World's best big brother!

We couldn't be prouder of Evan. He has done such a wonderful job of welcoming Ella into our family, and he is such a good big brother. He is always careful and loving towards her, and likes to look for ways that he can help with her.



Last night we gave her a bath, and Evan helped wash her hair! I didn't take any pictures, because the moment would have been lost, but he took his little wash cloth and helped to rinse the soap out of her hair. He was so gentle, touching her head ever so softly, and very careful to make sure that he didn't get any water on her face. He is turning into such a big boy, and we are so lucky to be his parents!

She's Here!

Ella Mae Smith

Feb. 24 (her due date) 2010 @11:04 pm

9lb 3oz, 21 in long

Evan is very excited about his baby sister, and he really likes to help out by fetching diapers or burp cloths--he also likes to sing to her and give kisses. He's a pretty awesome big brother.

We are all doing well, and just getting used to life as a family of four!

No. We have not had a baby yet.

Wow. That little baby on the ticker at the top of the page looks like it's run out of room, eh? Believe me, the baby in my belly has run out of room as well. Feels to me like conditions are pretty cramped in there. We're both hanging in there though, and hopefully we don't have too much longer to wait. Any day now would be fine with me! Actually, my wonderful dad is coming on Thursday to lend a hand, so I suppose we could wait until maybe Friday.

People keep asking me for pictures of my preggo self, so I figured I might as well finally oblige and put one up. I would like you all to know that I look this nice everyday, and that I never wear sweatpants or Mike's Tshirts (or Mike's sweatpants, for that matter). Yup. Actually, we went to Valentine's day brunch at the Club today, and we all managed to look pretty nice.

Low quality picture, but believe me, we looked good.

And a good day too! It's about 70 degrees outside, all the windows are open, and there's not a cloud in the sky. Evan just got up from his nap, and I believe a walk to the playground is in order. Best of all, Mike gets tomorrow of too! Thank you USAF, we will make the most of it.

By the way, Mike's Tshirts are one of the only things that comfortably fit me anymore. And I wear sweatpants a lot. Sometimes, Evan and I wear our PJs all day. Nothing wrong with that!

Look what I can do!

Our son has learned how to dress himself. And, he really enjoys picking out his own clothes. This outfit was chosen entirely by Evan, and he put it on by himself too! I love how proud he is of himself. Also, I love the socks. I think they really bring the outfit together.

Speaking of stylish accessories--we went bowling!

Turns out our bowling alley on base is pretty awesome, and we had a wonderful time. We went on Saturday, and Evan has talked about it everyday since then.

He got pretty good at rolling the ball down this handy ramp. Turns out that the bowling alley is the perfect place to bring toddlers, because when they're not bowling, it is perfectly acceptable for them to run around and make noise (which they do best) because it's so loud in there anyway! I can't wait to go again.

Lastly, how cool are these waffles? I was a little concerned, because the "new" Star Trek movie came out quite some time ago, but they weren't expired so I brought them home with me. Mike wasn't as impressed as I thought he might be, but they make me smile. Plus--and I am not ashamed to say it--I loved Star Trek. Most entertaining movie i've seen in a long time. And now, entertaining waffles! What's not to love?

Naptime!

Evan has always been a really good sleeper. He usually takes a 2-3 hour nap during the afternoon (my most wonderful part of the day) and he usually just climbs into bed and goes to sleep. No problem.

His naps have been getting a little shaky. Today he refused to go to sleep, but I could tell he was tired so I just left him in his room to play...after quite some time, he fell asleep like this. The baskets are in his closet--one is full of stuffed animals, one is full of blankets. A good a choice as any, I guess!

Oh yeah. Apparently he decided to take his pants of at some point!

Hello!

Hello world! We are loving California. It is so bright and sunny in our house, and for the last couple of days it's hit 70 degrees. I know that doesn't win me any extra love from most of you, but you can all tell me how wonderful your weather is when its 110 here in the summer. Then we'll be even!

I have to apologize--I have no pictures to put in this post. I just don't take a lot of pictures anymore...I suppose I'll have to work on that.

All is well with us. Evan is turning into quite a big boy, and he is talking a lot and generally becoming more and more independent. He is such a good helper! He loves to help us clean or help Mike fix things and always insists on doing things himself. Today he has apparently decided to call daddy "Mike", which is pretty funny, but hopefully just a one day thing.

I (as most of my friends are telling me) have apparently gone crazy and have switched Evan to cloth diapers. We thought about it before Evan was born, but decided we were already taking on enough new things. We had already decided to use cloth with the new baby, and I don't see Evan being potty trained before she's born, so we figured we might as well switch him now. I don't think he even noticed! Well, he definitely doesn't care. So far it's going pretty well. It took me a couple of weeks to figure everything out, but it's really not too much extra work. I'm not gonna lie, disposables are super convenient, and i'm definitely touching alot more poop than i'm used to, but all in all, it's not really a big deal, and absolutely worth it.

Really the only drawback so far is that Mike isn't too jazzed about changing diapers anymore...but I think he'll get used to it.

I think Mike's kind of bored at work, because there's not a lot going on right now, but he's settling in, and is definitely happy to be here. His squadron has cool planes, so that helps. He and his motorcycle are enjoying the sunshine as well.

We've decided to name the baby Ella, and she is doing great. I had a doctors appointment this week and an ultrasound, and everything is coming along smoothly. The pictures they gave us didn't look like anything to me, so I won't post them, but she's getting big! We're feeling pretty prepared, and have most everything we need. I'm starting to decorate her room slowly, and was able to get a lot of Evan's neutral baby clothes ready for her. We kept all of his old stuff, so as far as baby gear, we're pretty much set! I did make a gift registry at Target with a few things on it that we legitimately need, so if anybody feels so inclined they can click here and it should pop up. Or you can search for it at Target. All in all, we're feeling good, and are much more prepared this time around!

So thats us at the moment...I'll try to take some more pictures to share next time!

Happy New Year!

We had a wonderful Christmas, and hope that you did too. Grandma Jean came to visit, and we all had a quiet and relaxing Christmas vacation.

Evan was definitely excited about Christmas this year, and he did such a good job opening his presents! We were a bit surprised, but it took him forever to open up all his presents because he would open one present and then play with it for a considerable amount of time before he wanted to move on to the next gift. Look at this--he spent enough time to put all of this train track together...with all of those presents still under the tree!

What a sweet boy. He's also been learning a lot about manners, so we heard "thank you" constantly all day. It's nice to hear!

He loved all his toys, but I told him to pose with this one so I could take a picture and this is his "pose". I love it! Thank you Uncle Matt and Aunt Nova!

By the way, every time he plays ("cuts wood", he says) with the chainsaw, he insists on wearing the safety glasses. Safety first!

2009 was great, and so far 2010 has been good to us...and I think it's going to be a good year! Happy New Year!