The One with Veronica's Baby Shower

Sunday, July 31, 2011

The baby boom continues! I'm tellin' ya, if you want to get pregnant, just move to South Pasadena. There is something in the water, I'm sure of it. There are at least a dozen girls with preggo eggos around here. But not me man - get off my back, Fox is only 9 months old! :)

My friend Melissa and I threw a shower for Veronica who is having her second baby girl, Kylie Rae (how cute is that name?!) in a few weeks. I was in charge of decorations and I had so much fun making the banners and garlands and placing the balloons!

Here's the name banner close up:

I punched (what seemed like) hundreds of scalloped circles from the Peachy Keen line by American Crafts along with matching colors of cardstock, cut them all in half, and then stitched them together across the tops. Super quick and easy garlands to hang everywhere!

Here's the front porch festivized.

Veronica had the brilliant idea to have a bow-making table where everyone could take a few minutes and make a little headband for Kylie. So I made this banner to go across Fox's doorway:

Here it is in place:

Originally the table was set up in Fox's room, but then it felt like we were all separated so we moved it out into the dining room with the food table. This is when it was still in Fox's room.

For food (cuz what party is complete without food?!) we had a waffle bar! Melissa and I volunteered our husbands to man the waffle makers. We had fruit toppings like strawberries, bananas, and blueberries as well as sugary toppings like two kinds of syrup, chocolate chips, powdered sugar, and whipped cream, along with sides of fruit, muffins and croissants, and milk and juice to drink. Fit for a queen!

Here's the guest of honor and Veronica, hehe.

Notice all the paper clips on her shirt - that was part of the game. Everyone got three paper clips and every time you heard someone say "Baby", "Cute", or "Girl" you took one of her paperclips. The word that got us all was "cute." Try going five seconds at a baby shower without saying "cute!" It's impossible!

Opening presents! A girl can never have too many hair accessories!

Rachel and Joey have had a little too much fun destroying all the balloons. I call it: The Great Balloon Massacre of July 2011.

For now I'm leaving the garlands up - I like the pop of color!

Thanks for having a baby V and giving me an excuse to decorate :)

The One with FOX CRAWLS!

Saturday, July 30, 2011

10 days ago I was lamenting about what a failure I am cuz my baby couldn't crawl. Well, take THIS stupid checklist! My baby can sooooo crawl now! (Why couldn't his doctor appointment have been scheduled for tomorrow?) Granted he only crawls a few inches or feet at a time, for only seconds at a time, but heck, I'll take it!

Call me crazy, but now I wish he'd stay put for a little longer haha, cuz holy moly you have to keep your eyes glued to this little booger! I'm so proud of you Fox! Next step: walking. So we can take him trick-or-treating right after his first birthday of course :)

The One with the Well Traveled Fox

Friday, July 29, 2011

Friday afternoon marked Fox's 16th flight. He'll complete his 17th and 18th in a little bit when we fly to Denver for the annual Evans family reunion. Then after that no more flights in sight! I must say, I'm quite relieved. It's getting increasingly difficult to fly with Fox's increasing mobility. I thought I'd do a round up of Fox's air travels thus far! Three destinations took two flights to get to, there and back, so that's 12 flights right there.

1st flight: February 25th 2011. LA to Austin.

2nd flight: February 28th 2011. Austin to LA. No pictures.

3rd flight: March 16th 2011. LA to Salt Lake City.

4th flight: March 22nd. Salt Lake City to LA.

5th flight: April 19th 2011. Burbank to Oakland.

6th flight: April 19th 2011. Oakland to Seattle.

7th flight: April 26th 2011. Seattle to Oakland.

8th flight: April 26th 2011. Oakland to Burbank.

9th flight: July 8th 2011. LA to Honolulu.

10th flight: July 8th 2011. Honolulu to Lihue.

11th flight: July 15th 2011. Lihue to Honolulu.

12th flight: July 15th 2011. Honolulu to LA.

13th flight: July 26th 2011. Burbank to Oakland.

14th flight: July 26th 2011. Oakland to Seattle.

15th flight: July 29th. Seattle to San Jose.

16th flight: July 29th: San Jose to Burbank.

Tips for traveling with a baby:

- Have him/her drink a bottle or suck on a toy or pacifier for take off and landing. Helps with ear pressure.

- The magazines in the seatback pockets are free. Let your baby go to town with them.

- Babies require a LOT of stuff when traveling. Carseat. Stroller. Pack'n'Play. Food. Clothes. Bibs. Bottles. Toys. Etc. Pack the essentials in a large diaper bag (make sure you have an extra set of clothes for blowouts!), fill the cracks with toys, and check the rest.

- Make sure you bring your baby's shot records or SS card to validate his/her age.

- It helps that Fox loves being doted on and can light up the room with his good looks and charm :)

That's all I can think of for now. Happy travels!

The One with E&T's Wedding Day 3

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Thursday morning everyone but me, Fox, Allie, Malm, and Grandma Cathie left to go up to the cabin at Lake Wenatchee. Bye bye e'eryone!

Allie and I went to her work, Ben Franklin Arts & Crafts, so I could get some banner materials for V's baby shower this Saturday. I forgot to bring them back to LA. Wah wah. Banners made from scratch it is!

I thought all the cat hair on my laptop case was from Rachel. The actual culprit is Tip Toe!

She's going to be 18 on October 30th 2011. She's going for the record of world's longest living cat. I hope she wins!

I took Fox on a walk in his stroller and he fell asleep so during his nap I walked around and took in the beauty of Washington.

The back yard view. Trees as far as the eyes can see.

The front yard view. Trees as far as the eyes can see.

I like trees.

Textural pile o' logs.

The treehouse my dad set out to build several years ago. Perhaps he and Fox can finish it some day.

A leopard slug! I don't think that's what they're really called, but they should be!

Slugs are like flies in Washington. They're everywhere!

After lunch my friend Lyndsey and her son stopped by. She and her husband recently moved to Washington. I think I've seen Lyndsey in more states than any of my other friends! Utah, California, and now Washington (and we could have met in Colorado one summer too, but we never made it out there to see Chris' family during that time). Our lives are so very parallel on many levels it's nuts.

We let our boys, just three months apart, play around.

Fox is thiiiiiis close to crawling! Just have to get all the movements in the right order!

The girls with their boys.

It was fun to see ya Lyndsey! I'm sure we'll meet again soon one way or another cuz that's just how things are!

The One with E&T's Wedding Day 2

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

"Going to the temple, and you're, gonna get maaaaaarried!"

Allie watched Fantastic Mr. Fox while the older folk went in to witness the sealing.

The sealing was simple, short, sweet, beautiful, spiritual, perfect. My little brother is married! Tanya - you're my newest sister-in-law! Love ya!

When Eric and Tanya exited the temple Tanya saw her besties and ran over to them. Eric's face was priceless. He got ditched :)

So I made them go back in and re-enact exiting the temple.

E&T humored me and let me run around taking pictures of them. This was a big deal man, it had to be documented!

Eric and Tanya Taylor. Sealed for time and all eternity on Wednesday July 27th 2011.

Here's all the family who came to the temple. Plus Tanya's two besties.

Leaving the temple. Awww. Save it for later :)

The wedding banquet was at Maggiano's Little Italy. Schwanky.

It was great to meet Tanya's (almost) entire family.

The food was delectable and the dessert was even better!

Between lunch and the ring ceremony/reception we hung out at our house and lounged around. Eric went to a movie with Tanya's brothers and friends while she gussied up. LOL.

In the early evening we headed out to Robinswood House.

Like the gift card I picked out for them? Teehee.

Isn't my little sister darling??

I want her entire wardrobe.

This picture showcases E&T's relationship to a "T". They are so goofy and perfect for each other.

Allie gave Fox a big ol' smooch. I left it there for the night, I thought it was cute.

Bishop Rands and Eric waiting for Tanya to come down the aisle.

Tanya being escorted by her dad. She's so glamorous!

My favorite part was watching E&T stare at each other with their googley eyes. And yes, I cried.

The words and advice Bishop Rands gave these two was so great I asked him for a copy of his talk. He just handed the papers right over :) I'm going to share some of my favorite parts in another post soon.

After the ring ceremony it was picture time! Every combination and permutation under the sun! The only thing that could have made this night more perfect was if Chris could have been there (he had finals).

Me and Allie with our brother and our new sister.

Grandpa Tom and Fox.

Twinkle lights.

The highlight of the reception was the talent of a caricaturist. It's uncanny how the drawings actually look like the people! Cousins Elizabeth, Cat, and Allie.