the searbys

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You to Joel's aunt and uncle who let us take a little weekend getaway to their condo near Sarasota. Its such a beautiful place to relax! We invited our friends Kevin, Kelly, & Megan Birkett to join us for the weekend. The kiddos had a ton of fun playing, the boys got to go golfing, and Kelly and I worked on our tans at the pool and the beach. Here are a few pictures from the weekend but check out Kelly's blog this week because she took a lot more than I did and her's always turn out better.

The first thing we did when we arrived on Friday evening was baby-proof the living room and make a playpen. This PJ picture is actually on Saturday morning. Evan loves Megan's toys...

It was a lot of fun spending the weekend with Kevin and Kelly. Here they are Saturday night after dinner on St. Armond's Circle...

And here is Megan playing peek-a-boo with the table cloth...

She and Evan shared a grilled cheese for dinner...
Sunday we were able to go play at the beach for a couple of hours, after driving an hour just to find a place to park! Evan had a good time with his daddy...

Sunday night was bath night. We put Evan and Megan in the tub together. They were SO wound-up afterwards so we got some fun pictures...

Evan loves books. He loves to turn the pages and talk to himself:

And sometimes Evan reads with his scary voice:

Last Sunday was my first official Mother's Day. Last year people said happy Mother's Day to me because I was 5 months pregnant but I wasn't really feeling very motherly yet. This year I am definately a mom. I do "mom things" like go to playgroups, watch "The View", talk about baby poop, and this morning I went to my first MOPS event. Here are a couple pictures from our walk downtown. We stopped for coffee but it was SO windy outside!


Evan continues to play with his tunnel and did I mention that Jack also loves the tunnel...


But even more exciting this week was the day we put up the baby gates. Evan thought they were his new toys. He just pulls up to them and shakes them and giggles. Its hilarious. I'll post a video soon too.



Also this week I hosted my playgroup at our house. I had 10 moms and 10 babies in my living/dining room. We had a lot of fun and the kids were just all over eachother. Here is Evan with his buddy Aiden and cute little friend Ella Claire...

Some background for the Illinois-Readers ....Janeen is this really great girl that we have gotten to know quite well in the last year. We first knew her as "Renae's little sister" or as "Joel & Shari's daughter." Joel is one of the elders at our church. He and his wife, Shari, have become our "Gainesville Parents." They are wonderful Christian people that we look up to and see as role models for our own lives. Their daughter, Renae, and her husband, Chris, became some of our best friends within the first year that we lived in Gainesville. This year Janeen was doing her internship for college and lived at home so we had the priveledge of having her in our small group. She really reminds me a lot of my own sister and I think that is why I instantly loved the girl. She is a lot of fun and sometimes we experience "Janeen Moments" just like we experience "Jodi Moments." They have the same definition: Silly things that are said or done that you just have to laugh at because obviously they were not quite thought through before said or done.


So, anyhow...we went to Janeen and Ryan's wedding on Saturday night. We got a babysitter for Evan so that we could enjoy a night out and not have to worry about leaving the reception early. It was a lot of fun to feel like we were part of the family. It meant a lot to us to be able to be there and witness the marriage of two wonderful people. They are moving to St. Pete and I warned Janeen that if she lives that close to the beach she better watch out cuz we'll come visit her! I also look forward to playing many more songs on "Guitar Hero" with Ryan.


I was a little dissapointed with the pictures we took on Saturday night. Here are a couple, but be sure to check Kelly's blog cuz I'm sure she will post some good ones!

The happy couple...

Kelly & Joel were quite thirsty at the end of the evening. Must have been all the dancing...

Megan spent Friday morning with Evan and I so that Kelly could help decorate the church for Janeen's wedding. They are so funny together. Megan moves a little quicker than Evan does. She just turned 1 last week but Evan thinks he can keep up with her and wants to do everything that she does.

I know that I have blogged about this fun aquarium toy before...but its the best! It started as an activity mat for Evan to lay on and look up at 2 fish, a mirror, and a fun ball. It then converted to a tummy-time mat. Now it is the best ever: a tunnel. Evan will crawl through it about 30 times per day.

He's also been smacking his lips a lot. Its SO cute: