Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Random April Pictures

Here are all of the other random pictures from April...
Swimming!
I don't want to get up from a nap...or walk down the stairs!
Helping Mommy water the tree we are trying to nurse back to health for the third year in a row (it's getting cut down if it doesn't make it back this year!)

Playing at the playground/park just off the bay in downtown Corpus Christi
A sweet tea party that Amber took Evelyn too - she loved it!
I told her we were going for a walk, so she put my shoes on
It's tough being this cute
She thinks she's big enough for the big adjustment table at Dr. Walker's now!
Little stinker threw her ball into the street, then climbed into my chair as I chased (aka, waddled) after it
OK..this next one is kind of gross, but I had to post about what a champ my Dad is.  He was cutting trees with a chainsaw last weekend, and about cut off his leg.  Apparently if you are going to try to cut you leg off with a chainsaw, this was the way to do it because by the grace of God he didn't hit any ligaments or bone.  He has a hefty amount of stitches and healing to do - and was most proud that with his surgery scar from the staph infection a couple of years ago, he now has a #7 for John Elway on his leg.  (That's when I knew he was ok...when I called my Mom's phone and he answered telling me that!)  He ended up having to get an IV of antibiotics for a week to stave off another staph infection - it sounds like he and Mom finished off a season or two of 24 on the laptop waiting for that to happen every night!
We had the privilege of welcoming home our good friend, Aaron, who has been deployed for the last 13 months.  Evelyn and I met Amber at the airport that morning for the welcoming party, then I headed to work from there.  It was one of the most incredible things I have ever witnessed - not just the emotion of Hollie, Sam, and Gwen (his wife and children), but the overall support of so many friends and the local veteran's club.  Very special. 
Hollie, Sam, and Gwen waiting for Aaron to come down the hallway
Yay - reunited!!
Evelyn and I took Daddy to lunch for his birthday - she insisted on carrying his balloons!
This was taken at Aaron's Welcome Home party.  Hollie had everyone dress as a specific holiday or event that Aaron missed while he was away...we had the Super Bowl.
Happy April...ready for May.  It's one month closer to this baby being on the outside of me...and being able to breathe again, walk again, sleep (sort of) again....

Friday, April 26, 2013

Story Time with Belle

Every week, either Amber or I (depending on if I'm working or not) take Evelyn to the preschool story time at one of our local libraries.  She loves it, and it's been fun to watch her learn the songs they sing every week.  She sings most of them on her own now, or will demand that you sing it for her so she can do the motions.  This week, Disney on Ice was in town, so they did a special story time with an undisclosed Disney princess.  It ended up being Belle, pre-princess Belle with her love for books.
She read the kids a story about France
Then posed for pictures with each of them...
Evelyn didn't know what to do - so she just chewed on her fingers.
She still talks about story time with Belle, though, so there was some sort of an impression made!

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Let's go Pacers!

I made sure Evelyn was decked out in Pacers gear to pick Dan up at the airport on Monday.  Gosh, she's cute.



I think it's the pigtails...but she looks so much older in these pictures to me!

Monday, April 22, 2013

Mommy & Evelyn's Weekend of Fun (with Daddy in Indiana)

For Dan's birthday, I surprised him with a plane ticket to Indianapolis to visit his family.  This weekend was his Mom and Dad's 40th wedding anniversary, and his brothers/sisters were throwing a party in their honor.  He decided to keep the trip a surprise from everyone but his brother, Mike, as well.  He left Corpus at about 5:30am on Saturday morning, landing him in Indy in the late morning.  Mike and Kendra picked him up at the airport and transported him to the party.
Brothers don't shake hands...brothers gotta hug!
While he was gone, Evelyn and I flew solo with a weekend of fun.  We started Saturday off with donuts at the donut shop, then - with help from a friend here - went and got Dan's car from the airport parking lot so we could surprise him by picking him up when he flew back in on Monday.
This was taken after naptime...and I see so much of myself in it, it's crazy!
I think my Mom even has a picture very similar to this in an album somewhere...
We read books...
And took pictures with Mommy's phone...
While Daddy spent time with cousin Micah watching videos of Evelyn...
We went to church on Sunday...
While Daddy played at the park with cousin Micah...
...and Uncle Mike...
On Sunday, I surprised Dan with one more surprise...tickets to the Pacers first playoff game against Atlanta!  He took his Dad to the game with him.
Here they are at Banker's Life Fieldhouse...
Evelyn and I cheered from Texas
We also played outside.  
Apparently when Mommy says, "Evelyn, don't climb in the sand table"...
It means climb in the sand table!
Evelyn and I missed Daddy a lot, but we had a fun weekend with just the girls.  I'm so glad that Dan was able to spend the time with his family and celebrate with his parents.  We surprised him on Monday evening by showing up at the airport to pick him up.  He nearly missed Evelyn running towards him because he wasn't expecting us!  I wish I had a video of that whole meeting...I was bawling.  I love to see the love between those two!

Friday, April 19, 2013

Hooks Game Fun

For the last couple of years, my boss has treated everyone in our department to a Hooks (minor league baseball) game as a thank you for our hard work over the year.  He rents out a private deck where we get all of our food/drinks paid for and get to sit and watch the game in fun rocking chairs.

Or...when you have an almost two-year old, you get to take it the other amusements of the ballpark.  Our ballpark is really great for kids - they have several playground type attractions, huge grass areas to run around in, and several older-kid kinds of things like rock-climbing walls and bungee jumps on the trampoline.  It's a great, family-friendly ballpark.  

This was the first time we had made it to a game this season, and it was fun to watch how much Evelyn has grown since last year.  Seeing her do things she never did last year with so much independence.  She was pretty much running around non-stop most of the night.
Playing on the castle set
This slide would have been more fun if the sun was behind her!
"I climbing!"
(one of her favorite things to do...which accounts for about 90% of the bruises you see on her legs in half our pictures!)

This game was a Friday night game, which means that there is a free fireworks show after the game.  It's actually a pretty legit show, and they do it for every Friday night game.  We figured we would play it by ear and see how Evelyn did.  We knew she would like it, but didn't want her melting down because it was late, either. 
This was during the last inning...waiting for the fireworks (and completely zoned out)
She did enjoy them once they came - except for the loud ones that just explode into a white ball that aren't really pretty, just loud.  She kept saying, "loud" "lights" "sky" "pretty" over and over.  I was pretty surprised that she made it so late (it was nearing 10pm)!  I was equally surprised that Dan made it that late because he was catching a super early flight the next morning that required him leaving our house around 3:30am.  A fun night, though!  Thankful for a boss who appreciates his faculty and staff!

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Painting Feet

One of Evelyn's favorite things to do is paint.  Amber and I have quickly learned that the clean up is usually much easier when we just strip her down and let her paint naked (even though the paint is washable).  We both have done some cute projects with her that required painting the bottoms of her feet, then stamping them on the paper. 
She's now figured out how to do it herself...


And now my hands...

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Toilet Paper Bandit in Training

We have been in the "toilet paper is fun" stage for a while, and tonight the toilet paper bandit struck again.  I was making dinner, during which she usually plays with her play kitchen that is basically in our kitchen, or plays in the living room.  I can see her from most of the places in our kitchen, but happened to be in the blind spots for too long tonight.

She came around the corner with a wad of toilet paper, so I went to see the damage (her recent favorite thing is to throw the roll into the toilet). 
Here's what I found...






Down the hall, around two corners, and into the kitchen.  Impressive.  Pretty sure there's close to a whole roll there.  Good job, kid.

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Urology Update

We went to see Evelyn's urologist again this week to follow-up on her VCUR (urinary reflux).  She had to start the day with a renal ultrasound to look at her kidneys and the yucky lab where they inject dye into her bladder and watch to see if it refluxes into her kidneys.  I was able to be in the room during the ultrasound, but because the second lab requires x-rays to view the dye, I had to wait in the hallway (which is totally for the birds, by the way). 
Here's our little cutie waiting for the yucky lab - the best part of it was her favorite, Cinderella, on the wall.
I thought this test was awful last year, it was even worse this year because she was more aware of what was happening.  When it was over and they finally let me back in (after hearing my baby scream for over 45 minutes), I was bawling and scooped her up to hold her.  I didn't even care that she didn't have a diaper on and was probably going to pee dye on me.  The nurse had told us before we started that this is the worst age because once they inject the dye, they have to wait for her to urinate.  At this age, if they aren't potty trained especially, they tend to hold it in and can't understand when you tell them to pee.

We received partially good news from the urologist.  Her reflux has gotten better, but has not completely resolved itself, on one side in particular.  Dr. Smith-Harrison assures us that this is normal and it usually takes 3-5 years before the condition completely resolves.  We are still believing that God will heal her completely before then so she can come off of the maintenance antibiotic she has to take daily.  We go back in 18 months, when she will have to complete the two labs again.  Hopefully this next time will be a little smoother because she'll be potty trained and more able to pee on command!

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

My Work Life

These pretty much sum up my work life right now...