Cousin Fun

This past week, Evan and I spent time with family in Bakersfield. It was so much fun to be with Ginger and Andria while David was away at camp with the youth.

As you'll see below, Evan had lots of fun with Andria. They are almost exactly a year apart, but play so well together. They get so excited to see each other and can play upstairs for hours together, with little to no problems. Andria loves to watch Evan's "Blue's Clues" DVD ("Flue's Clues" as she calls it), and he loves her play kitchen and little pink laptop. It's fun to watch them interact together.

They played in sprinklers, did puzzles, played together, and had a blast. Then, on Friday, we took them to the Fresno Zoo for a morning out. Cousins are just so much fun!!

A Big Boy Bed

We recently got around to painting the playroom in our house. We picked the color months ago (and even bought it), but just hadn't found the time to take everything out and paint. Well, we finally got it painted and Evan loved the green paint. So before we knew it, that became Evan's new bedroom. We had planned on training him to sleep in the twin bed anyway so that was fine. We finally settled on a dinosaur theme and Evan really likes it.

I still need to put shelves up, buy a few plastic dinosaurs for decor, and probably put up Evan's name letters. It's definitely coming along. And as for the twin bed... after falling off a few times, we got a bed rail. He's doing okay at night, but we're trying to train him to stay in bed and call for us instead of just getting up himself. We'll keep working on that!

Finally, a new blog post!

It's been a long time since I last posted a blog, but with good reason. We spent 3 weeks away from home in June as we were on vacation visiting family and July has been chaos thus far with my health. But we're home and healing and ready to share some pics from June and July. Here ya go!

Flying to Washington and our time there with Danielle's family. Evan got to meet his aunt, uncle, and cousins for the first time!






Fun at the beach in Santa Cruz



The 4th of July BBQ and fireworks with family in town.




There will be plenty more to come as Evan has got a newly painted/redecorated bedroom and a big boy bed!!!

So much to report

So, I realize that I haven't posted a real posting in almost a month but I have some really great excuses. The greatest of those being laziness :) Yes, so I don't always crave to blog when I am sitting here at the computer doing other things. And while I have had the time, I just don't have the drive.

I guess I can say that I've been in sort of a "funk" lately. The kind of funk that makes you tired, less than enthusiastic, and feeling kind of down. April just seemed to be sad and full of worry for some reason. I think my energy was so focused on the negative things happening to the people around me that I found it hard to focus on my own joy during their trials. Illness, accidents, deaths, divorce, impurity... the world seemed to engulf the ones I know and love. But the sun always shines after the rain, and I've found May to be full of sunny days.

After a few weeks, I finally felt more like myself. And having a birthday on the 2nd day of May seemed to help the month off to a more brilliant start. My handsome hubby and I were able to escape to the beach for two full days, BY OURSELVES! It was a wonderful way to celebrate my turning 26 and sharing some alone time with my love. I have to admit though, leaving Evan for the first time (in 2 years) was both exciting and heart-wrenching at the same time. And I'm still not convinced it was a good thing that he never asked where we were or seemed to notice we were gone, lol. I think he was just too busy having a good time with his Nana. but it was a great time for us nonetheless... walking on the pier, shopping, bowling, eating, going to the movies, eating clam chowder, gazing at Morro Rock, etc. etc. etc. I'm so blessed to have such a loving husband who knows how to make me feel special. I fall more deeply in love with him every day.

May has many more adventures in store as well. Mother's Day is this weekend, the annual Swedish Festival in Kingsburg is next weekend, Memorial Day weekend is fast approaching, and then June is knocking at our door. For those of you that don't know, we are FINALLY getting to take a two-week family vacation to the Seattle area to visit with Bryan's sister and her family. Maybe not such a big deal to some, but please realize that Danielle and her family have yet to meet Evan. He's two years old and just now getting to meet his Uncle Josh, Aunt Danielle, Anaise, Olyvea, Tate, and Emory. Something he is getting more and more excited about lately. We show him pictures and he knows all of their names. We can't wait to see his expression when he realizes that these are real people! It's going to be SO fun! We're anxious to see our nieces and nephew and how they've grown. We know this will be such a memorable trip for us all. Bryan and I will also be celebrating our 3rd anniversary while there.

So as you can see from my ramblings, we have a ton of things ahead and I won't bore you with all we had in April. Okay... except one... we're having another NEPHEW in September!!! David (Bryan's brother) and his wife, Ginger, are expecting a little boy and we are just thrilled for them. Little Dawson should make his arrival in mid-September and we'll be the proud Aunt and Uncle to 12... YES 12... nieces and nephews, all under the age of 9!!! Evan's definitely not hurting for cousins :)

Anyhoo, if you've stuck through long enough to read this jumbled mess, I pray that you have a wonderful week and enjoy the lovely weather that May has to offer. Please keep us in your prayers as Bryan finishes up work for 6 weeks and we'll be able to spend some wonderful quality time as a family.

Love you all!

Handsome

Evan's First Pets

Evan got his first pets today! Two sweet little mice named Mohawk and Speckles. Mohawk is blond with a perfect white stripe down center of his head and back. Speckles is a strawberry color with black and brown speckles on his back. Evan loves them and likes to touch them. After seeing how much he enjoyed the hamsters at Uncle David's house, we decided he was big enough to have his own pets. Here's a few pictures of Daddy and Evan getting them situated in their new home in the playroom.

Easter Bunny, I love you.

Yes, Evan is infatuated with the Easter Bunny. He would not leave the poor thing alone at the egg hunt. Every time he had something to show, something to say, something to ask, or a high-five to give, he ran straight to the Easter Bunny. He cried when we left so Mommy said the bunny was sleeping. A week later, Evan STILL says, "MY bunny is sleeping".

He also cuddles and took with him to church today his little stuffed bunny. But the funniest moment of all was when Evan saw me uploading the Easter pictures and said, "Hi Bunny... high-five" and hit the computer screen as if reuniting with a long lost pal of his.

Evan's Actual Birthday

We spent the day of Evan's actual birthday with his Nana Reich in Santa Cruz. We were already in town visiting Gramps and G.G. so Nana was thrilled to treat Evan to a train ride at Roaring Camp. Evan's fear of trains seemed to be outweighed with the intrigue of it all. We had a nice ride through the redwoods before feeding the ducks and then heading off to lunch. Evan got his favorite meal of chicken and fries at Burger King before we took him to the theater to see "Horton Hears A Who". He was less than interested in sitting through a movie after an already eventful day, but found enjoyment in playing with Nana's cup and straw the entire time. It was a wonderful day to remember.

The funny part is... we tried breaking his fear of trains (especially the loud blowing of the horns since we live near tracks). Well, he still jumps a bit when he hears the train and gets a bit scared, but the hilarity comes in him trying to convince himself by saying repeatedly, "Choo-Choo's fun, Choo-Choo's fun". It's quite amusing :)

Happy 2nd Birthday!

We had Evan's birthday party on the 15th, a week early. The weather decided to get a bit chilly, but that didn't put a damper on the festivities. We had about 40 people show up to our home and decide to huddle inside for the most part. Evan loved the attention, all the kids to play with, and especially the "cupcakes"! He's been asking for cupcakes on a regular basis now. All in all, it was a very fun and successful Blue's Clues party. I decided to make the paw print cakes myself and Bryan made it home from work in time to BBQ some hot dogs for everyone. We feel so blessed to have such a sweet, happy, well-behaved two-year-old who loves life.

Happy Birthday, Evan!!!

House Happenings Update

Well, we've continued work on the house recently after an almost 2-month break. We decided to finish painting the interior and do some yard work outside. Here's a few photos.

Our beautiful home and yard



Hall before... white!



Hall after... "Indian Painting"



Entry before... white!


Entry after



Accent wall before... white (with a little test spot, lol)



Accent wall after... "Cinnamon Cherry"! LOVE IT!



Our living room... COMPLETE!!!



Last room to paint... the playroom. more pics to come!

Gettin' Big

Evan will be two next week and it's making Mommy sad. Why do they have to grow up so fast and get so big? My little baby isn't crawling, he's running! He's so smart and has so much heart. I just love him. Here's some of his last 1-year-old smiles.



Cheesy...



Daddy and Evan found a frog while working in the yard... Evan kept saying
"Put him on my leg".



"Bye froggy!"



Jammies and milk