Evan Update

I thought I would do a quick update on all the new things Evan is doing these days! We are so very proud of our boy.

We got Evan a table and chair set from Ikea. Here he is playing with play dough and cookie cutters. He did great sitting at the table in his little red chair.

Look who is sitting in the bath all by himself. He loves the freedom of having the whole bath tub to play in.

Evan's new favorite game is peek-a-boo. We put the pillow pet over his face and he uses his arms to push it up :)

He has been drinking out of a cup for a while now, but he always would lay down in his pack n play to drink. Now we are working on drinking sitting up.

We are also working on getting rid of the passy and not rocking him to sleep. He keeps amazing us every day!

Creativity and an Evan update

My new obsession is pinterest.com. I love to look through the many ideas and think of how I can incorporate them into our home, what different art projects I can do with Evan, what new dinners I can try to cook... Here are a few of the projects I have done and I have so many more that I want to do!

I took at 12x12 frame and put a piece of scrapbook paper in it and vola, a do-it-yourself white board! Perfect place to put my things to do lists, grocery lists, and meal planning ideas. So many options! And I can switch the paper to give it a new look whenever I want!

I made this yarn wreath for my parents condo.

A little fun art project I did with Evan. Cute little lobster made from his foot and hand prints!

This was a joint effort from my mom and me. We made it for my mom's class room. Her teacher friends are so jealous! We made another one for Rachel's friend, Heather's classroom. Dan says I should go into business :)

This one I made for myself. I learned how to make felt flower and love how it turned out.

I also made a wreath out of cocktail umbrellas for my sister's new apartment. It turned out really cute. I will have to ask her to take a picture of it so I can post it on here.

As you can see I have been busy crafting... I do it at night when Evan goes to bed and it has been really relaxing and nice to do something creative!

Here is a video of Evan playing with me.


Evan has learned a new trick. He can now stand in the middle of the room by himself. I am so proud. He is getting so strong! Go Evan!


I recently joined a support group. It is a wonderful group of parents who have kids with an abnormality in chromosome 4, like Evan. I have met many wonderful parents who have shared their stories and experiences with me. The group has an annual fundraiser, Kammies Kause, and we were asked to have our little ones paint a picture that will be auctioned off at the event. I was so excited that Evan could participate! We got our 11x14 canvas and Evan had so much fun finger painting. He got paint everywhere- he was covered in paint by the end, but he had fun and we got a great masterpiece to send in for the auction. Dan and I are sad we are not going to be able to go to Kammies Kause this year since it is in Indiana. We are already planning to go next year though.

Here is the finished product from my little artist!

Dan and I want to do something to help raise money for the support group. The encouragement and resources we have gotten from this group and been such a blessing to us. We have some ideas and will let everyone know when we have things finalized!

Birthday Suprise for Me and Water Therapy for Evan

After weeks of plotting and planning Dan and my sister pulled off a wonderful surprise party for me. I was SO surprised! It was amazing to walk into my parents house and see so many of my friends and family there to celebrate my 30th birthday. I still can't believe they were able to pull it off without me figuring it out. Dan told me I was not an easy person to surprise since I always like to know what is going on and ask tons of questions! Thanks to all my family and friends for making my 30th so special!

We are really excited to start water therapy with Evan! This was his first time in it. Evan doesn't like new things... but I can't believe how great he did the first time. It was so cute to watch him just float and kick around in the water. This system is a water-based method designed to stimulate, strengthen and help improve the baby's physical and mental development.

Water therapy has been proven:

• Strengthen extremities (arms/hands/fingers and legs/feet/toes)

• Greater flexibility and range of motion

• More lung capacity

• Improved weight gain

• Better sleep patterns

• Increased stimulation to the brain and nervous system

We want to give Evan every opportunity to develop to his fullest potential! I am always on the look out for things that will complement his traditional therapies.

"Feet First"

We have been busy this summer working with Evan on some new tricks! He is now able to get off the couch "feet first!" This might sound like a small thing but it is really exciting to us that he is now able to do this. For the longest time he would just try to dive off. Yikes! I can't believe how big he is getting. Some other tricks we are working on are coming when we call him and getting him to understand that there are certain things in the house (the DVD rack) that he is not allowed to touch. He is make such great progress. I am so very proud of him! I was able to capture him getting off the couch "feet first" today on video.



Have a great weekend!

The Life That's Chosen Me

I found this video tonight. It is called The Life That's Chosen Me, by Karen Taylor-Good. The song touched my heart...





I love this kid :)

4 Years Together!

Happy anniversary to my husband and best friend!

This year for our anniversary we decided to start something new. We got a basket that holds 12 envelopes. Each labeled with a month of the year. And each envelope will contain a pre-planned, date just for us! To add an element of surprise, Dan took the odd months and I took the even months, and we planned dates for each other. Some of the dates will take place at home and some are planned for the local area. It will be fun to see what we have planned for our dates.

The plan is to open the envelope together at the beginning of the month, look at the calendar and decide on a date. So right from the beginning of the month, we'll have a fun date on the calendar to look forward to!

Summer List

Yay for summer! I found a list on line of 101 things to do during the summer. Dan and I stole some ideas from this list and came up with a few of our own to do with Evan this summer. Here are some of the things we put on our list...

1. Make homemade icecream
2. Eat watermelon
3. Play outside in the rain
4. Visit a local farmers market
5. Collect seashells
6. Visit the Glazer Children's Museum
7. Make s'mores in our backyard firepit
8. Collect fireflies in a jar (for when we are in Philly in July!)
9. Go feed the ducks
10. Watch planes take off and land at an airport
11. Make homemade playdough
12. Eat popsicles
13. Have a picnic
14. Visit a petting zoo
15. Build a fort out of sheets
16. Go on a bike ride
17. Watch fireworks
18. Grow flowers
19. Make fresh lemonade
20. Go on a nature walk

Today we crossed off "Eat Watermelon" Evan was not sure at first, but he ended up liking it!



Looking forward to crossing more things off our list...



TGIF! Have a great weekend!

Things I Love...

1. How cute my little man looks wearing his headphones for music therapy.

2. Multitaking at its best!

3. Waching Evan learn how to self feed. Oh so messy...

4. Spending lots of time reading to Evan. He loves books.

5. Hayrides at the sunflower maze we visited for Mother's Day.

6. Watching Evan and Dan round the bases at the Rays game.

7. Watching Evan play in his pool.

8. Jumping waves at the beach. I love spending time at my parents Indian Shores Beach condo. It is the perfect getaway!

Fun Times

Neil and Kire got married on Friday, April 29th. Kire married my brother-in-law, Neil. It was a beautiful day. Evan was in the wedding as a ring bearer. He looked so cute in his little tux! Being at their wedding brought be back to when Dan and I stood in front of God, our family, and friends and said our vows, almost 4 years ago. The reception was held at The Event Factory. The hall was decorated beautifully and looked like it was out of fairy tale. The bride and groom even rode in the reception in a Cinderella stagecoach.

The day after the wedding we went to a Touch a Truck event. There were so many different types of trucks for the kids to explore. Evan had a lot of fun.

This year we are proud to say we raised $330 for March for Babies. We are so grateful to our family and friends for supporting us and donating to this amazing cause. The money raised will go towards research and programs that help moms have full-term pregnancies and babies begin healthy lives!

On Sunday we ended our fun weekend celebrating Steve's 30th birthday at a WWE wrestling event. When we got to the event our tickets would not scan so they sent us to customer service where we were told a manager would be out to talk to us. We were worried there was something wrong but when the manager came out he told us they had to put a camera in our seats so they gave us new seats. Well, these new seats put us in the first level, first row, right behind the production crew. The seats were awesome!

Since we had such a crazy, busy weekend Evan and I wanted to continue the fun this week :) Here is Evan enjoying a mini cupcake- no reason other then it is fun to see him happy! He loves sweets just like his parents.


Evan and I went to the pet store and checked out the animals. This pet store is not the best, they don't have any cats or dogs... but Evan didn't seem to mind. He had fun checking out the fish, birds, turtles, and some bunnies.


Here is my happy shopper getting supplies at the party store for our Cinco de Mayo dinner. I love being a mom :) Check out our cute decorations!


Here is Evan with the maraca I made for him. Who says crafts are just for the kids?! I did this while Evan worked on some finger paining :)

Our family enjoying our Cinco de Mayo fiesta. Evan even tried black bean and Mexican style rice and actually really liked it!


Hope everyone has a fun Mother's Day weekend!

Hoppy Easter

I love Easter... I love the pastel colors, pictures with the Easter Bunny, dying eggs, egg hunts, Easter baskets, candy, cookies, getting together with family, and getting dressed up for Easter Mass.

Evan's picture makes me laugh this year... it looks like he is thinking "I am too cool to smile for the Easter bunny!"

Dan's parents came over on Saturday at visit and bring over some Portuguese Easter Bread. Nuno made each of us a small loaf of bread. My sister and I use to make this type of Easter bread with my Granny when we were little.


So, Dan and I were looking for a fun way to teach Evan about the true meaning of Easter. I did some research and found a recipe on how to make resurrection rolls. We made them Easter morning after church. Making resurrection rolls is super easy, and they're really yummy! It is a great way to use them to teach kids about the Easter story. Even though Evan is still really young we want to start these traditions early!

Resurrection Rolls aka "Empty Tomb" Rolls

Ingredients:
1 can refrigerated crescent roll dough
8 large marshmallows
Melted butter
Cinnamon
Sugar

Directions:
Give each child one triangle shaped section of crescent roll. This represents the tomb.
Each child takes one marshmallow which represents the body of Christ.
Dip the marshmallow in the butter and roll in cinnamon and sugar mixture. This represents the oils and spices the body was anointed with upon burial.
Lay the marshmallow on the dough and carefully wrap it around the marshmallow.
Make sure all seams are pinched together well. (Otherwise the marshmallow will "ooze" out of the seams)
Bake according to package directions.
Cool.

While the resurrection rolls baked, the marshmallow melted away, leaving an "empty tomb". Isn't that cool?! Jesus has risen!

Celebrate God's love! Hope everyone had a hoppy Easter :)