The Three Amigos

Mugshots

2011-05-27T14:51:00.000-07:00

Nothing new here. Evan is 15 months and I thought I would celebrate that with some pictures. He likes to get dirty whenever he possibly can. It's usually later in the day that I let him loose in the back yard.

Love this picture. Evan has started signing the "more" sign for everything. He can also say shoes but it sounds more like "sssshhhh". We're not surprised that he can say that word. He loves to play with shoelaces.

Throwing the gravel/rocks in the back yard. I find little pebbles everywhere.

This was at Joe's ball game. He literally poured the sand over his head several times. I love how dusty he looks.

Who knew Joe could play softball? He is such a stud. He only got to play a couple of games before the season was over. I'm sure he will play a lot more next year. I like to watch while our son dumps dirt all over himself.

Stripped down to nothing then I gave him a bowl of water thinking he would splash, but he poured it out into the mud in our yard and played for quite a awhile. It's so fun to watch him get dirty.

Side note: Evan can officially walk all by himself, but he just chooses not to most of the time.

I-dee-ho

2011-05-06T09:44:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Evan and I flew to Idaho. It was a short flight out of Mesa/Phoenix airport. We got in Friday and my dad and aunt were there to pick us up. After lunch we headed up to Plano to the farm.

As a child this was the landmark to look for as we made the last turn onto the farm road. We used to play inside this thing, and other buildings. Sometimes there were baby kittens tucked away in the wood and we would always go out looking for them.

This is my Grandpa and his wife Grandma JoAnn. It was so fun to visit and spend time with them.

Outside was freezing cold! Spring has not sprung in Idaho. You can't see it, but my dad is wearing shorts! I guess the day before we arrived there was a huge dust storm. It was so bad that you couldn't really see outside.

This is my grandpa and his Lincoln from 1976. He keeps it in his garage so it is literally like new. They have another car, a Cadillac, but he loves to baby this one. On Saturday we loaded up and drove into town to have lunch with all the family. People in their cars were craning their necks to look at this old car. We laughed the whole drive in! On the way home, my grandpa popped in an old Johnny Cash 8 track, so there we were bumbling over the country roads listening to classic country music. It was seriously one of the highlights of the trip.

Yikes it was cold!

Thanks Grandpa and Grandma for a lovely trip. Hopefully we can do it again soon!

Random Things

2011-04-18T16:01:00.000-07:00

The other day we were helping out my sister-in-law plant a garden. Evan seized the moment and got really wet, dirty, and drank a ton of muddy water.

Who does he look like?

The couch happens to be his favorite toy right now. Put him on it and he goes crazy rolling around, kicking his legs, and squealing a lot.

He is 14 months old. When we ask him what a dinosaur sounds like, he growls. When we ask for a kiss, we usually get slobbered if he's in the mood.

Evan has also started to stand up all by himself without holding onto anything. He discovered this shortly after playing in the mud, but here he is a few days later showing off.

Oh, and we bought him shoes. Soft, flexible rubber soles, leather and suede on top, and velcro. I got them at Stride-Rite. I think we got them just in time. This little guy is going to be walking soon!

A Bedroom Project

2011-04-18T15:26:00.000-07:00

This project has been years in the making. When Joe and I were dating, he had a bed, but used a sleeping bag when he got cold over the sheets. I talked him into getting a comforter. And that was just he beginning of the bedroom project. After we were wed we bought a nice mattress, but no bed for it to go on. Someday we will invest in some nice furniture for the bedroom, but until then I knew that I wanted to make our bedroom nice and cozy. I got my inspiration from a blog that I saw. Here are the results:

I found a used bed on craigslist, U-Hauled it home, sanded it down, and three coats of white paint later...Voila!

The color is Polar Bear from Behr paints. It is perfect. Crisp, clean, and refreshing.

After hauling it in to the bedroom Joe had had enough.

With the summer bedding on.

The end result!

Words of wisdom: don't smoke in bed, don't drink in bed unless you have a tempur pedic and then do whatever the heck you want, take the hours you think it will take to complete your project and times that by two or three, and enlist any relatives willing to help with the work (sister, husband, baby).

Camping in March

2011-04-16T11:12:00.000-07:00

Some good friend of ours, the Perkins, went camping with us in March. The drive only took about an hour and before you knew it we had camp set up. As soon as the boys were let loose, they started exploring and eating rocks, sticks, dirt, anything they could find. It was fun to watch.

Neither of these kiddos are walking so they got super dirty crawling around.

Evan always want to grab the camera.

The Perkins made an awesome hamburger dinner with an even more awesome dessert...pineapple/blackberry dutch oven cake gooey goodness. I am drooling thinking about it right now.

The boys before they headed off to bed. Then the grown ups stayed up and told stories around the fire. Hilarious!

It turned out to be a cold night. Evan and I "slept" in the back of the truck. I maybe got three hours total of sleep. It's not easy trying to stay warm and keep a one year old covered and warm as well without rolling on him. I told Joe that we can't go camping again until we have a big tent to put his pack-n-play in. Joe slept fine in a tent on the ground.

The next morning we made breakfast burritos, packed up camp, and then headed off to hike up to some indian ruins. It was pretty cool to see that stuff.

What a whirlwind trip. The whole thing from start to finish was 24 hours. But lots of fun. We can't wait to go again with our friends!

Viva la Mexico Part 3

2011-03-11T10:52:00.001-08:00

Riding the bus to dad's house. No car seat. Evan was very happy. All of the streets are made of cobblestone, so it made for a very bumpy ride.

View from my dad's patio. He made us quesedillas, with this awesome guacamole, fruit salad, and rotisserie chicken. It was, by far, the best lunch we had while there. My dad has a nice place, and loves that he is house sitting and doesn't pay rent. Quite the life.

We took taxis back into town. We followed Charloe and her family. I love this picture of Brynn. She was waving and you could tell she was saying "grandpa".

Cousin Corban kept Evan and all of us entertained. We won't mention how he beat Joe three times in a card game of Sorry. Joe wants a rematch!

Poolside on our last day. Yummy guacamole.

We had such a fun trip and wish we had stayed a few more nights. We will definitely be back! Thanks everyone for such a fun trip!

Viva la Mexico Part 2

2011-03-11T10:41:00.000-08:00

One day we went in to town to see where my dad lived. We walked along the beach and saw lots of fun stuff.

This guy made art in the sand and was working for propinas--tips.

Ahh, don't we look like tourists? Evan isn't so happy.

This guy was stacking rocks for a living. Pretty cool.

In the distance you can see the catholic church. We went inside during a service and listened to some awesome organ music.

Grandpa and Evan.

Viva la Mexico Part 1

2011-03-11T10:22:00.000-08:00

In February we went to Puerta Vallarta for 6 days to visit my Dad who lives there. My sister and her family were the ones that invited us to tag along. We stayed at this beautiful resort, Villa La Estancia. Built in 2008, this place was so nice and new. We did the all-inclusive deal so we ate all we wanted. My favorite was the breakfast buffet, I out-ate Joe every morning--and came back a couple pounds heavier. So yummy. Charloe and I did the spa thing, getting manis and pedis. A couple days later Joe and I did a 90 minute hot towel massage. I have seen and been to many spas, and this one, by far, was the nicest I've been to. We kind of splurged, but for what we got, we would have paid a lot more here in the states. So worth it!

View from our patio on the 9th floor.

First day swimming. Of course, we slathered the sunscreen on Evan. He liked the water and by the end of the trip Joe had him blowing bubbles and standing up next to the edge.

Charloe and her little girl Brynn. She kicked and paddled around the whole pool and loved being in the floatie that Grandpa brought.

On the beach. The water wasn't too cold so I stripped Evan down to his diaper and let him go crazy. He loved the sand, ate a little, and even tried eating a cigarette butt. You can't take your eyes off him for a moment.

We ordered a cake on Evan's actual birthday. It was disgusting! Luckily, Evan was in bed when we ate it...it had been a long day so he didn't really miss anything.

Birthday Boy

2011-03-11T10:08:00.000-08:00

We got the family together a few days before our Mexico trip to celebrate Evan's 1st birthday. Since he always smiles when he sees dogs I figured we should do a puppy theme. Here is my attempt at puppy cupcakes: yellow cake, chocolate frosting, M&M's for the eyes, red hot nose, a heart spinkle tongue, and flattened tootsie rolls for the ears. It was laborious, but worth it cause I think they turned out cute!

I made about 30 of these puppies. Froze about a dozen leftovers.

Aunt Micah wasn't able to attend but made some puppy chow as party favors and a birthday t-shirt. She made the tags and everything.

We had lots of help from all of Evan's cousins when he was opening presents. He got a dump truck, puzzles, blocks, balls, books, and clothes. Hopefully he will grow out of wanting to eat everything soon and then I can let him play with some of his puzzles.

His first time eating cake and ice-cream...well I gave him some ice-cream at his cousins birthday party a month earlier. At first he poked the frosting with his fingers, then would bring them to his lips and taste, and before we knew it he had destroyed the cupcake and was covered in chocolate. I think he liked it.

The aftermath.

One year

2011-03-02T09:27:00.000-08:00

Awwwhhh.

I was so big!

He was so little and calm.

My boys a year ago.

Evan in Mexico a year later.

Has it really been a year already? Lately I've been thinking to myself, "what was I doing a year ago today?" Probably getting zero sleep, nursing around the clock, and wearing stretchy pants. And I was holding our new little baby. And our lives had been forever changed. I can't say that it is better now with more sleep, but only different. Nothing compares to holding a brand new baby, yours especially. Occasionally I will look at photos from a year ago and nearly cry cause he was so stinkin' little and cute. But I'm sure I will be doing the same thing a year from now at pictures I take today.

Evan is 11 months

2011-01-27T13:25:00.001-08:00

Our little boy is 11 months! Sheesh, time does fly. I'm already planning his 1st birthday party and have been working on the invitations this week with Micah. These were taken at the park last week.

This last month he cut four new teeth. All of them are on the top. He had a week or so of waking up a couple of times during the night to nurse. Luckily it didn't last long and poof all four came in at once.

Everything goes into his mouth still.

He understands "no" and is pretty good at obeying. He likes to push the buttons on the tv and other media and when we tell him no he gets down on the ground on his tummy and wiggles and makes a protesting noise, but he listens.

He gets a little crazy after the bath at bedtime. He tries to escape while lotioning him up and usually we let him crawl around naked for a bit. He has the cutest little body. He also likes to "wrestle" when we are on the floor. He comes at us growling and then lays on us. What a boy!

Another Day at the Park

2011-01-27T13:13:00.001-08:00

Just two days later we went to the park again. It was MLK day and so some of us had it off. We called up Micah and John so see if they wanted to meet us there for a picnic and some basketball. They are basketball inclined so of course they said yes. We met up, ate Jimmy Johns sandwiches, bbq potato chips, and apple slices. The ducks looked hungry and so we fed them some bread that we bought just for them. Next it was on to the basketball court.

Micah is quite the shooter and beat both of the boys and me in one of our games of HORSE.

Stickin out his booty Jimmer-style.

I happen to beat the guys and Micah in the other game of HORSE.

Evan was happy as can be playing with his toys and crawling around on the court.

After a couple of hours it was time to head home and get Evan down for his nap. We know summer is just around the corner, so we better get our outdoor time in! We will definitely do this again soon.

Day One at the Park

2011-01-25T19:57:00.000-08:00

What do you do when it's a Saturday and only 75 degrees out in the middle of winter? We went to the park! Joe had been sick for a few days and I convinced him that going outside and getting some sunlight and fresh air would do him good. So off we went.

Strangest looking ducks Evan had ever seen. Me, too. We aren't sure what kind of bird they were but they looked and squawked like a goose.

Joe tossing whatever they were some bread.

I love this picture of Evan. There were a ton of kids running around and playing on the jungle gym. He's the kind that likes to watch and check things out. That was probably the most interesting thing at the park...all the kids to look at.

Frist time in a swing all by himself. He didn't really act like he was enjoying it, so we stopped after a few pushes. He did like standing in the sand and letting it run through his fingers.

All worn out.

Christmas Catching Up

2011-01-25T19:40:00.001-08:00

Wow, really? A Christmas post a month after Christmas? Sometimes I just can't muster up the interest to blog. But, blog I must...
We woke up, got showered and ready for the day and by that time Evan was making noises and ready to see what Santa had delivered.

He had no idea why Momma came in so excited this morning, but how cute is he getting excited.

Raising Chickens for Dummies? It's my dream to have some backyard chickens. It's the country girl coming out in me. Oh look, Evan likes the wrapping and bags more than any of his new toys!

Joe looks so smart when he's reading.

Grandma and Grandpa Reed went to Disnyeland and got Evan the softest, sweetest Dumbo to snuggle with.

Helping Dad open the box.

After opening gifts we loaded up the cinnamon rolls, milk, seven layer bean dip, and a few presents to share with Joe's family. We spent the rest of the day hanging out over at Joe's brothers house with all the cousins and Grandma Friend. We had a nice time visiting and just relaxing. It really was a beautiful day and I'm sure next year, or maybe the next Evan will understand what is going on.

Evan at 10 months

2010-12-17T13:43:00.000-08:00

Our little boy is getting older. Coincidentally, his curiosity matches his mobility and he is having such a great time.

Who could resist those blue eyes and innocent grin?

Pulling himself up to everything these days.

A second lower front tooth is slowly making an appearance. He's been a one-tooth wonder for about two months now.

We woke up to fog! I don't think I've ever seen fog like this in our parts before. Loved it!

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

2010-12-17T10:56:00.001-08:00

We have a formal dining room, but no formal dining table, thank goodness. And so we have the perfect spot for our tree. We whipped it out after Evan went to bed. Next year will be different with a pair of little hands helping out.

Husbands can get carried away with cameras from time to time, and wives can get handy with the delete button when they review the pics. I would like to have fond memories of the frontside, thank you very much! So here I am hanging up the red and green balls.

We also have gold beaded garland and little gold stars. Joe is always so fast when it comes to jobs like this.

We have a large mirror on one of the walls. I think it reflects the tree and lights perfectly. Merry Christmas!

The Digo Made Me Do It

2010-11-09T08:27:00.001-08:00

I have been interested in cloth diapering and early potty training since before Evan was born. After reading a few books I have decided to go ahead with it and give it my best shot. In short, children for thousands of years were taught to use the bathroom in something other than a diaper (the Digo are a tribe in Africa that begin teaching their babies very early on). It has only been in the last 50-60 years that babies and subsequently children stay in diapers until beyond 4 years of age. To me this is a product of a culture and society that is also responsible for video games, McDonald's, and excessive cell phone use. ( I'm not crazy, I promise).
So yesterday we got his potty in the mail. This morning, first thing, he sat on it for just a few minutes while I played with him. And guess what, he tinkled! And then about and hour later I thought he needed to go again and sat him down and he tinkled some more! Obviously, this is perhaps beginners luck, but we will keep it up.

Great little potty. Two pieces, top part comes out and can be easily cleaned with the sprayer attached to the toilet that I use for his cloth diapers.

He didn't mind being on the seat at all. I'm going to sit him on it first thing in the morning, after naps, and anytime I think he might need to go, and then right before bathtime at night.

He tinkled!

This is going to be a long process, but hopefully we will be out of diapers way before what is considered "normal" today. I'm going to be happier (no more diapers to change) and he will too cause who wants to sit in their own mess, right?
Two books that helped me decide to do this were:
Diaper Free by Ingrid Bauer
Diaper Free Before Three by Jill M. Lekovic

Pumpkin Patch

2010-11-09T08:09:00.001-08:00

The day before Halloween we met up with some family and went to a pumpkin patch and farm. I was pretty excited to go since it would give me a chance to hang out with some animals. I still get teased by my family for "psychoanalyzing" the ducks in the back yard. Joe's sister and kids, my brother and family, and my sister all got there about the same time we did. We ate our packed picnic on the grassy patch of dirt or the dirty patch of grass, depending on how you want to look at it. Luckily we had a blanket. Pumpkin cookies finished us off and we headed out to see the animals and go on a hay ride.

As you can see, Evan does not share my enthusiasm for animals. At least not yet. I took this as we were riding to the farm. Looks so cute with his hat on backward.

I miss Hee Haw. Evan loved the tractor wheel.

After lunch and ready to go see the animals! To my dismay, none of the animals were available to pet or hang out with due to the fencing. But a momma pig had given birth to 11 piglets a few weeks earlier and that is where we spent a lot of time. They were quite cute.

Hay ride around the "farm". Saw some neat garbage bins, old tractors, and even went out into an alfalfa field.
We had a great time and it sure was fun to hang out with family. Next year I better get to actually pet the animals. And hopefully next year Evan will be more into it, too. He's still a little guy.

8 Before It's Too Late

2010-10-28T11:30:00.000-07:00

Evan turned 8 months a week and a half ago and I need to get his pictures up before he is 9 months! A few milestones since he's been 8 months old. He got his first tooth on Oct. 13th. He had a few fussy days but never fevered up or got too cranky. Then on Oct. 26th he took his first uncoordinated crawl to a toy that was out of reach. For the past few weeks he has been rolling and scooting on his tummy and would get up on all fours and go backward. But at last he is crawling forward! Imagine all the millions of connections that had to be made in his brain to do that...(I'm a nerd and think about those things).

The camera is so tempting.

Trying to crawl, but only going backward.

For the longest time he would get on his tip-toes and it looked like he was doing pushups. Hilarious.
This little guy is so much fun. Long gone are the days that I could put him down somewhere and he would stay there. We love to see him grow and change.

Garden Growing

2010-10-26T11:13:00.000-07:00

One of the first projects we have done since moving into our new house is build a garden box and plant a bunch of yummy herbs, tomatoes, and leafy greens. We have been dying to have our own garden and the last house just didn't have any space outside to do one. So Joe spent a Saturday building a 4 X 8 foot box and then we filled it with some dirt from Lowes. I went to a local nursery and got the goods and we planted everything that evening. I can't tell you how excited we are to have a garden!

The layout...apparently basil next to maters gives better tasting maters.

Evan supervised.

You can't see it, but he has a tooth! Lower front on the right side. My little baby boy is growing up...sniff, sniff.

Joe getting in on the planting action.

Here's what we planted: 2 tomato plants, 3 basil, 2 dill, 2 rosemary, 2 cilantro, Italian parsley, chives, thyme, lettuce, red romaine lettuce, mesculan salad mix, red leaf lettuce, and an herb that tastes like cucumber --I forget what it's called. It's been a roller coaster ride so far...never know if we are giving them too much water or not enough. One moment they are drooping and two hours later perky after we watered them. Wish us luck cause we don't really know what we're doing but it is fun!

Moving Day

2010-10-19T15:05:00.001-07:00

We have received so many blessings. Like many homeowners in the valley, with the housing market tanking we were underwater big time on our home. As our family has grown, we have needed more space and a three story condo just wasn't cutting it anymore. We decided to put our home up for a short sale. Within 3 weeks we were under contract and had to find a place to live October 1st. We are closing next week on the old house! Everything has gone incredibly smooth. We can't believe sometimes how blessed we are.

Our new home is in the east valley. It's one story, has a pool, is in a quiet cul-de-sac, and is perfect for our family! We are renting and hope to be here for the next two to three years. Here are some pictures. I will get some more up with all of our furniture in it soon.

Backyard with the pool. Ahhh.

Family room

The day we moved in. I was sooo tired but it felt so good to finally be in. We hired some movers for the big stuff (Joe's brilliant idea) and then Saturday we had ward members and family help with the smaller stuff and a ton of boxes.

New kitchen. Love, love, love this house! I've never lived in a place this big and it feels awesome.

I Heart Cousins

2010-10-19T14:59:00.001-07:00

A few weekends ago we got to spend some time with our family. Evan has two cousins that are just one month older than he is. They are both girls and about as cute as they come.

So cute that Evan would like to gobble up Kate!

I love the look on her face...this is just after Evan gave her a smooch. Kissing cousins!

It will be fun to watch these kids grow up together and I'm looking forward to future family visits.

7 months. A month ago!

2010-10-13T10:53:00.000-07:00

It has been way too long. We have been busy little beavers over here and will get to that in a later post. Just wanted to post some pics of Evan a month ago at 7 months. He sure was a happy boy that day.

He still refuses to eat solid foods. Yesterday I gave him a piece of lettuce from my salad and he sucked on it until it was soggy. We will keep trying and I guess when he's ready, he's ready.

6 Month Photo Session

2010-09-14T14:59:00.001-07:00

A good friend of mine is an amazing photographer and happens to be pregnant and was in need of a massage a few weeks ago. I asked if she was interested in getting a massage for a photo session and she was! You can check out her website at www.docharaphotography.com She is great and does really nice work. Of course, it helps to have such a cute subject to work with.

Evan holding his daddy's childhood teddybear.

Sitting like a big boy in his cloth diaper. Did you know I was cloth diapering? It makes me feel good on so many levels. Maybe I will do a post about them sometime.

This one is my favorite. Evan. Enough said.

Rice Cereal is Yummy...Not!

2010-08-27T13:28:00.001-07:00

Hooray! Evan is 6 months and it's time to begin solid foods. Of course, we will start with the blandest, boringest, most colorless food out there...rice cereal. We started Sunday and the results are in: rice cereal stinks, according to Evan.

The ingredients. We started with just a tablespoon of cereal and some homemade milk. We made it pretty runny so that it would be more like milk and less like chunky, what-on-earth-is-this?

So innocent and has no idea what is about to happen. Bought a couple bibs off of Amazon. Plastic and very wipeable.

Post first bite. It made him gag. And no we did not let him feed himself with the spoon. After we were done we let him play with it for a bit. But that would be cool it he could do that...

I'll spare you the mugshot of him making this puddle. Even though the little guy gagged after all three bites were in him, we are still doing cereal once a day. Eventually he will start liking it, right? Probably a few more weeks and then maybe we can start some veggies.

Everything in His Mouth

2010-08-27T13:15:00.000-07:00

Anything and everything Evan can get his hands on goes directly to his mouth. And if he can't bring it to his mouth, his mouth goes to it! He will dunk his head in the tub trying to get his washcloths if I don't stop him and once he does get them he will suck and suck. I wonder how much of his own pee he has consumed thus far.

Slurp, slurp, slurp.

I don't blame him for wanting to nibble on his toes. I do it all the time and they are yummy.

Anytime we take a drink around him he gets excited and wiggles his body. He mostly back-washes at this point and what he does get into his mouth makes him pull the cutest "What the heck?" face.

Here he is chewing on a straw at a Thai place we frequent. When Joe took it away from him because he kept poking himself in the mouth, spit went flying everywhere! He is a slobery boy and we are loving every minute of it.

Big Boy Sitting Up

2010-08-10T15:02:00.001-07:00

So after about a week of practicing really hard, Evan is finally sitting up all by himself. Hooray! He is so proud of himself. Before he grasped the concept of sitting up he would try to stand when we pulled him up from laying down. He is a "stiff as a board" kind of kid so bending at the middle is awesome. Now he plays with his toys and is able to look around.

Loot

2010-07-29T14:56:00.001-07:00

Just cashing in on our Amazon credit card money. Maybe if we buy some games we will have more parties. So far we have received four boxes from Amazon. I'm excited to take some of them up to Sedona in a few weeks to play with my family.

We also got Evan some books. Right before he was born I wallowed around on the floor in Barnes and Noble with Joe and we picked out some books we want to own for our kids. Then just this week we picked them out on Amazon. I think we have two more boxes coming with Settlers and a few more books for Evan.

How fun is it to get some packages on your doorstep full of these things!

Going for a Ride

2010-07-29T14:45:00.000-07:00

As I'm typing this Evan is still enjoying his bouncer chair that hangs from the door jam. But I took some pictures of him right after I put him in his swing. He loves this toy because he can bounce as much and as long as he wants. He tries to do the same thing when I'm holding him in my lap...my arms get tired holding him.

Hey all the ladies out there. Check out my muscles.

Whoa! Spinning out of control!

He bounced and spinned around so much that lunch came up.

5 Months

2010-07-29T14:36:00.000-07:00

Evan had just gotten up from his nap. Looks like he sucked the whole time on his pacifier.

The ring around his mouth cracks me up.

Five months and so strong. (These pictures are a few weeks old, but wanted to get them up).

Utah Trip Part 1

2010-07-13T10:44:00.000-07:00

We took a week off and headed up to Utah the end of June through the 4th of July. We were kind of worried that Evan wouldn't like the pressure changes on the plane ride, but he did great. Just hooked him up and he was content. Here he is going on his first plane ride.

We got a rental car and drove to Nephi to stay with Grandpa and Grandma Reed, Parker, and Kip. We had great food and a really great time visiting. It felt nice to sit outside under the tree and watch the kiddies play in the pool. The next day a big wind came up and a large branch fell down right where we had been sitting the day before. Even though Evan doesn't eat big kid food yet, he had fun sitting in the high chair and licking the sides.

On Tuesday Charloe and her two kids arrived and later that evening we drove up the canyon and had brats and fixins around a campfire. My two cousins came up too and it was fun to see them. I miss being able to get in the car and drive 10 minutes to the canyon. Evan discovered he could stick out his tongue and ended up doing it all night long. It was so funny.

Sitting around the campfire.

Wednesday Mom, Charloe and I hit up the new Twillight movie. We decided that it was the best one yet. I think this picture was taken just as Jacob filled the screen sans shirt. Sorry guys!

Later that night we had a bbq with some old friends. The Phillips and Donni and her family. We used to play with them all the time on their farm when we were kids and it was good to catch up.

Utah Trip Part 2

2010-07-13T10:27:00.001-07:00

On Thursday we headed up to Provo to visit the BYU campus. Joe's brother-in-law was a gymnast there in the '90s and was one of the best in the country at that time. We took a picture in front of his best all-around in the country award. It was pretty cool.

It had been a long day and felt good to get to the hotel early that evening. Evan took a bath in the sink while Joe got take-out at a Thai place just next door. We slept pretty well that night, since we had been outside walking around all day.

We got to visit Joe's grandma Flo. She is in a nursing facility and is still going at 96 years old. She lived in North Carolina for years and moved out to be closer to her son in her later years.

On Saturday we met up with the old college buddies. Joe has really great memories of these guys. They shared a house on campus back in the day. Earlier this spring Joe sent out an email letting them all know that we were going to be up in Utah in July. It just so happened that some of the other guys and their families would be up there too...perfect timing for a reunion! We had a blast bbq-ing and reminicsing. I drove back to SLC to the hotel while Joe stayed. He got home around 1 am and had had a really great time. I hope we get to do this again with all of his friends.

Sunday morning we got up and walked around temple square. So beautiful and the weather was perfect. Then that afternoon we drove to the airport to head home.

We had a great trip but you can't beat sleeping in your own bed. Evan would amen that if he could because he slept great that night. Thanks everyone for a great trip...it was so good to see all of you!

I Have a What?

2010-06-24T15:08:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago we noticed Evan's hair taking a turn for the worse...He has a rat tail. A mini-mullet.

What, I have a rat tail? Do I look cool?

Sorry son, they were cool in the 80's or 90's depending on how rural you lived.

This is bad news.

Very bad news. I have a rat tail! Waaaaaah....

Don't worry little guy. It will grow in soon.

One Year Later

2010-06-07T14:46:00.000-07:00

A year ago today we found out we were going to be having a baby. I had a scheduled yearly check-up and was prepared to talk to the doctor about having a hard time getting pregnant...we had been trying for almost a year. They did a urine test just to make sure and it looked like it was a "no". But as I was sitting in the exam room waiting for the doctor, the nurse came back in with the test and showed me that it came up positive. I guess it just took longer than normal. I was barely pregnant! I came home and held the test in one of my hands and held them both behind my back and told Joe to pick a hand. He was totally shocked! I did a second test at home to make sure. Here's the proof.

We were so happy!

And here he is a year later. He's such a wonderful little baby. And we love him so much. He is getting really good at finding his hand and fingers to suck on.

Half-smile.

Good looking and so smart.

Saturday Play Day

2010-06-07T14:24:00.001-07:00

Saturday was a great day. Joe stayed home with the little one and I got to go to a friends lunch to celebrate the arrival of her baby. She's due in just a few weeks. There were about nine of us gathered at this awesome, hip restaurant in Phoenix called Postino. I can't tell you how much I laughed and enjoyed myself. Anndalyn is a great gal and I really love that we are friends even if I seem like a "shut in" sometimes. All of us are mothers, with several of us having had a baby in the last year. It was decided that we must gather once a month at a different and new restaurant. That is, of course, if the hubbies are up for it! Thanks for such a fun day ladies!

We shared three platters of bruschetta. Pictured above is the fig, brie, and prosciutto on the left and the warmed artichoke of the right. My favorite was probably the basil, mozzarella, and tomato (I'm exciting, I know). After that we shared three panini's. All delicious. One thing I did discover about myself is that I don't like goat/sheep cheese. Taste like a barnyard...no offense goat cheese lovers. This place would make for a fabulous date night.

This is my refreshing cucumber lemonade. Light and tart. Really yummy and unexpected.

Thanks, honey, for giving me a few hours away!

I don't have any pictures, but later that night my sweet and fun sister and I went to the Phoenix Symphony to a John Denver tribute concert. Can't say how awesome it was! The guy impersonating looked and sounded just like the real deal. I think we were the youngest ones there too, but that didn't stop us from having a really great time.

Still Sleeping

2010-06-02T14:26:00.001-07:00

Evan went swimming for the first time on Monday. We got together at Rob and Laurie's house for a BBQ and swim. We got there a little late because Evan took a 2 1/2 hour nap! He had fun and didn't cry at all. Since it's the beginning of the summer the water was a little cold so he only stayed in for a few minutes.
I tried my first brat and it lived up to its name. First bite was hot and squirted my tongue with a flaming burst of juices. Two bites later and I gave it to Joe and I couldn't taste anything else for the rest of the night. Guess they aren't for me.

Right now Evan has been sleeping since 10:30 am. He woke for about 20 minutes to eat two hours ago and fell asleep at the wheel. The first picture makes me think of when Joe pulls this funny face...miniature version of course.

Does this mean he won't sleep tonight? I read somewhere that when it comes to babies sleep begets sleep, so I've got my fingers crossed.

When he wakes up we are going to make some cookies to take to some friends later tonight.

He's Taken Over

2010-05-25T15:47:00.000-07:00

We might as well admit that this blog is unofficially dedicated to our favorite little boy. And as much as I detest technology :) I'm glad we have a way to show him off through this blog. Hope you don't mind.

My Dad was in town last week visiting from Mexico. At first Evan was a little scared when he held him for the first time, but he warmed up in no time. It was fun having Grandpa play with him and give him so much attention. Like he doesn't get enough attention to begin with.

Last week we went to our monthly get-together with my two lovely sisters-in-law. Stephanie made these awesome chicken lettuce wraps and yummy lemon bars. Evan spent some play time on the floor with cousin Kate (who is only one month older than he is). She is a sweetheart and I look forward to watching them grow together.

Evan getting in some tummy time...You didn't know he was part conehead!

Our little boy at three months! He is so strong and likes to sit in his Bumbo, but not for too long cause he gets tired. He was watching me go through some clothes and clean out his closet.

Chuckles

2010-05-23T17:32:00.000-07:00

Evan gave us a little surprise the other night while I was eating dinner. We were just talking about how he wasn't very smiley the last few days and this is what we got...

From 20100518

Click on the picture above for the video...

Handsome boy

2010-05-13T11:49:00.000-07:00

I'm sure every mother thinks that their baby is the cutest, smartest, and handsomest baby that ever lived. And that her husband is pretty hot.

Evan was sick earlier this week. We even had to go to the doctor on Tuesday. Just a cold...Dad had one last week and Mom had one this week. He didn't want to sleep very much while he was sick.

Now he is feeling much better and is napping a lot better today...so far.

Dreaming about playing with trucks, getting in the mud, and playing catch with Daddy.

Big belly!

Suggestions?

2010-05-04T09:30:00.000-07:00

We need to have more fun. Having a baby keeps us tied at home a little more than we're used to. Any ideas for doing fun stuff with a baby? What can we do...where can we go?

Happens A Lot

2010-05-04T09:11:00.000-07:00

This is the face of a little boy that just blew out the back of his diaper, through his jammies, and all the way onto his blanket. How could I be mad?

It seems like this happens all the time.

In fact, the Shout bottle has mysteriously disappeared from the laundry room and has magically appeared under our bathroom sink.

All better. Isn't he a handsome boy? And so serious. Actually he smiles and is talking so much. Just last night he cooed and smiled the most his daddy had ever seen. I think he was telling daddy how funny it was when mamma had to clean up that morning.

Yucky

2010-04-30T12:01:00.000-07:00

This is what happens when you play with Evan after he's been at the trough. I love the look on his face. Luckily none of it landed in Joe's mouth.

Tonight we are having a BBQ. Burgers, hotdogs, potato salad, strawberry shortcake...now who wouldn't want that? We've invited some neighbor friends and my sister and her hubby. If I'm good and remember to take some pictures, maybe just maybe, I will post them.

Twins

2010-04-21T13:52:00.000-07:00

Joe's Mom sent the outfit that he wore when he posed for pictures at two months. We thought it would be kind of cool to take some pics of Evan in the same get-up and compare. The apple definitely didn't fall far from the tree but he has a little bit of his mamma in him too.

Pictures

2010-04-15T14:43:00.000-07:00

What a Blessing and Other Tidbits

2010-04-15T13:02:00.000-07:00

We had a busy weekend last week. Evan and Mayla were blessed on Sunday in our ward and so we had family in town. My parents and two brothers came down from Utah Friday night. And my sister and her family arrived Thursday, also from Utah. It was so fun to see everyone and the weekend went by too fast.
It's funny how having a kid changes your social life...even if your social life is going out to dinner with family. Still, we just can't stay out as late as we used to. Not that we stayed out late to begin with. When you get married it doesn't matter if going to bed early on a weekend is cool or not. Now, it's just easier to be home. But we tried to be cool Thursday when Charloe and her family arrived. But an hour later and still no food, we were starting to feel uncool. Babies and kids alike had checked out and so we scarfed down our food and asked for the check. The poor people sitting around us...can I say that it was still fun to see everyone despite the tired little ones? I wish I had a picture of Micah sitting in the booth by herself because everyone else was wrangling kids or feeding babies. Sorry Micah...your turn is next!
Overall the weekend was great. I love my family and am so glad that we all got to spend time together. Oh, and I love the family that I married in to.

1 Month or 65 Years???

2010-03-22T09:41:00.000-07:00

My wife forgot to mention that, based on his new hairline, we can't figure out if Evan just turned 1 month or 65 years old. He looks like an old guy trapped in a little body!

A lot of Firsts

2010-03-21T15:22:00.000-07:00

Well they grow up so fast. Evan turned a month old last week. His "birthdays" are on Wednesday of every week. Monday I put him down on his tummy, went in to the bathroom to wash my hands, turned back around and he was on his back. What?! I know so I put him on his tummy again and didn't take my eyes off of him and sure enough he did it again...not even a month old and he can turn over onto his back. He did it a total of five times that day. Unfortunately it took me a couple of days later to capture it on video...I have proof in case you don't believe me! I'm sure that he is the smartest and strongest baby that ever lived.
Another landmark event took place this week. I hired a temporary housekeeper. And she was awesome. And she cleaned better than I do. And I felt like a million bucks when she left. And I wonder if Joe is worried that I might get used to this...
It will be a sad day when I have enough strength to lift the vacuum up and down the stairs again.
By the way, if you've never watched Lost then you really should. We are getting it from Netflix and in the evenings after Evan gets his bath we go downstairs and watch a couple of episodes. We started with season one and are currently in season two. It is a great way to spend time, since we can't really go out very much.
About a week and half after Evan was born a friend who happens to be a professional photographer took some pics of our little guy. I can't get over how great they are!

I'm a milker...he's a feeder

2010-03-05T17:38:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Evan had his two week check-up. Two weeks already? I know, I swear he wakes up in the mornings and looks different (older) to me. And it kinda makes me sad...
So apparently he knows how to eat. Usually at the two week mark a baby should gain back their birth weight. Our little guy not only did that but literally gained an entire pound since he was born! So he must be eating pure cream or something or maybe it's all those sugar cookies I've been eating that my Mom left in the freezer. He's still a little guy at 7 lbs. 6 oz. but it's crazy to think that he is growing so fast.
He eats, burps, does a number in his diaper, gazes off into space and occasionally into his parents eyes, fusses just a little at night, and sleeps. We are loving every minute of it.
Tomorrow we will introduce him to all America has to offer...Costco.

Evan Joseph

2010-02-24T10:36:00.000-08:00

Almost one full week past his due date, Evan Joseph finally arrived! He must have been pretty comfy in there because it took a little coaxing to get him out. After T'liese received here epidural it seemed like smooth sailing...until the pushing started...

Our little guy had a hard time getting out of his Mom, but he finally made it with some help at around 3:15PM on Wednesday February 17th. He was 6 pounds 5 ounces and 18.5 inches long. He is just a little guy, but T'liese is happy that he wasn't a 10 pounder like some of the other girls in our family have had.

We can honestly say that he is perfect in every way! Everyone keeps saying that he looks a lot like his dad, so I won't argue that, although I have a hard time seeing much of anyone in newborns. Whatever or whomever he looks like, he is the cutest baby that we have ever seen!

Not Yet

2010-02-10T11:40:00.000-08:00

Well, tomorrow is the Big Due Date. I was really hoping that little Evan would have been here by now. It's so strange all the emotions you go through...impatience, excitement, ambivalence, what on earth are we going to do with a baby?, love...
All I know is that I am so glad that we made it to 40 weeks with no problems. I had a fairly easy pregnancy, but I'm ready to be done with the whole "feel like a whale" rolling out of bed, getting out of a chair or couch, and eating like one, too! It will be nice to have my body back even though I'll have a little one attached to the hip for a while, but I don't mind. I'm pretty sure the next post will be post-delivery because I'm not exactly updating this blog every day, so wish us luck!

Kate and Mayla Arrive!

2010-01-20T12:52:00.000-08:00

We've had an abundance of babies joining our family the last few days. Darren and Stephanie (Joe's sister) welcomed their fourth on January 10th. We visited later that day and she was so stinkin' cute. I'm not sure how tall she was but I do know that she weighed in at 7 lbs. 12 oz. This was Stephanie's smallest baby! She was so sleepy and even though she weighed practically nothing my arms got tired holding her for the short amount of time that I did...I'm out of baby holding shape! Here are some pictures of us visiting her the day she was born.

And then on January 18th Jeff (T'liese's brother) and Megan added their first baby to their family! She was so cute too and weighed 8 lbs. 10 oz. and measured 22 inches! Megan said several times how easy everything was, so that gives me hope! Mayla had a milk mustache and goatee when we got there. When we unwrapped her she would just go limp and spread eagle. There's something to be said about "sleeping like a baby." Here are some pictures of that visit, too!

Nursery Building

2010-01-20T12:29:00.000-08:00

We spent the day preparing the nursery for Evan's arrival! He will be here in just three weeks. More information to come!