Pictures

I am amazed how every morning that I see Evan he seems bigger than when I saw in the middle of the night. When I get home from work, he seems to have grown too! But it's when I take a picture of him that I TRULY see how big he is getting. Just look...

he's becoming more like a boy and less like a baby.

Mother's Day

How could I have forgotten to post about Mother's Day!?

Saturday started off great! However, the evening wasn't so wonderful. I was excited to eat one of the mangoes that I purchased earlier that week, so I peeled it, added some cayenne pepper to it, and gobbled it up.

About an hour later, my ears started bothering me. Shortly after, my throat swelled up, was extremely scratchy, my nose was completely stuffed, and my eyes were red and watery. Every time my nose became more stuffed, it worsened my throat. I took some Tylenol and began the constant stream of chamomile tea. That night I slept sitting up and in the morning Paul let me sleep in while he watched Evan. My throat felt slightly better as only the right side was still swollen/scratchy and my nose was clear. By the end of the day, I felt as though nothing happened. I'm not sure if I've become allergic to mango recently. I've eaten it countless times before and I absolutely LOVE eating it. I do know that I don't want to eat more to see if it happens again!!

On Sunday, we went to have brunch at the Phoenix Country Club with Paul's family. We at a delicious array of food. I had Caesar salad, mixed berries, potato salad, cheese and crackers, biscuits and gravy, sausage, a raspberry blintz, hash browns, freshly made donuts, and pecan pie!!

Paul and Evan gave me Mother's Day cards and a gift certificate to Dolce!

After letting Evan take his afternoon nap, we headed down to my parents house for burgers and cake. I always love relaxing with my family. The card my parents gave me made me cry, which apparently was the purpose they had in mind. Thanks, Mom and Dad.

The card read:

My Daughter, a Beautiful New Mother

I watched you
as you held your child
so gently to your cheek,
I sensed the love
and pride you felt-
there was no need to speak.
Then you asked me
if I'd felt that way
as my arms had cradled you
When you were just a little girl-
and I answered, "I still do."

Just as I could never
have told you
how wonderful it is
being a mom,
no one could ever
have told me
how beautiful it is
seeing my own daughter
become a mother herself.

Good News

I've been waiting for a while now for everything to fall into place before sharing some good news.

First off, I've accepted a position teaching in the East Valley for the upcoming school year. I will be working with some former coworkers at Polytechnic Elementary School.

It is part of University Public Schools which is affiliated with ASU. All the grade levels (except for kinder) are multi-age classes. In addition, each grade level team teaches and everything is project based. An added perk is that I get tuition benefits from ASU. I'm very much looking forward to working there.

Secondly, Paul and I are oh-so-close to becoming Ahwatukee home owners. We'll find out tomorrow if it will be a certainty. Here's a photo or two just for wishing it comes true!

A little something to laugh about

After my serious post, I came across this in one of my weekly updates from a baby website.

Your baby can learn sign language!

Here's how to say:

• "Please change my diaper": Turn beet red and make straining expression, then smile.
• "I'd like something to eat, please": Cram fist in mouth and suck wildly.
• "I'm tired": Make a series of weeping gestures before closing eyes and lolling head backward.
• "Please pass me that thing up there that I can't reach": Point and grunt, then continue pointing and open mouth into screaming position.
• "No thank you. I think I've had enough": Throw food or object to floor with exaggerated grin.

Sometimes I don't want to listen to what "the books" and "experts" say. Sometimes I just want to hold Evan in my arms, watch him hold on to me, feel his body relax, see him drift into sleep, and hold him the entire time. I want to watch his eyes flutter while he dreams and see his little mouth suck although there's nothing in it. I think about what he might be imagining as he smiles in mid-sleep and it makes me smile. I hold his growing body close to mine because I know that in the future, he might not want to nurse anymore and he won't want me to hold him tight. So for now "experts", I don't want to listen to you and I won't.

Discoveries

#1. Evan has discovered his "parts". He also gets a kick out of it when he touches it.

#2. Evan loves cheese just as much as I do. Yesterday during dinner, I decided to give him a taste of cheddar cheese. By the end of eating, I think he managed to eat a 1" cube of cheese!!

Photography

My sister has recently begun her own photography business. She is an on-site, natural light photographer. Please visit her site and consider her for any upcoming photography needs.

Emma Youngdale Photography