Cream of Potato Soup

Our house is bustling with Christmas preparations. Ev is a little confused by all the activity. But like I told him this morning before he got out of bed--"Get ready buddy, over the next three days you are going to be spoiled more than you ever imagined." Indeed.

Daddy is currently doing some work from home for someone at the college. It's a little project that he needs to get done and he's been on the computer and phone all day trying to get things to work properly. Mommy is finishing up some last minute things on some gifts she's been working on--and hoping for a Christmas miracle that she will finish them on time. Another Christmas miracle that would be nice is for us to win the $260 million Powerball jackpot, but let's not get our hopes too high!

Daddy's been on Evan patrol all weekend while I cleaned the house--he's been nice enough to take Evan out in the afternoons so I can get everything done. I think he might do the same thing this afternoon. He's been a wonderful help and I couldn't have pulled it off without him.

For now, it's off to play with the man. He's ready to get moving.

Posted by jenny at 12:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I know I'm a bad mom--I forgot to post yesterday on Evan's 11 month birthday. Happy 11 months, Ev, only a month left before you turn one. We're going to have a big party then.

Posted by jenny at 12:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Back from Pittsburgh and glad to be home. Even though Mike and I both lived there and still love to visit, I am so glad I don't live there anymore. I can't handle the big city--I get annoyed with all the traffic and how crowded things feel. I'm really happy that I live in a smaller town, it definitely suits me better. But we did have a good time, Mike is officially graduated and we squeezed in a trip to IKEA so all is well.

Ev had fun playing with the mirrored closet doors in our hotel suite, but he did not enjoy riding around in the car or sitting through Daddy's graduation ceremony. He was actually doing okay until some people behind us started screaming bloody murder when their child/spouse/friend/whatever graduated. Ev jumped about five feet off his seat and started to cry. He wouldn't stop crying--he was so riled that Papa had to take him out of the gym and walk him around for the rest of the ceremony (he even took him in the locker room to run the shower to help calm him down--we have a sensitive little boy).

So it was a good and a bad trip for Evan. He was thrilled to be home last night though--to hang out with us and play on the floor and most of all have no shoes on. He's not a big fan of the shoes. Now we have a few days to regroup before the excitement of Christmas. We will try to use them wisely.

Posted by jenny at 01:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tomorrow we head off to lovely Pittsburgh for some relaxation, shopping, and other important stuff. Ev is asleep but I am up washing his clothes so he has something nice to wear tomorrow. It's not that he's out of clean clothes, it's that he's out of certain clothes. That's the thing with this kid--he has clothes but not all his clothes are right all the time. Let me explain.

Right now the kid is growing out of all of his 6-9 month stuff. It still fits in the waist and everything but is too short in the leg. So that stuff is on it's way out, but is still okay for around the house. Most 12 month stuff fits, but it depends on the brand. And if it's pants, the waist is usually a little big so when he crawls it works it's way down around his ankles. Overalls and one piece things are good, except when he really gets going he works his legs up into the body of the outfit and the legs are hanging there empty. It's funny as hell.

So that's the current dilemma. Ev is a long skinny kid. We're just doing what we can to get by!

Posted by jenny at 10:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, Mike's finished with his class and test, and all is well. Now he just has to kick this nasty cough that he has and we'll be in business. Either way he only has two days left of work for the year, and who can be upset about that?

Ev had a busy weekend. Friday night he went to Grandma's house to help put up her Christmas tree. Luckily he was a big help, and I don't think she could have done it without him. Saturday was filled with shopping and a trip to Grandpa's to relax for the evening with his uncles. Sunday was football and just kicking back. He's excited for his trip to Pittsburgh later in the week.

The only other new development is in the language department. In addition to the ever popluar "raspberries" that Ev loves to do, he's added some nice shrieking. When he is mad or wants attention, there is a loud high pitched shriek that he will do, followed by what sounds like him saying "ha ha ha" in a mournful tone. He also makes a similar shriek when he is happy, so you really have to pay attention to body language with this one. Ev's been introducing some new strings of sounds too, but so far only when he's tired or sleeping. Isn't that odd.

P.S. Today Ev would like to wish a happy birthday to cousin Linda, one of his most avid readers. Happy Birthday!

Posted by jenny at 02:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last night was Mommy's night off. She got to go out and do Mommy things while Daddy stayed home with Evan. It was a lovely and much needed break for me, and I came home happy and refreshed and ready to play with Babus.

Mike is still in the middle of his hell week though, with lots of things happening at work and his Java class finishing up. Tonight is his night, because he needs time to study for his final tomorrow morning. We will all be happy when that test is finished, and we can return to business as usual. Though this class is really important and Daddy has our full support, I know all three of us will be glad when that added stress is lifted. Daddy especially. So tonight Ev and I will have to clear out of here so he can have some peace and quiet to study. Be careful, dear reader, we may come knocking at your door!

Ev's cough seems to be gone, and the runny nose too. Daddy's cough still lingers, but I know stress doesn't help matters so mabye his will clear up soon as well. Let's hope we all remain healthy through the holidays.

Posted by jenny at 12:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Oh, gone are the golden days when I could put Evan down somewhere and he would still be there when I got back. Now I can't turn my back without him crawling away, tipping something over, or diving off of something. Totally scary. He is constantly in motion, wanting to be "walked" around the house (him walking with me holding his hands) or needing to crawl everywhere and look in every nook and cranny of the house. He eats stuff off the floor.

Luckily, most of the stuff he eats off the floor are Cheerios. We must have Cheerios with us at all times. They are all over the kitchen floor. I find them in my bed. They fall out of our clothes when we undress at night. Cheerios are a fundamental part of our lives.

Time for lunch......fruit and maybe some Cheerios.

Posted by jenny at 12:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Evan still has not resolved his new thinking that bedtime is between 11 pm and midnight. As much as I love to play with him, I worry that he's not getting enough sleep, so I would like to get him back into the routine of going to sleep before 9 pm. I would also like him to sleep in his own bed again, but that's another issue entirely.

Mike and I tried to take some time over the weekend to improve our baby proofing. We still need to work on it. With his increased mobility, Ev is into absolutely everything. He especially likes to climb up on the entertainment center and to pull at wires (like plugs and cables). We are in big trouble because we have so much cable and stuff for our computers and it's not something that would be easy to keep out of his reach. I'm hoping that we figure something out soon. We're still working on it. I'd also like to reduce some of the clutter around here before Christmas comes and there is all new clutter to deal with.

Yesterday was baby fun at Mikaele's house for Aidan's 2nd birthday party. There were 11 kids there. 11. 10 of them were boys. Just imagine. Evan did have a good time playing with different toys, eating cake, and spending some time with his baby pal Logan. The two got along quite well until they started pulling each other's hair and clothes. We got some really cute pictures of them anyway. Ev didn't seem to mind the other kids too much, but we managed to keep him out of the way of the bigger boys, so that helped. It was a good time.

Ev and Daddy have developed a wheezy cough over the weekend. It doesn't seem to be related to a cold, just the dryness of the air or some unknown allergen. I have escaped the cough so far (knock wood) and have been trying to think of ways to keep the boys comfy. We've got the humidifier running, let me know if you have any other ideas.

Posted by jenny at 03:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We are sleepy, we are cranky.

Last night I worked for a few hours and came home to Ev having a little fit. He was okay, and Daddy reported that they had a pretty good night overall. So we proceeded with our evening, only to find that Evan did not want to go to sleep. We tried everything from playing to walking to crying and nothing was doing the job. He finally gave up and fell asleep around midnight with us in our bed. By that time, Mike and I were too tired to even move, so we just all fell asleep as we were, in our clothes.

Ev woke up at four having a screaming fit that lasted for about an hour. He wanted only to be walked around the house. So I walked him around the house, showing him things and trying not to trip in the dark. He finally got sleepy again around five, and we returned to bed, only to have him wake for good just after seven.

So he is unhappy, and so am I, and I can imagine that Mike is not in great form either. Today is a stay in our jammies day, we need to catch up on sleep.

Posted by jenny at 08:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm not sure if I ever shared this information, but many of you already know: Ev is fully mobile. He has been for about two weeks now. He's crawling properly on his hands and knees instead of doing that carpet swim that he had been doing. And he's fast. I can't turn my back for a second.

Just a few minutes ago we were playing in the living room, and he started to crawl away. I watched him as he crawled out of the room and towards the stairs. He thought that he could crawl head first down the stairs and he was about ready to try it. Luckily I caught him in time and pointed him down the hall, so he crawled on down here to his room. And here we are, ready to demolish everything in our path.

Evan: aka Demolition Ev, aka the Evinator, aka Mr. Speedy Pants. Look out world.

I find myself repeating the phrase, "Evan no Evan no Evan no EVAN MICHAEL NO!" quite a bit. Oh God I'm such a mom.

Posted by jenny at 12:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We had a very nice and very snowy holiday weekend. Thanksgiving was very hectic--we started out the day at my mom's, then went across town to lunch at the Colony with Mike's family, then back up to my dad's for dinner with my family. The only cloud on the day was that my allergies were terrible, and I was pretty much a mess until early evening. But the day was good, and we found out that Ev loves turkey and stuffing and pumpkin pie.

Friday we drove out to Ashtabula for Thanksgiving, The Sequel. Some of Mike's cousins were in from out of town, so we went to hang out with them and show off Evan. He had a good time, especially since Kaitlyn was there to play with him (and because his Papa kept feeding him pumpkin pie). That was a good day to be out and about because it was the only day we didn't get snow.

Saturday we ventured out to get diapers for Ev and go visit Beth. We went home after the diapers though because it was snowing a lot and we were sliding and couldn't see. It was best to just call it a day. The three of us came home, got back in bed, and took a nap. Sunday was just as quiet, but we did pop up to my dad's for a little while to share leftovers and play some video games.

I think it was hard for Mike to get up this morning, but there's only three more weeks until Christmas break! We're all looking forward to that.

Posted by jenny at 02:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)