First night away from Evan

Nick and I have had a trip planned to Chicago for Nick's work for a long time. Cubs game and a night out ...no Evan. So we lined up Grandma Kate and Grandpa Steve to babysit. I thought it sounded like such a good idea until we actually had to leave him.

Timeline of events:

Thursday: drive to Cedar Rapids - spend the night - Evan not having a very good night's sleep. "I think we should just come back after the Cubs game." - Amy (tired and emotional)

"Ummm....." - Nick

"What do you think?" - Amy

"Ummm..." - Nick

Nick has learned I don't make very rational descisions in the middle of the night, so he just doesn't say anything and usually I do ok later.

Friday morning: Get up at 5:30 leave detailed instructions and off we go - with lots of kisses and hugs and without a tear down my cheek, can't say they weren't in my eyes:)

Friday: had a blast at the Cubs game and after in Wrigleyville. Got lots up pictures and text message updates from Grandparents which I showed to no less than 50 people throughout the day. Had to show them our handsome little boy.

Getting ready for the cubs game with peanuts and a drink!

Stock quotes with Grandpa. Evan suggests Huggies and Similac.

We survived our first night away and would even do it again. But I do miss him when we are gone. I miss him when I am at work and I get to see him over lunch each day.

Happy Birthday to Nick (July 26th) first birthday as a daddy and Evan loved celebrating with him.

One more cute picture after his bath.

Off to Minnesota for a long weekend.

Love,

Amy, Nick and Evan

Such a big boy!

Evan made his first trip to Algona this past weekend for Founder's Days. He loved all the attention. He met mom's friends and their little ones and all Grandpa and Grandma's neighbors. He was a smash hit. He also went on his first boat ride...as you can tell he was thrilled:)

Darlene Goodrich and Evan at their lake house. The Cubs even won that day because of his outfit:)

Evan also has started pulling his hair out. This was the first time he has received a stern no from mommy. He just scratches his head for a minute then grabs and ends up with a fist full of hair. I love his hair, so I hope he stops soon or it will all be gone.

School is still going well for Evan. No more major run-ins with the big boys. I'll keep my ears open though and see if I can catch any plots. He is just so much fun right now laughing and giggling up a storm. He also has figured out how to sleep through the night - cross our fingers it is for real now. He had a sinus infection so hopefully with the medicine he'll be better soon.

love,

Amy, Nick and Evan

Evan and the big boys at school

Three month picture with Elephante'

Second week and all is going well for Evan at daycare. He has been fighting a cold, so he seems to be a little more restless at night. No naps for him at school, well two to three 30 minute ones are all he gets.

Monday was an interesting day for Evan at school. All the other boys in his class are crawling or walking so he is the baby of the group. At one point all of them were around him as he was minding his own business on the floor trying to "help" him play. Then one clocked him on the head and that was enough. Then as he was in his bouncy seat Brody, the instigator, was "rocking" Evan a little too hard for Evan's liking. Then he was napping on the floor and the big boys rolled a ball at him and woke him up. As we were getting ready to go, Evan had his puppy in the car seat with him and Brody tried to steal it. No one messes with his puppy. I think Evan had enough of Brody.

Then on Tuesday Evan had his first incident report, not caused by him but another kid. He ended up with a scratch on his head from someone trying to play with him. I never found out who it was, but I am guessing one of the bigger kids is to blame. This is all getting him ready for the playground someday:)

Fourth of July was so much fun for Evan. He got to sit in his first Blackhawk helicopter with Dad, first parade and first fireworks. He slept through them, but he still was in attendance. I have to laugh that he can sleep through fireworks, but the minute I tip toe out of his room he wakes up. Stinker!

Off to Algona this weekend for his first trip to A-Town! He will be mauled by all the people excited to see him.

Baptism with Eric and Lindsay as Godparents

Love,

Amy, Nick and Evan

Baptism and back to work

My fun at home is over. I am officially back to work and little Evan is 3 months old. I had a pretty hard time thinking about Evan going to daycare, but today is his first day and he is doing GREAT! He hasn't slept much and his teacher Ann is wonderful.

I only cried a couple of times - once when I got in my office and my co-workers had decorated my office to welcome me back. My co-worker Corey came in and asked how it went and I just lost it and she gave me a hug which made my cry harder:) She just went through this 6 months ago so she gets it:)

Evan is just across the street at daycare so I can check in whenever I want. This is such a blessing because it gets me through the day knowing I can pop in on him. Here is a picture of him playing at school.

Evan also got his first cold over the weekend, so sleep has been tough for the little guy. Last night he got home from school and he slept until 7:15 then ate, took a bath and went back to sleep at 9. Woke to eat at 11:45 then slept until 6:15!! We had one tired boy.

I wanted to thank all our family and friends for a wonderful baptism this past weekend. Evan was a ham as usual and didn't cry at all the whole time. We had so many people come from far away to be with us and we couldn't be happier to share our time with them.

I will add pictures soon.

Oh one more thing...Lou and Fiona have had to adjust to me going back to work as well. I got home last night to two hungry and lonely kitties.

Evan and mom before I had to go back to work.

Love,

Nick, Amy and Evan

11 weeks old

How time flies...our little boy will be 11 weeks old tomorrow. That only means one thing for mom...I have to start thinking about work again. I just told Nick tonight that I haven't had 3 months of no work since I was 16 years old. It has been soooooo nice! It is just starting to get nice and warm outside - wish Evan was a little older so we could go to the pool, but we have next summer.

We got his professional pictures done last weekend and he did so great! He peed on the tarp in his Notre Dame outfit. Good thing the photographer was our labor and delivery nurse at Methodist. She was fabulous and got some great pics.

Here are some of the shots...

Love,

Amy, Nick and Evan

Shots are not fun

Evan had his 2 month shots yesterday. He was sleeping when we got to the doctor so we had to wake him up. Mistake #1, little buddy was not happy. We weighed him and he weighs 12lbs 9.5 oz! He has gained 2lbs in about a month.

Next step was the doctor check which was going fine until she started poking around then we had one sad little boy. Then came the shots - 2 nurses and 2 parents. Nick and I held his hands and the nurses counted to 3 and put the shots in his little thighs. He was crying so hard before the shots went in and then silence as they went in with the biggest eyes I have ever seen. 2 seconds later the loudest, shreak I have ever heard. Sad, sad boy.

He cried the whole way to the car and finally zonked on the way home.

He is the pictures from the day...

tummy time with mom

After shots and crying going home...he is so mad at me.

I couldn't resist taking this picture.

Love,

Amy, Nick and Evan

8 weeks old

How can you resist this face?!I can't believe Evan is already 8 weeks old. He has changed, grown and continued to amaze us each day. He is smiling, cooing and can follow our voices all over the place. He even rolled over on his side. I can't believe it...we were changing him on the floor and the next thing we knew he was on his side. He didn't know what to do after that, but I have a feeling it won't be long before he is on his belly.

His Aunt Erin graduated from high school this past weekend and he was mauled by his great aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents and aunts and a lot of random people. Evan did so well with all the attention. He was exhausted and slept two nights in a row for 5 hours! Hopefully this trend keeps up. Mom loves the idea of continuous sleep.

Here are a few pictures of him...

Evan and his buddy LouHow many people does it take to feed Evan??

Amy, Nick and Evan