No Mama, I do

Evan is becoming more and more independent these days. While it is exciting, it makes me a little sad. He climbs up in his high chair by himself (tad bit scary, but he does a good job), gets in and out of his car seat alone and will not sit in a high chair at a restaurant. Sometimes he'll sit in a booster, but he prefers sitting in a booth or on a chair all by himself. Look at my big boy eating his grilled cheese and fries (which he only uses to suck the ketchup off of) in a big kid seat. Yes, he is dipping his grilled cheese in ketchup (what can I say, he loves condiments as much as I do!)

Tradewinds Resort in St. Pete Beach

Last weekend Joe had to work in St. Pete, so we tagged along and had a great time at the Tradewinds Resort. Evan loved the Pirate Show and still chants "yo, ho, ho" and tells me that "pirates have birds on their shoulder" and even though he loved the pirates, he stills says,
"mommy, pirates are scary". He wasn't scared during the show, but it's very interesting that he's learning what it is to be scary. Evan loved all the pools and the hammocks. This time, he wasn't such a fan of the ocean.

Feeding Daddy Cookies

Evan loves to share his food with Mommy & Daddy, even cookies.

Happy 21 months!

Today Evan is 21 months old. Not the biggest of milestones, but wow, it's just 3 months away from your 2nd birthday. Where has the time gone? I thought I would look back on where we were over the last 2 years at this time. What a difference 2 years makes. 2 years ago, you and I were in Mexico (but you didn't know it) for Colleen & Chris' wedding and just on Monday, they had their first baby, a girl named Ella Grace. You moved a lot in my belly, but you were a lot easier to keep track of then!
I think you enjoyed all the food I ate there; I had to get my money's worth since it was an all-inclusive and I couldn't indulge in the cocktails!

One year ago, you were a speedy crawler instead of the sprinting hopping all over the place little boy you are now. Last year, the only clear word you said was "hi" (which was still pretty darn impressive for a 9 month old), now you never stop talking and you seem to know the words for everything. You amaze me each day with the words you say that I had no idea you knew. Today it was Eeyore. Last year you had straight redish/dark brown hair. Now it's curly and blondish brown. Last year you were still pretty chubby and now you are built just like your daddy-long and lean!

Happy 21 months little man. You amaze me more each day and you teach me more about life and myself with each passing minute. Thanks buddy, you are the greatest blessing (along with your daddy). I'm the luckiest girl in the world!

New Look

I think this new look is much better, love all the vibrant colors. Hope you do too!

Shamu's Happy Harbor

On Friday we took Evan to Sea World to ride the rides. Not just the Merry Go Round, which he loves, but this boat thing that flies you all around. Another ride we all went on (thus no pictures) is a tea cup ride that goes up in the air. Isn't Evan too young for these rides? That's what I thought. I mean, he's not even 2 years old. But a friend of mine takes her daughter, who is the same age as Evan, on them, so I figured, why not? He's pretty adventurous. As you can tell, he LOVED it. I guess he is a lot older than I realize and a lot more brave than Mom!

Visiting Friends in Maryland

While we were back in Maryland, we got to see some of our friends and got to meet a new one. Welcome Kaylina Kaur Bansal! Ruby, Sandeep & Kieran welcomed a baby girl about a week before our trip. I was so happy that we got to meet her. She is beautiful and Ruby looks AMAZING. She seriously does not look like she has had one child, much less 2 in less than 2 years. Kieran is a happy big brother who seems to love kissing his sister, it's adorable.

We also got to visit with Sarah, Natalie and baby Cassia. We saw Daniela and Maki too, but sadly I didn't get a picture with them. It's so nice that we are able to keep in touch with our friends in Maryland as we seem to go back pretty frequently. Their friendships mean so much to me and it is so fun to watch their kids and their families grow!

My little architect

Evan really enjoys playing with his blocks now, especially with daddy. He loves to build it up and then knock it down. It is so amazing to me how programed boys and girls are to be boys and girls. He is 100% boy, there is no doubt about it.

Nani cupcake

Evan loves to talk about his Nani and typically her name is closely followed by "dog", "boat", "ice cream" or the most famous of them all "cupcake". Peggy has a dog named P.J., who's name Evan says now! She sat him in a boat to play around in a few weeks ago and she often gives him ice cream. But it's the cupcakes that have a special, special place in his heart. During our trip to MD last weekend, Nani did not disappoint.

Sitting Like Daddy

Happy as clams

Mon petit Picasso

Evan is starting to enjoy coloring more and more. However, dumping all the crayons out of the box and then putting them back in is his still his favorite part! I can't wait to do all kinds of arts and crafts with him soon. I love that they have so many products know that are mess free, maybe finger paints aren't too far away in our future....

I will have new posts of Evan soon, I promise

Since we returned from Maryland we have had some crazy trouble with our internet. This causes many problems, especially since I work from home and haven't been able to get much done. So, right now I'm at Panera working, using their internet. The most frustrating part of the whole thing is that I have tons of pictures of Evan I want to post, but can't. All those pictures are on my personal desktop. Hopefully I'll have this problem resolved very soon and update my blog!!

Go CreateDebate!

As many of you know, my brother Bryan, along with a few business partners have created a fantastic website, called CreateDebate.com. They have just launched CreateDebate2008.com for all things related to the upcoming elections. If you haven't checked it out, be sure to do so. Their website was just featured in Roll Call newspaper. And...I'm in it (Kneville=me). Pretty cool :). Here's the article. But this isn't about me, it's about Bryan and the great CreateDebate.com!!!


Who Needs the Pundits? Debate It All Online
By Tricia Miller
Roll Call Staff
September 9, 2008

During an election year many people start to channel television pundits such as Keith Olbermann, Chris Matthews or Rachel Maddow. They spend so much time arguing over the water cooler that they start to talk about sending off an audition tape to a number of their favorite cable news shows. And now they have yet another way to sharpen their arguing skills.

Two relatively young Web sites — CreateDebate.com and Debate.com — have recently unveiled election-focused sites that allow aspiring pundits to debate each other online.

While the original sites allowed visitors to debate everything from the best video games to the worst sports teams, the updated sites focus on candidates, political races and local issues.

“I think the whole idea of finding places to debate like this online is catching on,” said Georgetown University political science associate professor Diana Owen. But, she warned, these sites are unlikely to have much effect on the national election.

Owen said she “always gets excited” to see candidates and outside groups develop new Internet ventures to get voters involved but that few of these, including candidate Web sites and YouTube videos, have changed the outcomes of elections.

Entrepreneurs like Bryan Orme hope she’s wrong. His site, CreateDebate.com, is gearing up for the general election by promoting a new politics alias, CreateDebate2008.com, which he and his partners launched in August. The site allows users to initiate a discussion over a political topic — say, Obama vs. McCain — and then support their views. Users argue for one side or the other and then vote for the best arguments. The most popular arguments rise to the top, while unpopular arguments disappear.

For example, in a debate over who will be the next president, user “Kneville” supplied the most popular argument in favor of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

“As much as I think we need a change in the White House, I think that McCain is liberal enough of a Republican to be elected,” Kneville wrote. “Obama is too polarizing and too liberal for the majority of the country. ”

On the other side, a supporter of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) identified as “Sysiphuslove” wrote, “Obama was nominated in an entirely new way — with the power of the Internet behind him, and everything that entails — and he isn’t a serf of the big-money interests that have kept real change from taking place in Washington.”

Orme said high interest in the election made the addition of a separate site focused on politics a natural extension.

“Our target audience is people that are interested in the issues pertinent to that particular debate and want a platform to debate those,” Orme said.

Orme hopes that as the site grows, more users will weigh in on state and local races. When users register on the politics site, they can enter their ZIP codes and see lists of debates on federal races in their area. He also sees it as another tool candidates or staffers could use online. For instance, a candidate could use it to see what his constituents are talking about and even offer rebuttals to those who may misunderstand or disagree with his decisions.

Owen said the idea of these sites having an impact at a local level is more realistic. She said that similar sites in the U.K. and Germany created two years ago helped politicians see which issues their Internet-savvy constituents cared most about.

The second site, Debate.com, began as a relatively simple site late last year. The brainchild of husband-and-wife team Philip and Crystal Ferreira, it has grown to more than 5,000 registered users and was relaunched last week in its third iteration.

The Ferreiras’ site allows an “instigator” to establish a debate topic and a specific number of rounds in the debate. That instigator can then invite another user to represent the other side or wait for someone else to join independently. In the newest version of the site, users can search for opponents based on ideology, geographic location, gender or other characteristics. Once the last round is over, other individuals can cast a vote in favor of one debater or the other, ultimately choosing the winner.

Philip Ferreira said the couple’s own political discussions inspired the idea for Debate.com, though the site hosts debates on a wide variety of subjects. He said they haven’t done much to promote Debate.com at this point and have attracted users by word of mouth, but they will begin advertising now that the most recent update is public.

Gustav

Over Labor Day weekend, we decided to head down Port St. Lucie for a weekend away. I had no idea that Gustav would be there too! Apparently we got a few of the outer bands that hit the east coast of Florida. It wasn't bad, just some rain, wind and cool surf. We still had a great trip and even discovered how wonderful Friendly's Restaurant is. I want to order off the kids menu there!! Here are some pictures of the crazy windy ocean and my boys.