Happy 4 Years!

First there was college and dating then there was marriage

then there was the belly

then came the baby
who keeps getting bigger and keeps us laughing and on our toes

We've packed a lot of crazy fun and wonderful memories into 4 years, and we can't wait to see what the many years ahead will bring!

Keep up the good work Daddy

It was too close to E's bedtime and too dark and too cold for him to help Daddy, but it didn't stop him from watching Daddy dig us out of the latest round of snow

And the pig steals the camera...

Evan LOVES to look at pictures and videos (usually they are of him) on our camera. He will actually bring me the camera and ask me to show him the pictures (by a few words and mainly grunting and pointing until I get the memo). So, this morning, I asked if he wanted to do his animal noises and then watch the video on the camera. He excitedly said yes, BUT by the time we get to pig, he just contain himself any longer and he wants to watch the replay!

It must have been a rough night...

Really. No. Idea. BUT, it must have been a rough night of sleep to manage to get one arm out of the sleeper without unzipping it!

Snow, Swimsuit and a Christmas Tree

We got some snow over the weekend, so Evan got to try out his winter coat along with his brand new snow boots and shovel (boots and shovel were an early Xmas gift from Grammy and Grandpa)

Helping Grandpa shovel a path to the woodGetting his hands warmed up before going inside...Evan found my suits and thought they were a lot of fun to try on : )And the start of decorating the Christmas tree. Evan did a great job helping with the bottom branches. Mommy may have re-arranged after he went to bed : )

Our Family Tradition - Advent Calendar

We have a lot of family traditions that I would like to start with Bret, Evan and future children. One of those is our version of an advent calendar. We had one growing up and each of the kids got to hang an ornament on the tree. Thankfully, Grandpa's workshop has been busy, and this year we have our very own tree and ornaments (a gift from Grammy and Grandpa last year at Christmas). After Grammy and Grandpa forgave Evan for getting them sick, they brought the tree over and Grandpa helped hang the first ornament!E loves decorating the tree, and so far we have avoided all meltdowns because he only gets to hang one. He gets it up and instantly asks for more : ).

No School!

The great things just keep coming from daycare! First we got the nasty stomach bug, then on Monday, we get a phone call that says "SURPRISE! You can't come today because we have no power". I was on a roundabout, so we just drove in a circle and came right back home. Since we hadn't been up to getting the house decorated, Evan helped get everything ready to go for Christmas!

He liked the Nutcrackers, but he LOVED the Nativity. Specifically, the camel and the three sheep that we have.This was the first spot that I thought would work for the Nativity. We are re-thinking that spot. Wonder how Evan got up so high to play with the camel?Well, he dumped a bin out, flipped it over and pulled it over the the wall then climbed on top!
Bret's absolute favorite Christmas decoration is this tree. He decided to hand it down to Evan for him to keep in his room. E loves the plan and really got into putting on the lights on with Bret!
The final result...

Turkey Day = Sick Day

We knew Thanksgiving was going to be one for the books around 12:30am Wednesday morning when Evan woke up to start a long night of throwing up. Its a TON of fun with a little one that has no concept of toilet, trash can, carpet vs. easily wipe-able floor, etc. His instinct was to cuddle against you, so both Bret and I had a few outfit changes through the night! The next morning he was rightfully tired, but he ate a bit and kept everything down!

Wednesday night we headed to New Castle. Something my family ended up being not thankful for and the rest of the family was VERY thankful that we didn't end up with them! By the end of the weekend - I had the bug and gave it to Bret who gave it to my mom who gave it to my Dad who gave it to my brother. We were very giving this ThanksGIVING : ). And thankful that daycare provided us this excellent bug to share!

I was pleasantly surprised how well Evan did with the Christmas tree. He has a lot of monkey tendencies and is all boy, so I was waking up with nightmares that he had climbed the tree and was tossing the ornaments off left and right! But he very carefully helped Grammy and Grandpa decorate the bottom of their Christmas tree.

And with helped, did a few ornaments on the top. This might have been how Phil got infected with "the sickness"
The troops rallied to go out and pick a Christmas tree. This might have been how Grandpa became infected.
Very excited to be out and roaming on the Christmas tree farm. Also a big fan of his giant gloves.
Which one???That one Daddy! and AHHHHHHH bright sun for someone that has been holed up in a dark room getting sick for the last day!
Stopping to ride the tractor...

We pick up the tree tomorrow, so pictures to come later of it in all its 9' decorated glory!

New Haircut and Fun in Ft. Wayne

On Saturday Evan and Bret shed their long locks for a shorter look. And because the person that cut their hair does it out of her house, Evan sat peacefully through 99% of the haircut! I guess to get him to sit still, we have to have a giant dog (appropriately named Bear), a little girl who is about 4 days older than him and another little girl that was around 6ish. On Sunday we drove to Ft. Wayne with Katherine and Olivia to visit Sonia and her mom and sister. We met Katherine and Olivia at the mall and since we were a bit early, Evan decided to pass the time with some light reading...

In Ft. Wayne, Evan decided to cover his future girlfriend with dog toys. She took it like a champ and pretended to be equally excited when Evan ran back and forth yelling "MORE" as he buried her in the toys.
Getting some love from Sonia

And this is actually from tonight. A newer part of our bedtime routine...reading books in the glider with Daddy.

And the embarrassing pic supply gets bigger....

I will have no shortage of great pictures to whip out to embarrass Evan on perfect occasions...first date, high school graduation, wedding reception....

In this picture he is actually doing one of his new favorite things which is to either leave or try to get one of us to leave by waving and saying bye-bye while pulling either Bret or I to the door.

Poop, Pee and Pumpkins

Evan has been showing more than avid interest in the potty in the past week, so we made the decision to go for the whole potty training business. After breakfast the first morning we decided to give it a go, Evan starts saying PEE PEE PEEEEEE. I ask if he needs to go pee in the potty, and he answers yes. I got him down from his booster, and he makes a beeline to the little potty in the downstairs bathroom. He starts dancing around and being fidgety while standing right in front of the potty and saying PEEE PEEEEEEE - he OF COURSE is in a blanket sleeper thing that is one piece and zips from neck to foot. I whip it off as fast as possible and he sits down. After 2 seconds, he stands up and proceeds to start peeing : ). I managed to get him back down so that minimal was on the floor. WOOHOOOO! He peed in the potty!! And, today, he told his teacher POOP at daycare. She asked if he needed to poop, and he said yes. SO, she held him on the toilet. Sure enough, Evan pooped on the potty!!!!
I never knew that I could feel such happiness hearing about and talking about my son pooping and peeing on the toilet : ).

And for the pumpkins...

Hayride to the pumpkin patch.

Hurry up Daddy!!!
Evan loved all the pumpkins, but he definitely wanted THIS ONE.

I asked him to sit beside the pumpkin to get a picture. I guess we need to work on up/down, in front/behind, on top/underneath, etc a little more because this is what he immediately did..

It has to be said that Evan ended up picking the biggest pumpkin of all of us.

OH Man! and WHOA look how big he is!

At Evan's 18 month old check-up, the nurse asked if he was putting words together now. My question, does "oh man!" count? Sure does! The part that cracks us up the most is that most of the time, he uses it in context! Like when Bret had to wake him up to take him to daycare...Evan rolled over and said, "oh man". Or, when he drops a toy and parts go flying....

With my sister and her family coming to visit next week, we brought out some of Evan's old gear for baby Zoe. This is Evan in his swing when he was 4 days old. And, THIS, is Evan at 19 months old in the same swing. How does that happen in just 19 months?

Swim Class!

Getting ready to go at swim class..

Keeping the ball in the circle by practicing our kicking skills...
Alligator, Alligator on the wall. Alligator stand so tall.Alligator, alligator, JUMP OFF THE WALL!
another action shot...this one might have been during Humpty Dumpty.

The Potty

He knows what pee pee in the potty means...well, at least he knows that you sit on the potty! We'll save the diaper and pants off lesson for another day : ).