can still wear some 3 - 6 months, but is steadily moving in to the 6 - 9 months now! So hard to believe!

Graham had a good week at school, we are still hit and miss with him being dry at nap and at bedtime, but we just keep encouraging him and hopefully it will totally click for him soon. He had a good week at school and got to go visit the treasure box, so that was good! On Thursday evening, we had a playdate with Carson, they had lots of fun playing outside on the playset and running all around. We also went to visit a new baby horse over at Missy's, so he thought that was really neat!

On Saturday morning, we headed out early to run some errands and made a visit to the train table at Barnes and Noble, always a fave for Graham. We had lunch at the mexican place and then headed home and loaded up and headed to the lake! Graham could not have been any more excited! We went and visited the boat first, it all checked out good. Then, we headed to the beach. Graham wanted to immediately go out on the kayak with Dean. They stayed out a bit and then Dean brought Graham back and headed back out himself. Then, they worked on a big sand castle and then kayaked some more, this time with Graham taking a turn at the paddles, it was amazing how quickly he "got it." Evan and I chilled out on the shore most of the time and of course he fell asleep! Once we were done at the beach, we headed to the pool. As usual, no one was around, so we had the pool to ourselves and Graham headed right in with his noodle and went back and forth from one end of the pool to the other! Evan finally woke up and we dipped his toes in a bit. The water was still a little cool, so we decided to not get him in. Graham did not want to leave, but we assured him we would be back soon! We headed home, got a pizza and called it a day. Both boys crashed hard and fast!

We headed to church on Sunday for the last service before summer hours. It was Dean's last Sunday for choir until after Labor Day, so that will be nice to have him with me and the boys for service. Evan is waking up a bit more at church so everyone is really enjoying getting to see him. The girls brought Graham in from the nursery at communion time and he was very very quiet and did very good up at the rail. Then, he went back to the nursery until the end of service. I am usually giving Evan a bottle at that time, so it is easier for Graham to go back to the nursery. But, once Dean is there, Graham will be able to stay in for the end of service and we can work on him being better and better every week!

We hope to head back to the lake on Memorial Day. We decided to sit Sunday out and catch up on some things around the house and it stormed and rained anyway. I was also starting to get us packed up for vacation!!!!! We are leaving on Thursday for the mountains of NC! First stop is the NC Zoo in Ashboro, then Tweetsie Railroad to see Thomas the train and then Grandfather Mountain to see more animals. It is going to be a really really neat trip for Graham. We will be back on Sunday and can't wait!!!!!

We re-cooperated from the big day of Evan's baptism but I had a super crazy busy week at work, so our schedule was all over the place. We were up extra early and changed around the drop off and pick up schedule and I even dropped Evan off a couple mornings at 7am! But, both boys seemed to do fine with it. Graham had a good week at school and got to go to the treasure box, so that was great! He has started staying dry most days at naptime and not needing a pull up. So, he asked on Friday night if he could wear underwear to bed and we said he needed be dry all night in his pull up and if he did, then the next night, he could wear underwear. Well, of course, the pull up was all dry the next morning and he was so proud and he remembered come bedtime on Saturday night and was so excited to get to wear his underwear. So, then, just to keep things fun, he was up in the middle night with wet underwear and had tried to change himself and then he went again by morning! So, we aren't quite there yet, but atleast he is trying and interested!

We had a wedding to attend on Saturday for a friend that Dean works with, so mom came down Saturday morning to watch the boys. They had a good time, Evan mostly slept and mama and Graham played and played and even broke out the play-doh! We were just gone a few hours and got home before bedtimes, so that was good. Mama headed back out Sunday morning and since I was exhausted from the crazy busy week I had and had so much to do around the house, me and the boys stayed home from church. We ran some errands Sunday afternoon and got a little outside play time in just before a big thunderstorm!

Evan has his 4 month doc appt on Tuesday morning, so hard to believe! We had his four month photo shoot this weekend and he has really changed so much. He coos and talks like crazy and is rolling over on his side, but not completely flipping over yet, but it looks like it wont be long! I am packing up clothes left and right that he has already outgrown!

We are looking forward to next weekend, Memorial Day, and the annual kick off of our summertime fun at the lake. Graham has already been talking about it a good bit and we can't wait for Evan to join in the fun as well!

Another busy week preparing for Evan's big day on Sunday getting baptized! We were busy working around the house inside and outside to prepare! We talked about the baptism a lot with Graham and showed him the pictures from his baptism and so all week he was talking about how “Evan was going to get sprinkled at church.” It was very very sweet!

We had a pretty good week, busy yet again. Our schedule is just different week by week and day by day in terms of drop-offs and pick ups. I had to work late on Tuesday night, so Dean picked up both boys and had them in the bed by the time I got home. On Friday, he went in earlier and I dropped both boys off, so that was a couple different things! Graham loves to check out all the toys in the room at Evan’s “school,” so that keeps him occupied while I am talking to Evan’s teacher about his day.

My mom came down early Saturday morning to help me start cooking and cleaning to get ready for the luncheon at our house after the baptism. Dean and Graham went and got haircuts and came home looking super handsome. Graham is such an old pro now at going to see Rachel to get his hair cut, he totally knows the drill. It is really cute. Dean worked outside the rest of the day and mama and I worked all day long! Everything looked great though!

We were all up early on Sunday morning and took lots of pics before church of everyone with Evan in his baptism outfit. Then, we headed to church! Evan must have known it was his big day as he woke up right when we arrived at church and stayed awake the entire time until we headed home! A first for him!!!!! He was a doll baby though! We went in for service surrounded by family and friends and Evan just looked all around and was all smiles! Dean went to get Graham just prior to time for the baptism. Watching Graham’s face during the ceremony was my favorite part! He was so mesmerized! Evan was the best little baptisee and made a little coo at the end, almost like he was saying AMEN! Graham went back to the nursery and service proceeded and then Dean went back and got him and brought him back in at communion time. Again, he was very very well behaved and when we got back to our seats, he wanted to sit between my parents and was a little angel again until service concluded!

We headed home to “party” which Graham was most excited about! Everyone enjoyed all the food and Evan got all kinds of gifts and we had gifts for the godparents and Grandparents and took lots and lots of pictures! Graham and Lillian got to play outside on the playset and play bubbles and it was just a perfect afternoon! Evan stayed awake until everyone left and then finally konked out! He never fussed or cried, just stayed awake and awake! It was such a neat day!!!!!!!!!

Evan weighed in at 16 pounds and 6 ounces, so he is continuing to steadily gain. He has got himself in to a pretty good feeding schedule and he goes to bed right around the same time as Graham or shortly after. We continue to be blessed with two little good sleepers!!!!!!!!!

Graham continues to love on Evan and just be the sweetest big brother, during prayers and stories one night last week, I put Evan in the bed with him. Graham just thought that was the best thing ever, so of course, I had to run get the camera!!!!!!!!

We headed out early Saturday morning and stopped at Panera and picked up breakfast treats and stopped and celebrated with Dean's mom (and dad). Michelle and Al also came over, so that was nice. Al had not seen Evan and Michelle had not seen him since he was much younger. Of course, Evan was happy to hang out with anyone that wanted to hold him and then he finally konked out and went to sleep. We left there and went to the nursing home to see my Granny. I had not seen her since about 2 weeks before Evan was born, so it was good to see her and to take Graham to see her and for her to see Evan. She seemed happy to see us all and we took her some flowers and a balloon, which Graham was very excited about! We had also made handprint artwork for all the grandmothers, so Graham was even more excited to hand those out to everyone.

We left there and ended up at my parents house for the remainder of the day. Kenneth, Danah and Lillian also joined us and mom fixed a yummy dinner and we had a nice visit. Lillian and Graham can really play well together now, so that is neat. Evan was awake a good part of the visit and we had lots of photo shoots, so that was fun. I had Graham and Evan all decked out in their matching shirts, I just LOVE that! By the time we got on the road around 7pm, both boys were exhausted and fell asleep within minutes of us getting on the road. We were able to put them both in bed when we got home around 830pm and they slept straight through until morning (well, Graham did come to "visit" us once around 3am, but Dean got him back in bed and back to sleep).

After church, we headed to Kabuki for lunch. Graham was all excited to see the fire and Evan even stayed awake the whole time we were there watching all the entertainment! We had a yummy lunch and again both boys konked out in the car on the way home and we carried them in and they took nice afternoon naps! I think they were still a little tired from Saturday too! Dean has been doing lots of outside work to finish up our projects and get everything looking really nice for when we have everyone over next Sunday after the baptism. I have lots to do inside as well, so it will be a very busy week as we prepare, exciting too though!

Evan weighed in at 16 pounds and 2 ounces on Sunday! He is quite the solid little guy, even more so than Graham was! Everyone comments on how chubby he is, especially his cheeks! He continues to be a great sleeper, knock on wood. He is still taking the paci some, but really using his thumb A LOT! He is definitely sucking his thumb more than Graham did! So, we will see how that turns out!

We survived week 2 back at work and Evan's start to daycare. We still are not in a good morning routine, Graham is waking up early between 6 - 630am every day, so that kind of sets the tone for the mornings. Typically, Evan is still sleeping sound and has to be woke up! So, we are still mixing up who drops off who and who picks up who. I had to work late on Monday and Dean got both boys, then I got them both on Wed and Thursday when he had choir. So, I guess we will just keep taking it a day at a time!

Evan had a pretty similar week to the first week. He seems very stimulated and interested in what is going on and isn't sleeping like he has been at home, so then he wants to crash in the evening and then I have to wake him up at bedtime to eat again and he sleeps all night. Then, after having a great week at school last week, Graham struggled with being a good listener this week! We and his teachers just keep working with him, and we just hope for a good week this week!

On Saturday, my parents came down for the weekend. Dean and I did some yard work and Daddy did some projects for us and Mama watched the boys. Mama and Graham played outside and Graham also came to visit us while we were landscaping and got his shovel and rake and was happy to help out. So, that was cute. It was a gorgeous day and we worked hard and got a lot done, so that was great. We ended the day with steaks on the grill!

On Sunday, Dean headed to church and I hung out with mama, daddy and the boys and then I met up with Dean for lunch. Then, we headed to Hollins University for the concert performance that he was participating in. HIs parents joined us as well and it was a very nice way to spend the afternoon. Dean really enjoyed singing and it was just beautiful! We got back home and my parents headed out and we did the final parts of our weekend yard projects in shifts and then both boys went to bed super easy! I think they were both tired after a big weekend with mawmaw and pawpaw!

Evan weighed in at 15 pounds and 12 ounces on Sunday! Needless to say Graham's baptism top won't button, so we did have to get him a new one, but Graham's pants and hat do fit him, so that is a little odd. He seems to be long waisted and short legged! He is eating around 30 ounces of milk a day and starting to eat on a pretty good schedule, so that is good. He is also drooling tons and chewing his hand, which of course, could mean nothing. But, we can't help but remember that Evan is about a week away from when Graham's first two teeth popped through, right at baptism time! So, we will see! We are getting so excited for his baptism in 2 weeks, we are meeting with Father Paul this Wednesday to go over the service.

We are looking forward to seeing our moms next Saturday for Mother's Day and then I am very excited to celebrate with my three guys on Sunday!

Here is Graham "helping" with the yard work.