Cowboy Evan

While in Nashville, Evan just had to find out what being a real cowboy was like. Auntie Chrissy took us to an authentic boot store, where Evan picked out his favorite black boots, a hat, and the horse to go along with it.  I don't know if Virginia is ready for this little cowboy!  

Jingle Bells

Merry Christmas, Everyone! 

More Nashville Christmas Fun

Mr. Football has invaded Franklin, TN!  Evan and his Badger uniform took over the house today, and Evan tackled everyone in sight.  Chrissy and Jeff were his favorite targets, and they kindly played the part of the tackl-ee.  Luckily for Evan they have a large living room with lots of tackle space!  I think in retrospect we should ALL have asked Santa for football helmets, because Evan has some muscle behind his tackle! 

 

 

Merry Christmas!

It's Christmas Day!  Last night we drove to Nashville to spend the holiday with Auntie Chrissy and Uncle Jeff, and to surprise Grandma Barb.  She was shocked when the doorbell rang - she thought it was UPS, but Evan wandered in the door.  What a great Christmas surprise.  Evan was a rockstar in the car.  Charlottesville to Nashville is 9 hours, and he didn't complain the whole way.  He took little naps, watched some movies, sang songs, and counted the cows as we passed the fields.  Mommy and daddy were going a little stir crazy in the car, but Evan loved it - he even asked the next day to go back in the car!

We had a great time touring Chrissy & Jeff's neighborhood and new home.  They had odd weather while we were there, and it snowed most of the time.  Evan and the dogs though that was great, though the rest of Nashville wasn't so pleased.  We woke up to a snowy Christmas morning, and Evan was intrigued by the huge tree with boxes underneath.  He waited patiently in his Christmas stripey jammies until everyone was ready, then began passing out gifts... and helping everyone open them!  I think he ripped at least part of every gift that was there!

Santa and the family were great to Evan - he went home loaded with toys!  Santa brought a Wisconsin Badger football uniform and helmet, and Evan hasn't taken it off yet.  He got some new clothes, slippers, cars, and a flashlight, among other things.  This is one happy little Christmas elf! 

   

Come on, Ernie!

This morning during breakfast, Evan decided he wanted to take Ernie for a walk.  He didn't say a word, so when it was a little too quiet in the other room, Mike and I put down the newspaper to check out what the boys were doing. 

Basketball Games

 We love to attend the Virginia basketball games.  Evan has a blast watching the cheerleaders and dance team and is learning a little about basketball too.  We have seats next to lots of friends, and his buddy Connor almost always comes too.  At today's game, the boys snacked until they were stuffed, shared a seat to cheer (and color), and if you can tell in the first photo, hoping for a basketball to be shot their way.  Lucky them, tonight was the night!  Not one but two toy basketballs came right to the boys!  They couldn't have been happier. 

Christmas #1

Christmas #1 was today with the Clements (at least 3 are likely). Evan was super excited to see all the presents and that Santa had come early.  He hung some new ornaments on the tree and opened every box - even those that weren't his own, of course.  Ev also got some great luggage, one of his favorite things!  Thanks, Gramma and Grampa!

Playtime with Gramma K

Snow!

We finally had a measurable snow today!  It was a complete blizzard by Charlottesville standards... though only a couple inches actually fell.  Evan couldn't have been happier! To top it off, Gramma and Grampa Clement came to stay for the week, so he not only had snow to play in but two extra special playmates too.  (Mommy got a fantastic new camera as an early Christmas present so there are more photos than ever to sift through and hopefully better quality too.)

Evan played in the snow as long as he could, until his little fingertips got red and cold.  Then he came inside, warmed up, and went back out!  He slid on the slide, played soccer and football, and threw snowballs.  Gramma and Grampa even showed him how to make a snow angel!  They made a little snowman together - it was in the shade so it lasted longer than normal, and Evan checked every day to see if it was still there.   

 

Post It Fun

Post Its aren't just for making notes in school and at work!  They're fun to dress up and ride around the house in!

Bounce N Play Fun

While Grampa Chuck was here, we took the morning to go to the local Bounce N Play.  What fun!  It was Sunday morning right after they opened, so there weren't many people there and we had the place to ourselves.  Evan had a blast with Daddy and Grampa!  Here are a few highlights.

Cavman Breakfast

It's all Cavman, all the time!  Evan wears his shirt (lucky he has 3 of them!) at least 5 days a week, and his friend Packer Bear wears the other.  The two buddies might not like Cavman in person, but they love to wear his shirt!  Oddly enough, the shirt's almost the right size for Evan now. How did he get so big? 

Big day: snow, tree, party!

There was only an inch or two and it was gone by noon, but today was officially Evan's first snow of this year.  He couldn't have been happier!  He went out in his pj's to get a snowball, and refused to leave it outside.  Once inside, the snowball had a short but happy life in a bowl... until Evan and Ernie split it and ate it. 

Today was the perfect afternoon to decorate the tree!  Evan was anxious to help, and he actually did very well.  He hung some (his own face went smack in front, of course), and helped Daddy unwrap others and pass them to Mommy to hang on the high branches. We were a little nervous about the tree this year and wondered how much Evan would take the ornaments off, but he's been wonderful so far about leaving it alone.  (The glass icicles stayed in the box just in case.)  He has two ornaments that he can "push a button" on and they talk, so he plays with those constantly, but he's very careful with the rest.  He loves to turn the lights off and on - it's like magic!  Yay for Christmas!

We had our first Christmas party of the season today.  UVA Athletics put on a movie day for the kids with pizza and popcorn, and showed holiday flicks on the big scoreboard screen in the basketball arena.  Evan was super excited to "porrty."  He made a new friend and ate more pizza than I thought was humanly possible.  All the kids got reindeer ears and a stocking filled with treats - it was a great day! 

Evan Working

"Mommy, Evan working!" 
He was so proud to help Daddy change the air filters.  Evan's got a little plastic 3-piece tool set that came with a book of some sort, but it has a hammer, wrench, and screwdriver, which are all the tools he needed to help.  He was so happy!  And he's been "working" nearly every day since, banging his tools on the air vent. 

Thanksgiving

Evan watched Mommy cooking, and wanted to get in on the action.  So he donned my apron and helped!  He dumped all the powdered ingredients in the mix for the pumpkin pie, and it turned out perfectly.  Thanks, my little chef! 








Later today, Evan was feeling especially friendly toward Ernie.  He wanted to give him big hugs, and Ernie was, for once, ok with that.  It may have been because Evan had a cereal bar in his hand.  Luckily my camera went off twice in a row, because I caught this.  In a split second, Ernie took advantage of the perfect height of the snack and Evan looking the other way during the hug to grab a quick snack!  Sassy... 









Of course it can't be a Thanksgiving without the Macy's Parade.  We watched most of it this morning, and Evan was intermittently interested. He loved the marching bands and dancers, and Sesame Street characters and big balloons were a big hit.  Here are some highlights from our time watching the parade! 

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's Evan's first Hand-Turkey, saying he hopes you have a great holiday. 
Gobble-Gobble! 

Slimey!

We found an inch worm today!  He was immediately dubbed Slimey, and Evan was part fascinated and part unsure.  He didn't quite understand how careful you have to be with a teeny tiny inch worm, but was interested in exploring it just the same.  

School outfit today

Evan thinks he's a pretty cool dude!  Just check out the duds on him.  Sunglasses, pack-pack, and a raincoat.  Ready for the day!

Breakfast Banana

Sunday morning:
"Mommy - sit - counter!"
"Mommy - want baalalallalallala"

Tunnel Time

After a hard day of working in the yard yesterday, Evan was looking for something else to occupy his afternoon.  He remembered that we have a tent/tunnel from Grandma and decided it would be perfect.  How he remembered we had it, I don't know - he was just standing there and announced, "Want tent, mommy!"

The tent is a little muddy from it's time spent at Evan's birthday party, but the tunnel would be a good size to come in the living room.  Oh, what fun!  We were both in stitches as Evan tried to wear the tunnel and walk around it in - see the video.  He couldn't keep it's spring-loaded self from popping up over his head, which was hilarious.  Listen to him talking to the dog (who wanted nothing to do with the tunnel), "Ernie, look!" 

We finally talked him into crawling through the tunnel on the ground, which was fun too.  He spent some time in the tunnel with his favorite friends (Curious George and Grover), and we practiced his accuracy skills by throwing a ball through the tunnel. 

I love this shot - rumor has it mommy was featured on the cover of the Racine YMCA's preschool brochure back around 1982, crawling through a very similar tunnel.

Fall Leaf Chores

The leaves are falling off the trees and our yard is covered.  The boys decided that this morning, while chilly, was as good a time as any to get the chore done.  Turns out Evan was super excited!  He ran for his hat and shoes, and had them on and was pounding on the door to "Go Outside!" way before Mike was ready.  If only we grown ups could have that much enthusiasm for the chores, right?

Evan has a small rake that's just right for little guys, and he certainly tried to help.  He was a great boy too - I tried to rake and he said, in no uncertain terms, "No mommy - boys do it."  Well ok, that's just fine by me!  They (Mike) did a great job raking and (Evan) carrying leaves and (Evan) jumping in the piles, and when it was all over, Evan proudly surveyed his work from a perch high atop the slide. 

 

 

Football Watching

One of many in a series of watching my boys watch football together. 

Evan's Secret

Evan has a secret to tell you - he's going to be a Big Brother!  We're super excited to add to our little family, with a new baby due on 05-05-11.  Everything is going great so far - I'm feeling well and the doctor says all is going as it should.  We're going to leave it a surprise to us all if the baby's a boy or girl, though Evan continues to say he'd like a sister.  (He also says he's a girl sometimes, so his real intent is up for debate.)  It's true that for the second child your belly pops immediately - after only 10 weeks I had to go and practically buy out the maternity store for winter clothes.  We are very happy and lucky to be going on this adventure again, and even more excited to be sharing it with Evan this time around. He's going to be a great big brother! 

Happy 2nd Birthday, Evan!

Dear Evan, Happy 2nd Birthday!  You're such a big boy now, it's amazing how time has flown by.  You have an excellent grasp on language and are very good about asking (ok, sometimes demanding) for whatever it is you want.  I love the way you say, "Thank you mommy" almost all the time, and "Please" almost as frequently.  You love to be independent, but are never embarrassed to ask for a hug. The new scar on your forehead is a testament to how much you love to run and move - you can climb on almost anything!  School is very fun for you - you love your teacher and friends, even though sometimes you don't want us to leave. You are a great cuddle buddy on the couch, though it's getting hard for us both to fit in the chair together!  You have learned many rules of the house: shoes off on the couch, hang up your jacket, hold the railing on the stairs, turn off the lights; and love helping with chores like feeding Ernie and cleaning up your toys.  My favorite phrase of yours is "I luss you mommy/daddy!" - it just melts my heart!  You love talking on the hello, singing your ABC's (almost 100% correctly!), and shopping - what a guy.  We can't wait to see what this next year brings.  We luss you, Evan!
Love, Mommy & Daddy & Ernie


We had Evan's 2nd Birthday party last weekend, and many of his friends came over.  We were blessed with a great weather day, and put up tables and chairs outside.  Daddy grilled, we all had burgers and hot dogs for lunch, and a yummy cake and ice cream for dessert.  It was tons of fun to see Evan's friends and their parents - thank goodness for the fenced in yard!  All the kiddos just ran and ran and ran.  Each time a new friend would come in the door, Evan would let out a shriek and do a little happy dance before running over to say hi - he was clearly super excited to have so many of his favorite people in one place.  After cake we opened many awesome presents before it was time for everyone (parents included) to crash for a nap.  Thank you to everyone for coming and helping make Evan's birthday extra-special!

 

On the 28th we celebrated Evan's actual birthday, but a little more low-key.  After school we had his favorite dinner: chicken nuggets, applesauce, and tater tots, and finished off the cake.  The grandparents all called and sang "Happy Birthday" on the hello - Evan loved it!  Then we opened the generous presents that family had sent, including an art easel, a bike, a laptop, and a backpack.  It was a great celebration for a great kid.