Updates

Well, it's no surprise that it's been awhile again. Blogging has to take a backseat to many things! Here is what's new:

The most exciting thing on the agenda is that we're expecting our second child the week of April 20th, 2010! Evan can't wait to be a big brother, and I think he'll be a great one (if not a little bossy). The baby is "Eban's baby" as he calls it. Of course, we can't wait to know whether to say "little sister" or "little brother" in reference to the little bundle. We find out on November 3rd at Baby Views! Less than a month away! The pregnancy seems to be going by a little faster than Evan's, mainly because he keeps Mommy active. If my relationship with this new child is as good as the one I have with my little boy, then I will definitely be a rich woman. I thank God everyday for my son and pray that He keeps him safe and healthy.

So, new things with Evan. He is a very linguistic child. He expresses himself well with words and makes so many observations of the world around him and very astutely informs us of those observations. Some of my favorite things he says or has said are as follows: "Elmo pee peed in my bed, Mommy" (upon my finding his bed wet one morning), "Dear God, thank you for Jesus, Amen" (prayers before bed and dinner), "The chicken pee peed on the floor, Mommy, see?" (upon my finding a puddle in my bathroom floor with his toy chicken nearby and Evan's pants off - this seems to be a recurring theme), "Oooh, Mommy made a mess" (upon my dropping a whole watermelon in the floor), "Thank you so much, Mommy" (upon my tucking him in bed one night when he was so sleepy, his head was drooping in a sitting positiion). He chatters non-stop in the car and loves to sing! We sing everything in the car and I love to hear his sweet little voice. He loves our dogs but puts them in timeout when they try to take his toys - he's even put Jesus in timeout before! He loves the story of Cain and Abel. He says "Cain bad! He hurt his brother. God mad. cain in timeout!" (Thus the beginning of people in the Bible going to timeout. Just wait til we learn about Moses not entering the promised land. That was one LONG timeout.) Evan is 150% boy, too. I hope we have a house standing when he's
16. (And food in the fridge.) I expect from how physical he is, he'll probably love sports. Maybe football. His daddy would love that and Mommy will be praying even harder!

One other exciting thing; my brother and sister-in-law are expecting a baby next March! Baby Divino #2 will have a new cousin very close in age. We are also expecting two new little ones (other than ours) in our Life Group at church. Exciting times!

New Photos

Blog Slacker

Well, it's official. I'm a Blog Slacker. Evan has doubled in size (well not really, but it seems so) and we finally moved to our new house in Sherwood. I'm finally back where I belong!

So, what's new, you ask? Evan is almost two, weighs thirty pounds, and he was 29 inches tall last time I checked. His teachers told us at preschool the other day that he's the strongest kid in his class. (I think Ms. Renee's words were that he's strong as an ox.) He chatters like crazy with us at home, but is still a little quiet around other people. He says sentences like "where's _____", "it's ______", "I've got it", "I'll get it", "where did it go", etc. He really knows ALOT of words now. Too many to list. He knows all animals and their sounds, can sing twinkle, twinkle, little star, wheels on the bus, rain rain go away, E-L-M-O, and ABC's. He's also very aware of himself, in that he identifies himself as Evan (Eban), and he knows what he wants and will ask for it, and say yes or no when you ask him specific questions. JR and I have also entered the age of the infamous temper tantrums. Boy lemme tell ya, that is a ball. I'm seriously paying for my raising. And who does Evan act like? Yours truly.

We put Evan in time out the other day (and I've always wondered about the effectivness of this on a rowdy boy) and we left the room. (The point of time out is apparently to remove them from the group, etc.) A minute or so later, we heard him in there pretending to snore. How completely hilarious and frustrating. What do ya do? It's an evolving process. And we're along for a lifetime of a ride.

The house is good. We have alot of room and we're in a great neighborhood that is close to everything we need. I'm having to reign in my perfectionism somewhat in that I can't fix up the house all at once. And it bugs me. But, Rome wasn't built in a day, huh? And I stay busy. Photos to follow.

Christmas and House Photos

Evaneezer updates

Hello all! It's about time I updated - so much has happened. Evan is growing like crazy and talking up a storm. His teachers tell us that he's one of the most advanced talkers in his class. Can't help but feel good when you hear that, right? His words at 16 - 17 months are: uh oh, mommy, daddy, papa, lolo (JR's dad), daisi, thank you, cheese, milk, boo boo (he says this when he's dirty), pee pee, diaper, bible, amen, duck, clock, tic toc, tigger, cracker, cookie, car, bye bye, hello, more, baby, boat, book, and no. He also refers to Jesus in my nativity as "baby" right now. He tries Jesus, but he's not quite there yet. Evan will also tell us what a clock says (thus the "tic toc") and what a monkey says (ooh ooh ooh). He shows us his belly, nose, feet, and ears. We're working on hair, now. At his last doctor's appt, he weighed about 26 lbs and was 2 and 1/2 feet tall. He's still in the upper part of his range. He runs and climbs everywhere, points at everything, and is so amazingly (and sometimes, frustratingly) curious! He loves to eat chicken, sausage, carrots, fries (yikes!), bananas, toast, animal crackers, and now, candy canes. He'll eat much more, but those are the general faves. He's also doing well eating with a fork and spoon. He loves milk, will drink water, but can't have juice because his little baby bottom breaks out. :( He's also allergic to penicillin, but so far, no food allergies! Probably the cutest thing he does right now is when he sees a photo of a family member, he'll name who they are and then kiss the picture. My heart melts into a puddle.

JR and I are doing well through all the chasing Evan, but we're waffling about whether we want #2 soon, or not. Sometimes I think - continue with the madness. Other times, I REALLY value the little rest I get now. Evan sleeps fine; ten hours a night most of the time. But when he's awake? Let the race begin. I can't count how many times a day I say "no." I said when I was pregnant that I was not going to change my entire house and life to revolve around Evan because I think sometimes that can spoil a child if you take it too far. For example, I'm not going to rid the house of breakables and keep ornaments off my tree. We're trying to teach Evan that something's "pretty" and so far, he will touch with one finger (sometimes several times) and then leave it alone. It teaches him to respect other people's belongings, but at the same time, it satisfies his curiosity. And mostly, teaching him this is harder on me because I have to be on alert all the time. He has broken a couple of things, though, in moments of pure insanity. :) Ahh, the toddler years. Hope you all are well.

I've been due some blogging...

I can't believe it's been so long...I wonder what keeps me so busy? Could be that Evan's a busy little man and into everything. That's just a fleeting guess. He's climbing couches, bookshelves, stairs, and toilets. That's right, toilets.

The newest on the agenda in the world of Divino is that we're building a house. Yes, that's right...the economy is in shambles around us and we are BUILDING A HOUSE. How crazy is that? We actually started the process before all the Wall Street stuff happened. Anyway, our new house is in Miller's Crossing in Sherwood. We're excited because we're going to have so much space! Here are some pics:

Peek-A-Boo and More...