Videos

By the end of the day, all the new videos will be up on the YouTube page!! They're from the past 6 weeks....enjoy!

peek-a-boo

After church today, I wanted Evan to stay awake for the ride home as it was just a bit too early for him to be napping. This meant that one of us had to sit in the back and entertain the poor little guy. Well, since Scot loves sitting in the back with E, I drove home. After just a few minutes, I hear Scot saying 'peek-a-boo' and Evan giggling - it was the cutest thing ever - LOVED it! Scot is such an amazing dad!!

The other news to report is that Evan is finally wearing SOME 3-6 month clothes!! A lot of 0-3 stuff still fits, but I just couldn't wait for the cute 3-6 month stuff I have. So pretty much the only thing that fits are he arms (and even then they're a little long...) but he looks pretty stinkin' cute in his new outfits!!

pictures are....

UP!!!! Check out the Picasa page to see December and Christmas pictures!!!

Baby's First Chrismtas

There will be pictures to come - I promise. We had 3 different camera going yesterday and the day before and I'm still waiting on some to come in. But keep your eye on the Picasa page (and the You Tube page!).

Our Christmas was lovely. Christmas Eve day was spent int he springs with family. I about and hour with the in-laws and then headed over to my folks, leaving Scot with his parents. The whole afternoon, I baked like a fiend with my mother. She made little gift boxes full of cookies for all her neighbors. We made 4 different kinds of cookies and decorated them and bagged them. It took all afternoon! But it was so fun. We were too busy and with Evan's schedule, we were unable to make it to the Christmas Eve candle lighting service we usually go to, so instead, my dad read some scripture and we sang. It was neat. But I have to admit, I like the actual candle lighting and singing Silent Night in a dim sanctuary better.

Christmas morning was wonderful! Scot's Uncle, Dave, who lives 3 miles away, came over for breakfast and that was fun. Still in our PJs, he was very gracious and didn't mind. Scot and I did our stockings and gifts while Evan napped and then when he woke up he did his own stocking! He was so cute!! Something I did was re-wrap packages - people gave me toys at my baby shower that were more age appropriate for right now, so I'd been saving them and then I just wrapped them and gave them to him. It's not like he knows the difference and it was fun for him to try and open them! So thank you to anybody who got us older toys!! The only thing we actually bought him was this little Oogolo Ball - it has lots of holes in it and it's flexible - really neat with lots of colors - he loves it! His little faces were adorable!!

My folks were here about noon and we did gifts with them and then dinner. Dinner, thankfully, turned out really well (I made a traditional French Canadian Toutier (meat pie), my green bean casserole and a creamy sweet potato soup. Mom brought the other sides.) The neat thing was that my brother, who hates sweet potatoes, loved my sweet potato soup (we didn't tell him it was sweet potatoes until after he had scarfed it all up - pretty funny). Since it was so gorgeous out, we went on a nice walk in the open space behind the house after dinner. Evan got a new coat from my folks and so we tried it out!! Tell ya what, that kid made bank this year Christmas gift wise. Pity that he won't remember it - but it is nice to have a few more toys. We were getting kind of tired of the 3 he had - I think he had learned about them all he could for now. So the new additions will be good - but now where to PUT them all??

It always seems that the after-Christmas blues are inevitable - but not this year, I'm almost busier AFTERWARDS then beforehand! But I love it. Scot's bestman from the wedding is coming over this afternoon with his girlfriend and I'm making a huge thing of Fajitas for lunch(I found this Fajita spice/seasoning recipe that I'm excited to try out, if it's good, I'll pass it along) then we're just hanging. Scot is skiing tomorrow with his family and so I'm hanging out with one of my best friends! Monday, one of my dearest friends is flying in for the week - that will be one fun-filled week for sure!!! Once she leaves, I'll be heading down to the Springs to hang with the family and meet my brother's girlfriend who is visiting! So the next 2 weeks are quite busy for me. Hopefully I'll be able to get on and update this thing fairly regularly (or at least get pictures up!!) - but if for some reason I don't, I'm still here!!

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!!

Our Christmas Letter

Eskestrand Escapades – 3^rd Edition

We greet you from colorful Colorado with the greatest of joys as this wonderfully full year draws to a close. We hope that you are doing well and that the year 2008 has been a blessed year for you and your family.
Scot and I started off the year with everyone finding out about little Evan. The pregnancy was a very smooth and uneventful time for us and I enjoyed being pregnant until the very last moments. Evan was born July 2^nd and the real adventure began! From the get-go, Evan has been an easy and even keeled baby. When he was just 11 days old, he made his first road trip, MO to CO in two days and he did great! Since moving, both of his great-grandmothers have been to visit, as well as a great-aunt and some friends. Evan has a very pleasant disposition and is such a joy to our lives and so far, every day has been new. His little personality is starting to show through (he's such a ham!) and we're excited to see what the Lord does in, and with, his life. My folks (Grammy and Grandude) get to see him almost weekly and they love seeing all the new changes. We make a trip down to Colorado Springs to see our parents about once a month and it's always a nice break. We are so blessed to have our families just an hour away!
Scot finished out his "book years" in mid-July and was given 6 weeks to move and get settled. The timing couldn't have been better as this allowed Scot to be around for Evan's first 2 months. Scot loves being a father and watching Evan grow, and it's fun for me to see their interactions! He is jealous, though, of missing all the firsts (Although he was with me when we saw the first back-to-tummy roll!). Right now, Scot is in the 'rotations' phase of his medical school training. Essentially, he shadows a doctor for a month learning all he can. He's already had Radiology, Anesthesiology, Psych, OB/GYN and Internal Medicine. He is greatly looking forward to his Cardiology and Surgery rotations as he has taken an interest in them. In his free time, he likes to run in the open space behind our house, play hockey whenever possible, read, and spend time with the family. He loves it when I need to run errands on the weekends and he's needed to 'babysit' – I come home to stories of such grand adventures! Flying and riding horses, fighting the bad guys and rolling around on the floor…these are just some of the things I hear about!!
While my stomach was expanding in Kirksville, I worked and planned for Evan's arrival as best I could. I was thankfully able to work up until the last week and then I just quit and my mom came out to help me prepare. We had such a great time bonding in that week. We ended up walking a lot (up to 10 miles a day! – we were trying to get that baby out!) and just chatting, it was fantastic. Upon moving, I had my plate full. Unpacking a house and getting into a routine with a newborn are not things I suggest doing simultaneously. But God is good, and we were able to get it all in order and have a baby who slept through the night within a month of moving. I absolutely love being a mom – it's my dream job and better than I could have imagined. I keep busy with Evan and normal house-hold stuff along with attending a ladies Bible study, hanging out with friends, cooking, dinner parties, tea parties, book clubs, walking and exercising, and blogging in my free time. There is a wonderful church here and we have gotten really plugged in with the church family. We have also had the opportunity to entertain quite a bit, both for dinners and over-night guests. I love it! If you're ever in the area, please let us know – we have a guest area all ready for you!!
This holiday season is a very sweet one with family being so close. We had a blast at Thanksgiving with my parents and good family friends. Jared came home, too, and it was great to have a few days just hanging out with him. He adores Evan and the two of them get along great. He loved making Evan laugh and showing him how "real men watch football". I am hosting Christmas this year and I'm really looking forward to starting some traditions with our new family.
We hope this letter finds you all in good health and looking at the coming New Year with joy and gladness! May the Lord bless you in all your upcoming endeavors! Have a wonderful Christmas and a very happy 2009!!
Love,

Scot, Sarah and Evan Eskestrand

10 days til Christmas!!

I can't believe it's SO close!! I still have so much to do! This week is pretty busy with baking, tutoring, and a gift exchange with gals from church. I'm meeting up with friends I haven't seen in a couple years, meeting up with more friends from college, going to Bible study, having people over for dinner....I still have to wrap gifts (but they're all purchased, at least), make Evan's stocking, and email our Christmas letter. All this while maintaining a house and keeping up with an ever-growing and advancing almost 6 month old! Oh yeah, and I'm hosting Christmas dinner. :)

But in all this hustle and bustle, we are having fun. Scot and I had a very enjoyable weekend hanging out together. I had my book club dinner party Friday night (it was a blast!) so we didn't get to spend that time together like normal. But we made up for it on Saturday and went light-hunting! We saw tons of pretty houses (lit and un-lit alike) and really just had a fabulous evening! Sunday was church as usual and since it got down to 8 degrees, we hunkered down and stayed warm inside!

Here are a few pictures from the past week!! I hope your week is nice and busy but not stressful!!


Getting a bath at Grammy's! (I swear, she LOVES giving this child a bath more than I do!)


All swaddled up....


Evan was playing with a headband of mine and Scot decided he would put it on Evan's head! My little Ninja baby!


Just playing around before bed!

busy weekend

We had such a busy weekend, but it was a blast! We got our little tree on Friday and that was so much fun. We didn't get a permit in time to go cut down our own like we wanted to, but it's probably for the better with Evan in tow this year. We dressed the tree while listening to Christmas favorites, it was really fun!

Saturday I was down to the springs for a couple days. Britt's baby shower was Sunday and so I decided to just go down for the whole weekend! Mom and I made Christmas cards, watched a really old Christmas movie (Christmas in Connecticut), ate popcorn, and drank tea!! It was wonderful!! Britt's shower was a lot of fun, too. It was good to see her and the cute little belly!

I left the springs Monday afternoon and ended up just missing the snow storm (praise the Lord!) I'm going to work on getting the Christmas letter all written and hopefully get some cards out by the end of the week. Most of the letters will go out via e-mail (and posted here), but I like to send a few cards out to family and such.

Evan is now is size 2 diapers! I decided this morning to not try and push finishing off the size 1 package. But I have to admit, even though size 1s were getting a little tight, the size 2s seem HUGE on him! haha. He's still in 0-3 clothes, but I'm sure now that we've started solids, he'll bump up to 3-6 pretty soon. Hopefully by Christmas, because he has a really cute PJ set for that's 3-6!!

input...

Evan's been on rice cereal since Sunday. How long do you guys have your kids on cereal before you started them on veggies? I've heard/read a lot of varying opinions....I'm leaning towards starting sweet potatoes on Monday. Did any of you go that fast? Evan seems to love solids, but since this is all so new to me and I wasn't planning on starting veggies til after Christmas, I need some input! Thanks in advance!!

5 months old

Evan is 5 months today and it's so hard to believe that it has been that long. Scot and I were talking last night about how fast time has gone by - and we know it will just continue to go faster! Here is his one hour old picture, one month, and the picture from this morning!! What a difference!

The Nutcracker

The first time I went to the Nutcracker with my mom, I was 4 years old - that's 20 years ago!! We went very consistently until we moved to CA and then VA where there weren't any ballets we could get to in a reasonable amount of time. And then came college and being married. Last night, I was able to leave Scot and Evan at home (with a bottle) and mom and I went to the ballet for the first time in years!! (I have an amazing husband!)

It was great!! We had the best seats ever!! We typically sit Mezzanine level in the front, and that's great, too, but this time we were first row Orchestra which was spectacular. We could see expressions on the dancers and hear the blocks on the floor!! (We also got to see the conductor's hair get all messy from his head banging - it was pretty funny!)

The Ellie Caulkin's Opera House in Denver is gorgeous and we had fun walking around at intermission admiring the architecture and interior design of it all. The preformance itself was great, too!! After seeing so many Nutcrackers, we have our favorite parts and we like certain aspects better than others, but over all, it was a very well done show and we enjoyed ourselves immensely!! The Dance of the Snowflakes is still my favorite and this performance of it was not disapointing.

Of course, this got me in a very Christmasy mood and so all my decorations are out (I don't have many, so it didn't take long) and I'm greatly anticipating our Christmas tree which we should get this weekend!


Scot snapped a quick picture in the hustle of everything!

eating cereal...

...and that's not Cheerios I'm talking about! We started Evan on solids yesterday and he did great! Ate it all and only made a few faces! Our little boy is starting to grow up and not be so babyish...
In his new seat! He loves sitting with us as we ate, it's amazing! He especially loves the mat on the tray, although he hasn't figured out hat he can't grab and pick the numbers or letters up yet. It's pretty cute to watch him try, though!


I let him play with the spoon as I got the cereal ready. Obviously, he really enjoyed that!


Here we go....


All done!! He ate it all, and yes, I know his face is covered, but I promise, he really did eat (not wear) the cereal!

purely pictures...

Here is the pure picture post I promised...more pictures are on the Picasa Page! These are just my favorites. The pure text post is right after this one!!















Our first night home as a 'family'
















With his Uncle Jared!!


This is the "mommy, I love you!!" face


Probable my favorite picture from the whole trip!! This is a very Evan face


Snuggling with Grammy


Playing in Grandude's hat!


Getting in to the peanuts - don't worry, he didn't actually eat any!


Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!


The whole family


What is typical for my family the day after Thanksgiving - working out! haha


Eating all by himself!!


Who gets their wish granted if the wish bone ends up like this?!?

Thanksgiving week tidbits

Since there is so much that went on, I'm just going to give the highlights!

Monday was my actual birthday and asince I turned 24 onthe 24th, it was kind of a big deal. Scot was amazing and showered me with gifts. One of my favorite, if not favorite, note card artists is Masha Dyans and he got me a set of notecards that I absolutely love. He also got 2 sets of earrings for me!! I felt SO spoiled!! Thanks to Josh and Bek, we were also able to go out to eat!! I love Thai food, so he took me to Thai Basil and we both ended up taking to-go boxes.

Jared arrived on Tuesday and I was able to go and pick him up at the airport here in town and then we both drove down to the Springs where my mom was pulling out some of the yummiest chocolate chip cookies ever as we walked in the door! We had fun family time that night playing a game and just chatting like old times! Jared had a lot of fun with Evan the whole week, but the first night was especially special.

Wednesday mom and I cooked like crazy doing as much prep work as possible. Scot was able to join us for a wonderful dinner and birthday celebration that night. Mom's birthday is just a week and a day after mine, so since everyone was home, we just celebratedboth birthdays in the middle! It was really funny, though, because we got each other earrings! (We're going to the Nutcracker here in Denver on Sunday as our real birthday present.) We ate our favorite ice cream (Peppermint) and just laughed at different family stories. It was very fun and special.

Thanksgiving was great! There were 15 people in attendance for dinner and I think everyone had a great time. The only downside was that poor little Evan was a bit over stimulated by bedtime. We visited over at Scot's folks for about an hour that morning and he was passed around quite a bit there - I think all the new faces from the morning and afternoon just wore him out. Along with the great food, I was introduced to Ice Wine...oh my goodness, that stuff is like candy!! It's kind of like Port (which I also like) but it's just made with just grapes.

Friday I was able to have breakfast with my friend Britt and that was very needed! She is due with her first baby the end of Janruary and it was grat to catch up - the visit also made me realize how much I miss being pregnant!! In typical Klajnbart fashion, right before lunch the whole gang of us went to the gym! I was able to walk with Evan in the Baby Bjorn and felt like I actually got in a fairly decent workout all things considered. Mom did the eliptical the the guys all did the lifting weights thing. Everyone felt so good afterwards!! My family has always had Friday night family nights with pizza, pop corn, games, and a movie, so we did that - just with leftovers instead of pizza. It was great. It was our last night til Christmas all as a family and we lived it up!! I lost horribly at one of the games, but then came back to beat everyone in the last round. Also on Friday, I heard this conversation between my brother and mother (you kinda have to know Jared, but...)
Background: They were talking about how my mom is going to be 50 (shhh...don't tell anyone)

J: Mom...it's a big deal
M: No it's not. It's no different than last years 49 or next years 51. It's just another day.
J: Yeah it is. It's like half a century. (And in typical Jared fashion he continued) Think of all the things you've seen!! Dinosaurs...elecricity...automobiles...
M: Microwaves.
PAUSE
J: (with some hesitation) Really?
M: Yes. Really.
J: (in awe) Whoa....

We all laughed so hard!!

All in all, it was a great week with the family!! Evan did great, although I think he's starting to recognize where home is and where it's not. At least he's very familiar with my folks house and he's not too whacked out when we go. While there, though, a couple changes happened. He kept wanting to go to sleep earlier than normal. Last night I gave in and he slept from about 8 til 7 this morning! Crazy!! We'll see if he does it again tonight in his own crib. We also decided that he's ready for solids. Besides the now normal grabbing and watching our every move at every meal, he was taking a spoon in his highchair and just chewing it. I pretend fed him, too, and he opened his mouth and everything. So I got his highchair seat thing out when I got home today and we're starting cereal on Monday!

There are lots of cute pictures, but my mom needs to get them to me yet, so stay tuned for a pure picture post!! I hope you all had fantastic Thanksgivings and thanks for dropping by!!

birthday weekend

Here we are right before the party started...unfortunately, the camera was unused the rest of the night...sad day, I know.


Us with our very sleepy little guy. We put him to bed right after this picture and he slept great for the next 2 hours!! It was perfect!

My birthday weekend was this past weekend and we had such a blast. We had a little dinner party and it was good to see everyone who came!!

fun day at 'home'

It's funny, no matter how old I get or how long it's been since I lived at my folks house, their place is always 'home' to me. It was a nasty day here today and since Scot has a major test tomorrow and was studying all day, I decided to take a little trek 'home'. Thankfully, it's only an hour drive, so I threw Evan in the car when it was conveniently nap-time, and hit the road. Perfect! My mom and I had such an enjoyable afternoon and I even have some fun pictures to share!! (wonder there, huh?)


My mom is so sweet and went out and got Evan his own highchair so when he visits, we don't have to bring ours!! He had such fun playing in it today. As you can see, my mom also saved baby appropriate toys that he had fun with!


And this is what happens when the toys get boring - we gravitate towards toys that aren't toys at all!! We caught quite a few "I'm chomping on a melon baller" pictures, but this was my favorite!


We have a reader on our hands. Evan LOVES it when I read to him. I can probably read 4 or 5 books to him at a time and he just sits still and tries to turn the pages. Well, today we saw him turn the pages by himself!!! We were amazed.


What was more amazing is that when he was done, I closed the book and opened it to the first page and he did it all over again!!


So while at my folks house, I happened upon my wedding dress. And since I've been in a sentimental mood, I tried it on, just for kicks! My goal has been to get back down to pre-pregnancy weight by my birthday and so far, I have 1 lb to go and 4 days to lose it! So I thought to myself, I know the weight is redistributed, but let's just see. And to my surprise (but also joy) it fit just fine! Zippered up easily and all that good stuff! Just doesn't quite have the same effect with the tan lines and baby bag in the background, huh?


And I had my mom take this picture just incase I look back on the previous picture in a few years and forget when the picture was taken. Haha....but this brings me to a question....what did you all do with your dresses? Are they still sitting in your (or your parent's) closet? I have no idea what I should do with mine!

rockin' weekend

Scot and I had a wonderful weekend together. Even though it snowed on us last week, we had a perfect weekend of 60 degree weather!! (today and tomorrow it's supposed to be in the 70's!!) We had a blast walking in our favorite park Sunday afternoon and Scot attempted to fly his kite. I say attempted not because he doesn't know how to fly it, but because there wasn't enough wind. But he's a determined guy and he ran a lot so the kite would at least go up. Evan and I had fun watching from our picnic blanket!! :) We went by our favorite Gelato place afterward, but it was closed "due to power outage" - just our luck. So we swung by Cold Stone instead - yum!

But the big event of this past weekend was not the weather nor the ice cream...Evan has started to 'rock'. Yes, ladies and gentleman...my 4 month old is on his way to crawling. His father is very excited about this prospect, I, on the other hand, am not. I tried explaining to Scot that he's not the one who will have to be keeper of the stairwells or the 24/7 on-duty personal keeping the floors choking-hazard free, but he didn't seem to understand. The fact that Evan was on his hands and knees and rocking back and forth had him in too much of a tizzy to really hear me. Here are some pictures from Friday that we took when he first started to get up on his elbows and knees. I couldn't get the actual rocking on camera, but I promise you, unfortunately, it is happening. The ladies from nursery confirmed it. Needless to say - he's spending a lot of time playing on his back now in my feeble efforts to slow him down!


Here he is getting up on all fours....


Actually trying to scoot...but he got nowhere fast - he only moves backwards!!


Resting after all that hard work....oh dear...what am I to do?!?

my son eats his feet

Evan is on a new schedule as of this week. He still goes to sleep at 10, but now wakes up at 8 and eats every 3.5 hours during the day. It's fantastic! The only thing is that now I don't have a reason to be up at 7, so I'm not. I really should just make myself, I would get so much done. But the warm blankets are just too comfortable to leave unless I have a good reason, and cleaning is not a good enough reason. And this morning was even harder to get out of bed, and once I did, I realized why....



...and now, I look outside and see clear blue skies and hardly any snow on the ground. This is Colorado for you!! And yesterday, I might add, was gorgeous. The quintessential Colorado fall day. I could see the mountain perfectly, the sky was that cornflower blue and there weren't any clouds in the sky. I went out for a walk in just sweats and a t-shirt! And tomorrow is supposed to be nice, too!!

Evan loves to suck/chew on his feet. And yesterday was the first time Scot was really able to witness Evan playing with his feet. :) Early in the day, I caught this on film...


...and last night while Scot was changing Evan and getting him ready for bed, he was able to really see what I meant by "Evan loves to play with his feet!"


We're having a hard time catching 'real' moments on camera because when Evan sees the camera, he just stares at it or smiles, but, that also means he stops doing whatever we were trying to capture! Little stinker!! He had both feet by his mouth, but we weren't quick enough.

Since it's a perfect hot cocoa day, and since we ran out, I made another batch of my special hot cocoa mix and settled in to watch our wedding video. I love that we had a video taken of that special day, because now, when I'm in the mood, I just pop it in and laugh at my poor attempt to discreetly control my breathing so I wouldn't hyperventilate at the alter or how I bawled down the isle or kept cutting the preacher off in saying my vows and then laughing. Pretty funny stuff looking back on it. But I also love that I can re-watch the vows, or hear the sermon that I really wasn't paying attention to the first time. I love seeing the people there and witnessing the little moments. And I love that our kids will be able to watch it someday, too. Anyways, enough of me being sentimental!! I hope you guys have a splendid weekend!!

tid bits of the past week

* My mother came and stayed with us for about 5 days last week and finished up all the remaining projects for the house. So now, everything is complete. I'll try to get pictures up here, but let me just tell ya - I thought it looked fine before, but now, it looks even better! We rearranged furniture, hung pictures, did finishing touches on rooms and bathrooms and organized.

* Scot has had off a whole heck of a lot this rotation and it's starting to make him go crazy!! He gets to study a lot more, which is good, but he is also feeling a little jipped since we're paying for this education and he's getting whole days off here and there!! (but I have to admit...I don't mind so much...it's nice knowing that he's just downstairs if I need him. OR - I can go to the store, like I did this morning, and leave a sleeping baby with him)

* We helped (or should I say Scot helped) his sister and brother-in-law unpack a mini-semi full of their furniture and boxes and re-pack it all into a storage unit yesterday! It was hard work. 5 guys and 6.5 hours....

* While Scot was hard at work, I was hardly working. I hung out with his family for a little bit, but a family friend was in town, and so I was able to hang out with her for a little while and catch up which was wonderful. I went and showed Evan off at one of Mom's Bible studies and surprised a friend at work! I went back home, visited some of my folks sweet British neighbors and let them play with Evan. They have no grand-babies of their own, so Evan acts as a surrogate. :) I played games and ate pop corn with my folks while we waited for Scot to finish with the unpacking and then we headed home after a yummy dinner!

* The weather has been absolutely wonderful and we've been taking full advantage!! Gotta love CO falls!!

With his grandude!!


Playing around!

jaw droppingly amazing!

Scot came home today with the greatest news...he paid $1.94 for gas!! When Evan was born, gas was $4.25. Amazing, huh? I just thought I would share the fantasticness of lower gas prices. Hope you all are experiencing similar drops!

daddy saw a first

Last night, Scot and I were talking and Evan was playing on the floor. We had put him on his tummy and, like normal, he rolled to his back. He's been rolling like this for quite a while now. But last night he rolled from his tummy to his back! And the coolest thing was that Scot got to witness it! He was stoked to say the least. So now life starts to get more challenging as my 4 month old can roll both ways....

on hospitality...

Last week, I went to a church ladies luncheon (I know, I know, I felt really old) and the gal who was sharing, shared on meal planning and hospitality, and I was so encouraged, that I've been meaning to write about so as to encourage you all, too! The verse that was brought up was Romans 12: 10-13 and she mentioned how being hospitable was right up there in encouraging the saints and praying fervently! It's not just a bonus that we do on the side, it's commanded. And then she went on to share her fears of hosting and what some of ours might be. Some of the things that came up were:
*Cost
*Time
*Having the house messy
*Not being confident about what you're making/Not knowing what to make that is 'guest appropriate'
*Selfishness
*Fearing allergies/picky eaters
*Not having a child-proof or friendly house
*Drop-ins

And then she told us the most amazing thing: the people who are over are over because they enjoy your company, not because you're a gourmet chef, although that would be a plus. And then she gave us pointers on how to overcome our fears. I'll go in order.

Cost - Everyone will always offer to bring something, so let them, even if it's bread or a salad or cookies. And plan ahead, shop the sales and realize that simple isn't always boring. Worried about table decorations? She suggested cutting a branch off a bush or tree (a small tree) and putting it in a vase surrounded by apples or potatoes!! Practical can be beautiful.

Time - For Scot and I, Sundays are our family/fellowship days and we really enjoy it. But what I'm always hesitant about is that people will stay until 8 or 9 at night (and then, she said, you just serve sandwiches for dinner) and then I don't get to see my husband at all. But never fear, because the people you're inviting over probably want to get home, too! The other time aspect is the prep time - so make something that you can stick in the crock pot while you're at church or during the day if it's an evening entertaining, or make something that you can pre-prep!

Messy house - Let's face it. This is the all-time excuse for not having people over. And if it's not, then please tell me what your secret is. Now, my house is not really ever horribly messy. I try to keep it in good enough order that someone can pop by and I'm not too embarrassed, or, if we're having company, it doesn't take all day to get ready. What was mentioned was having a 5 minute pick up plan. Throw things into boxes (or laundry baskets so you're forced to empty them!!) and put them into closets. Have handi-wipes ready to wipe down surfaces in the bathrooms and fill up the dishwasher! Sweep if you have time. And remember, honestly, people hardly ever care. It doesn't have to be all spic and span, just tidied. :)

Lack of confidence - This is my biggest thing - yes, even over the messy house - I am always worried that something's not going to turn out or that the people will think that what I made was horrible or something like that. Some very insightful things were brought up. Simple is not always boring. Easy is not always plain. And what we make best is probably not what the other person makes best. What is common in our house, is most likely new to them. This was liberating to hear. I mean it. I felt like booking the next 3 Sundays right then! But then I thought about time, and I became....

Selfish - Now this one is a heart issue. But something to consider is that 1) being hospitable is a command and 2) it's kinda like tithing, but with our time, and I've come to realize that the Lord gives us that time back. But still, sometimes it's hard to not be selfish and just want a lazy Saturday night or Sunday afternoon. So what we do is say that once a month we have someone over. With random drop-ins, it's always more, but a planned dinner is once a month.

Fearing allergies/picky eaters - Honestly, if someone is really allergic to something, they'll tell you. I'm allergic to walnuts. Seriously, I think I would stop breathing if I ever had a walnut. But I don't know, I've never tried. And please, don't experiment with me. And as for picky eaters, they know how to deal with it. And I'm sure you have pasta in the cupboard or bread and sandwich stuff that they'd be happy with. And if not, let's hope they're polite about it all.

Child proof/friendly house - This is another of my fears. Evan is stationary for the moment and so I don't have to worry, nor do I know all I have to worry about for toddlers and little kids. But what one of the moms told me is that the kids know when you don't have toys at your house and they bring their own. Although, I suggest having some kid appropriate DVDs or books around. And as for the child proofing, let's hope the kids are obedient and that their parents tell them 'no' as they're reaching for great-grama Edna's sugar bowl or into your chemical cabiet!!!

Drop-ins - Personally, I love drop ins! 1) Everyone knows that you didn't have time to pick up, so it's not like you're purposefully not putting forth effort by not picking up for them! (Sorry for all the negatives in there...) And I always try to have tea and cookies or something quick on hand. Muffins are a cinch to make and someone said scones are easy, too. I try to have pasta and sauce on hand in case we have pop over lunch or dinner guests and that's seemed to work alright.

Anyways, that's about it. I hope this was encouraging for you like it was for me!! Now go, and call someone and invite them over for Sunday lunch!! Seriously - go! :)

in light of the election...

I just saw this video from John Piper and thought I would share it with you all. I think he makes some really good points, the most being that we just need to rest in the fact that we serve a sovereign Lord.

more laughter

Here's yet another video of Evan laughing - a belly laugh this time! Can you tell he's a first child? Our poor other kids...

4 Months!

Evan is 4 months old (yesterday) - can you believe that? We had his 4 month check up today and the doc said everything looked great!! She did a ton of little tests and asked even more questions and he's, quote, "perfect" - haha. We all know he's not, but it's still good to hear from a medical perspective. His stats are 12 lbs, 4oz (7th percentile), 24 inches (25th percentile) and 41 inches around his head (20th percentile). But he's climbing the growth chart the way he's supposed to, so he's just going to be a little guy I guess! He did really well with the shots, too, just cried until I went to pick him up. We'll see how the rest of the day goes.

Halloween update: we successfully hid in the basement and we actually had no trick-or-treaters, so we shouldn't have been worried. Also, we had a great weekend. The weather is still beautiful and we took full advantage of it! Thankfully, Evan transitioned very well into the new time change and we are all very happy about that! I was able to vote on Friday and was very glad to have that done and out of the way with - whew - lines were much shorter than they're supposed to be tomorrow...and besides, I don't want to get out in the craziness that will be tomorrow. Especially with a 4 month old. Anyways....there are more pictures below!! Hope you all had a great weekend!!

we're rolling!!

Here he's about to roll over...sorry, I wasn't quick enough to catch it on film!! Maybe next time, ok? But it's cute. he just lifts his head up high and over he goes!!


Our ever-so-happy little guy! There's nothing like those big grins!

at the park

We went to the park yesterday and had a blast. It was great weather and Evan had a great time looking at all the people!


Little feet!! I know they look huge in the picture, but really, they're little!


He's such a happy boy - we're very blessed!!