Christmas 2011

Christmas Morning was filled with presents, stockings, food, church, and phone calls from family. We had a wonderful time! Evelyn was so fun to watch. She was excited that she finally got to touch those presents and even open them without anyone saying, "no, no"! Let's face it, children help us remember the magic of Christmas.

Playing with Grandpa's new book light.

Princess Evie

Evelyn woke up early Christmas morning (2:00 a.m.) crying and crying. She went from healthy to stuffy in 2.5 seconds. She was pretty mellow, and cuddly on Christmas day. Here is Grandma enjoying some of those snuggles.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve 2011

Christmas Eve was packed full of fun this year. First thing in the morning, we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa Reed's home for a yummy Christmas breakfeast. I wish I would have taken a picture of the spread. It was amazing. Any breakfast food you can think of....yup, it was there. Awesome.

After breakfast and a whole lotta chatting, the family gathered into the family room for a gift exchange. It was so fun to watch everyone open presents. I had a great time. However, little Miss Evelyn was way past nap time. I can't say that she was enjoying it thoroughly, but I was hesitant to leave because, well, I MIGHT MISS SOMETHING :).

Grandma and Grandpa gave Evelyn the cutest little camera and kitty cat stuffed animal. She loves both of them and plays with them regularly.

Evelyn and Auntie Jessie spent some of the time bonding while playing with an amazing plastic box. She loves them, every time!

Are you hanging in there Evie?......barely.

She got a second wind when she opened her present from the Runkel family. It was a zebra pillow pet! So fun. Much to Evelyn's (and everyone else in house's) relief, we left the festivities to put our cranky girl to bed.

When she woke up, we took off in our loaded car, to Grandma and Grandpa Peck's house. We spent the evening preparing a feast, gabbing, and being entertained by our little sassy pants.

Here Evie is enthralled by an episode of Blue's clues on daddy's cell phone.

One of our traditions is to open one present on Christmas Eve, and shocker, every year we get.....new PAJAMAS!

This year, I (and by "I", I mean my mommy) made Chris and I a new pair of jammies. Mine are not featured in the picture because Chris surprised me by buying me some on his own.

Evie soon went to bed to dream of sugar plums and other such things, while the rest of us ate Christmas dinner. So good! Christopher, was not feeling so well after dinner, so he went to bed at like 8:30. But, mom, dad, and I (the three party animals) stayed up and played a game of Callisto? Is that what it was called mom? I was thoroughly stomped by both of my parents...not that I'm bitter or anything. Afterwards, we read the Christmas story in Luke and put our weary heads to bed. It was such a fun Christmas Eve. I love our family!

Temple Lights

On the Saturday before Christmas, Chris, Evie and I met our friends Devin and Barb Howe at the temple to look at the lights. Evelyn oohed and ahhhed at the lights and her eyes were as wide as she could get them. So cute! Daddy and Evelyn

There really were lights on that plant...I promise.

See?

Evie did not want to sit still in her stroller for pictures. She wanted to be out and about. Unfortunately, she didn't like holding mommy and daddy's hand, so into the stroller she went.

Devin and Barb Howe

Evelyn's First Birthday September 28, 2011

Happy Birthday Evelyn! To memoralize this special occasion, Chris and I decided to have our darling little girl photographed by a professional. It was a crazy, stormy/windy day, but we persevered. Chris bought her a beautiful, pink cake to eat just for fun and she dug in with gusto! But beforehand, we got some pictures of her in a beautiful new dress.

On the weekend of her actual birthday, we threw a little family shin dig for this munchkin. My heart wanted me to go overboard on a theme, but I was totally overwhelmed with the millions of ideas on the internet and lost my oomph. So, because of lack of time and energy, we went with a balloon theme. It turned out simple and cute (with some help from mom, dad, and Kelly).

Here is my first attempt at making a cake. I baked the cake in polish pottery bowls to get the curved affect. Who knew you could do such things? (Thanks, mommy for the idea)! With the help of Kelly Russo and my mommy they somehow got frosted and decorated.

I made a banner featuring each month of Evie's life. It turned out pretty cute, if I do say so myself :). Even though it's December, it still hangs in my living room. I just don't have the heart to take it down. It fits the decor, right?

My daddy helped decorate by blowing up balloons and hanging them all over the living room. Evelyn was in love with those balloons. She also got that cute doorway/house thing as a present from mommy and daddy. Somehow, we didn't end up taking pictures of her opening up presents, or eating her cake, but I'm pretty sure we have it on video? I hope. It was a fun day!

After all the festivities were over, Evelyn continued to enjoy the balloons for days! Her favorite activity was to put the balloon in her mouth and crawl around the house. She is so stinking cute!!

Happy Birthday, Little Miss Evelyn Jeanette! We love you so much!

12 weeks
May 22, 2012

Pretty In Blue

My little Evelyn Jeanette is almost 10 months old. She is keeping us very, very busy. She LOVES to explore...and while exploring, if she finds something of interest, it obviously needs to go in her mouth! However, she's not particularly fond of the removal of said object from mouth nor does she like anything taken away from her. It hurts her heart deeply, and she proves it by turning purple, gushing out tears, and screaming at a frequency that sends the dog out of the room. She's also becoming quite the little imitator. She's beginning to wave, "bye, bye", clap her hands, and dance to music. She loves to growl, and blow rasberries, especially while playing on the floor with daddy. She is also beginning to imitate some words. The first word being, "STOP." Between she and the dog, she hears that word a lot. She's starting to eat more and more new foods, but her favorites are still apples and sweet potatos. However, I think yogurt, ice cream and jello are becoming higher on the list. She has recently discovered Yo Gabba Gabba and LOVES it. She will sit through a whole episode without moving. It's a little eerie. We only use that show in emergencies:).