Growth Spurt

Somebody has been an eating monster, a cranky monster and a sleeping monster the past few days. 

I've also noticed that he seems to be getting taller, very noticeably.

He's been waking up really early, taking about a 4-5 hour nap everyday, and then falling asleep at 6 at night. 

Whenever he wakes up, he's really grumpy.  My poor boy.  I don't think that the growth spurts were as obvious when he was smaller because he ate and slept most of the time anyway. 

Oh, and the picture of him is when he fell asleep in his high chair during his lunch.  He finished off most of his peanut butter and jelly though!

Cute Little Man

Completely off the bottle now.  Check out that gut..

Removing books from their proper place.

Eating or perhaps kissing the doggy.

Playing with his Mickey Ride along.  He hides the blocks under the seat.

No idea what he's doing here.

At the Italian Buffet we went to.  He really enjoyed his corn and pizza.

At church (Stake Conference) we were in the YW room and he fell and smacked his head on his sippy cup. 

He put each of his doggies in their new doghouse.

Eating lunch today.

Getting tired. 

Evan is seriously the greatest.  He's so weird, he cracks me up.  I really wish that we could communicate better already, especially since I would love to know exactly what he's saying and thinking about.

He likes pulling out our books from the bookcases.  He takes the big Harry Potter books in both hands, runs over to me, looks up, drops them on the floor and then takes one of his books and puts it in the book case. And sometimes I find the DVD shelves (which he takes the dvds out of) full of blocks and sippy cups also.

The other day I was laying on the couch because I wasn't feeling well and Evan was running around and playing when all of a sudden I feel something cold and hard hit my face.  When I looked at him, I realized he was pushing his phone into my face.  He wanted me to talk on the phone.

He likes lining up his sippy cups (he usually has one for juice and one for milk).  So, he'll take the the two cups and put them on the window sill.  In between the two cups, he always puts a toy (usually a stuffed animal).  It reminds me of a memorial, with the sippy cups as candles and the doggy as a picture of the person.

Sometimes he just runs back and forth, talking to himself.  He obviously understands what's going on, even if I don't have a clue.

My boy also loves his books. I catch him a lot now when he's just sitting on the ground and reading a book.  Usually it's a book that's age appropriate to him.  Sometimes it's Harry Potter or another book that is still a little advanced for him.  :)

He's getting taller and, looks thinner because of that.  I'm sure his weight will catch up to him soon again and he'll look a bit chunkier again.

He's starting to bite our fingers when we brush his teeth at night.  And he doesn't sit down in the bath tub unless we make him. 

He likes making dashes for the kitchen when the gate is open and he runs to the fridge to play with his Leap Frog magnets.  I usually have to pry them out of his hands because they automatically go into his mouth. 

When he doesn't like where I am leading him when he's walking, he's starting to stop and sit down.  He becomes limp and unresponsive and gets upset when I give up and pick him up to take him where we are going. 

He's a total pain in church.  Man, I am so ready for him to be going in to Nursery (only 4 more months).  I can hardly sit through Sacrament Meeting and I don't bother going to Sunday School.  The only break I get from him is when I got to Young Women.  Then Rick takes him because he isn't teaching at that time. 

He's beginning to climb a lot more.  Usually I stick him in the dry bath tub when I am washing out his dirty cloth diapers into the toilet, and the other day, he had one leg over the edge of the tub before I stopped him. 

He enjoys getting lotion on his hands (whenever he sees me put it on, he does it too.)  He also likes to try to eat my chapstick. 

He just loves being outdoors.  He loves being in the car now.  He takes in everything possible.  And I always have to remind myself that he is learning something new everyday.  I really want to make sure that I am a part of that.  And I am so grateful that I am the first person that sees these things, instead of someone that's watching him. 

Don't get me wrong.  There is nothing wrong with being a working mom. It's just not for me.  I just love being at home with Evan and just being there for him.  Most of the time now it seems like he doesn't even need me anymore.  But, when he is tired, hungry, hurt or just upset, he comes running toward me. 

I am so thankful to be a mother and to have this little boy in my life. I pray that I can know how he needs to be raised and how I can help him.  I get so worried about the future and the state that this world is in.  I worry that Evan will be bullied in school or that I won't even want to send him to public school because of the education system right now.  I worry about his health.  I worry about his spirituality.  I really hope that I can be a good mother for him;  I know that I am supposed to be his mom and that gives me a lot of comfort because Heavenly Father knows me and my personality and He knows Rick and Evan as well.  I don't think that He would have sent Evan to us, if we wouldn't be able to raise him properly.  

Just some thoughts on the best job I've had before (also, being a wife is quite awesome too).

A Good Kind of Stress

It's getting to the end of our long haul here in Biloxi, and we couldn't be more excited to be leaving. 

Rick, because he wants to get out of the Tech School environment, and myself so I can move on to somewhere that we will be staying more permanently (for at least longer than a year) and getting more settled. 

Evan just wants to see all of his family in Arizona, California, DC and Maryland. 

It's nice to have a change, and since there's not much to do in Biloxi, we're really looking forward to our move. 

Of course, we're extremely stressed out.  Even though Rick has his orders already, he still has 3 weeks left of school in Bryan Hall, and then he has to wait to get in to a Security + class.  We're not sure if the Security + class will be 2 or 3 weeks long OR how long it will take for Rick to get in to the class. 

We've estimate that we will be leaving in the middle of March (keeping our fingers crossed).  Until then, we're going to be extremely busy, with packing, deep cleaning the house, arranging for transportation to Maryland, arranging for a storage unit, arranging for transportation back west, etc.  I also am going to be extremely busy with Young Women for the entire months of January and February. 

But, it's all a good kind of stress...  because we'll be off to a new place and a new phase!

Hello 2011 Goals!

So, I am really excited about 2011.  Seriously.  We have a lot of plans for this year, with Rick graduating Tech School (finally), moving to Maryland, Evan's 2nd birthday and hopefully fun trips to places and spending lots of time with family. 

2010 was the beginning of our Air Force adventure, and it sure has been fun AND stressful lately.   But, we have big plans for 2011. 

The past two new years I've made resolutions/goals for myself.  I always like to do this in order to reflect and become re focused.  Here are a few of the things that I have in mind for this year:

1) Going to the temple at least 12 times this year (That should equal once a month, but who knows when things get crazy).
2)  Read Book of Mormon every night before bed.
3)  Drink only water and milk.  No more soda, not too much juice and sports drinks only when sick or exercising.
4) Run a 5K.
5) Run a 10K.
6) Start a garden in Maryland. Rick got me a square foot gardening book so we can start one when we move.
7) Sew myself some clothes and quilts this year.

That's about it.  I'm trying not to overdo it.  Before I've said that I've wanted to run like, a half marathon and that sort of stuff, but, something has always come up (ex: getting pregnant).  And I'm trying to focus more on the being healthy side opposed to the losing weight side, since that angle hasn't really been working for me.  I'm also trying to be better with budgeting and being frugal with things. 

I dedicate this house to the Chappell Family Christmas

The pictures are out of order but I don't want to do this again, so oh well.  Evan opening his stocking to get his goodies.

"Helping" daddy with his stocking.

His new cell phone. 

Leap Frog Phonics magnets from Nana and Poppa Carpenter

Talking on the phone. Not really interested in the unwrapped gifts.

Playing on the xylophone from Santa

pulling the xylophone around.

With daddy before we had dinner.  He either looks like a lumber jack or a wolverine ("Red Dawn).  I can't decide.

Evan and I.  He's the cutest.

Clapping his hands for me.

Talking to me with some concern.

Surrounded by all his gifts.

trying to eat the camera.

This was from Christmas Eve.  Looking at the lights.  Doesn't care about the presents.

Christmas tree in the morning.

Evan as soon as he woke up.

Picking at the yummy breakfast I made of bacon, egg and toast muffin cups.

The gift piles.  Yes, Evan was completely spoiled.

So, the title of this blog post is from one of my very favorite Christmas movies.  Ever.  Anyone that knows that movie from the quote above, (substituting the name of the family in the movie with our family), kudos to you.  My family can't participate.  They already know it.

This was our first Christmas together in our own home, with only the three of us.  And, as much as I missed our families, it was so relaxing. I loved not having to go anywhere or travel.  Evan was spoiled by everyone.  I was spoiled by Rick and family, and Rick was spoiled by myself and our families.  Needless to say, we were all spoiled.

It's interesting that this has been one of my favorite Christmases ever, especially since we were quite frugal with our money this Christmas.  I guess it doesn't matter, as long as you have the "Chrithmath Thpirit" (same movie-translation is Christmas Spirit) in your home.  Plus, being frugal and not having as much money to spend means that you get to be more creative in what you buy for people.

Next year, Evan will be able to start playing with a lot more fun stuff though, and I really want to spoil him for that.  So, we're going to start a "gift fund" for all the birthdays, anniversaries, fathers/mothers days, Easter and Christmas so hopefully, we can spoil each other a little bit more during the year.

Overall, we had a great time.  Finally glad this was posted since blogger hasn't been working well for me the past few days.  Happy New Year!

Lately...

We've been recovering from the miscarriage, busy with our callings, tech school, and playing (Evan).  We're also recovering from the flu, so it's been a crazy month.  We were finally able to finish our Christmas shopping this week, thankfully.

I keep having to remind myself that it is the most wonderful time of the year despite the flu, traffic and major dent to our budget.  Oh well.  I can't wait to see Evan on Christmas morning when he opens his gifts.  Hopefully, I'll post some pictures soon of our Christmas decor.

Evan's getting a lot bigger.  He claps, waves hello and goodbye and gives high fives.

He's not talking very much yet, so I am a little concerned about that, but he does say "da da" and "ma ma" and "ya ya", so that's better than nothing right?

And he's a little boy... they're slightly more slow than girls.  He might catch up to girls his age, but I doubt it. :)

Holiday in the Park

Rick and Evan in front of Frosty. 

Evan petting the llama.  He needs a dog or something because he seriously loves animals.

Evan loved all the animals in the mini petting zoo that they had.

Talking to the llama. 

Distracted by daddy's flashlight.

They finally lit the Christmas tree.

It was freezing cold (well, for us it was cold).

In front of the Christmas tree... Evan was distracted by the lights.

Family picture with Evan actually looking!

Holiday in the Park was a lot of fun!  The Drum and Bugle Corps (Rick's the commander) performed some Christmas songs.  They had free toys for the kids.  We also got Pirates of the Caribbean 2 (now we just need to get movies 1 and 3!).  They fed us hot dogs and chili.  The petting zoo was awesome.  And Santa even came!  The line was too long for a Santa picture too.  No big deal---Evan's too little anyway. 

It was a nice way to relax as a family and have fun, and all for free!  It was especially nice since the pretty rough week were having anyway.  I love the Air Force because they take such good care of us. And I am so grateful that even though we're going to an army base, Rick is a part of the Air Force Wing there, so I know we'll be taken care of!