Friday, March 27, 2009

Wilderness at the Smokies


All the gang with sleepy Ev

Sweet face
Kiddie pool
See-saw in the kiddie pool
Chillin
Hey this brush fits up my nose perfect

Sleeping on Momaw
Swinging in the kiddie pool
We made it alive out of the storm chaser!

For spring break, my grandparents took Briana, Macey, Mom, Ev and me to the Wilderness at the Smokies in Sevierville. It was F-U-N!! It's an indoor waterpark that is truly amazing. Heated pools, huge slides, 2 big kiddie pool areas and best of all a hot pool, not a hot tub, but a hot pool! We will definitely be going back here and we're bringing daddy next time! It's an absolute perfect place to bring kids of any age...from 6 months up! Check it out: http://www.wildernessatthesmokies.com/

14 Months...he walks!


By far the biggest milestone came this month...Ev started walking! To daddy of course! He waddled over to Steve with 5 or 6 steps (March 17). He's still very new at it, but he gets from place to place nonetheless. I think it's so cool that I started walking at 14 months too. His first word other than "mama" and "dada" was "this". lol Hilarious first word if you ask me. He says it when he points to something and wants it. I realize that I overuse the word "this" when talking to him. "Do you want this? This one? Come get this. More of this?" It's super cute when he says "dis!" because he says it all the time. And just this week I've heard him say "bite", "juice" and "drink". He understands almost everything that I say to him. He knows what things are even if he can't say the words. I hear that that's what's most important at this age, so I'm pleased.

He has 4 top teeth and 2 bottom teeth. He has huge feet for his age (5.5!) and is still on the tall side. He's continuing to rock his faux-mo haircut, although it's grown in a lot since I buzzed it.

He's also practicing throwing fits...yay for me. Oh and hitting people when he's not happy with them. My mom even almost had to pop his leg! And that's a shocker because she's a softie. So now I get to learn how to train him that it's not okay to hit people (including me) or throw tantrums. Parenting is so fun. :) j/k It really is hard at times. Now I see what people really mean when they say parenting doesn't come with an instruction book. It's hard to know what to do when you've never done this before. But as my friend April told me, you just pray! I love to think that I can read books and they'll give me all the answers, but only God knows Evan better than me and only He has all the answers.

Ev's really a good kid, despite the aforementioned things. hehe He has such a calm demeanor and is sweet and loving. Mom's nicknamed him "love sponge" because at any time he'll sit on your lap and let you hug and kiss on him. There's no such thing as too much attention to him! I already worry about whenever he has a brother or sister. I was holding my nephew Josh (6 months) the other day and Evan kept trying to hit him! He's a jealous little sucker! Guess that's normal though. He loves to give big open mouth kisses and his favorite game is wrestling on the floor with Daddy. Steve lays on the living room floor with him every night before bed and they play. Usually Steve has his shirt off. Evan discovered Daddy's nipples and belly button and is obsessed with them. He constantly tries to grab them or flick them off. LOL All three of us crack up every time.

Even though it's still present, we're getting through the separation anxiety. Actually I think I'm just getting less emotional about it, which is good. He still puts on a pathetic show when I drop him off, but I know that the people I leave him with are taking great care of him and I think that's finally getting through my brain.

Steve and I were talking last night about how we are living our futures right now. All of our twenties we were waiting for where we are right now...married and watching our children grow. This is such a great time in our lives. It was a long time coming, but not only was it worth it, it was meant to be. We agree that it was probably a very good thing that we had to wait for God to put us together when He did. We're about to put our house on the market and look for a home to raise our family in. Exciting times.

Goodbye Mr. Kirby :(

Our neighbor Mr. Kirby died today. He was around 95 years old. Such a sweet, sweet old man. I first met him when I was outside painting our porch and he yelled over, "Come over and visit me sometime. I'm here all by myself. I get lonely. You can bring that baby with you. I like babies." So I got Evan and went over and visited with him a while. I visited him every now and then. He's a talker and it was always hard for me to tell him I needed to get back home, so my visits were less frequent. I'm upset with myself about that now.

Mr. Kirby always loaned Steve tools. In fact, I think we have his blower right now. He was always one to give us advice about our house and tell us stories about his life. He was such an interesting man to talk to. He had such a sweet nature. He'd see Evan and say, "I wish I could hold that baby but I'm afraid I'd drop him." I plopped Evan on his lap one day. I'm so glad I did. Evan loves his dog, Minnie. Minnie's really gonna miss him.

Today I got home and lots of people were outside around his house. I knew. I went over and his grandson told me he had passed 30 minutes ago. What I'm most upset about is that I planned on going over to see Mr. Kirby this weekend. Steve told me he wasn't doing good. I've been on vacation this week and told myself I was going to go see him as soon as I got back. Too late. I'm so sad that I didn't even get to ask him if he knew Jesus. I'll live with that regret forever. :(

I hope Mr. Kirby is in heaven with his beloved wife. He missed her so, so much.

I'm sorry, Mr. Kirby, that I didn't get to say goodbye. You know I admired you and I was your friend. Please forgive me for not visiting you more. You'll be missed by all of us.