Happy 2nd Gotcha Day, Evelyn!

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Can this be real? Has Evelyn been home with us for 2 yrs. already?! We watch her and think to ourselves how blessed we are and how much she has changed in such a short amount of time. To celebrate the day, we ate lunch with Daddy and then had a special dinner out with just the family. Oh, and she got a new Imagination Movers CD to listen and dance (she absolutely LOVES them and their music). We didn't want to do anything over the top in the gift dept. as we want the focus to be on the blessing of her coming home to us and making the family complete. This is such a special day for us and words can't express how we feel: blessed, adoration, pure joy, and unconditional love. These are just a few words that begin to describe how we feel as we celebrate Evelyn's 2nd Gotcha Day.

Cakes, Magic, and the 4th

We did a lot of celebrating last week! It was Daddy's birthday on Monday and Evelyn surprised him by helping make a cake for him! Evelyn helped Mommy decorate the cake with sprinkles and had a blast! It was so fun, she didn't want to stop decorating with sprinkles--needless to say, Daddy had a very festive birthday cake.

Later in the week, we (the whole family) went to the Magic House for some fun. It was almost too much to take in! Evelyn loved the Once Upon a Time exhibit as she climbed up Jack's Beanstalk and slid down, pretended to be Cinderella in a carriage, and explored with bubbles. She and Daddy had a hair-raising experience with magnets and wouldn't you know, she found an old-fashioned tea set to have a tea party. We left with the promise to return as soon as she gets her boo-boo off as there were lots of water activities that we didn't participate in this time.

The next day was the 4th of July. We were preparing to attend a parade and later a baseball game, but mother nature had different plans. It was rainy and cool the whole day. Mommy and Evelyn made a flag cake to celebrate our country's birthday. Evelyn did a great job putting the blueberries and strawberries onto the cake. When the rain finally stopped, we headed out into the court to eat with our neighbors and celebrate the 4th! All that socializing and eating wore Evelyn out as she didn't make it to see the fireworks.

Thumb Surgery

Yesterday, Evelyn had surgery on her left thumb to correct her trigger thumb. We tried to treat it conservatively by putting it in a cast in April, but her thumb reverted at the end of May. We arrived at the hospital around 6:30 AM and her surgery was scheduled for 7:30 AM. Upon arriving, Evelyn made herself right at home--she quickly charmed the nursing staff and all the doctors. As usual, the surgery started late (8:00 AM)but was quickly over (8:15 AM). It was tough to watch her come out of the anethsia as she cried and flailed about (they say it was very typical for this age). Once she calmed down, she wanted milk and we were allowed to come home. We were home around 9:30 AM. She wanted to eat a little something (pink Pop Tart) and then napped for 3 1/2 hours. Evelyn will be in a stint for the first week and when we have our one week check up, she will be put into a cast for another 2 weeks.

Oh, and more good news (Mommy is being sarcastic)! It looks like her right thumb is now triggering, so we will likely go through this again in about 6 weeks or so--yeah!!!

Pool Party and Father's Day

It has been a fun week for Evelyn! Last TH, she went to a pool party and enjoyed basking in the sun while floating in her purple hippo. When given the choice of a one-piece swimsuit or the bikini, she chose the bikini (imagine that)! We celebrated Daddy's second Father's Day by giving him a present on Sunday morning before going to church. Evelyn did a great job keeping the present a secret from Daddy. Believe it or not, she kept the secret from Friday through Sunday when we gave him the gift. Mommy was very impressed with that! Later in the day, Evelyn rode around the court with Jon and Daddy on the lawn tractor. We thought she would be afraid of the loud noise, but in true Evelyn fashion, she LOVED it! No fear and kept telling Mommy "No, Mommy" every time we tried to get her off the tractor! Evelyn will be having surgery on TH. We will post on her condition later that day or on Friday. Please say a prayer for her recovery. It isn't a major surgery, but we are always worried when she has to be put to sleep (as every parent does).

Summertime Fun

We have had a busy couple of weeks! Evelyn went to her first luau at the home of our friends. She loved riding the Radio Flyer scooter and of course, swinging with her new boyfriend, Mason. The following week, we shopped around and purchased a big girl bedroom furniture. She was her room painted purple (her new favorite color) and the bedroom furniture should arrive in about 10-12 weeks. Then, we met with our boyfriend, Mason, and his Mommy for a morning of fun at the Butterfly House. For some strange reason, she did not enjoy the butterflies this time, but absolutely LOVED riding the carousel nearby. After that, we played in the park and had a snack. Then, we ended the morning with lunch at Chik Fil A and said good-bye to our boyfriend. Later that evening, we headed to visit Pop and Grandma in Hayti. It was a great weekend and summer is off to a fast start for us!

Trip to the Zoo

Yesterday, Mommy and Evelyn headed to the zoo for some fun! The weather was perfect--low 70's and partly cloudy. We arrived early and much to Mommy's surprise, Evelyn was a little apprehensive about the animals at first. We visited the penguins first and made our way around the zoo from there. The prairie dogs seemed to make her giggle the most while the fish at the hippo exhibit captivated her attention for a while. She also enjoyed the monkeys. She kept showing me her teeth as there were two of the chimps who were cleaning each others teeth. For Mommy, the neatest part was seeing the elephant, Raja, stand on his hind legs when asked by his trainer at the zoo. It was funny to see Evelyn's reaction to the elephant as he moved his trunk around--she thought it was his tongue and kept sticking hers out and trying to move it in the same way! After a bite for lunch, we headed for home around 11:30. Mommy wasn't even to the interstate before Evelyn was sound asleep. All that fresh air and riding in the stroller must have made her exhausted as she slept for 3 1/2 hours! It was such a great morning and Mommy is really looking forward to more summer fun.

Ears Pierced!

Last night, we took Evelyn to the local mall and had her ears pierced (sorry, Mom). She had been talking all weekend about wanting "bling bling" like grandma (see, Mom, this was your doing). Rob was excited and I was a bit apprehensive. Evelyn helped pick out her CZ studs and then came time to get in the chair. She was fine until Daddy held her. That is when she started fussing. The girls who did the piercing did a great job--it was quick! As soon as Rob finished holding her, she quit crying. She likes knowing that she has earrings like Mommy, but is not very cooperative when it comes time to clean the studs. That is a challenge! However, we must admit that she looks terribly cute with her "bling bling!"