It *was* nice to hear "mamamama"

It's amazing how once Evan said "Mama", he says it all the time now. I love hearing it when he wants me or when he's in his highchair and he's hungry, but I hate hearing it when I lay him down for a nap and he's standing in his crib going, "Mamamama" all sad. :(

MA MA MA MA MA MA MA!!!!

The day finally arrived! Evan said "Mama"!! He has said those sounds before, but he's never been addressing me. I wanted to wait until I knew he was talking to me and calling ME "Mama". He'd been saying it in his highchair the last few days but last night, Steve was holding him on the couch and Evan looked over at me and said, "Ma Ma Ma Ma Ma". Oh it was so sweet! Of course I cried. Mom called at that very moment and I scared her half to death as I was sobbing in the phone before I was able to blurt out, "HE CALLED ME MAMA!"

Gosh I'm so emotional. Geez. I cry over EVERYTHING. Steve never knows when I'm really upset about something because I cry all the time...over sad things, happy things, emotional things, everything! Just a lovely side effect of having a baby. :)

10 Months

Well my baby almost isn't a baby any more. He's acting more and more like a toddler. First and foremost, he is too "big" to drink formula. At least that's what the doctor's nurse told me. I've tried everything...giving it to him in a different cup, adding juice to it, warming it, serving it cold, making it into a smoothie with fruit, giving it to him in a glass, uping him to toddler formula...you name it! The kid is done with formula. The good part is that it makes breaking the bottle a snap. The bad part is that he is probably vitamin deficient now! After several days of this, I discovered that he will, however, drink chocolate milk. Mother of the year right here! Giving my kid whole milk 2 months ahead of time with chocolate! He gulped that down like there was no tomorrow. I don't really feel right about that though so I only gave it to him once. He's killing me on this formula thing.

Other than that, he's got the crawling thing down (even though he still crawls like an inchworm, he's fast!). He LOVES games and tickling. He wants to play all the time, or I should say, he wants ME to play with him all the time. Actually he does good playing by himself at home, but when Steve or I join in, he gets so excited he can't contain it.

We've been having a few more playdates recently. I hosted two here and then we've been going to more at other people's houses. It's so good for us both. I like chatting with my friends and he likes playing/observing his. Unfortunately the times we take him to the nursery at church, he's almost always sleepy so he doesn't get to enjoy it. But he really gets excited to see other kids at the playdates.

Oh yeah, and he's finally getting some teeth! His bottom two are busting through. My mom said all of us got our teeth late so I guess it makes sense. He was kinda hard to deal with that first week they were coming in, so I'm glad they lingered and didn't pop through at 4 months or something.

I can't believe he'll be a year old in a month and a half. I'm so excited about his party. All his little cousins and friends will be there.

I'm really not trying to be a plumber

So I bought a new pair of jeans yesterday (mainly because they make me look skinny and because I'm only one size away from my pre-pregnancy weight and that excited me) but also because I was hoping they wouldn't show my crack like my other ones. No luck. I even have a tight belt on with these bad boys, but yet when I squat down to pick Evan up, I have plumber bootie. Why can't I find a pair of jeans that doesn't give me crack attack? I think it's because I actually HAVE a butt unlike the anorexic models they design jeans for. Maybe I should try JLo jeans. It's annoying, but am I going to return them? Heck no! They make my thighs look skinny. Ahh the hardship. hehe

We snagged the location!

I know I've got the "psycho first time mommy" thing going on to be planning Evan's first birthday two months ahead of time, but I'm so excited! It's a good thing I did because I almost didn't get the location I wanted. But by a miracle, we got it! It will be at our church's indoor playground, which is magnificant! It's a 2 story playground (the largest in Nashville) with all kinds of tunnels and slides. Once you see it, you'll understand why it's in such high demand. Since Evan won't care, I wanted to pick a place where all the older kids could have a good time without spending the $250 everywhere else was charging.

Mom thinks I'm crazy because I booked our family photographer to take pics, but I think of it as a two-for-one...party pics plus his one year pics at the same time. Plus I don't want to be stressed out trying to take pics...I want to enjoy the party myself. Okay okay, so I am a little crazed. :)

I'm well aware that he won't remember his first birthday party, but I will. This party is for me! hehe I am so excited! So save the date...January 10 from 9 am - noon!

Our First Family Halloween

Steve and I, er...Evan had the best Halloween ever! :) We were planning on going to Fall Fest at church, but at the very last minute decided to go trick-or-treating with all the kids in my family. And I'm so glad we did, even the adults dressed up! NANA even dressed up! Her costume was hilarious! Back to that in a sec...

Every year Nana takes Briana to trick-or-treat with Kellie and Macey and Aunt SheShe. Aunt SheShe and Uncle Joe Joe live in a GREAT neighborhood that they've lived in for years. So we feel safe over there. So anyways, this year we have three new babies in the family. Josh is still too little, but Addison and Evan got to join in on the fun. Addison is 13 months and she was absolutely adorable in her little costume.

These pictures confirm that I have one FUN, COOL family. Well, "cool" may not be the most appropriate word when you see all of our costumes. hehe I was so excited to see all the adults dressed up and ready to go when we arrived. I want to do this every year! Steve and I LOVE costume parties (thus my birthday party this year and his last year). Thanks to Aunt SheShe for keeping lots of costumes around for all these years. I love you all very much!!

(I wanted to post all the pictures, but I had to draw the line somewhere.)

The Gang

Daddy, Mommy, and Ev-a-roo

Poppa and Addie Jo

Briana Ona, Nana and Mace-a-rino

Gwenie, Addie, and Adam

Daddy and Evie Woo

Is all that candy for ME?! (Check out his eyes...lol)

Addie and Monk-a-roo
(He's worried she's stealing his candy.)

Mama let me have my first sucker...woohoo! I LOVED it!