Small Family Reunion

Several months ago, Mitch's mom, Linette, started planning for her side of the family to get together for a family reunion.  On August 1st the Small family (those that could make it) got together to visit for the day.  We ended up having it in Graham which was somewhat centrally located for everyone traveling.  Linette was able to get a church there (her dad use to pastor at this church) to let us use the gym and kitchen area for the reunion.  It was perfect for all the kiddos to run around and play!

This child in particular LOVED having the whole gym to run wild.  

She pretty much thought this was the most fun place ever.

Shootin' some hoops with PawPaw (or BawBaw as she calls him).

Fingers pointed, sassy as ever.

There was tons of food and we all enjoyed lunch together.

Evin scarfed down a roll like it was going to disappear on her if she didn't eat it super fast.

Linette, Blaire, and Linette's baby sister, Lisa

Cute one, girls!

Evin finally got to meet Mitch's cousin, Haley.  Haley is getting married in 1 year.  We can't wait to see her say, "I do!"

Speedy with Keats, Kelly, & Kemper

A&E

Mitch relived his glory days by kicking the soccer ball around.  ;)

Maybe Evin will follow in his footsteps?

Mitch's cousin, Brandon, and his son, Keats tossed the football around some.

Mitch's cousin, Nick, his wife, Katherine & his daughter, Trinity.

My thirsty toddler.

Sherri & Evin played for a while, until Evin went down for a nap.  She was pooped from so much running around!

This year's reunion group.  We were sad that not everyone could be there!  We are looking forward to seeing everyone at Haley's wedding next year. :)

After we left, we ran by Granny & Pa's house to visit for a few minutes.  Of course, they were happy to see Evin!

We had a great day getting to see everyone and we are looking forward to making it an annual tradition!

Week in Photos- 1 year 19 weeks

{July 30th-August 6th}

Her uh-oh face cracks me up every time!  This time it was because she "dropped" her stuffed toy on the floor from her crib.

Facetiming with Ellis.  So, so cute!

Evin thought this was pretty fun to see them all.  We need to work on her holding the phone still.  Most of the time they were seeing half of her face or the ceiling.  :)

She picked a flower, squished it in her fist, and offered it to me.

Silly goose was wearing her bloomers as a hat.  And she thought it was HILARIOUS!

I helped my mom clean out her garage, and Evin tagged along.  She was actually pretty good and was occupied with books, the police car, and playing with "treasures" that we found in the garage.

Striking a pose at Lowe's.

Tickle time at dinner.  Love these two!

Pouty girl.

On the way home from a family reunion with Mitch's mom's family.  More pictures on that coming soon!

Oh thanks, Evin.

Fun in the sprinklers!

All smiles at Chick-fil-a.  It's her favorite!

After lots of playing outside, a popsicle during bathtime was necessary!

Why must she keep growing up?!

Evin has gotten in the habit of saying she is finished with her dinner, and then climbing in one of our laps and sneaking a few more bites.

Evidently it is more fun to push than ride these days...

She does not care AT ALL if it is scorching hot outside.  She will keep playing and never complain or want to go inside.

At the end of this week, this happened...

Mitch and I had been saying all summer that we needed to take the pacifier away.  Illnesses, vacations, and other things kept popping up and they were great excuses to keep putting it off.  We finally decided if we were going to do it, we better get it done a few weeks before school started.  We started by cutting the tip off and letting her suck on it.  She kept pulling it out, looking at it, and trying again.  Later, we cut the whole paci off of the giraffe.  The pictures below show her reaction when she saw it for the first time.

Kind of funny, kind of sad.

What was VERY sad, was the first few nights without the paci.  We gave her the giraffe in hopes that it would serve as a comfort item, but it backfired and it just made her mad instead.  She was so used to it having the paci attached, that when she reached for it and couldn't find the paci, she got really worked up.  The first week was AWFUL.  Mitch was working and I wasn't back to school yet, so I was pretty much on duty that week.  I spent hours trying to rock her to sleep, and she usually ended up in our bed around 5am.  Even in our bed, she wasn't content.  I wasn't prepared for how hard it would be emotionally.  She just looked at me and was so confused and upset.  Talk about ripping my heart out!  After about 2 weeks she got much better, and now, she is almost back to her regular sleeping schedule.  We started giving her the giraffe again, and she snuggles up with it and loves it now. 

This was a really hard age to be taking the pacifier away.  She was old enough to be VERY attached to it and to be really mad when she couldn't find it, but she was too young to understand something like the Paci Fairy (where you tell them they are giving their pacis to other little babies who need them, and the paci fairy comes and takes them and leaves them a present in their place).  Maybe for baby #2 (which isn't coming anytime soon!) we will rethink the timing of all that.  I am so glad to have it behind us!