First sand box

Evan received a great hand-me-down sand box from some of our friends with older kids (thanks Matt & Jenn!). It's been set up for a couple of weeks, but I just filled it with sand today. It's blazing hot here, so I made sure to fill the baby pool for a post-sand box dip. Evan had a great time, and thankfully, he didn't constantly eat the sand like he did the last time we were at the beach!

Sophia Rose

A quick note and some pics to brag about a beautiful new baby. My good friend Heather (who now lives in GA!) had a little girl named Sophia Rose on June 1. This is #2 for their family-- Isabella is now a big sister! She is such a sweet and calm little baby, and Bella adores her new sister.

Father's Day, etc.

We spent Father's Day weekend with friends (who coincidentally happen to have a pool). Jason had the whole weekend off and we enjoyed grilling out, relaxing and oh yeah, Jason did some plumbing work. Here are some pics from our events (sans plumbing).



Just chillin'.








Happy Father's Day!









After-swim snack.









This kid can get messy!

Climbing the walls

Well, not just yet... but give him time!

Personality

In the last couple of weeks, Evan's personality--and independence--have really started to shine through. Mostly we have a lot of fun, but sometimes he really tries our patience. More on that subject later.... For now, here are a couple of cute pics.

First [real] haircut

So, since my snipping skills are limited to trimming straight across the ends, and Jason's skills are... well... you've seen his hair cut, we decided it was time to take Evan to get a first real hair cut. There's a place around here called Snip-Its, which is designed just for kids. Imagine a hair salon that looks like the inside of a Dr. Seuss book. Evan was a perfect angel-- unlike how he is when I cut his hair! We forgot our camera, but fortunately were able to take pics with Jason's cell phone. It's going to take me a while to get used to Evan's new look... he no longer has that baby face and looks a lot more like a little boy. *Sniff, sniff.*

Happy 1st Birthday Evan!

Some of you long-time subscribers may remember this post: http://terrerifamily.blogspot.com/2006/06/welcome-baby-evan.html. Of course I'm going to say all the usual parent things like, "it's gone by so fast," "seems like yesterday," and "I can't believe it's been a year." All of those things are true, but I haven't really felt sad or wistful about Evan turning one. I'm so excited and happy to see that he is growing and developing into such a fun little person. And while I'm not ready to send him off to college tomorrow, I'm so anxious to see what the future brings. I wonder what he'll look like when he's 5, 10 or 17. I wonder if he'll in fact stay blonde, and whether he'll be a righty or lefty (which he's showing signs of!). So many things to look forward to.

For right now, Jason and I relish in his daily little accomplishments, like learning to stand up with out holding onto something, learning the baby sign for "more," and [maybe] saying "guk" to mean "drink."

Another milestone to note today is that I am done nursing!! And even though I didn't get any cards or presents, you can bet that I'm celebrating!

Posted below is a slide show of Evan from birth to 1st birthday. If you're reading this, please leave a comment to wish Evan a happy birthday. One day, Evan will read this blog and I want him to know just how many people have been watching him grow up.

1st Birthday Bash

Evan's first birthday party was a success. In all, we had about 20 people show up for the festivities. Evan toddled all around, in and out of everyone's legs. He enjoyed a whopping piece of cake and afterward, Grandma Terreri graciously offered to scrub yellow and red icing off in the tub. Evan received all kinds of gifts for his first birthday-- a tool bench, dump truck, fire truck, ride-on zebra, swing set, free babysitting vouchers, maracas, sit & spin (remember those?) and more! We're so thankful for the kindness of our friends and family. This past year of parenthood has been so great, and we couldn't have done it without your support. Enjoy the pics!





























Evan & new friend Tai.






Kevin's always ready for the camera.


Yuki, Eric & Tai.








Evan's fan club.

Party Prep

We held Evan's 1 year birthday party last night... what follows are mostly pictures of the decorations, etc. I'm waiting for more pictures from our camera man (aka Grandpa Hugh), where you can see more of Evan and his extensive fan club.


Note the monkey & palm tree chandelier.



Birth-12 months collage



Cute Curious George cake that my friend Holly generously offered to make.

What's old is new again

About a month or so ago, I discovered that a good high school friend of mine from Vienna lives less than 10 miles away from us! Some of you reading this may remember Yuki Peete (formerly Matsushita). Turns out that she, her husband and son have been living in Newnan (next town over) for the last 5 years! What a great find! We were good friends in high school, and actually Yuki, Jason and I all were on the swim team together. What a small world! Anyway, it has been so much fun getting to know her all over again and spending time with her family. She has a son that is 20 months old, so Evan will have a great little playmate. Here's a cute pic of Yuki's son Tai.










Stay tuned for pics of Evan's first birthday party....

Memorial Day

I would have posted sooner, but we've been going non-stop these past couple of weeks! This past weekend, we travelled to my home town in Indiana to visit family and attend my sister Alex's high school graduation. Evan met most of the Taylor and Opperman sides of the family, and Jason and I caught up with everyone. In short, we had a great time. Just a few pics below-- more to come soon (as soon as my dad sends them!).



Evan nippin on the bottle. Takes after his mom's love of root beer.





At a get-together with the Opperman family-- aunts, uncles, granparents, cousins.

An early birthday present.

Evan with his cousin Ethan.

Story time

This was such a cute pic, I had to post. This is the first time I've caught Evan trying to read to his bear... usually he just chews on his books.

Fun for the whole family

Yesterday, Jason & I took Evan to a new place in PTC (Peachtree City) that houses a bunch of inflatable moon walks/bouncy castles. It was SO cool! I'm not sure who had more fun! And, it is free for adults and kids under two. They have a "mommy & me" time so that older kids don't trample all over little toddlers. Evan was a little unsure of the whole thing at first, but ended up having a great time.

Mother's Day...

...was 3 days ago, so I'm a little behind with this post. I had a very good first Mother's Day. I was treated to a nice breakfast out and Evan's special present to me was not taking a nap.... all day long! Wasn't that sweet? Here are a few pics to commemorate the day.



















Evan discovered the curtain in our foyer and had so much fun playing.

ok, here are some pics

Jason and I appreciate the outpouring of sympathy/empathy via comments, letters, phone calls and even flowers for our "parenting mistakes" post below. It's nice to know we have family and friends who care. (since you can't hear my tone, read: sarcasm)

Now, getting to what you came here for: pictures. The first is of Evan on his airplane rocker (a nice hand-me-down from one of Jason's co-workers). And the second is a shot of Evan trying to hide from the paparazzi.