The Magic of Christmas

We have had a very busy couple of days. Christmas started on Sunday when we went to Greenville to visit Grandpa Dick and Nana Jackie. Nana had a lot of toys and Evan dove right in.

Grocery shopping in the kitchen

Playing with his all time favorite toy, the coaster!

After the rain stopped and the sun came out, we took a little time to swing

and swing some more

Before we left, we all shared a Chinese food dinner. Evan took care of Grandpa's egg roll and ate all the cabbage out from the inside.

and he helped rearrange a few ornaments on the tree

Monday, after I got off of work, we went to Grandpa and Grandma Jimmie's house. We didn't get many pictures without a ton of red-eye but this one was cute

and Tuesday was the big present day for us. Thanks to Elena and Kathryn for this great shirt. Evan loves it!

The presents taste good too

and right before he opened his last gift, he decided to take a nap (a two-hour plus nap)

The last present

Think he likes it?

Christmas was a rough time this year. We lost Granny Hicks (Jimmie's mom and my step-grandmother) on Saturday evening. She lived to be 75 years young and was a very kind woman. She always accepted Jerry and me into her family with open arms for the 18 years I knew her. Today was her memorial service and she was loved and honored by many.

We are so happy that we got to spend time with the loved ones that we could during the last few days. Hurricane Evan enjoyed every minute of tearing your houses apart.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of our family and friends. May your new year be prosperous and rewarding!

Congrats to the Sparks Family

My friend Sarah just welcomed her third child into the world on Friday, 12/21/07 at 9:15 AM. Baby Noah Austin is 9 lbs, 7 oz and 22 1/4 in long. Congrats to Chris, Sarah, Katie, and Aidan on the arrival of your newest family member!

Sick Days and Our First Haircut

Last week was quite an adventure. After Evan's party on Sunday, 12/9, something wasn't quite right. Evan had a touch of sickness most of the week. He was in decent spirts though. I took off work Wednesday for his birthday and we laid low. On Thursday, I got up, knew I didn't feel right, got to work and I was on my way home in the next hour and a half with the stomach bug. Thursday and Friday weren't pleasant for me and then Mike was sick Saturday and some of Sunday.

Most of our days were spent much like this

and when we got delirious, we played with bottles, some stronger than others

and when the bottles didn't work, we tried to strangles ourselves with the mini-blind cords

On a healthier note, we all were well enough to venture out on Sunday. Evan was looking like he needed a haircut. I admit that I'm the psycho mom that wanted to wait until he was one year old until he had a haircut!

Exhibit A: see the off-centered rat tail growing in the back of Evan's head. Scary!

Evan was a little scared too

Then we figured out that it wasn't so bad

and I present you with my little man!

I hope everyone is staying warm and getting their Christmas shopping done. We're done, thank goodness! Here's wishing you joy, happiness, and good health! Have a great week!

Happy 1st Birthday

Happy Birthday to my baby boy! He turns 1 today and I can't believe how fast it has all gone. There have been times that Mike and I wondered if we could really do this and we've succeeded to this point. I've spent the last hour going through photos of the last year to post and shedding happy tears, lots and lots of them.

To my Evan, you have made our lives complete. I can't imagine one second without you and I am so lucky that God gave you to me and your Daddy. I love you so very much and I promise to love you all the days of my life!

December 12, 2006 - the first time I held you

December 2006

January 2007

February 2007

March 2007

April 2007

May 2007

June 2007

July 2007

August 2007

September 2007

October 2007

November 2007

December 2007

Happy Birthday!

Evan's Party

Sunday was Evan's Birthday Party to celebrate him turning 1. His birthday is Wednesday but we sqeezed in a little party time before it got too close to Christmas. The best part was that I didn't make any of the food, except for a chocolate chip cheese ball. Our wonderful family and friends did EVERYTHING! I am beyond grateful!

Like any good party, we started out with food. These two boys tried to eat us out of house and home. Evan is on top of his Aunt Christina who fed him a little of everything and Derrick George sqeezed in for his share too.

Evan refused a nap before the party began and promptly went to sleep right after he ate. About 40 minutes later, we woke him up to open presents. Here's just a broad shot of our family and friends. If you look closely, you will find Andrea in the teal.

Cole was a wonderful big cousin and helped Evan open his presents (and blow out his candle).

Evan's Godmother, Sharon, made the wonderful cakes. Beautiful to look at and yummy to eat!

Evan's Cake

And I leave you with a series of pictures of Evan trying out his cake. It started off so very slowly that people left the kitchen while he pulled off the yellow icing and decimated the poor dalmation, only to return when Cole yelled, "He's eating it!"

I will try and update the blog again this week. I kind of took a blogging break. December is just a busy time and with Evan toddling around, it is impossible to get anything done. Enjoy the 70+ degree weather like we are and have a good week!

Thanks again to our family and friends that took care of us and helped us with Evan's Birthday. We are truly blessed and we love you all!

My Little Firefighter

Mike had to get a new helmet because someone ran over his other one with the firetruck. We let Evan try it on though he wasn't too crazy about it, because he doesn't like things on his head.

I haven't had much to post lately. I'm busy Christmas shopping and getting ready for Evan to turn 1! I'm also tired because work has me running and in meetings most days. I hope everyone is doing well. Have a great weekend!

Two of a kind

Katy, Derrick, and Little Derrick snuck into town late Friday night/early Saturday morning. We had plans to visit the Baby Fare and things start early when you are trying to beat all the new and expecting mommies to freebies (By the way, Little Derrick won second place in the crawling race and won Katy $15 at Babies R Us and Evan cried). When the boys woke up, we noticed they were wearing similar outfits. They immediately got re-acquainted.

Riding on the firetruck

crawling through the tunnel

Doing some comparing

helping with the dishes

and checking out the surroundings

We had a great mini-Thanksgiving with Mike's family. Mike's Dad and Jackie were here too. (We missed you Heather, Rob, Laney, and Kathryn). We loved having everyone over and can't wait to see you all again in a few weeks.