Just to make you smile...

This picture just makes me smile. Probably because he's got his little hands clasped so carefully behind his back, oblivious to Mommy sneaking up behind him with the camera.

I love this kid.

A special visitor!!!

Evan got to meet his "Aunt" Jesse for the first time this weekend! She flew out from Oregon to see us...and he thought she was pretty cool. I thought she was pretty cool, too. Maybe it's because she's so good at keeping us both entertained.

Hadn't seen her since our wedding (about 4 years ago)...so it had been too long. And now we owe her a trip to Oregon some time after the baby's born. Oh yeah...did I mention that she's 16 weeks pregnant with an adorable little belly? Sorry to embarrass you, Jess...but it's adorable.

Here are some pics:

The beauty of summer...

I think it's easy to forget how carefree summer is when you're a kid. Especially when you're a toddler and your biggest concern is how to avoid the dachshund next door (sorry, Corcan). On that note...please note the photos of Evan with his "therapy dog"...also named Corcan. We're trying (unsuccessfully) to get him over his fear of small dogs.

We'll keep you posted.

Otherwise just a series of images to show you how July's been going for Evan. He continues to amuse and amaze us...from spontaneously bursting out into refrains of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" to asking about Grandpa's tractor. Never a dull moment...

Also thrown into this mish-mash are a couple of photos of Evan meeting one of his Grammies (Bryan's mom's mom). Due to the aforementioned dead camera battery (see my Nebraska blog post), these pics were taken with a disposable. That's why the quality is not quite up to par. But at least we have some pictures...

Enjoy!

Horsing around on the 4th of July!

Some cute photos of Evan horsing around yesterday...no explanation necessary. It is worth mentioning, however, that when he put the red cubby on his head, he yelled, "Where Evan, Mommy?"...and then "There he is!" when he pulled it off. He's a comedian!

No fireworks...in fact I didn't even hear the neighbors shooting any off. I must have been tired! We did eat some brats and corn on the cob...and it was GOOD!

What summer tastes like...

I'm proud of my boy for many reasons. I'm proud of the fact that he's compassionate, loving, and darned cute. I'm proud of the fact that he can say his ABCs and give great hugs. And I'm proud of the fact that he loves fruits and vegetables...and LOVES going to the farmer's markets to pick them out. I don't take credit for any of it, mind you. I'm just happy that he does these things on his own.
Here we have peach face and blackberry face. I have not yet taken a photo of watermelon shirt...but I think you get the idea.

I'm glad he loves fruits and vegetables...even if he DOES end up wearing a good portion of them. Incidentally as we were driving to the farmer's market this morning, Evan kept saying "basketball, basketball, Mommy, basketball" when we got a few blocks away. I could not figure out for the life of me why he was so concerned with basketball all of a sudden. Then it hit me.

When a two-year old says "vegetable," it sounds an awful lot like "basketball." He was just ready to go grab the vegetables...

Love that kid...

Zero.

As in zip, nada, none, the big goose egg. I have ZERO pictures from our trip to Nebraska. Why, you ask? Why would I have ZERO pictures of Evan and his family to the north?

Because I forgot my battery charger. And my fancy-schmancy beautiful DSLR camera became a paperweight. No...as a matter of fact you CAN'T find one of those chargers in your local small-town megamart.

We did purchase a disposable camera to take pictures of Evan meeting his Grammie on Bryan's side for the first time. Once I can get my lazy rear to Walgreens to develop the film, I'll post those pics.

Sigh. It's always something.

We had a great time seeing everyone, despite the fact that we traveled more than 1600 miles by the time it was all said and done.

It's good to be home, though.