7 months, and he's CLIMBING!

Time flies!  Elliot is 7 months old now.  He just keeps getting bigger.  We went over to Grandma's to play, and he loved playing the piano!  He has also started climbing the last couple days.  He'll climb over me if I'm in his way, or over toys, or up onto my lap.  Yesterday I took some picture of him getting into his toy basket.  He pulled himself up onto his knees and went digging through it to find what he wanted.  I wish he would slow down a little bit.  He definitely keeps me on my toes! 

Playin the piano with Grandma

I guess if he can find his own toys now, that will save me the trouble!

He thinks this is a pretty cool trick.  Look at all the stuff I found that I couldn't get to before!

I'll always know which toys are his favorite!

Does he look like his dad? I think so!

Elliot and Trevor!  Elliot isn't smiling, but there are plenty of other pictures you can see if you need a smile to compare.  So what do you think?  Does Elliot have dark curly hair in his future?  I guess only time will tell!

In case you don't know... this is Elliot

and this is Trevor

Playing at the Park!

We went for a morning at a new park in Saratoga Springs today with all of Elliot's cousins, and some of his aunts and uncles.  The park is pretty cool, with a lot of fun things for all the cousins of different ages to do.  Elliot is still too little to do too much, but he had fun hanging out with everyone!

This is his first time in a swing!

He loved it!!!

Zhenya helped out and gave Claire a push.

Going down the slide with the help of Mom and Aunt Claire

Some other little toy that he could sit in... not for too long though because he wanted to chew on the handle!

Chillin with Grandma and Aunt Polly

My nephew, Fox, is almost all the way at the top of this!  He is the little boy in red almost all the way up.

He couldn't climb down on his own so I climbed up and helped him down

Elliot with his 2 twin cousins, Grant, and Raegan.  Katherine, Ellen, and Aunt Angelina

Drinks, piranhas, and spaghetti squash

This week has been full of fun.  Elliot is saying "Mom", and "Da"... I am sure that he doesn't mean them when he says them, but sometimes it seems like he does.  Yesterday I put Elliot down for a nap, and Trevor got home not long after that.  Now, usually when he wakes up he will cry a little, or just make cute happy sounds, but yesterday he woke up and the first noise we hear from the monitor is "Da!?"  It was super cute!  So, Trevor got to go and get him.  Trevor is usually only home for an hour or 2 when Elliot is actually awake, and I am not sure how he knew he was there, but it sure seemed like he did!

These are just some cute pictures from the past week.  He seems to learn something new every day!  We started Elliot on a sippy cup.  He LOVES it!  He gets to use it at his highchair when we are eating lunch or dinner, so he can 'eat' with us.  He also has a few finger snacks, but he hasn't quite figured those out yet.  Usually he just ends up grabbing them in his fist, and then sticking his thumb in his mouth... I'm sure he'll figure it out soon.

Elliot loves the big "bubble wrap" from a package he got!  I don't know why I bother with toys!

This is what I call Elliot's 'piranha face'.  He just sucks his top lip in and it is super cute!  What do you think?  I think these two pictures definitely have their similarities!

Another angle on the 'piranha face'

Elliot crawled into Grandma's room the other day and found these!  He was so funny as he started to pull them out one by one.

I almost have all of them.....

Then he chose his favorite and started chewing away! 

Just wait until you can open one and try it for real!

 

So, in an attempt to eat healthier, I decided that I would start making different types of vegetables for dinner every day.  Yesterday we had spaghetti squash!  Dispite some skepticism, everyone liked it!

I am a Mother

I write today because as I was sitting with Elliot yesterday I was overcome with how much my life has changed since I have become a mother, and how much I love it!  I am a mother.  Full-time, all day, every day.  That is what I do.  I would not trade that for anything.  Not for a career, not for more free time, not for less responsibility.  I wouldn't trade my opportunity to be a mother to get another degree, or for Trevor to finish school.  Not for time to travel, not to be able to solidify finances or be 'established' first.  There are so many things that one must 'sacrifice' to have a child.  Not one of them, or all of them combined, could be worth the incredible miracle of motherhood. 

When Trevor and I decided to have a baby, we did not realize how much it would change our lives. We knew that it was the right thing to do, and that it was what God wanted for us. Now, looking back at it, I have to say that I am amazed at the things people feel they are 'giving up' when they decide to become parents.  Society can sometimes put a negative light on motherhood, or moms who choose to stay home with their kids.  Like anything, the decision to become a parent means that there are things that you will need to sacrifice. Just like the decision to go to school means you have to sacrifice the time and money to pay for it, or the decision to follow a religion means you must be willing to have faith in what is taught, and follow those teachings.  Every decision we make means that we have to give up something.  Being parents is a huge responsibility, but then again, so is anything that you do that is worth while... a career, marriage, school... but it is definitely worth it!  Elliot is a great blessing, and he brings so much joy into our lives. 

I am lucky to be twice as blessed though because I also have such a loving husband who is such a good father!  Trevor is amazing, and I love watching him with Elliot.  I could just sit and watch them play together all day.  Trevor does so much for our family and I am grateful for his support to allow me to be home.  Parenthood is incredible!  I wouldn't trade my life for anything!!

A little about us and our current life

   For those of you who are interested, but don't have the time to keep up with our lives, let me tell you a little bit about what is going on with us.  When Elliot was born in November we decided that it would be best for our family if I could stay home with him.  After much prayer, discussion, and consideration, we decided that I should quit my job.  We were lucky to have the support of both of our families, and after more prayer and discussion, we decided to move in with my family.  We moved out of our apartment in January, and have been living here since then. 
   I have been loving my time as a stay at home mom, and have been greatly blessed to be able to spend my days watching Elliot grow, and helping him learn.  He is the center of my world, and I am convinced that he is the cutest baby there is!  In my "down" time, I do a variety of things.  Anything from making baby food, digital scrapbooking, cooking, starting a blog, or reading.  I haven't really found one hobby that seems to capture all my time, but I am interested to see how that will develop as I continue to spend my days at home.
   Trevor is amazing!  He has one more semester at BYU before he graduates.  The plan is for him to graduate in History in December.  Currently he is staying very busy.  He has a job at Domino's Pizza as a delivery driver.  He really enjoys the work, and it has been a great summer job for him.  The employee discount he gets is definitely not helping me get back into shape.  He also has an internship working with the LDS church history department.  He is helping them with their work on the Joseph Smith Papers.  For those of you that don't know, that is essentially all the things that Joseph Smith ever wrote or said that they can find and verify, compiled together.  It is a very large project, and Trevor loves the time he spends working on that.  When he isn't working at one of those 2 jobs, he is spending time with Elliot, studying for the GRE, preping for his TA job that he has set up for the fall, helping with various projects around the house, and sometimes (when he can find time) he even gets to sleep.
   Elliot will probably be the main focus of most of my posts (since I spend all my time with him) so I am sure you will stay updated on him.  He is a week away from being 7 months old.  At his 6 month Dr. appointment he was 19 lbs 12 oz. and 28 inches long.  He is crawling all over the place, babbling, and it seems like he learns something new every day.  He is growing so fast you will just have to keep checking the blog to see what is going on with him.
   We are all doing very well.  I have the best husband and son and I love them both so much! 

Learning

Elliot is learning all kinds of new things.  I am also learning new things too... like nothing on the floor is safe, if he gets it to his blanket he thinks it is his, and he will ALWAYS do something that I am not ready for, or don't expect.  It definitely makes life interesting, and keeps me laughing!  These are some of his latest tricks!

He is my little monkey.  His new trick is to grab everything with his feet!

Aunt Tonia gave him an apple while mom was downstairs.  He's not sure if he should eat it or not... Mom might not like it

My monkey

The world from his point of view

Hey... can I come up there?

Elliot will get up on his hands and toes.... it is usually followed by a belly flop  once he realizes that he can't move when he is up there.

He can get up on his hands and knees and rock himself back and forth... I don't think it will be long until he starts crawling for real!

Playing at Grandma's

When we went over to Grandma's and Grandpa's Elliot had a great time exploring new places.  He loves seeing his grandparents, and his aunts and uncle!

Hangin' out with Daddy!

Elliot is learning his funny faces from his dad

Grandma is teaching me to stand up

Elliot loves his Aunt Bree

Great-Grandpa is wants to teach Elliot to crawl on his hands and knees... Elliot  is convinced that army crawling is a much better way to do it

Playing games with Great-Grandma!

Trevor's Birthday and Father's Day

Trevor's Birthday was on Thursday.  He is getting old... On Wednesday we went up to the Wylie's for birthday fun, and on Sunday we did birthday stuff with Evenson's.  On his birthday Trevor and I went mini-golfing, bowling, to dinner, and then to the Bee's game.  It was a lot of fun!  Elliot got Trevor the Hobbit, and some candy!  He also got to sign the card (I let him chew on it for a little bit).  It was Trevor's birthday x 3 this week!

Trevor got this great shirt for his Birthday! 

Happy Father's Day Trevor!

You have to sit in the Birthday chair! 

My dad fell off a ladder and hit his head.  He is doing much better.  Happy Father's Day Dad!  I hope you get feeling better! 

 Trevor's Birthday cake... oh wait, that's not cake.  It's cookie dough brownies!  Mmmm... Good choice Trevor!

Elliot is helping dad blow out his candles.  Maybe if he starts practicing now he'll be ready when it's his turn!

This is the "typical" Evenson family Happy Birthday song... Listen at your own risk!

Classic Elliot

This video is just Elliot being Elliot!  I love him!  He is the cutest EVER!  He is very determined, and once he sets his mind to something he really goes for it! 

6 months old?! How can that be????

I can't believe that Elliot is already 6 months old! He is getting big so fast. He is "army" crawling all over the place, and he keeps us laughing. He already seems to like to get his hands on all the things that he shouldn't (computer cords being his very favorite). I didn't know where to start the blog, and I didn't want to go too far back, so I decided to share some of the things that we've done since Elliot's 6 month "birthday" 2 weeks ago. I hope you all enjoy the pictures!

 Elliot wanted to sit on the chair....

 Turns out that chairs aren't as fun as everyone seems to think.

We had a campfire with Mikayla, Nate, and Brent.  It was a lot of fun!  Elliot just wanted his dad's hat... Please dad?! 

When I grow up I will wear hats like daddy! 

Elliot loves sweet potatoes!  They taste good, and make a great accessory! 

Elliot has been eating "real food" for about 2 weeks now! 

Photo shoot! 

Fly away! 

Crawling forward 

Maybe mom will let me grab the camera 

Maybe if I'm really fast mom will let me crawl off the edge of the bed

She caught me again! 

 Mmmmm..... Avacado

Don't worry mom, I'll clean up after! 

Zhenya graduated.  We sat through the WHOLE thing! 

Good work Uncle Zhenya! 

Grandma let me have some cotton candy... I think it makes a good blanket to hold while I suck my thumb.