First Day of School

Many of you know that Evan is currently in Speech Therapy.  He "says" many words but when it comes to actually communicating with others he has a bit of a delay.  He is seen by a Speech Therapist once a week here at the house and she has already done great things with him and given Jimmy and I amazing tips to help us help Evan.

Once we saw the little improvements being made with therapy, Jimmy and I decided to go ahead and enroll Evan in a one day a week "Mother's Day Out" program.  We researched, researched, and researched various one day and two day programs in our area.  We ultimately decided a one day a week program was probably best for Evan and after visiting the school, we fell in love with the staff and curriculum at Prince of Peace Catholic Church Mother's Day Out Program.  Our hope was that Evan would meet some great friends, learn valuable social interaction skills, and improve his communication skills.  It has turned out to be the most amazing decision we've ever made!  My only regret is that we didn't enroll him sooner!  He absolutely loves "going to school."  Some days he cries when I drop him off (just like any normal two year old) but overall he is really enjoying it and his teacher, Ms. Kathy, says that he is doing great and fitting into the class just perfectly!  Jimmy and I love Wednesdays because we can't wait to hear about how he's done at school or what project they made or what new song they learned.  It is such a wonderful sense of pride and happiness to hear that your son had a great day at school.

Just like any proud parents, we took some pictures of his first day of school!

Now, the only thing I have to "get used too" is having my Wednesdays open to do whatever I want!  Most of the time I take the chance to go food shopping and get other various errands done.  I forgot how easy it is  to do that stuff without having to entertain a 2 year old at the same time!  And, I won't lie, now that the third trimester fatigue has taken over full force, I definitely take advantage of the occasional, uninterrupted afternoon cat nap!  I also know that this alone time won't be lasting much longer with the baby due any day now, so I'll enjoy it while I can!  

Lackland Snow Day

For the past few years Lackland AFB here in San Antonio has had a "Snow Day."  Since the chances of southern Texas actually receiving any amount of snow is next to non-existent, the base trucks in a bunch of man made snow to play in.  This year they made over 90,000 pounds of snow for kids (of all ages!) to enjoy.  As soon as I heard about it I knew I wanted to bring Evan.  He has never experienced snow before so I knew he would have a great time.  The best part of the day...my friend Suzanne (who I've known since 6th grade!) and her family joined us for the fun!

Curious and a little hesitant.

This stuff is slippery.  I'll just take a seat right here.

Evan was so jealous Jacob had Mickey Mouse on his jacket!

Evan had so much fun sledding with Jimmy.

Watching from the side lines as Suzanne goes down the hill with Pablo and Joey!

What's not pictured below is Suzanne's scream!

It was pretty funny to watch and listen!

Suzanne and Joey

I got you Mom!

 

Two Year Old Portraits and Family Christmas Photos

Every year, sometime around the middle of November, since Evan was born, we have had his picture taken professionally   We enjoy having a memento of how he has grown up during the past year.  Since we are all dressed up and looking our best (takes a lot of work, believe me!) we go ahead and have a few family photos taken as well.  We then use our favorite images to create our Christmas Card for that year.  This year's turned out really nice (I maybe a little biased though).  Of course, Evan was his typical "two year old" self and was interested in everything other than sitting and posing.  However, we were still able to get a few really good images.  I absolutely love his smile and how the more excited he gets, the squinty-er his eyes get!

The photographer set up these present boxes and originally wanted to get a few photos of Evan to sitting on them.  It was a good idea and would have been an adorable picture.  Evan had a different idea though.  After she spent the time setting them up and arranging them just right, he quickly rearranged them, opened them up, and fixed them the way HE thought they should be.  It wasn't what was originally planned, but it did make for some really cute and funny photos!

There's that smile I love so much!

My handsome little boy.

My absolute favorite photo from the whole day!

While attempting to get Evan to "sit still" the photographer pulled out an Elmo puppet from her prop storage. As she was doing that he spotted a football...it was all over then!  He was so excited about that football!  Him playing with the football actually ended up making some excellent photos.  In fact, these ended up being Jimmy's favorite (imagine that!).

On your mark, get set, go!

These are the family portraits we posed for.  They turned out pretty good.

Evan steals the show in all of these.  As it should be!!

Our 2012 Christmas Card.  It turned out perfect! 

Somethings Never Change

This was Christmas 2011...

This was Christmas 2012...

He is still obsessed with the Hallmark Peanuts Band Characters!  Once you get over the non-stop Christmas Carols played by the band because Evan is always pressing the buttons, it's actually pretty cute how much he loves them.  I'm so glad we started collecting them last year.  I'm already looking forward to pulling them out next Christmas.

On a different note, I cannot believe how much he has grown in the past year.  Comparing these pictures makes me happy that my little guy has grown into such a big boy!  At the same time, it makes me a little sad that he's growing up so fast.  They really do grow up in a blink of an eye!  I'm so glad that I get to spend my days watching him grow up.  It is definitely not something I take, or ever will take, for granted.  

Catching up on the Holidays

I guess the one good thing about waiting so long between posts is that I always have a ton of fun stuff to talk about!

We will start with the Holidays!  We spent Thanksgiving in North Carolina with Jimmy's family and had a wonderful time.  We visited the Greensboro Children Museum, which Evan absolutely loved and I have a feeling he could have spent every day there.  We also visited Uncle Kevin at his fire station.  Yet, another place Evan absolutely loved!  I went to my first Thanksgiving meal at K&W Cafeteria.  It was actually very, very delicious and of course I ate way too much.  We followed dinner up with taking Evan to his very first movie, Wreck It Ralph.  Much to our surprise, he actually did really well.  I had visions of having to chase him around the theater or hold him hostage in his chair for most of the movie but I was pleasantly surprised!  We also jumped at the chance to attend the NC State vs Boston College Football game in Raleigh.  NC State won, yay!  We also froze our butts off because it was so cold!  But, we still had a great time!
 

Our Day at the Greensboro Children's Museum

Playing Football with Daddy

Uncle Kevin showing Evan around the Firehouse

For Christmas my parents came to visit and even though their visit started off on a sour note, we had a wonderful visit with them.  The very first night they were in San Antonio, their car was hit by a drunk driver while parked in front of our house.  Thank goodness no one was in the car when it was hit, but it sure did do some pretty significant damaged!  Good ole' San Antonio drivers for you. 

But, even though a good chunk of my parent's time here was spent having to deal with the car we were able to enjoy a few of the San Antonio sights.  We went down to the Riverwalk, walked around, enjoyed a delicious lunch, and stopped by to check out the Alamo.  I took my parents onto base and my Dad reminisced (or should I say had "unpleasant flashbacks") seeing all the trainees march in formation and stand at attention.  We really enjoyed having my parents here.  I love having them around and I'm so happy that Evan was able to get in some quality "Grammie and Grandpa" time. 

The Gingerbread Sponge Bob Pineapple Bikini Bottom Evan and Daddy made together.

(Daddy probably did more of the assembling while Evan did more of the snacking on the candies)

Snacking on the cookies Santa left behind.

Showing Grammie how to eat the candies off the the gingerbread.

Family Photo Take #1

Family Photo Take #2

Much Better!

In front of the the San Antonio Christmas Tree at the Alamo

One last picture before leaving for the airport.  

We miss you Grammie and Grandpa!

Christmas Morning we Skyped with our families around the country.  We were able to open presents with Grandmother and Paw Paw in North Carolina and with Stephanie and Lyle in Ohio.  We also skyped with Katie and Lathan in Boston and learned some very amazing news...Lathan had asked Katie to marry him Christmas morning and she (of course) said YES!!  So, it looks like we will be having a very awesome party to go to the end of April in Alabama!  We cannot wait!  Even thought I think it's impossible, I think Jimmy is more excited than I am...he loves a good party!

Right after he proposed!

The Ring!

Everything is good with me and Baby Bowers #2.  I'm 31 weeks (where does the time go).  I'm healthy and the baby is doing great.  We had a little bump in the road a few weeks ago.  I had failed my 1 hour glucose tolerate test and the baby was measuring approximately 5 weeks ahead according to my fundus height.  So, my doctor was a little more than worried I was gestational diabetic.  After having a little emotional and mental breakdown, I went for the 3 hour glucose test (a very unpleasant experience!) and had a growth ultrasound.  And, thankfully everything came back normal!  The baby was measuring a little big but still within normal limits on the ultrasound and my sugar levels all came back within normal range.  Very relieved!  My next appointment is this Monday and I'm already looking forward to hearing our baby's heart beat again. 

New Year's Eve

31 Weeks

Only 9 more weeks to go!