Saturday, March 29, 2008

Time with Grampa Brad....

Well, Evan's Grampa Brad is a teacher, so he's been on spring break this week... Brad called me Thursday and asked if he could watch Evan on Friday... So I planned a shopping trip to the outlet mall (it just so happened the kids stores were having huge sales!) with Drew's cousin Mel and her little girl Friday morning.... Grampa and Evan played for 4 hours and had a great time.... It was a nice time away for me and I think the boys had fun too :) I only wished I would have snapped a picture while he was here.... Thanks Brad!!

Playing on mommy and daddy's bed right away in the morning... Can you tell those are sleepy eyes?
Big smiles!!
I love how you can see his dimples in this picture... They just melt my heart....
He's been making this cheesy face a lot lately.... Almost like he's sucking on his bottom lip... It cracks me up!

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

SEVEN MONTHS!!

Well- our little boy is officially 7 months old! It's soo hard for me to believe that seven months have passed since we first held our precious little Evan in our arms for the first time.... He's such an amazing blessing and we thank God each and every day for his little life.... I can't wait to see what amazing things God has planned for him in the months and years to come.... Evan has reached quite a few milestones in the past month.... Here are a few facts about our little guy:

-He is now rolling all over the place.. He's now mastered rolling both ways and is just starting to really figure out that he can roll to get to toys and stuffed animals that are out of his reach... Before this last month, he never really had the desire to reach toys out of his reach- but now he is starting to really reach and grab for EVERYTHING- including hair, glasses, and anything else that he shouldn't have!!
-He's eating all kinds of baby food (fruits, vegetables, and meats)... We haven't found anything he absolutely refuses to eat yet although he's not a big green bean fan. He loves all kinds of fruit, but we've discovered that he's a "Baker Boy" for sure- he loves apples the best!
-He has now figured out how to take out his pacifier and put it back in his mouth by himself... He's even grabbed it by himself when it's in his crib or on a blanket and put it in his mouth by himself!
-He's great at sitting up all by himself now and hardly ever topples over anymore.. He loves to stand up too (with our support of course)...
-He still loves sitting in his Bumbo seat and watching his Praise Baby DVDs....
-He's also gotten into a much better napping routine lately.. Some of you may know that we struggled with getting him to nap during the day several months ago, but now he takes a short morning nap and longer afternoon nap almost every day... And most days he doesn't even cry when we lay him down....
-He's officially sleeping around 11 hours every night now.. I didn't think we'd ever reach that point. We put him to bed around 8:00 and he usually sleeps until about 7:00 or 7:30 in the morning! It's been great for me to get a good night of sleep- I feel like a much better mommy during the day when I've had good sleep!!!

We can't wait to see what the next month will bring... Hopefully much nicer weather so that we can play outside and take walks around town with the stroller.... Here are the monthly crib pictures...
It's almost like he knows what we're doing now... He just sits right up there and smiles when I tell him to!
As you can see, the pictures are becoming a little more challenging.... He kept grabbing the elephant and wanting to play with him!
And then he grabbed the paper and it was all over! It ended up being a crumpled up mess :)
Aunt Laura went shopping yesterday and as you can see she found some pretty cool shades for the little man and couldn't resist... He's all ready for some sunshine!!
I wanted to try on some of his summery clothes and see if he would even be able to wear them since he's such a big boy... It better get pretty warm quick or he's going to be too big for some of his summer clothes! He's already wearing some 18 month clothes, but he still fits into most of his 12 month clothes... I can't wait for warmer weather when we don't have to bundle him all up just to go anywhere! I love seeing all of his rolls on his arms and legs when they're not covered up by long-sleeved shirts and pants...

Monday, March 24, 2008

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to everyone out in Bloggerland! We hope you all had a wonderful day celebrating our risen Lord!! Evan woke up and discovered the Easter Bunny had been at our house.... Then we went to church and came home so Evan could get in a small morning nap before we went to Grandma Jean and Grandpa Dave's house for Easter dinner with all of the Bakers... As usual, we had a great time with family (lots of laughs!) and lots of delicious foods... Then we headed to Grandma Beth and Grandpa Clark's house to see what the Easter Bunny had left there.... Evan got some Easter Bunny ears (you'll see in the pictures below)... He looked soo cute- but I must say his dad was not too fond of them.. This will definitely be the only year Drew will let us put those on him!! All in all we had a super day.... We treasure our time with family soo soo much!

Helping Daddy on the computer!
The new "cheesy smile" we're seeing more and more often!
All dressed up in his Easter best! Who would have thought that he'd have to wear long sleeves and a sweater vest on Easter??? It was a chilly day here!!
His Easter Basket at our house...
I can just imagine him thinking- "Kramer, this is MY EASTER BASKET!!"
His Easter Basket at Grammy and Grampy's house- along with his bunny ears....
Our little wide-eyed Easter Bunny!
Our smiley Easter Bunny!!!

Monday, March 17, 2008

New Pictures of the Munchkin!

Our little guy is now rolling all over the place!! We never know what position we're going to find him in when we go into his room to get him after a nap or a night of sleep.... He's getting to where he likes his tummy a lot more now that he's rolling more often... He still has yet to master rolling from his tummy to his back, but he's great at rolling from his back to his tummy... He loves to sit up by himself and play in his exersaucer... And he's mastered taking his pacifier out of his mouth and putting it back in- not always the right way as you'll see below!! It's just so much fun watching him change and grow each and every day.... Enjoy the pictures!Loving the sprayer during his bath... I know it seems silly that we're still doing his bath in the kitchen, but it's much easier for us to reach him better and he likes it much better than being down in the bathtub.... He loves his new duckie tub!
Smiley boy!!
Happy Baby!
Reading- and yes the book is upside down!!
There's the tummy!
I loved this smile :) Isn't he just sooo adorable???
Here he is playing with his pacifier and turning it upside down... I think it feels good on his gums to chew on the plastic part.... Still no teeth yet...... We keep waiting for them to pop through!!!

Friday, March 14, 2008

Happy Birthday to Grammy Beth!!

Today is Grammy Beth's Birthday... We won't say how old she is!!! Evan and I are excited to visit her at her office today to give her lots of birthday hugs! She's such a special person and we treasure her soo soo much.... My mom is the most kind and loving person that I know... She is an inspiration to so many people... So if you know my mom and happen to see her today- don't forget to wish her a happy birthday!!




Tuesday, March 11, 2008

I'm a Longaberger Consultant!

Well.... I am officially a Longaberger Home Consultant. I've been toying around with the idea for several years now, and now that I'm a stay-at-home mom, I decided now is a great time to finally do it... It will give me a little something to stay busy with, and hopefully a little extra income... Not to mention a discount on my own purchases!! So if any of you out there in Bloggerland are Longaberger fans, know of anyone who is, or would like to become a Longaberger fan, pass my name along.... I will be having an open house on Saturday April 5th from 1-5 at my house to kick off this new venture... I'd love to have you attend!


Longaberger now offers online shopping and ordering- To view Longaberger's baskets, wrought iron, and pottery products and place orders, visit: www.longaberger.com/ashleybaker

Saturday, March 8, 2008

The Big 26!

Wow... 26 Years of Life.... I know to many of you that doesn't seem like a whole lot, but to me it sure does!! I had a great birthday. Yesterday my mom and sister took me on a little shopping spree for my birthday while Drew watched Evan. It was a great afternoon of shopping and laughing... I treasure my time with my mom and sister so much :) And then last night we met up with the boys (Drew, Dad, and Evan) for some Buffalo Wild Wings.... This morning Drew took me out for breakfast (my favorite meal out) and we just relaxed at home all day today... Evan was extremely happy all day and we enjoyed our family time so much... Couldn't have been a better birthday... I feel so blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful family and friends....

Oh, and be ready for some new movies of Evan- Drew got me a camcorder for my birthday so we'll be filming him a lot more now!!!

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

6 MONTH PICTURES...

We were very pleased with the way they turned out.... Sometimes it's pretty hard to get our little guy to smile- especially when he's around new faces and in a strange place.. But I think he did pretty good :) Isn't he so handsome?





Monday, March 3, 2008

More Pictures :)

Well, this last week has been a little crazy around the Baker household...  I (Ashley) battled a fever and sore throat for 2-3 days last week.  Luckily, Evan and Drew did not seem to be affected.. So we'll keep praying they stay healthy.  Needless to say, we pretty much stayed at home last week.  On Saturday, we had great plans of getting Evan's 6 month portraits taken at the Picture People in Fort Wayne...  But Evan had different plans...  The photographer never even snapped one picture because Evan was so fussy...  So we just came on home...  

So my wonderful husband, knowing how much I wanted a 6 month picture and knowing how frustrated I was that the pictures didn't work out, scheduled an appointment on Sunday and took Evan down again for a second try...  I stayed home and had a few productive hours of peace and quiet while the boys had a little picture date...  And miraculously, Drew came home with some VERY cute and smiley pictures :)  I couldn't have been happier....  I'm so blessed with a patient and laid-back husband....  And I think Drew and Evan had a good time too...  They don't get out just the two of them very often.... Here are a few of the pictures we've taken in the last week or so...  ENJOY!

Asleep in his crib with his musical lamb...  
Mid roll!!
Best buddies- Lucy and Kramer!  They always seem to take their naps together all cuddled up...
Trying out his new duck tub in the family room...  This will be much easier for baths now that he's able to sit up on his own...  The beak quacks when you squeeze it!!
Not too sure about this new bathtub yet!!
Cuddling again on my hope chest in front of the window!
Looking all studly in his Colts gear from Aunt Alieta and Uncle Denny!
Evan's new thing now is moving all around in his crib.  I never know how I'm going to find him when I go in to check on him.... In this picture, he's lost a sock and his pacifier, moved his lamb to the other side of the crib, and turned himself sideways....
Playing, playing, and more playing!
A nice afternoon visit with Aunt Laura...