Cleaning Up

I keep telling myself that whoever toilet papered us got the wrong house. There are teenagers who live next door so I wanted to have them come out and clean it because their friends were obviously one house off! Oh well. Carson is always up for helping Matt do anything. When Matt is home Carson is his little shadow wanting to do exactly what Matt is doing and asking a million questions while they work. Carson wanted to help use the pipe to get some of the toilet paper down from our huge pine trees in front. It was quite funny watching him try to balance.

Fire Power

This picture is from a month or so ago. As I have said before, Carson doesn't pay much attention to Blake. I was surprised when he offered Blake one of his many guns to help "get the bad guys" while he was playing. Looks like Blake is ready to follow in the footsteps of his brother, dad, uncles and grandpa in their love of fire power.

Dramatic Eater

Matt and I always get a kick out of watching Blake eat. He puts his hands in the funniest positions. His had is always up at his face while he eats. These positions are two of our favorites. These pictures were taken only about two mintues apart. He likes to change it up a bit to be more dramatic.

Breakfast of Champions

I hope I'm not the only mom who has a hard time getting their child to eat breakfast. Carson loves to eat Lucky Charms. I guess I should rephrase that....Carson love to eat only the marshmellows in his Lucky Charms cereal. As you can see I give him PediaSure too just to make up for what he's lacking.

Potty Training - Day 3

Yesterday was Day 3! What a difference a couple days makes. Carson had ZERO accidents!!

Carson's highly anticipated prize for going all day without any accidents...Scooby Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf. Whatever works! I have a few more prizes on top of the fridge for the next couple days if he can continue to have no accidents.

Potty Training - Day 2 Update

Day 2 has come and gone. Another long day of asking, "Carson, do you need to use the potty?" and most times I'd receive a response of, "I'm good." He had 5 or 6 accidents yesterday and only 1 today. I guess we could say 1 and a 1/2 but I'm not counting the 1/2. He is really proud of himself and I'm pretty amazed that he's catching on so quickly. I'm sure it helps that he is dying to have the Scooby Doo movie on top of our fridge! Here's a picture of Carson from today. Way to go Carson!
I had to throw a picture in of Blake. I finally got a good smile on camera. He is seriously such a happy and content little guy. We just love him to pieces!!

Potty Training - Day 2

I didn't know if I'd make it through the day yesterday. My day consisted of a potty timer, books galore, bubbles, treats, juice, prizes on top of the fridge, me on the phone getting potty training consultations from friends and family and last but not least... me crying. Carson had five accidents (all outside luckily!) and two successful trips to the toilet. I debated putting him in pull-ups for bedtime and decided to just see what happened if I didn't. We are now on Day 2. Carson ran into the bathroom this morning all by himself. I've got a long day ahead of me, but I prayed for a little extra patience so I hope that helps. I'm really hoping it clicks for him in the next couple days. I can only handle so much.

Our Backyard Oasis

Finally after over five years of living in this house we now have a landscaped backyard! I can hardly control my excitment!! Carson asks to go outside a million times a day. He has been playing bubbles, putting his new swing to good use, riding his dad's longboard, riding his tricycle, eating lunch and just having a good time. Waiting so long makes me appreciate it so much more. Feel free to come over and play with your kids anytime now and heck we'll even have to have a BBQ to celebrate soon!

Construction Zone - February 2008

With the help of our good friend we had a major demolition party last February in our backyard. We had high hopes of getting started on our beautification project but that got postponed due to car troubles. Here are a few pictures of what happened last February. Goodbye old extended patio, 9 oleander bushes, 5 inch thick concrete, white rocks and lava rocks! You won't be missed.

Gluten-Free Girl

One year ago I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease and I became a "gluten-free girl". I'd say I took the news pretty well. I went through my pantry and was left with nothing, but I knew this was something I could deal with. A change in diet was all I needed. Easier said than done! I changed my diet right away and within a month I was pregnant which is what we hoped for. Now, one year later, I am done working full-time, Blake is 3 months old, life has calmed down and I have a bit more time to devote to cooking yummy meals that taste good to me too! I simply need some inspiration. Cooking already seems pretty pointless when my husband isn't hungry when he gets home, would rather eat a turkey sandwich or ramen noodles and Carson is a picky eater. Add the fact that I have to eat gluten-free and cooking is a hassle. I actually enjoy cooking! I want my family to sit at the dinner table every night like I did growing up. Today I vow to do better! I've started reading the above book because I need inspiration. I'm only a dozen pages in and I love it. I have been reading the author's blog www.glutenfreegirl.blogspot.com for several months and highly recommend it! I have a lifetime to eat gluten-free and by golly it's gonna be a tasty one. I'm sure I'll test out recipes that we don't like, but I'll try again. I hope this is something I can really learn to love and enjoy. I hope my cute little family can enjoy it too. So, here's to better cooking is 2009 and embracing the fact that yes, I am indeed a "gluten-free girl".

My Valentine

I'm one lucky girl to have Matt as my Valentine! Last night we went out to dinner at Picazzo's (yummiest gluten free meal you'll ever come by!). It's always fun to go out and spend time with Matt. I feel like we don't get to see much of each other these days because he is so busy with work and finishing up some additional appraisal courses at night. We talked about our first Valentine's Day date. We had only been dating for about 2-3 weeks. We got all dressed up, he bought me perfume, dinner was $200 and we joke now about how he tricked me into marrying him. He took me on all sorts of fancy dates those first couple months! He says he already knew by then he'd marry me and I was pretty sure too. It has always been so fun, natural and easy with Matt. He's my better half. He makes me smile and laugh which I love. Happy Valentine's Day!

Center of Attention!

I was scrolling through our family pictures again and this one caught my eye this time. Can you tell who is the center of attention in the Evans family?? Yup, you guessed it....Carson. That's the beauty of being the first grandchild. It always amuses me when I tell Carson he can't have something or can't do something and he immediately says, "I want my Grandma and Papa." This kid definitely knows how to work the system.

Seriously...

Does it get cuter than this!?

Mr. Blake

One of my best friend took the most darling pictures of Blake today. I simply LOVE them! Thanks Kapri for being my friend and for being so darn talented!

Mr. Blake

Blake's "Buddy"

When Carson was about 4 months old he got really attached to his blanket. We called it Toby because that's what the tag said thanks to the folks at PotteryBarn. Well, when Carson learned to talk he lovingly started refering to it as his "Buddy" and that stuck. When I bought Carson's blanket I also purchased two more - one boy and one girl version. This is Blake's "Buddy". It has a blue dog on it named Max but I already refer to it as "Buddy" also. Both Matt and I were blankie babies. I love that my boys love them too!

Buddies

Here's a first - Carson holding Blake! Okay, so we bribed him with popcorn I think, but it was worth it. Blake looks a little worried. I was trying my hardest to get him to smile!

New Flash

Blake can hardly control his excitment about his dad's new camera flash! I got Blake to smile while Matt tested out his new toy. How can you not smile when you see that cute little face?!

Carson saying "cheese" for the camera.

A few more of our sweet little guy. 11 weeks