Oh Easton...

Oh Easton...I don't even know where to begin. You have such a tug on my heart.  I now understand what all the fuss is about having a son!!!!  You melt me with your smile, your hugs, your gentleness.  You are so much like your daddy.  You are precious in every way.  I love every moment with you!!  I hate to speak too soon because I know we will have our hard moments, but so far, we haven't.  You are easy-going and just a little sweetheart.  I'm sure I'm also more easy-going as a second time mom too, so that helps.  And Ella helps keep you entertained so I'm sure that helps too!

You are such a stinker but yet such a genuinely good little boy.  You try to act tough and stubborn but it doesn't last long and you most often listen to your mommy and then come give me a big hug.  You are so special Easton.  

You are now speaking in 3 word sentences all the time and you literally repeat every. single. thing. that we say.  Ella asked me the other day, "Mommy, why is Easton talking now?"  I thought it was sweet that she noticed how you are growing and changing and now really communicating with all of us.  She often tells you, "stop saying that Easton!"  She thinks you're trying to annoy her by repeating all of her words but I told her that you are just learning and that she should encourage you to repeat what she says.  She understood and liked that idea!  

You are still and probably always will be our little athlete.  Your comfort is a ball (and froggie and bear blankies!)  The other day daddy's friend stopped by our house and you immediately ran to your room and grabbed a football.  You kept it clutched under your arm and it seemed to make you feel more comfortable.  And with a new babysitter, the first thing you did was run to your room to show her all of your balls!  I will never get over how cute it is to see you squat down, hold your left hand out, and throw the football with your right hand.  It is simply ADORABLE!!!!!  I just want to bottle up that little stance and save it forever!  And you have such a good soccer kick.  I can't wait for you to get to start soccer shots at your school when you turn 2, in just 2 short months!!

I love you Easton!

Sunday morning muffins

Weeds & Bunnies

The four of us spent a couple of hours Saturday morning pulling weeds and playing outside.  Easton was a big help!  ;)

Then we asked Mason to come over and help and he and Michael spent more time out there pulling weeds!  Then all of a sudden, Mason heard a squeak and felt something moving under his foot.  He quickly moved away to see this....an underground nest of some kind of little animals...was it mice or rats??....I was pretty disgusted.

But no, it was little BUNNIES!  The pictures below are taken just 2 days later and they have already grown!  I wonder if we an keep them around until Easter!?!  

Part of my excitement of having our own little nest of bunnies is because when I was a little girl growing up in the country I remember my dad always finding baby bunny rabbits.  Sometimes we would keep them around for a while in a cardboard box while they were tiny.  This is one of my favorite pictures and I think my mom probably has more similar ones at her house.

Best Friend Sleepover, II

This time it was at the Perkins' household.  See here for their first sleepover 7 months ago!

Rushing water

One of the things that we love about our new house is that we have our own little piece of land in our backyard!  It has a dry creek bed that we knew would flow when it rained a lot.  Well, it has been raining a LOT lately so Michael couldn't wait to go check it out.  He came straight back to the house Sunday morning and told us all to put on rain boots over our pajamas and come see!

Easton was already dying to go outside with Daddy, but Ella very calmly told me, "Mommy, I am not going out there.  It is raining and I'm not going to get wet!".  We will have to work on our little city girl.  Finally, I was able to convince her to come.  With umbrella in hand, she hesitantly obliged.

Even Ella couldn't help but smile when she saw the rushing water! 

Jake liked it the most!

Jake kept shaking all over Easton!

Easton was in heaven!  Ella was happy to see it, but ready to go back home!

Right now the land is really rough and overcome with cedars, but eventually we plan to clear it out and make it even prettier! In the meantime, I was really proud of Ella as I watched her step over branches, duck under limbs, climb over rocks, etc.

Whose that girl in the mirror?

Loves soccer!

Not too long ago, I posted a video of Easton with the same pictures, but it was only 30 seconds and the pics flashed pretty fast, so here they are again!  They make me smile.