A Beginning and an End

It was a big day in the Morris home!

Evelyn began swim lessons this afternoon. She was SO excited about the "poooool" and I was SO not excited about putting on a bathing suit. Oh, well.. the things you do for your kids! :) She did AWESOME in the pool.. totally loved it. I had a feeling she would. She loved it so much that she threw a huge tantrum when we had to get out of the pool. It lasted until we got to the car... so fun! Needless to say, she had no trouble falling asleep tonight! This pic is the best one of both of us.. again.. me in a swimsuit is NOT pretty. I will try to get better ones as lessons go on! She was having so much fun splashing. "spash".. her new favorite word! :)


And in other big news, my sweet husband got his braces off this morning! I was so excited to see him tonight when he got home from work! His teeth look SO good and he looks even more handsome, if that is possible! He has been such a trooper the past 2 years dealing with the hardware in his mouth! Now I can pack carrots and hard boiled eggs in his lunch again! :) The only bummer is that Evelyn kinda freaked out when she saw him (granted, it was after swim class and she was tired). She has never known him without braces and has always been fascinated with them. I am sure she'll get over it... he's not putting them back on!

Here he is the night before he got his braces. Aug 2006. You can click on the photo to see his teeth better.

.. and now June 2008! They look so good!


Overall a good day. A very good day!

Meet my niece

FINALLY... I get to post pics of my sweet new niece!! She was born June 8th. 9lbs 4oz... and that was 2 weeks early! WOW! She had some breathing troubles and was in the NICU for a week, but has been thriving ever since! I haven't got to see her in over a week, but I got to love on her yesterday! I am such a proud auntie!! Here's Regan Joann Jeub:



...and while I'm blogging I'll throw in some shots of Evelyn. She is really into her sunglasses lately. Sometimes we have a hard time getting her to take them off! :)

A birthday wish...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JODY!!

Today is my best friend, Jody's birthday. She is going to kill me for both writing about and posting pics of her on my blog, but that's ok. I want to give her a shout out on her special day!

Why I love my friend....

• She is an amazing nurse (we worked together for 10 years)
  
• She is an amazing aunt (she LOVES her nieces and nephew with passion)
• She is an amazing athlete (she's currently training for a marathon)
  
• She bakes the best monster cookies EVER
  
• She get excited over EVERY holiday
• She is HILARIOUS! and can always put a smile on my face
• She stood with me when I got married and looked great in her dress! :)
  
• She stood by me when my dad died.. that was tough
• She put up with me when I was pregnant!
  
• She stood by me during some pretty "hard times" (she knows what I mean)
  
• She is honest with me (even if it hurts) and lets me be honest with her
  
• She listens to me (even when I am not making sense.. which is a lot!)
• She loves chocolate.. I love her for that!
• She is dependable
• She makes time for me even if it means saying no to something more fun!
• She likes me despite myself! I can totally be myself with her. That can be hard for me with friendships
• She likes my husband (and he loves her, too!)
• She loves my daughter. From the day she was born, Evelyn has been loved and cared for by Jody. I trust her completely with Evelyn (really, Jody, I do!) and Evelyn loves being with her. She has taught Evelyn about gardening and about soccer, and loves to play hard with her (Evelyn loves it when Jody will throw her as high as she can!) It is fun to see Evelyn's eyes light up when she sees "my Jody"!
• She loves me. I don't doubt that, and I certainly don't deserve it.
  

Happy Birthday, Jody! You make the world a better place. Doug, Evelyn and I are better for having you in our life! We love you!

Road Trip Photo Album

(This is a bit overdue, but I had to get a Father's Day post in first!) We traveled to Snohomosh (NE of Seattle) for the day on Saturday to celebrate my cousin's graduation. It was so fun to be with family to celebrate the end of high school for Hayley. I won't bore you with all of the details.. I'll just show you a few of the MANY photos I took!

On the road... we left before 7:30am.. Evelyn feel asleep for an early nap around 8:30. She didn't nap the rest of the day. She had so much fun!
We arrived around 11:30. Here's Evelyn with Hayley.
My mom has 4 sisters.. here are 3 of them. Chris, Carolyn(Hayley's mom), and Sharon. I love them to bits.. I am so blessed with amazing aunts and uncles!
How fun it was that my big sister Michelle was there, too! She lives in Idaho and I don't see her nearly as much as I want to! Evelyn loved seeing her, too.. my sister taught her how to say "boooooyaaaaa" a while ago. Since we have been home Evelyn hasn't stopped saying it. Thanks, Shell! :)
Here is my uncle Scott (Hayley's dad) giving a toast/blessing to Hayley. He almost made it thru without crying. Most of us were in tears from the start!

My sweet niece, Abby. I heart her!! She has the best giggle EVER!

..any my nephew, Curtis. It was his birthday Sunday. I can't believe he is 8! He is so smart... it is scary! :)
Evelyn got LOTS of time outside in the sun. She loved running in the grass with her daddy and the other "big kids"!
We gave her a bath there and auntie Carolyn got to read her a book before we took off for home!

Put a fork in her.. she is DONE! I think she fell asleep before we even got out of Carolyn and Scott's neighborhood! Unfortunately she woke up a lot on the ride home due to her relentless cough that she seems to be finally kicking today!



We always love being with family. Saturday was no exception!

Happy Father's Day!!

Evelyn couldn't have asked for a better daddy!

We both are thankful for who he is and all he does for us!

He provides
He leads
He jokes
He cries
He plays
He laughs
He kisses
He hugs
He prays
He loves

..and much much more! We love you!

...oh, and Happy Father's day to my mom's husband, my father-in-law, my uncles, and all of my brothers-in-law... you all mean SO much to me! I love you and am thankful for each of you! ..and Dad... I miss you and love you. You were the best dad EVER! :)

Time flies...

My baby is 18 months old today! AAAAGGGHHHH!! Where has the time gone? I have had moments today where I was SO excited and thankful that she is growing and healthy. Then I countered those with moments of sadness that my "baby" isn't really a "baby" anymore.

Here she is one year ago today.. she was 15lbs and 27 inches long. She could sit up by herself for a very short period of time.. most of the time she needed one of us or the boppie to hold her up! Geez, she was so sweet and so cute with her crazy hair!



Here she is today.. not as willing to sit still and more able to run away from the camera! :) Today she was 23lbs and 35 inches long. As our wonderful pediatrician said, she is "tall, skinny, healthy and happy"! I'll take that!

• She is growing into such a beautiful, sweet, funny girl who loves her kitty-kitty, her parents, and her "bookie bookie" (i.e. the park), her baby, and of course, her books!
  
• I swear she learns a new word every day. Doug and I were counting and we think she has about 25 that she really says, 5-6 that aren't clear but we know what she means, and many sounds.
  
• She has a memory that amazes me. That will come back to haunt me some day, I'm sure!
  
• She loves to sing.. or at least be sung to (and she LOVES it when I sing and play the piano).
  
• She is my climber and I am sure I will find her on top of the refrigerator any day now!
  
• I love it that she knows we are praying and quietly watches us, but doesn't fold her hands or close her eyes until we say "amen", then she does it and smiles so big.
• I love her kisses and snuggles and her laugh.. they make the worst day seem like it never happened!
  

I simply cannot imaging life without her.. she completes so many parts of me.

Evelyn Joy, you truly are my sunshine, and make me SO happy when skies are blue (and gray, and purple, etc). I hope you know, sweet pea, how much me and daddy love you.. may Jesus put sunshine in your heart every day!

Most embarrassing

I told my friend Jenni that if she shared her most embarrassing moment on her blog that I would share mine. Well, she did... so here it goes. 

Before I share I need to preface the story by stating that I have WAY too many moments I could share.. this one is just one of my better foot-in-my mouth moments. 

A LITTLE BACKGROUND..
This is Rob Marciano. He currently is a meteorologist for CNN in Atlanta. In 1997, he was the new head weather guy at KATU here in Portland. I was 27 and single. When I first saw him on TV, I was quite intrigues by this handsome man. You have to admit, he is pretty easy on the eyes. Let's just say I became a very faithful KATU news fan once I saw him! HA!

Lucky for me, my friend Jen from my bible study was a producer for KATU. She arranged for us girls to come down on Memorial Day that year to watch the show and get a tour. Lucky for me, Rob was going to be there! 

THE BIG DAY!
We had so much fun at the studio, hanging out with the staff and crew.... and yes, Rob. He was even more handsome in person, if that was possible. He was so funny, and very easy to talk to. I was enjoying hanging out with him, to say the least!

After the broadcast, we went onto the set to get some pictures with the crew. Rob specifically asked me to sit in his stool. I melted! (I know, I am pathetic). So, here's my embarrassing moment. I'm sitting there, him over my shoulder, and I see the clicker thing the weather guys use to change the screens on the air. And this pops out of my mouth...

"Rob, can I touch your wand?" (TOTALLY meaning the clicker, nothing more!)

OPEN MOUTH, INSERT FOOT! I couldn't believe what had just come out of my mouth! The moment I said it, I wanted to crawl in a hole... and die a slow, painful death.

But, oh, no.. it gets better. His response?

"Only if you're gentle!", he says with a wink and a big grin.

Seriously.. I was DYING!!! My face was as red as a tomato I'm sure. My friend Lori, who was sitting next to me and heard this wonderful exchange, was trying SO hard not to bust out laughing. The evening ended with Rob inviting us girls over for a BBQ, but thankfully we had other plans. I just wanted to get out of there and pray that he would forget what I said to him. Jen says he never mentioned it, so apparently I am the one left with the painfully funny (now anyway) memory of my moment with Rob Marciano.

There ya go, Jenni!