Happy New Year!

Daddy is finally feeling a little bit better.  We are going to a New Year's Eve party at Uncle Dan and Auntie Karin's house.  I am going to play with Danny and Sean all night.  And Mommy comes home tonight, too!  Happy New Year, everyone!  I know 2012 will be a great year!

Mommy Went to Mexico

Mommy went to Mexico and enjoyed poolside drinks for three days at this resort.

Swam in (well at least put her feet in) the ocean.

Celebrated the wedding of a good friend to a special man.

While I stayed home with Daddy and did this!

Yummy chocolate!  You can go away anytime you want to, Mom!

Christmas with the Skarin's

Well this was certainly the Christmas season that kept going and going and going!  Today is finally Christmas day and we have been opening gifts everyday for a week!  I think Evan might be disappointed next year when the gift giving is all done within two days.  We had a fun day, most of which was spent opening gifts and stockings and eating.  Evan and Hannah had fun playing with all the new toys and were both extremely well-behaved considering how overwhelming Christmas can be, especially after a week long celebration.  Christmas is definitely much more fun when there are little ones to share it with!

Fun with Hannah

Most of our time spent in Washington for Christmas revolved around watching Hannah and Evan play together.  The last time they were together in the same room (not on video chat) was in August of 2010 when Evan was only 4 months old.  Needless to say, he wasn't much fun to play with then!  This time, however, things were different.  The kids had so much fun playing with each other, with the exception of the occasional meltdown by either Evan or Hannah.  But in general I think they both would say that they love their cousin!

Beach Time?!?

If you are from the Northeast, you probably don't think much about going to the beach in December.  Unless of course you are boarding a plane before you go or are longing for the days of summer to return as you watch the snow fall.  Well I know two toddlers who had tons of fun exploring the beach on the Puget Sound in a different sort of way...one that required rubber boots (thanks to Omi!), winter coats, mittens and digging tools.

Seattle Aquarium

Today we took Evan and Hannah to the Seattle Aquarium.  You would think that between the four adults and the 5 cameras (not including phones) we have, we would have remembered at least one of the right?  Wrong! I guess that just means we will have to go back for another visit some other time! Here are a few photos that I took with my phone.

A Christmas Surprise!

Everyone loved all of the gifts that were given and received this year but Evan had the biggest Christmas surprise of all!

The reaction of the grandparents and great-grandfather caught on camera

Posing for a photo for Papa

Sharing the news with Omi, Grandpa, Auntie Kristina, Uncle Ty and Hannah too

Everyone was surprised, including ourselves when we found out!  I am due at the beginning of August and am feeling good so far.  Evan will be such a wonderful big brother!  Can't wait to welcome our new little one into this world!

Visiting Emily and Stephen

Before heading to see the Omi, Grandpa and the Smucker's for Christmas, we were fortunate to spend a couple of days in Seattle with Emily and Stephen.  It was so nice to see their new house and to have time to get to know Stephen a little better.  It worked out perfectly that they live so close to the airport in Seattle and could pick us up after what was already a long evening of traveling.  We got settled in for the night and went to bed shortly after considering it was already well after midnight EST.  On Monday, we had a lazy morning and then spent the afternoon and evening touring Seattle.  The city was all a bustle with holiday events and it was great to spend sometime outside after a nice lunch.  We rode a carousel (Evan loved his green horse almost as much as Stephen loved his red one!), we walked through Pike Place Market, strolled past the light display by the waterfront and even saw Santa at Macy's.  What a fun day! After our day out and about in the city, we headed back to Emily and Stephen's adorable home for a relaxing evening being entertained by Evan and his dancing skills.  Thanks for a great visit, Em and Stephen!

State List

When we traveled to Alaska in 2008 to celebrate Mark and Laura's wedding, Bruce completed his tour of the United States.  After our trip to Ohio last weekend, I got to thinking that in Evan's short lifetime, he has already visited quite a few states.  So here it is, the beginning of Evan's state list.  A new photo will be added each time we visit a new state.  He's already got 12 out of 51...not bad for only being 16 months old!!

Update 12/19/2011: We traveled to Washington state for Christmas this year.  This was the first of many trips Evan will take out west during his lifetime.  13/51

Santa Came!

Santa is a really smart guy.  You know how I know?  He knew we were going to Washington and that Evan wouldn't be home on Christmas morning so he came before we left!  How do you think he knew?!?!  Well I suppose it doesn't matter because Evan was excited to get up, go down stairs and see what he brought!  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Christmas with the Kavanagh's

With a trip planned to Washington for Christmas this year, we celebrated Christmas with the Kavanagh's the weekend before Santa was set to arrive.  Sean decided he needed a nice long nap at home so we were able to have a good visit with Bumpa, Grammy, Gramma and Papa before everyone else arrived.  Evan was entertaining everyone and enjoying the hors d'oeuvres.  Once everyone arrived, our house looked as if Santa had already arrived!  It is crazy to think about how much money is spent on gifts when we all say that we "don't need anything"!  We had fun opening presents and watching the little guys get so excited about each gift they opened...well except for the clothes!  The biggest hits were the Elmo guitar from Uncle Dan and Auntie Karin and the keyboard from Gramma and Papa.  Shortly after we finished opening gifts Santa drove by on a fire truck.  It was a little disappointing though because usually he comes by twice (up and down the street) but he only came once this year.  Oh well...Evan was the only one who really liked it anyway.  We also enjoyed Bruce's wonderful lasagna and other side dishes and of course we all ate too much!  And to think...this is just the beginning of the Christmas celebration!  Oh boy!

Making Christmas Cookies

We have a Christmas tradition that started a few years ago of making cookies and giving away tins to family members.  This is something Bruce used to do as a child and it has been fun for us to continue the tradition.  Some years get quite out of hand...making six or seven different kinds and multiple dozens of each.  This year, for a number of reasons, we scaled back our production.  I thought about skipping them altogether but then thought that too many people would be disappointed so we chose to make less kinds and only ones that were easy.  Evan enjoyed helping unwrap (and eating) Rolos and Kisses...especially the eating part!  Next year we will be back to full production with our great little helper!

Decking the Halls

We decided to decorate a little earlier this year than normal.  It's a good thing we did because it took us an entire week to be completely decorated!  We had lots of help from our best little pal and so far he has been really good about looking but not touching too many of the decorations.  Thankfully!  With all the fun we had decorating, I can only imagine how much fun is yet to come!

Donuts!

As a special treat this morning, Bruce bought a few donuts when he went to Dunkin' Donuts for coffee.  Evan was very excited and stuffed his face.  What kid doesn't like donuts?

Cheeks full of donut!

A big fan of the chocolate ones...just like Danny!

A Computer Nerd in the Making

This morning Evan got a hold of the keyboard that we use for the entertainment center.  

I think he thought Santa came early this year.

But he knew just what to do with it!

Wonder where he learned that from?

Cleaning for the Party

We are having a holiday cocktail party with a few friends tomorrow and today Evan was helping me get ready for it.

Helping mommy clean the floor

Squirting mommy!                                      Hammin' it up for the camera

 Laying down on the job!