The One with Home Sweet Home

We're hoooooooome! Here's how we got to Washington: at 6:15am Brian took us to the Burbank Airport. It was nice and empty.

Funny story, as we were going through security, you know how you have to take off your shoes?

Well Fox was wearing Trumpette socks and they look like Converse shoes (as seen above a little blurry cuz Fox is always kicking and squirming) and the security dude was like, "You're going to have to take off his shoes," and I'm like, "They're socks," and the guy was inspecting them like I was lying or something and brought over some other security guy and he's like, "Yeah, they're just socks, you can go on through." Hardy har.

The Burbank airport is so small and intimate you have to walk out on the tarmac to get onto your plane.


The sun was just starting to peak through the clouds as we boarded.

Clouds make such interesting shapes and patterns!

Fox in his typical airplane riding fashion fell right asleep for the short flight from LA to Oakland.

What, are we gonna land on the water?!?!


A couple months ago we were at the Santa Anita mall and Auntie Anne's Pretzels was handing out "buy one get one free" coupons for use in a few SoCal locations. Well, during our short layover in Oakland we passed an Auntie Anne's Pretzels and I wondered if they'd accept our coupon. I told Chris, what's the worst that could happen? They could say no and we'd be on our merry way. So we handed the employee our coupon, she looked it over, couldn't make up her mind, showed her boss, and the boss said okie dokie! Sweet! So Chris got a pepperoni pretzel and I got a cinnamon sugar pretzel.

Nummy nummy.

Then we flew from Oakland to Seattle. Fox slept for the first hour, then he woke up and we entertained him.


I love the Pacific Northwest. To me the definition of beauty is lots of evergreen trees and lakes. Just like this:

Random island in the middle of a lake. I wonder who owns this and how often they go there? All I could see from my view was a dock, no buildings or other signs of civilization.

Malm/Grandma Carolyn picked us up from the airport. She kept saying, "Money in the bank." as she was squeezing her one and only grandson. Precious.

We went to Bajio for lunch. It's like Cafe Rio. This is a pretty fountain inside.

The colorful counters.

So. Much. Food.

At home Allie was crafting away and I joined in on the fun. We made "raries" as my dad calls them.

I remember making these in preschool but it was much harder and a longer process. But, as most everything is these days, it's easy and Allie learned how to do it on YouTube.

She made a super cute banner and I wanted one too so we got to work! Well, Allie mostly got to work, I'm still learning how to make 'em.

Super cute huh? She should make lots and sell them on etsy!

As we were walking out the door to go meet Dald at Yummy Teriyaki for dinner, there was a package full of Thickers for Allie! Lucky girl!

Waiting for our food.

After Fox went to sleep for the night, we introduced my parents and Allie to one of our new favorite shows: Modern Family.

It's so good to be home!

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The One with the Morning at Disneyland

Fox is going to be so mad some day when I show him all these pictures of our trips to Disneyland cuz he won't remember it one bit. Unless we still live close by Disneyland then it won't matter. In any case, last Friday Chris was at school alllll day taking his last finals so I took my baby to the happiest place on earth. I was expecting it to be suuuuuper busy because of Spring Break AND it was Friday, but it actually wasn't too bad when we first got there. It was really hot and sunny so I brought Fox's "Fox" embroidered Mickey hat. It's still a tad big, but won't be much longer with his 92 percentile size head!

We got right on the Jungle Cruise.

Then we got right on Pirates.

So excited for the next Pirates movie which they were promoting e'rywhere.

Then we got right on the Haunted Mansion.

Then we went on a ride I've never been on or knew existed: Winnie the Pooh!

It was a fun kiddy ride.

Then we got right the Casey Circus Train.

Pretty landscaping.

Love all the miniature models along the train/boat ride.

Take time to stop and smell the roses!

Then we got right on It's a Small World. Fox is totally making a "Paige face" in the right picture. That's my boy!

Woody and Jessie!

Fox chilled in his stroller while I ate some lunch: a gumbo bread bowl.

He seriously smiles SO much at Disneyland.

Then it got super busy so we took a lap around the park on the train.

We ended the morning by taking a stroll through the Princess Fantasy Faire land cuz I'd never been to that part of the park before.

I've been watching Princess and the Frog practically every day (the tunes are so catchy and the story is quality!) Hopefully if we have a daughter someday I can dress her up in a pretty Princess Tiana dress!

Always a fun time at Disneyland! Hope we get to go a bunch more over the next few months before it gets too busy during the summer.

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The One with an Evans Family Update

There are 9 beating hearts in our little apartment. Here's an update on each:

The head of the household just finished up his 5th trimester of 11 of dental school at USC. We'll be peacin' outta here in just two years! For the newbie 1st years who will be moving into the area in the next couple months, we'll be 3rd years to them! Crazy talk! Time is flying. Fake teeth (and real teeth, ew) are taking over the apartment. Okay, just a shelf, but more on that in another post cuz it deserves it's own. He's been studying for the boards test he takes on August 1st every spare second he has, which isn't very many cuz he spends a lot of quality time with his son. He's a great daddy and gets Fox to laugh so easily. He reads to Fox daily which I appreciate and think is darling. Mostly Berenstain Bears books.

I can't seem to find a decent picture of myself so I've gone abstract. I chopped off about 10" of my hair in a fit of frustration because I'd been getting headaches almost every day. I've worn it in a pony tail every day since I chopped it, so only one person has noticed the drastic change, and I'll get an official hair cut this week. I'm still working 3 jobs: one full-time, one part-time, one whenever I'm needed. Life is crazy busy right now, but I still find time to do the things I love like blog, craft, and take Fox to Disneyland.

Fox went on a swing for the first time the other day and enjoyed it. He's the apple of our eyes and we can't get enough of him. He's still sleeping like a champ and we're so happy about that. What else... I just did his 6 month update so not much has changed in the 2 days since then :) He's just gets cuter every day, how 'bout that?

Joey the Shiba Inu dog. He's going to be 2 this year. (His birthday is 9/11 - not an easy birthday to forget.) Ever since Joey's ultimate demotion after Fox came along, he's been such a naughty and demanding dog. It's like he literally has the "terrible two's". He barks a lot, chews everything he can get his teeth on to bits (including Fox's toys), and begs us for human food 24/7. He's like having a second child. But he can be fun and sweet at times. I just wish more than anything we had a backyard he could play around in.

Jadis the conure is about 5 years old now. 5 of 30... He's loud and mean and poops everywhere all the time. I'm trying to think of something nice to say about him... I'll come back to him later... maybe...

Rachel the cat is our favorite. She's about 4 years old now. We hope she lives forever! She's super low maintenance, isn't loud or obnoxious, and basically sleeps all day every day. She's sweet and affectionate and LOOOOOVES to be brushed and combed. If there's an open window she'll sense it and come running to it in a millisecond. She's the ultimate bug catcher. She's super overweight but we don't really have a solution for that. More square footage to love we say! She purs if you just look at her and 99% of the time responds vocally when you call her name. We love Rachel.

Alice the zebra finch. She's going on at least 6 years now. Holy cow. Or should I say holy finch. Her mate Frank Jr. passed away over 16 months ago and she's still holding on strong. She just hops to and fro in her cage all day and doesn't require much attention. She's afraid of everything so we just let her be.

Chandler the rabbit is about 4 years old. He's still the cutest bunny in the world. His crazy mane hair is the bees knees. He's a picky eater. He still has digestion issues and makes a smelly mess in his cage every day which I clean up. I'm so used to animal poo it's scary. Again, I wish we had a backyard he could frolic around in, but we do have a patch of grass in the back parking lot that we set up a cage and let him run around in occasionally. He loves to be pet on the head and cradled like a baby.

Li'l Chinchilla the chinchilla. I don't know how old she was when I acquired her, but we've had her for 5 years now. She sleeps and eats all morning and afternoon then we let her run around at night for about an hour. It's been like that for the entire half-decade we've had her. She has HOPS. She can for realsies jump about 5 feet in the air if given a running start. She has THE softest fur coat. Lately she's been on a peanut kick and expects one from me every morning which I happily give to her and she shells and eats immediately.

And that's what we're all up to these days!

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The One with Joey Trouncing a Laser Beam

If a picture is worth a thousand words, how much is a video worth?

This is Joey trouncing a laser beam.

What a dog.

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The One with Fox at Six Months

My baby is six months old. He might as well be goin' off to college! They get so big so fast. His six month appointment is on Monday, so I'll get his official stats then, but here are my home-done measurements:

Length: 27" (between 50-75%)

Weight: 17.6 pounds (between 25-50%)

Head circumference: 18.25" (95%)

He still has a ginormous head! It houses his superior brain :)

Fox at 3, 4, 5, and now 6 months. See how he's growing!

Fox has won us over in every way possible, that's for sure. He gets cuter and cuter and more fun every day. When babies are first born, they don't do so many things. But Chris and I were talking last night and now he does lots of things!

He can sit up on his own for a few minutes at a time.

He reaches and grabs for EVERYTHING then IMMEDIATELY puts it in his mouth. I have to wear my hair in a pony tail every single day now cuz he grabs it and yanks and it hurts!

He was put in a Pack'n'Play for the first time and seems to enjoy it. For five minutes at a time. Then he's done.

He is fascinated with Joey the dog. Can't WAIT until they can play together! But until then, he has stuffed toy dogs to play with. Or rather, chew and suck on.

He cries at the drop of a hat. He can also be consoled and brought to smiles within seconds with a little distraction like mommy's camera!

We call him our little "manipilator" cuz he fake cries.

He makes the cutest faces. All. The. Time.

Best of all and the biggest happy change since he was 5 months? He's sleeping through the night! Can I get a hallelujah, amen, singing praises!

Our nightly routine is as follows: Around 6:30pm he starts getting a little fussy. At 7pm I draw him a bath. Note: he has still NEVER smiled while taking a bath. I don't know why he doesn't like baths... most babies do! But not Fox. Oh well. He is starting to kick and play in the water, but no smiles. Anyways, after bath time I put him in his Jimmers, I mean jammies, and then I rock and nurse him to sleep. I know you're not "supposed" to do that, you're "supposed" to let them fall asleep on their own, but I love my special alone time with him and if it works it works. I put him in his crib around 7:30pm. He usually wakes up once or twice during the night and fusses, but he quickly falls back asleep on his own. Around 3:30am he wakes up and cries incessantly so I go in and feed him. I know I say he sleeps through the night, and I consider 7:30pm-3:30am sleeping through the night - that's an 8 hour stretch which is soooo much better than the waking up every 1, 2, or 3 hours like he used to. I nurse him back to sleep at 3:30am and he wakes up for the day at 6:30am. So he's getting 11 hours of sleep and I'm getting about 8-9 hours of sleep a night with just one feeding at 3:30am. And I'm A-OK with that my friends! Still no daily nap schedule... we're working on that.

His eyes are still the most beautiful shade of gray/blue. I'm noticing a bit of hazel/brown around his irises... stay gray stay gray stay gray! But I'll love him no matter what color his eyes are :) And his hair is growing in much lighter than when he was born.

When he wakes up at 6:30am I hear "slam slam slam" on the baby monitor. He picks up his legs and slams them onto the mattress. It's quite funny. I sorta caught it on video, but he can definitely do it louder and harder than pictured:

He does this little cough and we can't tell if it's for reals or he just likes making the noise. We say "He has the black lung Pops!" (reference to Zoolander).

He laughs every day, multiple times a day, at various things. He laughs when he's tickled under the armpits, when we blow raspberries on his belly, when Chris juggles toys in front of him, when we wiggle his legs, when we make farty noises in his face, when I whisper sweet nothing in his ear, etc. It's the most endearing noise and it makes me so happy to see him so happy.

He still doesn't particularly enjoy tummy time, but he'll roll on to his stomach and sleep like that and be happy. Then when he wakes up and I go in to get him, I see him on his tummy peeking through the crib slats. LOL. We're gonna haveta lower the crib soon!

We sure do love you Mr. Fox! Can't believe you're a half year old already!

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The One when I Was Denied the Harry Potter DVD

So I just got back from Target where I was so(oooooooo!) excited to buy my copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part One. Cuz new release DVDs come out on Tuesdays and today is Tuesday and I had on my calendar that Harry Potter was coming out today. So I mosey on back to the electronics section and am somewhat mystified that I can't find shelves and shelves of said DVD. I did, however, find this book that was also on my to buy list:

My Twilight obsession continues!

But back to the story at hand. I figured since my local Target is undergoing a major renovation and things are completely disorganized they just forgot to put out the Harry Potter DVDs. Silly Target. Fortunately, amidst my mystification and bewilderment that such an important movie could be overlooked, I saw a cart filled with Harry Potter movies so I quickly snatched one up and went about finding the other things on my list.

I proceeded to check out and as the employee swiped my brand new, unopened, mint condish copy of Harry Potter he turned to his computer screen and said, "Um, ma'am, I can't sell this to you for three more days. Where did you find this?" "Back in electronics...." "These aren't supposed to be out yet, I can't sell it to you. "He called over the security guard (was I gonna get arrested?!?) and told her that the Harry Potter movies needed to be removed.

I had the Harry Potter movie in my hands for five minutes. So close yet so far. I guess I've waited this long, what's three more days? My bad for writing down this movie came out on Tuesday instead of Friday...

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