Evan meets Santa!?!

Yesterday a group down on Loudon street had Santa come so the kids could meet him, so we bundled him up in his snow suit and we took him down. Evan didn't have much of a reaction to Santa. He just stared at him. Maybe it is next year when the screaming happens.

New Carset

Evan got to big for his baby car seat. He now weighs 20 pounds 9 ounces and is 29 inches long so he is a big little guy. While Nathan was trying to figure out how to install it, I put him in it to see how he would like it. He might look content in the pictures, but when we actually go to put him in it for real he puts up quite a protest!!

Happy Thanksgiving! a little late!

This year for Thanksgiving...we went to Shoneys. We were leaving the next day for Vegas so neither one of us wanted to cook and then have leftovers that no one would eat. It wasn't to bad, but it was a very strange experience. There was a strange crowd there at Shoneys that day, I almost felt a little bad, but all in all it was good.

Friday we flew to Vegas. Both Nathan and I were nervous to see how Evan would do on the flight, but he did really good. He fused a little at the start, but the take off put him to sleep and he didn't wake up until we landed. He did that on pretty much all his flights, except the last one coming home from Chicago to Baltimore. He fell asleep halfway through.

We went to Vegas to see my little niece Abbie get baptized. We are so proud of her. She looked so pretty in her white dress. It was fun hanging out with my sister and my nieces. We were also able to visit some friends and that really great. I was sad at how the time went by so fast. I wasn't able to do nearly as many of the things and see all the people I wanted to see which made me sad.

My niece Lauren has really grown up a lot. She is no longer a baby, but a little girl. My favorite was when she said, "What is your name...Julie? or "Julie this is my friend Abbie." She has such a fun personality.

We also went up to Utah to see Nathan's Grandparents. They got a kick out of seeing Evan. Evan's Grandma Creamer in Richfield found a sock of Evans when we left and asked if she could keep it. Nathan's grandfather is nuts, but he really likes Evan. It was fun to see them interact. His Grandma Elliott even popped out her teeth for Evan, several times. The hardest part of being in Virginia is being so far away from family. I'm not sure when we will make it back again. Hopefully soon.

It is nice to be in Virginia again. We live in such a pretty place and we are getting ready to paint the living room. Eviva!!!

Teresa's Christmas Bag

I am making Teresa a bag for Christmas. It isn't finished yet, but I think it is going to be really cute.

Dad, Evan and the piece of bread

Nathan was watching Evan today while I worked. He told me about how he got a piece of bread and was eating it. Nathan would take a bite and the Evan would reach over and take a little piece of it and put it in his mouth and giggle. Then Nathan would take a bite and Evan would take a piece and giggle again. He is so excited about eating what we eat. We have noticed that if he is not eating his food, if we take a bite he will finish it. Yum!

My Son the Gangster Farmer

We put Evan into this John Deere overall set and he looked hilarious. We couldn't figure out how to put the hat on and pretty much he just looked like a little gangster-farmer.

Evan and Nathan play Chase

Lets Rub Noses Like the Eskimoses

I have been meaning to finish this post for a while now. It was Sunday after church and NateEvan and I were sitting on the couch. I was holding Evan and Nate was taking pictures, which is usually the other way around. Evan loves to rub noses now. He gets so in to it. He scrunches up his little face and almost gets an evil look in his eyes. Its adorable! Nate also got some great photos.

I love this picture. I love how we are looking at each other and how Evan has his hands on my shoulders and is smiling. Love it!!



My little man is so dang cute!!!


This was right after he bit my finger. Evan has two little teeth on the bottom that are like little razors! Ouch!!!

Evan the All Star

For Halloween this year evan dressed up like a baseball player, which was perfect because someone had given him the perfect Baseball basket to match.

Evan's Sugar Rush

On Halloween Eve I was making popcorn treats to give our neighbors. Evan was by me in his walker basically following me around watching what I was doing. That is when he saw me lick the spatula and he got so excited. He started jumping up and down grabbing for the spatula and making uhh....uhhh...uhhh sounds. I decided that it wouldn't do him any harm to try it and it would be kind of fun to see his reaction, so I put a tiny bit of the candy coating on the spatula and gave it to him. This was the first time he had had anythign "candy".

He loved it. He was smiling and laughing while he was licking the spatula. It was the funniest thing I had ever seen. I wish that I had the camera near so that I could record it. He was walking around and it was like he was drunk. He was just kind of running in to things and laughing. At one point he was headed out the kitchen door in his little walker and he paused and looked over his shoulder at me while licking his spatula . He just giggled a little harder and waddled off giggling, licking, and running into things. It was so funny!!

Rome Italy Temple

At the beginning of General Conference President Monson announced that they would start building an LDS temple near Rome. It was exciting to hear the surprise and excitement in the audience and it was funny how President Monson laughed a little. As you can imagine, Nate and I are really excited! (I asked him if we could go for the dedication-if that is possible at all-so we will see how that goes) It is neat to see an area of the world were you worked receive a temple. Anyway, I went searching on the internet for pictures and this is what I found.

All the Pumpkin Patch Pictures

the Pumpkin Patch

Our Trip to Charlottesville

Our family went for our first big adventure since moving to Virginia. I was so excited the night before and couldn't sleep. I told Nathan this and he responded by telling me that,"its not like were going to Disneyland!" But it was just so exciting to be going somewhere and being able to explore this new place that we live.

Evan Has a Tooth!!!!!

Sleeping Beauties

On Saturday Evan and Nathan had a nap together. They looked so sweet. They had echoing little snores. Nathan would coo and then Evan would. It was so adorable.

Evan Can Walk the Line!

Evan loves his walker. He just goes and goes and we love watching him. And you can see the infamous clutter in the background.

Subbing, Stress, Marriage, and Cowboys

I have been subbing a little in the school district here. Only a couple times a week to help bring in a little extra money. It is interesting going in to others classroom after teaching for five years. I find myself being a little prideful when the teachers or other staff at the schools tell me that the day will be good if I am firm with the kids or when I went in to help out a teacher she gave me very detailed instructions on how to make sure the students are comprehending what they are reading. I just smile and say, "Sure, I can do that, no problem." But what I want to say is, "I know what I'm doing. I've taught for five years and I am a dang good teacher so I don't need your little pep talks and instructions."

But I have also been a teacher and am aware of what happens sometimes when a sub comes into a class, so I let it go and go and do my thing and figure people will know that I know what I am doing when the class I am responsible for isn't out of control.

When I am working with the kids, I actually miss teaching a little. There are times though when there is nothing to do and I just watch the clock and think about how soon I can get back home to my boys and wonder if I really want a new dishwasher. I try to work two days a week and today was a day I didn't work and it felt like I was on vacation. Even though I was still doing the same things I always do when I am home...dishes...laundry...cleaning the dang floor(still....)...etc... it wasn't such a burden and I got so much done.

I have decided I can't deal with clutter. It makes me anxious and angry. There were about ten boxes left to be unpacked in the dining room that I hadn't gotten to yet. The unfortunate thing was that they were acting as magnets for other things that didn't belong there. Coolers, clothes, brooms, blankets. It was growing daily and I had to attack it or I know it would have taken over the room and possibly the entire house. I put the boxes in the garage and put all the other stuff away. Then I cleaned the entry way and steam moped the floor (Thanks Matthew!!!). It looks so clean that it makes me happy every time I walk by it. It is an empty room because we don't have furniture, but it looks wonderful. Now all I have to do is do this to the whole house and keep things put away and my life will be a lot less stressful. Here is my clean dining room...and our beautiful purple walls.

Also, my nephew's wife had a baby, which I never thought we would both have our first child the same year, but I got married later than I thought (and that is a good thing because Nate...he's really great! I mean really what else can I say!
Anyway, like I was saying, I married later and he possibly married earlier, but it is working out and we both have a wonderful little son in our lives. My sister Teresa and I got together and decided to make a country themed package since they are both cow people. Here they are.
And what blog would be complete without this face. Cheers!

Evan Attacks His Mobile

I don't know why my baby is naked.....but we had to take down his mobile recently.

Evan Standing in His Crib

So..a lot has changed with Evan in the almost two months we have been here. He sits up completely on his own now and he can pull himself to standing position in his crib. His crib is now on the lowest position and were hoping he doesn't learn how to climb anytime soon.

This is kind of sad because he is crying a little bit...but it shows what he can do.

Here he is again......

Evan's Crawl

Evan has the cutest little scoot crawl!!

The Kitchen Floor is Clean!!! A Month Later

I finished the kitchen floor today. It took me a month and one day, but it is finished. The next floor will be the bathroom. It has black grout between the little tiles and I'm not convinced that it really should be black so I'll tackle that with some bleach, but maybe tomorrow or the next day.

We were sitting in Sunday school today; Nathan, Evan and I. Evan had just finished his bottle and the teacher was talking about the stripling warriors when all of a sudden Evan made the biggest burp. It was so loud that everyone turned around and looked at us. Of course they all smiled when they realized the noise maker was the adorable little man on my lap, but my goodness. How embarrising.

My Diaper Bag

I went into a really cute little store last week that had a lot of really unique items. It turned out that it was a consignment shop and people make stuff to sell there. This sounded fun, so I told the lady that I made bags and she said to bring one in. I made one up yesterday and am going to take it in tomorrow. I based it on another bag pattern I have, but I altered it a bit to make it how I like it. It is the first one and always when I make something for the first time all I can see are the flaws and how I can make it better, but here it is.

Our Little Man is Growing Up! To Fast!!!!

Evan seems to have done so much growing up this week. It seems like I was excited for him to be able to scoot on his tummy and all of a sudden he can get up on his knees.

The other day I was down stairs working and he was beside me in his play pen. He was making a lot of noise so I looked over at him and he was up on his knees and rocks back and forth. He will be crawling soon. I was so excited to tell Nathan when he came home, but he saw him do it before I could tell him.

Evan was just waking up from his nap when Nathan got home from work on day and Nate went up to check on him. He came down with Evan and he had a big smile on his face excited to tell what our little man can now do.

On another day Nathan put Evan in his play pen and Evan grabbed hold of the sides and held himself up. He looks like he wants to escape.