7 months old

       Our chunky monkey is seven months old.  He is growing up way too fast!

      As you can see Evan got his first tooth a couple weeks ago and his second bottom tooth is ready to break through. 

      These days he is sitting pretty, although, you have to be right there.  Sometimes he will suddenly dive forward.  Then when he lands you would think the world is ending. 

       Who me?  No, it wasn't me who kept you up last night.

      Oh look, here is that foot again.  Let's see can I fit it in my mouth?  

      With the angle of this picture it makes Evan's face look slimmer and identical to his dad.

       This has to be one of my favorites.  Look at all those adorable baby rolls. 

        In slow motion now....timber.

     Changing my diaper is getting trickier.  I love to play with my feet and roll around.   Soon I'll be saying catch me if you can. 

Baby Food, Sweet Potatoes Addition



 

        At the beginning of the month Evan started vegetables and is LOVING it!!!  So far he has tried peas, green beans, butternut squash, and sweet potatoes. 



        Making baby food is simple and saves us on trips to the grocery store.  First I took a couple sweet potatoes from the basement, scrubbed the outside of them to get all the dirt off, wrapped them in aluminum foil, and placed them in a 400 degree oven for an hour.  Once they came out I let them cool for a few minutes before peeling them.

        Then cut them in small enough pieces they fit in the food grinder and grind away.  Done.  Food is ready to eat.  Although since I baked two sweet potatoes, I will have plenty left over for several more meals.  Some will go in the fridge and the rest will be frozen. 

        In my experience butternut squash and sweet potatoes are very soft for first foods.  Peas and green beans are a little harder to grind due to the skins.  Most of the time I try to mix squash or potatoes with them to make them easier to swallow.  Evan handles them fine either way, though. 

       

Six Months Old

 

        On December 30, Evan turned six months old.  Our bright-eyed baby boy has brought so much love and light into our home.  We cannot imagine our lives without you. 

       Your smile can light up a room on these long, cold winter nights. 

     You might be wondering what Evan is up to these days.  Well, he is still on the verge of rolling over.  He can literally get with in a millimeter of rolling to his stomach.  I think he knows it and absolutely refuses to be on his stomach.  

         If we set you up, you will sit up for a little bit before loosing your balance.  While sitting up you like to grab for toys in front of you.  When nothing is in front of you, you will play with your toes.

       Over the past month Evan continues to enjoy his cereal.  We held off on introducing more foods since he is at a very healthy weight.  Meanwhile if Evan is sitting on your lap while you eat, he watches every bite you take.  Looking at you like...when is that coming my way?         

        Evan loves to play peek-a-boo with you.  Daddy will toss a burp cloth over Evan's face, Evan will pull it down or push his head up until he can see you. Then he will bust up laughing when he spots you.  Now Evan will take his burp cloth on his own cover his face and uncover it quickly as if playing peek-a-boo by himself. 

         Evan enjoys story time.  He likes looking at the pictures and listening to the sound effects you make.  Sometimes he is content to just look at the pictures and try turning the pages on his own.  One of his favorite books is "Bulldozer."  Mommy can now recite the book without even looking at the words. 

        Bath time is a real experience.  Evan loves to splash around and can get water EVERYWHERE!
        Evan enjoys being in his jumper and playing with the toys, but not jumping yet.  We are trying to teach you how to jump. 

      Also over the past month Evan had his first cold.  It was a rough week and a half, but thankfully you were better by Christmas.  

     Ever wonder what we look like mid sneeze?  Well wonder no more.  Bless you baby!

 

Evan's First Christmas

        Evan had a fantastic first Christmas fill with lots of love and family time with a few naps along the way. We started the holiday celebration at home on Christmas Eve where I made a rookie mistake...no pictures.  Then Christmas morning we went to mass to celebrate the birth of our Lord. The rest of the day we spent at my parents' house.

        Daddy helping Evan open his first gift.  He did it all by himself even if it took him forever.  Evan was blessed with many new outfits to go along with his growing waistline.

        The first toy he, or should I say Kade and Liam, opened was a John Deere dashboard, which for now is one of his favorites because his goal in life is to get the throttle in his mouth.          

         Kade and Evan enjoying some cousin time while Liam went outside to ride a horse with his Dad.

        Later on while Evan was sleeping the rest of us enjoyed a few games of bingo. Before we got started we had to teach Derick how the game is played.  By the look of intense focus going on I think we created a monster.  Watch out bingo halls Derick will be coming to take all your prizes.

     Kade made the game very entertaining with his overzealous method of rolling out the numbers.  Sometimes he was chasing them across the floor because they flung out of the cage.  He didn't quite understand the concept of slowing turn the handle.

      The Sunday following Christmas we went to my husband's side.  We had a wonderful meal, opened gifts, and had some great conversation.  Evan as you can see was worn out.  He spent most of the afternoon sleeping while we installed my mother's-in-law new outdoor lights and took down her outdoor nativity before it got cold.   When Evan finally woke up Grandma read him some Christmas books.  

Christmas gifts

         On Black Friday there were some great deals on charm packs of different fabric lines.  A charm pack usually has about 40 - five inch squares of a certain fabric line. I decided to purchase some to play around with the color combos to make some unique table runners. 

         The first table runner was made out of Red, White, and Free fabric by Moda.  I used the five inch squares to create 3 pinwheel blocks tied together with some coordinating red fabric.

       Then I tried out a new sewing foot used for free motion quilting.  It was my first try at free motion quilting...not bad for a first attempt, but room for improvement.

     The next one I tackled used fabric from a line called April Showers by Moda.  The duo that designed this fabric line is a mother and daughter team.  Earlier I used a different line of theirs to create a baby quilt. (Sorry for the poor quality of pictures.  It was a cloudy day, but also Christmas Eve when I finished.  No time to wait for better lighting.)

        Upon closer inspection you notice the turquoise fabric is a raindrop print and the red semi -circle print is actually umbrellas.

      The last one is from the fabric line Elementary.  As you can see, some pieces have the alphabet while others have mathematical equations. 

         I love the color combo of this line!

 

      The fun part about charm packs and table runners is when you are done with one, you still have plenty leftover to make another one with a different twist.

       Meanwhile my husband was outside playing with our dusting of snow the other day.  Merry Christmas!!

Tummy Time - November 22

     Evan is still not a fan of "Tummy Time."

Any time with Daddy, though, is his favorite.

Evan's giggle