He's THREE!

On March 22, 2009, in the afternoon (after a VERY long day/night of contractions and waiting) we welcomed Evan Jeffrey into our world. What better way to celebrate than with three different types of sweets on your third birthday!

First, E had a taste of his GIANT Jack's donut from Grammy and PackawThen, an ice cream truck drove by while he was playing soccer with Daddy and Packaw, so of course, he HAD to get something. I really missed a great video opportunity too because as soon as he had his frozen treat, he started running and kicking the soccer ball and licking his ice cream at the same time. Way to multi task Evan!Then, after dinner we had his actual birthday cake. Evan and I made and iced (OR I made and iced while Evan tried to eat all the icing) at 8am that morning. He woke up, ate a few bites of breakfast and immediately asked to make his birthday cake.Then, on Saturday, we celebrated with all his grandparents and Uncle Phil. Of course we had to have ANOTHER sweet for this occasion, and since E picked out dinosaurs as his theme for his party, I made him a dinosaur themed cake. No idea why the picture is sideways.This guy LOVED having everyone stand around and sing happy birthday to him...he is kind of a ham : )!And while Evan was opening a boatload of gifts that he is obsessed with (all things cars, trucks, boats, planes, sports and books...his obsessions), Grace found another form of her obsession...strings. After getting full of sugar, Evan wanted to show off his skills on his new bike (with a super cool Dino helmet and whale horn) that we let him pick out on his birthday. Uncle Phil must have been jealous of the bike because he decided to take it up and down the sidewalk a few times!Then, after the nap, Evan got straight to checking out his new duds and toys!We wrapped the birthday weekend up with a trip to a Monster Truck show. I have NEVER thought that I would be attending a Monster Truck show, but when a Monster Truck show happens to come to your city and you are the parent (and wife) to a motor sport enthusiast, I guess its bound to happen! This was not JUST a Monster Truck show...we witnessed dirt bike stunts, 4 wheel racing, dirt bike demolition derby and all kinds of monster truck talent. I must admit, I was not sure how E would react to the noise and the spectacle, but once he had his ears covered with the protective gear Grandpa Jeff brought for him, he was in heaven (along with his Daddy). Of the three of us, I was DEFINITELY the most scared! At one point when a Monster Truck swerved just a little to quickly and was pointed just a little too much in our direction, I threw my arm out to cover Bret and Evan. I have been doing the Insanity workout every morning with Bret, but I'm pretty sure I would not be protecting them from anything if a Monster Truck would have leaped over the protective barricades!He was as happy as can be to wave his souvenir flag and eat yummy popcorn!

Evan is the funniest and animated 3 year old I have ever been around. I have absolutely loved spending this past 8 (almost 9) months home with him and getting to watch him grow and develop. Not a day goes by that this one isn't keeping me in tears from laughter, so I thought I would write down a few of his latest phrases...

After seeing that Grace spit up on our stairs, I told Evan I needed to clean it up with something. He (always the helpful one) went to try to clean it up with a burp cloth. After trying for no more than a minute, he came up to me with a very serious face and said, "That is NOT an Evan job. That is a Mommy job."

After a basketball announcer said that one of the coaches was calling for a time out, Evan looked at Bret and I and asked "Why is he getting a time out? What did he do?"

After being told too many times over the years that its not time to get up yet, Evan now asks in the morning, "Is it up time?"

He is also very big into expressing his feelings, and so when he is being told no that he can't do something or is being disciplined, he almost always says, "That makes me sad. You are going to make me cry." or when he is given something or told that he can do something that he wasn't expecting, he will say, "that makes me happy when you...."

when making a request, he ALWAYS starts his sentence with please, and if he is anticipating a debate, he will finish it with "that's all I'm asking for" and, because he is skilled at debating, if he is told he can have a little sweet or can only be in the bath for a little bit longer, etc, etc, he will put on a little sweet face, pinch his pointer finger and thumb together and say "just a little tiny bit more and i'll be ALL done".

after asking for something (usually a toy) in a store and being told that I would think about it, evan now says upon entering a store "lets think about getting me..."

instead of saying tell me about....evan will say, "lets talk about..."

and, i have NO idea how he got this, but if he is looking at a toy and you ask him how much it costs or just randomly, he always says "probably $100!"

when he throws a tantrum, he will sit down, cry and say over and over "its terrible, its terrible"

and, courtesy of Packaw, he will tell you to look over in a direction because he saw something and as soon as you look, he yells, "FAKE OUT!"