Another Year, Another Birthday!

Tomorrow (10-30) is Evan's 31st birthday. Friday (10-31) is also the 5th anniversary of our first date AND the fourth anniversary of our engagement. He doesn't get real excited over birthdays, but he used to get excited over the other two celebrations. (Our first year of marriage we actually did something special to celebrate. I specifically remember cooking this Chicken Tetrazzini that took every pot and pan in my cabinet!) Anyway, I like to try to make these days special somehow.

Sooo...here is my attempt...

Things I love about Evan:

1.) He's cute even when he's sleeping.

2.) He cleans up nicely and he knows it. On this occasion, he thought he resembled Brad Pitt. He told me.
3. We have a lot of great memories together. HOGS games, Guatemala Mission Trip, Snow Skiing, landscaping our yard in NWA, golf outings, buying a convertible then finding out we are pregnant 8 months later, other road trips, etc. I love that looking at those memories in pictures makes me smile.

4. He genuinely likes kids. Not just Kendall. One of the first things that attracted me to Evan was how much time he took up with Ellyn, the daughter of his boss at the time. Most 20-something guys wouldn't do that. Even tonight...one of his soccer kids had been very ill and he wanted to go over to the little boys' house to visit and cheer him up. I just love that about Evan!!!

5. He LOVES LOVES LOVES our Kendall. He is so good with her. Even though staying home with her everyday is not our ideal scenario, he never complains. Raising Kendall is not something he takes lightly. I love that our family is priority to him.

6. He makes me laugh. Constantly. Even when I'm trying to be serious about something, he cracks me up. He is constantly coming up with some quick-wit remark or acting silly about something. I can often just look at him and smile.

7. He works hard at everything and he's pretty much amazing at everything he does. (Well, except maybe golf. But even at that, he's not terrible!) When he sets his mind to accomplish something, you'd better believe it will happen. I'm in constant amazement at his handy-man work, study skills, and work ethic even in the midst of our chaotic life. He makes me very proud!

Most of all, I love that Evan loves the Lord and strives to put God first in every area of his life. Evan's daily walk is a constant challenge to make me be the Godly woman I know I need to be!

I LOVE YOU!!! HAVE A GREAT DAY!

My dad came to visit this weekend. We had a great time with him. The plan was to go to Huber Farms on Friday, but it rained all day on Friday and daddy got a later start than planned, so we ended up at KingFish instead. Sorry for all the Louisville folks that read this, but about all that restaurant has going for it is that it has a nice view of the river. (Apparently, KingFish is supposed to be another one of the great local places. I didn't enjoy it so much. I think it's just because I'm more of a catfish eater than a scrod eater.)

Kendall thoroughly enjoyed my turnip greens (seriously, the best part of the meal!).

After dinner, we went home and put Kendall to bed.

Evan coached soccer on Saturday, so daddy, Kendall and I just hung out at the house until he got home. This is where my mom's presence was terribly missed. When Evan got home, we ventured out to The Bass Pro Shop. (JOY!) If my mom were still living, we would have dropped those boys off and headed on to Target or Old Time Pottery that is nearby. Evan told me that my enduring BPS was payback for all his trips with me to the mall. Whatever.

We made a stop at the golf section (surprise) and found some clubs that Kendall will be big enough to use soon enough. I think her daddy looks forward to the day!

We had a great weekend with my dad and were so glad he was able to come up!

On another note...

I didn't post Kendall's stats from her 12 month check-up on Thursday. She weighed 19 lbs. 1 oz. (15th percentile) and 28 1/2 inches (25th percentile). The doctor said she was perfectly healthy and really developing her motor skills. He did act kind-of funny about her not saying many "real" words and said that if she wasn't saying more by 15 months we might need to do something about it. I'm not worried. She jabbers and repeats sounds constantly, so I don't think there is anything wrong with her speech.

She is picking up a little bit on the baby sign-she will do the sign for "finished" (thanks, Allyce!) but I'm not sure she gets what it means. When you say, "Kendall, where is your shoe?" she grabs at her foot. She's also patted her head when you say "Kendall, where is your head?" but not as consistently as the shoe thing. The below video shows "where is your shoe?" a little, although we were already playing the game before I started the video, so she was already playing with her shoes. She will also shake her head "no" when she doesn't want to play or when she's finished. So cute. I love how much she is learning and growing!

Party Picts

These are the few pictures I took with my camera. No kidding, but my camera batteries were dead. Not that we've had a lot going on around here, but can you believe I totally forgot to charge them?!?!? I thought I was going to cry! Thankfully, Angie saved the day and brought her camera. She's professional...so she took better shots than I could have ever done! AND she had them emailed to me this morning. How fast is that?!?!? You can click here to view those. (If you want to see more than what is on this slide show, I would advise going there!)

The party was great...We had a few folks unable to attend for different reasons, but it still seemed like we had a houseful. The food was great, the company was even better and we have a great memory to last a lifetime!

Happy Birthday To Kendall!

Thought some of the family would want to see Kendall smashing her cupcake. The birthday party was a fun time...I'll do a picture post later!

Oh, and I think the videos loaded backwards. The one where you can see Evan and me is singing/blowing out the candle. Let me just say that we would NOT make a very good choir! HA!

PS. I went back and watched these videos one more time before bed. As I was watching them, I was thinking about how concerned I was about the appearance of the cupcakes. Karis put everything into perspective for me.

It doesn't really matter what the icing looks like, as long as there are pink sprinkes on top! :)

My Daddy Dresses Me!

**I don't know why this posted all funny with no paragraph breaks, but I'm not going back to fix it. Sorry. I know it hurts the eyes!**

I am supposed to be making icing as we speak, because somebody (not naming any names CAREY!) convinced me that homemade frosting was way better than the canned kind, so I decided to go with it. Anyway, I knew if I didn't put these on here, I would forget and never do it in all our craziness lately.


(Before you look, please remember that our house is a work-in-progress that is on hiatus until Evan's school semester is over. We have a workable bathroom and kitchen and that's all we can handle for now. We are full aware that the hardwoods need to be refinished and that painting needs to be completed. Also, just know that I'm not posting before/after pictures on here until rooms are COMPLETE which NONE are at this point. You can have a sneak peak, but that's it!) :)

Do you agree that Kendall needs a purse?

She carried her diaper bag around for the majority of the afternoon before leaving for church! Too precious! She is rebelling against the hair bows at the moment, but the girl is loving a purse! :)

On to the post title...(my pictures loaded backwards).

One of my very favorite things is to come home in the afternoon to see what Kendall is wearing for the day, since on most days, Evan dresses her. I really try to hang outfits together in her closet, but you really just never know. (Anyone here me on this one?!?!?) One day, I came home and Kendall had on a green knit skort (isn't that what they are called? skirt w/shorts underneath? it just sounds kinda funny!) and a purple and white striped t-shirt. I asked, "Did y'all go anywhere today?" Evan replies with, "Yeah, to the bank and to the Seminary campus." All I could say was "Wow!" Another day, I picked her up at a friend's house, and she had on another lovely ensemble. Pink jogging pants with a satin strip down the side (and have a matching jacket, but Kendall wasn't wearing the jacket), a multicolored striped onesie, and brown shoes. You could certainly tell her daddy dressed her.

Today, I came home and she was wearing this!

Probably not what I would have picked out for her, but I thought she looked kinda cute! Very Razorback Fan-ish!

Tomorrow is the BIG DAY!!! My baby girl is ONE! I took off work to take her to her well baby visit since Evan has class and am excited about having the day home with her!

I'm off to finish the icing! :)

Great Friends!

I am overwhelmed that God has blessed us in so many ways, especially with such great friends. I mean, really? Who else would drive 10 hours just to see you for two nights, hang curtains and curtain rods, offer to paint, and bring your child a birthday present? Who can tell you "that shirt is really ugly" and not hurt your feelings? :) Who would you give up your bed for or share one bathroom between six people and not complain? Only the best of friends...Evan and I are SO very thankful for our friendship with these four!

We really had a wonderful weekend. Brian, Kendra, Scottie and Allyce got here around 4:00 on Friday afternoon. Upon their arrival, Brian and Scottie pretty much tackled Evan to get their first lick in on "their game," for those of you who know what I'm talking about. Yes, our husbands all still act about as mature as my sixth graders. I made the Pioneer Woman's Enchiladas that I posted about previously. We had chips and salsa/fresh guac, and salad to go with it. YUMMY. There was a tad left over, but apparently Evan finished it all off for a late night snack. (I heard he ate the enchiladas with chips. AND finished the guacamole!) Kendra, Allyce, and I decided to take advantage of the fact that the boys would be leaving Saturday afternoon to go to Lexington, so we left Kendall with them in order to do a little shopping. I needed to return a mirror to Target, so we went to a couple of other places along the way. We got home and went to bed shortly after.

Saturday morning, I made Christmas Eggs and we had leftover Krispy Kremes. (I'm not sure why I am feeling the need to tell you about all we ate this weekend. Maybe because that is what you do when you get together with friends? Eat!) We sat around and visited in our pj's for a while, and then put the boys to work. All three of them hung my curtain rods and BEAUTIFUL new drapes that Kendra made. (Separate post. Probably not tonight, either!) After they finished, the boys were off to Bass Pro and then Lexington for the game. I must say that we girls were a little glad to get those three out of our hair for a while! Evan with either Scottie OR Brian is a lot to handle, but put all three of them together and you get completely over-stimulated! Those three can make me laugh harder than just about anyone I know, but they can also wear me out!

Kendra, Allyce, and I enjoyed our peace and quiet for a while, then we headed out (with Kendall) to Marshall's, Off Broadway Shoes, and World Market. We had fun playing in the shoes at Off Broadway, and I think Kendra found some keepers. :) After a little shopping, we went to Lynn's Paradise Cafe for dinner. This was the first time for me to eat at Lynn's and it was a blast! The atmosphere is a lot of fun, and the food is pretty good, too. They have a fun gift shop with lots of "Spencers" type gifts and we had fun playing around in there before going outside for some silly pictures. When we got back to our house, we tried to watch a movie, but even after I fixed myself some coffee, Kendra was the only one who stayed awake to finish it!

The boys rolled in from Lexington around 1:00 a.m., and in spite of the Hog's terrible loss, I think they still had a great time. Evan came in very hoarse, which made me smile since I hadn't heard his "after game voice" in over a year!

Allyce won the prize for the best quote of the weekend. She, Kendra and I had an extensive conversation about how cute Rachel is and how she always has great hair (because we were looking at her blog and her adorable decor) and Scottie said, "Are y'all still talking about that?!?!?" To which Allyce replies, "Scottie, you need to just realize that in a conversation with women, you better be prepared to park there for a while." So funny.

Kendall also learned how to say Razorbacks this weekend. Evan doesn't buy it, but I think Allyce got it on video. The girls heard it. We know what counts.

I was sad to see my friends leave Sunday morning, but again, so thankful they took the time to come visit us. Thanks again, Scottie, Allyce, Brian, and Kendra! We love you! Can't wait to see you in December!

We're IN!

1.) We are in our house. Unpacked all the way? Negative. Getting there...yes! Evan is painting in our dining room at the moment. Somehow in all this chaos we have managed to keep Kendall from eating all the nails and screws that are EVERYWHERE. We love our new home and feel overly blessed to be in it.

2.) Scottie, Allyce, Brian, and Kendra are coming on FRIDAY. I CANNOT wait. Boys are going to the AR/KY game, girls are staying here. I'd love to go to the game, but nothing beats some good girl company. I'm not sure what we'll do. I do know that Kendra made my living room drapes and I've heard they've been described as "faux Pottery Barn." I know they are awesome and can't wait to hang them!

3.) It's humbling to have friends that love you enough to drive 10 hours to visit. (Especially knowing that Allyce doesn't car-travel well.) I can't even explain it. I want to think that I am that good of friend, but sometimes I wonder if I would drive that far for a three day weekend. All I know is that I hope I'm as good of friend to Allyce and Kendra as they are to me. I love them.

4.) Kendall's birthday is next Thursday. So is her party. We invited some folks over for chili and cupcakes. Do I have everything in order for it? Not really. I did make her invites (that were all hand-delivered except two because I'm terrible at the mail!) and put together a little birthday ensemble for her to wear. That's about as far as I am. Someday, I will post a picture of both.

5.) Speaking of cupcakes, my friend that was supposed to help me with Kendall's cupcakes is 33 weeks pregnant. Her water broke at a Women's Conference in Chicago this weekend. (Looks like I'll be baking them myself! This shall be interesting, as I'm an impatient decorator when it comes to cakes and cookies!) Anyway, please pray for her. (Kristina. And her hubby, Ben.) She's on bed rest at the hospital and will have a baby by next Thursday. This is her first, and even though she knows God is in control and is trusting in Him, I'm sure it's still very scary. I'm going to visit her tomorrow evening. Looking forward to it!

6.) Speaking of babies, please pray for our sweet, sweet friends, Jonathan and Rachel. They have been in the process of adopting a baby for almost two years. Without going into a bunch of detail, they think the birth mother may have backed out. Once again, they are trusting in God's providence, however, they are unsure of so much right now and my heart just breaks for them. I have them on my mind constantly.

7.)So I'm laughing right now b/c Evan has the radio on a station that plays old country music. He just switched it because Slow Fade came on for about the 500th time in a row on the Christian station. Anyway...he is rocking out to a little David Allen Coe. Oh yes..."You never even called me by my name." Takes me back to college so fast.

8.) Speaking of Evan...he's been working so hard on our bathroom. I'm waiting until all the accessories are in to show pictures. It looks awesome. The paint came out a little more yellow than I intended, but it's still fine. Anyhoo...because of all the caulk that had to be done, we have had to take baths for a couple of days. Yes, baths. Gross. I'm all about a bath when I want to relax, but not to get clean. There's something about sitting there in your dirtiness that just disgusts me. On Saturday, Evan was bathing (this may be a little TMI, but it's funny) and for some reason he left the door open. I walked by, and just started CRACKING UP LAUGHING seeing him in a bathtub. (Laughter was much needed at this point because we were both on each other's nerves. At one point right before that, I told him I was just going to quit talking to him for a while because every time I said something he gave some snappy remark back.) As I'm laughing he says, "I feel like Kevin Costner in Wyatt Earp." Seen the movie???? Yeah, pretty funny.

On that note, I'm going to bed.

ps. No Edit.

Ten Minutes...

So, I'm giving myself 10 minutes to write this post because I need to be doing some major packing and cleaning. There will be no edit. Overlook the errors.

Let me give a run-down of how things have been going...

Last week...I get home from school around 3:00, with just enough time for Evan to pass Kendall off so he can go to the new house to work. (This has been the drill since we closed on the house two weeks ago today.) Evan is very, very tired because he's working on the house until wee hours in the morning, all while trying to work AND maintain all his reading for school. I had the day off on Friday, which was fabulous. Kendall and I stayed home while Evan went to class. Abby brought Christian over to play so she and Andrew could have a date. (Christian and Kendall are so cute together. He's a good, good boy!) Friday night was PNO, so Evan and I took Kendall so I could help paint at the house.

Saturday was Evan's soccer game, that Kendall and I were finally able to attend, followed by lunch at Wendy's, a visit to Lowe's with daddy, and some other errands. At this point, it's easier to run errands and have Kendall out of the house while she is awake because the floor is covered up with stuff and she has no room to play. (It's bad when you would rather take your kids to run errands than to play at home!)

Sunday was lunch with our ABF care group, then off to keep the nursery for the Discover N&O class. (New Members class. This is our nursery duty. We have other obligations on Sunday mornings, so we keep this class each month instead.) The class starts at 3:30, so Kendall had NO nap. Surprisingly, she was doing okay. We had no new members with kids show up, which we was actually a blessing, because it gave Evan a few more hours to get some things done at the house. We skipped night church (which I hate to do, b/c it's the only worship service I get during the week).

On to this week...

Monday-I had professional development all day and a friend volunteered to keep Kendall during the day so Evan could go to the house and work. I loaded up my car with boxes to take to the new house during my lunch. Run back to the new house after school and then go pick up Kendall. Kendall and I spent the majority of the evening out of the apartment, because again, it's too hard to keep up with her with all the moving stuff everywhere. Oh, and Evan stayed at the house working until 4:00 a.m. Seriously.

Side story here...Tuesday morning I didn't have to wake up as early and was able to help with Kendall a bit. I got her milk (which, by the way, she is completely OFF the bottle and taking whole milk! Praise the Lord for a feat that was amazingly smooth!) and put her in the bed with Evan. Evan then gets up with her, only to lay down on the couch and fall asleep again. As I'm getting dressed for work, I hear this banging noise, and come out of the bedroom seeing Kendall walking around with a plunger in hand. Let me just say, I was worried about how the day would go for those two!!!

Tuesday-Student Led Conferences for me from 9-6, only I ended up being there until after 7, because you ALWAYS have those who don't come at the right time or stay longer than they should. I must say that I had the BEST experiences with conferences and was very pleased with the outcome. I had NO angry parents, even the ones who had failing or near-to-failing grades weren't upset. And it wasn't because they didn't care. I'll have to post on that some other time. After conferences, I met Evan at the new house, we did the hand-off again; I brought Kendall home, bathed her, put her to bed, and started more packing.

Today-Kendall stayed the afternoon with Angie and crew and Evan had some extra hands tonight. I had a computer training (of all weeks, tonight AND tomorrow night) from 4:30-7:30 (can't get out of it because it's the last session offered!), so Angie brought Kendall to church and I picked her up after my meeting. Evan is (you guessed it) at the house working and won't be home until LLLAAAATTTEEE tonight.

Progress so far-(I will not post pictures until we can show you the "afters") Bathroom gutted, walls have been sheet rocked (sp? is that one word or two?), wall paper torn down, MOST rooms have the first coats of paint, some carpet ripped up, new floors in kitchen...and that is all I can think of right now. It's going to be fantastic. I'm in love with our basement. It's last on the remodel list (like next year) but it's going to be AWESOME!!!

Move day...FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am very aware that probably all that we want to do will not be completed. I'm totally okay with that. Even when I think about the fact that we have company coming next weekend, Kendall's birthday party the next week, my dad coming the weekend after her birthday, and a baby shower the next weekend. Of course, I wish it would all be finished, but I know it won't be. I'm just so happy to have a house of our own again. Someday, all the people who come to our house now will come again when it's all finished and decorated, so it's okay with me that they will see it "in process."

As I sit here and type this, I am remembering some walks I had in our beautiful "now" neighborhood last year before I gave birth to Kendall. I remember praying as I was walking, looking at all those beautiful houses. I would tell God, "I know that we may never own a home of our own again. I'm completely okay with that. BUT, if we do, I PROMISE, God, I will use it to be a blessing to you." Looking at the paragraph above, I know he is already giving me opportunities to minister to others with my home. I'm thrilled...no matter if the trim is not finished, the baseboards aren't painted, or the counter top is still ugly turquoise. I just want to be used!

I had some other thoughts, but they aren't coming to me at the moment, so I will save them for another post. Please keep us in your prayers over the next couple of days...it's getting wild! Evan and I have had LIMITED communication and we all know how that can be. We haven't had any fights or anything, we are both just exhausted, so we aren't talking to each other as nicely as we probably should. Also, just pray for Evan. He is doing an AMAZING job with all the projects, but I think he's frustrated because everything is taking longer than he intended. When I go to the house I see progress, when he goes, he just sees more work. I'm ready for a sense of normalcy to come back and I'm ready to see my hubby! :)

Happy Birthday to Christian!

Kendall attended her very first "friend" birthday party about a week ago and had her first taste of birthday cake.
Obviously, she enjoyed it!

Thanks for letting us celebrate with you, Christian!