My New Table

No, I wasn't doing anything.

Last week we took Evie Lu's grandma Bev on her first trip to IKEA. We were looking for a bookshelf/organization system for Evangeline's room, but instead we came home with something completely different. (That is the way it goes at IKEA.) Grandma Bev picked out a table and chairs for Evie Lu which you see in the pictures.

Do you want to play too?


Evie Lu loves sitting. You should have seen her in the kid's furniture area trying out every chair and getting a little upset that we would not let her go for round two. So, thanks to grandma and grandpa Evie Lu has her own workspace for coloring and cooking and sitting. Being a toddler is very hard work.

Everybody is invited!

Evie Lu - Folk Singer

There are no captions for these pictures because I think the images say it all. Evie Lu's love of music is really cool to see and it is even cooler when she feels like she can participate in music. Evangeline's Uncle Jody gave me this ukulele as a Christmas present and Evie Lu recently discovered it. She loves playing, but on her terms. We now welcome to the stage the tempermental artist!

Birthday Month Kicks Off

Don't bother me. I'm eating cake.

What a week it has been. Grandma Bev has been in town for a week and we've just seen the arrival of Grandpa Wayne! Evie Lu has been having a ball. The big celebration was Saturday July 19 for the kick-off of my birthday month. There was plenty of food and Evangeline tried quite a bit of it. Our little lady really loved the carrot cake Kaia baked for the day. (Is anyone surprised?)

Hey grandma, I'll be your best friend if you give me cake.

Weekend Fun

Hey there neighbor, I'm just mowing my lawn.

Our little Evie Lu is a large child. We think she is adorable as all get out, but the fact is Evangeline is not pint sized. We've noticed in daycare Evie Lu sometimes gets overlooked and we think it is because she's so compliant and because she looks like a two or three year old and not the 18 month old that she is.

We're having a great time with Grandma Bev and soon we'll have Grandpa Wayne out here too! How lucky is our little girl?

Helmet law? Shirt law? How about no laws!

Beauty sleep

For a few of Evie Lu's features, it is obvious which parent she takes after. Her eyes are certainly from her dad. And I'm afraid she inherited crazy hair from her mom. And her love of sleep? Probably from both of us. In the picture above, Evie had just woke up from a nap. It is humorous to see what state she will be in after a nap. In this case, she took off her two socks, a barrette, and two hair ties at some point during her nap. Because she inherited my crazy "velcro" hair, it is still sticking straight out from the pig tails. We thought she was pretty cute.

Five Days Till Grandma!

Hmm, which of my tricks should I show Grandma?

Evie Lu's Minnesota Grandma flies in Thursday night and we couldn't be more excited. Kaia and I've been prepping Evie Lu in hopes of her being able to say "grandma" by the weekend. There have been several new words in the last few days and none funnier than "apple" which Evangeline pronounces as "bapoooooool." I taught her "baseball" while we watched the Twins and Tigers on Saturday and that sounds pretty close to the real word. Go words!

Goin' Fishin'

Hey, grab the cooler I'm ready to go!

Summer has finally arrived and our little family has been enjoying it greatly. We've been yard saleing to replenish Evie Lu's loose summer clothes wardrobe, we've been yard working to make the things clear and fun for Evie Lu, and now we are grandparent preparing as next week Minnesota Grandma and Grandpa are coming to visit! Evie Lu loves the summer.

Oh no! Extreme close-up!

Evie Lu's Tricks

I think the video will work finally! It is a little dark, but worth the watch. To explain the finger thing, Evie Lu thinks my finger is a microphone.

Feel The Burn

Watch me. This is how to stay in shape.


I am constantly amazed at what fascinates Evie Lu. Recently she has found the pilates mat we usually have in the music room. I don't know that Evangeline has ever seen Kaia or I use the pilates mat, but she seems to know what to do. If I had been just a couple seconds earlier with the camera, I could have shown you the whole workout. I try not to laugh out loud when Evie Lu is doing these sorts of things.

More Fun In The Sun

I'm coming to get you!

Evie Lu loves the slide at the park. She mostly loves climbing up backwards to see how far she can get before she slides back down. This activity causes many anxious moments for Kaia and I. We both envision frantic trips to the emergency room, but thankfully that has not been necessary so far. We have a little daredevil on our hands.

Where did you go?

Fun In The Sun

Dad, you know what I say, "Live to ride, ride to live."

It looks like we are in for two nice weekends in a row. Unbelievable. Last week we went back to the great little playground near our place and Evie Lu was all about the spring loaded ram. I think adult sized versions of these need to be made. Evie Lu gets going so fast Kaia and I are afraid she'll knock herself out, but she loves it. I promise tomorrow will bring more playground pictures.

The G forces are just too much.

More Hair Fun

Watch very closely. There is nothing up my sleeve.

Last week Evie Lu came home with a new hairstyle. Evangeline's teacher Miss Sharon had put her hair into pigtails before Kaia picked her up. We had not tried that particular hairstyle yet, but it quickly became the standard. I still can only manage to get the single top ponytail, but Kaia is a pro at the pigtails.

Ta Da! The farmer is gone!

Using Her Words

Kaia and I were worried that Evie Lu doesn't seem to have a very developed vocabulary, but then we got to really thinking about it and found she actually does. Here are the words Evangeline says to us:
Tickle
Juice
Daddy
Cow
Car
Zipper
This
Cheese
Shoes
Bye-bye
Guac (this is anything in a cup)
Dog
Animal sounds (quack, moo, meow, ruff, cock-a-doodle-doo, roar)

There are two important words we have not heard yet, "no" (even though she hasn't said it yet, we hear it loud and clear) and "mommy."

A Very Happy Father's Day

Being off kilter is the coolest.

A whole week without sickness! That is what we are celebrating. Evie Lu is now enjoying her third consecutive week of daycare and Kaia and I are adjusting to a new rhythm of life. Our little girl comes home very tired from playing and learning all day so we often see a cranky Evangeline. Just like the Incredible Hulk, you won't like an angry Evie Lu.

I was blessed with a great father's day which included a walk to our local Dairy Queen, killing a colony of spiders in the toolshed (what would father's day be without some yard work?), and a whole lot of fun with Kaia and Evie Lu. The only thing better than the day was hearing on Saturday that Evangeline will be welcoming an Aunt into the family!

Dad, you need some help with your style.

Ups And Downs

Hey, do you notice something different?

For the first time as a dad I received a call from Evie Lu's school asking for me to come and pick her up right away. Evie had another fever. Yikes. Being the nervous parents that we are, Kaia and I went to see Dr. Ann who assured us our little girl was just fighting off another bug. Good times.

No, it is not my refined eating style. Guess again.


The Friday scare was followed by the absolute joy Saturday. Evie Lu was in a good mood and even though the day was gray and rainy we had a really good time. Anytime you can sleep in, clean house, and get to IKEA you've got a good day. Unfortunately, Kaia fell victim to one of Evangeline's germs and was sick Sunday and Monday. I hear cute cures, so the ball is in Evie Lu's court now.

I think wearing my hair this way gives me magical powers of cuteness.

Home Decorating

Mom, let me take a look at the feng shui of this wall.

Evie Lu is officially back! Our little girl slept through the night and was cheerful this morning. Oh happy day! The comic moment of the day was as I dropped Evangeline off she went right to the table where some of the other kids were having breakfast. She was pulling up a chair when Miss Sharon asked if Evie Lu had already eaten. She had. In fact, I cleaned her up and brought her directly to daycare from the highchair. I'm pretty sure Evie Lu ate again.

That's crooked! Move it left.


The pictures above are from Kaia's hard work at making our home beautiful. We have pictures hanging and all we need now are visitors. Come quick before the next cold strikes.

Why do we need to hang pictures? This is great.

Back On The Chain Gang

I'd feel so much better if I could just get on the couch!

Evie Lu was back at the salt mines of daycare today. (Which reminds me, I once heard an economist say, "It is not a sweatshop if the kids want to be there." Yikes.) Her teachers said she did great and remarked how we have such a sweet tempered child. Evangeline must have been saving the crankiness for bedtime, because she gave Kaia and I fits tonight. There is still something not quite right with our little girl. Here's hoping tomorrow finds a full strength Evie Lu.

Dad, you know I'm the cute one and I'm not amused right now.

Back to our regular scheduled programming...sort of

It took a day or two for the antibiotics to kick in, and we had a few anxious calls on Thursday to the after-hours nurse about Evie's high fever, but there has been no fever since Friday. In its place today was a strange rash on her head, stomach, and back. A few more anxious calls and a trip to the after-hours clinic later, and we've learned that Evie is allergic to the antibiotics. If it isn't one thing, it's another! Good news is that it doesn't seem to be bothering Evie too much. Will and I are still exhausted from a week with a sick toddler, and can't wait until she is feeling 100%. Sorry, no pictures on this post. Evie hasn't been giving us many smiles lately.

Daddy Daycare

I may be sick, but I'm still fun.


Evie Lu was a champ in daycare last week, but she won't be going back this week because she's sick. With a temp over 101 degrees for three days we went to see Dr. Ann on Wednesday who told us Evie Lu may have an ear infection. Dr. Ann recommended starting antibiotics, so Evie Lu now has her very first prescription in her name.

A Great Day

So mom, you're telling me there is a new kind of animal here today?


The flamingos are here! The flamingos are here! Saturday was gorgeous out here and our little family made a trek to the zoo. Much to our surprise it was the very first day of flamingos. Evie Lu picked up the rockin' pink visor (which she promptly destroyed once we got home) and Kaia and I enjoyed free cupcakes from Cupcake Royale.

After the zoo we headed home to tackle our jungle of a lawn. Through five years of marriage Kaia and I have never had to take care of yardwork until this place. Kaia weeded, I mowed and raked, and Evie Lu fell down a lot. Evangeline has righteous scrapes on her knee and nose. Pretty good work for a Saturday.

Taking it all in