Spring Break 2011

Spring Break was a lot of fun for everyone in our family. On Monday, Evan and I joined Terri, Levi, Luke, and David at the zoo. We then had lunch at Rocky's. On Tuesday, Evan and I went to visit Carl at work. Evan LOVED going up in "Daddy's Tower" and looking out the windows at the busy streets and the bridges. Afterwards, we all went out for pizza. After his nap, Evan also got to go to the dentist, which he sill loves to do! On Thursday, Carl, Evan and I went to The Children's museum of Indianapolis. On Friday, we got our pictures made, went to Chuck E. Cheese's and then went to The Congleton's house where we were joined by several of my sorority sisters. On Saturday, Carl and Evan hung out, while I enjoyed a day at the spa and dinner with my sorority sisters. (The boys had an eventful morning. During a thunderstorm, a house close to ours was hit by lightning and caught on fire. Our neighbors got out safely, but the fire was really big and required lots of fire trucks and firefighters to put out. Although we feel bad for our neighbors, Evan was THRILLED to see all of the action!) Sunday was warm and we played outside, napped and ate dinner on the patio. It was a really great week and I was so glad that I got to spend time with my family and friends.

Levi and Evan had so much fun at the zoo! Evan was even nice enough to share his stroller with Levi when Levi was tired.





Evan LOVES going to the dentist! He happily let Amanda clean his teeth and showed Dr. Pape his clean teeth.





Evan liked the museum even before we went inside! The dinosaurs outside of the museum were pretty cool!





The entrance to the dinosaur exhibit was cool. Evan liked the pterosaurs that were flying above us.



Evan spent A LOT of time playing with the small dinosaurs at the dinosaur play table. (We went back to let him play MANY times!)



The dinosaur fossils were SO cool!



Evan and Daddy got a dinosaur view of the world.



Evan had fun pretending to be a dinosaur Daddy and took care of the dinosaur eggs.



"That's a lot of trains!"



Evan spent quite a bit of time watching the small trains travel through the tiny town.



Evan had fun looking out of the telescope on the pirate ship.



Evan got prepared to dig for dinosaur bones!



"I found one!"



Evan had fun putting together the dinosaur puzzle.



Evan was a good listener as he heard the man talk about finding dinosaur bones on his ranch.



Evan was so tired when we left the museum. He slept for most of the trip home.



These are some of my favorite pictures from our photo session.













Evan always has a blast at Chuck E. Cheese's!





After Chuck E. Cheese's, it was time for Evan's nap. He took his nap UNDER the bed! He is so silly!




We had fun at dinner after a day at the spa!





We went back to the hotel after dinner, where we talked late into the night. (I really wish we all lived closer and could get together more often!)



Evan started out using the tub for his toy whale. He then decided it was a cool splash pool.



Eventually, he got his whole body in his "pool."

Our Big Boy Helper

Evan still loves to help us do various tasks in and around the house. The other day he asked Carl if he could help him dig a hole so that we could plant the new trees. It was super cute and very sweet!

Visiting Grandma and The Fowler Family (Spring 2011)

We went to Tennessee last weekend to visit Grandma and The Fowler Family. It was so good to see everyone and we had a great time visiting. Evan remembers everyone now and as soon as we got to Grandma's house, he went right up and gave her a hug! He had lots of fun playing with Marlee on Saturday, as well as shopping for treasures at garage sales. It was so good to see everyone and we hope to get back to visit again sometime this summer.

Evan pushed Grandma's walker up to the table so that he could eat his breakfast right next to Grandma.



Marlee and Evan had fun throwing the ball to each other.



The boys took turns pushing each other on the gardening bench.





Everyone had fun in the sandbox.



The bubble machine made hundreds of bubbles, which both Evan and Marlee enjoyed chasing.





"ROAR!"



Evan and Marlee had fun swinging together.



"I am a monkey!"



The view of The Smokey Mountains was beautiful!



Evan had such a good time in Grandma's big tub. The jets made lots of bubbles, which made bath time LOTS of fun!



"I love you Grandma!"

Sleepy Boy

The other day I went looking for Evan so that I could tell him that it was time to start getting ready for his nap. When I found him, it was clear that he VERY ready to take his nap!

Weekend Fun

Last weekend my Young Survivors support group had a family event at a local ice skating rink. Evan was really excited to try ice skating, although it turned out to be too tricky for him. Carl and I took turns trying to help him skate. We then asked for a bucket, so he could have some extra support while we helped him. That turned out to be too tricky too, so I decided to see if Evan was willing to ride in the bucket. It turned out to be a great idea! Carl and I took turns pushing Evan around the ice rink in the bucket. Evan had a blast and so did we!

Evan was REALLY excited to get ready to ice skate!



Daddy took Evan out on the ice first. Evan had so much fun, even though it was really difficult to skate!




Evan had so much fun "skating" in the bucket!





Although ice skating was fun, a cookie break was fun too!




Later that afternoon, The Congleton family joined us for dinner and play time. Evan was so excited that the weather was warm so that he, Levi and Luke could play outside. He was especially happy that Levi could FINALLY take a ride in his car with him. All of the boys had fun riding in the car and playing in the backyard. After dinner, we all hung out in the basement while the boys played in the bounce house. It was a really fun day!

March 1, 2011

My birthday is one of my favorite days of the year. This year my birthday started off really well. I had a great day at school and then went to get a manicure and pedicure while Carl picked up Evan. While I was getting my nails painted, I got a phone call at the salon. It was Carl calling to say that Dad had just had a heart attack. Although at that point Dad had already had emergency surgery and his prognosis was good, I was still very upset and very scared.

I quickly left the salon and went to the hospital, where I met my mom and my sister. They had seen dad and met with his surgeon. Dad was in good spirits, but the scary part was that his surgeon stated several times that he was amazed that Dad was alive. Due to some other emergencies with other patients, we had to wait several more hours at the hospital before seeing Dad. I was really relieved when I got to go back and see him around 8:30. Dad was in a good mood and actaully looked really good. What a relief it was to see him doing so well after a major heart attack!

Later that night, I arrived home where Carl had waited up for me. He gave me a beautiful Pandora bracelet, which I love. It was super sweet for Carl to wait up, especially since he was sick with a bad cold.

Dad was released from the hospital on March 4. I was really happy once he was home and I know he was too. That same night, Carl and I went to celebrate my birthday at The Melting Pot, which is one of my favorite restaurants.

Although I had a very unhappy birthday surprise with the news of Dad's heart attack, I also got a very good surprise with his survival and quick recovery. I am so glad that he is alive! I love Dad so much!

Valentine's Day

We had a great time celebrating Valentine's Day this year. The night before Valentine's Day, Carl and I celebrated with a long walk at the park and dinner at Blackstone Grill. On Valentine's Day, we all celebrated together as a family. Evan received some new dinosaurs, which he was very happy about. We also made a heart shaped pizza for dinner. For dessert, we made chocolate chip cookies, which are a favorite around our house. We all played in the bounce house and had a really great time spending time together as a family.

Carl surprised me with flowers!



Our heart shaped pizza was delicious!



"I lOVE my new dinosaurs!"



The cookies were a hit!