Saturday, December 22, 2007

Evan is 1 year old


I'm a year old today!

Cake is much more fun when I smash it up in my hands

Me with my birthday balloons. I love balloons!

Enough with the pictures mom!



On December 18 at 9:50pm, you turned 1 year old! I still cannot believe that I am your mom, much less been your mom for a year now. The year has flown by (although a few days felt like years), but it really blows my mind that my baby boy is already one year old. It has been such an amazing year, a whirlwind of activity and progress. You have accomplished so much in just one short year.

Stats: Size 4 diaper, size 5 or 5 1/2 shoe, size 12-18 mo clothes for most, some 18-24 months. You are 22 pounds and 30 inches. 50% for weight and 70% for height. You r growth has definitely slowed down a lot, but you are still growing well.

Food: You eat pretty much everything, your favorites are waffles, bananas, applesauce, broccoli, cheese, cottage cheese and pasta. We are working on getting you off of formula and you do a great job drinking milk when it's mixed with the formula. But you are not crazy about milk on its own quite yet.

Drinking: We are still working on getting you on the sippy cup, but you are excellent at using a straw and drinking out of a regular cup. Once we get settled in Florida the bottle is going to disappear and we may just have to resort to straw cups for you.

Movement: You crawl super fast and are pulling yourself up all over the place. You are really good at standing by yourself with no hands. You don't cruise that much, but I wouldn't be too surprised if you just started walking from your no hands standing soon.

Words: Your new words this month are ball, baby and uh-oh. Uh-oh is typically associated with you throwing something on the ground, which is pretty funny most of the time. Hi is still your favorite word and it is now often accompanied with the biggest wave. You will flag people down across a room to say hi. It is adorable! You are so clear and articulate in your speech, it is very impressive. No one has trouble understanding what it is you are saying.

Teeth: You still have 8 teeth, with 2 molars on the way. One seems to just be breaking through the gum right now.

Sleep: You're still not a stellar sleeper lately, but I'm really hoping that will all change once we stop carting you all over the country and you are settled in our new home.

Favorites: books--Backyardigands Jingle Bell Christmas, Where is Baby's Belly Button, Santa Get Dressed, 100 animals, Goodnight Moon; toys-- tupperware, gears, fisher price house, shape sorter, balls, keys, phone, remote, balloons, bubbles.

Other new things: You know where your head is and your nose. You also know how to throw both arms up in the air when I ask you "How big is Evan", so big! You do the same movement when we say "Touchdown Cowboys!" Aunt Laura taught you how to hug and you are such a good hugger. You love to hug everything-me and dad, your friends, your relatives, your stuffed animals, the floor. You are also pretty sensitive to other kids crying, if they cry, you cry too. You don't like to see your friends sad :(. In the last few days you have begun dancing when you hear music. You love to shake your little torso and shake your head to the music!

Thank you for the most amazing year. You have taught us so much and have brought us infinite joy. We love you so much!

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Evan's 1st Birthday Party



















On Saturday we had Evan's 1st birthday party at our home. Evan had such a good time celebrating with many of his family and friends (Joe and I had a wonderful time too!). We had about 60 people over (still not sure where they all fit) to celebrate the big day. Nani and many of my friends helped me out with making food for everyone; they really helped make it such a fun and non stressful event. Evan had such a good time playing with his cousins and friends from playgroup. He ate his cake, but definitely enjoyed feeding it to Joe more then eating it himself. The ice cream, another story, he devoured it!

Thank you Aditi and Naveen for taking most of these pictures, I really appreciate it :)

Evan visits Santa





Last Wednesday, I took Evan to see Santa for the first time at the Columbia Mall. It wasn't quite the "Hallmark" experience I had dreamed of all year. Evan would not let go of me, so there I was, sitting next to Santa with Evan on my lap. I have packed my scanner, so that picture will have to appear another day. So, last Friday when Joe got home from Florida, we decided to try it again, hoping this time Evan would be happy to sit with Santa. But, alas, Joe got to sit next to Santa this time with Evan on his lap. We did have fun seeing if Evan had been "nice or naughty" on the machine and we got to see snow come out of the mailbox.

Friday, December 14, 2007

Avery Elizabeth Garr

On Thanksgiving Day, Avery Elizabeth Garr blessed this world at 6 lbs, 6 oz and 21 inches. Joe and I got to meet her last Sunday on our way home from NYC. She is just adorable! She's even adorable with the Eagles outfit her dad put her in. Kelly and Joe are very proud parents; it was so much fun to see them with her. They just don't stop smiling (and I remember that sleepless time), it's so cute to see them!! Avery is just a relaxed, laid back little girl!
Here are some pictures of her:





Friday, December 7, 2007

Shannon Got Her Braces Off!


Charlie (my older brother)'s girlfriend Shannon got braces 2 years ago and she just got them removed on Tuesday. It was such an exciting day, we got to celebrate with Shannon, Charlie and some of their friends. Shannon's friends gave her lots Swedish fish and popcorn to enjoy once again! I have never seen Shannon so happy or smile so big in my life. She looks stunning with them off! Congrats Shannon!

Evan crawls up the stairs


Up the first stair

Rest

up the second stair

I did it!


Evan learned how to climb up his first stairs in the new house. He climbed the two from the second floor up to the bonus room. This is about my speed. Even if he falls, it's not too far down. Thankfully the stairs in our current house are too steep and he just looks up at them, he hasn't even attempted them. Let's hope we make it out of here before he does!

We are homeowners!


Our new home

Kitchen

Kitchen

Kitchen

Dining Room

Master Bedroom

Master Bathroom

Bonus Room

Evan is helping Joe put the table together

Our new kitchen table, is it too big for the space???


Last Friday Joe and I became homeowners! This is our first house, although we have our rental property, this is our first home home! The closing went well, my only complaint was that it was sort of anti-climactic. The house turned out beautifully, I love the tile and the kitchen the most. I have already picked out lots of paint colors to paint different rooms, but thankfully they painted all the walls tan, so we don't have to rush on painting (meaning Joe's got a little time....). We even bought a new couch and kitchen table while we were down there. Here are some pictures of the new pad. We move in Dec. 27!

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Happy Thanksgiving!


Emma shared some of her bows with Laura and me








We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year in Scottsdale and Sedona Arizona. It was Evan's 1st Thanksgiving and what a first it was!! We celebrated two times-on Thursday at Laura & Mike's in Scottsdale and Friday at the Pillor's in Sedona. That, along with 2 more days of leftovers and we were in turkey and cranberry heaven! Our trip was so much fun and was really relaxing. Evan had such a great time hanging out with grandma and grandpa, Aunt Laura & Uncle Bryan, Mike, Laura, Emma and Alex and all the Pillors!
All we did was eat, time to get back on Nutri System! But it was fun and both In N Out burgers were worth whatever weight gain comes with it!

Making Thanksgiving even more special this year was the birth of Kelly and Joe's baby girl-Avery Elizabeth weighing in at 6lbs, 6 oz. What a great Thanksgiving surprise! I am dying that I have not yet had a chance to meet her yet, but hopefully as soon as we return from Florida next week, I'll get to run up to Philly and spend some time with the happy family.