Last Day of Swim Lessons

Evan finished his swim lessons with a bang. We were all so proud of him. Both Grandma and Grandpa Thompson and Daddy came out to see him in action. During his almost complete two weeks of lessons he was introduced to bubbles, kicking his feet, scooping (stroking his arms), going under water, jumping in and going under water, and swimming to the side of the pool for safety to hold on. He also learned how to play with lots of pool play toys at the end of each class where there were dozens of fun items waiting for all the kids in the smaller pool. Overall, the best part is that by the end of our time doing lessons there were no more tears; that only really lasted the first week. We also developed a good schedule where Evan was taking a quick morning nap to be ready for his class. So he wasn't as sleepy. :) My proudest moment was having him go under the water. He would jump in with my help on the count of three and go under. He did so good and was doing it up to about four times a class by the end of the session. The whole experience was fabulous and we both had a great time. It was also so much fun being able to do it with friends. Thanks Natalie and Tyler for doing lessons with us! On a funny note, I think Evan got more tan than Mommy(must get that from Daddy). :)

Here are a few pictures of him over the two week span.

Here is our class waiting to get in the water.

Evan practicing his skills with his classmates.

In the pool with our friends, Natalie and Tyler.

Playing peek-a-boo in his cool hoody beach towel.

Evan and Mommy reviewing our report card on the last day.

Evan with his teachers Sydney and Candace on graduation day.

After lessons with Daddy in dry cloths on grad day.

Can't wait until next year's lessons! Good job Evan you are a stud! Love you!

Fun Play Dates with both Mommy and Daddy and Evan's friends

We have had a great summer so far with lots of visits with friends. Here are some of the pictures of the festivities.

First off we got to see Evan's good buddy Wesley and my fabulous friend Stephanie on Wednesday, June 10. We hung out and played at our house in Roseville and then introduced Steph and Wesley to their first Del Taco experience. We had a great time. Evan was especially enjoying using Wesley as a climbing object to balance himself. Wesley was so good about it and just looked at Evan like he was a little crazy though. :) Good times! Can't wait to do it again.

Then we got to see our great friends the Roach family on Thursday, June 11, pictured below, Tammy pushing Chloe, and Russell pushing Mady. We hung out at our house had pizza and then went over to the park to let the kids run around. It was so great to be able to catch up. You guys rock!

Here are the kids playing together, Evan 10 months, Mady 5 and Chloe 2.

Then Evan as always got to have a blast with his girlfriend, Brittney Moon on Friday, June 12. Here he is pushing her around on his truck. He just loves to push people on this toy.

Here is looking at her thinking, "Who is she talking too on that cell phone, we are playing!?!" Or at least this is what I am interpreting. :) So cute!

Finally, Evan, gets to be the big boy. His new buddy Austin and his Mommy Rachel from our Growth Group came over on Friday, June 19. Austin is 8 weeks old here and looks so tiny next to the big boy Evan at 10 months. Evan loves to rock him in his car seat and to try to get his car seat straps. He also enjoyed pulling out his pacifier during this visit. When Rachel and I weren't looking he had it in his mouth. He doesn't even use one himself. Silly boy! :)

A special treat was a visit with long time friends, Gary, Carolyn, Lauren and Jonathan Weyel and Dave, Natalie and Tyler Wisner on Saturday, June 27. The Weyels were visiting Gary's parents in Roseville and took some time out to come hang out with all of us. It was such a blessing to see all of them and have the kids play together. The only bummer was that we had the unfortunate timing of having trouble with our air conditioner and it being about 110 degrees outside that day. Everyone was so understanding and we all sweated it out together. Love you all and so glad you were able to visit! We had a blast!

Here is a picture of all the kiddos together. Natalie was doing an amazing job of getting them to all look at the camera and to smile! Evan 10 1/2 months, Tyler 18 months, Lauren 3, and Jonathan just about a month younger than Evan at 9 months. Such a good looking group! :)

Last but certainly not least we got to visit with Jim's best friend Greg on Sunday, June 28. It was so nice to see him and Evan just loved him. They became the best of friends with Greg let him play with his cool cell phone that made noise and lite up. It was such a nice evening, we went to Japanese food in Roseville at Izumis. Thanks Greg for coming to see us and for the delicious meal can't wait to see you again real soon!

We are looking forward to seeing more friends and family real soon! Love you all! Keep the good times coming.

First Swim Lessons

Evan and I are signed up for Guppie/Turtle a.k.a. Parent/Tot Swim Lessons this summer at Oakmont High School, starting today, with good friends Natalie and Tyler. The class is for 6 to 36 month olds. We have two teachers, including the manager of the operation, Candace and another young gal named Sydney. So for the first day, Evan, was a real trooper considering lessons are falling pretty much during morning nap time, 11:15 a.m and it wasn't the hottest of days making the water a little chilly. To get them used to the water we sat at the side of the pool and sang the "This is the way we wash our legs, etc." song to get them used to the wetness. However, when I got in to the pool, I accidentally splashed Evan which had him crying his super sad cry (with the scrunched up face). When he actually got in the pool the cry continued for awhile, since it was cold. We traveled across the swimming pool with the class, which included about 15 other parents and babes, acting like ducks and then doggies. Then we proceeded to try to teach the kids how to blow bubbles, by having them pretend to blow out a candle. Evan wasn't really into this at all. So we watched Natalie and Tyler. At this point, Evan was cuddling and holding on to my shoulder. Natalie was saying his eyes were looking pretty heavy and before we knew it he feel asleep. This was a first - sleeping during swim lessons! Gotta love it! The best is that they started to talk about water safety and I thought, hmm, how does this apply. Having your child go to sleep while in a pool. :) Good times! Natalie got a picture of Evan sleeping while we proceeded to exit the big pool.

At the end of the lesson, we got out of the big pool as mentioned above, and then transitioned to a really shallow pool where the kids were able to play with toys at this point, Evan was still resting and I watched Natalie and Tyler play. Once the lesson was over he perked up, of course, and posed for this picture. I am looking forward to seeing what happens during these next two weeks! I love my little guppie - Evan, he is full of surprises! :)

Look who's WALKING!!!

Jim and I have officially declared Evan walking. He is still very much wobbling about, but he is moving all the time and can't get enough of getting to point A and B by using his big boy steps. This video was taken on Sunday, June 14th! He has been taking several steps for the last few days, we just were never able to get it on video; as soon as he sees the camera he always wants to come get it and usually will get on the floor to crawl as to get to it faster. However, today he was determined to get something else. You will see in the little video. Enjoy! This truly is a bitter sweet moment as it reminds us that our baby is growing up! We love you little buddy, don't grow up too fast! :) We are so proud of you!!!

Ten Months Old

Evan turned ten months old on Sunday, June 7. Our little guy is getting bigger every second. It is so hard to keep up, hence, while this blog post is belated! :)

There is so much to report on what he can do at ten months old; I will do my best to recap everything.

-He can give you a high five (usually you say "hi five" and he enjoys when you hit his hand and he gets a big smile on his face).

-He can climb, if toys are in his way he will use them to climb on and over. He especially loves to try to climb the couch and pillows to attempt to pull and play with the blind cords. Sneaky little guy!



-He loves to try to press the buttons on the laptop when Mommy is using it on the couch.

-He is a true entertainer and can be found making us crack up by making super silly faces and playing with straws. Here he is at a restaurant having a blast with a straw, such a character.

He also loves to make this scrunched up face. I don't know where he learned how to do this, but he does it all the time now. So funny! He thinks it is funny too, look at the below picture.

Here he is doing it again, the best is that when you scrunch up your face at him, he will do it back to you, and sometime he even snorts when he does it or growls. He loves to mimic and will laugh when you laugh and stick your tongue out when you stick yours our or make noises (especially the mooter boat noise or bubbles) with it just as you do.

He also learned how to do the fish face. No picture yet, but super cute in person!

-Evan continues to love toys. Here he is playing with some of his favorites.

Balls are a big hit more than ever now. This is his new favorite that he just wouldn't let go of in Toys "R" Us, so Jim and I had to buy it for him. He can pick it up and throw it and he loves to look at you through its holes.

He got to play with this new mat.

Playing with his airplane shape sorter with Grandpa.

-More teeth, he now has four on top and four on bottom, they are not all the way in yet, but coming down. Which has allowed for a few fussy days and lots of biting (we are working on stopping him from biting Mommy and Daddy). Here is a shot of Evan upside down, trying to get his precious teeth in the picture. He loves to be upside down and wants to play this game forever so it was quite easy to get this shot.

You can see Evan's teeth in this picture too! Gotta love that face! :)

-Food continues to be going okay. He is not a fan of the Stage 3 as of now, too big and chunky. Evan has a pretty sensitive gag reflect and when anything big goes in he gags and it comes right back out. No fun for any of us! One solution has been giving him food in these nifty little food strainer bags. Here he is having his first taste of a real strawberry.

-Evan loves going to the park and the freedom of crawling around on the grass and playing in the dirt if there is some present. Here he is playing with my chip bag, another favorite past time. Below is another picture of him standing at his booster chair. We got to go on a lunch time picnic with Daddy at Midu Park. it was so much fun!

-Evan started standing by himself last month, but here is a little video of him in action on May 14th. It is so neat to think he started by standing all by himself and then taking a few little steps and now almost completely walking!



-Here is a little video of Evan taking a few steps and saying Mama. He has been taking a few steps since the middle of May, but it was hard to get it on video, because he always wants to get the camera. However, I finally got him in action and saying Mama at the same time! Another neat thing he started doing right after Mother's Day. I am so proud! However, it appeared that when he started saying Mama it was always associated with whinnying. I used to joke with Jim that Dada was always said in such an up beat manner. However, no mater how it comes out, it is music to my ears! :)



-Here is a picture with Evan and his Daddy in his Oakland A's overalls from Pops and GrandDeb.

-Evan with Mommy in their matching colors and his new outfit from Aunt Alison an Grandma Knight.

Happy 10 months Evan - we love you and are so proud of you!!!!

The Big 30!

On May 28th I turned 30!!! Jim surprised me with this super cool decorations above. Such a sweetheart! I had a wonderful birthday filled with lots of love and fun. I was blessed with several friends and family members calls, emails, Facebook comments and cards! You guys are the best and truly made me feel so cared for and loved.

On the actual day my parents came over and hung out with me treating me to lunch at Woody's. It was delicious, they even said Happy Birthday and brought me an ice cream sundae. The best part about this birthday greeting was that the waiter misheard my Dad and said, Happy 38th Birthday!" Gotta love it, he felt bad when we corrected him and tried to cover it up by saying he didn't think I could be 38. :) After our fun lunch we went and picked out some delicious cupcake treats from a local cupcake place called, Icing on the Cupcake. It was very fun and the best part is we were all able to try the various cupcake flavors after cutting the cupcakes in fourths during the evening celebration festivities.

Another highlight of the day was that my Dad watched Evan while my Mom and I went and had our nails done. Such a treat, I hadn't done this since before Evan was born.

Later that evening Jim came home from work and we all went to dinner at a restaurant that I had been wanting to try, Frank Fat's in Roseville. The food was great, the service on the other hand was lacking. But you win some you lose some. Overall it was still a great time. Here is a picture of Dad, Evan and Mom at the restaurant.

Then my brother and his wife came over to join the fun for cake and presents. It was truly a wonderful day; thank you family for your generosity, love and support!

Here is a picture of Evan helping me open the presents. He thought this was very cool!

A gift highlight was some top notch pruning gloves and pink clippers, my parents got for me. We have some gnarly rose bushes and these are going to come in sooooo handy! :) Thanks guys! I thought they looked great with the earrings. What do you think? :)

On Saturday we had another special opportunity for more birthday celebration and we got to go to the Sacramento Zoo and William Land Park with two amazing families and enjoy beautiful weather, food and togetherness. The day was simply perfect, the kids were great, the food delicious, and the laughs nonstop, which always is the best. Thanks Moons and Wisners for such a fantastic celebration and helping to create such fantastic memories.

Natalie made the delicious cheesecake cookie bar below and beautifully put Happy 30th Kim! Brittney thought she would taste test it for all of us. She thought it was super yummy and thought we should all eat it right away. :)

Lily's Visit

Our good friend Lily Chou came to Sacramento for a special visit on May 25th. It was so great to have her stay with us. During the day Evan and I took her sight seeing to the State Capital. It was so much fun. I hadn't been there in years and enjoyed getting a refresher course on my state government. :) Below is a picture of Lily and Evan in front of the building. Evan had passed out at this point it was a hot day. :)

We toured the county displays and took a special picture of Orange County's display.

We also got to see the Governor's Office. So exciting! No spotting of Arnold, but we think he was in there. :)

Also Evan got to be up close and personal with the below bear statue. He thought it was so cool and enjoyed feeling his fake sharp teeth.

Also during Lily's visit we got to experience some gourment cusine. Lily is a food guru, so we had to take her to our local hot spot for eating, restaurant Johnny Garlic's, created by the Food Network Check Guy Fieri. We had a great time there, however, they ran out of the meal Lily wanted to order. Bummer!

Also, Lily treated us with an ellegant gourment meal created by herself. She knew my birthday was coming up and made us an amazing dinner. Thank you Lily! Here is a picture of a her handiwork below. Yum Yum!

We had an amazing time and are so thankful she was able to come see us. We love you Lily!