Evi photo of the day

Big girl

Check out Evelyn's latest obsession. Playing with mama's shoes. She is such a girly girl.

Happy Birthday to me....

I turned the big 32 on Monday. I had a great day. The funny thing is, all my life I have tended to make a big deal out of my birthday. But last year was the first time I didn't. I had just had a baby and couldn't really go out and celebrate. I didn't mind it at all. For heaven's sake, I had the best present ever....a baby Evelyn. But because I didn't celebrate my 31st bday, I spent the best part of the year thinking I was 32. I honestly didn't know that I was only 31. Who makes themselves OLDER? Me apparently. So no I am the real 32 years old and I like it.

I didn't make any plans for my birthday again this year. I just wanted a nice family night with grilled steaks, baked potatoes, and a Dairy Queen ice cream cake.

I didn't get what I asked for, I got something better. Dan surprised me with a babysitter for Evelyn (thanks Christine) and a dinner out at a burger joint in St. Paul we have been wanting to try. Its called the Blue Door Pub. And it was delicious.

We enjoyed some yummy Surly beer.

An appetizer of Spam Bites = Spam, cream cheese, and pickle breaded and deep fried. Served with a side of sweet chili lime.

And Dan had there award winning Jiffy Burger = covered with peanut butter, pepper jack, and bacon – just like Mom used to make! Dan said it was absolutely delicious.

All in all, I had one of the best birthdays.

Big kicking feet.

So I thought I would try and upload some video to share. What a fun way for all of you so far from MN to see how awesome she is. This is from about a month ago... I am amazed at how little she seems.

It is one of our favorite moments...bathtime.Evi loves to kick kick kick.

Evi Stones

I thought I would talk a bit about all the cool stuff that Evelyn is doing lately.

She is such a girly girl.

1. She loves purses. It is funny seeing her carry a purse half her size.

2. She also loves fingernail polish. She has this fake plastic fingernail polish bottle and brush that she carries around with her ALL day long. She walks up to you and pretends to paint your nails. Its so cute.

3. Evelyn has also become quite a little mama herself. She is finally into dolls. She loves feeding them bottles, holding them, kissing them, pushing them in her baby stroller. She will also cover them with a blanket and tell them "night night."

4. Singing. Evelyn loves to sing. One of her favorites is The Itsy Bitsy Spider. She does all the hand motions. It is to die for. She is only 14mo old. I am pretty sure she is a genius.

5. And finally, Evelyn loves....I mean LOVES books. This is such a relief to me. See, I didn't read to her much as a baby. I know you are suppose to start when they are in your womb, but I didn't. Then after she was born, I read to her some when she was a teeny tiny baby, but as she got older, she would push the books away. She didn't want to be rocked in the rocking chair or read to. But now, now she loves books. After her bottle at night, she will bring a book over to us, crawl into our lap and let us read her a book. Not only that, but she has to have a book in her bed and she will read to herself. I am so glad I didn't damage her by not reading to her every night.

Man she is so awesome!

4th weekend

I wish I could say a ton happened this 4th of July weekend. but so far...that is just not true.

We had weather below average. It was cloudy and somewhat rainy. It definitely made for a lack of motivation. But on the actual 4th, Evelyn and I went to our friends Jolie, Eric and Evie for a BBQ. It was tons of fun.

See, Evi and Evie are exactly 1yr apart. Last year Evi was just a baby, but this summer, they actually started playing with each other. It is great fun.



Then, we found a baby frog in the yard. I showed it to the girls. It's that teeny tiny thing on my hand

It jumped out of my hands so Evi bent down to check it out.

Then...

she stepped on it. Thankfully she didn't know that she had killed the frog.

P.S. I found out that Evelyn really likes corn on the cob.

The results are in....

I was denied admission to the post-baccalaureate Nursing program at St. Catherine's University. I am totally bummed. But at the same time it is not the end of the world. For those that didn't know, I have decided that I want to be a labor and delivery nurse and in the far future a Nurse Midwife. So I decided to apply to nursing school. What the heck. I have probably 30 yrs of left in the working force. I might as well be happy.

So, St. Kate's has a night and weekend program for folks that have a Bachelor's degree in another field. I applied and found out today that I didn't get in. that is okay. While I hate being rejected...I would rather reject them - wouldn't we all. But, while I am bummed, I think I would be way more freaked out had I gotten in. That would mean I started school in two months. I want to have another baby in the next year or so and how do you take maternity leave from school.

So bottom line....All is well. Now I get to focus on my family and start taking pre-reqs at the community college for 1/5th the price.

I will be a nurse. Just not in two years.

Out.

Cut the Cord

This is Dan removing the cable from our house and roof. See, we got rid of cable (a.k.a. satalite cable) back in April.


WE LOVE IT!


I must admit, I had become pretty addicted to my DVR and would sometimes record up to 4 shows at once. 2 on the downstairs tv and 2 on the bedroom tv. I didn't want to be watching so much TV. Plus TV is bad for kids. I believe it is a factor in childhood obesity. So, we wanted to set a good example for Evelyn.


Also we made the decision to work really hard this year reducing our cost of living so that I can hopefully be a stay at home mom next year. Cable was one of the first things to go.


I gotta tell you, it feels great to not pay almost $100 a month to watch TV. Now we watch it for free. And we get great channels....in HD. So we are set. Plus, you can pretty much watch anythign you want on the computer. It really makes me feel like I am sticking it to the Man.