A Post in which the Blog Returns to Its Usual Topic

I sense that John is trying to expand the scope of the blog, and since its carries his name as well as ours, that's probably his right. Frankly, a little relief from all Evelyn all the time might even be described as, I don't know, refreshing?

That said, we've had some exciting times here lately, and who am I to deny the grandmothers further pictures of the baby?

Last Friday (July 25) Evelyn had her first haircut. The timing was sort of unexpected, but now I'm so glad I was talked into doing it right then and there. She looks a lot cuter without those scraggly nasty hairs hanging into her eyes.

Before (note the hair hanging into her eyes)

During

After

Friday night, we made up for the night before by celebrating our anniversary in style with our first night sans baby. Jill (who is something akin to an angel) came, slept over, and took care of Evelyn Saturday morning. John and I spent the night at Le Parker Meridien, where we got upgraded to a park view room

and ate at the Burger Joint Friday night and at Norma's Saturday morning before heading off to see Batman. Apparently, they also left chocolate covered strawberries in the room on Saturday. I never saw them, though, since John ate them all when he went to pick up our suitcase after the movie while I went to meet Jill and Evelyn at the stake Pioneer Day picnic (which reminds me, you still owe me chocolate, John). I highly recommend the 19-hour getaway for anyone who has a friend as nice as Jill. It was fantastic.

Monday, I took Evelyn to the opthamologist to have her blocked tear duct examined. The verdict is that they'll probe it (which requires her to undergo general anaethesia, something I'm not wild about) if it doesn't clear up by 13 months or so. Apparently, opthamologists routinely perform refraction (a process that basically determines what your prescription would be for glasses) on all new patients. At Evelyn's age, most children are still far sighted, but Evelyn is quite a bit more farsighted than the average baby her age. If things don't improve drastically in the next 9 months, she'll likely need glasses. Sad, huh?

July 28 - Who wants to play with toys when there are books instead?

July 29 - Almost bath time

And that pretty much brings us to today, a day when Evelyn and I bite our fingernails in anticipation of meeting Dan and Caitlin's little boy in hopefully just a few more hours!

Obamanomics

Please forgive me (John) for the following political blog entry.

If you are interested in Barrack Obama's economic policies, you may want to read an editorial published in today's Wall Street Journal by Michael Boskin, a professor of economics at Stanford University. Mr. Boskin argues, successfully in my view, that Obama's economic policies will be both detrimental to our pocketbooks and crippling to the economy as a whole. On the margin, the take-home pay of millions of Americans, many of whom live in high-cost regions, will decline by one third. Yes, that's a 33% decrease in take-home pay. Additionally, Obama is proposing higher taxes on dividends and capital gains, as well as a protectionist trade agenda. The combined effect of these economic policies could turn our mild recession into a depression. Worse yet, we would forfeit much of our individual economic freedom to the state.

Here is a chart detailing Obama's proposed changes to our tax rates and a link to Mr Boskin’s intriguing editorial.



To me, the fundamental concept of freedom includes allowing us to make our own economic choices. Sadly, the government is already making up to half of our economic choices for us. I believe we need more economic freedom, not less. Especially now. This is not the point in an economic cycle to introduce higher taxes and tariffs. We need tax reductions, not increases. We need to address the deficit with spending reductions, not higher taxes. We need to tear down trade barriers with other countries, not embrace protectionism. While we may be fatigued and frustrated with George W. Bush, we should make sure we're embracing the right kind of change. While I like the "idea" of an Obama candidacy, I cannot support his economic policies and cannot, in good conscience, cast my ballot for him in November.

Priceless

The Dark Knight movie tickets via Fandango, $27
Cab, $9
Candy, $2
Refund of movie tickets because sitter got lost, was 40 minutes late, and there were no seats together in the theater, -$24
Bus fare to other theater in ultimately unsuccessful attempt to attend later showing of movie there, $4
Tasti-d-lite, $7.50
Babysitting, $20

4 great years together, priceless

Remember When

Because this really does deserve its own post . . .

Happy Anniversary to us.

And Happy Pioneer Day to everyone else.

Photo credit: JR Geoffrion

Family Togetherness

The suitcases are unpacked. The laundry is done (although not folded). The apartment having been restored to some semblence of order, then, I can take a quick minute to jot down a few things (translation: post loads and loads of pictures but say nothing interesting at all).

Evelyn and I headed out a couple of weeks ago to spend a week in Las Vegas with John's brother Joe, his wife Haylee, and their four little girls: Emma, Sara, Hannah, and Olivia. We had a blast! Evelyn is relatively social, as these things go, and she was in heaven playing with all the other kids. Disagreements were minimal, although we did have one episode when Evelyn decided to stick her finger in Hannah's mouth and two-year-old Hannah promptly bit it. I can understand. I've often wanted to do the same thing, especially when her nails are long. Ouch on both sides. But neither girl bore a grudge, and other than that, it was pretty much smooth sailing.

Adorable little Olivia

is just 11 weeks younger than Evelyn and about the same size. Watching them together was hilarious.

(Evelyn "helping" Olivia out of her carseat after church)

Evelyn is crawling and Olivia is not yet, although she is about the most stable sitter I've seen, so Olivia was at a bit of a disadvantage when Evelyn kept trying to pull her hair, take her toys, or sit on her lap, but she took it all in stride.

(Look who has all the toys. I think we need to work on sharing. Sigh.)

Someone please tell me I will have such an easygoing baby some day. In addition to cousin time, Las Vegas also gave Evelyn more room to hone her motor skills, much to my chagrin when she started climbing (and then falling down) the stairs around day 5.

(Man, I wish we had these at home.)

(All this playing is really exhausting. Gotta keep my strength up.)

Joe and Haylee live quite close to another good friend of mine. When they left to drive up to the Prete reunion half a day before Evelyn and I flew out, Hilary was nice enough to take us in, let us play with her toys, and feed us dinner. Evelyn loved exploring Catherine's big kid toys, and Catherine was a good sport about sharing, although I think she wished Evelyn would learn to keep her hands and feet to herself a little better. Someday, right?

* * *

After a week of non-stop fun in Vegas we flew up to Alberta on Thursday to meet up with the rest of John's family. For the first time since our wedding four years ago (almost exactly since today is our anniversary, Happy Anniversary, Honey!), we were all together. It was awesome to see how much everyone has grown and get to know some of the far-away family members a little bit better. And of course, who can resist family pictures on such a momentous occassion? Certainly not us. The official portraits are still coming, but we did manage to snap a few candids of all the cousins

and of the three youngest cousins: Evelyn (Oct. 5), Olivia (Dec. 21), and Alexandra (Oct. 20)

To be continued . . .

Memory (blog version)

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Thanks for the idea, Kathryn.

Most fun I've had on TV

"Truth is, identity theft isn't hard. A number and an ID is all you need to drain a bank account and return some money to some very surprised retirees. But why stop there? As long as you're stealing someone's identity why not use it to contact some known terrorist organizations on unsecured phone lines? Why not use it to threaten federal judges and insult the local drug cartel? Most fun I've had in Miami."

For those of you who've never seen Burn Notice, now might not be a bad time to start. Since the writers' strike left us with an emaciated season this year, I never really got my primetime fill (judge if you want, but I'm home every night, often [less often lately, though, which has been great] alone, from 7:30 until I go to bed). If you can't stomach the reality fare offered up as "all new" on the major networks, take a look at TNT (The Closer, starting next Monday) and USA, which have some new shows this summer, some of which are pretty decent. Is Burn Notice realistic, soul-shaking drama? No, but it's entertaining, some of the writing is sort of witty, and the lead actor is pretty easy on the eyes - about all I require. New episodes start this Thursday.

Nine month checkup

Our new pediatrican
-sits on the floor
-plays with toys
-lets me hold Evelyn while she gets her shots AND
-has GARFIELD bandaids!

We love her. And the verdict is:

27.5 inches, up two inches from three months ago

19.3 pounds (or somewhere between 19.2 and 19.4), up almost exactly three pounds from three months ago

Bravo, baby. Anybody want a lima bean?

You know the saying . . .

What goes in . . .


. . . must come out.



One way or another.

Happy July 4!

One day late. We have been happy and busy, but not in a way that leads to entertaining blogging, I think. Mostly busy running around after Evelyn as she face plants into every available surface. But, for the grandparents (and some of the aunts and uncles), here are a few new pictures, including my attempt at a cute mother/daughter Fourth of July picture.

Not so much. The cutest one all day was the one I took of her with our friend Amee while her dress was tucked into her diaper cover (you try crawling in a dress; it's not that easy). Oh well.

* * *

June 30 - why a laundry basket makes a substandard playpen

July 2