Thank you 2919 Grandma and Grandpa!

So many fun birthday surprises! Here is Scott opening his gifts from his 2919 Grandma and Grandpa. Yes, his pajamas are on backwards. I am just grateful they are on:

What you may not know about me...

A couple of weeks ago I received one of those "Tag, you're it" emails from one of my most wonderful friends (I did it, Keri!) asking me to answer a few questions about myself. So here are my responses!

Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Human Anatomy TA (ask me about the time I had to use a turkey baster to keep the cadavers moist...)
2. Statistical consultant for the Men's USA and BYU men's volleyball teams (BYU won the national championship after my research. I like to think I deserve at least SOME credit.)
3. High school math teacher (I was paid less than $5/hour to teach pre-calculus. Sad. My students made more working at Jamba Juice.)
4. Statistician for Intel (I just danced around in the bunny suit in the clean room, like the old commercial.)

Four movies I would watch over and over again:
1. Tommy Boy ("Fat man in a little coat" just never gets old)
2. Rudy (I cry each time!)
3. Napoleon Dynamite (I love that my sister-in-law is from Preston, ID and her sisters and mom are in the movie! Sweet!)
4. Christmas Vacation (Some families reenact the Nativity on Christmas Eve. We watch Christmas Vacation.)

Four places I have lived:
1. Lake of the Pines, CA (Go LOP!)
2. London (with my wonderful roommate, Liz)
3. Tierra del Fuego, Argentina (Off the southern tip of South America, further south than the penguins.)
4. Westfield, NJ (America's best kept secret: NJ is beautiful, other than the Turnpike.)

T.V. Shows that I watch:
1. The Office (Favorite episode: the basketball game)
2. Oprah (Yes, I am a girl)
3. Dora the Explorer (not by choice)
4. Charlie and Lola (I'd watch it even if my kids didn't)

Four Places I have been in 2007:
1. Maui (without kids!)
2. Cary, NC (To the SAS mothership)
3. Pasadena, CA (For the Syphi Family Christmas Extravaganza)
4. Boston, MA (To see Cindy and watch the crazy Sox fans)

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Pumpkin pie (Fall, Winter, Spring, or Summer)
2. Chicken Madeira from Cheesecake Factory (I'm counting down the days until the CF opens in Roseville)
3. Fillet Mignon (Although I really hate the name of the restaurant, Ruth's Chris Steak House serves the most amazing fillet...)
4. Pumpkin pie, again (Food of the gods)

Four places I would like to be right now:
1. Shopping (anywhere)
2. Italy (with Drew as my tour guide and translator)
3. Tahiti, in one of those bungalows over the perfect, turquoise water (with Polynesian guys in a canoe bringing us fresh tropical fruit each morning for breakfast)
4. In bed, since it is 11:30pm (But when else can I work on my blog?)

Things I am looking forward to in 2008:
1. Christmas with the whole Evers family together, hopefully in Mom & Dad's sweet new house
2. Going back to West Point in fall for Drew's 15th reunion
3. Trip to Maui (already happened!)
4. The day when BOTH kids sleep through the night!

Anyone learn anything new about me?

Aloha!

I can't believe my son is not yet 4 years old and he has been to Hawaii 3 times already... I think when I was the same age, I could only claim than I had been to Elko, Nevada 3 times. How things change... Mom and Dad took all the Evers kids and grandkids for another fabulous week in Maui. The plane ride was actually less of a disaster than I expected, so that was a great start for the vacation. Thank goodness we had lots of fruit snacks and 3 DVD players, one for each kid.

This trip was quite different, though, compared to the first Evers family Maui trip. The first time we all came, Scott was only 3 months old. We could pretty much go anywhere and do anything and he just slept. But this time, with 3 mobile grandkids, our days were spent hanging out at the pool and working around nap time.

By far, the highlight for Scott was the waterslide at the pool. He would have slid on that thing 24/7 if we let him. I was actually quite proud of how independent he was with his little life vest on. He could do it all by himself, which was nice since I had to spend most of my time with whimpering little Charlotte who wasn't crazy about the water.

Here are a few photos from the trip:

Scott, Charlotte and Elle

Drew and Ryan in their Scuba lessons

Charlotte teaching Elle about her favorite place

You can't teach this sort of thing...

Charlotte is such a girl. Yesterday when we went to the gym, she wore her sunglasses and beads and took her purse filled will all sorts of interesting treasures. She looked quite lovely:

The Evers Family Snowball Fight

Don't send a lame Holiday eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

So you think YOU can dance?

Dancing has never been a big thing in our house. Last week, Scott was playing on the computer when I put the Beach Boys on (the greatest Christmas CD of all time). It usually requires several bribes and usually some tears and tantrums to get Scott off the computer, but as soon as he heard the music, he came running downstairs saying, "Wait, Mommy! I want to dance too!" Like that was what I was doing with out him - yeah, right. But Scott, Charlotte and I probably spent the next 45 minutes or so just gettin' down to the Beach Boys! And now it is sort of a daily ritual around 5pm as it gets dark and the lights turn on on our tree. Check out Scott and Charlotte's sweet moves:

And they also think the Singing Snowman at 13168 Grandma and Grandpa's house is pretty cool to dance to also:

And obviously this dancing talent runs in the family. Just check out my niece, Elle, as she goes crazy for the Dora song.

A Proud Moment

So Scott, Grandma and I were sitting on the couch the other day, and he burps. He knows to say "Excuse me", but naturally he thought it was hilarious and giggled and said a bunch of random stuff - anything OTHER than 'excuse me'. Being the diligent mom, trying to teach my son a lesson, I continued to pressure him on this. "You know what to say after you burp. Say it!" Then, a pause... And here is what came out of his mouth:

BUSTED!

Grandma couldn't stop giggling...

729 Baskets!

A few months ago, the City of Roseville Recreation department came out with their fall/winter catalog... I was SO excited because Scott is now old enough to try some of the little sports camps for tots. In September he did t-ball. It was once a week for 4 weeks. I'm pretty sure I was more excited about it than he was. He was clearly NOT interested in listening to Coach Sarah or following her instructions. The playground and slides at the other end of the park and kicking dirt were way more exciting. But I will say that the highlight for Scott was running the bases, because each of the bases had a number. As a matter of fact, he threw a minor tantrum when we had to stop running bases and move onto hitting our first week.

Then in October, we are doing basketball. I think he is a little more into it this time. Still, listening to Coach Sarah and following instructions are not his strong points, but by week 4, he did make noticeable progress. I guess that's all I can hope for at 3! And he has been keeping track of all the baskets he has made at home and at practice. I think when this video was taken during week 3, he was up to seven hundred and something. Silly kid...

Our Cute Family

We took some professional family photos last week... We finished with 200 pictures, two grumpy kids and one bloody lip from a face plant on the concrete. But amazingly we got several great pictures that made it look like Scott and Charlotte were actually having a good time! The secret was to throw Scott's sippy cup as high in the air as possible. Apparently if you are 1 or 3 years old, that is hilarious.

Charlotte: "I'm outta here!" (3 seconds before the face plant...)

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: