Inconveniently Located

haircut

2011-12-31T16:23:00.000-06:00

Finally after three years I consented to get her hair cut. It actually grew in really nice but now the ends are nice and even and the front is shaped nicely. Evelyn was very serious about the whole thing and she didn't want me taking her picture or talking to her. She just wanted to talk to her Auntie Tricia who cut her hair for her at her salon. She was good for the whole thing and listened to Tricia nicely. The no picture thing was a pain.

Here she is fending me off when I tried to take a before picture.

Here Evelyn is with her aunt turning away and being difficult. She was so quiet and sat still for her auntie.

So proud after she was done and wanting to pose for pictures. This picture probably doesn't show off the hair, but it looks very nice. She wanted everyone to see how pretty she looks with her big girl haircut.

little angel

2011-12-18T01:51:00.000-06:00

Evelyn has been planning her snow activities since before her birthday in mid-October. She was so excited to see our first measurable snow when she came down this morning. Excited to the point where I thought she was going to cry due to happiness. Then a little bit later she actually did cry when she realized there was snow on her tire swing that Daddy was going to take down before it snowed.

As soon as she got outside on the patio she immediately got down and began to make several snow angels. In fact most of her playing took part on the patio because the snow just seemed like more there than on the grass since the grass was still visible.

She was pretty disappointed that there was not enough snow to make a snowman or go sledding, but I promised her we would get to do that this year. So she spent her time shoveling with her sand shovel (I hear Santa might be getting one her size), pretending to fall onto the grass and have me and Beefcake find and rescue her, throwing snow clumps at Beefcake for him to try and catch (don't worry, he likes this, though he was strangely bothered by the swishing noise she made when she walked in her snow pants), and she made a really cute song up while she was throwing the snowballs.

Here she is on the front walk drawing a ghost in the snow....I don't really get it.

Her post snow snack consisted of a big carrot, water, and hot cocoa (I let her add her own marshmallows--she didn't get to eat that whole bowl). And by hot cocoa I mean she ate most of the marshmallows she put in, had a couple spoonfuls and managed to get a good cocoa mustache and then she was done. This was the third time I've made her cocoa since someone (mom) told me she drank it at her house, and this was the third time she didn't drink it.

mini dance recital

2011-11-04T23:47:00.000-05:00

Evelyn is in a dance class for 2-3 year olds. She really enjoys it and I love having a little dancer. The studio had a little mini recital with a Halloween theme. Her Rapunzel came in the mail about a half hour before we left the house and she was already dressed as a fairy so we stuck with that. There were two other Rapunzel's in her class so not a bad choice.

I tried to pick pictures where you can't see other kids faces since they are not people I know and feel like I shouldn't post pics of other people I don't know. That kind of makes it hard to post action shots. As they are all 2-3, there is not a lot of synchronization that goes on. It was really cute. Evelyn was not at all nervous about dancing in front of all the parents and other classes.

pumpkin carving

2011-11-04T23:34:00.000-05:00

This was the first year we carved pumpkins with our little pumpkin. I was surprised that it seems a lot less messy than I remembered. Evelyn didn't love pulling out the guts, I think it was just too much work, but she didn't mind sorting out the pumpkin seeds from the flesh.

Here I think she was trying to make a pumpkin face. Evelyn and my pumpkins were happy and Daddy's was scary. I think you can figure out which is which. Notice the cameo of Beefcake through the screen door.

she's 3

2011-10-25T09:51:00.000-05:00

Two weekends ago we celebrated Evelyn's third birthday with family. Daddy couldn't resist getting her another Packer shirt and she was pretty happy about it too. She can't wear any #4, the betrayal is too fresh. Super bowl here we come!

Birthday girl hamming it up.

Her party was Minnie Mouse themed. Here is the cake that took me 10 hours from start to finish, that includes making all the cake and the frosting. It is bigger than it looks, I think the bottom layer is like 12x12 or 14x14. I drew the face myself and was surprised it looked as good as it did. Curt made, and is very proud of the fondant bow he made by himself. His first dive into cake decorating.

celebrating 3

2011-10-12T21:04:00.000-05:00

Evelyn got an early birthday present from her dad tonight. No surprise that she loves it. Thanks to all the hard work that Curt has done clearing out our lot line there was room for a tire swing.

She got to play on it for about 15 minutes while I finished putting together dinner. I am sure we will be on it again tomorrow.

No idea what Curt was doing in this picture. But wanted to show the whole thing. Tomorrow Evelyn turns three and will spend the morning with me, then off to Grammie and Bumpa's house for an overnight adventure as Curt and I get ready for her birthday party Saturday. I still have to work out the cake details so wish me luck.

Next year I will put in some more plants to block that electrical box. Can you believe all this clear area was covered with invasive buckthorn. I think it is so neat Evelyn and her little sister will have a woodsy area to play in like I did as a kid.

our little helper

2011-09-23T08:57:00.000-05:00

Here is Evelyn last Saturday helping us plant on our berm. Notice all the dirt on our little helper's face, and there was snot too as this was the start of her week long cold. She had a great time spending all the time outside even if it was hard to keep her on task.

Her helping seemed to involve a lot of laying on her stomach in the dirt, but the clothes came out clean in the wash! I still need to clean of those shoes though. A pile of dirt + water=lots of mud

Evelyn is not afraid to dig in and get dirty. She also had a friend worm she carried around and played with until it escaped in some mulch.

progress on the berm

2011-09-22T21:55:00.000-05:00

Our plants for our new berm came last Friday and we planted them Saturday and Sunday before I had to go to work. It was tough having Evelyn and keeping her entertained while trying to get everything figured out and planted but we made it through. I kind of overestimated that she would stay occupied helping fill in holes and watering.

We did have the berm designed by Steins, where they give you the money back in gift cards for plants, I thought that was a good deal as I really did not know where to start. The designer originally had the two trees on either end flipped, but at last minute Curt thought it made more sense to have them this way so the tree by the street wouldn't encroach our "milky way" dogwood. She had some knockout roses in there that we didn't want as they have prickles, and the berm is next to the main play area where balls might end up and kids might have to go retrieve them. So we moved some crazy tall Aster plants that were out of place in our front yard over here. They are really floppy and we should probably stake them. I am hoping they will not grow as large in their new location as they won't get quite as much sun as they do on our south facing front of the house, but I am probably kidding myself.

I have some daylillies I need to split and are supposed to go by the baby blue spruce. On the sidewalk side are "summer snowflake" viburnums, they get to be 6x6 so they will end up quite large. It is looking a bit sparse on this side in the meantime. Let's hope they all winter well. Now we just need to add some mulch and some sort of edging.

And our dirt pile, still on the driveway taking up space. Sigh.

helping in the kitchen

2011-09-22T21:27:00.000-05:00

Evelyn loves to help make things in the kitchen. It is great that she is at an age that it is easier to find things that she can do herself. She makes her own peanut and butter sandwiches when she has those for lunch. Something new we started at the end of summer was having her help shuck the corn. Evelyn really enjoys this task and wanted to make sure that Carter knows she can do it herself, I don't know if she is trying to impress him or one up him.

She takes her work very seriously and had no time to look at the camera and smile for her mom. I think she was actually a bit irritated that I asked her.

progress but more work to come

2011-09-04T17:41:00.000-05:00

The berm is finished being shaped and Curt is still alive, but exhausted. Thankfully it was in the 60's all day and cloudy so working conditions were great. We still need the plants, edging and mulch but it is nice to have the project underway and see some this much progress. We haven't decided if we are going to put in weed barrier since we are going to have mulch on top so weeds grow in that anyways, I am thinking we should try the fabric, but all this work will eat up all our fall weekends I am afraid.

Unfortunately we have probably just under half the load of dirt we ordered left. Darn those dirt calculators on the internet and us over-estimating. As I mentioned yesterday, all my ideas to use the dirt include Curt digging up more of our grass and working on projects I had planned for next summer.

As of now Curt has changed his mind and is willing to cut out some more of our grass so we have some landscaping around the back of our house. At least back here we will enjoy it. The way our house and driveway are we never are out front looking at the landscaping that I am pretty happy with there. Here are my tentative lines for NE corner of the house, the outer white line is the accurate one.

summer recap

2011-09-03T13:18:00.000-05:00

Evelyn started a combination ballet and tap class this summer for two and three year old children. Blue has been her favorite color for about a year and she loves her blue dance dress that she thinks is just like Cinderella. It took about three weeks for Evelyn to fully participate, but there was no doubt that she loved it when she came running back to us with the largest grin on her face when she had to switch shoes and after class was over. I don't think she danced at all the first class.

We had a great vacation with my side of the family back in July at a cabin near the Dells.

The best fisherman of the week was Evelyn with her Mickey Mouse pole, she caught the most fish.

a little garden project

2011-09-03T12:56:00.000-05:00

That's 20 cubic yards of dirt for our new berm that we Curt hopes to finish this weekend. I worry that we got too much, but I guess we'll see when it is all in place and packed down. I have some other garden beds that could be dug around the house that it could be used for, but I am pretty sure that Curt won't be up to that. In fact he aleady said no. Right now it is raining and Curt had to go to work for a few hours so it is sitting under tarps. Tomorrow should be a better day for dirt moving.

In case you forgot what used to be there here are the two dying and one funny looking pine tree.

catch yourself a rainbow

2011-05-18T18:09:00.000-05:00

Evelyn had a great time going to her 4 year old cousin's preschool graduation presentation Monday night. She was in particular enamored with the rainbow hoops they had. Yesterday we took some time in the morning to make our own out of a saltine box and some ribbons.

Then she must have remembered the rest of the program because she sat down and started to do the "Bear Hunt" song complete with actions she learned the night before.

Here she is climbing up the ladder. I thought Jordan's face was awesome on this particular action when she performed it for us at her graduation.

And here Evelyn is going down the ladder. Cute.

the only ants she likes

2011-05-18T09:24:00.000-05:00

Yummy ants on a log. Made by Evelyn and Mommy. She even ate a couple instead of just licking off the peanut butter.

easter and potty success

2011-05-04T14:27:00.000-05:00

So I guess I have been bad about posting lately. I will chalk it up to Easter, working a lot (for me) and starting to potty train. I had been waiting for a sign that she was ready or her own desire to use the potty on her own (I certainly offered). She was happy with the way things were but she provided me with the proof I was looking for that she was ready and could in fact "hold it", so we ventured into the potty training adventure. But before I get to that, here are some pics from Easter.

With her cousins on my side including the newest and littlest cousin Landen.

Here is the only picture I could get of the two girls on Curt's side of the family, afterwards they went back to bouncing on the bed.

So back to potty training. I started a week ago and told Evelyn that she was a big girl and from now on it was underwear and everything goes in the potty. I am using "The Potty Boot Camp: Basic Training for Toddlers" by Suzanne Riffel it is short, to the point and had a flow chart. Target didn't have any training pants so I ended up using just regular underwear which really holds nothing when she has an accident. And yes I will be shampooing a carpet or two in the future but I should do that anyways. She can pull her underpants up and down just fine as she is 2 1/2 so I didn't do any naked days as the book suggests. Plus to my surprise her accidents are never "on the way" to the potty. The first four days were the most stressful ones I had in a long time with her I had to escape when Curt got home for the night a couple times. I watched her like a hawk every minute because any time I looked away, inevitably that would be when she would have an accident. The book did not give numbers as to what was a lot or little amount of accidents. But for those of you keeping score she had four accidents the first day, two the second day, one the third day, three (and almost four) the fourth day. The fifth day I finally had reinforcements (Curt) and was considerably less stressed and she had two accidents (on his watch, he was just learning what he needed to do on his end). From then on we have had 0-1 accidents a day, and she managed to stay dry the whole time we left to do the MS Walk and walked the three miles then drove to Curt's dad's house (we tried pull-ups that day just in case). So for the most part she is trained. She even started being dry during her naps on her own. I have her trying every hour which she complains a lot about so I have to pull out the bribes. She self-initiates a lot, but at the same time her accidents are often after she refused to sit on the potty for us. Maybe that means we shouldn't ask her all, maybe she is being defiant. So for a lot of you that is more than wanted to know, I am glad we forced the issue as she has proven she was definitely ready for it. I guess I should read the part in the book about maintaining as I think I skipped those because of my rush to get ready.

thursday

2011-04-01T09:27:00.000-05:00

Here's what we did yesterday. Painted, played a little piano and hammed it up for the camera.

snack time

2011-03-30T14:07:00.000-05:00

Evelyn and Baby Lola having a snack on the couch.

our little ballerina

2011-03-28T14:02:00.001-05:00

Believe it or not, her daddy showed her how to twirl like a ballerina.

hanging out

2011-03-09T11:46:00.000-06:00

Just some pictures of activities we've been up to, scooping up lentils is a slightly messy, but fun for Evelyn. Coloring is always fun. And the photo on the couch shows her irritated for me taking her photo, I just thought it was cute with her baby next to her.

pudding time

2011-03-04T14:47:00.000-06:00

Making pudding with Daddy. She loves to help out.

little artist

2011-03-02T15:29:00.000-06:00

So she is smiling here, but moments before she told me to leave her alone because she was painting.

apparently I can shovel

2011-02-21T15:13:00.003-06:00

Apparently I can shovel, but don't tell my husband. I found this skill helpful so I could exit the driveway today and get Evelyn from my parents. Don't worry, I made sure Curt won't feel redundant by only shoveling the stuff at the bottom that the plow left. I could drive over the rest and I only shoveled the width of my car wheels which I could easily tell by tracks I left when I came home last night. If I wasn't sick I might have done more than that. note: I do really appreciate and love that my husband takes care of all that snow for me. Thankfully Curt is expected back in a couple of hours from his ice-fishing weekend with his friends. This was my big free weekend as Evelyn was off to my parents for three nights because I worked second shift Saturday and Sunday. I ended up being sick so there wasn't much fun for me, but I enjoyed the peace and quiet, read a book and watched some home improvement shows. Anyone watch Rehab Addict on DIY, she is based in Minneapolis and is working on a house on Minnehaha . Makes me nostalgic for the fair city and she rehabs the houses so they look more period rather than super modern which is often all you see lately on those kind of shows. Evelyn just took a 2 1/2 hour nap, recuperating from the non-stop fun she had at my parents. So now she is up and I gotta go. I'll post some pics soon.

out on the town

2011-01-29T12:19:00.004-06:00

Evelyn was pretty excited to go and socialize with her family. After a never ending run of colds passed between the three of us we haven't gone out much since Christmas. If you look in the background you can see a funny shot of Beefy licking his face. Hee hee. Ev is showing off her hair bow. She is all decked out to go to Carter's birthday party. Here she is actually looking at the camera and sort of smiling.

horsing around

2011-01-25T18:20:00.004-06:00

I found these beads yesterday, they are the pop together kind I had as a kid. Since I don't want them apart all over I haven't told Evelyn that. She is modeling a bulldog shirt I got a kohl's the other day. They had 60% off a bunch of t-shirts and I was picking up a few for summer. Wasn't sure if 4t would be too big but I think it will be just fine. Just enough room to grow out and plenty of length. Evelyn has been having a lot of fun with this laundry basket the past two days. We went to the library today to get a few books and had fun playing with the puppets they have there.

big win

2011-01-23T20:16:00.003-06:00

Celebrating the big win. Sorry Bears, but we're number one! Evelyn explained the game to me. "Football players run and fall down, that's how they do it." That probably sums it up for me. Curt will have to work on the complexities of the game with her.

Go Packers!

When I tucked Evelyn into bed tonight I first had to explain that her frog couldn't sleep with her as she had a full bed with monkey, giraffe, seahorse, doggie, Dora and bear tucked in. She asked for a high five (unusual) and exclaimed "GO PACKERS!" Those were her last words before bed, she skipped the usual love yous and directing me to an activity (mommy, you go watch Diego, play kitchen, read my Cinderella book.)

Another Packers touchdown!

paint and cookies

2011-01-12T14:21:00.004-06:00

She is so proud of her snickerdoodles. I planned on making these with her before Christmas and we never got to it. This was her first batch of real cookies. Here they are all done.

Putting sprinkles on.

Painting. She is just holding up her brush, not licking it.

Messy hands.

stuff she does

2011-01-08T19:57:00.003-06:00

Enjoying some treats at a tea party.

She loves to paint with a brush.

fairy princess

2011-01-06T17:59:00.002-06:00

It is so rare she will actually look at the camera and smile so here is my fairy princess.

last day of december

2011-01-06T17:46:00.004-06:00

I wanted to commemorate the last day of 2010 when it was 50 degrees and you can see the tiny patch of snow on the lawn which was gone by the end of the day. Plus Evelyn looked really cute on our way to run some errands. So now I welcome you to 2011. Before the year switched over Evelyn was able to peddle the bike she got for her birthday and finally got her two year molars to pop through. They were the only teeth she got in 2010, the rest had already come in by the of 2009. I thought she was teething pretty much the whole year. Tantrums, screaming and flailing tantrums, also made there first appearance a few days before Christmas, she had two yesterday so I guess they are here to stay. I've been sick since Christmas and Curt and Evelyn are sick too. I am better except for a swollen gland so I guess I can re-enter society. Evelyn had a fever today so I will see how tonight goes she might end up at the doctor tomorrow.

fun stuff

2010-11-23T11:56:00.002-06:00

In her Beauty and the Beast tutu reading by herself. No socks of course, she hates stuff on her feet. Since she started wearing pajamas with feet it has been a battle of her taking them off though she claims they fell off. She is actually taking off her socks as I type.

Her first lollipop that she got trick or treating, and you can definitely tell by her expression that she is savoring it. She ate the whole thing and was real good about only licking and no biting. Did you notice how long her hair has gotten?

halloween

2010-11-23T09:57:00.003-06:00

Remember a month ago when it was Halloween? Well, here are some pics. Evelyn got to go trick or treating twice this year and she practiced saying "trick or treat" the whole week before, she was primed and ready to go. The first day she remained eager as we started walking down the street, but then she realized she had to go to strangers doors. Not a big fan of strangers she decided it wasn't for her and demanded to go back to her aunt and uncles house to sit with Grandpa handing out candy. So I guess it was a bust. No biggie, I don't think at 2 she needs to eat any candy and most of it is a choking hazard. The next day she did much better with her three boy cousins, maybe she felt safe since Superman and Robin where there. Evelyn went to a bunch of houses and even managed a few times to say "trick or treat" and "thank you." She is incredibly shy around new people and it is difficult to get her to say anything at all. Which is funny because most of the time she is a chatter box. I think it was a success.

its tuesday

2010-10-19T16:01:00.002-05:00

Hope you are having a good Tuesday. Going to go play outside with Evelyn.

fishing for compliments

2010-10-18T10:48:00.006-05:00

(Evelyn with her gift from Daddy prior to breaking her arm)

Evelyn just finished eating her lunch and as she is getting down from her high chair she turns and looks at me and said "good eater mommy, I a good eater." She likes to be acknowledged for her good acts, and to be fair she gives them to me too (good cooking mommy, good driving mommy, etc.) I should have complimented her anyway because she didn't throw any food at her meal for the first time in...? She has pretty much been getting a time out at the end of every meal because of food throwing.

We are going to stick around the house today after the busy weekend we had. I plan on doing some yard maintenance while she is napping. It is hard to find a big block of time and now that her party is over I guess I should try and do a little every day. Lots of pruning, cleaning up and weeding to do!

she's two

2010-10-17T22:44:00.005-05:00

We celebrated Evelyn's birthday with family this weekend. Of course we had to have a theme which conveniently color-coordinated with her birthday dress. Okay, it was all planned. I made the cake. I used a shaped pan this year. Tinting the colors was so much easier this year than last so all in all it was pretty easy. A lot of dishes and two hours of frosting it.

Evelyn even actually ate the cake...I think that is the first time she had more than a bite and didn't spit it out. It was yellow cake which may have made a difference...she really doesn't like chocolate. Or it was the anticipation of seeing me working on making the icing Thursday and the cake on Friday. We did a little bit of preparation this week so she would know what to expect. We worked on her answer for how old she is. We practiced blowing out the candles. Helped her learn the words to "Happy Birthday" (actually Justin Bieber, my momst of that). She even wore her birthday hat a couple of times to get her used to it.

Here she is blowing out the candles...this might be the first or second time we did it. She had so much fun the first time that she wanted to do it again, and as her indulgent mother I re-lit the candles and had everyone sing to her again. Thanks for being good sports.

So glad I (at the last minute) took my sister-in-laws suggestion to get the game Elefun, actually they picked it up for me the day of so I wouldn't have to run out. It was a fun activity (we didn't read the rules) for the 4 and under crowd we had. Oh, did I mention Evelyn broke her arm a week before her party. It is actually a torus fracture and she'll have the cast for three more weeks. The very short story is that while climbing out of a pack 'n play she must have landed with a straight arm and did the damage.

At least I could get her dress over her cast. She wouldn't pose for a decent photo so this is the best I got.

zoo

2010-08-27T21:09:00.000-05:00

loving the giraffes, we've been to the zoo a bunch of times this summer

beach baby

2010-08-18T17:13:00.000-05:00

Evelyn at the lake. She is more interested in playing with the sand and sludge by the shore then to spend much time in the water. Playing in her sandbox is no longer as exciting now that she knows it is more fun to have water involved...which I tried to incorporate but that was a mess!

Evelyn is 22 months old now and of course I think she is exceptionally bright and kind. She has well developed verbal skills, yet surprised me yesterday with a six word sentence "I will go and get him." Her favorite things right now to point out are bicycles, motorcycles, planes and people running and walking. She loves going to the park and going down the slides, on the swings and exploring what there is to climb, she is kind of into hanging. Loves the cartoon The Backyardigans especially Pablo and watches a little Yo Gabba Gabba. Her favorite song right now is Jusitin Bieber's "Baby" which she attempts to sing. She knows a bunch of her colors, but then sometimes she gets them wrong and I don't know if she is doing it to be funny. She likes to count, but it pretty random at it most of the time and likes to call out random letters when she sees writing. I guess that's it for an update right now.

what am I missing

2010-08-06T17:09:00.004-05:00

I broke another plate today. After almost five years of having the same dinnerware with no accidents, in the past month we have broken two dinner plates and two bowls (and I chipped a salad plate while I broke a bowl). Curt broke the first plate, and I should be glad I wasn't hard on him because I've broken the rest. I can't blame Evelyn, and I think it has all been done while preparing them for the dishwasher. Is this some sort of sign?

first corn on the cob

2010-07-28T22:56:00.004-05:00

Evelyn is growing up so fast and there are so many things she is doing for the first time. Here she is eating corn off the cob for the first time. I guess eating it off the cob just makes it more delicious. Kind of like when I gave her a whole apple this week and she kept exclaiming "yummy" bite after bite.

play doh

2010-07-28T22:02:00.003-05:00

Here is Evelyn playing with some play doh, we've been playing with a couple times a weeks for a month or two now and it is a good distraction. This particular picture was taken when she was playing with her Grammie and they played for over an hour with the stuff. We called my mom today on the phone, and I told Evelyn who we were calling and she shouted "hi Grammie...I miss you." I just wish my mom would have heard it, it was so darling.

taking care of baby

2010-06-16T15:43:00.005-05:00

Evelyn likes to take care of her dolls and babies. She puts them in her high chair and feeds them with a spoon or give them a bottle and a cheese stick. She carries them upstairs and launches them into her crib so they can take a nap and she makes sure that they have a "kiki" (blankie) to help them sleep. Evelyn shows them how to use her little potty chair and likes to wipe their bum if they are "poopie". She takes them for walks and rides on her push car, sometimes she has to sit on them so they don't fall out and sometimes she has to throw them off when they get to heavy. Yesterday EJ even tried to wash one of their hands in the bathroom sink. She worries when she is not around to watch them that they might get into trouble.

Sometimes it is safest to confine them so that they don't hurt themselves or get into mischeif.

Evelyn tried to put her stuffed dog in here too for company, but the lid wouldn't go back on.

exploding eye

2010-06-16T15:21:00.002-05:00

So did that title get your attention? As you can see Beefcakes eyes are just fine. I do have to put drops in them every 6 hours and give him Benedryl every 8. Beefcake had a nice little health scare this weekend. Saturday morning when we got him out of his crate he had hives covering his four legs, belly, head and his eyes were so swollen he look like he got in a fight. We gave him Benedryl and that got the bumps under control and kept an eye on his itching and scratching, he had already licked his one paw pretty bad so it was oozy (but he does that from time to time so no biggie). Curt gave him a bath and we did a lot of cleaning and laundry to hopefully getting rid of anything that might have irritated him (we thought it was maybe drywall dust). As long as we kept up with the Benedryl he seemed okay. Sunday the bumps were virtually gone, you could feel them but not see them from across the room and he really did not itch or lick. He threw up both his meals, but we thought maybe it was upset from the Benedryl. 9:15 p.m. rolls around, Curt is upstairs ironing his work clothes and my very hungry dog is begging for a snack when I notice his eye looks like it going to pop! I got to take him to the emergency vet who checked him out and was able to determine that the viscera around his eye, not the eyeball itself was what I was seeing popping out of his eye socket. So he got a shot of benedryl and a steroid and is on the mend. I wish we knew if he got bit by something, or it was a contact dermatitis. I stop the meds after today so cross your fingers for tomorrow.

cousin and contractors

2010-06-16T15:06:00.004-05:00

Cousin Carter came over to play last week. Overall they played nice and only fought over toys a little bit, including this super awesome wooden mallet. Sharing the mallet...I'm sure that didn't last long.

Carter had his hands full keeping Evelyn entertained and checking back with his contractors working on his basement playroom. He was on both phones managing the crew back at his house.

where is ej?

2010-06-16T14:55:00.002-05:00

So I know you are all dying to find out what Evelyn has been up to lately. She likes to pull her blanket over her head and hide, now that is not really a new thing but the manner in which she does it is a little strange. The first time she did this I was cleaning up the kitchen and thought she had been unusually quiet for a few minutes. I go the front of the house and she is sitting on the stairs with her blanket completely covering her head and not saying anything. A little strange, right? She'll do the same thing in the car..I'll look in the mirror and she'll be silent and have her head covered. I guess she understands if she is hiding she is supposed to be quiet so it is harder to find her? Look how happy she is now that she has been found.

On another note, ever since we were out of town and she got sick and in an effort to appease her I gave her her Nuk and blanket during the day, now it is an everyday thing that she needs them. She used to only get her nuk for naps and it was never an issue and she never dragged her blanket around. I guess I am going to have to cut her off cold turkey, but I am waiting for a good time to do that...is there ever?

You can't tell from the picture, but Evelyn is tap, tap, tap, tapping--which she chants while she does it. She is wearing some shiny red shoes with clunky heels her GiGi got her. They are her dancing shoes. Evelyn loves to dance and has expanded her knee bending and hopping skills to include tapping, doing circles, and a sort of head side to side move Carter taught her.

my summer cutie

2010-06-01T22:42:00.005-05:00

catch up

2010-04-23T11:01:00.002-05:00

I am backlogged on blogging. I guess I have been busy with other stuff, mostly I have been spending a lot of time planning Evelyn's big girl room, even though I don't see her moving to it for a year. Evelyn in her car, she can only go backwards right now. she likes to enter and exit through the window Dukes of Hazzard style.

Kind of blurry action shot, but I thought it was cute how she insisted on holding all the chalk she could and running around with it. Her legs, arm, feet and clothes were all chalky. I forgot to check the shirt before I put it in the dryer to see if it all came out...it is in there now....

This was probably from March, but I thought it was cute how she is sucking up a noodle of her spaghetti. Another really messy food. Evelyn is now 18 months and at her doctor's visit she is 95th percentile for height and like 75 for weight. Without getting up I think that was 34 inches and 26 lbs 8 oz. So right where she has been the past visits. She met a little girl at the library this week who is her age and about a head shorter. Maybe we'll have the same problem as her cousin Jordan where people think she is much older and wonder why she is acting younger... Least of our worries I suppose.

snippets

2010-04-14T12:06:00.002-05:00

I thought I would give you something new to look at today. I don't have any new pictures I guess, so these are from the 2nd I think. We had a week of really nice days, then it was cold again. This was Evelyn wearing shorts for the first time this year. I love how cute her little legs and knees look in them. This t-shirt is cute too, but it won't fit her long, it is a 12-18 month that I had put in the wrong bin of clothes so I just pulled it out. She is too long for most of her 18 month clothes. Here she is playing with a Little People amusement park set.

Here she was practicing walking down the step without holding onto anything. She did this time and time again and never fell.

She did fall running down the driveway and skinned her poor little knees for the first time. They are mostly healed now, just a little pink still. Evelyn started to say "help me" yesterday, which mostly sounds like "happy" but I know what she means. She is fascinated with planes in the sky right now. If she hears one she yells "plane" and searches the sky for them. What else is new...she started calling Beefcake "FiFi" on occasion instead of doggie. I think she is trying to say "Beefy" and I don't why she can't say it because she can say baby and bear just fine. We think maybe she is trying to push his buttons by calling him a sissy name.

hippity hop

2010-04-07T12:08:00.003-05:00

We spent Saturday at my parents. Evelyn got to hunt for eggs for the first time before her cousins (and me, I was at work still) got there. I hear she was really good at finding the eggs and eating the fish or cheerios inside. I hear she is known as the Easter "thief" by one of her cousins. It looks like she had fun. She wasn't really into eating any of the food prepared for Easter and stuck to her regular menu.

Racing to find more eggs.

Sunday we spent with Curt's side of the family. This is Evelyn's don't mess with me face.

Hunting for eggs outside. I put her tulip bucket there, but I was mostly the one that carried it and put the eggs she found in it.

Time for an Easter tackle hug. The girls had a great time giggling and running around.

remember last week?

2010-04-07T11:29:00.002-05:00

Remember when it felt like summer was here? I knew it couldn't last but I am glad we did not take it for granted and played outside, went to the park, and took walks every day.

Almost too big for the swing in that she has to pick up her feet so she doesn't scrape the grass. I know it has been awhile since I have posted. Evelyn knows and uses more than 50 words, plus she'll repeat just about anything. She knows that a dog goes "woof," a cow goes "moo," and a snake says "sssss." Two weeks ago she started to make two word phrases "bye-bye dada" "hi mama" and "nigh-nigh doggie." She is getting better with a fork and managed to spear her noodles and pears nicely today. Evelyn loves to go outside and at times when we are still in our pajamas or the weather is bad it is hard to ignore her asking for her "co-coat" and "shoes" and to go " 'side." She is a climber, and while she climbs appropriate things, there are also tables that she is fond of climbing up on. When she is mad she likes to stamp her little feet, kick her legs, and generally bursts into tears the moment she doesn't get her way or something she wants.

birthday party

2010-03-07T11:04:00.004-06:00

Evelyn's cousin Jordan turned 3 on Friday and had a party with her friends and Evelyn was invited too! It was a costume party so Evelyn decided to be a ballerina. Here she is before the party getting used to her tutu. Beefcake is staying close hoping she drops a cheerio.

Greeting the birthday girl. It's hard to get a picture with either child looking at the camera.

Jordan is fishing, looks like she has a big catch.

Evelyn ate some frosting off her cupcake, a first, and seemed to enjoy it.

There were five little kids and they all were pretty well behaved, and most importantly had a really fun time. The had a treasure hunt, fishing, crafts, pizza, a "tea" party, and a dance party x2. Evelyn had a fun time trying to keep up with the big kids.

socks, spoons and shapes

2010-02-26T12:51:00.002-06:00

So I realize I have been very bad this month and not posting like I should/promised/intended. To make up for that here are a bunch of pictures of what Evelyn had been up to. She says around thirty words now, her newest being "star" "moon" and "down." She can also give kiss with a "mmmmmaaaaahhh" sound effect, yesterday she gave one to Curt's picture when he was at work. She understands different activities. For instance, I can say "let's go upstairs" and she immediately goes to the stairs and starts to climb. Or I can say "lets take the dog outside" and she goes to the backdoor. This also works when she tells me she wants to eat and I tell her to go to her chair and runs and hides and/or starts to whine and cry. I get that same reaction when I tell her we need to change her diaper. She gave it a valiant effort to get her socks back on, she at one point had a few of her toes in the sock. She can slip into my pink crocs and walk around in them by herself.

I began the month letting her use a spoon more by herself and the practice has certainly worked. Her grip is much better and she has control over the spoon. Now she can eat a lot of things like oatmeal, applesauce, yogurt, corn, peas with it. I really have to keep an eye on her because she likes to throw the dish on the floor when it gets hard for her.

The Saturday before Valentines we went to my mom and dads and Grammie showed her how to put shapes in the bucket. She needs someone to help show her which whole to put the shape in, but I think that is a good start.

We worked on a lot of finger painting and drawing with crayons this month, and she doesn't really like either. I think she doesn't like touching the paint is the big problem. I got some paintbrushes yesterday at Michael's so we'll see if that helps. She does however like to scribble on this magnet board. I do not recommend this one by Parent's. The magnets don't stay and the image kind of fades away. Or we just got a dud.

Evelyn loves to make a mess. She insists on pulling out all the books and sitting in this basket. She does the same thing with her toy basket, the dog toy basket, her doll stroller, her Ariel ride on car (she lifts the seat), her block box, any other box she finds laying about. I guess I don't care too much, but she does tip these things over quite a bit and then knocks her noggin. I hope this gave you the Evelyn fix you've been craving.

eating with a spoon

2010-02-07T10:58:00.003-06:00

Evelyn likes to hold on the very end of the spoon and dip it in the yogurt, thankfully it sticks. She does a pretty good job of getting it in her mouth, but she does get a lot on her face.

I won't be using glass bowls anymore, she broke one last week and made a huge mess.

She has a very satisfied smirk on her face.

figuring it out

2010-02-05T08:34:00.003-06:00

I know it has been a bit since there has been a new picture. This is actually from about a week ago, but I didn't feel like uploading the camera. Evelyn went in for her 15 month check up this week and is doing great. She is 33 inches and 20lbs 8oz so she is in the 95th and 75th percentiles respectively. She knows about 17 words which is great for her age and is learning her body parts. Watch out! Curt taught her "cheeks" yesterday and she likes to grab them sort of hard when she says it. Evelyn has an ear infection, her first, in her right ear so she is being treated for that. She wasn't showing any signs that she was sick so I think we caught it on the front end. Though it could be the explanation I am looking for as she has stopped napping. added 2/6/10: She actually knows 20 words, I have been adding the ones I had forgotten she knows when she has been using them. And I am not counting words that she has said but doesn't say consistently like "carter" "bumpa" "banana." The words she does know are ask follows: block, ball, mama, Dada, no no, baby, dog/doggie, uh oh, hi, cheese, juice, yes, yum/yummy, pea, socks, shoes, duck, bear, hair, and Dora. Hopefully I haven't forgotten anything else. Strangely she does not watch Dora, but recognizes her on sight. Oh, and when I said she learned cheeks. She knows the body part, not the word.

birthday boy

2010-01-24T11:39:00.002-06:00

We celebrated Carter's first birthday yesterday at a Tykes gym. Here is the birthday boy at his safari birthday: Here are three of the cousins cramming in a tiny house together.

This is the awesome birthday cake Amy made with some help from Adam on the grass. Pretty awesome. The river was shiny and glittery which was pretty cool.

The party was a lot of fun for the kids and the adults. Evelyn like do climb up the stairs leading up to the slides. She liked going down the slides and sitting on the trampoline. She did not like the giant ball pit and cried every time Bumpa tried to put her in.

tiny dancer

2010-01-24T11:07:00.006-06:00

Thought I would post a video of Evelyn dancing up a storm. I know grandparents and great grandparents will enjoy it.

Update, there was some problem with the video after a day so I tried to reload it. Hope this one lasts.

dorothy's got nothing on her

2010-01-20T11:12:00.004-06:00

So I tried to do some shopping yesterday with EJ, and she was pretty fussy...did I already blog about that? Evelyn wanted to hold everything she saw, so most of my time was spent trying to entertain her. A couple of weeks ago she picked out similar shoes to these at Target and when I put them on her feet she was so happy admiring how they looked. Well, I didn't get them that day as I felt she really didn't need them and she has been wearing boots (cute boots) exclusively this winter for warmth. Well, now Spring is on my mind and of course I see the need for some sparkly shoes. EJ picked these out and they seem to make her so happy, "shoes" was one of her first words after all, so I bought these yesterday. So cute!

laundry room lock-off

2010-01-19T15:47:00.005-06:00

I wanted to share my favorite home improvement item of the new year. This is the amazing lock Curt put on the laundry room door so Evelyn can't run in there every 10 seconds. I was convinced she was going to chop off a finger in the spring loaded door under the laundry sink. She can still run into the bathroom so we still have to address that situation, but we are split on which solution to go ahead with. And the worst she does in there is mess with the TP, but I think it is gross to want to play in there, regardless of how often I clean it.

Here is a gratuitous photo of EJ. She had a great weekend because her mom and dad were home for four days. I had an awesome weekend because I had the opportunity to go shopping without Evelyn twice, once for 7 hours!! Yippee. I love shopping. I went on a mission to find a birthday gift for my nephew, but then I like to look at everything. Additionally there were really good clearance sales so I got a few things for next winter for Evelyn.

Evelyn's tumbling tots was better today. I didn't try and force her to sit so there was less screaming. It continued to be a pain to have to pull her off of stuff so other kids could have a chance. She loves sitting on the trampoline and having me bounce it, she does not want to stand yet. The had a new (finally a decent) crawl through tunnel so she liked that. Evelyn log-rolled down a ramp and liked that. They also brought out a beam like four inches wide (really ???) I guided her feet on it a few steps but she had no interest. She gave a boy a hug and I probably should have asked the mom if that was okay.

reading nook

2010-01-13T10:48:00.003-06:00

I guess if you are going to read a few books there is no more convenient place then in your actual basket of books. Evelyn's whole day was thrown off yesterday when she attended her first community ed tumbling tots class yesterday. It wasn't really what I was expecting it to be as the kids didn't really play with each other they have to kind of do different "stations" one at a time. Evelyn was the only girl and the only one who didn't want to sit by her mom during circle time at the beginning and end of class. A little too much structure for her I guess. I don't want to be the mom that lets her run around and do whatever, but I don't see the point in physically forcing her to participate at this age either. Plus then she screams. What do you think? Should I be fine with her wandering around next week or force her to do the group activities?

geared up

2010-01-07T22:05:00.005-06:00

We were finally prepared for a day out in the snow and Curt was home to enjoy it with us. I got EJ boots and gloves that could get wet and a snowsuit. The snowsuit is a little long in the legs and torso even though I got her a 24 month suit. The boots were a pain to get on, but not as hard as the mittens. They need to leave more room for parent fingers to get in there and put everything were it is supposed to go. Getting on the mittens was the hardest part and I kind of wish they made zip up mittens. They probably do. After she was all dressed we plopped Evelyn on the snow outside in an are Curt had actually cleared off for Beefcake. We figured she could get used to walking on a little bit of snow first before it being a lost cause in the deep stuff. She ended up just standing there, not even moving her arms and no coaxing could get her to walk towards us. At least there was no crying...yet.

Since she was unwilling to move we put her in a sled that I got this past summer at a garage sale. Glad it was only $5 dollars because it sucked. It really was more of a plow digging tracks into the snow and required Curt and I to take turns running her around the backyard. We tried to push her down a steep hill on the side of the house to test it, and she went nowhere. I guess that is safe for a small child. She loved getting pulled around as you can see by the smile on her tiny face.

Curt managed to get snow on Evelyn's face, her first and I can't say that she liked it. Of course we had to take a picture before we brushed it off.

So this is what it looks like when the fun is over.

tasty

2010-01-05T10:52:00.003-06:00

Carter and Evelyn enjoying a Christmas Eve snack.

tackle hug

2010-01-05T10:39:00.003-06:00

This is what I call a tackle hug. And another hug for her cousin Jordan. Evelyn looks a little crazy, but it is still cute. This girl likes to hug.Since I haven't posted in so long I am trying to catch up and post some stuff from the holiday. I bet there will be another cute hug picture somewhere....

working together

2010-01-05T10:27:00.002-06:00

My sisters boys came over yesterday so she could drive her in-laws to the airport. Evelyn slept for the first hour they were here but then they found something they all wanted to play with. Clark and Henry recreated the nativity scene while Evelyn was in charge of pressing the button at the top that played "Silent Night." Clark knew who the wise men were, baby Jesus, the angels, the little drummer boy (Clark said he plays his drum for baby Jesus and makes him smile).

Notice Evelyn's handful of nativity pieces as she sets off to run (ok, walk fast) and ruin Clark's order.

Evelyn really likes to hug her cousins, it is one of the first things she tries to do when she sees them. This is after about two hugs.

And a third. It's nice that Evelyn can play with other children now, even if they are a bit older.

pink tooth

2009-12-23T14:57:00.004-06:00

Here is Beefcake.Here is a close-up of Beefcakes pink tooth. Apparently he has injured his tooth and it is now dying. Our guess is he ran into something like a wall or the cabinets too hard tooth first chasing a ball. I took him to the vet on Monday and we have decided to just let it be for now. It will eventually turn more of a purple or gray color, but as long as it doesn't bother him we can just keep it there. Our other options are extraction or having a doggie root canal. Extraction has the risk of fracturing his jaw since the root is two times as long as the tooth cap. It doesn't seem to bother him at all when we tough it and he still chews on nylabones and stuff. The vet did say that if it ends up being removed his tongue will fall out of his mouth, well it does that anyways so I am not too concerned. I got lots of compliments on how nice his teeth look, and that has to be genetics as I never brushed them enough before and since we had Evelyn that has gone down further still.

things to complain about

2009-12-23T14:50:00.002-06:00

I am annoyed so I thought I would blog about it then forget about it. I just put Evelyn down for a nap. I guess it was good timing to put her back in her pj's because for the second day in a row she decided to pick up Beefcakes water bowl and carry it. Yes, she can actually pick it up and walk with it, unfortunately this creates a flood of water in the back hall and generally necessitates a clothes change for her. I thought she was over messing with his bowl, and I think I liked it better when she just splashed her hands in it.
Also, a big thanks goes out to my husband who decided to show Evelyn how to turn the lights on and off in her room. As the light switch is pretty much where her head goes every time I dress or change her this has been very helpful. I appreciate changing her in the extremes of light and dark so I can just guess where the poo is that I need to wipe off. Thanks.

waiting

2009-12-22T11:31:00.002-06:00

Evelyn knows it is almost time for Christmas. I dressed her so adorably yesterday I had to share.

Here she is carefully touching the Christmas tree.

Rearranging the Christmas tree is a daily occurrence. Notice the ornament in flight on its way to join the other three ornaments on the floor. Beefy checks to make sure it's not edible.

Funny pose for the camera.

goofing around

2009-12-11T23:00:00.002-06:00

Just having some fun with Christmas decorations. Nothing got broken today. I am also experimenting with trying to get my pictures to look nicer. I compress my files so they load faster, and I know others do the same, but my pictures look really crappy in comparison.

As you can see, the tree still needs quite a bit more decorations...one of these days. It doesn't help the Evelyn pulls everything low off. She tries to put it back on, but she is just not that coordinated.

It is a fun time now because Evelyn seems to learn more about her world everyday. She is increasing her vocabulary and improving her gross and fine motor coordination. We don't like to jump the gun on words we think she knows, we like to be so convinced that no one could deny it. She knows mama, dada, dog, duck, uh-oh, ball, and her favorite word by far is socks. I am almost entirely convinced she says/uses shoes, cheese, car (though she says it like she is from Boston). She is a mimic so she does repeat or try to repeat a bunch of other words I say to her. She also learned how to stack rings this week has started to enjoy emptying and filling containers working on the concept of in and out. She also sort of enjoyed putting all her shoes back in their cubbies in her closet instead of just ripping them all out and throwing them on the floor. I am hoping she starts to enjoy the concept of "in." It will make my life easier. She definitely understands open and close as I ask her to close drawers and doors all the time.

turkey day in photos

2009-12-09T14:57:00.003-06:00

I was bad not to put up some photos earlier. I was also bad for not taking more pictures of more cousins together. Whispering secrets to her cousin Carter, from the look on his face they must be disturbing?

Evelyn giving Carter a hug.

Jordan splashing her dad at the waterpark.

Evelyn enjoying the water fountains with her dad.

Tooling around in a fully equipped water vehicle.

stealing things

2009-12-08T15:00:00.003-06:00

She was so happy when she grabbed this ballerina bulldog ornament off of the tree. How could I take away her Christmas joy after making her sit on Santa's lap and probably scarring her for life?

Well, I guess this is the price I pay. She slipped on the hardwood and poor little tutu bulldog lost one of her beribboned ballet slippered paws.

my very own nativity scene

2009-12-08T14:40:00.005-06:00

This is the advent calendar Evelyn got for Christmas. I think it an awesome calendar for a little kid and was excited when my mom found it for Evelyn.

Here Evelyn is pulling off the objects, she is to little to reason with so I kind of let her do what she wants with it for now. Some of the pieces have gotten a little sucked on.

Thinking hard about what she is going to do with object number 4... in the mouth or throw on the floor.

Here she is throwing a fit because she wants to play some more.

visit with santa

2009-12-08T13:56:00.004-06:00

Evelyn did not enjoy her visit with Santa. I only had them take two pictures to choose from so she would not be too traumatized.

snowlady

2009-12-03T10:10:00.004-06:00

This is Evleyn with her new pal "Snowlady." Snowlady sings and dances and bats her eyelids, she is quite the flirt! Evelyn loves her Snowlady and her cute carrot nose.

Evelyn is sort of into hugging things now, she loves Snowlady.

She's got to squeeze her harder to show how much she really loves Snowlady.

Caught in the act!

So happy.

2009-11-09T14:46:00.002-06:00

As promised here is a video of Evelyn walking. I kept trying to get a really good video and failing at that I decided to use this one that Curt took. She is doing really well walking right now; I would say she favors that mode of getting around versus crawling.

first pony

2009-11-09T12:11:00.003-06:00

First ponytail that is. I'll have to work on my technique to try and get all of her bangs.

our little pumpkin

2009-10-30T15:56:00.002-05:00

Evelyn is getting ready for some Halloween fun. I think she wants to be a vampire because we all of a sudden have a biter on our hands. Evelyn bit Curt in the shoulder a few nights ago and bit me on the forearm last night. She has tried a couple of times to bite Beefy and she was too fast for me and did succeed after her non-nap this afternoon. EJ got him pretty good on the upper part of his left front leg and he didn't react at all which earned him a cookie for good behavior. I guess she has the whole "trick" part figured out on this trick or treat thing. We are going to have to keep a close eye on her.

battery replacement

2009-10-29T11:25:00.003-05:00

So my camera battery has been dead since the 12th and I didn't know how to change it until I messed around with it today. It wasn't hard, but I thought Curt doing it would be faster. So here are two pictures that were stuck on my camera. Here is Evelyn with her baby stroller walker she got for her birthday. You will note that she is wearing super cute boots that fall off her feet all the time. True she is a master at removing things from her feet like socks and shoes so it might not be the boots fault. I ended up getting her some Robeez boots that are warm that I know she can't get off so I don't have to worry about her losing a boot on a walk or at the grocery store.

Here Evelyn is after a bath after her father messed up her hair Einstein style. If only it stayed that way when it dried. Her hair I can tell is going to be difficult. It dries stick straight, she has some fantastic cowlicks and like every hair on her head seems to grow forward. It is pretty much covering her eyes at this point but it doesn't part to the side and she cries bloody murder if you try to put a barrette or hair tie in. I don't want to cut bangs, I think I want to have it all grow out...we'll see.

snot nose

2009-10-21T20:15:00.002-05:00

Evelyn got sick late in the evening on her actually birthday last week Tuesday. She never had a fever, just a never ending running nose and was very easily irritated. Today I noticed a definite improvement in her nose and yesterday her attitude improved. Hopefully by the weekend all three of us will be 100 percent as Curt and I haven't been feeling the best either. I had been avoiding leaving the house as her nose was out of control and I didn't want o spread germs and gross people out. It became necessary to go to the grocery store yesterday so I went armed with Kleenex and we did okay. I have had a second wind of sorts the past couple of days and been ready to tackle on some stuff around the house. Unfortunately I can't get a ton done with Evelyn, but every bit helps so I have to remember that. I pulled out more clothes from her closet to pack away as it is very apparent that warm weather is behind us. I get kind of sad putting them away and worry I won't remember what she was like just a month or two ago.

2009-10-19T16:35:00.001-05:00

This was a video we found today that really captivated Evelyn. She loves music so she was dancing on my lap and smiling.

more birthday fun

2009-10-19T10:04:00.005-05:00

I thought I should post a few more pictures from Evelyn's birthday. Here were are waiting for everyone to sing "Happy Birthday" and blow out the candles. We neglected to actually light the candle until everyone was done singing. Something to work on for next year.

I wish this picture wasn't so dark on the right. Beefy and Evelyn loved playing with the balloons before and after the party.

Eating her cake. She really wasn't in to it. She had just finished eating dinner so I don't think was hungry. She cried and we had to get her down.

Evelyn with three of her four cousins. Poor Henry had to miss because he was sick.

first birthday

2009-10-19T09:38:00.003-05:00

Evelyn had her birthday party two days early on the 11th. The party went by so quick and I don't know that we got any really great photos of the birthday girl. She was having too much fun being the center of attention and playing with her cousins. Here she is trying to chew open a present in her ladybug dress to go along with the party theme. She had a birthday princess hat with feathers and rhinestones.

Earlier in the day she helped fill up balloons with helium with her dad.

Here is the cake I made for here. I was pretty proud of how it turned out.

On Evelyn's actual birthday we went to the park and she went down the slide for the first time by herself and loved it. She enjoyed getting pushed in the swing but she kept on working off her warm boots, and socks. What a pain. We went to a cafe downtown and had really good sandwiches and the best spiced chai latte I've had since the place in St. Anthony Main that I liked back in Mpls. I am going to have to go back. Evelyn had herself turned around in her highchair 98% of the time looking at the other customers and waitstaff.

icing day

2009-10-09T17:35:00.002-05:00

So I am attempting to make a cake shaped like a ladybug for Evelyn's birthday party on Sunday. I made the cakes I needed yesterday, four, three of which turned out. One kind of fell apart when I was working on getting it out of the pan. Non-stick spray is not a substitute for Crisco and flour when preparing the pan--even if the box says it is. I made two cakes first so I was able to find some Crisco for the second set of cakes. Fortunately I only needed three. Today I made and colored the icing. The icing tastes delicious and I think is a good consistency. I did a crumb coat on the cakes and tomorrow I will decorate the cakes. I made three colors, green for the grass, bright pink for the ladybug and black for the head and spots. I didn't make the black from scratch I started with a can of chocolate icing and added (a ton) of black. I am still undecided as to the technique I will use to actual ice the cake. I suppose it because I have no technique or skills. I think my mom showed me how to do a shell border once. Wish me luck. I'll post pics.

otter sighting

2009-10-05T09:56:00.002-05:00

So this morning I saw an black river otter hop across are yard, patio, then duck under some trees. Shouldn't it be closer to a river? There is some watery area on the Northern edge of our subdivision so I will assume it is from there, but why would it travel all the way to my yard? I hope it's not dangerous. I wonder if I will see it again?

pumpkin hat

2009-10-01T14:10:00.003-05:00

My mom made Evelyn a new pumpkin hat for her to wear this fall. Just one of many super cute hats Evelyn will wear made by her grandma. Trouble is that this year Evelyn is able to pull them off...or at least try since this year straps were added.

She can also go incognito as that guy from Fat Albert if she pulls it down.

helping daddy

2009-10-01T09:39:00.003-05:00

Apparently Evelyn has noticed that some of the projects daddy started have not come to completion. She is ready to step in and help--just hand her the power tool. She say she doesn't need to know how to read as the book has lots of pictures.

cruising

2009-09-30T15:10:00.002-05:00

I pulled up the Little Mermaid car that Curt's Aunt got for Evelyn in June. I thought it might be something for her to push around a little easier than her actual walker. I was hoping she would be walking by her first birthday, and that is rapidly approaching so the more things I have out to help her the better I suppose. Evelyn does seem to have a better time getting around with this. If she gets stuck against a wall she tends to sit down and push the ride on away from the wall and then pull herself up with the steering well and walk with it like that. It makes a lot of fun music, so if I sit her on it she'll bounce up and down "dancing" and can get off herself when she feels like it. She is really a good little girl and keeps herself entertained for the most part, I think she has a really developed sense of humor.

growing up

2009-09-30T15:01:00.004-05:00

Here Evelyn is with her favorite book of the moment, that has flap she can open. We read it pretty much every day. And yes that is her in her Packer Sunday outfit.

I know I have been bad with the blog lately. It all started with me being sick for a week, then Evelyn getting sick for a week, then I took a week off to recooperate. So here I am with nothing earth-shattering to say. Evelyn never got as sick as me, but she did get her first cast of pink eye. It was a fun week of getting drops in her eyes three times a day with her screaming the whole time. Evelyn also likes to scream every time she gets a diaper change and tries to turn over (often successfully) and run away (not so successfully). Lately she has been better about it if I give her the A&D ointment to hold. Whatever works I suppose. Today I noticed she finally got her last two teeth on top that have been just below the surface for the past month. It's been cold this week so I am glad I got her fall clothes up from the basement I am still holding out on packing up her sleeveless tops and dresses.

signature pose and real clapping

2009-09-09T12:06:00.004-05:00

This is what I have decided is Evelyn's signature pose, I have several pictures of her like this so maybe I'll have to scrapbook a page. I decided to post this in honor of America's Next Top Model starting tonight. Yes, I watch junk t.v. and I think most of you know that. There is a problem though since "So You Think You Can Dance" is on at the same time (I knew that was going to be a problem with it being on during fall) and in order to DVR both we have to watch one or we can watch an already taped DVR show. Curt will not watch either and shouldn't have to I suppose. Maybe I will have to get the VCR downstairs all set up, do it old-school.

Monday Evelyn began to clap with open hands which is a step up from her fist clapping of before. Those of you who saw her Saturday just missed out on her newest skill. It is amazing how there is a new thing just about every day.

Other than that, I feel pretty crappy today. I have not decided if it allergies or maybe one of my family members wants to confess they got me sick. My throat hurts (probably because I have been so stuffy and snoring like crazy) and I have an icky headache which I have tried to remedy with two kinds of allergy medicine. I am no longer congested, but feel a bit loopy and kind of clammy. I don't think I will be going out today. I hope it is just allergies.

mesh face

2009-09-03T23:03:00.003-05:00

I hope this gives you a chuckle. I thought I should post something this week. This week has been a pretty good one. Evelyn has been really good and fun so we have been enjoying our time together. She has only been taking two naps the past couple of days and I am not sure how I feel about that. I had to put her to bed before Curt came home from work today so that is not ideal. But when she is tired she just starts to cry spontaneously like she fell off the kitchen table or something. Yesterday I thought she was actually hurting herself as I was trying to wash her bottles and wasn't watching her every movement in the living room. I finally caught on that she was just really tired and having a cow and faking. Evelyn does have a pretty good sense of humor. I know my mom and I have talked about it, but she'll stuff something partially in her mouth then put her arms up in the air and shake her head with a big smile on her face looking for you to laugh at her. Too cute.
What else happened this week? I found a dead mouse outside (technically Beefy found it and I pray he didn't get his nose in too close for a sniff) and I had to pick it up with a shovel and dispose of...is that a highlight?
Evelyn got to spend time with her great-grandparents on Monday. She was an angel for them (glad she is good for guests) and even smiled for them right away when they arrived. I always thought my grandparents were pretty fun so I am glad Evelyn will get to know them too!

think we need locks

2009-08-30T16:07:00.003-05:00

Evelyn has been trying to help me out with dinner plans. She thinks the BBQ sauce and applesauce will be delicious with a veggie/rice side.

That is our little girl getting so big and reaching for the pretzels.

You can see that smile of accomplishment on her face. Friday she went to a birthday party and got to crawl around on the ground outside for the first time. Evelyn also climbed up her first step on the patio. She was really good and had fun with all the exciting people to watch. She was so tired she immediately fell asleep in the car on the ride home with not so much as a peep. She popped her fourth tooth today, and this one was on the top. I think she is trying to get prepared to eat birthday cake.

best pals

2009-08-26T16:22:00.003-05:00

Okay, best pals they are not...but it is as cute picture. It is from mid-July that I was finally going through today. Beefcake was not at all pleased when Evelyn dumped his water dish for the first time. I was moving laundry from the washer to the dryer at the time and she had been doing well leaving it alone. Beefcake was a bit ticked that his paws got wet because there was no way for him to go around it.

I really like this picture. I think I might blow it up big for my wall.

new things

2009-08-25T15:35:00.003-05:00

A lot of things going on for us, keeping us busy. Curt started installing a new front door. when it is all finished I'll post a pic. We went to the Packer game on Saturday and had a really good time, the weather was great! It was nice to go somewhere just the two of us. Evelyn has been learning exponentially it seems. She opened her first cabinet. Thankfully she is not obsessed with them because we still need to put on locks.

Today she decided to stand and only hang on with one hand. Is letting go far behind?

She also started to push her highchair around like a walker so I decided she was ready to give this walker a try. In the past she would try to step on the wheels or reach over the top to get at the toys on the front. She did it really well today. I am not sure that I want her to try on the hard wood however. She got her third tooth (all on the bottom) yesterday and from the looks of it we will be seeing a lot in the next couple of weeks.

2009-08-20T10:04:00.002-05:00

See Evelyn's latest skill...whacking the heck out her toy. Sorry for the bad camera angles.

2009-08-20T09:29:00.002-05:00

I thought I would take some cute video of Evelyn playing on her music table. You can see her "dance" along. Those of you familiar with South Park it might unfortunately remind you of the "Raisin's" booty dance. At least that is what I thought of.

10 months

2009-08-14T17:28:00.004-05:00

Evelyn is now ten months old, can you believe it? Today we went and found this new toy at a rummage. She has had no interest in her toys and so it was either get some new ones or she was just more interested in chasing the dog or pulling up on furniture now that she can. She actually really likes this toy it plays music, does letters, letter sounds and colors. She drools like crazy for months at a time and from the looks of her shirt I really should have had a bib on even though I have to change that too because it gets soaked.

great time at the greats

2009-08-09T14:42:00.003-05:00

Yesterday we spent the day at Evelyn's great grandparents with my whole family. Carter and Evelyn were slightly on the cranky side as neither of them took naps while they were there. There was too much going on and they didn't want to miss a thing. Fortunately all the people and distractions kept them occupied enough so there wasn't any crying (except when we dared to put them down and attempt a nap). Carter's shirt said that he was a tough guy, but Evelyn is stronger and pushed him around a bit. I guess she learned not to take any bull from a boy like her cousin Jordan. Carter did pull her hair though, he was so happy to see her.

Henry brought his friend squirrel and played with Evelyn like a good big cousin. He was a bit more patient when she insisted on tasting all the ducks, Clark was a bit more concerned that she wasn't playing the game correctly.

Just call me Zac Efron, my hair has a mind of it's own. Our friend Dave pointed out the similarity the other day. Everything in front wants to go to the right, even the far left.

nice catch

2009-08-09T14:24:00.003-05:00

So I was feeling guilty that I hadn't posted in awhile. I didn't even know what I had captured lately on the camera. I was happy to see that I had taken a picture of Evelyn standing by the window after she had learned to pull herself up. She saw a bunny once on the lawn that was exciting. I was less happy (as it was a bad moment for you-know-who) but found it sort of amusing that I caught this next picture on film. I have actually told quite a few of you this story how she fell and smacked her face on the windowsill and then smacked the back of her head on the vent on the floor (which you don't see in the pic). I think this picture was captured mid face-smack. Of course I felt awful that I didn't catch her. It is hard to swoop in for the save when you have a very heavy camera strung around your neck and don't want to whop her with that as you dive in to catch her. Poor Evelyn.

Bad mama.

what pretty eyes you have

2009-07-27T17:21:00.002-05:00

I liked this picture I took today because you can see her pretty eyes and cute little teeth so nice. We have a busy week ahead of play dates and visitors. Today we both tried to catch up on sleep since I worked this past weekend and have to get up at 4:30 and can't seem to get myself to bed at an earlier hour. Evelyn spent the weekend with her dad who doesn't seem to think she is ever tired and so she doesn't nap. Maybe she has too much fun with him and I am more boring.

we have a crawler

2009-07-27T16:48:00.003-05:00

Today I will officially say that Evelyn is crawling. She was getting around quite well on her hands and knees today. Her favorite things that she goes after are my pink "house" Crocs, Beefcake, and Beefcake's toys. I am so proud of my little girl.

swing revisited

2009-07-22T16:43:00.002-05:00

We tried the swing a second time and Evelyn was much more receptive, dare I say she enjoyed herself? Yipee!

almost crawling

2009-07-22T16:18:00.004-05:00

So obviously I am not a great videographer or anything, but I wanted to share how Evelyn is almost crawling. She is getting around fast, sometimes dragging herself which is what I should have said in the video instead of what I said about crawling that didn't make any sense. The video long, but I know at least a few people will treasure it.

spoon and pot

2009-07-17T15:27:00.003-05:00

All kids are supposed to love banging pots with wooden spoons so I thought I would give it a try as a new distraction for Evelyn while I cleaned up the kitchen. She did some banging of the pot but was more intent with chewing on the spoon.

At one point Beefcake had to come over and make sure she wasn't getting any food that could be shared with him.

visitors

2009-07-15T22:39:00.003-05:00

Yippee! We had visitors from Minnesota. So glad that Angie, Barry and Abram were able to visit for a long weekend. I hope they have recuperated from all the driving and loss of sleep. Abram was really good with Evelyn and the dog so I was proud of how well he is growing up. So well mannered. Abram kept the house neat and tidy, what a conscientious guest. Seriously he loved to pick up stuff and put it away. I also loved how he could pack in the food in the morning then would be full all day. I learned how to play Hearts (I am horrible) and got a couple games of Rummikub in. We ended up having really great weather so the kids got to hang out in the pool.

Evelyn had her nine month appointment on Monday and she is doing great, no concerns. Her height was 29 inches and weight was 19 lb 9 oz. She is progressing more towards crawling and we think it will be soon. She can fanagle her way across the floor pretty good with her patented combination of scooting, pulling, flipping and back arching.