Here's a Riddle

How many toys does it take to entertain a baby? Answer: a lot! I've found if I turn on some music from a toy piano, AND put him in reach of his lion chimes AND position the mirror to show his face AND put the toy keys in his had AND prop a stuffed animal near by, I can walk away and he'll play on his own for a bit. One less thing and I have to be there by his side. Ahhh. My spoiled child....

Who did you vote for? Evan voted for hand chewing!

The Pictureless Family Reunion

Why do I always forget to take the camera along? I packed a hairdryer that I never used, but I can't remember the camera?

Anyway, all the Allreds got together this weekend at my Grandma's cabin for our family reunion. I love this idea. We don't get to be all together in one place very often anymore and I miss it. Its nice to know I'll get to see my family all at least once a year (hopefully more!)

Ryan borrowed a 4-wheeler to bring and we had a great time exploring the mountain. It has a great view and some fun trails... also, lots and lots of mud when it rains.

Poor ryan got stuck in a hail storm and came home soaked from one run. Luckily I wasn't with him for that one. I was at the antique shop of exorbitant prices when that storm rolled through.

Evan did so great! He was happy all day long--quiet and calm and willing to let anyone hold him--and slept beautifully at night. He even slept 7 hours straight one night! And what did he do when he got home? Fell right back into his old habit of waking up every hour on the hour during the night. I think I want to live at the cabin. I get sleep there.

We had a lot of fun together. Ryan and I made tin foil dinners and dutch oven tater tots for everyone. Mom killed some dude with a BBQ fork (does that mean she won the murder mystery game or lost it?) Curtis got to be a Russian again. We made ice cream by kicking balls of duct tape around the yard. We jumped (or fell) off the porch. Grant played "Girls stuck in tree" with his sister. We guessed where Brad's going on his mission. And we all got to relax and enjoy each other's company.

First of Many Trips up the Canyon

Thank goodness for canyons, family and dutch oven tator tots. Last weekend Ryan and I took Curtis & Kelsey and Laura & Bryce (next time, Brad, you should skip your swim stuff, find a date and come with us! Next time, Lisa, you and Ben should not go on vacation and come with us!) up the canyon near our home for hobo dinners, s'mores and our favorite dutch oven recipe of tator tots, bacon, onions and lots and lots of butter and bacon grease. Yum!

We brought Evan up for the last couple hours and he loved looking around at everything, especially the trees. And he loved the sound of the stream next to our camp spot. He wasn't a fan of the cold, though, and he didn't sleep very well even when I covered him completely with a blanket. Next time I want to put him in the Baby Bjorn and go for a hike. I think he might like that.

Evan loved loved loved the mittens. I think he thought they were a new toy to chew on. Problem is, they were slobbered up within minutes and soaking wet, effectively making his hands colder instead of warmer.

My little sleepy head doing what he does best.

Love the hat Ryan bought for me.

I'm sure we'll get many more pictures of the boys out camping... starting this summer!

Happy Mother’s Day to Me!

Behold: the first real mother’s day gift I’ve ever received--since I don’t count the flowers I got from church for being a “potential mother.” :)

Ryan was so sweet to get me this b-e-a-utiful cedar chest. Isn’t it gorgeous? I LOVE IT!

I’ve already named Ryan the official furnisher of the house because he does such a good job, but he’s really outdone himself this time.
This week brought a couple more reasons to celebrate. I’ve finally finally finally had a baby longer than I’ve been on bed rest. Yay!

So, here’s to the little man who made it all possible: Happy 4 months old today!

I like what my sister does on her blog so I’m going to copy. Here’s some of the things I love about Evan, or don’t love so much but still want to remember (warning: this is long so most of you probably won’t care and the rest of you will think “all babies do that. Boring.” But that’s okay. This is kind of like a journal for me so just skip it when you get bored):

Nap Time:
0 to 2 weeks – No problems putting this little snoozer down, it’s keeping him awake for any amount of time that’s the challenge.
2 weeks to 3 months - Evan hates being swaddled, but it’s the best way to help him sleep. He cries as soon as you do it and you have to shove the binky in his mouth so he can grumble around it until he drifts off. He stays asleep a lot longer if you do it though.
3 months to 4 months – Evan fights sleep with every ounce of strength he has in him, screaming wildly (with quite a few squeals thrown in), wanting the binky, hating the binky, wanting to eat, not wanting to eat, going stiff as a board and just generally pitching a major fit. Then once he closes his eyes, he is out in an instant and won’t wake up even when we wrap him up and put him in the crib.
Today – yesterday he suddenly stopped throwing fits at nap time and since has gone to sleep quite calmly. Let’s hope that doesn’t change any time soon.

Playtime
0 to 2 weeks – The Lusty sisters named him “the lump.” He sure doesn’t do much, except stare at stuff. For entertainment, we put him on the floor and direct the air from the heater onto him and let him stare at his train blanket.
2 weeks to 3 months – His favorite toy is a hanging monkey. He gets so excited when he sees it, which is the best part because his excited face is to purse out his lips, get really big eyes and breathe hard and fast. Basically, he looks like a monkey. He bats it, watches it swing until it stops and then bats at it again. You can almost see him learning “when I hit it, it moves!”
3 months to 4 months – Evan has hit himself in the mouth with the rattle exactly once. Now, he’s really slow and deliberate whenever he brings anything to his mouth. Also, he’s started getting irritated at his dangling toys. I think it’s because he can’t get them to his mouth.
Today – We’re slowly getting him used to the bouncer. Even though his feet don’t reach the floor yet, he’s liking it more and more (and becoming less and less scared of the wobbliness) I hope this means he’ll love it when he’s steadier. Maybe he’ll even become a little bit self entertaining? Or is that too much to ask for?

Bath Time
0 to 2 weeks – Sponge baths are cold and Evan sure didn’t like them. Also, he projectile pooped on me one time during a bath. Yuck.
2 weeks to 3 months – Loves real baths from the very first one, but screams if I don’t get him from the tub and into his towel fast enough.
3 months to 4 months – He gets so excited and loves to splash. He slams his feet down so hard I wonder how he hasn’t bruised his heels yet.
Today – Really needs a bath.

Crying
0 to 2 weeks – Evan sure doesn’t cry very loud. My favorite is his mad cry because it’s basically just a growl. When he’s really really really upset, he cries so hard he stops breathing and goes bright red. That one is scary.
2 weeks to 3 months – Is it mean that I enjoy watching Evan cry sometimes? It’s hilarious how quickly his face can go bright red when he gets upset and just as quickly go back to normal when he settles down.
3 months to 4 months – Evan’s lost his baby cry (sad!) No more growling, no more roaring. Now it’s just screams punctuated by intermittent squeals (“Is he a girl?” Ryan asks.) Funny? Yes. Annoying? Yes.
Today – What is the difference between holding a baby standing up and holding him sitting? Answer: nothing… unless you’re Evan. Stand up with him and he’s a happy baby. Sit down and he’s a whiner. Have we spoiled him?

 

Smiling

0 to 2 weeks – Mom claims he smiled one day when I opened the blinds up to let the light in. I didn’t see it, therefore, I refuse to acknowledge this event as his first smile :) Either way, he smiles in his sleep a lot, he even laughs in his sleep.
2 weeks to 3 months – Ryan got the first real smile. I didn’t get one for several weeks after that.
3 months to 4 months – Ryan gets smiles just for walking by. I have to work for them. Looks like he’s going to be a daddy’s boy.
Today – I can’t seem to get a good smile on camera because every time I get it out, he stops what he’s doing and stares at it. I’ll get one one of these days.

Tummy Time
0 to 2 weeks – he can only be on his tummy for a few minutes because he tries to turn his head from side to side, but gets tired and just ends up smashing his mouth and nose into the blanket.
2 weeks to 3 months – Evan is getting pretty good at holding his head up. The funny thing is that he always lifts his legs and bum at the same time too, balancing on his chest and rocking back and forth like a seesaw. He rolled over for the first time pretty early, but then one day stopped, deciding that he was more interested in talking to us and sucking on his fist—I think it’s because smashed onto the carpet like that, the fist can’t escape. On his back, it’s flying around all over the place and is hard to catch.
3 months to 4 months – He’s rediscovered how to roll over, but is so squirmy that most of the time he ends up rotating in a circle or attacking (and I mean attacking) his hand.
Today – I’ve learned I can almost get him to turn from back to tummy. I put a burp cloth over his face and he freaked out. He arched his back so far that he just about made it over.

Other Random Observations
0 to 2 weeks – It’s so hard to keep this little guy awake long enough to eat. Then, one day for about 24 hours, he refused to nurse. We had to feed him with a syringe. Looking back I didn’t handle it too well, fantically believing my baby was never going to eat again, cursing the name of the person who invented the binky (which he would take) Yes, I was that pathetic.
2 weeks to 3 months – Evan cries when he’s getting his diaper changed until he catches sight of the border which is just a few inches above the changing table. Then he goes dead still and just lays there for minutes at a time.
3 months to 4 months - I still don’t know how to keep his ear from folding over. He’ll be laying on my arm and I’ll move him and his ear will be folded over and plastered shut. It’s already pointy and sticks out more than the other.
Today – Evan loves staring at the pattern on the inside of the car seat cover. For whatever reason, he’s totally transfixed by it. The other night we were driving home in the dark and Evan was crying. We turned on the dome light so he could see the pattern and he immediately went quiet. Off. Crying. On. Quiet. Off. Crying. On. Quiet.

The End. Congratulations if you've made it this far. I love you all!

Happy Third-iversary!

On April 27, 2010 we celebrated our 3rd anniversary of marriage.

We braved the wind storm of the century to celebrate at the Texas Roadhouse (our favorite) and by watching Date Night (pretty funny). Thanks to the Lustys for entertaining Evan with endless rounds of Zippity Doo Dah while we were gone.

I curled my hair for the first time in years, but you can see that the wind had them completely undone by the end of the night. Sigh.

This year has been one of the best and one of the hardest either of us have been through. Here's a couple of stats:

- I've spent 3/4 of the year pregnant.

     - I spent half of that on bedrest

     - I spent 1/4 of that in the hospital

- We spent the rest of the year learning how to take care of a newborn

     - Between that and the overactive pregnancy bladder, I haven't had a single full night's sleep all year

- Ryan waited on me hand and foot, doing all the cooking and cleaning for months (except for what our parents and neighbors contributed.)

- I've gained 25 pounds and lost 35

- Boys now outnumber the girls in this house

- We went from putting 350 miles on our car per week to about 35 per week 

- We blew our savings on hospital bills, but I was able to keep working through everything so we didn't go in debt.

- The furthest I went from home was to St. George to visit Kathryn. The furthest Ryan went from home was Lexington, KY.

- We discovered the best invention ever: steam-in-the-bag-in-the-microwave-broccoli.

- And of course, the best and biggest highlight of the year is that Evan joined our family. He's our little miracle.

I do have to say, I'm glad 2009 is over!

Here's some more pictures of our almost-4-month-old. He's stinkin cute and getting oh-so-fat.

Ryan was nice enough to get up with him last night when he just wouldn't go back to sleep. They both crashed just before it was time to leave for church.

I finally finished painting this shelf for Evan's room. He likes it. Wouldn't you?

Ready for church again a week ago. BTW, what is it about his Sunday best clothes that garauntee a major blowout? Every. Single. Week?

Another one with his dad. I've said it before. I'll say it again. Both of my boys are cute!

I'm Evan, and I'm Cute.

Blessing Day

We blessed Evan on Sunday. Congratulations, son. You're now officially a person! And an adorable little person at that.

I love the blessing outfit that I found for him with the little vest and tie. Too bad it was about 2 sizes too big. Oh well, he looked stinkin' cute anyway. Thanks to Sylvia for helping dress him at the last minute since his lame mother took too long to fry the taco meat and didn't get into the shower until 40 minutes before church. Yikes! I'm surprised we made it on time.

And of course I had to make sure the blanket made it's appearance in the circle. 100 hours of work for 3 minutes of use. Yep, totally worth it.

Let's just hope he's got his dad's height and not his mom's.

Though when Ryan tries to even out our heights for the sake of the picture, certain photographers (Kathryn!) like to zoom out and make us look like dorks.

Thanks to all our friends and family who came to support us. You really made the day special for our family. Sorry we didn't take pictures of everyone holding him (that would have taken forever) but here are the ones we did snap:

Blessings are very spiritual events (Ryan sure sent every Lusty sobbing with his testimony) and I know that I felt the spirit particularly strong.

I've come to rely heavily on Ryan as a priesthood holder. I've asked him for many blessings over the last 6 months and love the calming effect they have on my heart. It was a special experience to listen to him bless our son, especially with all the scares we had in getting him here. Here are a couple of highlights from the blessing:

• He has a family that loves him very much
• He came to Earth during a difficult time, but at a time when people need him
• He'll remember where blessings come from and feel the Lord's influence on his life

We love him so much and feel very blessed to be his parents. We'll try our best to raise him right so that he'll be worthy to recieve those blessings promised him. He's a joy to us. He's our little miracle.