Karen

I received sad news from my sister today. My brother-in-law's sister, Karen, passed away this morning. She was 43 years old and has been battling breast cancer for the last 13 years.

Although I only met her a couple of times, I have some very vivid memories of her:

One is that she was always smiling.
- Another is from my sister's wedding. She was swing dancing with my sister's friend, Kalb. - She accidentally stepped on her skirt, ripped it, then had to hike it up and hold it for the rest of the dancing. It didn't stop her!
- Her wedding picture with Jim. They were married in a rain forest (I believe). He is dipping her in the photo and you can tell the love that they have for each other. He was with her every step of the way, even when she passed.

I pray for Jason and his family.

On Eagles Wings
You who dwell in the shelter of the Lord,
Who abide in His shadow for life,
Say to the Lord, "My Refuge,
My Rock in Whom I trust."

And He will raise you up on eagle's wings,
Bear you on the breath of dawn,
Make you to shine like the sun,
And hold you in the palm of His Hand.

The snare of the fowler will never capture you,
And famine will bring you no fear;
Under His Wings your refuge,
His faithfulness your shield.

And He will raise you up on eagle's wings,
Bear you on the breath of dawn,
Make you to shine like the sun,
And hold you in the palm of His Hand.

You need not fear the terror of the night,
Nor the arrow that flies by day,
Though thousands fall about you,
Near you it shall not come.

And He will raise you up on eagle's wings,
Bear you on the breath of dawn,
Make you to shine like the sun,
And hold you in the palm of His Hand.

For to His angels He's given a command,
To guard you in all of your ways,
Upon their hands they will bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.

And He will raise you up on eagle's wings,
Bear you on the breath of dawn,
Make you to shine like the sun,
And hold you in the palm of His Hand.
And hold you in the palm of His Hand.

Molly

Happy birthday to my sister-in-law, Molly!

my silly boy and his silly toys

What a silly boy I have.

First off, when you tell him "no", he looks right at you, takes in a deep breath, and huffs.

Secondly, he likes to be a show off to make us laugh.




Lastly, he has silly toys.

Nursing

Yes, Evan still nurses and this is how I know he wants to nurse -



When I get home from work, he'll run over to me. I pick him up and then he points me in the direction of the living room. I'll say, "Do you want to go into the living room? What's in there?"

When we finally get there, Evan will point to the couch and make a noise. I say, "Do you want to sit on the couch? Let's sit on the couch together."

The second we sit down, he attacks me! I love it.

Failed attempts

I want to continue taking Evan's "chair" picture past his first year of life. I've chose to photograph him at 18 months, 21 months, and 2 years, then every year after that. Well, I thought there were a few months within the first year that were quite difficult to have him hold still. However, we have encountered our most troubling one yet.

15 month well check

Evan had his doctor's appointment today. He weighs in at a lean 21 lbs, 11 oz. (14%), is 31.5" tall (62%), and still has a small head circumference of 45.5 cm (10%). He's a healthy "normal" 15 month old.

Not only was he measured, but the pediatrician looked at his chapped lips. The red spots are appearing on both sides of his mouth and his cheek. Doctor said it wasn't anytthing concerning and that he didn't see anything inside his mouth. Some possible cause that he mentioned would be licking lips and drooling from the corners of the mouth while sleeping. He suggested that we apply some hydracortisone on the edges of his mouth and keep applying Aquaphor on his lips for moisture. We'll see if that helps.

Evan also received two vaccines and a flu shot (mostly because he is now around more kids and that he is no longer nursing as much). He did all right, although he cried with each injection. My mom said he was starting to get a bit warm this morning, so he was given some Advil, which he loves! Unfortunately he will be going back to receive his flu booster in a month.

I also asked about Evan's speech development. I mentioned to the doctor that I'm an educator and my masters is in early childhood education. I'm currently studying children's developmental stages. With that, I know when speech is "supposed" to occur and the process for beginning Early Intervention. (Yes, its the paranoid teacher/mother in me.) Anyway, he said not to worry and that at his 18 month appointment we would take into consideration Evan's speech at that point. But you better believe that I'll be ready!

15 months

Today, Evan turns 15 months old. I hadn't realized it until later this afternoon while we were visiting my parents. We've been having such a great time with him lately - running, chasing, cuddling, screaming, pouting, shaking (not Evan, toys), eating, dancing, and on and on.

At 15 months, now:
- wears 18 month clothes (although he can fit into some 12 months shorts).
- can open the doors.
- has become more particular about his cuisine. He no longer wants carrots, squash, or zucchini
- still loves berries, bananas, yogurt, cheese, ham, applesauce, sweet potatoes, oatmeal, mac 'n cheese.
- will let you know that he has finished eating by throwing his food on the ground.
- no longer wants to use utensils (other than to play with the) and would rather eat with his hands (left hand especially).
- will smell new foods, bring them to his mouth, look at you with a smile, taste it, then spit it out.
- has begun to climb (and fall).
- has endured severe chapped lips. Although I know think it's more than that because it seems to be lasting a long time. He has these red spots on the left corner of his mouth and today it looked like it's now on the right (good thing he has an appointment on Monday morning).

- still loves to nurse first thing in the morning and before bedtimes. On the weekends he'll nurse more often.
- communicate what he wants/needs even though he still isn't speaking. Evan does make sounds, but no actual words. It's making me worry.
- identify his head, ears, belly button, and my nose.
- put his hands over his eyes to play peek-a-boo, over his mouth to go "ah-ah-ah-ah" (as in a "Native American" chant).
- carry my phone around while music on Pandora is streaming.
- dance all the time!
- walk around with his hand down his pants all the time. (I'm careful to check for wet diapers and wash/wipe his hands afterwords.)
- thinks he is the strongest person alive

- put his "lego" type blocks together, not just take them apart.
- makes connections from what he sees in books to the real world (points from book to actual object, e.g dog in book to Layne, our dog). He has been doing this for some time now, but I forgot to mention it.
- "brushed" his own teeth last night

Some of my favorite things about Evan include:
- that he still loves to nurse and he loves to touch my hair, nose, ears, cheek, or chest while he eats.
- his laugh when he is tired
- how excited he gets to see his dad (he LOVES his dad)
- his love of wanting to be outside ALL THE TIME
- that he mimics everything we do (e.g. put on chapstick)
- his little shoes that aren't so little anymore
- watching him sleep when I can

- his hugs
- how he burrows into my chest when he's tired/wants to nurse
- his sly smile when he does something and he's waiting to see if I will say no
- how excited he gets at the grocery store when he sees bananas - everyone in the produce department hears him
- how exploratory he is, yet how standoffish he can be when he sees someone/thing new and just stares
- that he still "sings" himself (to sleep) on car rides
- that he can put things back when you direct him (and even closes the door)
- bath time (although he now stands in the tub)

I could go on and on...he is just...

indescribable.

I am so thankful for these past 15 months.

nooooooo

She's back!!!!!

previous post

My sister was over to babysit this evening. She suggested that I let Evan write a blog entry since he loves typing and playing with my mouse. The previous post is his entry. Somehow he managed to copy and paste what I had already written. At one point, he almost added a photo!

vbbbbbb3,kPaul and I celebrated out third wedding anniversary this past Wednesday. Sad to say, but we didn't do much. I haven't been feeling well all week with a sore throat. Actually, I have class on Wednesday night's. It just happened that to be that because of being sick, I chose to stay home.

We had some leftover fish and broccoli for dinner. Paul gave me a necklace from Banana Republic. I gave him a new tea kettle and a gift card for a deep tissue massage.

25p;528Happy Anniversary, Paul. I love you.0/

..........0bbbb/.3

Anniversary

Paul and I celebrated out third wedding anniversary this past Wednesday. Sad to say, but we didn't do much. I haven't been feeling well all week with a sore throat. Actually, I have class on Wednesday night's. It just happened that to be that because of being sick, I chose to stay home.

We had some leftover fish and broccoli for dinner. Paul gave me a necklace from Banana Republic. I gave him a new tea kettle and a gift card for a deep tissue massage.

Happy Anniversary, Paul. I love you.

New things

Evan now likes to:

- put a rubber duck into the measuring cup and carry it around the house.

- use objects as cup holders

2 years

Oh, Aunt Flo. It has been two years since you've last visited me. I can't say that I've missed you. You've saved me quite a bit of money though. I hope you are enjoying your time away. I know that I am!

29

Ok, so it's been two weeks since my 29th birthday. I guess it's about time I post about it!

Part 1:
My actual birthday weekend was spent doing what I love...being with my family. Dinner on Friday night consisted of Pei Wei, my parents, my sister and brother-in-law, Paul, and me at hanging out at home and then playing Apples to Apples.

Saturday, Paul, Evan, and I went to the Phoenix Children's Museum. We had a blast playing and running amok. Evan had a blast going down the slide and building forts. He also enjoyed staring at people, like the old man dressed as a cowboy.

making soup

eating soup

feeding it to Daddy

going down a slide for the first time (notice that he's carrying a pan in his right hand - surprise, surprise)

Paul was so helpful that day and he took care of all the diaper changes. Woohoo! That night we went out to Caffe Boa and had a delicious dinner. I had a buttery shrimp pasta dish (yummy and fatty!!) and Paul had a spicy chicken pasta dish. While we were there, I'm pretty sure that one of the members from Anthrax was there, although Paul doesn't believe it was him at all.

The next day, Paul and I headed to a Diamondbacks' game. We had some great seats along the first base line in the 200 level. It was so nice to have some alone time with Paul. We are so busy during the week that I treasure the time we have together when work isn't on our minds.

Part 2:
A couple of months ago, I mentioned to Paul how I'd like to visit my old drum corps friends in California since the last time I visited them was over two years ago. I'd see them at winter guard or drum corps shows, but it's just not the same. Anywho - after mentioning it to Paul, we weren't sure if we could afford the trip because of moving and me not getting paid over the summer. Totally understandable.

A few weeks later (or maybe it was days later), Paul tells me that he was planning a surprise weekend in San Diego for my birthday. My friend, Valerie, was in on it too. She had told my CA friends and they were even going to drive down on Saturday to have dinner with us. Paul gave me the option of going for my birthday or waiting the following weekend. I decided to go the next weekend because it was my friend's 30th birthday and I wanted to surprise her. I contacted her husband through Facebook and he gave me the details regarding the party.

This was the first weekend that Paul and I would be away from Evan. The day we were leaving, I got a stomach ache at work. I was dreading leaving the entire week. Granted, I was very excited to go, but at the same time I didn't want to leave my baby. Of course, I cried as I was saying good-bye to Evan. I cried and cried and cried. He was in good hands (my parents') but it hurt to leave.

We flew into Ontario on Friday the 27th and hung out at our hotel for the night. It was an amazing feeling sleeping in on Saturday morning! (But oh how I missed our baby.) Paul and I had some breakfast, got ready, headed to Goodwill to buy some clothes for the 80s themed party, then headed to Newport Beach. We had a great lunch and laid out for a while.

Once we returned to the hotel, we washed our clothes, and started to get ready for the party.

When we arrived, the first person I saw was my friend Melissa. She had to do a double take. The next person was Becca. Same thing. Finally, the birthday girl - Kari, saw me. She stood shocked for a second, then screamed, ran over to me, and we both hugged. She had tears in her eyes and that made me get them too. That moment was worth the planning and secrecy. I'm so glad that Paul let me do this for my birthday.

I had so much fun spending time with some great "old" friends. These gals are so special to me. Hey - I slept in Kari's parent's motor home in their backyard my first summer of drum corps. Hence the nickname Fattie Mattie Trailer Trash (FMTT).

Paul and I came home on Sunday. We arrived to a screaming baby that wasn't going down for a nap. I peered into the hallway to see Evan and my mother-in-law (she had taken over for my parents) and when he saw me, he began to scream and cry. My eyes welled up and I couldn't help but cry. I knew he was ok, but his crying mixed with my roller coaster emotions of coming home made me weep. Oh how I missed him.

Thank you, Paul, for such an incredible birthday. Thank you to my parents and Marie (and Brighid) for watching Evan for us that weekend. Thank you, Evan, for being such a good boy while we were away.