Picture-palooza!

In honor of the end of April (ummm....yeah...), I am posting a bunch of pictures!  And for the fun of it, you will receive witty/meaningful captions/explanations (or just regular ones because I'm tired)!

Sitting with his "Daddy Pat" while we were up in the northwoods looking at houses.  My infamous laptop steals the scene...that and Ever's very messy face....can you tell he's enjoying his food now?

Ev also enjoyed visiting with Doby:

And his super great grandpa (great-great-grandpa):

The other night, we left the windows open because it was hot.  Well, overnight it got much cooler.  Ev woke up very very cold and Brian felt bad for him, so after I left him in the bed in the morning, I happened upon this scene:  

A bouncer chair is meant to hold a baby like this (well, not really because he's now huuuge, but you get the point):

Not like this: 

Just because we shelled out a bit of green for a jumperoo doesn't mean our kid plays with fancy toys.  No sirree, an empty water bottle is the ideal chewing and rolling toy.  (That and your cool new Purdue basketball from daddy's professor.)

"So. Thirsty.  So. Close.  Not. Going. To. Make....iiiit..."

And in my attempt to be cute last night while Everett was not at all interested in going to bed, I thought I'd take a 5 month picture with his blocks.  I had them all lined up and he just would NOT look at the camera.  Finally, we ended up with this shot:

(Somehow, we have enough E's, but no R....)

Ikea is exciting

At least, that seems to be Everett's opinion. Since there were some thesis issues on Monday, we found ourselves with a little extra time to stop at the behemoth blue box of beauty in Chicago and stroll through the displays. Ever was in the bjorn with Bri and was doing all right for a while, but really was just exhausted from so much traveling and really wanted to go back to sleep after lunch. To show us how all the bright colors were overwhelming to his little senses, Everett decided to yell. Loudly. At everyone in the store. I really think he scared some people. A couple of times, I tried to muffle the sound a little, but I decided a yelling baby with mama's hand over his mouth probably looked worse than just a plain ol' yelling baby. So he yelled. And people would sort of jump and turn, see that he wasn't upset, just yelling, and then they would smile. As we were walking through the restaurant area, we also got a cute baby comment from two older women enjoying lunch. I was holding Everett and walking by them and as we passed, one said to the other, "Well that's a Gerber baby if I've ever seen one!" Another comment from yesterday - a friend came over and was playing with Everett and said, "you look exactly like your daddy now!" Yeah yeah yeah, I know....not a piece of my genetic material went to that kid....oh well! He's the happiest, funniest, cuddliest baby ever and I wouldn't change him one bit. He is going to love the giant circle in our new house and I'm sure will be crawling, toddling, then running in circles though the living room, dining room, kitchen, and foyer all day long. :)

A House

After an utterly exhausting weekend of house hunting, we have an accepted offer to buy a house! I couldn't imagine a more beautiful house and we are thrilled. The house has plenty of room, great light, and we thought the price was just about perfect. Once everything goes through with the bank and such, we will close in the middle of June. We will totally have a house warming party and everyone is invited!

Link to facebook album

Playing with a puppy

Ev's enjoying our visit.

Long car ride #1

Because driving from Indiana to South Carolina isn't enough for us, it looks like we'll be heading up to the northwooods this weekend. It's time for some house hunting. And Everett would like to receive the admiration of many aunts, uncles, and grandparents. Unfortunately, it will be only a weekend since I have to get back to work, Brian has a thesis to fix and turn in, and we're leaving for SC next Friday! (Oh yeah, and the week after that, I'm getting my wisdom teeth pulled!) Here we go....

No More Tummy Time!

By decree of Everett! After much work and praise every time he ticked himself off so much that he rolled, Ever is now a roller! Still only tummy to back, but he definitely knows how and is sooo proud of himself. He has now informed us that there will no longer be any tummy time in our house. We plop him down and before we can grab the camera to take a picture - boom! he's on his back! Here's my best show of E man rolling:

Doesn't he just look so pleased with himself???

Ha Ha Ha!

No, there isn't anything particularly funny except Ev's new laugh.  He doesn't do it when he's really laughing, but when he's being silly.  And as a bonus, you get to see how he learned to use the jumperoo!  (And yes, I know it's sideways again....I forgot!)

We found one!

A jumperoo that is!  We just had to stop by Once Upon a Child again and I saw a plainer model from the window, and as I walked in the door, I saw a Rainforest Jumperoo!  It was in excellent condition and about 40% of the new price, so we grabbed it.  (We also grabbed a backseat mirror so we can see the kiddo in his new tall carseat.)  

Since Ever went to sleep as soon as we got home from the store and we really wanted to try it out, here's what happened:  

I'm not sure that she really liked it...  Then Ever woke up:

He likes it!  He still hasn't quite figured out how to bounce, but he's loving the toys.

As a side note, I thought I'd share a bit about our cloth diapering routine.  Every couple of days, we fill the diaper bucket with water, swish it all around and dump in the toilet, drag the bucket to the washer downstairs or halfway down the complex and wash them, drag the clean diapers back to the apartment and hang them on our makeshift (against the rules) clothesline:

Arf! Cereal & Defense = Gone/Done!

Today was Brian's Master's Thesis Defense!  And he passed!  It was a nice, long presentation (powerpoint theme choosing credit due to moi) about the tests he has been doing for the past 1.5 years.  Unless you want to know more about fiber-reinforced polymers, steel orthotropic plates, and various wearing surfaces for bridge decks, I'll leave it at that.

Here's a picture of the two boys all dressed up for the occasion.

Prior to the presentation, Everett also helped out a lot with the prep work:

In other news, Everett figured out how to eat cereal for real.  He loves trying to help by grabbing the spoon and basically dive-bombs the spoon, your hand, and his bib anytime the cereal gets near his face.  And he's pretty proud of himself too.

Our silly little guy has also finally figured out that he can lay his head down when he's tired.   For the longest time, he would get tired when he was on his tummy and just cry.  Now he chills for a while in between heavy head lifting.  He rolled once more, but he really has more interest in standing than rolling.  He's also getting much better at sitting.  In fact, he was just sitting with his boppy, then leaned forward, then reached, then dive-bombed (he does this a lot...food, body....) Brian's Time magazine.

Happy Easter!

The Story of Silky

A long time ago (about 24 years), in a land far far away (CA), there was a silky red bathrobe. This bathrobe was a gift to my mother for her birthday. Being the awesome kid that I was, I stole it from her. Being the inventive kid I was, it got called "Silky." I kept this bathrobe and used it as a blankie for a very very long time....it may possibly still sit on our bed. Brian has accepted the fact that our bed must be shared with this bathrobe or there will be consequences. Well, I was off at work today doing my work things, and Everett was being a fussy-boo. Brian decided it was too hard to work on a presentation with a fussy baby, but it sort of worked to clean with a fussy baby. Everett enjoyed watching Brian walk all over, picking things up, vacuuming, etc. When Brian moved on to the bedroom, he laid Ev down on the bed to watch. He continued picking up and noticed that somehow, not sure exactly how, Everett scooted himself over to snuggle with Silky. He was hugging it, eating it, and just generally being a baby with it. (We are guessing the nice texture plus the smell of stale mommy was very enticing.) When it was time for a nap, Everett wasn't quite ready to give up the red loveliness, so Brian tucked it into his crib with him. When I got Ev up from his nap, I pulled the bathrobe out of the crib sides and plopped it next to him. Everett promptly snuggled it.

I guess I believe in karma.

We're all still alive

It's been a few days. Oops! I haven't really written because I was afraid I might start cursing and crying about how life is not fair. I finally got in to the dentist for a comprehensive exam and cleaning. Result = very very very bad! Not only is the total estimate for everything I need done more than we currently have in our savings, but I had to get referred to an endodontist who costs 50% more than the normal dentist. I could rant about how it's not fair that I have a good diet, brush and floss and swish, don't drink lots of pop or eat lots of sugar, and end up with such sucky teeth, but I won't. ;) I am just now on a loooong road of trip after trip to the dentist and the disappearance of my hopes to stay home with Ev once we moved. It was kind of nice to only have to worry about student loans, and tacking all of this on top kind of made me break down on Monday and hide in bed. Better now, just still angry and upset.
In other non-self-centered news, Everett got his 4 month shots yesterday and took it like a trooper. We did still have to see his poor little face collapse in sadness when he realized someone had just stuck a needle in his leg, but he seemed to forget the whole thing quickly and wasn't even extra fussy that afternoon. Brian made sure to rub his leg so he wouldn't get all knotty, and we encouraged him to kick (not hard to do) to get the blood moving. He only had to have two shots and an oral this time, so at least there was something good about the whole deal. He also got a rattle. :) The little stinker has regressed a bit in his sleeping and is back to waking up 2-3 times per night (but not to eat, just waking) and we get up, give him his nuk (because we're too tired to do anything else), and go back to bed until he wakes up again.
We tried some rice cereal again last night to much better success. (Meaning I think he actually consumed some of it.) He leans in to the spoon when it gets near his face but is still a little confused about why we're putting this smelly stuff in his mouth. I'm still not going to try every day yet, but he's definitely starting to get the hang of it.
Brian's printing his thesis today (YAY!) and his defense is next week. I'm getting excited for our vacation to SC where I can pretend that dentists don't exist and we can just relax on the beach all the time (the weather gosh darn better be nice).

Jumperoo search = fail

*sniffle.* No jumperoo for us today. Apparently they are in high demand or something. Not even any on craigslist.... The search will continue... I'm loving the Fisher Price Precious Planet one.

This week's projects

On Monday, we decided to see how rice cereal would go over. Verdict: It didn't. Ev still hasn't quite mastered the use of his tongue for things other than nursing and chewing on hands. We're going to try again this weekend and see how he does and keep trying every week or so until he gets a good grasp on it.
Everett has recently gained more control over his hands and thus, become "grabby." He pulls my hair, scratches my face (which reminds me, I need to clip those baby nails again...), whacks me on the arms, and as we discovered this week, steals Brian's glasses.

Getting to the title of the post, here are my projects from this week. A crocheted octopus (not my fave, need to try it with a different pattern) and a wetbag for dirty diapers when we're out and about. Instead of ordering fancy PUL fabric online, I brainstormed and contemplated until I realized that shower curtains are waterproof and cost just over $2 at Wal-Mart.

Everett doesn't mind that his octopus isn't perfect...he's still good for munching.
Today, we need to find a jumperoo (Ever has discovered his legs and likes to use them to bounce up and down on mama's lap), dye some eggs, and get groceries. Newest movie rating: Slumdog Millionaire = A

I LOVE the new tobacco tax!

As I was perusing the stories on CNN this morning, I stumbled upon this article about the new tobacco tax which makes cigarettes a lot pricier than they previously were. They quoted some life-long smokers on how the tax is unfair and they are being picked on, and I, in response, laughed out loud. Seriously people? You release toxic chemicals into the air that will damage my lungs and the health of my son and you feel "picked on" and think this isn't fair? Seriously? And even though the tax will fund an expanded health care program for the children you are hurting, you still feel like it's all about you? I'm sorry, but that is ridiculous. I know tobacco is addictive and all, but this is more incentive to help you quit and better your overall health and lifespan. So how about you get over yourselves and your woe is me attitudes and either quit smoking or suck it up and help out those kids you are hurting every day. (Sorry Gramma!)

Oh yeah, and Everett's length was 25 3/4 inches. :)