Company

It was a big weekend. Lisa, Lauren, and Elliot came to visit from Chicago. Lauren is Evelyn's age, and Elliot is seven months old.



Mama Cat, Paw-paw, and Uncle Seth came to visit too. We all had a blast at the City Museum. Here, Evelyn and Lauren play on the roller slide in the toddler section. This was the only part of the museum where we could catch them on film.





... and finally, a gratuitous photo of Evelyn.

Let's fight!

Retreat

The whole family went on a retreat last weekend at Mark Twain Lake. Evelyn spent most of her time riding bikes with Carter.



She enjoyed eating Carter's dinosaur birthday cake, too. They fought over the threehorn until they realized that the tyranosaur roared; then they fought over him.

Preschool

This morning I dropped Evelyn off at preschool for the first time. She wasn't quite sure about me leaving, but she gave me a kiss and went off to play.

Why Nanny is a Sucker

Dinosaurs

Labor Day Visits

For the holiday, we drove to Hannibal. Evelyn was thrilled to go to Hannibal to visit Mama Cat and Paw-Paw and Uncle Seth and Aunt Bunny and Rachel. She had a blast, especially playing with Seth. She went fishing and caught a little tiny fish, and Daddy caught a bigger fish.

And guess who came to visit? I'll give you a clue: he's sleeping on the couch right now. He fell asleep watching the Hurley episode of Lost, his birthday present from Rachel and Seth.

Happy Birthday Mama

I am thirty! Evelyn made me a cake.

Nanny Sucker

Today, Nana Linda and Evelyn were walking through the neighborhood.
Evelyn: "Carry me."
Nana: "You think Nanny's a sucker, don't you?"
Evelyn: (sweetly) "No."
Nana picks her up.
Evelyn: (laughing) "Nanny Sucker!"

Meet the Teacher

Today Evelyn's preschool teachers came by to meet her. They go to the house of each new student so that the kids meet the teachers in a familiar environment before classes start. In two weeks, Evelyn starts preschool, two mornings per week. I think she'll love it. Her friend Carter currently attends this preschool, with the same teachers, and he highly recommends it.

Her teacher asked to take her picture, so Evelyn dutifully said "cheese" when asked... then smiled for the camera. That was a first! She actually smiled for the picture. She must like her teachers.

Bellystick

Last week Evelyn had a little too much fun with a melted lipstick.

Nombres de nenes

We can't tell you the gender of the baby-in, but we can tell you the names we've picked out for each possibility. Of course, all name plans are contingent on the baby looking like that name.

A boy will be Corwin James. Corwin is a name Eric has always loved, and his dad and grandfather are both Kerwin, which is close. James, of course, is after my grandfather.

A girl will be Linda, after Eric's mother. The middle name for this one is up for discussion. I wanted Grace or Faith, after my aunts, but both of those sound rather plain with Linda and a one-syllable last name. A Spanish middle name would be much prettier! We could go with Gracia (grace), but not Fe (faith, pronounced "fay"). My current favorite is Sofia, which means wisdom. Any other suggestions?

One Yard High

She is now as tall as the yardstick and weighs over 28 lb. She is not quite as tall as the bike pump, though.

Two and a Half

Evelyn is now two and a half years old!

Not a baby anymore

Evelyn has passed a milestone: instead of asking us to "hold you" she moved on to "hold-you me" and finally, "Hold me." She sounds grown-up. She is working on saying "Evelyn Joy Kerr" when asked her name instead of "Emelyn Joy Kerr." The v is a difficult sound for her, but she can do it when she concentrates.

Her other recent accomplishments include clipping her own fingernails and toenails; wearing big girl panties most of the time, even on outings; and dancing like Pocoyo.

Cousins

A few weeks ago, Evelyn and I visited Chattanooga with Mama Cat and family. Evelyn loved her cousins, Faith and Ellie and Nick and Liz. She thought they were the best. Nick was her favorite chaser. Faith and Ellie each played with her for hours and hours.
Also in Chattanooga, she visited a park where she rode the carousel three times. She ate blue ice cream. Mama Cat: "What flavor is that?" Evelyn: "Mine!" She played in the fountains a little bit, but mostly wanted to splash Paw-paw.
She misses her cousins. Hopefully she'll get to see them again while she still remembers them this time. Come up for Christmas, cousins! We certainly aren't going anywhere this year.

Little Tiny Fish

Evelyn had a big time over the 4th of July with her Paw-Paw and Mama Cat. On the 4th, she saw a parade, a festival, a carnival, and fireworks. By firework time she was tired and ready for bed. She loved the parade ("I got candy") and the carnival, especially the plane ride. I loved that other people took her to fireworks and I went to bed early.

The next day, Daddy and Mama went back home and Evelyn stayed with her grandparents. They took her to Going Bonkers in Quincy, where she went bonkers in the indoor playland for hours. The following day they took her fishing. She wanted to catch a little tiny fish, and she did! Paw-paw caught great big fish, which he fried up on Sunday -- yum. Evelyn ate Mama Cat's meatloaf and mashed potatoes every day during her visit. She played with Uncle Seth and Aunt Bunny, chasing endlessly around the house. She was not ready to come home with Mama on Sunday, but she consented, and very quickly fell asleep in her carseat in the minivan.

Mid-day Mole News

This is the latest from Nana:

After we came back from "Dora's" awhile ago, there was a little bitty dead mole on our walkway. Mole may or may not have been taken down by the Goddess of the hunt. Anyway, Evelyn took a liking to the mole and she has been stroking it and telling it all her secrets ever since. Hope that is ok.

New van

Our stroller doesn't fit in our car nicely, so we bought a new van to drive it around.

We spent weeks looking at minivans. The Toyota was our favorite, but it was too expensive. We almost bought a Mazda, but the price wasn't quite right. Buy it anyway? I prayed about it, and heard "no, not yet." So I prayed that the right van would come up for sale in the next four months. The right van is red, with power doors and driver's seat and a sunroof, and maybe a power tailgate for bonus.
The very next day, I randomly check Craigslist, and poof, right at the top of the page is a 2006 Toyota Sienna in red with all the features we want and more, for less than the price of a base 2007 model. Surely it's sold already. But no, it is still available! The next day we drive far, far south to see it. And lo, it is the perfect van!
Buying from a person is lots more trouble than buying from a dealer, especially when you're financing. We looked at the van on Friday, and now the next Wednesday (after much paperwork) it is sitting in our garage awaiting temporary tags. Soon, very soon, we will be driving it. I can't wait!

Mama Cat and Aunt Bunny

My mom and sister visited for four full days over this weekend. Wow, that was fun! It is great to have my mom around when I'm pregnant. On Saturday we went shopping, first all the girls to Crestwood Mall (the carousel is gone! how sad!), then just Mom & I to the Galleria for shoes. We stopped at the tea store that I've been itching to visit for months. Last night, Mom and Eric and I stayed up late playing a game. Aaaaah.

Aunt Bunny played with Evelyn almost the whole time, since Evelyn wouldn't give her a minute alone. "Where Aunt Bunny? Aunt Bunny, come back! I want Aunt Bunny." and if Aunt Bunny didn't respond, she called for Rachel. Evelyn liked riding in Rachel's car, red with bird poop on it.

I'm going to miss them a lot.