Evan is 4 months old!

four months old never seemed much to me before i had a child but now, i can't believe how old that is. evan seems so big to me now. his personality is really starting to show. he's smiling all the time and beginning to laugh and giggle a bit. when you stand him up, which is still his favorite thing to do, he pushes himself up with his legs. he might be one of those kids that skips crawling and goes straight to walking. he is "talking" up a storm. he is really having fun learning about the sounds he can make. he prefers to talk when his fingers are in his mouth. this seems to allow him to talk louder and drool more. i feel that teething is just around the corner.

evan got to meet his cousin austin, who is three weeks younger. we had a fun day playing at nana and papaw's house with cousins austin and savanna.

my parents, better know to evan as pops and mamere, came to visit this past weekend. they had not seen evan in 6 weeks. they couldn't believe how much he had grown and changed. i hate that they are not able to see him more often but so far, they've seen him once a month since he was born. i hope that can continue. we took them to downtown mount dora to walk around. it's full of cute little shops and restaurants and a boardwalk that goes around lake dora. i can't help but feel proud when someone smiles at evan or comments when we pass. i'm certainly the proud mama.

after downtown mount dora, we went to a pumpkin patch at a local church. this was definitely more for us then for evan but he tolerated us well. i'm sure, sooner then i'd like, he'll be running off to find the pumpkin of his choice. for now, we chose one for him. a little one this year, then they'll grow as he does.

in this last month i've started to work some, part-time. i was laid off at the end of last school year and have yet to find a full time teaching position. it's a really bad time to be a teacher in central florida. there is just very little available. i've been subbing at mount dora bible, where todd's parents work. i'd love to work there as well and feel certain they would hire me if something opened up. i do know that one of the teachers is pregnant and due in january so maybe i could take over for her for a while. todd and i decided that i could hold out for a teaching position until the end of the year but come january, if i haven't found anything, i'll have to go back to marketing/pr. i'd love to keep teaching so please be praying something will come up. we have had to dip in to our retirement funds to help ends meet (the extra, unexpected medical bills were to blame) but, God is in control and he is taking care of everything. for the last four months he has been answering my first prayer of being able to stay home with evan so for that i am truly thankful. we are really working on praising God in ALL things. we've learned that it is much harder to do when things are tough. if it weren't for evan, the last 7 months would have been so much harder. praise God for choosing us to raise this precious little gift. i've taken on a theme song that has also helped me to remember that we are not alone in all this. "you're not alone" by meredith andrews http://www.meredithandrews.com/ if you don't know is song you must listen. i always seem to hear it when i need it the most...hmmm...i wonder why that happens :) until next time, i praise God for friends that care enough to read and for strangers too. love to all!