14 Months of Evan, Part 1

It is hard to believe how much Evan has changed over that past year and 2 months! I'll let the pictures tell the story.

Picture with Dad at 1st birthday party!

Hanging out with cousin Ezra at Grandma and Grandpa Bryan's in November.

Playing with cousin Grace at Thanksgiving. Great-Grandma Vincent and Aunt Ann are in the background.

Christmas 2008

Evan loved the baby chicks at Rural King this March. They had tubs and tubs of them and we had to visit each one and pet chicks in every tub!


Robert, Evan and me. Easter 2009

How To Pass 14 Months Without a Blog Post

1. Decide to pack and leave your home of 5+ years in the space of 1 month.
2. Move in with in-laws and share one computer with 3 other adults.
3. Work full-time so that you are only home when other 3 computer users are and internet time is at a premium.
4. Repeat Step 3 for 8 months or so.
5. Buy your own house, paint and move in the space of 1 month.
6. Quit your job to be home full-time and start a daycare, but continue to drive to in-laws to check email, Facebook, CNN, etc.
7. Look for an ISP in your new neighborhood only to discover that you live in a communications blackhole. Around here, they call it "rural." It's supposed to add to the charm.
8. Repeat Step 6 for 2 months.
9. Save up your money and have a satellite dish installed to receive the internet.
10. Resume long-neglected blog.

Well, that is the past 14 months of my online/offline life in a nutshell. Future posts will include pictures of our new house, Evan and the town to which we have moved, Decatur, IL.

11 Months Old!

Evan is almost 1 year old now! Hard to believe that at this time last year I was hugely pregnant and very uncomfortable! Now I have a very sweet boy to show for it!

According to the scale at the vet's office, Evan is 21.4 pounds. (Don't worry Grandmas, we checked for doggie peepee first!) We will have an official weight and length after his 1 year check-up next month. Within the past few days he has started to become a very coordinated crawler, picking up both hands and knees in sync. Now the cats are in real trouble and they are just starting to get an inkling of it!

I'll let the picture tell the rest. We had a beautiful day last Sunday and the outside pictures are from then.

Evan can show us "how big" he is! The answer: SO BIG!


Playing in the shade with his hippo!


Closing in on the camera.


He always looks this engrossed when playing with this toy! It's one of his "Top Ten Favorite Toys of 2008."


One last smile for the folks at home! Evan knows why you visit my blog!!

First Tooth!

This morning started out like any other. Evan played on his playmat white I tried to get just 5 more minutes of sleep before getting ready for work. He was insistent on chewing my finger like always. But this morning, I felt something different, something tiny and sharp! Turns out that it was the corner of his first tooth! It is the bottom right, for those who care to know such details. Of course, after I realized what was going on, he would not let me inspect his mouth any further!

Unfortunately, he had a rough morning at the sitter's and was pretty difficult to deal with till after his afternoon nap. His afternoon was decent and then he got fussy again after getting home. I had suggested to Robert that he give Evan one of the teething biscuits that I had made once they got home. He later told me that he offered Evan one and Evan threw it! Twice! So that wasn't the answer tonight.

He is sleeping peacefully now and hopefully will for the rest of the night. Soon, the tooth fairy will visit again and bring him another pearly white!

9 Months Old!!

Evan turned 9 months old this past Saturday. He "celebrated" with a check-up at the doctor's. Evan now weighs 20 lbs 8 ounces and is 28 and 1/2 inches long!! He seems to be going through a "more long, less round" phase. The doctor was pleased with how he is growing and said that he looked happy and well-adjusted.

He has been experiencing one of the hallmarks of his age: separation anxiety. It seems to be improving a little. He is at least adjusting well to the new sitter. It's still a scary thing for him when I leave the room for longer than a few seconds and especially scary when I shower!

Evan hasn't shown much interest in crawling or standing, yet. He is able to get around well enough rolling for now. I'm not worried as every baby develops at their own pace. Still no sign of teeth, either, but that's fine with me as he is not yet weaned!

We are looking forward to warmer weather so that we can take Evan on the trails in his bicycle trailer! I think he will enjoy that quite a bit. He loves anything to do with being outdoors!

My Handsome Boy!!

I just had to post some more pics of my handsome little guy! He was looking so spiffy in his polo that we took some picture today. Enjoy!!

Heart Walk 2008

Saturday was a windy, cloudy and cold day for a 3-mile walk! We took the train and arrived at Forest Park just after 8 a.m. Evan seemed to enjoy his first train ride! He especially liked watching the people come and go from the platforms.

We met up with my friend, Andrea, and her husband. To help protect Evan from the wind, I put up the sleep hood on his carrier. He didn't complain one bit and in about 5 minutes he was fast asleep. In fact, he slept for the entire walk! All in all, it was a fun time and a nice walk.

Thanks again to everyone who made donations to the American Heart Association! Your contribution will be a great help to a great organization!


Big boy sitting in his own seat on the train! He wasn't too sure about that!


Evan and Momma on the train!


Andrea, Evan and I at the walk! See all of the people behind us? What was amazing wasn't the amount of people, but the amount of people in shorts!! Brrrr!!