Monday, August 31, 2009

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to a great husband and a great daddy. For your first birthday as a father, I hope it is extra special and filled with lots more love and kisses. We are so glad you are here. Here are 33 reasons why we love you...

  1. You make us laugh
  2. You take care of us
  3. You let me watch my girly tv shows and don't complain too much :)
  4. You help with Evan's bath
  5. You surprise me with ice cream
  6. You drive on long trips
  7. You let me listen to my music on long trips ;)
  8. You are an awesome daddy
  9. You made the cutest, most smiley little boy
  10. You take care of Jack
  11. You make me smile
  12. You let me be right even when I'm not
  13. You challenge me
  14. You love your family
  15. You put me and Evan first
  16. You love taking trips
  17. You love to hold my hand
  18. You make Evan smile and sing when you talk to him
  19. You are a great policeman/detective
  20. You make me happy, everyday
  21. You are a great athlete
  22. You can be lazy like me :)
  23. You love movies and going to the drive in
  24. You love hanging out with our friends
  25. You have a strong sense of faith
  26. You let me win sometimes :)
  27. You are helpful
  28. You are an over-analyzer and we love you for it
  29. You make an amazing Uncle and M and M love you
  30. You take care of our house
  31. You watch Cardinal baseball with me even though its not your favorite
  32. You are unique and hard-working
  33. You make Evan and me the luckiest people on Earth...We love you!

Sunday, August 30, 2009

First trip to Indy

Evan had a great first trip to Indy this past weekend. He slept almost the entire way up there and did so well in the car. We were busy, busy, busy but had SO much fun! We got there Thursday night and went to bed, but Friday were up and had a great day. We surprised Madison at her school and all of us ate lunch up there in the cafeteria. She was very surprised and was so proud to play with her sister Mallory and to show off her new cousin. We also went to Maddy's soccer game, Mal's was cancelled :(, and saw her game. She did great! We had a kickball game in the backyard, bbq'd, and just had a nice, relaxed weekend. Evan did so good sleeping, which made us very happy! We took lots of pictures of the cousins and there were so cute! The girls would sing songs to Evan and he would just smile and laugh! Sorry for the overload of pictures but it really is too hard to choose!

Surprised Madison at her school Friday and had lunch with her. It was the best seeing Maddy's face all lit up!
Pouting face...it's so adorable!
Playing kickball
Their sad face! :)
Evan had such a good time taking a bath with his cousins...he was a little too relaxed though and peed in the tub! The girls screamed and Evan just smiled away!
Pj picture! So cute!
Evan had a great time eating Maddy's nose!
Such a great shot of the three kiddos!

something new...

Evan got to try out his new toy! Grandma Merritt has this exersaucer for Evan and we decided to try it out before we left for Indy on Thursday. He is still a tad too little right now, but he had such a fun time looking at all the bright colors and gadgets!

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Bullet style :)

  • Today I started my practicum hours for my ELL masters class at the elementary school where I taught last year. It was a little weird coming in after the bell had rung and students were already in class. Weird, but nice! I got to give my first language test to a kindergartner who spoke Arabic. It was a great learning experience and I loved it! I can't wait to have my masters finished and hopefully go back (one day!) and teach ELL students.
  • Mike, Evan and I are getting ready for a busy couple of weeks. We are headed to Indianapolis this weekend to see Dan, Amanda, and the girls. It's been about 10 weeks since we've seen each other and I know we are just as excited to see them as they are to see us :) We will get to see the girls play soccer and just hang out and have fun. I'm hoping to get some good cousin pictures of all three kiddos...we'll see how that goes!
  • We are also so happy to be in St. Louis next week. Mike has training downtown for detective stuff and I'll get to visit with family and friends! We'll also get to celebrate Mike's birthday and I'm hoping for some of this great weather to continue so we can be outside at parks or maybe even the zoo!
  • Labor Day weekend we are headed back to Clarksville to hang out and relax. The Indy Laughlins will be able to join us and we have lots of activities we are hoping to do including canoeing, swimming, fishing, mini golf, and just hanging out and having family time.
  • When we get back, we have Evan's 4 month doctor visit (Can you believe it will be 4 months already?! I can't!) and Mike will be getting ready to work Mizzou football games.
  • FALL is just around the corner! I'm excited for jeans, hot chocolate, comfy sweatshirts, football, leaves changing and their beautiful colors, and our trip to Florida at the end of October! What are you excited for during the fall season???

Monday, August 24, 2009

It's a great day in the neighborhood!

What a beautiful evening for a walk through our neighborhood! :) Love family time!

Sunday, August 23, 2009

3 months!

Here is Evan's 3 month picture! His is getting SO big!

Saturday, August 22, 2009

saying hello!

Evan wanted to say Hello to his friend Charlie! :) Enjoy!

getting stronger...

Are you ready?

For some Football?!?!


Friday, August 21, 2009

Mr. Mouthy

Lately you've been Mr. Mouthy! :) You love putting your hands, blankets, t-shirts, burp cloths...basically anything you can get a hold of, you put in your mouth! Also you've been "talking" up a storm saying stuff back to us and singing when we sing to you. It's too cute. Your favorite songs to sing are still the ABC song, Jesus Loves Me, Freedom (we sing this in the morning when you finally get to get out of your swaddle, and the morning song I made up for you! These definitely bring a smile to your face! Also, you've been drooling tons, so I wonder if teeth will make an appearance in the next month or two. Hmmm...slow down little guy! You are growing WAY too fast!

Question for you....

Alright folks, I need some of your great advice, so if you could let me know what you did or how you went about this information, we would greatly appreciate it! My question is how many of you have a will for your family and how did you go about choosing the person(s) who would care for your child in case you and your spouse passed away? Mike and I need to be thinking about this obviously with Evan here, but are having a hard time with the decision making process, so we would love your input. If you do not have a will, why not? Are you stuck like we are? I know this is a pretty heavy topic for this wonderful Friday morning, but I'm just curious! Thank you!!!! Isn't he just simply irresistible?

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Evan's Birth Day Video

Monday, August 17, 2009

too cool

Your new favorite thing to do it lay on your back with your hands behind your head. It's so adorable!

chin x2

We just love this kid...double chins and all.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

do re mi fa so la ti do

Mike and I took Evan to his first class this morning for a free preview music class. It is called Music Together and I first heard about it through my blog friend Laura. It was SO much fun. Even though Evan was by far the youngest there, he had a great time and was smiling and laughing the entire time. There were about 15 kids there from a wide variety of ages and everyone had a great time! You sing songs, dance, move around, play with instruments, etc. We are going to enroll Evan in it for the fall session on Saturday mornings and we are hoping a few friends join too! This pic was taken about 1.4 seconds in the car after class... ;)

Friday, August 14, 2009

getting started early

The love of the St. Louis Cardinals and reading....a great combination!

Uncle Brad

Love my shirt Uncle Brad...thank you! It finally fits!
Love, Evan



Thursday, August 13, 2009

Best Buds

Jack has done such a great job with the transition of Evan into our house. He now lays outside his door when he is taking naps and is always concerned when he cries. It is really cute. :) One day Evan will be big enough to play with him...just hope its not too soon!





ABC's

Love this!!! :)

Dinner

Monday night we headed over to Dave and Sarah Beth's for dinner! It was great seeing them and enjoying a nice meal with them and Mike's parents. Here are just a few pictures...enjoy!