We're Moving Back to CA!!!

That's right... it's official! Bryan accepted the position at Reedley College and we will be leaving Texas on June 28th to head back to the Central Valley. We can't wait. It's taken a long period of waiting, a ton of prayer, and extreme patience for God to bring us to this point. Thank you to all whom have prayed along side of us and encouraged us from afar. We are truly blessed to have family and friends who care so deeply for us, lift us up spiritually, and celebrate in God's many blessings with us. We look forward to spending time with those of you in CA and crave seeing all of our family in WA very soon. We will keep you updated on this very exciting chapter of our lives as it is just beginning to unfold. God bless each of you.

Who Does Evan Look Like???

Does Evan look like...

Christina???

Does Evan look like...

Bryan???

Or does Evan look more like...

his Uncle Jeff???

What do you think? Leave us comments with your opinion!!!!

Rubber Ducky, You're The One

Thank you, Yukari, for my fun flashing duckies!

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all of the wonderful ladies who have the blessing of being a mother... and to all of those who hope to one day become a mother.

I have been very sick this week with a sinus infection and horrible cough so I actually slept in this Mother's Day and spent the day recovering at home with Bryan and Evan. It was nice to just spend time with my boys. I got the most gorgeous rose, a hilarious card, and little gifts that I love... not to mention a special breakfast and lunch. It was a wonderful way to celebrate the joys of being a wife and mother.

A special Mother's Day wish to my mom, my mother-in-law, all of my sisters, and my grandmothers. All of you are such beautiful Christian women that I love and adore. Thank you for always being there for the love and support that I often need to be the best mom that I can be for Evan.

Rainy Day Fun

This afternoon we had quite the storm come through Tyler. The weather went from partly sunny to pouring rain almost instantly. With all the rain outside, we were limited in what we could do to stay entertained.

Evan was quite bored and as you can see... he was deep in thought over what he should do.

And then... it came to him!

He doesn't typically like to wear glasses or even put them on himself, but today he found it quite amusing. Mommy and Daddy helped him a bit and then he would try to have us wear them as well.

We both thought he looked pretty darn cute!

And he was having a BLAST!!!

After all the excitement, he climbed up to sit with Daddy before his late afternoon nap.

The End Of Another Semester

Sunday we celebrated the end of another semester by having the Student Athletic Trainers over to our place for a pizza party. They have been such a wonderful help to Bryan this year with so much going on with athletics, school, and family. It was nice to give most of them a break from studying for finals this week. Evan definitely enjoyed having people over to entertain as well. Tori was kind enough to introduce him to eating Cheetos... thanks! Luckily, Cheetos are not something we keep in the house and Evan will surely forget about them soon :)

Left to Right: Michael, Christy, Candace, Tori, Marz, Brandon, and of course... Bryan (Yukari and others were busy)

As for Bryan, he finished up his semester last night with a presentation and his last final. Now we can look onward to him finishing up his Masters of Education in Sports Medicine this summer. WOOHOO!!! He's worked SO very hard and he's almost done.

As for Reedley... we should hear something the first week of June and will keep each of you posted.

And for those of you unfamiliar with this blog and how it works... there is a comment section at the end of each blog where you can click on a link and leave us comments. Just be sure to put your name if you are not a registered user or it will just name you as "anonymous"... and we know a few people so please don't keep us guessing :)

Hospital Stay And Turning A Quarter Century

Evan had a 3-day hospital stay at Trinity Mother Frances in Tyler after getting severely dehydrated from what ended up being a very bad case of "gastroenteritis". It took days for doctors to pinpoint what made our little guy so ill, but finally he got to feeling better and we got to bring him home yesterday. Above is a picture of the animal border in Evan's room that he kept pointing at.

Evan got to spend Mommy's 25th birthday in the hospital. Here's the one picture we have of my birthday!

After 2 1/2 nights of Mommy sleeping with Evan on her chest, Daddy slipped in during the middle of the last night to allow Mommy a break from the uncomfortable hospital bed and numb arms from holding Evan. This is how Mommy found them at 8am.
Evan was SO bored from being stuck in bed and limited in movement... can you tell?!?! Daddy didn't look too thrilled to be there either! Just think how Mommy felt :)
Daddy let Evan sit in the windowsill and watch the rain and passing cars to occupy his time.

He had to be thinking, "LET ME OUT!!!!"

Thanks to all for your thoughts, prayers, and support during our stay in the hospital. It's made us appreciate being nearer to family and friends in times like these. If it hadn't been for my friend, Amanda, I would have been completely alone until Bryan made it back from CA. What a blessing it is to know we have so many people who love us and care about us! THANK YOU!!!

Happy Easter! He Is Risen!

Here's Evan's first Easter basket from Mommy and Daddy.
He seemed to really enjoy taking everything out of the basket and looking at it, then putting the eggs back in the basket (something he learned from Papa Ransom while Easter egg hunting in CA).

It was a wonderful Easter morning.

Tonight we are having a nice Easter dinner consisting of roasted onion/garlic chicken, rice pilaf, veggies, and rolls. It should be really nice, as we plan to have a few friends join us. Hope each of you have a wonderful Easter, remembering that Jesus is Risen! How blessed we are!

Let it snow!

Evan's first time in the snow! He wasn't so sure what to think about it at first, but he was super interested in what this white stuff was.
He eventually tried to touch it and thought it was quite funny when it landed on his nose, eye lashes, etc.

We got snow for about an hour straight before it ended and returned for about another 15 minutes later. Funny to have a high of 42 expected after an 80+ degree day just a week ago. Crazy April weather, no doubt.

I was sure to get video and pictures for scrapbooking, of course. It was a pleasant sight to see this morning.

Happy Birthday, Evan!!!

We had a little birthday celebration for Evan at lunch today. Some students and friends came to eat pizza and watch Evan enjoy cake! Evan was asleep when everyone arrived so we enjoyed food and watched The Backyardigans without him.

He kept sleeping.... and sleeping. Finally, Daddy had to wake him up!

He entertained his company for a bit...

And then we were ready for the CAKE!!!

We sang "Happy Birthday"...

Evan made a wish (we think)...

Then he was prepared to attack...

He got a little taste and bragged about how he got cake and we didn't...

He ate some more...

And realized, for the very first time, just how wonderful SUGAR tastes!!!

So he ate more before Mama could take it away.

Daddy helped him open his gifts.

They had a good time!

And then we all took a picture to remember our first year as a happy FAMILY :)

What a wonderful day!

Evan's 1-Year Check-Up

Evan had his one-year check-up today. He is just growing so fast and it's hard to believe that he is turning one already. I guess it's just crazy to think that he has been in our lives one whole year. In some ways it seems like it's gone by so fast, and on the other hand I can't ever remember what life was like without him. He has truly blessed our lives and brought us more joy that we could have ever imagined. Everyday we are grateful for the smiles, the laughs, the cries, the little accidents, the diaper changes, the late-night feedings, and all the little moments that mean so much more when you have a child to share them with. What miracles they all are! Children are God's perfection creation and a wonderful way to start people.

At Evan's check-up today, he came in at 29 1/2 inches tall and 21 lbs, 13 oz. Everything checked out pretty well as normal. One thing that we would like you all to consider in prayer is Evan's toes. Sounds funny, I know... but I noticed (more so recently) that Evan's big toe on his right foot looked red and irritated, like he was getting an ingrown toe nail. Sure enough! His poor big toes on both feet look as though the nails grow funny and are very likely to cause ingrown toe nails often. Dr. Hurley suggested that she refer him to a podiatrist to look at them more closely and, most likely, perform surgery on them to correct the problem, thus saving him from a lifetime problem. I know it will not be serious, but of course we all hate to think that our little one's are in discomfort and will need some kind of surgery, big or small. So please keep Evan in your prayers!

The only other bummer thing that we found out was that they can't give Evan his one-year shots until he is one. So go figure... 2 days shy of his birthday and I'll have to take him back for shots and blood work on Wednesday, his actual birthday. Happy Birthday, Evan!!! And many of you know, we leave early Thursday morning on a flight to CA. So let's all hope he does well with the shots, they are pain free, and our flight goes wonderfully!!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Evan got invited to his first St. Patrick's Day party this morning. Sarah, Bradley, and Josh Green had a very fun party with a bunch of kids from both of their playgroups. There was about 11-12 kids total. Evan was the youngest, but he wanted to get right in the middle of everything! Evan especially enjoyed the green shamrock necklace Sarah gave him when we came in the door. He also got to sit in the highchair and eat goldfish crackers like the bigger kids. They also had grapes, muffins, and lots of other fun treats.
It was so fun to see him interacting and watching the other kids play, do crafts, etc. At one point he even crawled through the house and found all of the boys playing in Bradley's room. It was so sweet as he plopped himself down and started playing with the puzzle pieces that Bradley was putting together. I guess as a mother with an only child, it is really neat to see Evan crave that interaction with other children and seek it out. It was a great morning and something to remember. Thanks for inviting us, Green Family!