Resolutions...

Even though I declare one every year about this time...I've never been a big fan of "New Years Resolutions."  Most of the time, I feel as if I'm purposely setting myself up to fail.  Last year's resolution was to run my first 5k.  I am proud to say, I actually accomplished this resolution.  Well, kind-of-sorta.  I ran my first 5k...on my treadmill...in the safety of my own home..sparing the public from having to see my body, it all it's glory, running.  I didn't "officially" run in a 5k with an "official" time or get one of those "official" 5k t-shirts you get when you've finished a race.  But, I did run non-stop for 3.1 miles.  Which is something I hadn't done in a LONG time!  So, even though I maybe setting myself up for a little disappointment by year's end, here are a few things I would like to "complete" or, at least, "attempt to complete" before the end of 2012!

1. Run a 10k
2. Clean and organize the garage
3. Clean and organize the guest bedroom closet
4. Learn how to knit
5. Lower my blood pressure by 10 points (hopefully training for number 1 will help me with this!)
6. Read at least one book a month
7. Use only organic and natural ingredients in my cooking (something I'm so close to doing!)
8. Blog more consistently! 

So, there you go.  We will see how good I am at achieving these goals.  I'm hoping since I've declared them for all the public to see, I might be a little more motivated! 

It's A Doggie Dog Life..

So, for as long as Evan has been able to crawl, one of his favorite things to do is crawl into Max and Paddy's crates.  I use to stop him in the beginning.  But, these days I know better and I realize I have to pick my battles.  So, as long as the crates are clean (I'm pretty obsessive about that...) and the dogs don't mind, I don't mind.  This is Evan at about 8 months - the very first time he crawled into Paddy's crate.  He was absolutely beyond excited and proud of himself.

And, these days "dog" is one of the few words in Evan's limited, but always expanding vocabulary.  It sounds more like, "Doe" but Jimmy and I know what he is saying.  It's usually repeatedly said ("doe! doe! doe!") by a very excited Evan while chasing Max and/or Paddy around the house.  He carries around the dog's empty food bowls.  I usually have to go on a hunt for them when it's dinner time.  And, for his birthday, Evan received a cute little puppy dog toy from his Paw Paw and Grandmother (Jimmy's mom and dad) that he has recently become obsessed with.

So, needless to say dogs are a big part of Evan's life at the moment.

I didn't realize exactly how much he had been obseving the dogs and their behaviors.  I just figured he liked to play in their crates and enjoyed chasing them around the house.  But, then a few days ago Jimmy and I found this...

He had put his puppy dog toy in Paddy's cage!  And even shut the door so he wouldn't escape!  It amazes me that he was able to recognize his puppy is a dog like Max and Paddy and that it needed to go to bed like Max and Paddy!  One of the greatest joys I have as being Evan's mom is watching him grow - physically and mentally.  I absolutely love it!

So, now Paddy has a roommate most days!

My Child...

Cracks me up! 

Not a moment goes by during the day that I am not entertained by my kid!

Here's some proof...

So, the other day I noticed Evan was dragging his drum around the house.  He would just walk from room to room dragging it behind him.  Everywhere, all the time!  At one point, he even became a little protective of his drum when I went to put it away while I was cleaning.  So, I just left it where it was and didn't think anymore of it.  Later on in the day (while I was attempting to clean up for the third or fourth time that day - a regular occurrence in a house with a one year old I have discovered) I noticed that one of our PlayStation 3 remotes was missing.  Then I noticed that one of my coasters on the coffee table was MIA.

I then came across Evan's drum.

This was what I discovered...

Yep.

There, in the drum, is the PlayStation remote, the missing coaster, and even Evan's right sneaker.

My son is an Early-Onset Hoarder (that is my official diagnosis).

I'm pretty sure he got this from his father.  Not me at all.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it (said as I try and cram all 100 plus half-used skeins of yarn back into the closet...).

Later on, I even caught him in the act!

Here he is making room for the Cars DVD.

Do you notice all the plastic spoons at the bottom of the drum?!?  I didn't see those when I first looked in the drum.  In fact, I didn't even notice them until I was looking back through the pictures I had taken!

I would love to know what makes something "important" enough to make it into the drum.  Or, is it more of, "Quick, Mommy isn't looking at the moment, I have have to collect as much stuff as I can!"  I'm pretty sure it's the latter!

I absolutely LOVE this little guy.

He makes me so happy.

He also happens to absolutely crack me up!!

 

I Still Cannot Believe...

I have a one year old!

Whenever we are out with Evan, everyone always asks, "How old is he?"  And, it seems so odd to now say, "He just turned one!"  Whenever I say it, I say it with such pride and jubilation as if Evan just completed some sort of difficult task.  I'm sure the little old ladies who ask are thinking, "That poor child has such an odd mother..."

Here is a video of the first time I held Evan.  The first time I was able to touch his skin and see his beautiful blue eyes and cute little nose.   

It won't win any Oscars.  And, the last 20 seconds are blurry and the only thing you hear are our voices.  But, it is, by far, my most favorite video of all time...

One Beautiful Year Later...

What a difference a year makes!

October 23, 2010

to

October 22, 2011 

Evan is now officially a one year old!

I cannot believe my "baby" is now a "toddler."  To say that this past year went by in a blink of an eye is an understatement.  I literally feels like just yesterday I went in for my routine 38 week appointment and my doctor informed me and (a very nervous) Jimmy that she believed I should be induced that day.  It is amazing how, after nine months of preparing, when it actually comes "time" all that preparedness walks right out the door.  In that instant, it feels as if you just found out you were pregnant.  Little did I know, 27 hours later, when the doctors announced, "It's a BOY!" I would be feeling the most amazing, unconditional, powerful, and immediate love I have ever experienced.

Evan's first birthday party turned into a whole weekend celebration.  We had his birthday party on Saturday, October 22nd and Evan was baptized on Sunday, October 23rd.  Both days were so much fun!  We had family and friends (who, in every sense of the word, are family too!) come in from all over the country.  I'm not sure if you remember me mentioning a few posts back, that Evan's favorite toy was his Mickey Mouse doll.  Jimmy and I thought it was fitting to go ahead and have a Mickey Mouse themed party.  Everything was red, black, white, and yellow.  Everyone wore Mickey ears.  We (Steph and I) made a Mickey cake, Mickey Oreos, and Mickey cupcakes.  Katie helped me come up with all the ideas (I've always said she should go into party planning!).  Steph even made an awesome earless Mickey Mouse for the game, Pin the ears on Mickey.  We ended up not playing the game due to time and group of worn out kids.  But, Mickey still hangs on my wall and every once in a while Evan walks up to him and "talks" to him.  So, he will be sticking around for a little while
longer! 

The Invitation to the party of the century! :)



Ann (Jimmy's Mom) and Steph helping make the goodie bags.

The finished product!

Mickey Mouse Oreos.

M-I-C-K-E-Y  M-O-U-S-E!

The treats table!

My attempt at Mickey Mouse cup cakes.

He was so "good" with his chocolate Mickey Mouse Cupcake.

This was the messiest he got!

It was as if he didn't want to get dirty!

Uncle Emilio and Aunt Traci.

Jimmy and some of his co-workers.

Grandpa (or Grandpapa or Opa or Gramps or Pops...) and Aunt Stephie.

Grammie and Grandmother.

Aunt Katie.

The Loot! :)

Opening presents.

Yay!

My little Mickey Mouse!!

Our first family photo...

And now, a year later...

Thank you to everyone who celebrated with Jimmy, Evan, and I!  It means so  much to us to have such amazing family and friends.  I'm still in awe of how far some of you were willing to travel just to celebrate with Evan!  We love you all!!

I love my Life, my Family (all of you!), and my Friends!

Sea World

While Jimmy was on his R & R, we took a day to visit Sea World here in San Antonio.  We had so much fun!  We went on a Friday and the park was basically empty since kids here were back in school.

*Note to Self:  ALWAYS visit amusement parks on weekdays while school is in session.* 

We didn't have to wait in a single line and we always had a good seat for all the shows.  It was wonderful.  The best part about Sea World...It is exactly 3.4 miles from our front door to the park entrance!  You can actually see the roller coasters from our front yard.  So, to all our friends and family who are planning on coming to visit us...Guess what we will be doing when you come??  You guessed it!  Going to Sea World!  I'm still working on trying to convince Jimmy that we need an annual pass.  They apparently have a pretty awesome water park (we didn't make it there during our trip).  And, I cannot think of a better way for Evan and I to escape the San Antonio summer heat next year! 

Evan didn't quiet know what to make of all the fountains in the Bay of Play.  He was enjoying himself for a few minutes and then decided he had had enough.  Jimmy and I think that maybe the water fountains were a little big and too powerful and that maybe next year he will enjoy them a little more once he's a little bigger.

However, he did enjoy the musical show put on by the Sesame Street characters!  He was mesmerized the whole show! 

He LOVED Cookie Monster!

Evan and I watching Azul.  This was my favorite show we saw!  It had dolphins, beluga whales, big colorful birds (the birds were Evan's favorite because they flew right over our heads!), acrobatic divers and synchronized swimmers.

I love the picture below!  Can you tell it was nap time??  After the show Jimmy and I capitalized on "nap time" and enjoyed a relaxing lunch while Evan took a nice long afternoon nap. 

One of the rides at the park.  Jimmy is wearing the green shirt sitting in the middle of the very last row.  Since the park was so empty we were both able to enjoy all the rides.  I would ride while Jimmy watched Evan and then we would switch.  I was super impressed with the roller coasters at Sea World!  Jimmy's favorite was the Great White and my favorite was the Steel Eel. 

It's Jimmy's version of "Heaven on Earth"...tons of frozen icee flavors with 99 cent refills. 

Mommy Shamu and baby Shamu showing off during the Shamu show! 

Mommy and baby Shamu.  Evan loved the Shamu show. 

He loved Shamu so much we just had to get him his very own Shamu. 

Can you tell he liked it?? 

All three of us had so much fun!  We will definitely be going back many times! 

Evan and Shamu passed out on the way home.

He is Home!

Jimmy has been home for 20 days!  I cannot even begin to tell you how happy this makes me.  It is such an amazing feeling to have my husband back home and my family back together!  I'm pretty sure I've repeated the words, "I'm so happy to have you back!"  at least a thousand times.  It's great to hear his laugh and voice in the next room, to watch him play with Evan, to see his shoes by the front door.  And, as much as I despise doing laundry, it's great to see his dirty clothes in the hamper again.  (Don't worry, I'm sure the later will wear off and my ability to put off laundry as long as possible will come back and I'll be cursing those dirty clothes real soon...)

Jimmy has been on his R&R (rest and relaxation) since he has been home.  We have had a lot of fun during his time off.  We went to Sea World for the first time which was a blast.  My only regret is that we had not visited sooner!!  We took a day trip to Austin to visit the Texas Capital and the Austin Children's Museum.  Austin is an amazing city.  We celebrated (some of us celebrated more than others...Jimmy :) Oktoberfest in Fredericksburg, a cute little village about an hour north of San Antonio.  We also spent a day in downtown San Antonio enjoying the Riverwalk, Shilo's Deli, and the San Antonio Children's Museum.  I have a ton of pictures and I will be blogging about all the fun stuff we did and experienced!

Here are some pictures of Jimmy's homecoming!

This was some of the people who made the trip to the airport to welcome Jimmy home.

Thank you to everyone that came.  It was so wonderful to see all of you and to celebrate

with you!

Evan was such a trooper!  It was way past his bedtime, but he held out and behaved so well!

He was just super excited to see his Daddy again.

Evan and his friend Lilly.  Lilly was teaching Evan how to proudly wave his flag!

The moment I had been waiting so long for... 

One of my favorite parts of the evening...

This gentleman is a WWII veteran who was in town for a ceremony honoring him and his service to our country.

He quietly walked up to Jimmy, introduced himself, shook his hand, and thanked him for his service.

Amazing.

Together again!