Yes, Steve is Wearing a Tank Top.

In that small, little bike trailer behind the man in the tank top, you would find this:

Although he looks skeptical, he did really well.

And our first family bike ride was a success!

P.S. I got a bug on my contact right when the ride started and I thought I was going to die when we had to ride UP the huge hill by Beth's house, but going back to my previous statement - despite the bug and my burning thighs - we had a really good time.

Can life be in a nut shell?

This evening I went shopping at Kohl's with Jen, Owen, Ivy, and Evan ---
Jen: who forgot her wallet/id/and debit card;
Owen:: who insisted on purchasing a buzz light year/woody combo jammie when he HATES regular jammies;
Ivy: who adamantly told Jen she did NOT want the little black shoes Jen had picked out - please note she is only 15 months old; and
Evan: who cried the ENTIRE time because he was so tired and couldn't believe I would actually bring him to Kohl's on a day like today.

Anyway, today, while shopping at Kohl's, Owen picked up a hideous stuffed squirrel/chipmunk thing and, wihtout any hesitation, said, "Here, Non.  YOU would probably like this." 

Hmmm...

Bear.

When my mom was here visiting Evan when he was first born, she bought him a bear.  A lovely, little, cuddly bear with a scarf.  I decided to take his monthly pictures with the bear to have some sort of frame of reference.  I cannot believe how big he has grown!

I do love month 4 to be quite honest.

Being a mom is hard.

I know, most of you are probably thinking, "Yes.  True.  And?"  (or something similar).  However the other day, I had a moment where being "the mom" was really hard.  I know, now you are thinking "there are a lot more of these moments to come."  OR  "If she only knew."  Thanks for your advice and your wisdom, but it didn't make it any easier.

Evan wasn't feeling well.  Maybe it was his tummy.  Or his runny nose.  Or those additional teeth that are threatening to pop through.  He just kept crying and crying.  While all of this was really sad, it was not the hard part.  The hard part was when he was crying and crying - inconsolable - and he only wanted Steve.  He was already crying his head off and when I would take him to try to comfort him, he would start crying even harder and look at his dad with this little face, like "I don't want her!"  So, in my efforts to calm him, I would hand my sobbing son over to Steve.  His crying would lessen, but wouldn't stop.  Steve wasn't rocking him the way he liked and wasn't letting him lay on his favorite blanket all bundled up under his head.  He wasn't singing to him OR telling him a story about the little squirrel that we had seen earlier in the day.  Steve was trying, but he wasn't doing it right, so Evan kept crying.  I sat there feeling totally exposed.  There was NOTHING I could do.  He didn't want me.  He wanted his dad.  His best friend, dad. 

I know, I know, it doesn't mean that he doesn't love me or that he doesn't need me.  It just meant that, at that particular moment, he just wanted the big, strong, loving, arms of his dad.  So, as Steve held him, Evan and I both cried.  Obviously for different reasons.  :)

Some Awesome Things That Have Happened.

First, if you are wondering if those are Cadbury Mini Eggs, you are correct!  I was cleaning out the freezer the other night and found a lovely little bag of Mini Eggs tucked in the back of the frozen vegetable drawer.  While the vegetables are NOT being eaten, these little eggs of joy ARE!  Hooray for me hiding chocolate from myself, forgetting about it, and then having Mini Eggs in Sept!

Next, my little son was taken to the dr. again last week as we were in a panic from lack of poop.  Yep.  You read that right.  Sorry.  Steve and I were concerned that his screaming for an entire night was due to the fact that his stomach was hurting and that things were not "moving" right.  The dr. said that he will be fine, but that we needed to give him prune juice or prunes like medicine.  (Meaning he needed to have a daily dose due to his sensitive little system).  Well, turns out the little guy loves prunes, so we are in luck!



Third, Beth and I took our weekend excursion to Target and, as always, Evan tagged along.  He is really good at Target... maybe he will have an obsession like his mother!  I needed a few important things.  1.  New bath toys for him (okay, didn't really NEED them, but found some really cute ones).  2.  New Jammies for him. (if I must be honest, didn't really NEED these either, but Jen and I have been waiting for the one-piece thermals to come back and there they were!)  3.  Contact solution.  (this was actually on the list).  4.  A funny shirt with snakes on it for him.  (I don't need to tell you how that was purely a WANT!)  5.  Organic Prunes (a staple now).  and 6.  New Pillows.  I had taken the cases off our pillows to wash them and was appalled by what I saw.  Beth asked if I should just launder the old ones.  NO.  Ours were past the point of usefullness and new ones were on the shopping list!.  Turns out, I was able to get everything on the above list and shopping for new pillows was more fun than expected.

A few more updates.  We had a wonderful time on Jen's birthday. - complete with yummy Chinese food and some good times with cousins.  (Come to think of it, a little car like this could have been on my list for Target.  Rats for not thinking of that while I was at Target!)  He LOVED the little car and I was especially impressed when little Ivy (she is much smaller than him) started pushing him around the living room.  They had a great time!

Last, over the weekend, Jen and I went to the mall (twice) to find the perfect shoes for our boot camp class.  Our old running shoes were just not doing the trick anymore and we needed to find new ones.  (This could be a whole other post - complete with a lot of complaining about how sore our feet/knees/ankles/heels are from all the jump roping/running/side shimmying/etc, but instead of bogging down my blog with the negative details, I will just leave it at the fact that we both needed new shoes.)  :)

Anyway, at the mall we found new shoes.  Expensive, over the top, magic shoes to be exact, but we also found this shirt.  Awesome.

What have we done?!

Have you ever worked out so hard that it hurt to stand up?  Or, more accurately, it hurt to simply stand?  Well, I hadn't either until Monday.  Jen found a fitness boot camp and somehow, when she told me about it, I thought it was a good idea.  Monday was our first class.  Our first class out of 16!  We got to the gym early to talk to the instructor and to warm up.  We looked around the room as people started filling in and thought to ourselves, "we can do this."  Sure.  Those positive thoughts were soon out the window as we were doing thousands of lunges, squats, arm things with resistance bands, jogging, jumping jacks, push ups, crunches, crazy jumping knee-to-hand things, impossible (but fun) break dancing moves, side jumps, and more.  Seriously... what were we thinking?  We are not fitness crazies.  In fact, if you remember, we do enjoy a good oreo or two (or three!).  We have never done crazy workouts.  Maybe the occasional trip to the gym, a good walk/jog on the treadmill, and a few circuit weights, but nothing like this.  For the record, I don't know why anyone would want to do this.  My muscles hurt so bad.  This morning I thought I might be in the clear... a few slightly sore muscles - what a fun class.  As the day went on... sore muscles - I needed the workout.  NOW... can't even stand up from the chair - how the hell am I supposed to go back tomorrow?!

I will keep you updated on the progress (that is if we make it to boot camp tomorrow.  We both want to go, but how do you put yourself through all that again if you can't even walk to the car?!)

A few other updates on us:
Steve got stung by a bee while taking the compost out to the yardwaste bin.  We thought the bee was a jerk for stinging him, but little did we know that a simple bee sting could turn into an infection in his leg which required 2 days off of work and 2 rounds of antibiotics through an IV.  Steve is feeling better and the swelling in his leg has gone down, but he had quite the cankle for a little while.  We were glad that his mom (the nurse) was around to tell him to go to the dr.  I would have just told him to suck it up and deal with it.  It was only a bee sting afterall.  :)

His mom being around brings me to the next update.  Steve and his dad have been talking about replacing the siding on the South side of our house for some time now.  Steve was worried about letting it go through another winter so he and his dad planned this past weekend to get the project done.  His parents came down on Sunday, went to Steve's last regular season baseball game, and then were going to stay the weekend to do the job.  After the game, Steve started feeling a little weird and (enter swollen leg from above) was told that he needed to stay laying down with his leg elevated.  NO WORK and NO PROJECTS and NO GOING OUT TO DINNER FOR OUR ANNIVERSARY.  (Bob and Kathi were going to watch Evan so Steve and I could go out).   Awesome.  Bob and Kathi decided that they would stay and work on the project anyway and Kathi even offered to help Bob with measuring, lifting big pieces of wood and lots of hammering.  Bless them for being such wonderful people.  They got the entire side of the house done in one day.  (They worked from early morning until well into the night, but they got it done and it looks wonderful!)
Thank you to Bob and Kathi for always being willing to help us. 

(this is the ugly Dallas Monkey at the game with us)

Next update - Yes, it is true, we have been married for two years.  For our anniversary, I went to boot camp and Steve ate McDonalds.  Romantic.

BUT, it wasn't all bad, because I got a new setting for my diamond and I LOVE it!!  Steve surprised me with the new setting on Friday after Jen and I had gone to the jewelry store and she sneakily told him which one I wanted.  I got the ring back today and it looks fabulous!  I can't stop looking at it!

Also, Evan is now officially 8 months old.  He has one tooth and another poking through as of tonight.  He is trying to crawl and is getting comfortable pushing himself from sitting onto his tummy.  It takes a little bit of time, but if you put a cell phone or some other gadget near by, he will move very quickly to try to get it!  He is getting so big and is learning new things every day.  In fact, I think that he learned to wave this weekend with Kathi.  She would wave hello or goodbye and he would start moving his arm frantically to copy her.  (I have to admit, it was quite possibly one of the cutest things I have ever seen).

Okay, so super long post and it is now 1:48 am and I must go to bed before E starts crying and I lose my chance at any sleep at all.  :)

7 Month Pictures.