Happy Thanksgiving!

We had so much fun with the Evers family at the beach this year! Here are some of the highlights:

Just like Uncle Jeff...

Scott gets this from Uncle Jeff... Everytime he got a new toy, he had to sleep with it in his bed. Scott is expecially excited about his new Chutes and Ladders game because "it has 100 squares!"

Scott's Thankful Turkey

This is by far my favorite calendar that Scott has made in preschool. The feathers of the turkey are the 5 things he told Miss Kathy that he is thankful for. Not "My mommy", but "My mommy's hair". I really should not have been surprised. That cute kid has been obsessed with playing with my hair from the day he was born...

10 Years Ago...

10 years ago today was a pretty special day for the Evers family... I don't have a picture from the actual day, but I thought I would include my favorite picture of our family. On November 1st, 1997 we were sealed together in the Oakland temple. It was a day I will never forget as long as I live! Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

Hallelujah! A Successful Halloween!

For the past two years, Halloween night was the scene of many tears and tantrums in our house, all involving a little boy who didn't want to wear a costume and certainly did NOT want to give strangers at the door candy. This year, it was a Halloween miracle! Scott finally realized that wearing a costume = getting candy. So I think we will never have to convince him to dress up again. He willingly wore his Buzz Lightyear costume for the ward Trunk-or-Treat party, preschool, and Halloween night. And Charlotte was pretty cute as a little ladybug. She was an excellent trick-or-treater and had a death grip on her bucket of candy. She actually went to sleep with the bucket in her crib...

(I was a giant M&M)

Back in Time

I actually remember as a kid my parents once going to a 60s party with their friends. I thought the 60s were like ancient history. Well, last night was our turn to relive our glory days at an 80s party! Famous guests included Billy Idol, Devo, George Michael, Sunny from Miami Vice (that was Drew) and women wearing enough hairspray to double the size of any hole in the ozone layer.

Unfortunately in this photo of Drew and I you cannot see how high my bangs and side ponytail were. But the gummy bracelets, acid-washed jeans, two pair of colored socks and Candies hi-tops should be hard to miss. And I am proud to report that NONE of my outfit actually belonged to me in the 80s, but I can't say I didn't wear a similar outfit back in the day...

Charlotte's Medical Report

Just before Charlotte turned one, we discovered she had a pretty serious allergy to milk. I gave her regular cow's milk and her face swelled up and she broke out in hives. So then through a series of blood and skin tests, we discovered she also is seriously allergic to eggs, with additional possible allergies to wheat, soy, oats, shellfish and environmental stuff. So we obviously eliminated milk and eggs entirely from her diet, but the other items were in sort of a grey area. During a visit to our pediatric allergist a few months ago, I described some of Charlotte's symptoms: She eats like an adult, but is only in the 5th percentile for height and weight; She wasn't walking or saying any words at the time of out visit; she seemed to have chronic congestion; her poopy diapers were more like diarrhea. The doctor suggested that she could have something called Celiac Disease, which is a disease where the body has a total intolerance to gluten (a protein in wheat, rye, barley, etc.), causing the small intestine to basically attack itself, resulting in diarrhea and a lack of nutrient absorption, among other things.

After that appointment with the allergist, we decided to try a gluten-free diet for Charlotte. It is not an easy thing to do to cut out ALL wheat and related products, but within 2 weeks we noticed a HUGE difference. She immediately gained 2 pounds, started walking, the congestion cleared up and her diapers were totally normal. I was convinced she had Celiac disease with the results we observed from changing her diet.

After meeting with a pediatric GI specialist, we decided to do in internal scope and biopsy to determine if Charlotte really has Celiac. We had to return to feeding her wheat products before the procedure so that if there was a problem, it would be detectable. Once we went off the gluten-free diet, many of her symptoms returned. Two and a half weeks ago, we went to the hospital for an endoscopy and colonoscopy. The procedure went very smoothly, although I will say it was VERY bizarre to be holding your wide-awake child, and then watch her lose consciousness in seconds once the anesthesia is administered. A few days after that procedure, the doctor called to tell us Charlotte does NOT have Celiac disease, but did show some inflammation in the esophagus. That could be either a reaction to an allergen or a problem with acid reflux.

We have been back on the gluten-free diet since the procedure and have noticed some improvement, although it hasn't been the drastic changes we noticed the first time we tried it. So at this point we have very few answers and will just keep working with the GI and allergy doctors. But fortunately Charlotte is happy and cute and has plenty of energy! We will keep you all posted...

The Annual Pumpkin Farm Pilgramage

It is that time of the year again when we pile into the Pilot and head up Highway 65 to lovely Wheatland, CA - home of Bishop's Pumpkin Farm. It is such a fun place and the apple cider is absolutely fabulous... Here are the best photos from the trip:

You turn your back for ONE second...

I learned a hard lesson recently. It is very, very important that if you are going to allow you children to go to other people's homes that you know those people extremely well. Look what can happen if you are not careful:

Charlotte's First Words

She's talking! Following in her big brother's footsteps, Charlotte has taken her sweet time saying her first words, but I am extremely proud that her first very clear word is BALL. It is only appropriate since this girl's birth was scheduled around a basketball game. So far the recognizable words include ball, key (which can mean monkey, binky, cookie, or just a straight-up key), baby, uh-oh and no. And just in the past couple of days she has started to do some animals sounds, like "moo" and "OO-OO" for monkey. I'm trying to get it on video, but of course she never performs when the camera comes out.

Our Most Recent Dream for Scott: The PBA!

I am guessing the Professional Bowlers Association does not recruit 3-year-olds, but they may want to keep an eye out for Scott... We went bowling with Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt D. This was Scott's first bowling adventure and it was a huge hit! We can measure the success of an activity by the size of the tantrum he throws when we have to leave. Unfortunately for the people in the surrounding lanes, he REALLY enjoyed bowling. The best part was of course counting the number of pins he knocked over each time.

Scott has constantly asked to go bowling again, so we came up with a way we could do a little bowling at home. Just put a bunch of water bottles on the tile floor, grab a basketball, and - BAM - it is almost as good at the real thing! A side bonus is that Charlotte thinks it is hilarious:

Never too young to love SHOES!

Charlotte is clearly a girl. I was going through some fall clothes given to us by a friend with a little girl two years older. I had a pile of shoes on the floor, and Charlotte sat in my lap as I tried a couple of them on her. But she loved trying on the shoes so much that she kept handing me new ones to try on. So we probably put on and took off shoes for about 5 minutes. I'm sure she would have been entertained with this game for much longer, but I had to get up and answer the phone. So she then walked around for a while with one red and one black shoe on. I don't seem to remember Scott at this age being so entertained with shoes. It is just in our DNA, ladies!

Some random stuff...

No major events this week in our home, but here are a few cute pictures. Charlotte was very angry one day when I gave her two teeny apple slices. She CLEARLY wanted the big half of the apple! She can't talk, but she sure can let you know what she wants and doesn't want.

Scott was so excited when our neighbor's cat came to visit our backyard. They had lots of fun playing together and Scott was not happy when we wouldn't let the kitty come in the house to sleep:

Friday night was another exciting adventure to Chuck E. Cheese's. This was a reward for Scott having a dry pull-up for 5 nights. We didn't get any photos of Scott playing his favorite game (a little kid version of skee ball), but we did get this cute one of Baby C riding in the Bob the Builder car:

The Most Exciting Room in the House

Without question, the most fascinating room in the house in the bathroom. Charlotte and Scott could keep themselves entertained for HOURS in there. Here is a clip of their most recent fun. Be sure to pay attention to what Scott calls the toilet paper dispenser:

Our Typical Bedtime Routine...

This cartoon describes pretty accurately what we go through to get Scott to bed each night. Please notice carefully Drew's additions:

My Amazingly Talented Children

Just watch this...

First Day of Preschool!

What a big boy! Scott had his first day of preschool today! The Jelly Belly shirt was his choice to wear for the exciting event... We went to Miss Cathy's house, opened the door, and Scott took off inside and didn't even look back at me for a second to say goodbye. No separation anxiety for this kid! I picked him up 2 1/2 hours later and here was the conversation we had in the car:

Me: Did you have fun today at preschool?

Scott: Yes.

Me: Did you read a story?

Scott: No, I didn't.

Me: Did Miss Cathy read a story?

Scott: Yes.

Me: Do you remember what it was?

Scott: It had letters.

Me: Did you have a snack?

Scott: Yes.

Me: What did you eat?

Scott: We had Nemo snacks.
(Conversation continues with lots of questions from me and one-word answers from Scott)

The fact that he didn't complain about preschool and that he was excited to go again on Thursday is proof that he LOVES it! Miss Cathy is the perfect teacher for him -- she is fun, creative, and lets the kids be silly. Since the kid is already reading and doing math, it is more important to me that he just learn to interact and play well with the other kids.

What a Difference a Life Jacket Makes!

With Aunt D (Cindy) and Uncle Ryan visiting, we invaded the Bearry's home and went swimming and had the best Evers family dinner ever - flank steak. Well, remember the kid who had to be bribed and threatened to participate in swimming lessons a few weeks ago? I bought Scott a little life vest at Target, and with that on he transformed into a fish! We were there for 3 hours, and the only reason Scott got out of the water was to go on the waterslide that of course dumped him back in the pool.

And Charlotte also turned a big corner... She also was not a star student at swimming lessons, but with Aunt Nancy's help, she went under the water a bunch of times and actually seemed to like it!



My cousin, Alisa, was also very creative with all her different ways down the waterslide:

After having SO much fun swimming, we are even MORE excited for Mom and Dad to build their sweet pool at the new house!

The Magic Food

In our house, I just have to say one word to get the complete, undivided attention of two little munchkins: POPASICLE! Please notice the "A" in popAsicle. That is, of course, Scott's pronunciation. I am a cruel mom and like to play this little game where I give Scott and popasicle and wait for Baby C's hilarious reaction -- like she will absolutely not be able to live one second longer without her own popasicle. It is very cute to see such determination in a 1 year old. Hey, we moms have to find a way to provide our own entertainment at home!

The Swimming Lesson Adventure

Kids are supposed to love swimming, right? We signed Scott and Charlotte up for swimming lessons through the city of Roseville. I thought our days would be filled with excitement, laughter, and complaints about having to get out of the water. Instead the week was filled with tears, drama and bribery to get IN the water. Scott threw a few major tantrums and Charlotte just whimpered through the whole experience. I realize some day my children will beg to get in the water, and actually WANT to eat and take naps... But that day seems so far away! At least Charlotte looked adorable in her pigtails and swimsuit :)