stuff i missed posting at the end of 9 months and beginning of 10...

The rainbow of yesterday. ;)

"What's out there? Oh, I see my brother! MOM! It's Smokey!!!"

Waiting for 'Aunt' Cammie to pick me up to babysit/play with me all day. Love you Brown Family!

The beginnings of getting around and pulling up on EVERYthing.

Another view of a previous post to show Evan's JOY at riding in the shopping cart at Kroger.

Showing off my bigness as I man handle this toy.

Falling in love with guitar at an early age.

Meghan's run through for her wedding. ;) blackmail! lol

Visiting Aunt Nanci's classroom at Mt.View Elem. Uncle Matt making sure I don't fall (may have put this one up already but here's the cuteness twice). ;)

michael and evan visiting me at my shop. perfect view. ;)

some sock/shoes i found at t.j. maxx that i LOVE for evan. i want more. i forget the names of them. maybe skidders? or something. i can find out if you want to know. they have cute girl ones too.

random: an unasked for gift at our wedding 12 + years ago that ALMOST went in the yard sale but... we couldn't. we love it, even if we haven't been using the cookie jar that much.

i started a new blog that i haven't announced but here it is: http://www.mulhollanddrivecrafts.blogspot.com/ (i've been told but didn't understand how to say 'here' and when you click it you go to where i want you to. don't bother telling me though. i'm a 'watch you then do it' not 'hear you then do it' kinda gal). Unfortunately i only mail in the U.S. as i'm not smart enough to figure out international postage etc. I hope you love it and want to order stuff from me. the above picture of the bib was made for a friends friend. :)

The pictures are random but the life and changes are wonderful. ;)

Swinging

This was from almost 2 weeks ago after Evan's Dr.'s appointment at a park at Centennial park in Nashville. Evan first tried out swinging in California at his sealing. This was only his second time swinging, he is in love with swinging. I'm afraid when he's older he will flip over the top from pumping too hard. ;) I'm getting ready for broken bones and scull fractures. :(

10 MONTHS OLD

The official picture with his alligator! Can you tell we feed the kid? ;)

playing 'trash can'. do you want to play too? lol.

end of day one at our yard sale, evan's napping in our garage on his 10month old b-day! ;)

our first yard sale EVER! whoo hoo!

It's only been a month since my last report yet I find myself saying AGAIN, 'Where has the time gone!?" Yikes. This baby is a manic. There is a comparison Evan's Great Aunt Barbara (the one in Tennessee, he has one in California too) made this weekend. She lovingly said he's like holding a 'Wild Cat"! LOL! It's SO true, he's feral! He does not stop moving or jumping which we love but reality is, he definitely keeps on our toes because of his activity. :) We hope you enjoy the newest pictures and details of Evan's current goings on...

Weighs about 22-23 pounds by now

29inches tall as of 9month check up

Usually gets an 8oz bottle 3-4 times a day but lately really only wants one 3 times a day

Also eats a lot of table food but honestly with both of us working, I haven't focused on this as well as I could. Had homemade Pizza today for the first time and loved it.

Naps usually twice a day

Goes to sleep at night easier and faster if loosely swaddled but can go to sleep without

Sleeps from 8pmish-830amish

Wakes up smiling, standing in his crib and jumping

Loves playing in his room by himself

Favorite toys: Daddy's guitar, Plastic shapes blocks and box, necklace teether, WALKER, squirt toys in bath tub and diaper bag (thanks for letting me steal your idea for in the diaper bag Vivian!), Trash can, Bedroom door and Dog/Cats water bowl...

Things Evan gets in trouble for: playing in the dog/cats water!!!! ;) and pulling cd's off the shelves

Clicks his tongue to entertain himself

Starting to sort of cuddle? lol.

Crawls on his knees almost exclusively (as opposed to 'scooting' on his belly) to get around

See's no obstacles and pulls up on anything in his way, just mows through it. ;)

Likes books and being read to

Very 'attached' right now, will cry when we leave the room

Daddy says Evan is a "Mama's Boy" but that's cause he's jealous I'm better at this than him. lol tee hee

Things to look forward to coming up: In October we'll be going to see Evan's birth mommie Courtney (who also goes by Brooke)! We are totally looking forward to this, it's the most exciting of all the fun things they have coming up. Our friends the Smith's will be going with us during their visit from Texas. We are going to Gulf Shores again with Michael's Parents and Brother's family. My parents may visit this fall and last but not least, we are planning to have a California Christmas, whoo hoo! I think Evan will finally get to meet my sister Carlyn and we'll get to be with the whole family before my youngest brother Isaac goes on his 2 year mission for our church (he doesn't have his call yet but will in the next couple months). We can't wait to see how big his cousins, his age have gotten. Hopefully Evan will surely be walking by then and they can all clobber each other. LOL.

one day down...

...one more to go. it's been great! ;) I'm gonna search my house for more to put out tomorrow!

don't u

want this vintage record player? u can have it if u come to our yard sale! lot's of customers this morning. whew. but we need more!! ;)

the gush.

daddy and evan at my shop on saturday. ;) eeeeek. these are especially for grandma karla who loves baby feet. he he.

this kid. he is all ours let me tell you. lately i have been struggling with my patience of being a day laborer AND a mommy. i digress: all my life, i literally dreamed of being a mother. it's all i ever wanted which is why in h.s. when everyone was applying for college, i was confused. can you study 'mother' or 'stay at home mommy' or 'homemaker' at the university? i didn't realize then, the many subjects (any subject) i could have taken to prepare myself for such a role. because, trust me, the stay at home (sahm's) moms i know are very intelligent whether they 'only' have a h.s. diploma or left a lucrative career to stay at home, they can surely hold their own. anyway, my point is from an early age, i wanted to be, and learned the gift a full time mom, in my home with my children would be. as the time for parenthood lingered, i realized having an education and career before that point would be a blessing and gift to my family. that was my plan... an education in something i loved (and am dang good at, i might add) and a lucrative career after a full education in it. well, as many of you know, the babies didn't come when we started trying in March of 1999. as days, months then years passed with no children, i decided my approach would be to excel as much as i could at my career until we were blessed with the 'pitter patter' of little feet. it was difficult but i did my best hoping it would be worth it in the end (it has been). in the process of working so hard for my future family, i didn't realize how IN LOVE and devoted i would become to my new friends aka; the client. now it is a very guilty feeling to leave a great career to go after the 'career' i always dreamed of. . . . so back to the point in my random, round about way... ;) (you know you're entertained. lol)... i have been feeling 'down' lately. the reality of your child at home or with your trusted friend who babysits him is depressing!!! i thought i could take one for the team by working for a while till i could bow out gracefully. ;)... in the mean time, this is what i miss at home: a 'little' boy who grows by the minute (body and brains), crawling now, pulling up on everything to stand, tantrums when you pulls his toy away, inhaling his bottle or not finishing it depending on the day/sitting, experimenting with food (had mac n cheese and angel hair shrimp alfredo, minus the shrimp, this week and LOVED it!), planning what's next, kissing him, hugging him, loving him, thanking God for him!...

so, each day i am grateful for a full book of clients/friends at work but each day i feel the heartache and yearning to be at home full time. we are working on a solution but it's not happening tomorrow, so you know. as the time quickly approaches for the chance for us to re-apply for adoption in mid-october, it is exciting and stressful. surely i will being staying at home by the time we have another baby right? ;0) we will see. it will happen, when and if the time is right.

for now, we are looking forward to what life brings us. we appreciate the gifts God has given us. we are grateful for adoption and know evan was sent specifically for us to raise, as your biological children were sent to you. our love for him is as real as your children or even your spouse who is not blood related to you. our bond is as tight as a root of a tree to the earth and our relationship is special because we share all of this with all of you. evan and any other children are given are the greatest gifts we will ever receive physically in this life. i cannot wait to see what evan does next or what his first real words will be or when he walks by himself. we gush. we feel lucky to have been chosen to parent especially to parent our little tasmanian. thank you for all your love and compliments. we want you to know how much joy it brings us to have our little 'angel' play with you and with your little angels and be part of the parenting crowd, making our rookie mistakes but waving our victorious flag anyway. :0)

i just had to blog it out even if it didn't quite make sense. sometimes i get sensitive about what people say and think about 'adoption' in general and want to know whether you are 'bonding' etc. (yes people ask that question! can you imagine them asking you that about your biological child? "so, sally, it's so great, it seems billy's really bonding to you"!!! they mean WELL but it's... off, you know?). so through this post, that was on my mind too. i'd say more but don't want to scare anyone. lol. ;) anyway, i will finally stop babbling and sign off. thank you for listening/reading and thank you for your friendship. xoxo Lila

Adoption Yard & Bake Sale

sooo.... after trying to get ready for next weekends sale I admit I am in way over my head. I need help! ;) I'm not sure I have enough stuff & only have michael & my friend beth (to help on wed, sorting) so please please please tell me u wanna help at the crack of dawn the 14th & 15th. ;) also thanks to 'cory' who donated a couch & dresser to the yard sale! don't forget you too can donate your old stuff or homebaked goods to our cause. accepting till wednesday! ;) lila

This is what Evan's day was like today.

My friend Liz watches my baby son when I'm at work 3 days a week. She is saintly and a wonderful mother. Today I got home from work and checked into the ol' computer to find this, titled "This is what I've been doing today ;)":

Not only does she watch my Evan (on left) but baby Kate (on right), her own 2yr old Hayden, in the middle but she's pregnant with her second boy due in December! That means, she's 'actually

helping 4 kids in this picture! ;) Liz is a great friend/neighbor and 'sister' to me. I am grateful for the service she has provided our family in babysitting Evan for us for so long. We will miss her when she stops watching Evan to concentrate on her growing family, in November. We love you Liz! Thank you, photographer Stephen for your skills. ;)

Adoption Yard Sale!

ADOPTION YARD and BAKE SALE

Friday August 14th 2009

and

Saturday August 15th

7:00am - 12pm

We are having our first Yard and Bake Sale AND it will benefit the cost of our next adoption!

Beginning in October when Evan turns 1, we will be eligable to apply again for adoption through our agency. We are so excited and will appreciate your prayers that we could be chosen within 2 years hopefully. (we like to be specific. he he he). Our agency requires the money saved before your application process is completed. Agency and private adoptions in the U.S. can cost between $5,000 and $40,000 depending on a variety of factors including services provided, travel expenses, birthmother expenses, requirements in the state and other factors. While we have some savings, as we learned with Evan's Adoption, more is needed.

We will be asking for and accepting item donations for us to sell in our sale. So please go through your house and think of us before you throw out your old stuff. Any volunteers are welcomed also ;)! lol. (remember, I've never done this before. Yes Katrina, I know you would help if you lived here and wish you did!). If you are interested in donating, we will be collecting them on Wednesday, August 12, 2009 and you can email us at www.lilaandmichael@yahoo.com, also if you want directions.

We would love if anyone wants to donate homemade baked goods too. ;) There will also be bottled water for sale and possibly a lemonade stand! cute!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

No babies were hurt in the making of this video... I promise. ;)

I left evan in the other room while getting something and heard him whine, when I came in, this is what a saw. I knew he was fine, just 'stuck' in the 'toy basket' and quickly grabbed the camera. It was SOOOOOO worth it! He is getting into everything now. I just can't stop him so I'm glad I have this video to remind him later of what he was like at 9 months old. lol. ;) Please forgive me for not getting him out right away but I was just having too much fun.

VOTE FOR ME!!!

It's time for Rutherford County's, 15th Annual "Ruthie Awards" and I'm nominated!! I would love your vote so please go to the link provided and hook me up for fun. ;)http://www.ruthiesawards.com/category/76/default.aspx?page=4

RAndOm 7 day aCtiVitieS

evan: "i love you trash can"
trash can: "i love you too evan"
me: :)


the evidence of constantly pulling up on stuff. i have the greatest videos documenting this stuff but it takes so long to load, you'll have to wait but here's two pictures.

Evan's lady, Annabelle at our Ward Activity on Saturday. He must really like her if he let her drive his precious car. ;) LOL

Last friday at Kroger, WAY past his bedtime but he LOVEd the car (second time in one) and loved helping daddy.

"Auntie" Loretta came to visit on Friday! ;) Evan was soo happy to finally see her. She lives in Virginia now but used to work with me at Tangerine. We miss her here in Tennessee so much but she loves Virginia too (don't blame her, I've been before and it is great).

"'tude". i think aunt lisa will like this. ;)

Up LATE.

Here's our little munchkin who was put to bed 30 minutes ago. I admit, I've been trying to put him to bed awake but tired so he'll put himself asleep. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Not only is he not asleep, but this is what he's doing now...

Maybe my favorite part is when Evan smiles because I'm playing with the wind chime. ;) So cute. No one can resist such a cutie baby smiling. ;) I hate that he is asleep right now so I can't hug him so tight right now! ;) he he he.

going for walkies...

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Memorial for a friend...

This is a huge reason I post. Today is the one year anniversary of the death of a friend, Ginger who inspired me to post about my family and also others. Like me she was also one of 11 children and our families intertwined though our childhood years, including a time when Ginger dated one of my brothers for a time and I even did her hair. She is missed but her brother Jason and his wife posted her eulogy on their blog http://detmerfan.blogspot.com/2008/08/why-blog.html
I have been thinking a lot about her these past two months and even found myself wandering again to her family blog that she posted her last post, just the night before she died. It was a perfect post to reflect the love of a mother of her calling as such. http://jasondgingerd.blogspot.com/ . I am grateful I knew her and know her family. They are wonderful people of whom I look up to.
We miss you here on earth Ginger Dee. Thank you for caring for us from heaven. We love you.
The Stuteville Family