Helps to Make the Season Bright

Okay I'm still here. And, I finally caught up on pictures, November's are posted to the right. The past several weeks have been challenging and rewarding, overwhelming and peaceful. I know that a miscarriage at any time of year would be horrible, but I was depressed just thinking about it during Christmas. I love Christmas, really love Christmas. I actually love the busyness, the shopping, the baking, the parties, the music, the wrapping, and all that goes with it. especially with Evelyn being a year and a half now, I was really looking forward to enjoying some fun traditions with her-Zoolights, getting a tree, and singing Christmas carols. But I as worried that I would be too sad to enjoy time with her, time with our family. Through lots of prayers and support, I feel like God has blessed me in being able to take part in joy, amidst sorrow. I've definitely had moments of sadness (just now I almost cried while watching the Obama's dog frolic in the snow, so I'm definitely still a bit unbalanced!) But I've had so many moments of fun, new memories, and experiences that I will always treasure. To me, that seems like a miracle.

Seeing Evelyn experience everything that is Christmas to me has really helped my healing process. She loved decorating the tree, and undecorating, and decorating, and undecorating, and decorating. . .She also loved eating a sugar cookie for the first time, actually I think she just ate the frosting, but that was a first she liked too! We bought a wooden Advent Calendar and every morning she opens a box, takes out a figurine from the nativity scene and places it on the stable backdrop. Right now there is a cow on the roof, a star in the stable, and shepherds flying through the air! It sounds cheesy, but I am so excited about her opening presents! We're just giving her a few things, but I know she'll enjoy them and I can't wait to experience that with her.

Bard's sister is in town and we finished the basement room just last week, for her to stay in. I'm so amazed at how hard Bard has worked, but also how much he has been here for me. We've shared some beautiful times together, happy and sad, and with Genevieve here, parties and Christmas to look forward to, I'm very thankful.

When the Rain Comes

Many years ago I listened to an album called Come Together by the band Third Day. It defined my life for longer than I wanted it to. I remember crying in my front room on Ferry Street as I tried to figure out if I could put my life back together.

I paint a picture I think it's easier to live that way But my heart is really broken I'm not the man you think I am when you see me each day Torn apart and then left open

I cried driving down Alder Street because I just needed it to be over. I needed to be rescued from the pain.

Father come and fill me up

I can't wait for you to overflow my cup

My heart makes me wonder how much longer

Til you're coming back to take me away

My heart longs for you to fly right through the sky

And take me to a place where I

Will never feel my heart break down again

But God did not swoop in and carry me away. Instead He sent all of you, to lift me up when I fell and hold me when I couldn't go on. And that was beautiful. Little by little I started to feel like I could make it, at least through one day.

It's alright it's okay

I won't worry about tomorrow

For it brings me one more day

Closer than I was to you

I started to heal. But that album continues to define pain for me and that I why I am listening to it today. And crying, again. My life is worlds away from where it was. I love Bard and I love Evelyn. And I love my second child. A child I don't get to see born. A child I will carry with me for the rest of my life. My child. I knew what the Doctor would find. I knew I had lost my baby. But I still wanted to hear the impossible. But I didn't. I believe in God and I believe in His love. And I don't think I have the right to question Him. But He gives me the grace to. So I do. I don't know why I lost this baby and maybe I never will. But many years ago I learned that I didn't need to know. Somewhere in the midst of all this pain, there is God. And He will hold me til it goes away.

When the rain comes you think that everyone has gone away

When the night falls you wonder if you shouldn't find someplace

To run and hide

Escape the pain

But hiding's such a lonely thing to do

I can't stop the rain from falling down on you again

I can't stop the rain but I will hold you til it goes away

When the rain comes you blame it on the things you've done

When the storm fades you know that rain has fallen on everyone

So rest awhile

It will be alright

No one loves you like I do

I can't stop the rain from falling down on you again

I can't stop the rain but I will hold you

I can't stop the rain from falling down on you again

I can't stop the rain but I will hold you til it goes away

Thankful for the Pink Lines!

Special Breakfast and Other Traditions

Almost every Saturday, Bard makes "Special Breakfast." We've been very purposeful about this-that we want Saturday morning-at least for an hour or so to be relaxing and family time. Normally it's pancakes and bacon or eggs, sometimes waffles or french toast. Bard always cooks and we chat with Evelyn about how Dada is making special breakfast. Today when we were at the grocery store, Evelyn was walking along side me and saw the pancake mixes on the shelf next to her. She said, "Pancakes, Dada, Bekfast." That is awesome : )

We went to the pumpkin patch a few weeks ago, the same one we took her to last year (pictures are posted to the right) and she had a blast. She is quite the city girl though and did not want to get dirty! But she loved the animals and the pumpkins ad still talks about it. Although I can't get her to say "barn," she calls it a "red house." City girl. We also went to our church Harvest Festival, where Evelyn was the cutest kid possible, dressed as Cindy Lou Who! She had a blast and was utterly exhausted from running around and trying the games. I hope that these are traditions that we continue to enjoy for years to come and as November and December approach, I know we will experience more new traditions.

A stinker, but a sweet one!

Ahh, toddlerhood. The land of "Mine" "No" and other unintelligible screeches. After working professionally with this age for years it's my turn to deal with toddlers on a personal level. The difference can be summed up in one word: embarrassment!

The other day we were at the Doctor's office. They have a cute wooden bus that kids can climb into. It has a magnetic alphabet, steering wheel and buttons, and cars to push on a track-Evelyn loves it. She sat and played in it while we waited to see the Dr. After a few minutes a little boy, probably about 4 years old walked in with his mom. Evelyn immediately looked up, other kids are like crack to her! She watched him as he went over to the other side of the bus and started playing with the beads. She said, "Ehhh!" as only a toddler can and went over to him, putting her hand over his and trying to play with the beads! I could not believe it, my 18 month old daughter was bullying a four year old boy! She gets it from Bard ; ) I firmly said, "Evelyn, use your words and it's his turn to play with the beads." (We don't teach sharing, delayed gratification is more developmentally appropriate for this age, sharing will come later.) She ignored me so I picked her up and told her she had to stay with mama since she wasn't listening and waiting her turn. That of course brought more screeching, although thankfully just a few seconds and then she calmed down and was able to play on her side of the bus. Sheesh! I was so embarrassed, and yes, angry at her for not acting how I expect her to in public.

Fortunately the great thing about toddlers is that they are all incredibly bi-polar. They can be in royal fit mode one second, tears, kicking, screaming (which she hasn't done. . .yet) and snuggly, loving, and sweet the next. On one hand it can be annoying as you try to catch up to their moods, on the other hand it can be their saving grace! Just a moment later as we were going to leave, the receptionist came out from behind the counter and said hi to Evelyn. Evelyn has seen her just a handful of times in her life and really doesn't know her well at all. But she dropped my hand, said, "Hug!" and ran up to the receptionist, arms outstretched to give her a hug. Of course, I melted : ) This has become her new favorite thing to do-maybe having a little to do with the great reaction she gets from everyone! We stopped by the Y a few days ago and with both of my bosses, neither of whom she has really seen since May, she immediately said, "Hug, hug!" All week she has been giving out hugs to everyone. See, she is not such a stinker after all : )

Sick, Snuggly, and Sad

I just lost a whole week of my life. It really reminded me of when she was a newborn and time had no real meaning.

Last Sunday Evelyn woke up from nap with a fever, and then had that fever ALL week. At first I thought it was just more issues from her molars coming in. We stayed home all day Monday but then her and I both woke up in the middle of the night feeling sick. Well, I was feeling sick, I'm guessing she felt sick because she wouldn't stop crying : ( Tuesday morning was an all time low because she was in bed with me and wouldn't stop crying, so I just gave up and joined her. We both got up and all morning she just sat on my lap. My daughter is normally way too busy to snuggle, so this was unheard of. I read to her and we watched Elmo on Sesamestreet.org, which, since she never gets to sit and watch for more than a few minutes, was crazy! But after a while she was ready to move around and I wasn't, so I called Bard home from work

I don't remember much else of Tuesday, but Wednesday morning she woke up at 3:30am with a 103 fever, the highest she has ever had. We called the Dr, since it had been more than 2 days and then called him back an hour later after giving her motrin and having it go up! Fortunately I felt better that day and motrin and tylenol brought her fever down. I took her to the Dr Thursday morning and they discovered that she her throat was irritated and after a whole day process of getting a urine sample, that she had a bladder infection too.

We were both exhausted and cranky. Much of the time she just sat in my lap and read or watched Elmo clips. If she fell down, she cried, if she wanted something, she cried, if she was tired, she cried. I had been cooped up in the house for four days, I should have been the one crying! Our second trip back to the Dr on Thursday, to get another urine bag put on so they could try and get a sample, I had just about had it. She barely napped because she woke up with horrible diarrhea (hence the new bag!) and I was so drained. On top of it all, I had been rear ended last week and my back was killing me-advil and a heat pack did nothing and carrying her just made it worse. I was rushing her in to the Dr's office, she was crying because she wanted me to carry her and I was irritated. But when I lifted her on to the examining table for the nurse to check her out, she was so quiet and vulnerable that I just wanted to scoop her up and protect her from anything and everything.

Sometimes the hardest part about being a parent is remembering that you are the parent and that she is just a small child.

18 Month Milestones

This morning as I sat with Evelyn, she asked for me to sing "Twinkle Little Star" and then she started doing the hand motions with me-I love this age!

Evelyn is just above the 50% for height, weight, and head, so she has maintained a great growth rate. She had completed the milestone task list at our pediatrician's that is through 24 months, so the Doctor was dutifully impressed ; ) It asks questions such as how many words she can say, building a tower, coloring without just eating the crayons, running without falling over, basically different milestones having to do with all the areas of development.

Her gross motor skills are much better now, after all that wondering when she would ever walk! She can kick and throw a ball (when she first kicked a ball Bard spent the rest of the day trying to get her to do it again-ahh, vicarious parenting!) She runs and goes up and down stairs. She still is not much of a climber, not really trying to climb on furniture or bookshelves although I think that is more due to being tentative and less to do with ability.

Her fine motor skills are great, she colors well, holds and maneuvers small objects-her favorite being tiny pieces of dirt that she finds on the floor and loves to throw away! She drives me crazy by refusing to eat with utensils very much, preferring to use her fingers. But even the Dr said it's nothing to worry about, she probably just likes it better. Sad for me when I feed her applesauce or yogurt! I need to work with her more on doing different things for herself. Funny, when I taught at Montessori I was always on the parents for this same thing! I have started having her pull up her pants and need to have her do more of her own dressing. We put her shoes on together, but I can have take them off too. All those little tasks help her develop skills and confidence-two good things!

Verbally she is insane. I go to bed hearing her voice in my head because she doesn't stop talking all day. She gets it from Bard : ) She says 2, 3, 4 word sentences now. Of course most of the time they are not grammatically correct but something funny like, "Head bonk hurt." Or, "Daddy bye bye work" Or she'll just pick a word for whatever reason, that it sounds good to her, and she'll say it over and over and over and over again. Like, "Cold cold cold cold cold cold cold cold cold cold cold." Until you finally say, "Yes Evelyn, it's cold." Then she will triumphantly yell "Cold!" one more time, just so you know who is in charge.

Socially and Emotionally she is going through a lot of changes. She is realizing that other kids ca take her things (resulting in her shrieking-I don't know where she gets that) and that she can take other kids' things-resulting in me shrieking-hey, what can you do?) Kids at this age don't really understand share yet (does anyone?!) So we work on delayed gratification-you can have that when she is done, etc. But it does make for a chaotic circus when we are around other kids!

She had been crying for a bit when we dropped her off in Baby Garden on Sundays, but that has stopped and she has gone back to being fine when we leave her there. In fact, as my friend put it, she really does need a bit more stranger anxiety! Even yesterday when we were at the doctor's office, which I don't think she can remember from 6 months ago. She was perfectly comfortable to walk out the room, down the hall and into another room with two nurses, never even looking back to see if I was there. Little stinker! She regularly goes up to people in the store or on a walk and says, "Hi hi hi hi hi hi hi." Which of course normally produces the desired effect.

Cognitively she seems to be doing well. I can't quite remember the norms for this age. But for a while now she has asked for things that she can't see but knows are there-raisins in the cupboard, Bard coming home from work if she sees me making dinner, that type of thing. She easily associates people with places and knows that if I say we are going to church that means she will see Annabelle, Mary, Skyler, Abby, and so on. And she has started recognizing geography, particularly the streets that go to Henry's house! She knows some colors, pretty much all body parts, animals and that type of thing. Al though it took a while before she got that a dog said woof, not meow!

Hmm, let's see, what else??? She loves to go on walks outside and even though the weather is cooling off, we'll go out at least once a day, unless it's pouring, which isn't very often. She has a whole ton of teeth now, finishing up on her molars-hopefully soon cause they are hard! She loves other kids, her age, older, or younger. Our neighbor's have a baby and Evelyn calls her name every time we walk by-of course over and over! She is extremely busy and rarely sits still for very long, which is part her age and part her personality.

I'm sure I could write another page or so, but I'll stop. What a great kid! )

18 Months Old!!

Happy 18 months Evelyn! Check back for more info soon : )

Owie

Just to prove that I can post a short blog, here we go!

We've been enjoying walks in the evening this summer, usually down to the UPS campus and back, just about 20-30 minutes. The other evening, on our way back, Evelyn was getting antsy in her stroller-which is pretty normal-she doesn't like to sit too long, that one! So we took her out and let her run around a bit. She looked pretty much like a cute pint sized drunken sailer cause she is still pretty wobbly, although much faster, and even when she is staying on her feet she veers off first one direction and then the other, heading to whatever catches her eye. She definitely enjoys her taste of freedom and seems to have no fear of getting far away from us. She just takes off! But her desire for freedom often gets tangled up in her feet and she falls over (which actually happens to a lot of us adults too). And fall she did, surprisingly hard, resulting in her first skinned knee. Which I thought was very sweet : ) She thought it was very odd though, and kept saying "Knee! Knee!" and poking at it. She was really upset, more just puzzled, screaming more when we put her back in the stroller than when she fell. Here's to a childhood full of skinned knees!

Proud of Dada

I had a blog ready to post today about Evelyn falling and skinning her knee, but when I remembered it was 9/11, that somehow didn't seem to fit right.

Like everyone else I remember exactly where I was when 9/11 happened 8 years ago. But, fortunately it was not as traumatic or emotional for me because I didn't know anyone who was there or personally affected. That changed when I met Bard. He doesn't talk a lot about this, but since he doesn't read our blog, I can brag on him : )

Bard was working in New York when 9/11 occurred. In fact, he was working on Wall Street at the World Trade Center. He wasn't at the twin towers, the WTC is actually a huge complex and he was at one of the other buildings. However, his building was so heavily damaged that it was later condemned and they moved the company to a new location.

Bard was late for work that morning (no surprise there!) and actually should have been in the complex when the planes hit. As it was he was on the subway, preparing to get off at the stop underneath the twin towers. The stop that was destroyed when the towers collapsed. The train driver heard that something had happened and was told not to make that stop, so everyone was a bit surprised when the train zoomed by the station and went to the next stop. Bard had heard something about a plane but didn't think it was too big of a deal til he got out and started walking toward his work. I'm sure you have all heard the reports and can imagine the chaos that surrounded him.

I do not write this to share with you all the details of what he did, instead I want to share who he is. It will not surprise any of you that he was a hero that day. Instead of running, he stayed to help the people around him. He gave water to those in need and assisted in any way he could, risking his own health to be there for total strangers.

Matthew 25: 37-4o "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

I worry so much as a parent. Is she eating the right food? Am I disciplining her enough, too much, and in the right way? What should we do about school? All those issues fall away when I remember that she is learning the most important lesson of all, from her very own father. Compassion. Helping those in need. Love for others that spills out because of God's love for us. Evelyn is more fortunate and blessed than many other children around the world-her father is a hero in every sense of the word, because of what he does but mostly because of why he does it.

Goodbye Summer!

It's amazing to me that I am entering Fall with a toddler. Last fall Evelyn was so tiny, this is simply unreal! So here are some highlights from our last month of Summer and the pics are posted to the right:

*New Hampshire-Evelyn's favorite experiences: "Wawer & Boat!" Water, she loved looking at the lake and watching the boats go by. Every time Bard took her in she was surprised at how cold it was but with several people applauding her she warmed up in no time! "Ouside" Still one of her favorite words, she loved going outside because she could pick up rocks and "throw" them (see video on facebook for her "throw!") Having her at the airports and on the planes was hilarious, she loved seeing all the new things and talking to everyone, and threw a fit in the middle of the airport when I wouldn't let her step off the moving sidewalk by herself! But I know that overall her favorite part of the trip was the people. She fell in love with Lili, (Bard's grandma), Wally, (Bard's grandpa), and of course loved visiting with Grandee and Grandpa Steve again (Bard's mom and step dad). Best way to describe it, they ate her up! I'm not sure any other child in history has received that much attention! She has such a sweet and easy way of bonding with people. Our first morning there she did not seem bothered at all to wake up in a strange house full of people she had never met before. It was all just a fun adventure! I know she still treasures those relationships because just the other day I was changing her diaper and gave her a little stuffed dog to play with. I said, "Aunt Barbara gave you this dog when we were at the lake." She looked at me and said, "Lili!" I couldn't believe it, two weeks after coming home she remembers enough to associate Barbara giving her the dog and that it happened at Lili's house! But then again, Lili makes that impression on everyone : )

*We finished off our summer with a trip to the beach with my brother and his family. Now, unfortunately the trip ended up with the flu running through our family like, well, a virus! Tish got sick while we were there, Bard two days after we got home (please don't ask me how many times he vomited!) and my brother, niece, and mom also fell victim to the plague. Fortunately there were some good times, so we'll focus on those! Evelyn was not impressed with walking on wet sand at first-that's my city girl! But she got used to it and loved digging with her little shovel and pail, when Henry wasn't talking them away from her of course ; ) There was a big park that they loved running around in, complete with a huge slide and swings. But, hand's down the main thing she cared about was being with Henry. Or, "Henee!" We went over to their house on our way up, so we could load up everything together (you would not even believe how much crap you need to go away for three days with three children under the age of three!) Henry and Evelyn both burst into tears because they had wanted to play with each other and we made them stay in the car and then drove off. No way could they understand that after a quick 2 hour car drive they were going to play together for three days! When we arrived and got them out to play in this little field before heading to the beach, they ran toward each other laughing and shrieking each other's names-cutest thing ever!

*Even though we were so busy this summer, with so many trips, we still managed to take walks together almost every evening. In fact, Evelyn now asks to go on a walk. Friday evening BBQs with friends and family have been the best. When Evelyn sees me moving the furniture around for watching LOST after the BBQ, she says, "Abby!" and runs to the door because she knows our friend Abby is coming over. Trips to the zoo, dozens of adorable sundresses, playing in the fountain at UPS, getting a new kitten, and spending time on our deck have made it a great summer. I just packed up all her cute little sundresses and pulled out the sweaters. Bring on Fall!

New Hampshire

Culture is a funny thing. Since most of my undergrad and postgrad work was spent analyzing culture (not ours-Russia and Europe's!), I have to admit that a little bit of my academia still affects me. Since this was my third time in New Hampshire with Bard, I think I am starting to get a feel of the culture there-both of the area and of his family. One of my professors once described culture as that which affects our choices when we don't even realize that we have made a choice. I really like that and have stuck with it-maybe one of these days I'll get back to the lovely world of academia, but until then you are all just stuck with my wandering thoughts that have no place else to go!

New Hampshire's state motto is, "Live free or die" that right there, and the fact that they do not have a law requiring motorcyclists to wear helmets should tell you something pretty big about their culture. Two words. Let's go with "Back off!" They really seem to like things they way they are. Although dependant on tourism, they have responded to it very differently than neighboring Vermont (which we drove through to go visit Bard's other grandparents in Albany New York.) They will not cater to tourists and in fact, while taking their money, seem to resent their influx. Status quo rules. Small community, a focus on nature and the arts, and the importance slowing down.

Bard's family definitely fits into this culture and I learn more about what that means each time we visit with them. Is it art imitating life or life imitating art? Who knows, but the best part is that with each visit I get little glimpses and say to myself, Ahh, now I understand! It's amazing how much our families and upbringing influence us from big things like how Bard was brought up in this beautiful environment which instilled in him a deep appreciation for the outdoors. To small and comical aspects such as the fact that Bard's odd habit of leaving kitchen and bathroom cupboard doors open drives me crazy so I almost die laughing (on the inside) when I see that his grandpa does the same thing! How great is that?!

We are like sponges, we soak up the environment around us. So hopefully it is a good environment that we are taking in-which of course is our job as parents. And I'm excited for Evelyn to take in New Hampshire. After all, it's in her blood.

Baby!

Haha, made you look : ) This is Nora, nickname, Nadia (I know, some of you are thinking, "Oh no, they didn't"-Oh yes, we did! And are you really surprised?!)

She is three months old, full of personality and snuggling and has already learned to hide under the shoe rack when she hears Evelyn shrieking, "KITTY KITTY KITTY!"

TV, Bard the Builder and Sports Camp

The things you think you'll never do as a parent. I'm sure I will have broken all of them by them time my kids are grown! One rule in particular that Bard and I talked about before even having children was how much television our children would watch. We grew up with pretty different tv experiences (ahh how I "fondly" remember my limit of 30 minutes a day and when my parents would move the TV into the closet!) But we are both pretty much on the same page now-very little TV. In fact we've switched, Bard watches less than I do! Of course we have our fairly notable and obvious exception! We actually watch about two shows a week and I watch a bit of news in the morning (gotta love Matt Lauer!) but that's about it. I haven't let Evelyn watch TV and wasn't really planning on it for a while. So it was pretty funny a few weeks ago when she woke up early and was sitting in my lap while I finished breakfast. I was flipping from the Today Show and went past PBS, where Elmo was doing his thing. In just the few seconds that I left it on Sesame Street, she fell in love. Now it's "Elmo Elmo Elmo!" She recognizes him everywhere we go-on the cracker box at the store and in the book at the Doctor's office. She loves that little red monster! So, every few days we will watch a clip of the Elmo's World song on Youtube. It's about 3 minutes, so it's probably not rotting too much of her brain ; ) and I can handle it too. Just out of curiosity I've turned on other cartoons, to see if they catch her attention. Nope, she is a one monster girl! Who would have thought?!

This afternoon Evelyn had just gotten up from nap and was sitting with me. We heard pounding in the basement and Evelyn says, "Dada, Dada!" Yup, she is a smart kid. I think for most of her life Bard has been down pounding in the basement. We are now almost ready to cross the finish line. Of course, I said that before and permits set us back 6 months, but here we are again and it's so close I can taste it (literally, sheet rock dust gets everywhere!) We've had some great help, but mostly it's been Bard down there on his own, triumphing over one completed task after another. All this work for only one room but it will be so amazing to be able to say that we did this. To tell kids when they're older, Hey, be careful with that closet door, your father framed it in, hung the sheet rock, textured, and put in the door. Kids just love that sort of thing!

Sports Camp is over. Thank God! Thank God because of all the greatness He accomplished throughout the week and thank God because it was incredibly exhausting, I missed my baby, had nerves frayed to the breaking point, was waking up at 4am every day and having panic attacks. Ahhh. Sports Camp. We had two records over a hundred-over a hundred kids came and the weather was over a hundred degrees! Yikes! The kids had a blast and thanks to some amazing volunteers who had water stations, industrial fans, foot ice baths, and water misters, we all stayed cool. Evelyn came one day and I'll post some hilarious video on facebook of her dancing during our worship time. This is actually her second time at Sports Camp, last year I carried her around in a front pack. This year she toddled around the gym, climbing on the mats and falling off (Bard!), played on the fields, and was spoiled and coddled over by everyone-she loved it! Every year kids have a blast at Sports Camp and (IMHO) it's one of the best traditions our church has. I can't wait til Evelyn is old enough to run around playing soccer, hitting baseballs, and catching footballs with other kids. And then I won't miss her so much! I can see her now, a female mini Bard up on stage for drama, singing the loudest during worship, and going crazy over the sports. Well, you know her, am I wrong?!

Family

Last week was such a great one for our family! Bard's aunt and uncle were on vacation and decided to come here to visit with us. We spend very little time with Bard's side of the family, so this alone was a treat. But Kevin and Susan went above and beyond-deciding to just spoil us all week! Let's see, dinner at the beach, long talks on the deck, BBQed filet mignon, fresh grilled salmon, drives to Gig Harbor, lots of peek a boo and musical instruments, and, and, hmm, what am I forgetting? OH, they got our basement ready for it's first inspection! And it passed! It was so amazing to be blessed all week. And I'm so grateful that Evelyn got to know her aunt and uncle, I know they will continue to show her what it is to be family.

First Night

Well, I figured I had better do it before Evelyn left for college, so Friday night was her first night spending the night away from both me and Bard! Of course, Bard has been on business trips, so she has been away from him before, but I have never left her over night. I was totally comfortable with it because she was staying with my parents and since my mom watches her twice a week she is used to sleeping there and knows both my parents really well. But, that only helped to an extent!

Last February I bought Bard Coldplay tickets for Valentines Day and a few months ago, since this was my birthday weekend and Evelyn would be 15 months old, we decided to make a night of it and stay in Portland before coming home. We dropped her off just before nap on Friday, which made me kinda sad because since she was asleep I wasn't able to say goodbye. Of course she wouldn't have really known what I meant anyway. The drive down was nice and we had a good time walking around Portland before going to the concert. Although to get to Powell's Bookstore we walked through what I can only nicely call the red light district and I haven't smelled that much pot since college! We called her before she went to bed and said goodnight, she was busy being spoiled to death so didn't say much ; ) The concert was great, we were on the lawn at the amphitheater and it was a beautiful evening. Coldplay even came out on the lawn and sang several songs (including a pretty cool rendition of Billie Jean) on a small portable stage they had set up not too far from us! I saw a baby about Evelyn's age (please do not even tell me she is not a baby anymore, that is just nasty!) It did make me miss her a bit but at the same time I thought those parents were crazy for bringing their baby and I was glad it was just me and Bard!

It took us an hour, yes an hour, to get out of the parking lot-apparently not the smartest traffic engineers in Clark County! So, by the time we got back to the hotel I wasn't really thinking about not being able to check in on her. But, as I woke up throughout the morning - most of you know I'm a horrible sleeper - it was very odd to not have to get up based on her schedule. In fact, it was the first time in 15 months that I hadn't followed her schedule! We were up so late the night before it was great just to be able to sleep in and have our morning together.

We went to Portland's Saturday Market which is a fabulous mix of hippie, yuppie eclectic art with great food and interesting music thrown in just for fun. Even though Bard and I do get to spend a lot of time together, probably more than the average couple with a one year old, there is something different about extended time. Date nights and walks are nice but I think there is something unique about having extra time with each other, the conversations can become more in depth and varied. After an amazing chocolate almond croissant (hey, it was my birthday!) we headed out of the city and back home. We made pretty good time and actually got in to Tacoma before Evelyn would have been up from her nap. So we swung by the mall and I re-pierced my second holes-maybe this time I'll leave earrings in so they don't grow over again! I hadn't felt too antsy until that point. But I knew she would be waking up and I just wanted to be there. The last ten minutes of the drive were longer than the two previous hours and I was so glad to go into my parents house and see her smiling, cute, yogurt covered face. She had done great both days, no problems, which made me happy, but I think I'll keep her with me for awhile before leaving her overnight again : )

Bienvenidos!

Ahh, where to start?

*In the morning when she woke up, Evelyn would say, "Outside!" and crawl or walk to the door.

*We went in the pool twice a day and she would say, "Pool!" Then she would point to the other kids and want to play with them.

*Most of the families there were Mexican so our little blondie stuck out and got quite a bit of attention from everyone. A lady in the elevator even stopped me and asked if I was the one with the baby.

*She played in the sand and I think still probably has some sticking to her somewhere. But when Bard took her toward the ocean, his understanding of "Go slow" was to plow in waist deep which totally freaked her out. She'll get used to it : )

*I think she liked the elevator as much as the pool and said, "Beep" whenever we went in it.

*She slept like a rock, she slept at the airport, during flights, during boarding, all night and good naps, on the bus, and in the car. I wish I could sleep like that!

Overall we had a great trip and I am so glad we went. We had made the decision to take our first real vacation last fall but then had to schedule an unplanned family trip for August (because of cancelling the one that was supposed to be in December) so we were a bit unsure if we could do both in one summer. It will definitely be a busy summer but it is worth it! Next year we won't be taking any big trips, so we'll sit around all summer and do nothing : )

Anyway, the trip there was great. She was really good on the plane and at the airports. It was a long day and I was pretty tired by the time we arrived (more because of staying up and watching LOST with friends the night before, not so much because of the trip!) It was great to walk into the resort and see how nice it was, you never know, you know? But it was beautiful and we loved it. We had a one bedroom suite so Evelyn slept in a crib out in the front room and Bard and I had a separate bedroom. We went to the little store the next day to get food and snacks to have in our room so that we could make our own breakfast-conveniently the store is right on the resort so you never have to leave. They are sooooo thoughtful! ; ) But actually the prices weren't bad at all, except peanut butter which was $4 for half a jar! What is it with other countries and their lack of peanut butter love? Of course my sweet OCD hubby insisted we use only bottled water, so we bought that too. But I rebelled and used tap water for brushing my teeth and making coffee. If I die Abby gets my season one LOST. The hotel provided us with a crib and a high chair which was great-keeping Evelyn contained is a full time job!

Our days looked like this: get up, eat breakfast, get ready for the pool, play in pool, eat lunch, nap, go back to pool, eat dinner, put Evelyn down for bed, watch LOST with Mike and Sara, go to bed. We pretty much did that every day! Puerto Vallarta is two hours ahead of us, but we stayed on the same schedule, so Evelyn woke up around 9am and went to bed around 9pm. her naps were perfect-Bard would fry if he stayed outside all day and he wanted to nap anyway so he napped every day with her! I did maybe once or twice, but often read in our room or went back down to the beach/pool. Yes, I finished all three books! This is the longest Bard has spent with her since we visited family for 4 days back in September. So it was great for them to have so much time together and very restful for me too-having a second pair of hands makes a big difference!

Evelyn learned several new words on our trip: Hola (yes, too cute!), cow (although I think cow means field to her because later we drove by a field with no cows and she pointed, saying, "cow!"), pool, owie, gentle (this because for months Bard has been letting her smack his face so now we are having to retrain her!), Mike, Sara (which she refused to say to Sara, only in front of the rest of us!), and thank you. I think she said a few more, but I wasn't writing them down like normal so I'm not sure.

She did really well and seemed to have a great time. She never had any major melt downs although she did get a bit fussy more often than she does at home. I think she is a pretty solid extrovert and was just a bit over stimulated by everything. Our next trip I need to make sure she has some down time by herself or with just me or Bard for a bit each day. Honestly, since I am the same way, I am surprised I didn't realize this before! Bard and I learned that about myself the hard way on our first trip together and have since been pretty good about making sure I have my own quiet time : )

The pictures are on Facebook and posted to the right, (along with pictures from June.) I thought I would take more, but we did the same thing every day! Well, okay, one day we took the bus in to Puerto Vallarta and walked around for about an hour, but that is about it. We really just wanted to relax. Which, for those of you who know me, know that is not normally how I vacation. I am a Europe girl at heart and love vacations spent travelling all over the place in a million different museums and monuments. But I think this vacation taught me how great it is to sit and relax. Let days blur together. Talk with friends about meaningful stuff and about nothing. Read books and stare at the sunset. Then get up the next day and do it all over again. I hope this is the first of many family vacations. And I hope that they are all like this one-prioritize experiencing the family, not experiencing the experience.

We're not going to Guam, are we?

Ahh Frank, best line ever!

Anyway, we leave Saturday for Mexico and I can't wait! As you probably already know since I've said it so many times lately, this is our first vacation since our honeymoon (three years ago) and it is long overdue! I'm not sure how Evelyn will do, I think she'll be fine, but it does make me a little nervous. We're going with good friends and I can't wait to visit with them, sit on the beach, catch up on books, and watch LOST! Yes, it seems I can't have a blog without it ; ) I'm sure I'll blog about the trip when we get back, and have tons of pictures, but since Evelyn turns 15 months while we're gone I thought I would take a few minutes to let you know where she is at.

The biggest news is that she has started walking! Finally! She took her first steps a few weeks ago and although she still crawls a lot she will often just stand up on her own and walk to something. She can reach down, grab an object from the floor without holding on to anything and stand back up with it. She can also turn while standing and go a different direction and can take steps while holding something in her hands-which is actually really good and doesn't normally happen until they have been walking for longer. I had been hoping she would be a little more stable before we left, but oh well, what are you going to do? Also in the physical department, she is climbing all over everything and everywhere, which is driving me crazy! She is super fast going up the stairs, can climb on our coffee table (which was moved to our bedroom), climb into her stroller (which was moved to the car) and pretty much tries to pull herself onto anything that she can reach. I thought I had escaped having a baby that climbed a lot, but I guess I was wrong!

Verbally she is still talking more and more everyday. She puts two words together and is pretty easy to understand once she says a word. She says over 40 words and uses most of them on a pretty regular basis. Her favorite right now is Grandpa (Bapa), sky (I have no idea why), and toes. Although her old favorite, ball, is still pretty popular too.

Socially/emotionally she is still very much an extrovert. She has never seemed to develop stranger anxiety. It's very rare that she cries when we leave (in fact I can't think of any time that she has) or when we drop her off in the church nursery. She loves being around new people, especially kids. When we see another child in the grocery store, her little legs start kicking, she says, "Ooooooo!" and "What's that?" Which actually sounds like, "Was dat?" She'll practically fall out of the shopping cart trying to see them as we move another direction. But, her favorite child by far is her cousin Henry, she just loves him! I'll say Henry is coming over and she'll go to the door and watch for him. He can take her food and her toys and she just looks at him and smiles (although I think that is going to change any day now!) It's so cute to see them together, I grew up with my cousins and I'm very glad Evelyn will have this opportunity as well.

As far as her fine motor skills, those have always been ahead of her gross motor and continue to be so. She can turn shapes to fit them in holes and holds her crayon with her fingers, not in a fist. Although often she uses it to chew on instead of color with!

As far as cognitively, well, I'm sure she is off the charts! ; ) She follows commands well (unless she doesn't want to and then that gets into discipline which is a whole different blog!) She quickly picks up my mannerisms/habits, like saying yucky when her nose is runny or going to the door when I say Dada is home. Her favorite game right now is learning her different body parts. She knows (and loves to show) where her head, eye, nose, tummy, and toes are. She loves to point out other people's too, although be careful, you'll end up with a finger in your eye!

She didn't need 15 month booster shots, but I took her in just to see-she has grown so much! She is now 23 pounds and 31 inches. She gained three pounds and grew 2 inches since turning one, which is a pretty good growth spurt! She continues to track right at about the 50th percentile.

All in all she is doing great and we are all doing well. But, I definitely am in need of a vacation-all that cuteness can quickly turn overwhelmingly demanding, often happening between 5 and 6pm which is an evil time and should have never been invented! Even though she'll be with us, I know just a break from normal routine will be good and having Bard there all the time will of course be huge.

Adios for now, I'll be back with pictures and stories from our trip!

Piggies, Shrieks, and Swim Class

Here are some random musings. . .

When Evelyn has bare feet we will sometimes grab her toes and do "This little piggy." She loves the end one that cries "Wee! Wee! Wee!" all the way home. The other day Bard was sitting on the couch, barefoot. Evelyn grabbed his toe and said "Wee! Wee! Wee!" We both cracked up : )

Not so adorable is her shrieking. She is like a banshee. What drives me crazy is that she knows most of the words for what she is wanting to communicate-90% of the time it is "Up, down, more, or milk. She knows the words and signs for those and says them easily. But often she will start off with an "Ahhhhh." That is like nails on a chalkboard especially by 5 pm at night when Bard isn't home yet, I'm trying to feed her, get our dinner, and remember why on earth I decided to have a child instead of getting a goldfish which would have been infinitely quieter. It's not a high pitched scream, and to most people it's probably not even that loud, but I cannot wait for her to grow out of this phase. . .and into something else that will likely be just as annoying only in a different way!

I can't believe I forgot to blog about her swim class! We signed her up just over a month ago. Bard took her in the pool the week before class started just so we could see she would do. She loved it, of course! She did cling to him some, which is pretty unusual for her, but she had a lot of fun. Then, she really loved being in the pool with the other babies. They sing songs and splash. She even held onto the side of the pool and did little bobs! It's so cute : ) We won't continue over the summer-too much going on, but we'll sign her back up again in the fall. And so begins 18 years of taking my child to some type of class ; ) But, I am glad she loves the water, Mexico, here we come!

Stupid test!

See, I told you I was back! See May pics at right.

As many of you know, today Bard is taking the second in his three year series to complete his CFA. When he took the last test, in June of '08, Evelyn was just 2 months old and so naturally it was quite straining for him to study for several hours every morning and evening. This time she is asleep while he is studying so instead of getting stressed I play Tetris or watch Third Rock from the Sun (this probably surprises most of you who assume I would be reading during this time. I would but am slightly cut off from reading as I've bought too many books and need to hold off as well as unfortunately running up a fine on my library card-sad for me!)

Anyway, just like last time this test has been a huge commitment for us. One, it's hundreds of dollars just to sign up and get the curriculum, two, Bard has been studying pretty much ever day since January, three the test is all day-he leaves at 7am and is home at 7pm, four we don't get the results until August, and five if he didn't pass he can't retake until June of next year. Typically it takes someone 4 years to complete the three year test series because it's very rare that someone actually passes each test on the first try.

But, if anyone can do it, Bard can. It amazes me to watch him prepare for these exams (that is when I'm not annoyed that he isn't taking out the garbage!) He is SO disciplined. Now, you know I'm a fairly disciplined person myself, but I would never have the discipline to study from 5-7 in the morning and 7-10 in the evening almost every day for weeks at a time. Or to carry flashcards with me and mumble algebraic equations under my breath wherever I go. He is just plain smart.

Evelyn has already started showing a lot of who she will become. So far she is definitely advanced in her verbal skills and has what we call a lot of personality : ) She is an extrovert; very social, and independent. She is cautious when she first tries a new physical act but then dives right in. She really seems to love going new places and seeing new people and is very excited every time we do so. Being in the car for too long is difficult for her, she gets bored so I don't see us doing long road trips anytime soon! And books are still a favorite.

But all that is just a small part of who she will become. I know there are layers and layers that will be revealed. Will she inherit her father's discipline? Is that nature, nurture or some combination of both? Will she be spontaneous or like routine? She likes books, but what will be her favorite, historical fiction, mysteries, non fiction, or all of the above? Will she like sports? Which ones? We both love art, in almost every form, will she? Will she be a leader, a helper, a hostess, an organizer? All this and more are yet to be discovered and the journey is just beginning!

(YIKES!) The Good, The Bad, and The Peanut Butter

Whoops! Okay, so the blog below was written a while ago but I never got around to posting it cause I hadn't uploaded the pictures. Let's blame my dance recital (not the LOST blog or online Tetris!) And I promise to catch up from now on!

Whew, what a fun month! Between her birthday, Easter, a new niece being born, and Spring being sprung at last, this [April] has been a busy month. We've had some new experiences, that of course, I wanted to share with you!

The Good-

Her birthday was so much fun (see new pictures posted to right). We had a family birthday party, a special day of pancakes and balloons on her actual birthday and then a party with friends too. The party with friends was great because it actually ended up being sunny and gorgeous so we all went out on our deck and watched the kids do an Easter Egg Hunt (courtesy OrientalTrading.com).

It's also been awesome to watch her master new skills, such as putting wooden rings on a stand using her spoon to feed herself.

Also so much fun we've been to the zoo for the first and second time! I grew up going to Pt Defiance Zoo, it's actually a great zoo and I've been pretty excited to take her there. Last weekend Amy and I took Ash and Evy. Evelyn had been before, but really just to the aquarium. And this time Amy and I trekked all over! The kids loved the whales and sea otters the best (always my favorite too!) But were more impressed with their snack than the elephants, who just stood there, and couldn't even see the lions. Then today [remember I wrote this a month ago!] I took Evy and Henry so Josh and Tish could get some rest with baby Lucy (born on April 18th!) This was hilarious! First of all, how they justify charging $8 for a double stroller is beyond me but I sure wasn't carrying and chasing them all over so I paid it! They had a fun time, although I think they liked looking at the other kids and the grass as much as the animals, but oh well : )

The Bad

Evelyn actually had a cold the week of her birthday, then the next week fell and hit her eye, giving herself a black eye for a week, and then the day after that fell and split her gums, bleeding all over the place. Poor baby and poor mama! She is just fine now, but it was her first real "owie" although I'm sure it will be followed by many more.

Easter went great at church but it was very tiring for our family. As usual before a big event, I got very little sleep and because of having three services, we had to wake Evelyn up to get out the door on time. This made for a very tired mama and baby by the time noon rolled around, but unfortunately neither of us got good naps, although I'm not sure why. Being at my parents was great and it was wonderful to visit with friends and family, but I was groggy and she got more and more cranky as the evening went on. I think this is my last year of doing so much on Easter-I want it to be a fun day for her too but if I'm spending most of it with other kids so that we're too exhausted to enjoy the day, then that doesn't seem quite right! It's not that it was bad, it just made me think how things are continuously changing and that I have change with them.

We've also started our first of what I'm sure will be many food battles. I've studied a lot on nutrition and young children so I have pretty firm ideas of what to do and not to do, but when it's your child, you really just want to give in! Well, not really, but it's tempting; ) For some reason she has decided that the only veggies she likes are sweet potatoes, corn, and dried veggies. Veggies like peas and broccoli that she used to eat just fine she is refusing to even touch. She is still a bit young to understand "Eat this and then you may have that" so we're taking it day by day. Darn!

But, she does however love . . .Peanut Butter, bum bum bum! I know, gasp, I fed my child peanut butter before the age of 15 or whatever they're saying now. We don't have a history of allergies and she has never shown a sensitivity to anything and actually recent reports are stating that postponing the introduction of nuts/legumes does not seem to have any impact and may in fact increase sensitivity. So there! Anyway, she had a peanut butter sandwich and loved it!

Okay-so all that has written a month ago, but I think that's enough reading for you now ; ) I'll fill in more later!

Happy Easter!

You Know You're a Mom When. . .

You go to the video store with your daughter's hairbands wrapped around your finger. Sheesh, why don't I just use Netflix?!

You yell at your husband and your daughter at 4:30am because the day after you blog about her sleeping all night she is up for 2 hours.

You cry the next morning because even though you were yelling before your daughter is still so excited to see you when she wakes up.

You are more excited about your daughter's presents than your own presents. Wait, moms get presents?!

You can load the dishwasher, pack lunch, put on makeup, and feed your daughter breakfast all at the same time.

You get irritated when your husband doesn't know as much as you do about your daughter, even though you said you would never be one of "those moms."

At the end of the day you just need time to be completely disengaged from anyone and anything.

You would give your right arm to have your house cleaned and don't understand why your husband doesn't get that.

You hate laundry with a deep abiding hate that seems unrealistic for inanimate objects.

You just want to sit and drink a hot cup of coffee in the morning before everything gets started.

You pray harder and longer than you ever have in your life because you would give anything to have your child grow up with a deep love for God and for other people. And you are more thankful than ever that this is God's heart for us too.

Happy First Birthday Evelyn!

Countdown to One!

It's been awhile since I posted an update on where Evelyn is at in the major developmental areas and with her turning one on Wednesday, I figured I had better catch up!

First she is definitely what we call mobile : ) She crawls all over the place and is getting faster and faster. She can pull herself up and takes steps holding my hands, but does not yet cruise on furniture. She can balance on her own for just a few seconds and is gaining confidence with that every day. She is far more distracting in my dance classes now! She crawls up to the girls when they are warming up and is becoming a nusiance! We break for the summer at the end of May, so if she just holds off on walking til then I'll be okay. If not then I am in for a lot of work!

She crawled late and I wouldn't be surprised if she walked late (average is 13/14 months). So I have to be all the more proud of her verbal skills. Warning, skip next section if you want to avoid classic mommy bragging ; ) I had to start writing down all her words because about two weeks ago I realized she was saying new ones faster than I could keep track! She is up to more than 20 now and Bard thinks she has also said a few two word phrases, "All done" and "What's that?" I'm not convinced, but who knows? Many of the words (light, yuck, kitty, go, and more) she says very clearly and there is definitely no mistaking them. Some you have to know what she is saying, "Co" is cold and she says it everytime we go outside because apparently spring has not hit the Northwest yet, as evidenced by more snow last Saturday! All in all I am so proud of her. The average 1 year old says maybe one or two words besides mama and dada so she is quite the genius baby! Oddly enough the one word I haven't been able to get her to say is please. Uh oh. ; )

She is eating really well. She is now completely off bottles and nursing and drinks her milk from a sippy cup like the big girl she is : ( She has started eating with a spoon (see video posted on facebook for just what a disaster this is) although I have to admit when I'm in a hurry I just feed her, which is bad, I know, but seriously, I am afraid she inherited her father's table manners! For the most part she has not become a picky eater, yet, but has more likes and dislikes than she used to.

I am not sure what she weighs or how long she is, we go in for her 12 month on Thursday, so I'll find out then. However, she has pretty much grown out of all her nine month clothes and is wearing mostly 12 month. They are a bit big on her, so she has room for growth. That tells me she is probably right in the middle range. We are ready to put her in her real carseat, instead of the infant one, as soon as I have her weighed to make sure she is over the 22 pounds she is supposed to be to "graduate"

Overall she is pretty healthy although she had a fever over the weekend, her first one : ( She had a diaper rash last week two, which was another first. I think they were both due to the fact that she has her second top tooth coming in and the two on either side are really visible too. Extra saliva quickly led to a runny nose and now she has a cough, which is pretty much her first on that too. Poor kid! The temp was low (101.3) and the cough is not serious, so I'm not worried. Her ear infection at 6 months is still the only time we've been to the Dr and I would like to keep it that way!

She still sleep really well and has never really backslid from that. I put her down in her crib and she goes to sleep just fine on her own. She does about 12 hours at night and then takes a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon. Although sometimes she gets up too early for me-I really need to start the day with Matt Lauer and a cup of coffee, she always wakes up in a good mood, so I guess I shouldn't complain!

Her favorite thing to do is still look at books, and now she is pointing at everything and either saying the real word for it or making up her own in some jibberish. She loves to say moo or whoo after I do when we look at cows and owls. What is it with kids and animal sounds?! She also loves putting abjects in something and taking them out, which is a common developmental milestone for this age. And just in the last few weeks has been able to make small towers, of 2-3 blocks, on her own and knock them down, which delights her to no end!

No separation anxiety yet either. Just last week we were at a friend's party and a total stranger held her for quite a wile and she didn't mind at all. She also hasn't fussed when I or Bard or my parents have dropped her off in Baby Garden at church. Knock on wood!

She does now get fussy if she can't get what she wants. Actually, I wouldn't call it fussy so much as downright mad! This mostly applies to my laptop and cell phone and has a particularly lovely yell that she gives off when I move them away. Let the battle begin!

Okay, last thing! She loves playing games like peek a boo and "How big is Evelyn?"-to which she responds by throwing up her arms! She loves being thrown up in the air and turned upside down.

Well, that's about all I can think of for where she is at on her first birthday. If you made it this far you must be a grandparent or just honestly think my daughter is absolutely adorable. Thanks!

Evelyn has had another first these past few days-you guessed it-being told no! For the most when she is doing something she is not supposed to, Bard and I use the phrase, "Not for baby." Because typically she is trying to grab something that she is not allowed to have (like my laptop) and we want her to learn not just no, but that some things are for her and some things are not for her! I also don't want to use no all the time for a couple of other reasons, one as a parent you quickly get extremely sick of this word! Two, you get even more sick of how quickly your child learns to say it back to you-and the more you say it the more they will! And three, I want to use it for when I'm really serious in the (partially vain) attempt to have it carry more weight than if I use it all the time.

The past few days have given me a very real reason to use the word no. As many of you know, we don't currently have a furnace due to the ever continuing project of finishing our basement, or what the Bible refers to as hell. Ha ha : ) So for 3-4 days we will be without heat while the furnace is moved to another part of the basement (I don't know why) and the duct work is all redone and put along the back wall (I don't know why.) We have two space heaters that we've been moving around and if we do it just right (minus blowing the circuit breaker four times so far) than the house stays in the low 60s, which is fine.

Now, I bought these two heaters just a short time ago and one thing I liked about them is that they declared they were "cool to touch." But I knew that Evelyn would definitely be testing that claim so I decided that I should try it out first. Liars! Cool to touch if you live in hell (the real one, not our basement) I was really irritated because now I knew I would have to keep a close eye on her because of course there is always a space heater in the room she is in. Nevermind the fact that she has a box of toys and a basket of books right in front of her, as soon as she was on the floor she crawled straight for the space heater (she was already late in crawling but she couldn't have held out two more weeks so we wouldn't be in this situation? What a rebelillious child!) I looked at her and loudly and firmly said, "No!" She stopped in her tracks and looked up at me. She started to crawl again and I repeated myself. She sat up, flapped her arms and said, "Aaaggghh!" And then turned and crawled the other way. Throughout the next few days this was repeated2 or 3 times, but each time she turned away after the first or second no and didn't go back and try again until much later (which, you may differ with me on but I believe that at this stage in her brain development it takes longer for her to form a habit than just several times so it would be too much to expect her to remember no upon just seeing the heater-it would have to be repeated several more times over probably a few more days before it became ingrained in her-disagree if you like : )) Since I wasn't seeing signs of the impish smile then followed by the action I was instructing her not to take, and since she turned away after being told no, I was congratulating myself on having an amzingly obedient child! For now anyway. Then I went into the kitchen for a minute and when I came out she was pulling the cord out of the wall and putting it in her mouth! I said, "NO!!!" And she dropped the cord, looked at me, and started to cry. Sigh.

We have a long life ahead of us.

Happy Saint Patricks Day!

A Few Sweet Moments

Sundays are a contrast around our house. The mornings are busy from beginning to end-getting to church, and then four hours of making sure the kids ministry is running smoothly leave me pretty tired by the time I come home. So the afternoons are lazy, nap-filled lounge times. Often Sundays are a blur-the first half, from about 8:30-12:30, I am so focused on my job and sorting out details and issues that need to be addressed that I just have minimal interaction with Bard and Evelyn. The second half of the day, I'm exhausted and Bard and I try to relax so it is a blur of being tired and just hanging out. But this Sunday I had two sweet moments that stood out and I want to remember them.

The first was in the morning at church. In between our two services I like to get Evelyn out of Baby Garden and hold her while I am greeting families. In our new location people enter straight into where we worship, so I am able to hold her and greet while enjoying the singing myself. She loves to hear the band play and kicks her feet (to the beat of the music). Today everyone was clapping during one of the songs and I watched Evelyn looking at them. After studying them she joined in clapping! We stood together for several moments, singing and clapping. I know without a doubt that God was smiling.

The second sweet moment was later that day. After nap Evelyn was playing on the floor, looking at books. Bard was studying on the couch and I was half-napping on the love seat. I looked over and saw the two of them just sitting and studying together. They were both so focused on their books, it was adorable! I'm so glad that she loves her books and I hope that this is the beginnings of many lazy Sunday afternoons where we enjoy good books together.

Chicken Curry in a Hurry,

Evelyn is finally at that great stage to where she can eat a lot of what we have for dinner. Now, this doesn't work all the time, because often she needs to eat before we are finished making dinner, but it's fun some of the time. She had spaghetti a few weeks ago and loved it, but we have her seen her happier than when she tried "Chicken Curry in a Hurry!"

Bard has this great chicken cookbook (of course he does!) and a lot of our dinner meals come out of it. The chicken curry has been a favorite of ours. It's really simple-just some curry, cumin, onions, garlic, with tomato paste and chicken broth. You just simmer it on the stove with an apple, peas and carrots and then pour it over rice or couscous. One dish recipes are my favorite : )

Anyway, we gave some to her the other night and she went crazy! She was flapping her arms and saying "yum yum yum!" the whole time we were feeding her. It was hilarious. She shrieked when I didn't feed her (we're working on please!) and I think she ate as much as I did!

She loved it the next day for lunch too, which was awesome. Looks like she inherited her mother's love for Asian food!

And yes, Bard found the curry in her diaper the next morning ; )

Yes, We Have a Third Tooth, and No, I Am Not Listening to My Pediatrician

On Friday, after months of waiting, one of Evelyn's top teeth is finally popping through! I thought she would be heading to kindergarten with just two bottom teeth : ) She was a bit fussy-just sensitive really-but slept fine, which is nice. It's so odd to see her take actual bites of food. Just the sound says "growing up" to me. My baby is definitely not a baby for much longer.

Now, on to Pandora's box. Last summer (actually on my birthday), the American Academy of Pediatrics changed it's longstanding recommendations that children between the ages of 1 and 2 drink whole milk and after 2 drink 2%. The new recommendations are for children to switch straight to 2% at 12 months and forgo drinking whole milk due to the childhood obesity epidemic. Now, to be clear, the recommendation is for children who are at risk for being overweight or who have a family history of heart disease or high cholesterol. However, I am not sure I know anyone who does not have some family history of heart disease or high cholesterol, so I think that pretty much applies to everyone.

At our one year appointment our pediatrician said quite specifically that we should start our children on 2%. I emphatically disagree and actually have already started giving Evelyn whole milk. Here is Pandora's Box, because I realize that I have many friends who are in the medical field and/or have very strong opinions on the health of their children, and may think I am wrong for not following this guideline. I welcome your comments, of course if you know me at all you know your arguments are more likely to make me stubbornly dig my heels in ; ) Now, it will probably surprise most of you (and you will either be relieved or disappointed) that I did not make a big stink about this to my pediatrician. But, it was the end of the day, I wanted to go home and watch LOST, and I honestly just didn't care! But, I'll share my reasoning with you.

The AAP is right to be concerned about obesity amongst children, it is truly horrible. And they state that the reason they have discontinued recommending whole milk to children, is not that they don't need the fat (fat is very important for brain development), but more because they are getting the fat elsewhere and don't need the added fat from whole milk. Well here is a duh moment for me. Instead of removing whole milk from our children's diets, wouldn't it make more sense to remove the ice cream, cheetos, and McDonalds? If I had to hazard a guess I would say the junk food is worse for our toddlers than milk is for them. Now, don't get me wrong, I love all those foods and in fact had two out of three of them just in the last week! However, I don't eat them often, I don't feed them to my daughter and when I do, it will be in moderation. There is nothing wrong with fatty foods. I've read the whole bible and although some rather embarrassingly large chunks of the old testament are a bit blurry, I'm fairly sure that sweets and treats are not a sin and won't send you to hell. I am a firm believer in chocolate cake, and since God invented the cocoa bean, I'm pretty sure He is too!

My guess is that the AAP, having said for years that children need to eat more healthy, having finally despaired and just decided to remove fat from children's diets any way they can. But it seems rather ironic to me that the underlying message is if we can't beat 'em join 'em. Okay, maybe not that extreme, but I do find it odd that as parents we should never stop telling our children the right thing to do, no matter how much they ignore us, yet here is the AAP doing just that! I know, I know, I have to live in the real world. But I can still disagree with the way it is!

So, Evelyn is eating dinner right now and enjoying her whole milk. Both Bard and I have parents/grandparents with cholesterol issues and heart problems. But Evelyn eats very healthy in every sense of the word. Most of the food she has is organic, no added preservatives, salt or sugar. She eats more than the recommended daily amount of fruits and vegetables, whole grains- in breads, cereal, oatmeal, and rice/soy cakes, and lean ground turkey or chicken. Her typical day is oatmeal with applesauce or bananas for breakfast, soy cakes for snack, some chicken with peas and bread for lunch, yogurt for snack, and chicken with peas, corn, and bread for dinner. Bard and I are not quite that militant but we eat pretty healthy, don't watch much TV and both have regular work outs and active lifestyles. Of course as she grows, if I see her developing a weight issue, I will adjust her diet and activities. I think it's sad that the AAP has to adjust what are perfectly fine guidelines just because many parents are unable to set good eating habits for their children.

Wow, I can see a lot from up on this soapbox, but I better come down now and go eat some cheetos!

A big fat crazy catch up blog.

Oops. Okay, I think my life is finally returning to normal so maybe I'll have a chance to blog a bit more! Work was crazy busy stress for a while, at worst I worked 46 hours in one week, which was just terrible. But last week was much better and since I'm sitting here blogging, this week must be off to a good start!

So, what have we been up to in the past month? Well mostly I've just been so grateful that Evelyn is such an easy going baby. I've carted her around everywhere, Ikea, home Depot, Value Village, and multiple coffee shops. She takes it all in stride and even gets excited when I start getting her ready. Yes, her little arms flap and she says "Go go go!" It cracks me up. She didn't seem to mind all the long hours I spent at the office either. Our church and office moved so I was there a lot packing, unpacking, cleaning, organizing, etc. I'm not sure why but somehow most of the stuff our church has accumulated in the past five years came under my jurisdiction to take care of and you just wouldn't believe what an odd amount of junk we had! Trust me, it's all gone now, I'm not really known for being a pack rat! Evelyn of course also helped test out all the new toys we bought and liked the plastic wrapping the best. All this while we listened to Cold Play and Slumdog Millionaire. She was rarely fussy and seemed pretty happy to be in different places with different people. The best was when I set up a pacnplay in the office bathroom, plugged in a stereo for music, turned out the lights and shut the door. She went right to sleep and stayed that way for two and a half hours! Now that is a good baby!

Other than being a trooper about work, she has been demonstrating some other fun habits. She is definitely a daredevil child. She loves to be thrown up in the air, spun around, and turned upside down, she laughs until she can't breathe-it's hilarious. She comes by it quite naturally cause as many of you know (sorry Melissa) I love scary roller coasters, they make me laugh out load!

Since she is almost a year old, we have hit some new developmental milestones that are fun as well. She has started drinking real milk (although still nurses/has some formula). That step seems so big to me! She took right to it and didn't seem to mind the difference at all. Unfortunately she has not continued to be so adjustable with other eating habits. She used to eat anything I put in front of her, but I can now see her developing a preference for food items with a certain taste or texture. She doesn't seem to mind slimy banana pieces, but won't eat pieces of tomato. However she loves spaghetti and dried tomato, so I think it's just the raw ones that bother her. She still eats really well, but there are other issues like that one which are just plain confusing to figure out!

She is also moving like crazy. Gone are the days when she would stay still while I changed her diaper. Now she seems determined to fold herself into a pretzel while I am trying to get a diaper on her before she pees everywhere! She has also discovered that it's much more fun to move all over the house than to sit one place. I never knew my floors were so dirty and it's impossible to keep them clean enough for her, she is just going to have to eat gross things and survive! And if I don't know about it, I'll survive too ; ) but nobody tell Bard cause he would freak out! : ) She doesn't crawl all the time but does a mixture of crawling, scooting, rolling, and the army crawl on her belly. I don't know why, but the Dr said they don't even consider crawling a developmental milestone anymore and she'll probably go straight from that to walking. Yikes. The funniest thing to see is that she loves to lay on her stomach and push up, so that she is just on her hands and tips of toes (yes, a man push up although I'll have you know I'm perfectly capable of doing them too!) She'll sometimes walk her hands back toward her legs so it almost looks like she is bending over and touching her toes. It cracks me up! I do love that even though she moves everywhere now, she is still often content to sit on my lap and play and she'll still sit on the floor and read books for quite a long time. : )

She has definitely not gotten quieter in the past month! She talks constantly and if you don't pay attention she will take it up a notch! She says several words now, hi and yay seem to be her favorite. Often when I go in to get her from her nap she'll say "hi yay hi yay!" over and over again when she hears me open the door! She also says, bye bye, sock, car (of course), yum, yuck, and book. And maybe more, I can't remember. We're working on please and diaper. She recognizes many other words and it's so funny to say them and see her stop what she is doing and pay attention to what we are saying. Not sure how long that will last though!

My favorite is experiencing different things with her. I love taking her for walks and reading to her. I love bringing her to the Y with me while I teach dance cause the girls love her and she loves them. I love watching her get excited when she hears Bard come home. I love seeing her face light up when she sees someone she knows (or doesn't know for that matter-no stranger anxiety yet, cross your fingers!) And I love playing new games with her and seeing how she'll respond to something different.

All in all, even with all the craziness, it was a good month because I love my family and am luck to have them.