8 weeks

Seriously?  When did 8 entire weeks go by?!  This girl is too precious for words.

School parties

I was able to make it to Korbyn's school Christmas party.  All the kids were so excited to see a baby.  Korbyn was very proud to show off her little sister to her friends.

After that, Evan and I headed over to the elementary school to surprise my class at their class party.  I was so nervous because I honestly thought they may have forgotten about me.  I slowly walked in the doorway and one girl looked up and her eyes got so huge and she yelled "Mrs. Coates!"  Then they all looked up and came running to give me a hug.  It was awesome!  They made me feel even better when they kept asking me if I was coming back tomorrow because they missed me.

My poor sub.  From what I understand she was SO ready for Christmas break.  They were playing pin the nose on the snowman after they had their snack.  And of course I had to have a turn!

A lot of people have been asking me if I'm dreading going back.  Not at all.  I like to work and I like my days being filled with a little chaos and the unknown.  I absolutely ADORE my babies and if I was worried about them during the day when I'll be gone it would be a different story.  But I know that they are both being taken care of so I'm not dreading going back to work in the least bit.

Hot chocolate

Didn't realize this didn't post!

I love being at home this time of year.  We've had some really cold days where Korbyn can't get out and play.  So we've spent several days in our jammies watching tv.  Her new favorite thing is hot chocolate with marshmallows.  This evening she came in from playing outside and said "mommy, can I have some hot chocolate to warm me up?  I'm cold!"  So Colton, Korbyn and I all enjoyed some yummy hot chocolate.

The second picture is what I get when I say "smile for real."

Sisterly love

Korbyn wanted to hold Evan so bad the other morning.  I told her she wasn't going to be very happy but she insisted.

Korbyn has really impressed me with how much love she shows her.  The other morning I laid Evan down for a nap and I hopped in the shower.  She must have woken up in the meantime because when I got out I could hear Korbyn saying "and this little pig went to the market..." She was kneeling over Evan talking to her and giving her her paci and playing her music on her toy so she wouldn't cry.  Absolutely adorable.

Little chunker

These pictures make me laugh!  She is so huge already.  Korbyn was a big baby, but Evan is already surpassing her.

Both my babies were tiny (I guess average) when they were born, but they both chunked up so fast.  I always grab Evan's cheeks and call her little chunker. The other day I heard Korbyn kiss her and say "awww, you little chunker!"

Attached

I'm starting to realize that Evan has become really attached to me.  The first time I left her was for my six week checkup, so she had been with me constantly for six weeks! 

 My cousin Tammie watched her for me all day while I went to my appointment and got Christmas shopping done.  She said she was good, a little fussy but not bad.  I get there and pick her up and she's all better.  Today I met with my sub after school to get caught up on everything and Ashley, who will be watching her when I go back to work, watched for a few hours.  When I got to her house Evan was fussy and I walked over and put my cheek on hers and started talking to her and she immediately calmed down and went to sleep.  Melts my heart but makes me nervous for when I have to leave her everyday.  

Christmas tree

We got our Christmas tree!  We had fun picking it out this year because Korbyn was so opinionated.  She picked some pretty unique ones before we settled on this tree.

When we were leaving I looked at Korbyn and said "man, you can tell we are now parents of two kids."  Colton asked why and I said we would have never left the house with her looking like that!  Her hair was a mess, she had a juice mustache, her sweatpants were rolled up like capris, with a play shirt that I'm sure had several stains on it.  And yes I know, nobody else even thought twice about what she looked like.  Now we're just lucky if we GET out of the house!

Thanksgiving

This year we had thanksgiving at memaw Loranne's and papaw Doug's.  These girls have such a good time and play so good when they get together, I just wish we could see them more often.

We had debated on whether we were going to try and go to San Saba this year.  We decided that we weren't going to because of the baby.  But just like us, we change our mind at the last minute and go!  We left around 4 and only had to stop once to feed Evan.  She was of course great the entire weekend, even continued to sleep through the night.  I was worried because this was the first time to be away from home and how she would respond.  

This kid LOVES to be in the kitchen.  Noah and Korbyn we're helping to make breakfast.

And are these not the cutest pictures ever?!  She is so smiley in the mornings.

My niece Grace shot her very first deer while we were there.  Korbyn kept saying the deer was sleeping.  We aren't the sugar coat it type of parents, so we were explaining that Grace shot the deer and it's dead so now we can eat it.  I think she's getting the hang of the word "hunting."  There's been a couple of evenings where Colton will go hunting in Fedor and she'll ask if he shot a deer.  

Now "dead" is something we're working on.  We've still been explaining that Pixie has died and is in heaven with Jesus when Korbyn asks about her.  When we got to San Saba the kids were running around and somebody said "where's Evan?" so they were all being silly and looking for her and then I hear Korbyn laughing and say "maybe she died!" Uhhh...no.  So apparently she thinks when something died we just can't see them right now.  We'll get there!

Beautiful girls

 Korbyn and Evan are both one month in these pictures.  Korbyn is the top with the bow and Evan is in the camo. 

 They have so many similarities, but I see so many differences too!  They are both beautiful beyond words :)

Sleep

I'm not really sure how we got this lucky. Since the day we came home from the hospital Evan has slept 6-8 hours at night!  She started off in a swing in our room (I would never turn it on) and by day three when I realized she was pretty consistent, I moved her into her crib into the room that the girls will share.

Our nightly routine starts around 7-7:30.  I give the girls a bath together, Colton gets Korbyn dressed and then she can either read books or watch cartoons until I call her for bed.  In the meantime, I get Evan dressed and feed her a bottle around 7:30-8 and then lay her in her crib.  She normally is still awake and will just doze off by herself.  Then Colton or I will read Korbyn a book and pat her for a few minutes and that's it!  Evan will normally wake up between 3-5 for a bottle and will then go right back to sleep until around 8.  Korbyn on the other hand wakes up around 6-6:30 and is ready to go, but I'll take that routine any day.

I'm waiting for the night where she's up every few hours and just won't sleep.  But, when that night comes I'll take it, begrudgingly of course, knowing that my wonderful sleep-filled nights are over with :(

She's so alert during the day.  After she wakes up and eats in the morning she is in the best mood!  She stays awake until 10-11 then takes about a two hour nap.  Then she's up the rest of day and takes another little nap around 4.  It's like she's on the schedule of a one year old!

Big Sister

Korbyn is slowly adjusting to another child being in the house.  Right after Evan was home Korbyn went through a phase of where she didn't want to do anything we asked her to do.  She would flat out tell us "no" which is not like her at all.  Thankfully we're reaching the end of that and if that's all she's going to dish out, we'll take it!

 The poor thing has had so much change in her little life here lately.  We had a discussion one evening after they were asleep that we both felt sorry for her because of all the changes and she probably doesn't really understand what's going on.  We talked about how we feel bad when we have to get on to her about anything now because it just seems like it hurts her feelings.  But it's very important to us that we still explain things to her and don't turn around and baby her just because we feel bad.

 She is definitely in love with her little sister!  This morning Evan was sitting in her bouncer and Korbyn went over to give her a hug and was talking to her and Evan started smiling so big at Korbyn for the longest time.  Korbyn was SO excited!  I think she'll get more excited about her the more she grows and is able to interact with her.

Korbyn is very good with her, but I can't really brag on her too much for wanting to help me with her.  There's times when she wants to help and times when Evan can be sitting right next to her screaming because her paci fell out and is laying right by her head and Korbyn will tell me, without even moving, that she can't help because she can't find her paci.

She always asks to hold her and is constantly giving her kisses and hugs, especially when we're around other people.  It reminds me of a dog marking it's territory a little bit!

I can't wait to see Evan and Korbyn interact and really play with each other...it will be interesting that's for sure.

Happy 3rd Birthday Korbyn!

Since Evan's birth was so close to Korbyn's birthday, we decided we couldn't do the costume party this year.  We had a small party at memaw Loranne's house with family only and it couldn't have turned out any better! 

We loaded up the bounce house and the kids had a blast.  The weather was a little cooler so it made it so nice to be outside.

 I know I've said it before but I will say it again, Colton and I are SO blessed to have the mothers that we do.  They are excellent mothers first of all, always willing to help out any way they can.  And are exceptional memaws on top of that.  They both worked together to put this party on for Korbyn and I can't thank them enough for making this day so special for my little girl!

 Korbyn, you are the smartest, kindest, funniest little girl I know.  You make your entire family so proud of you every day.  It's hard to believe that you are already three years old, but these have been the best three years of our lives!  We're looking forward to watch you grow baby girl.  Happy Birthday!  Love mommy, daddy, and Evan.