Grandma Mary, WALKING, and bye-bye Mr. Binks

My mom hadn't seen our new place here in Michigan since we moved here in November, because of traveling and the holidays, so in January she decided to come over for a few days. It was wonderful. I LOVE that we are only a short drive away from home, making it easy to do little visits here and there. We didn't do too much while my mom was here, but enjoyed going to story-time, the mall and the very first night my mom watched Owen for us while Cory and I got to sneak away for a little movie date. Thanks mom! The most exciting thing that happened while Grandma Mary was here was the Owen started WALKING! It was seriously out of no were. He hadn't been showing any interest in walking before my mom came, but by the time she left crawling was out of the picture and life was all on two feet from then on. I think because he had been a furniture cruiser for so long and blessed with large feet(hehe), that once he finally got the confidence to "let-go" he had no problem with balance. He really hasn't even had any big bumps or falls yet, except for one stairs incident at the mall that was more traumatic for me than him. Also, right around this same time my mom came to visit we decided to say goodbye to "Mr. Binks." We had already started the battle of trying to keep it in the crib only after naps, but that was not working out to well. He would just sob into my shoulder whenever I took it away. So we thought why not just cut it out cold turkey and be down with the binky all together. It was definitely hard the first week, especially around nap times, but after that he was doing great and its been over a month now! I felt bad taking it away from him, because he has always had a little attachment to it since he was born. I felt like I was just being mean to him by taking away something he loved. However, we just really thought now was the best time to do it, and are happy we did. I have decided that this age is a really hard age for many reasons, but also a very very fun age too. Wow, January was quite the month for Owen with a lot of change and growing up. Thanks for the fun visit mom! I think Owen started walking when you were here just cause he wanted to show-off for his Grandma Mary. :)

First Hair-Cut

Back in January Cory and I decided it was time for Owen to get a hair-cut. His hair wasn't too long, but it was just looking straggly. So first we had him watch me cut Cory's hair, thinking that maybe if he watched dada get a hair-cut he would be ok with it. And he was! He did great. I used the clippers, no scissors(those scare me too much). He just sat there the whole time on Cory's lap and would duck his head a little sometimes when the clippers touched his head. I was so happy he did so well and was such a big boy! :) I was a little said to see some of his hair go and seeing my little boy growing up. But we were so glad that we did it and think he looked so handsome with his new hair-cut. Here are his before and after pics.





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New Years Eve 2010

We had a really fun time celebrating New Years this year at the Lincoln Park Zoo. The zoo was covered in Christmas lights and they passed out hats and 3D glasses to everyone as you walked in because when you looked at some of the light displays you could see Rudolph in them. So cool! And I was pleasantly surprised that most of the animals were out in their exhibits, so we just walked around and went in and out of all the different animal houses. Owen loved it and got to ride the carousel at the end with his Papa Dunn! What actually made the night even more perfect was that we got to enjoy 60 degree weather in the middle of the Chicago winter! It was crazy, but oh so wonderful! Then after a great time at the zoo-lights we went to Five Guys to grab some yummy grub before heading home to get the little guy in bed. I seriously enjoyed every minute of this night and it will always be a fun memory I will look back on as we celebrated New Years as a family of 3, with Grandma Mary and Papa Dunn. :)











My sleeping baby, couldn't make it til midnight.

Happy Birthday To Our Sweet Little OWEN

On December 29 Owen turned the BIG 1! And what a fun and special day that was. I always had mixed feelings about having a baby so close to Christmas, but sometimes that just happens, and I was actually really happy with how much it felt like Owen's special day and not just another day looped in with all the holidays. We started off the day with a laid back morning so we could party hard later in the day. For lunch my parents treated us to some yummy Red Robin (ya I like to start em' young), and we even had the waiters sing to Owen! It was so cute. Then after lunch was met up with Cory's dad, sister, and three of Owen's cousins at Monkey Joe's. This is a super fun play place that has huge blow-up slides and bouncy things that Owen has in heaven with. He LOVED the slides, and we even let him go down by himself! He would just giggle all the way down. Owen was probably the youngest one crawling around and going down the slides, which made it a little difficult, but we all still had a lot of fun! Owen's oldest cousin Colby (10) really loves taking care of and playing with Owen. He helped me out the whole time we were there and would take Owen up and down the slides over and over again. It was so sweet. Owen is truly blessed with AWESOME cousins on both sides!! Then it was back home for a quick afternoon nap before the party started. For his party we had all of our family in the area come over to my parents house, where we ate some yummy food, opened lots of fun presents, and watched Owen dig in to his very own cake, which is pretty much the main event at all 1 year old birthday parties. :) We really felt so blessed and lucky to have so many family members their to help celebrate Owen's birthday. It wasn't until we got back home to Battle Creek, after New Years, when everything started to sink in and I got emotional thinking about how fast the time has gone from when Owen was born. How quickly that first year goes by, and how much our little one had changed. Just one of many of my sappy mom moments.
Happy Birthday to our sweet sweet Owen!! You have made our lives the happiest they have ever been! We love you so much and are blessed beyond words to have you as our little boy. Love, Mama and Dada

Christmas 2010

We had such a wonderful Christmas spent with family back in Crystal Lake. This year we were at Cory's parents house, but were able to see my parents on both Christmas Eve and Day for a little bit. Thats the joy of having both our parents live only 10 minutes apart, we get to see them both every time we go home for a visit! This was actually Owen's very first Christmas, which you wouldn't think by looking at him. But thats what happens I guess when you have a baby 4 days after Christmas. :) Cory and I had a lot of fun being "Santa" for the first time as parents, and watching Owen having fun with all of his new stuff. At Cory's parents house they have some fun traditions they do every year for Christmas such as playing out the nativity (and its been video taped for YEARS), nice big Christmas Eve feast, walking down the stairs Christmas morning from youngest to oldest, Monkey Bread breakfast after seeing what Santa brought, and then FINALLY after breakfast we get to open our presents!! This was probably the first Christmas that I didn't open my presents right after waking up! Oh and they also have you open your presents one by one until they are all gone. At my house growing up it was not so organized and pretty much all the presents were open after ten minutes of being awake! hahaha It was a lot of fun though and I enjoyed every minute of it, even if I had to wait til 11 to open my presents. :) This was actually our first Christmas as a married couple spent with the Evans, and it was so fun to be with them and enjoy the Christmas Spirit together. This Christmas we got to speak to our favorite missionaries too! Cory and I both have younger brothers on missions and LOVED talking and listening to them on the phone. Probably the BEST Christmas present. :) Well, I hope you all have wonderful and special Christmas' spent with the ones you love most.

Anxiously awaiting to open there one Christmas Eve present!

Our family gift this year was a Cam-corder! Yay for making memories caught on tape!

Owen opening his Christmas Eve present, with a little help from mom.

Christmas Morning, looking out the window to see if Santa had come...

Waiting patiently for Grandpa to give the A-okay to come down.


Alright, lets go get some presents!

New toys

Enjoying a little ring pop from his stocking.

Testing out his new stroller/bike!

Just checking out what Santa had brought. :)

Drum stick or sucker? hmmm...

Favorite picture/memory: seeing Owen with his cousins all around the Christmas tree, watching Grandpa's train. So Sweet. Owen loves his cousins!

Dressed in his new Christmas shirt for church the next day.

My sweet boy.

Merry Christmas! Love, the Evans Family