One MONTH!!?!

my friend cherilyn suggested to take a picture with his stuffed animal and i chose his alligator. it is the first one we bought him and i love it. we'll take a picture of him every month. unfortunately we don't have one of him at birth with it but this will be fun.

November 14, 2008

How is it that this could be the time for our sweet little son to be ONE MONTH old?! Every Parent has uddered these words and it is our turn. Even in his first week, I was getting genuinly upset because of all the changes I was noticing. Thankfully, everyone who see's him still mentiones how little he is. That makes me feel better to live in denial that he will always be my baby infant (though there is so much more to look forward to as he grows...). Here is a video as our attempt to share with you how big and strong and alert our baby is...

For his One Month day, we began by cuddling in my bed till Cousin Liam and Aunt Jenalyn came to play.

Here is video of California Cousin Liam showing his affection:

So wrong it's Right

"Daddy's First attempt at dressing his son"....

There's blue, there's brown, there's stripes, why not! That was the thinking behind this ansamble Michael put together for Evan for his Brothers birthday party last night. I really laughed cause even though it "matches", most women would not have found this acceptable. I quickly understood and accepted his thought process cause really, the kid is cute. So while I continue to work on his One month and "Other Visitors from the West" post, I'll post this teaser.

Nieces proud of their cousin cause he's getting so big and sooo cute. They can't wait to sit by him in the Van on the way down to Gulf Shores for Thanksgiving week!

Birthday boy Matt! Also so proud, thinking, "How long till I can brainwash you into loving Star Wars???" lol.

going back to work...

frown. today will be my first day back to work and although i love my job, my baby is still only 4 weeks old and my sister Jenalyn and her 9month old son Liam are visiting so it's bittersweet. thankfully i have prayer to help me get through without crying! i just hope i don't forget to bring pictures. i guess i'll just bring my lap top since i don't have many printed out yet. anyway, going to bed after doing a feeding but wanted to document my thoughts... evan, i will miss you tomorrow. mommy loves you and is leaving you in wonderful hands with Jenalyn. muah!

Tennessee Shower

main photographer and guest, ashley (lila's sister). centerpiece.


This "Shower" was more of an Open House where you come and go as requested by us. We asked that there would be no games played, there were gifts but we didn't open them at the Open House so we could concentrate on visiting and celebrating Evan. So, we were so busy visiting with everyone at the shower, we didn't get all the pictures we would have liked but we thank you all for coming. There were about 50 people there from Our Church friends, Lila's Clients (also friends), Michael's Childhood friends and Our Family members! We unfortunately didn't get pictures of everyone or everything but we will post a few to show how much fun we were having with everyone.





"The hostess with the mostest!" Thank you for organizing everything Lindsey. You are one of the most thoughtful and caring women I know. You never want anyone to feel left out but you go the extra mile to make it even more special for them. Everything was beautiful from the food layed out to the table centerpieces, it was all tasteful and very Martha of you. ;) Sorry my mom didn't get over to give you a foot rub but I will be over soon and you'll just have to hold Evan while "I" rub your feet. I've been given a compliment or two on my talents in that area... wink.







"She's done this before." Thanks bff for coming and taking care of my baby!

Arnold's getting in some practice... and... oldies but goodies! ;)




nashville beauties. ;)







mingling







"twin"







family.




Saturday, we opened gifts at our house and it just wouldn't be fair to try to pick which ones to post and I can't possibly post them all so we'll post our excitement and process... We were given many generous gifts! There will be thank you notes in the mail, sometime this century. It will be worth it. ;) We now feel much better prepared for caring for Evan. With all it costs (not complaining) for adoption, it is very appreciated that you all have been so kind to us with your time and attention. We thank you!




before.during.after.




My sister Jenalyn and long time friend Heather are giving me/us a "Virtual Shower" this week, for those out of state and especially in California where I grew up. It is a hilarious idea and can't wait to see how this ground breaking idea goes. (I've never heard of it but am excited to celebrate with all of you!). One of the sad parts of having a child so far from my family is also missing the celebration with all of you that molded me into who I am today. I miss you and am truly sad not to share this day with you in person. Like I mentioned in a previous post, we will be home in 5/6 months after we finalize the adoption and come to Los Angeles to be sealed in the Los Angeles Temple. At that time we will have a party at my parents house to let you virtuals enjoy him in person! ;) Until then here's some bath time gems taken by Ashley...

bfn...

Visitors from the West...

Ashley Jane.

karla ellen.

So, you'd THINK I had a little time to blog while my family was here but... no. Turns out they like it when "I" hold the baby when he's crying etc. lol. Oh well, we did get Evan's room painted! I also decided with my mom's help to do a two toned room. One wall is a brown color, the other three are the gray/blue color. Since I'm too impatient, I'll post one of the wall with a quote on it but later when it's sunny, I'll take and post better ones and the video I shot before and 'after' (though it isn't finished yet). Let me just say though that I L O V E the colors! I also put drapes in there and they do look great I must say, you'll be the judge...

close up

(it says: "Everyday holds the possibility of a Miracle")

our helper.

When I finish this blog (in the next week?) about the room, including drapes etc, I will also blog about the much anticipated BABY SHOWER/OPEN HOUSE we finally had on Friday! THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HELPED. Lindsey, please give me a list of everyone who did so I can thank them for that please. We had a wonderful time and only wish we got to spent more individual time with everyone. I look forward to telling you more about it. Thank you for coming, we enjoyed everyone.

WOW!

ok, i'm gonna try this again. i keep trying to post videos but they must be too big so here goes. my kid has been turning over! i only saw him do it once before, 2 weeks ago! but today, i caught him on his 3rd time in a row! he will be 3 weeks old tomorrow. i told you all he's a genius! lol.

i've already seen it many times but if your sound is on, you can still hear my excitement. hilarious. lol.

Alligator! AHHH!

Got your attention? I just LOVE this Alligator. We bought it in Kennisaw with a super cute outfit, with an Alligator on it that says "Feed Me". lol. from a store called Crazy 8 http://www.crazy8.com/ that is a cross between Baby Gap and Gymboree in my opinion. We don't have one here and California family and friends, the closest is in Torrence if you want to go but it's super cute stuff and simple like I like it. It has some 'personality' but not too much (like Carter's can). So, check it out. p.s. I'm not getting paid for this advertisement. Also today my son is modeling one of his new shirts from the J & J Jones family. It has a Hippo on it and says "Mean Monday" lol. (Stacey, if you have a boy, I "might" pass these on to you but they may make my keep forever sacks. lol). Yesterday he wore "Sunny Sunday" with a Lion on it, Precious! So enjoy. ;)

Newwww Swing.... He LOVES it!!!! He slept 5 hours in it last night. Ahhhh.....

So, we took in all the feed back from everyone on Pediatricians and weighed our options. We decided on Dr. Rosanne Coleman who is new to Murfreesboro Medical Clinic but was practicing in Eastern Kentucky for the past 11 years (Originally from TN). Many factors played into our decision but we are very happy with her and since she is new, we will hopefully get to see her when we need to.

Our appointment went great! She said they didn't come more perfectly created then him (meaning he didn't have anything 'wrong' or amiss). Of course we already knew that (wink) but for a medical professional to confirm it, it's just gravy. ;) lol. So our little boy is getting bigger! He was born 6lbs 6oz and one day before his 3rd week of life, he weighed in at 7lb 8oz! (see Amber, I feed him. lol) Ourselves and the Dr. were both impressed with his strength as he holds his head up a lot and just looks around AND the fact that he looks around so much is good cause he's very alert and curious about his surroundings. (aka high IQ probably, just like Michael and I)

When we were finishing up, I saw Michael waving and excited to see someone outside our room, it was the Arnold's! Rachel was there with her two youngest and Merrietta (sp?) was getting her stitches out today (you'll have to read her blog for that, it's on my list). We were so happy to see her and I said, 'That's our babysitter!" lol. It was a funny reaction to me. Since only 2 people from church have seen him (Thanks for yummy dinner Olsen's, you are amaaaaaazing! Roxy, hope you're feeling better), I couldn't wait to go show them. I asked Dr. Coleman if we could go show him off and she said, "Sure but wait, let me check to see what they are here for first." It was perfect, we told her she 'passed the test' of keeping our child healthy and she was hired. :)wink. We all laughed and after being thankful we have a nice Pediatrician, we were off to show 3 of the Arnold girls our son. Whoo Hoo! Also in our appointment we got to ask lots of questions and get lots of information. As we are still on formula for the foreseeable future, we also scored a free sample of a different kind that I would like Evan to have (currently on Soy and I don't want him on that). Anyway, I just wanted to say how happy we are that we found a great Dr. and we look forward to seeing her again. Now we can focus on preparing for my Mom and Sister Ashley who are coming on Wednesday for a week (only to be replaced by my sister Jenalyn and her son Liam for the next week). They will be first in my California family to meet Evan, soooo exciting! In six months when Evans Adoption is finalized, we will fly to California to have him sealed to us in the Los Angeles Temple as is important in our faith. We'll have a HUGE party (shh, my mom and dad don't know yet but It'll be at their house and everyone will be invited. LOL! seriously, they don't know... he he he) to celebrate. The rest of our family will get to meet him at that visit (unless of course they come to visit before). Anyway, we hope you are all doing well staying away from sickies, I know we are. I'll hopefully get to post a little more pictures when family is here since they will want to hold Evan. ;) I know you're all excited but try to contain yourself. ;)
by for now...

p.s. i just accidentally found out that crazy 8 is a 'Gymboree' concept store. wierd that it's who i said it looks like! man, i'm as smart as my boy, look out world!

Happy Halloween (belated, shhh, don't tell I'm late)

We just have only so many hours in a day! LOL! I bought this hat in 2003 honestly and finally got to use it for this photo shoot. ha ha.

You see how upset E got when I told him, we have to take the outfits off. Very angry! ;)