Weekend pics and news

My birthday was on Saturday, and Evan gave me interesting present. When Bret went to get him out of his crib in the morning, he had removed not only his pjs but also his diaper. As soon as he saw Bret, he handed him the diaper and said "HERE"! Starting my birthday in his birthday suit! The day after my birthday, we had the same thing only THIS time, Evan had taken his diaper off and proceeded to go #2 on it. REALLY? That was enough for Bret and I to make two rapid decisions.

1. It is time to get very serious about potty training

2. Time for the big boy bed

The bank gave me a sucker for my copilot. When we got home, I told Evan he could have it as long as he sat down. He immediately stopped in his tracks and sat down...you can see the garage door two steps behind him!I guess this is what you get when a two year old boy picks out his outfit. Sweatshirt was one of the bday gifts from Grandma G and Grandpa Marc.

playing with more gifts from his birthday...these are from Grandpa Jeff and Grandma PamCool dude.No pictures of his big boy bed yet because right now, it is just a twin mattress on the floor, but this weekend, he gets the real deal! We'll take picture of that : ). So far, he has taken 1 nap in his big boy bed, and on his 3rd night of sleep in the bed. The first night, he ended up in his crib...not because he intentionally got out of his bed, but rather because his nervous parents couldn't take it when every time they went to check on him, he was in a different spot (totally asleep) on the floor or some area around the bed. Night two, he slept the whole night ON the bed...almost. I did find him at 4am at the end of his bed with his torso on the bed and his legs on the floor. Keeping our fingers crossed for a successful night 3!

Birthday Round 3 (a little late)

For Evan's actual birthday, Grammy and Grandpa came to celebrate with us. We had his favorite meal - meatloaf, mash potatoes and broccoli and of course chocolate cake!

His new fishing pole from Mommy and Daddy! It took him only a few attempts to reel the fish back in, and after only 4 days of practicing, he can cast sitting down across the room and sometimes even further.

helping daddy put together his birthday present from Grammy and Grandpa It came with a fishy (aka a shark), so he was thrilled immediately...just wait until he figures out that it holds water!

happy 2nd birthday cake....slight possibility that i picked up a tube of cookie icing which is slightly runnier than regular icing for my decorations. oh well! he is two and a boy, so he probably doesn't care about the look of the cake! it was YUMMY if I do say so myself...chocolate fudge...mmmmmmm.

Very excited about candles being a part of his cake again!Blew out all three on his own...and maybe only drenched a portion of the cake with his spit ; )

Getting to play with his new toy with water! As you can see from the wet concrete behind him, he thoroughly enjoys dumping the water OUT of the boat. And another indoor pool day! He wanted to play outside, but my rule is that if you have to chip ice off the pool when it is outside, its probably too cold!

Happy BIRTHDAY Evan!!!!

I decided to take the day off to spend Evan's birthday with him. We had a BLAST! He was in a wonderful mood which somewhat surprised me after his Dr appointment in the afternoon when we discovered he had a double ear infection! Just reinforces my theory that he has a super high pain tolerance.

Evan disappeared this morning, and this is what where I found him...back in the corner of our pantry/laundry room scarfing down a blueberry pop tart.With this picture there should be no question that he is my child. After this, he started swiping icing with his finger off the side of his cake as I was trying to ice it.He kept saying water this morning, so I thought we should take a quick trip to Target to see if they had their pools out yet. We were in luck. After a lot of effort with a bike pump, I finally got the thing inflated, and Evan thoroughly enjoyed a late morning/early afternoon dip in his indoor pool.We are getting so much better at smiling on command! Now he will yell SMILE and then flash you a quick grin.Yay birthday boy!!!

Birthday Celebration #2

On Monday, Bret and I surprised Evan at the daycare for a birthday party. We brought bags for the kids to paint (personalized by Grammy with their names), a snack full of Evan's favorite foods (veggie sticks, goldfish pretzels and fruit salad with raspberries, blueberries, strawberries and grapes), and a bunch of balloons that occupied them for quite some time! Bret and I had a blast, but we were exhausted after entertaining 9 2-3 year olds for just a couple of hours!

Evan was really into painting his bag so much so that it looks a little bit like camo or tie dye rather than a stamped bag. I bought animal stamps, and the kids all got a kick out of it. They would ask for a stamp either by using the name or the sound the animal makes.MMMMMM food. Its amazing how fast you can organize 2-3 year olds by just putting out some food.Birthday Sweet #2 - Funfetti Cake Cookies. This might actually be him eating his second cookie which was actually someone else's cookie. But, Evan gave them a few seconds to come back to claim it before he inhaled it ; ).The kids found it hysterical to let go of their balloons, yell UH OH and have Bret pull it down for them.

Birthday Celebration #1

When you are Evan and turning TWO, you can't be satisfied with just one birthday celebration! You have to have three : ). The first was this past weekend with Grandma G and Granpa Marc. As usual, he was spoiled rotten by his grandparents and loved hanging out with them for the day!

Birthday Sweet #1 on his adorable birthday plate that was a gift from Granpa Marc and Grandma G for his first birthday. He actually blew the candle out on his own, but of course, I was too focused on watching him rather than getting it on camera. And yes, he is wearing a Halloween shirt. Don't ask me...ask the little guy that picked out his clothes that morning : ).He CLEARLY still remembers Christmas. As soon as the gifts made it into the house, he tore into them and started playing with everything : )

Walk Tillie

Evan has a new favorite activity - walking Tillie. Tillie has a new least favorite activity - being walked by Evan. It has been great activity for both though...Tillie went on four walks in one day : ). E prefers to walk her up and down the side walks with either Bret or I holding a leash attached to the leash that he is holding. He really thinks that he is controlling the walk and LOVES IT. But, when he wants to take Tillie for a walk when I'm making dinner, they do laps in our backyard.

Evan might walk for a few minutes, but then, Tillie hears the dreaded words - RUN TILLIE. Is it normal for Evan already to be able to run around 300-400 meters barely stopping at all? And run it fast enough that Tillie has to trot instead of walking?

Room Improvements - Stage 2

Helping clear the room Finishing the prep work.. After Bret finished the top section... Breakfast of champions with Daddy right before he started painting the bottom part of the room paint in evan's room = done! temp furniture for another week until we get the bed set up! then, fingers crossed for a smooth transition to his big boy bed.

St Patty's Day and March Madness

Normally, he loves pictures and having his picture taken. St. Patty's day was a different story. Probably had something to do with the teeth that are coming in, the cold that won't go away and the evil allergies that have to come every year. Again, why does he need more molars??

i did manage to snag this one as he was running away since i was chasing him through the yard trying to get a picture. i accidentally had it waaaaay zoomed in

He's ready for March Madness! Its probably a time he will always be into considering he was born into it. We waited until the games were over to go to the hospital when I was in labor. We watched the games at the hospital the next day when I was STILL laboring. The TV was probably tuned into the games after he was born too, but I was a little too up on drugs, sleep deprived and obsessed with our new little guy to even notice!

Grow with Me

I was a little bit better at taking belly shots the first time around. Here are the past few weeks!16 weeks22 weeks

24 weeks

Cinci Weekend

Bret and I were missing Cincinnati and our Cinci family and friends, so we decided to take a three day weekend and visit! I was also craving some Black Raspberry Chip ice cream : ), but I'm afraid indulging that craving might have made it worse. I guess Graeters delivers....

We had a great weekend despite Evan being less than a happy camper through teething pains (seriously why does he need MORE molars???) a cold and allergies that attacked this year with a vengeance! Unfortunately, I was not a great picture taker! Here is a selection from the very few that I did take.

At Aunt Di and Uncle Jerry's - no idea what he is pointing at

Playing throw the ball and go get it with Uncle BradHe realized the best way for Lucy not to get your food was to shove as much as possible in his mouthand this is actually from today, but Aunt Di and Uncle Jerry got Evan an awesome puzzle set that was a highlight of his weekend. He actually held a book on his lap and did some of the smaller puzzles for a long part of the car ride home!

It was a much needed trip back to Cinci, and wonderful to see Aunt Di and Uncle Jerry, Erin, Aunt Cherri and Uncle Brad, Reed and Grandpa Jeff and Aunt Mal (who also came to visit for Saturday and Sunday). On Saturday, Evan and I caught up with Kelly, Gran and Olivia and Lauren (Kelly and Lauren are my former Cinci coworkers).

It must have given me some good luck to start the week of right because today I met with the CEO and my boss and got a 4 day work week approved which starts THIS WEEK! Woohooo! I will work 8 hours from home, but it doesn't matter when I accomplish those 8 hours. So starting this Friday, I get to have a 3 day weekend, every weekend with Evan!!

Evan Fashion Show

So, we are starting the prep work for turning Evan's room into a big boy room and transferring his baby gear to the new nursery. Stage 1 was to clean out his closet and put all the clothes that were too small in tubs according to size. Evan was in and out of the room as my mom and I sorted and packed. One moment I knew he was looking over some of the newborn stuff, and the next he is coming up to me saying, "Mommy, broken". He had put this side button NEWBORN shirt on backwards and thought it was broken : ). Of course I was laughing so hard I was crying, but I had to help him out and put it on right. He accessorized with a hat from two summers ago. It didn't take long before he found the short sleeve option for the outfit and wanted it on, and of course had to put on a pair of shoes to complete it.
later the day we were going through hats and gloves...

And unrelated to the fashion shows, evan is VERY adamant about going up and down the stairs by himself. He will actually turn around or stop repeatedly to tell you to stay and not step on the stairs while he is using them. He on occasion will forget that he can't work the gate at the top of the stairs and end up locking himself upstairs...I heard MOMMY and this is what I saw. Poor pitiful little guy : )

The Bump - 22 weeks