December 30th, 1997... oh, what a night!

Doug and I had our very 1st date 10 years ago tonight!! I remember it very clearly...

• how nervous I was, what I wore, what he wore
• how He was the perfect gentleman, opening doors, praying at dinner, etc.
  
• that we went to Giovanni's for dinner... he had eggplant parmesan, I had manicotti.
  
• that one of the first things he said when we sat down at dinner was, "Stephanie, I think you are the best!" So sweet.
  
• how we then went and saw "Titanic" at Tigard cinema. First time seeing it. It was awesome!
• when he asked me to get his chapstick out of the glovebox as he was driving me home... what? I remember freaking out thinking that he actually might try to kiss me... he still laughs at that... he really just wanted some chapstick!! Boys!!!

Oh, what a night!! Thanks, sweetie, for making me feel so special that night... and pretty much every day since!! I love you Doug and am so glad I said yes when you asked me out!

Fun Friday

Evelyn and I had so much fun today. She is such a joyful kid who LOVES to laugh and dance and snuggle.... sometimes all at the same time! She received lots of musical toys for her birthday and Christmas and spends hours playing with all of them. It is fun to play with her, too. I just love her so much!

She also is learning at a very fast pace. Tonight was a good example. Our cat Sam was asking to be let in from outside. EVERY time he comes in, especially this time of year, we use a towel that we keep by the door to wipe his feet off. Well, E heard him crying outside and started saying "kitty kitty" (she has been saying this for a while... it was one of her first words!). As we let him in she proceeded to walk over to where the towel was, pick it up, and attempted to dry off the cat!! She totally knew what to do. SO SO cute... so smart of her, too!!

It's not the best photo, but here she is chasing after poor Sam with the towel... after we had already wiped him off!! :) He is looking up at Doug as if to say "make her go away"!



Enjoy your weekend!

Christmas 2007

Saturday: Christmas with Doug's family
I love spending time with his wonderful family, especially Christmas... I am so blessed to have married into the Morris family! His parent, aunt, brother and sisters, as well as the nephews are lots of fun to be with. The day is very traditional, with food, carols, gifts and more.

Evelyn eating in the high chair her daddy ate in when he was a baby
Enjoying the tree and leaving the present alone...sort of!

Grandpa reading the Christmas story to all the grandkids.. a favorite tradition


Monday, Christmas Eve... We head north and stop in Tacoma to see my aunt Bobbie (my dad's sister) and my Uncle Dave. It was so great to see them... it was the first time they have had the chance to meet Evelyn. They loved on her and she warmed up really quickly to them. (Bobbie reminds me so much of my dad.. Evelyn would have really loved him... I miss him a lot this time of year). They got her the prettiest dress... I just had to put it on for a picture!
Christmas Eve/Christmas Day....After our time there, we headed further north to Snohomish for the night and for Christmas day. My aunt Carolyn, uncle Scott and my cousins Hayley(17) and Brooke(14) live there. My mom's 3 other sisters live in the area, too, and they all one came over on Christmas with their kids to celebrate. I didn't get a lot of pictures of everone... we were having too much fun I guess!

Hayley with her 2nd cousin .... she calls E "Rock Star" because E's hair was so wild when she was really little!

Evelyn(with my uncle Sam) meeting my cousin Justin's son Peyton (almost 3, with my cousin Chase, Justin's brother in the pic) for the first time. He was so sweet to her.. and so handsome!

"Santa Max"... poor thing... he hated this outfit, but the girls insisted he wear it all day!

Brooke enjoying all of her "loot"

Kiss Kiss!
We had a busy but wonderful few days with family, the way Christmas should be spent! Bring on New Year's Eve!!

I hope all of you had a great day yesterday!

Cookie Tradition

Every year since Doug and I have been married (6), maybe even before that, I have brought Christmas goodies to his office for him and his co-workers. Evelyn and I went yesterday and enjoyed seeing everyone. They all love seeing E, too!



Here is a pic of all the treats... I had to be quick to get a shot before everything got devoured!


Kevin has a gluten allergy, so this year I made him some special gluten free cookies with gluten free frosting. For all of those who have gluten allergies... I salute you. It takes A LOT of effort to cook without gluten products!

Some more of Doug's co-workers enjoying the cookies. Evelyn is enjoying her can of "puffs"!



One of the guys (who does not have kids) thought E would enjoy playing with his Transformer head that spoke with a scary voice when you pushed a button. What?! Actually, she thought it was funny and didn't want to give it back....


.... until daddy tried to put it over her head. Then she was done with it!! :)

She had fun showing off her new walking skills for everyone and being her cute little self! She was so worn out from the visit that she took a 2+ hour nap when we got home, AND went to be at 6:40.... then slept til 6:45 this morning! WOW!! Playing is hard work! (sidenote.... I slept GREAT last night... I was going to take drugs but forgot....apparently playing is hard work for me, too!)

We are heading to Dallas (OR) tomorrow to have Christmas with Doug's family. I'll post about that when we get back. Should be a fun time.!

Oh, the Irony

Evelyn has never been a good sleeper. She was colicky the first 3+ months of her life and had reflux. She pretty much would scream for at least 2 hours, sleep for one or two (if we were lucky), then be up again to eat. It was brutal to say the least. She outgrew that but didn't outgrow her apparent need to wake up thru the night. A lot. Not to eat, just to fuss.. I spent many nights rocking her for 30mins here, one hour there. Not as brutal, but tiring none the less. She has slept thru the night, so I know she can. Little stinker :) Anyhoo... the past couple of months she has only been up once a night on average. I am getting used to it!

Fast forward to 2 weeks ago. She started to walk! (insert proud mommy grin here). Since then, she pretty much has slept at least 11 hours a night!! I am serious.. 11 hours! It is amazing... walking is hard work apparently! :) FINALLY a chance to get some good shut eye!!

OH CONTRAIR MON FRAIR!! (poor french spelling, but you get the point!)

Now I am the one who isn't sleeping. This winter my allergies are acting up more than usual. At night. Fun! So I sneeze, cough, and blow my nose a lot as I am trying to sleep. Last night it was midnight the last time I looked at the clock! UGH! It is so bad that Doug has been sleeping in the guest bed so he can at least benefit from Evelyn's new feat! I am taking my allergy meds, but they don't seem to kick it.

It is so frustrating.... just when I am able to get some solid sleep, I can't! UGH!!!

I am taking benedryl tonight... for the side effects!! (Don't judge, people... I need sleep!)

Oh, the irony!

You know you are a rookie parent when.....

Evelyn and I were playing with her safari animal puzzle this morning. This is how it went:

E hands me the lion
Me: "This is a lion. It says "roooaarrrr"

E hands me the monkey
Me: "This is a monkey. It says "oohoohooh ahahah"

E hands me the elephant
Me: "This is an elephant. It says......"

Moments of silence pass as I try to figure out how to make an elephant sound... then my sweet husband, laughing, says,

"It says 'I'm an elephant'"

I think we were just really tired, but we both just died laughing at ourselves. It may not sound as funny to you, but we were in stitches! Oh, the things you need to learn to be a parent!!

Can you make an elephant sound?

Helmet Update #6.. Disappointed

Today was supposed to be the big day. We were going to visit Randall the Orthotist and we would be done with full time helmet wear. She was going to have to wear it only at night. We all thought this, even Randall. Apparently, Evelyn's head had other plans!

She actually has regressed a little bit and is more asymmetrical than she was 4 weeks ago. (Insert very sad face here) According to Randall, regression and/or slowing in progress is quite normal, but even he didn't expect it with Evelyn since she has been doing so well and making such good progress. He made a lot of adjustments to the helmet and we will continue to wear it full time for at least another 4 weeks.

As I sat in Randall's office with Evelyn while he worked on the helmet in his lab, I kept kissing her sweet head, quite bummed that it will be another 4 weeks at least until I can kiss her head whenever I want. She has been such a trooper thru this whole thing.. it's me that wants to be done with it already! Her hair is growing and is so pretty, and she is changing so much in her face as she gets older. I feel as though I am missing out on some of this because it is hidden with the pink helmet.

I am trying to be positive. This is all for a good reason and I know this is a temporary thing that is just a blip on the radar of her life. Also, she has started to walk and the helmet will be good protection as she takes a few headers trying to figure that whole thing out. It makes me breathe a bit easier, too, when she is dancing by the fireplace knowing she wont crack her head if she loses her balance! But it is still so hard!

So tonight I am sad and disappointed. But Evelyn is upstairs playing and laughing with her daddy without a care in the world. I am blessed.. and its all going to be OKAY!

"Why so downcast, o my soul? Put your hope in God and bless the Lord o my soul..."Psalm 42.5

Thanks for your continued support! XO

Things Pondered

My sweet Evelyn Joy turns one tomorrow at 3:29pm. What a year it has been!

• 365 of holding her cute little body in my arms
  
• 365 days of looking at her beautiful face
• 365 days of watching her sleep
  
• 365 days of tears, smiles, laughs, giggles, squeals, and snuggles
• 365 days of seeing life through her eyes and learning from it
  
• 365 days of watching my husband be such a wonderful father
• 365 days of prayer, love and support from family and friends
• 365 days of swaddling, sleepers, cute outfits, and socks that never stay on
• 365 days of breastfeeding, pumping, formula, bottlefeeding, spit up and cleanup
• 365 days of being tired and being rejuvenated with a thought of her
  
• 365 days that I won't ever get back again... and hope I made the most of them
• 365 days of wondering how God could give me one of His children to love, care for and raise up in His behalf
• 365 days of thanking God for such an opportunity
• 365 days that have changed my life
  

Thank you, Evelyn, for bringing such joy into my life! Happy Birthday, sweet pea! I love you so very much. It is an honor to be your mommy!

"... and Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart" Luke 2:19

One Year Ago Today....

... I went into labor. It started at about 2:30 in the morning with mild contractions. Of course Doug and I were totally excited (a bit nervous, too). The baby would be here soon.. and right on time for my Dec. 5th due date! Doug had taken the whole month of December off to be with me and the baby, so it was going to be great for him to have so much time with his new daughter. We started the whole timing thing and waited for things to progress....

Unfortunately, Evelyn had other plans. I ended up being in labor for a whole week!! I had contractions only at night for 4 days, then pretty constant for another 3. It was brutal. I was tired. I was anxious to meet my sweet pea. I didn't want to push out a big baby, or worse yet, have to have an urgent c-section or something. Painful... physically and emotionally!

At the same time, it was one of the most precious weeks I have ever had with my husband. He was up with me most of my long nights and we would laugh hysterically watching Conan O'Brien and other shows that only are funny at that time of night (the best was watching Conan get drunk on eggnog with Martha Stewart... priceless!). We went on walks, ate ice cream, had amazing conversation and prayer time, and were nap buddies! It was a blessing to have this time together before our lives would be changed forever.

I would post a picture of my last days before Evelyn came, but I don't have any. That's ok... trust me... it was not a pretty sight! :)

I can't believe my baby turns one next Tuesday!