Almost 4 weeks and counting....

Well, we have all almost made it through our 1st month w/Caroline at our house! Things have been going really well this past couple of weeks. Caroline is doing really well. She likes to sleep A LOT, unfortunately, it is just during the day. We are hoping she gets her schedule figured out pretty quickly. She has really been looking around a lot and definitely knows Dad's voice and Big Brother Thomas' (of course he is usually running through the house yelling so she doesn't have much choice w/that one).

Last weekend was pretty busy. Mimi came down on Friday to spend the day/night w/the kids. Saturday Thomas had a birthday party to go to at McDonald's for Stephen-one of his daycare friends. Then all of Dad's immediate family came to spend the night. The kids had a really fun weekend.

Thomas loved the birthday party! I took him and Andy stayed home w/Caroline. We didn't want to expose her to any unnecessary germs. She is still pretty fragile these days. He really enjoyed playing w/all the kids. While at the party I stared looking around for Thomas in the playroom where we were all located. I couldn't find him and then a mom from the table over came up and asked if Thomas belonged to any of us. He had decided it was time to eat and was trying to eat their food. Anyone who knows Thomas shouldn't be surprised by this story! The boy loves to eat! He thinks it is a great source of entertainment. So, I am not sure what he enjoyed more, the cake and ice cream or the socialization. Any ways, it was a lot of fun all around.

Uncle Bob and Aunt Andee got to meet Caroline for the 1st time. Andee really enjoyed getting to hold Caroline, Bob seemed happy to look at her from a distance. She is a pretty small baby so he may have been afraid that he would have hurt her!

This week was pretty uneventful. I had my 1st overnight alone w/the kids. Thankfully Thomas slept through the night! YEA! Caroline did really good as well.

This afternoon we took the kids to the South Lake Arts Festival. It was a lot of fun. Thomas did great in the stroller of course and Caroline had her first trip in the Baby Bjorn. She slept through the whole event. Thomas got to have some nachos, which I got to share w/him. Should have gotten two, he devoured the nachos and then started in on Andy's piece of pizza. While at the table while we were eating Andy was the errand boy. Every time we would need napkins or a drink he would run and get it. Thomas was paranoid Andy was leaving for good so he would just start screaming Dad as loud and as pitiful as he could. It definitely got a lot of people's attention. He was always so relieved to see Andy return....guess the traveling is getting to him.

Well, tune in for more updates soon. These are some pics of the past couple of days.....

Okay, sorry we haven't been updating this lately, things have been pretty crazy!

Caroline decided to make an early appearance on March 31st. I had been super sick w/the flu or whatever and it was causing Caroline to want to come out a bit sooner-can't imagine why!

On Sunday, March 30th I started having really bad contractions (or what I thought were contractions). Finally after a full day of those Andy and I headed off to the hospital. My doctor had asked me to send Thomas away for a few days so I could be on bed rest so that I could get my energy back. Thomas thankfully was in Tulsa. So, we get to the hospital and they figure out I was really dehydrated and hook me up to some IV's and tell me to come back in the morning and they will induce me. Of course, not before they send me home w/an Ambien. If any of you have never taken this I don't recommend it! I couldn't even get out of the car. Not because I was asleep, but I felt extremely intoxicated!

So, Monday comes and we head out to the hospital super early. Again, I was fortunate and had a really great delivery. I had my epidural before the pitocin. I got the pitocin after 9 and Caroline was here at 12:40! The only downer was that I had to use an oxygen mask since I couldn't breathe and her embilical cord was wrapped around her neck-same as Thomas!

She weighed in at 6 lbs 13 oz and 19 in. long! Oh ya, she has red hair! So she is pretty cute if we do say so ourselves.

Big brother Thomas wasn't sure what to think of me or her. He wanted nothing to do w/me in the hospital and really wasn't too interested in Caroline. We were released on Wed. and came home. He was excited to see us, but still pretty standoffish. Thursday rolls around and our old Tom was back! He woke up and was much more affectionate to me, he immediately came to investigate my arms. Once he realized the IV's and band-aids were gone he was good to go. He also realized Caroline was here to stay and has been great to her ever since-well mostly!

We had some friends, Jason & Erin who were great and brought us dinner Friday night. We were all visiting and Caroline was on my lap. It was about to be bedtime for Big Brother and he was trying to get on my lap and got Caroline in the process. He scratched her really deep on her forehead, fortunately it is starting to go away! She didn't even wake up-should of known then how jaundice she actually was.

Caroline pretty much slept the whole 1st week she was home. When we took her in for weight check and jaundice check we found out she had dropped to 6'2. Dr. Nale wasn't too alarmed, but when we got the jaundice test results back we discovered they were way too high so back to Medical City we go for some serious sun tanning! After 24 hours under the lights she was a brand new baby.

Since then things are starting to fall into place. She is starting to be awake more during the day. She is still waking up 2 times at night, but this 2nd child is so much easier! We had a routine to start w/and just had a much better grasp on things.

Unfortunately, Thomas has had his back molars coming in and has been running a fever on and off. He hasn't been too happy this past week, but is starting to come out of his shell. By the way, he is now obsessed w/SpongeBob. Andy can start singing the theme song and Thomas will just start yelling Bob, Bob! It really is funny to watch his dance whenever it comes on. He has figured out that our remote can turn on SpongeBob at anytime and can fast forward any commercials he doesn't want. He has known that for quite sometime, but now we get to watch it 24-7. I can now see why parents let their kids have TV's in their rooms so early-it is a sanity saver for them. Oh well, we have all actually really gotten into it.

Thomas also got a really neat wooded play set for our backyard this week. Andy calls it Ft. Thomas because it has a huge fort on it. Thanks to our good friends Travis & Macey who unfortunately, got transferred to Midland.

Sorry this is so long! I will try to keep it updated better. Hope all is well w/you guys and thanks for checking out our blog.

Crazy past few weeks!

It has been too long since we have updated this page. I keep finding other things to do besides for sitting down and updating everyone. Not to mention, it is nothing exciting I am doing.

Thomas is doing great! He has had a fun past couple of weeks. Last weekend some of the Yukon family came to visit, including Aunt Candace, Cousin Riley and Mimi. If only we had a picture of Thomas' expression on his face when they showed up-he was ecstatic. He and Riley had way too much fun and destroyed my house. It took sometime to get it back together, but it was so worth the fun they had. Thomas loves to play w/other kids and he and Riley both did a great job of sharing and taking turns. Thomas is really into hugging right now, and pats on the back. There were a few times when Riley wasn't in the mood, but he did a great job of not hurting Thomas' feelings. We can't wait until they come back.

It is crazy what all Thomas is starting to say. He loves his Shrek stuffed animal he received for Christmas and feels it is very important to give him the same food he is eating-what a mess!

Friday was Thomas' 18 month birthday. Where has the time gone! We can't believe how old he is now. Even though he is only 18 months there are some things about him that we are sure to stay!

1-He is very opionated, he wants things his way and will for sure tell you about it if not-not sure who he got this from!
2-He is also strong willed, again will tell you all about it if he isn't happy about it, definitely from Andy. :)
3-He is very friendly, he will go to anyone who wants him, this can be a good or a bad thing-we see future sales rep or politician!
4-He is so lovable and very affectionate (my personal favorite)
5-Loves to socialize w/other kids, speaking as a teacher I am a bit worried about this one in the future

What else has been going on? Well...This was a very busy weekend for the Evans. We spent the day at the lake on Saturday. The weather was great and you don't get a lot of those days in Feb. Thomas loves to go for rides on the boat and helps out w/the steering as well as pushing all the buttons. Some are okay to push and others aren't, so it is always fun trying to keep him away. We went to a beach and anchored there so the boys could play. Yes, Eddie was w/us too. He isn't crazy about the sailboat, can't quite get his footing. Thomas literally ran himself until he dropped-of course those who know Thomas know he worked up quite an appetite first! He decided to bury himself in the sand and chased Eddie up and down hills, I don't know where he gets the energy. We finally had to call it a day when he attempted to chase a duck into the water. He loves his ducks, but I think they are a bit intimidated by him. After we got back from the beach he was starving! We are in trouble, he eats anything and everything! It was hilarious watching him, he wanted no conversation just a whole banana and two 100 calorie pack crackers, followed by yogurt! That is quite a bit even for him.

Sunday we stuck to the nautical theme (who would have thought) and went to the Dallas Boat Show. Andy had some boats that were on display at the show that were using his material for work and we wanted to check them out as well as drool at the yachts! This is Thomas 3rd boat show and he did great just as he has at the other ones. He likes to point and say "bat" his word for boat. All in all it was a good weekend. Now we are just anxiously awaiting the Super Bowl-to bad our Dallas Cowboys didn't make it, we will be cheering for the Giants to take down the Patriots!

Oh ya, for the Caroline update. We went in for an ultrasound 2 weeks ago, she looks great. She was weighing in at 3 lbs-she is probably about 4 lbs now. The ultrasound tech said the only thing she saw that looked a bit odd was how cute she was! She said you usually can't tell that this soon, I am sure she says that to all the parents to be. If she doesn't come on her own I will be induced on Fri. April 11th. We have 8 weeks to go! Our furniture should be here this week or next and then the fun begins-at least for Andy, since I am pregnant there isn't much I can do, right? No painting, no heavy lifting-I guess I can just give orders-something he would say I am great at! Just kidding.

Sorry this was so long! I will try to do a better job at keeping everyone up to date.

Hope this finds everyone doing well. We have had a busy last couples of weeks. Last weekend, Thomas was a big boy and went and spent the weekend in Tulsa. He says he had a really good time. He loves the stairs at Gran Robin & Ricky's house and enjoyed some time at the park as well. It was really hard for me to let him go. I know he needs to be away, but get so used to him being around. He hadn't been on an overnight stay w/out us since Oct. so we know it was long overdue, and we all survived!

Thomas has decided these past couple of weeks that he is too big for his highchair. We are working really hard on breaking this quickly. We still enjoy eating out from time to time and need him to be in a chair so that he doesn't escape. On a good note, it is amazing all that he is saying now a days! You can tell he is really starting to repeat what you are saying (so some of us have to be careful)! He is also really gotten into to giving hugs and really likes to pat your back as he is hugging you. He is are little sweet man.

The picture we have of him this week is him playing in my car. It has become one of his favorite places. Eddie was fighting w/a squirrel (one of his favorite things to do) and Thomas was watching intently to see what would happen next! Unfortunately, it is the story of Eddie's life, he has a big bark, but not so big bite. The squirrel got away.

We go to the doctor on Friday to do another ultrasound for Caroline and we will know more about how much she is weighing in at (I am pretty sure we are having twins at the moment) and how accurate our due date will be! We have ordered our furniture and are now debating on which bedding to go with. Who knew this would be so difficult. Check in next week for a new update.

Jennifer, Andy and Thomas

We have survived the holidays! It was a crazy time as always. We spent the week of Christmas between Tulsa and Yukon. Thomas was so much fun this year! He got way too many gifts that we are now desperately trying to find room for in our house. We feel like he has taken over. He was really into Santa this year. He seemed to enjoy saying "Hi." to all the fake Santas, but when it was time to see the real one at the mall, he wasn't all that interested. Hopefully next year it will be better.

We really tried to start some family traditions of our own this year. Some of our favorites were:

1) Driving around looking at Christmas lights and listening to Jimmy Buffett Christmas. Thomas loves to dance and every time that CD comes on he goes crazy regardless of where we are.

2) I introduced Thomas to "The Polar Express," he is amazed with it. He will sit there forever watching it.

Everything else is going well. I am now officially 27 weeks along. Caroline is kicking like crazy. She kicks all the time. We can already tell she will be able to hold her own w/Thomas. We go back to the doctor in two weeks for an ultrasound to see how much she is weighing in at, but I feel pretty confident she is going to be a big baby!

Now that I have finally figured out to do this blogging regularly I will keep it updated so everyone can check in!

Thomas watching "The Polar Express" on his new 4 wheeler