Golden Glow

I just love this time of year.  The leaves are golden and floating delicately to the ground in the woods outside my opened windows.  The cool mornings are glorious.  We sip warm apple cider after school and talk about visiting the pumpkin patch.  It's a time with magic in it. 

I've read and heard two good quotes lately.  Unfortunately I have no idea who said either of them...
1)  "A parent's life is a child's instruction manual."
2)  "Every saint has a past, every sinner has a future." 
Both of these are keepers....

 

Jed is 5 weeks old now and sadly half of my maternity leave is over with.  I distinctly remember a visit from an older neighbor in Carbondale, Dede Ittner, when Evangeline was 5 weeks old.  I believe I was crying, no wait, I'm sure of it....I was crying because I was talking with her about how fast the time was flying by and how much Evangeline had already changed.  Dede suggested that I write her a letter each week.  I took her suggestion and did just that.  I wrote to my darling girl about how we spent our days, visitors we had, developments she'd made.  As she got older I started recording things she'd said, her likes and dislikes.  I realize that Evangeline may have no interest in these letters in the future, maybe they will be more for myself.  I felt like in writing to her each week I could hold on to some of the babyhood, and then childhood that was fleeting so quickly.  The only thing missing from these letters were my pictures.  Then I was introduced to this form of "letter writing".  The books I am able to create with my words and photographs are absolutely priceless to me.  I love to get them out in quiet moments and relive the days gone by.....so here we are at Jed's 5 week birthday, and just like with Evangeline, I'm totally overwhelmed at how much he has already changed.  I'm starting to figure him out.  We know each other.  People comment on how he knows my voice and how he turns his head in my direction from across the room.  We love each other.  I don't want to forget any of this. 

It's official. Fall is here!

Mr. Jed was 1 month old on the 21st!  The big developmental news for him is that he rolled over Sunday for the first time from tummy to back!  I kid you not, 1 day shy of 1 month old and he rolled over!!!  Kyle and I were laying on the floor with him watching him squirm through tummy time.  He was fussing, kicking his little arms and feet like he normally does, when over he went.  No prompting, no helping.  He was super ticked off after it happened too. 

 

We had a big weekend.  It was the Marshall Autumn Fest and a birthday party for Peggy, Roy, Granny and Lily.  Not to mention Peggy's weekend to move into her new house!  It was such a beautiful fall-like weekend for all the Hutson happenings.  On Saturday morning I left Jed with Kyle and took Evangeline to the parade.  Later that day, Jed got to meet his cousins, Savannah and Lily, along with Aunt Kristen and Uncle Phil for the first time.

 

 

Mom brought Cale to the parade too.  He was mighty proud to show off his new trick of "pointing to his nose". 

 

Such a wonderful weekend with family.  

 

Ok, their expressions are priceless....couldn't pick just one.....

 

Speaking of wonderful family...my parents both took days off last week to spend with me and Jed while Evangeline was at school.  Jed and I spent the night with mom last week and we watched PBS specials on the historic castles of England.  Dad took a day off to make me brunch.  Zachary, Candice and Cale came too.  It was so nice to have a change of scenery and spend my morning drinking coffee, eating breakfast and hanging out with my people.  I love my people. 

Budding Artist

Well, I've been meaning to publish this post since July.... These top four pictures are from the Paint Like the Masters classes Evangeline's been attending each month at the art colony in town.  She loves these classes.

 

The next three are from a week long morning art camp she took at the Swope back in June.  It focused on landscapes.  Her cityscape is still at the Swope and was featured in a children's art show there.  She also loved attending this camp.  Pictured here is a rainforest, country landscape and ocean scene.  And if that whale doesn't make you smile.....

Getting in the Swing of Things

This kid.  He is very vocal about his dislikes in the world.  He doesn't like getting his diaper changed, clothes changed, being bathed or being set down....but one thing he does like are walks in the front carrier with his mama.  He's wide-eyed and calm for our 1 mile strolls around the neighborhood, or as Evangeline likes to call it, the big O.  One of my favorite things to do in the whole wide world is to take walks with my babies. 

 

Nights are still challenging, but we are getting used to it.  It's not quite as painful as it was a few weeks ago.  As I mentioned, he does not like to be put down.  So it usually goes like this....I go to bed around 8, or shortly after Evangeline does.  Kyle stays up until about 1:00 or so, then comes to get me.  I feed him off and on pretty much the rest of the night out on the couch until around 5:00 or 6:00, then Kyle relieves me so that I can lay in an actual bed for an hour or so before it's time to get Evangeline ready for school.   I'm a very grouchy zombie with a sore neck and back each day, but I try to look at it this way, I'm getting lots of snuggles and cuddles in with my newborn in this time of his life that changes in the blink of an eye. 

We visited Granny one day last week and she enjoyed holding him for a few minutes. 

Evangeline had a half day last week.  The stars aligned and both kids took a nap at the same time.  I got a good hour of speed cleaning in, which was much needed. 

This is Evangeline before school.  She's so stylish, let me tell ya.  She loves to wear her shades to school.  Mrs. Crumrin told me that one day last week she looked up from Heggerty (a phonics program we do with all the kids on the rug) and there was Evangeline just a sittin' there with her big pink sunglasses on.  Mrs. Crumrin told me she had to hold the giggles in because it was so cute.  So I've had to remind her a few times that she can take her sunglasses, but she can only wear them at recess....What a stinker.

Oh Jed,  you are one persnickety little feller.  He does everything loud...eats loud, burps loud, toots loud, cries loud....he's all boy.  He can't get enough to eat.  I am nursing this little dude anywhere between every 2 hours to every 45 minutes.  It's his favorite thing to do.  He's so animated about it too, grunting....cooing....kicking.  I fear there will be no discrete nursing in public places under his little nursing apron.  He will let the whole world know what's going on. 

 

Evangeline's been a little boy crazy lately.  I'm not sure I'm ready for this.  She claims to have not one, but two boyfriends.  She told me she likes the handsome boyfriends.  Shane is the name of one of these boys.  Kyle asked her what Shane was like and what kinds of things he was in to.  She told him, "he likes boy things, probably likes the color blue".   The kids got sorted into their reading groups this week.  Evangeline told me that she is in the same reading group with this little Shane guy.  She said that when Mrs. Crumrin announced that they will be in the same reading group her "heart started thumping a little faster".  Oh brother.  At least she's not at all shy about talking boys with us.  I hope it stays like that. 

 

Evangeline still loves sleeping in her old fashioned nightgown.  Many times her nightgown paired with the stocking cap I knitted her years ago.  It hangs way down in the back and kind of resembles the nightcap that Ebenezer Scrooge wears.  It just cracks me up at night when she comes stumbling into our bedroom in the middle of the night with this get-up on.  The below pictures are her eating breakfast in the morning before changing for school. 

 

We had an appointment last Friday in Urbana to see an orthopedic surgeon about Jed's lip tie.  We got so many different opinions from so many doctors, we ultimately decided not to do anything at this point. 

 

Oh my goodness....these two little people.....I'm so richly blessed.