Pray for Francis!

although i've been MIA for the last few months and the few of you that actually might be stopping by are wanting an evan update, this is currently much more important.

francis is a friend from high school. we were on the dance team together and i counted her as one of my closest friends. she is a 30 year old wife and mother of two young boys who was just diagnosed with a brain tumor. the doctors don't feel it's cancerous but, it's a brain tumor, none the less. she's having surgery to remove it november 30 at the mayo clinic in jacksonville. please surround this sweet woman with prayer. ask for the wisdom and guidance of her surgeons. i truly believe in praying specifically and i am specifically praying for complete healing!

you can get to know frannie a bit and keep track of her story by visiting her blog here.

i can't stop thinking, 'what if this was me.' if it was, i'd want as much prayer as possible. i'm sure francis feels the same way!

Giveaway

so my friend dana, which i think the 3 of you that read my blog all know, is having a great giveaway for a $25 gift card to ECO-store USA. check out her sight for more info!

Evan looks like...

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

Evan's birthday day and birthday party

June 22, 2008 4:08pm

June 22, 2009 4:08 pm


we decided to have evan's birthday party the weekend following his birthday since my SIL was due to have our second neice the day before evan's birthday (the 21st). of course we had no idea that little (really little) sydnie grace would come 2 weeks early, the day before big sister savanna's birthday, on the 12th.

so we decided to do the customary cupcake on his actual birthday along with a few presents from the fam.

evan loved the presents


he even loved the sight of his cupcake



what he didn't love was blowing out the candle








it didn't help things that it was late and he was tired. no matter what we did, he wouldn't stop screaming. we'd stick some icing in his mouth, he'd stop long enough to swallow, then go right back to crying. poor little guy. he was traumatized!

we hoped not to have a repeat performance during his birthday party. we opted for a jungle theme. everything turned out great. lots of family and friends, good food, and great weather (just a tad too windy). the big moment came. as soon as evan saw the candle, he started to fuss. we sang fast, blew it out (well away from his face) and then took the candle out and hid it. he had still seen enough to get a bit worked up so i had to hold him for a bit to get him settled down again. i picked up his cupcake and he promptly stuck his finger in it. the rest was birthday history...

Evan is 1 year old!

i know it may not seem like it but, i really do enjoy blogging. it may take me forever to post something but that's only because, in true mommy fashion, "me time" is a luxury. at the moment, i'm waiting for evan to wake up from his nap so i'm sure this post will be interrupted.

evan is growing and changing so much. his one year check-up had him weighing in at 22 pounds 1 ounce and 30 3/4 inches long. he is almost walking on his own. he'll take a few steps be usually gets too excited, leans forward, and falls. he talks like crazy in his own little language. he will say mama and dada but not necessarily in a correct manner, but does say no and bye bye when he waves. he signs "all done/finished" and "more" when eating. and of course points and screams at things he wants. he'll tell you no after you tell him no (that's going to become a real struggle)and sometimes he'll even shake his finger at you while saying it! he is quite the little handful. nursing finally came to an end last week. evan was just biting WAY to often. he's still isn't a great eater but most days he does an okay job. he's consistently gaining weight so i'm not too worried. i just can't believe one year has passed so quickly. what an amazing year it has been. happy birthday angel baby!

Evan is 11 months old!

i didn't realize until a few days ago that i had not written evan's 11 month post! considering that this will be my last "month" post, i can't let it slip by. i feel like i've been so busy just watching evan grow. he is changing so fast, i really can't believe my eyes. he is so interested in everything. when he's playing, it's like he's trying to figure out how his toys work. we have a little train that spins balls around and drops them out the back. he loves to see them spin, and tries to grab them before they drop. yesterday, he let them keep spinning and kept bending over and looking into the hole to see where they were going. this kept his attention for quite a few minutes. maybe he has a future in engineering. he also loves to put smaller toys inside larger toys and shake them so they make noise. he's really exploring everything he sees. i love watching his learning.

crawling is still evan's only method of transportation (fine by me!). he is standing longer and longer each time he lets go and will take a few good steps when you hold his hands. but for the most part, he doesn't seem too interested in walking. i even bought him a walker (don't worry, he's well supervised while in it) but he doesn't really like it/can't figure out how to use it. he can push himself backwards but mostly just sits in it. i'm in no hurry for the walking to begin so this is all fine by me!

we are rapidly planning his first birthday party and i almost want to cry when i think about it. this has all gone by way to fast. i'm not ready to move out of the baby phase. i can understand why some feel the need to have another baby at this point BUT, that's not for me! i just want to savor each and every day with evan. i'm not ready to have to share my time. plus, one child in diapers is more than enough for me!

i've been a bit lax in my picture taking this month but i do have a few cute shots to share. enjoy!

who doesn't enjoy playing with a laundry basket?!?!


stephanie and addison came to visit! we introduced them to our favorite pizza place, stavro's!




evan is learning how to walk myer...maybe i should teach evan the correct way to hold the leash?

Evan is 10 months old!

what a big boy we have! he is growing and changing so much these days. he is so active too. he doesn't like to be held for too long (unless he nursing or getting a bottle), he just wants down so he can play. he crawls across the room so fast, usually with one of his toys dangling out of his mouth. he's cruising all around the living room too. he makes it very clear that he has got places to go!! he has also started to try and stand on his own, just for a few seconds at a time. he has become my little shadow , following me everywhere. we've given up trying to barricade him into the living room. he can climb over, or under, anything we put in his way. he finally discovered the dog food and he'll pitch a royal fit when i remove him from myer's bowl. he is all about asserting his independence. eating is really a struggle lately. he wants to feed himself, which is fine, except he gets tired of eating after a few bites. i just keep telling myself that he'll eat when he's hungry. he is totally recovered from his rotavirus experience so now we are just waiting for him to gain some weight back (which is why the lack of eating has me nervous at times). he's a long little thing (30 inches)and just about 20 pounds. but he does have my chunky thighs (poor guy)! evan has his own little language. he will talk to himself all day long. he talks to everyone we see when we're out running errands and he'll try to mimic the sounds that we make. it is amazing to watch that little brain work!

the fauxhawk make an appearance after bath time


laying in the playhouse with his snack cup


monthly picture time is getting tough...evan goes right for the sign


we took our first LONG distance road trip to north carolina during spring break. he did so well. we put him in his big car seat so i think the extra room helped his comfort level. he got to meet almost everyone on todd's dad's side of the family. they all loved him (of course).

trying to catch a bubble


babies and tulips...what could be better!


above all, we are just having so much fun with him. happy 10 months evan!

Happy Easter!

evan had a wonderful first easter today!
he had much fun digging through his easter basket this morning.





then he got all dressed up in his easter outfit from elegant heirs (my most FAVORITE children's store in PC).


he sat pretty for pictures with cousin savanna.

he had a blast shaking all of his eggs that he found on the easter egg hunt.



i enjoyed his cuteness today but i couldn't help but think how much i can't wait until evan can really understand what this day is truly about. He is risen!

we're home!

after a two night stay, we made it home thursday morning. evan is doing much better. you'd never know anything was wrong by the way he is now. he's keeping me on my toes once again. we've got one final check-up on monday and hopefully that will be the end of our rotavirus experience. thanks for all the thoughts and prayers!


evan loved playing the the tubing of his IV (it's in the right side of his head)


every once in a while, he'd give us a little smile to let us know he was going to be just fine!

please pray for evan

evan is still not better. our doctor wants to admit him to the hospital. she's worried that he is dehydrated. he's only peed once since 6pm last night. plus he's still having diarrhea. please keep us in your prayers!

this too shall pass...

CAUTION: YUCKY MOMMY STUFF AHEAD!

what a weekend we've had. evan has been so sick. i can deal with the ear infections but viral infections...no thanks! evan woke up screaming at 3am on friday. that's so not like him (the screaming or the 3am waking). he proceeded to throw up 3 times over the course of an hour. by 7am he was running a fever. the doctors office couldn't get me in until 2:45 that day so while we waited, evan threw up 3 more times and ran a fever of up to 103 (because of course when i tried to give him anything for the fever, he threw it up). when we finally see the doctor, he tests negative for the typical things so she wanted to look a bit further. she felt that it was a viral infection but because of his age, she wanted to be sure. she needed a urine sample (the quickest way to get it required a catheter) and a blood sample. my poor little guy. i've seen my child poked and prodded more then any mother should! she called us friday night to confirm that yes, it was a viral infection which you can't do anything about. it just has to run it's course. by saturday, the vomiting had stopped but the diarrhea had started. since that wasn't enough to deal with, the vomiting started again at 6pm. today's looking better though. we haven't had any fever, vomiting or diarrhea. just a lot of fussiness. he's hungry but eating still gives him some discomfort. he's so sick of pedilite that he'll hardly drink anymore of it. i just feel so helpless. i know we're doing everything we can but we just want him to feel better. i'm sure he will soon. if this look doesn't sum up the weeked, i don't know what will. feel better angel baby!

i'm a....

I took the 43 Things Personality Quiz and found out I'm a

Spiritual Romantic Self-Knower

this quiz only took a few minutes and was pretty accurate (for me at least). see for yourself and let me know your results :)

Evan is 9 months old!

look at me!! i'm posting only one day after evan turned 9 months! poor little guy, he's been cutting his third tooth and it really seemed to be bothering him yesterday. we couldn't get anything close to a smile for his monthly picture. other than that pesky little tooth, he's just been a bundle of joy! he's crawling and pulling up like crazy and getting into everything. he is certainly keeping us on our toes. i can't believe he will be a year old in just 3 months!!

he was not into this photo session

he was so proud of himself when he stood up in the pack-n-play

he wasn't too sure about the hat

evan's first time in a swing, at our friend parker's birthday party - he couldn't quite decide if he liked it or not

evan loves bitter biscuits...too bad mommy can't say the same thing. they are sooo messy!

just a little bit further and i can get myer's ball!

this is evan's favorite way to sit (his favorite place to sit too). he tries to stand himself up this way, without holding on to anything...he's getting close!

oh how i love this little angel baby!