Birthday Girl!

I may be three, but I still have it.


A New Year's Eve birthday is starting to get more complicated for Evangeline. Her first birthday was celebrated with Kaia's family in Minnesota, her second was in Seattle with her Uncle Jody and Kaia's family, but this year was just the three of us. This is the first year we're planning a celebration farther away from her actual day. We'll keep you posted on how that goes.

I've got this candle thing down.


Evie's big day was very reminiscent of Christmas day. We got up, I made a breakfast for us, and then Evie opened some wonderful gifts. This year she really appreciates that gifts come from people who love her. What a difference a year makes.

This may be the best part.


Kaia made wonderful cupcakes with the Evie requested pink frosting. I never thought I would be surrounded by so much pink. There are benefits though. Since Evie was introduced to pink milk by a book her Grandma Rhonda gave her for Christmas, I've purchased some and had to be the taste tester just to make sure it was safe for Evie Lu.

My Aunt Megan turned 3 too. Wait, she's 30? Oh, that is old.

Catching Up

New pajamas from Great Grandma!


Our little family had a blessed Christmas. Evie was showered with gifts from all over and even received what she asked Santa for this year. Evie wrote a letter to Santa asking for a "choo choo train" and under the tree was a little wooden track and a Thomas the Tank Engine. Evie suggested a couple days after Christmas that if she put cookies out again Santa might come back!


At the waterfall with Grandma Rhonda


Evie's Grandma Rhonda came out for a week and Evie loved every minute of it. My mom became the go to story teller and confidant. Evie was very upset when my mom even thought about sitting somewhere other than right next to her. Grandma Rhonda offered to babysit one night and Evie got to watch her first movie while Kaia and I were out. We keep hearing about how great Curious George is.


Our little train engineer


There is a little train museum not far from us and given Evangeline's love of trains we took a trip out to see it. The highlight for Evie was getting to sit in a train and pretend to drive. I'm sure our next visitors will get a trip to the trains as well.

The grin shines through

Being sweet on Christmas Eve.


Being a pastor's kid isn't easy since most other folks only go to church once and then get to hang out with family and you have to go to multiple services. Evangeline was a trooper and made it through the Children's Service (and got to be a donkey) and the Youth and Family Service. Evie was definitely tired by the end.

Is this how you show off a dress?


The story of the night had to be the Children's Service where the tradition is to tell the story and invite kids up to play different parts in easy to put on costumes. For some reason, the father of a 3 month old decided to place his son into the manger to be a live Jesus. If you look in the center of the picture you can see the baby's head. Why he decided this was a safe move I have no idea. He must not have seen the two cows engaged in a battle on the edge of the scene. Once he placed his child in the manger he walked away and was nowhere to be found. This suited the handful of angels just fine because they wanted to tuck in baby Jesus, but instead bonked his head. Pr. John is trying to read the story while our children's director is breaking up the cow fight and we have a real baby screaming his head off. Must be Christmas! Evie, as you can see is just hanging off to the side staying out of trouble.

Our daughter, the donkey.

Merry Christmas!

Sometimes you wonder if imagination is a good thing.


Although we wished we could gather all our family into one place, Evie, Kaia, Evie's Grandma Rhonda and I had a great Christmas Day. Tomorrow I'll share some pictures of Evie Lu's Christmas Eve dress, but for today I want to play with my gift from Kaia and Evie Lu. Here is a video of what Evie was doing with her new dollhouse shortly after she got it. I'm thinking we've got a soap opera writer on our hands. A woman survives a horrible fall and takes care of her cat. That is must see!

Almost A Christmas Card

Sometime you'll have to come out and visit during December so we can take you to the Bellevue Botanical Garden for their light show. When Evie's Aunt Becky was in town we took her and it was amazing. Volunteers spend 7,000 hours putting together the most amazing representations of flowers and plants in LED lights. It wasn't until I sat down on the bench here that I realized the two most beautiful lights were Kaia and Evangeline.

And The Star Goes On Top

No, lift me up higher dad!


We have a pitiful little star for our Christmas tree, but the good part of having such a small star is that Evie Lu was able to cap off the tree for us this year. She is very proud of the tree and wants to be the official tree lighter every day. I can't believe the difference between last Christmas when she was a whirling dervish with very little direction to this year where Evangeline is a whirling dervish with an agenda all her own. Kaia and I are in serious trouble.

Right there. Perfect.

Carol of the Dancing Evies

Unfortunately for Evie Lu, neither one of her parents are what you'd call a great dancer. Thankfully this fact has not stopped our daughter from expressing herself in motion. For your viewing pleasure is a Christmas interpretation of The Carol of the Bells. (You may be able to see the heavily decorated Evie section of our tree as well.)

Trimming The Tree

You know there is a proper way to do this.


The first Friday in December meant that IKEA was offering their amazing rent a tree deal and that I was off to go get one of those trees. It has been unusually cold for Seattle, but that meant it felt like winter should. Evie Lu is thrilled with the new 7 foot addition to our home. She sort of helped decorate last year, but this year she has appointed herself the caretaker of the tree. I'll get a full picture for you later in the week where you'll see the lower levels that Evangeline has made sure are well decorated.
Oscar also loves the tree and his love forced us to buy a cat deterrent. Beneath the tree there is now a motion sensor forced air device. We really shouldn't get as much enjoyment out of watching Oscar try to sneak up to the tree and then get a puff of air in his direction, but we do.

Sign Language

I'm ready for the show!


A week ago I looked in the rear view mirror to see Evangeline giving me the "rock on" hand signal. We don't know where she picked this up, but it is awesome. Now anytime you need an affirmation from Evie Lu you can just ask her to show you how much you rock.

These are my love glasses.


Kaia, being the wiser parent, thought some actual sign language would be cool and now Evie knows how to say "I love you" in sign. I was less helpful and taught my daughter "hang loose" and "peace." I've spent the last couple of days trying to teach her the dialogue from the old Freedom Rock commercial along with her peace sign. "Is that Freedom Rock?" "Yeah, man!" "Well, turn it up man!"

I love you, rock on!

So Much For The "Father of the Year" Award

Dad, I'm smiling because I'll remind you of this whenever I do something wrong.


Evangeline and I are on vacation together this week while Kaia has a short week due to Thanksgiving. I was looking forward to some quality father - daughter time after being gone most of last week. Little did I know that we wouldn't even make it through a full day without an injury. Evie Lu decided to take a header off her chair as I was finishing lunch preparations. I turned just in time to see my little girl dive onto the wood floor from about four feet up.

The only injury is a fat lip, but I'm definitely more indulgent of Evie's requests today. She's fine, but I may not be. Ugh. (If anyone had been around, the comedic highpoint would have been me trying to check Evangeline for a concussion. She can't really count yet and there I was asking her how many fingers I'm holding up.)

Cheering On Her Team

I think our quarterback is cute!

Even though Evie Lu doesn't get to watch much football (or any), she somehow knows that her team is among the best. Or it could be that she just likes the pink jersey. Either way she looks good.

Little Miss Helper

And I haven't broken one dish!


Evangeline now insists on trying to do everything herself before she'll let you help her. Our morning routine consists of Evie putting on her own clothes (except for socks which give her fits), making her own breakfast (a layer of Cheerios before a sprinkle of Chex with fruit and milk), and picking out her hair accessories. This can be awesome or awesomely frustrating depending on how much of a hurry you are in that day.
For the next week Evie's aunt Kaitlin takes over morning duties as I'll be on the east coast. I'll miss Evie and Kaia dearly, but I know that Kaia's got a great helper while I'm gone.

Back to work dad.

When I Paint My Masterpiece

Hey look at me, no the other me!


Several months ago a member of the church asked if she could paint a picture of Kaia and Evangeline for an art show. We were flattered and agreed. Louise is a wonderful woman in her eighties who does beautiful work.
What you see in the picture above is from the art show. The biggest surprise was Louise gave the painting to Kaia! We now proudly hang the portrait in our home.

Hark The Evie Angel Sings

So what is my motivation for this role?


There are many drawbacks to Evangeline's status as a pastor's kid. Has she had to sit through council meetings? Yep. What are the odds we decide to skip church on a Sunday morning? Slim. But there are many advantages. She has a host of church great-grandmothers who constantly check in on her, she gets to play the drums before youth band rehearsals, and she gets to see her youth director Aunt Kaitlin all the time. Evie Lu also tends to be around when cool new stuff shows up at the church. Such was the case when the Christmas Eve costumes arrived this week.

I think I shine without the costume.


Karen, our children's ministry director, asked Evie if she wanted to try on some fancy outfits and my little girl had a ball. She was a star, a cow, a camel, a donkey, Mary, a king, and lastly an angel. Evangeline was clearly the most excited about being an angel. Consider this your invitation to come out to church at 5pm Christmas Eve to see if Evie is brave enough to go up for a costume. (No matter what she'll definitely do better than I did as a kid angel, since I got kicked out of the choir for turning my halo into a mohawk.)

Oh yes, I want to be an angel!

A Sick Mom And A Fairy Princess

Dad, you brought me to a mall to trick or treat? Ridiculous!


Kaia has been the driving force behind Halloween celebrations at our house, but this year I had to take the lead. Kaia was fighting the flu and it was up to Evie and I to carve the pumpkin and head out for free candy. The pumpkin wasn't a complete disaster (although my idea of carving a bear holding a shark got vetoed by both of the women in my life), but what was really fun was trick or treating.

A Fairy Princess doesn't like to stay in the frame.


I know my daughter is only two, but I have no desire to see her dressed as a "sexy genie" or any of the other too skimpy costumes that girls have to choose from. (Every boy costume has head to toe coverage, but girls pay just as much for not even half the material. End of rant.) What Evie really wanted was a set of wings and so she was sporting the coolest pink wings we could find. We met up with Erik, Cam, and Baby Reece who dressed up as the best looking family you'll ever see. Evangeline was a hit as we walked around the mall and did fairly well for herself on the candy front. (She even shared with her sick mom.)

Yup, I'm adorable.

A Sad Day

Evangeline's teacher Mrs. Ana is leaving today to move closer to family to support her husband who is fighting cancer. Without Mrs. Ana potty training would have been a much bigger struggle and Kaia and I have received more daily updates from Mrs. Ana than from any other teacher. We will miss her.

Western Washington Sunshine (aka rain)

My rain boots are looking at you!


Evangeline welcomed the rainy season by convincing us to buy her new rain boots. (How can you turn down a kid who just wants to jump in puddles?) After a brilliant summer of warmer than expected temperatures we are settling in for what looks to be a long wet fall/winter/spring. Thankfully this suits Evangeline just fine. As long as she can get dirty and play outside in her new rain boots, Evie Lu has a smile on her face. Doesn't it make you want to jump in a puddle too?

Parenting Is Hard Work

Okay, you need more blankets.


Kaia used to make fun of me for letting Evie Lu put blankets on me and pretend to sleep. What better way to keep my daughter occupied and get a nap at the same time? As you can see, Kaia has come to see how much fun this is. Evangeline clearly is proud. Ah, the hard work of parenting.

I put mommy to bed. Aren't I special?

Scissors and Boyfriends

Evie decides who gets cut next.


How do you keep an Evangeline occupied these days? Scissors. We picked up two pairs of plastic safety scissors (the first pair died after trying to give a doll a makeover) and Evie loves them. She will spend long stretches shredding whatever you put in front of her. All sensitive financial documents now get put on Evie Lu's desk.

Press play


Evie Lu's boyfriend at daycare continues to be Zeke. They've been in the same class since May of 2008 and the first question Evie asks every morning is if Zeke is at class yet. Miss Ana tells me that they act like an old married couple during the day. Evangeline tells Zeke how to do things and he responds about as you would expect. If anyone besides Zeke is dancing with Evie, he gets upset and says, "my Evie!" I watched them for about ten minutes one morning this week and it was a crack up. Although I will be worried if any boy Evie brings home in the future spends as much time in a pink play dress as Zeke does.

Dance Party

I'm sure it has been mentioned previously, but to catch you up Grandma Bev instituted morning dance party time when Kaia and Evangeline were in Minnesota this summer and it has continued now into the fall. If I get Evie ready quickly enough we have a little time in the mornings to jump around. Although niether side of the family has a lot of grace (why do you think we've learned to play instruments?) I love seeing Evie Lu figure out where the beat is in a song. Of course you don't really need the beat if you are just jumping and spinning.

Dogsitting

Everyone knows you color better with a dog at your feet.


Lots of kids ask for a dog, but Evie Lu got a dog in the best way, Mabel the dog is just staying for the weekend. Erik, Cam, and baby Reece needed someone to watch their beautiful pup and Evie has been having a great time. When she went to school the first thing she said to Ms. Ana was, "I got a dog!"

Evangeline has been a little skittish around dogs, but she's really warmed up to Mabel. I think having a dog on her home turf has helped. It is a riot to see Evie tell "Mabel Dog" to sit or to follow. Oscar the cat always keeps one eye on Mabel. They are coexisting, but I'm sure Oscar is hoping this is a temporary situation.

Not every member of the household is as excited about Mabel as Evie.

Say Goodbye!

It's been fun, but I'm saying goodbye to diapers.


From the information only close family will care about department, we can proudly tell everyone that Evie has been completely dry for three days! It was just last week that Kaia and I were wondering if she was really ready for this whole potty training thing, but she has proved us wrong. It is a real kick to see how proud she is of herself. We are very proud of her as well.

Talking About School

Every six months Evangeline has changed classrooms at her school. All of her teachers have been nice, but her new teacher Miss Ana is her favorite. Evie likes to bring gifts to Miss Ana (usually something ridiculous like a car air freshener) and tells us all about the great things Miss Ana teaches her. As you'll hear in the video there are subjects that are Miss Ana topics.

Fast Friends

Evie Lu and Olivia modeling for you!

Trevor, Alyssa, Olivia, and Dylan came out to visit and to get a taste of the rainy northwest. Olivia and Evie Lu have hit it off like a pair of two year olds do. For the most part they are the best of friends and then the toddler mood swings kick in we need to have them take a break. It has been a blast.

This picture will be used against them someday.

Off To School!

Tomorrow marks the beginning of the school year for Kaia and a new routine for Evie Lu and me. The burning questions for the fall are whether I'm up to doing ponytails every morning, how many cartoons will it take us to get out the door, and will Oscar do anything but sleep all day?

The good news is that it appears potty training has taken!

Summer Days

Daddy, for your birthday I'll grant you one wish!

What haven't we done with Evie Lu this summer? We've gone on lots of trips, seen parades, gone to the beach, and had fun grilling in the back yard. On my birthday in July Evie Lu spent much of the evening as a princess. Apparently she thinks the snow princess sash is given out in the summer. With this look I'd give it to her.

Look what Mommy grew in her garden!


Evangeline has received a garden education from Kaia this summer too. Evie helped plant beans and is diligent about checking on them. I think she checks on them like Godzilla checks on downtown Tokyo, but they've managed to survive somehow. Evie was pleased as punch to help harvest Kaia's zucchini.

My daddy is a sucker who buys me things!


We had a great time with Erik, Cam, and Baby Reece at the Renton River Days parade. I'm not sure she understood what was happening, but with a streamer wand as a toy Evie Lu was happy as a clam.

When Blogs Collide!

I don't know how you get any sleep with all the giggling.

Somehow we all thought it was a good idea to drive halfway across the country with Evie and a bunch of her Aunt Kaitlin's stuff in the backseat of our car. Wow, what were we thinking?

What do mean it isn't possible to deliver a pizza to a moving car?


Evie was actually very good all things considered. It was an awesome sight to pull into Billings and up to the Steel's house. The first day was done and we were going to hang out with some awesome people.

Terry, we have two piano students for you.


Evangeline got to play with Olivia for the first time! Olivia is six weeks older than Evie and they had a blast.

Do you think Evie Lu would handle having a sibling?


We've noticed that Evie takes a shine to younger kids and Olivia's brother Dylan was no exception. Our little girl wanted to hold him and constantly get in his face. Thankfully he is a mellow guy.

Swimming with Daddy!

Will joined Evie and I in MN a week after we arrived. The first thing Evie wanted to do was show her daddy how she can swim. Will and Evie had a lot of fun in the water. Will took her way out in the water to the deep end of the swimming area and she didn't show one sign of nervousness. I, on the other hand, was very nervous when all I could see of my family was two little heads just above the water in the distance. Evie loved it. She loves seeing her mom get nervous.

We are currently in the middle of the hottest weather the Puget Sound has ever seen, and I think Evie would love it if Will would take her out to the lake now. In the meantime, our little kiddie pool in the backyard will have to do. She crawls around on her hands and feet in it, saying "I'm swimming!" We are going to have to get her in a proper pool very soon and start some real swimming.

Hanging out with Great-Grandma

Evie got to spend some quality time with her great-grandma (or, grape-gamma, as Evie calls her). What was cool about this trip home was that Evie started really connecting with her extended family and would continue to talk about them for some time. Great-grandma was no exception.

Great-grandma's house was our first stop upon arriving in Minnesota. We were a little tired, but Evie found her second wind. Actually, I think what happened was that Evie found Great-grandma's secret stash of toys. We visited her several times while we were in Minnesota, and every time Evie remembered what closet the toy box was in.

Great-grandma fixes Evie's hair.







Great-grandma also accompanied us to one of our trips to Itasca. Some of my best childhood memories are combing the beaches of Lake of the Woods with Grandma, looking for pretty shells or unique rocks. It brought a smile to my face to see Evie and my grandma doing the same thing. I remember keeping the cool rocks, though. Evie would just throw them back in the lake.


Evie continued to ask to go see Great-grandma long after we got back to Washington. Evie brought home one of the baby dolls from the toy box and I think it helps her remember her great-grandma. We love you and miss you, Grandma!


Great-grandma helps Evie find interesting rocks. Evie helps Great-grandma throw them back into the lake.