Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Our 9 Month Old!!

Well, I'm a little late in posting about Evan turning 9 months... But better late than never, right? Our little man turned 9 months on Sunday. He's growing up so fast!! It seems like this past month has been full of new accomplishments. He's still not crawling, but we're thinking maybe he's close. He loves to roll around (everywhere) and has now learned how to spin in circles and move in reverse while on his tummy. He still has yet to lift up his belly and bottom, but we're not surprised since he has a little more to lift up than most babies (he's a chunker!). Here are a few facts about our little guy right now:

-He weighed in at 22 pounds, 9 ounces and 30 inches at his doctors appointment a couple of weeks ago (about the 90th percentile I think). His doctor says he's doing great- we're so thankful to have such a healthy little guy.
-He is still nursing 3 times a day and eating all kinds of baby foods (he's recently started eating some stage 3 baby food and yogurt). We'll probably be starting him on some table food in the next couple of months. He also loves to eat the little cereal puffs and has now mastered feeding them to himself. He also is getting lots better at eating from a sippy cup all by himself. It's been fun to watch him learn to do these things on his own.
-He loves bath time and screams bloody murder when you take him out....
-He loves to jump in his jumper and can get it going pretty high!
-He is loving his stroller and taking walks outside everyday now that the weather is nice. The swings at the park have also been a big hit!
-He is now taking 2 good naps everyday and sleeping about 11 hours at night. We've even gotten to the point where he doesn't even cry at all when we put him down.
-He LOVES to read (which makes me soo happy since I am a book-lover). His favorite book is Brown Bear, Brown Bear. It's so hilarious to watch him when you're reading to him. He gets all excited and throws his arms all around and laughs out loud.
-He's gotten good at giving kisses and is starting to learn how to clap.

I guess that's all I can think of right now... I've included the monthly crib pictures below. Thanks for checking in on our family....

Bath time...
His new squinty smile... It's soo cute :)
Our nine monther!!
Playing with the elephant!
Reading!!

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Our Busy Week...

I've included a video of Evan laughing... He loves it when I tickle him.. Notice the drool string towards the end of the video... That's our little man!



Evan and I took sandwiches to Daddy's office yesterday and ate with him there... We took a couple of pictures of Evan... He's quite the little businessman in training!! It's been a busy but fun week. Drew has been studying a lot, but we've managed to enjoy some family time together in between all of his studying.... Only 2 more weeks until the big test!


This is a picture of what our family room floor usually looks like... Evan is always surrounded by all of his toys. He loves rolling from one thing onto the next... What more could a guy ask for??

Monday, May 19, 2008

Our little munchkin...

Evan continues to change and grow each day... He is starting to get more of a personality and we aren't seeing as many "grumpy " times throughout the day anymore... He's into a more routine napping/sleeping schedule, and I think that's helping him be more happy throughout the day... We take walks outside every afternoon that the weather is nice and usually stop at the park to play a little bit... He is loving being outside! His doctor gave us the okay to start feeding him finger foods whenever we think he's ready, so we may start introducing some fruits and veggies soon... But he really seems to be doing fine with the pureed food for now, so we may wait a month or so to try finger foods... He is doing soo much better with the little Gerber puffs (cereal pieces) now.. His pincer grasp is definitely developed now and he holds his own sippy cup... He's growing up! It 's been so much fun watching him, but it makes me sad at the same time to see him growing out of all of the baby stages.... I have a couple of really cute videos, but for some reason I couldn't get them to upload... So we'll have to try that another time... His new favorite thing to do is read books... He gets all excited when you read to him and starts shaking his arms and laughing... It's hilarious! I'll have to keep trying to upload that video.... We hope all is well with everyone in bloggerland!! Here's some recent pictures of the little munchkin!Eating puffs in his "built for speed" turtle jammies :)
Playing with ducky...
Playing at Grammy and Grampy's house one night this week so we could get out of Drew's hair while he studies... Aren't those jammies adorable??? He's so squeezy in them!
Standing like a big boy!

Monday, May 12, 2008

My First Mother's Day!

We had a wonderful weekend at our house. Most of our Saturday was spent with Drew studying (so that we could spend all day Sunday together).  In the evening, we celebrated Mother's Day with the extended Baker Family (as always- great food and lots of laughs!)  In case some of you don't know, Drew has been spending TONS of time preparing for the CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) Exam on June 7th. He will be taking Level 2 this year and we are praying that he is able to pass and move on to Level 3 next year!!! This exam is unbelievably difficult (a 30% pass rate...) Sunday morning I woke up to Monkey Bread (Drew got up early and baked it for me) and then we went to church. Our church service was beautiful... At the end of the service, all of the men and children laid hands on the mothers and women in the church and prayed for us... It was very moving... Although our plans didn't go exactly as Drew had anticipated, we had a wonderful day. Drew was planning on us all going to the zoo, but the weather was YUCKY all day (we'll just have to do that another time)!! So instead, we just hung out at my parent's house for lunch and then they watched Evan for a couple of hours in the evening so that we could go up to Fremont to the outlet malls... All in all we had a great weekend... This Mother's Day was certainly different than most we've celebrated in the past... I have even more respect and love for my mom now that I am a mom myself... I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful family.... I'll leave you with a picture of my little man....Check out that hair! No matter what we do, it stands straight up!!

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Stretched

God has really been stretching me in the past few days...  Yesterday I came across two blogs through links on other blogs I visit often... Both stories have captivated me to the point of reading/crying through them in every spare minute I have had...  I feel a part of their story through the words they have written...  I encourage you bloggers out there to visit these blogs and pray for both of these families... They need all the prayers they can get in these tough days ahead...  But a word of caution- These blogs WILL change you and stretch you.  They will make you hug your children a little tighter.  They will make you appreciate all of the blessings you have.  They will change your perspective.  And they will make you trust God differently.  I pray they touch your lives as they have touched mine...

The first blog is of a couple (Jon & Ali Feldman) who lost their precious baby girl only days after she was born.  Ali was my Resident Advisor (RA) at Indiana Wesleyan my freshman year.  She was a sweetheart and an amazing woman of God.  Sadly, I have not kept in touch with her through the years.  Until now....  I couldn't help but weep with her as she writes from her heart. I can only imagine how difficult it must be to lose a child...  The address is: www.feldmanbaby.blogspot.com

The second blog is about the Smith Family.  Todd (the father) is the lead singer for the Christian group, Selah.  Ironically, Drew and I went to a Selah concert when they were in Fort Wayne in February.  At the time, we had no idea that this family was in the midst of this struggle.  This family also lost their precious baby girl within the past month.  Angie writes so eloquently about what they have been going through in the last few  months.  What a ministry she has through her blog!  She writes that at one point, over 40,000 people were viewing their blog per day....  AMAZING...  The address is:  www.audreycaroline.blogspot.com

He never promises we won't go through tough times on this earth, but He does promise to be with us through it all....  What an amazing God we serve!!!  

Monday, May 5, 2008

Evan Loves To Jump!!

Here is our little guy in his jumper.... He's really getting good at jumping high!! You'll also notice his new "achievement"... Blowing raspberries with his tongue out!! It's funny most of the time- but not quite so funny when you're trying to feed him and food is flying everywhere! I've posted pictures of our weekend below!! Enjoy...

FUN WEEKEND!!

We had a super weekend! Friday night we went out to dinner with Drew's parents (Evan went along and did great!)... Saturday morning, my mom, both grandmas, and I attended our annual Mother's Day luncheon at our church and had a great time.. Then we just played the rest of the day. Sunday morning after church we went out to breakfast again with Drew's parents and then went back to their house... While Evan took a nap, we went over to Baker's Fruit and Flower Farm and purchased our flowers for the summer and went back to their house to plant them... Our planter and hanging baskets turned out really nice.. I'll have to post pictures of them later... We're hoping we have better luck with our flowers this year- Drew and I weren't blessed with green thumbs!! And then when we got home, we took a walk to the park.... Overall it was a great weekend.... We love family time!!!
A picture from the Mothers Day Luncheon...
First time on the slide!!
What a happy boy!
He wasn't too sure, so I had to join him :)
Loving the swing!!
Helping mommy with laundry...
Some cuddle time before bed!!
Playing with his toes!!
My two boys before church on Sunday!!
Mommy and Evan before church!!