Evan's first haircut

The pictures pretty much tell the whole story!  Looking at the first picture, I can't believe how shaggy his hair really was...oops - I didn't realize until after we cut it!  Evam did a great job and sat pretty still with distractions like eating the comb.  He looks so handsome now - and got his first lollipop too.

Evan - One Year Old!

I tried to get a good one year pic, but it just wasn't happening! The light was funky and Evan wouldn't sit still for anything.

Our boy who was so big at birth has definitely slowed way down in his weight gain and is only in the 15th percentile! (50th for height.)

He can now climb up the full flight of stairs and every time you turn your head for more than three seconds, he's halfway up.

Evan can now wave really well and will lift his arms when you say "touchdown!" We haven't heard any words yet, but a favorite new habit of his is an ear-piercing shriek/squeal.

We noticed a couple of weeks ago that one of his front teeth, which isn't even all the way in yet, has a big vertical crack in it. His pediatrician said we should wait until it comes all the way in before having a dentist check it out to see if the crack goes all the way up. We never remember him banging it, but I have started hearing him grinding his teeth all the time - not sure if he could have done that hard enough to cause it?

His poor eczema has been getting worse, and on his shoulders he scratches it until it is bleeding and scabby. I'm going to start trying a free and clear detergent since none of the creams and lotions seem to be doing much.

We took both kids out to dinner at Texas Roadhouse on Evan's birthday and they were both really good - Dwayne took this cute picture when we got home. Love our little boy so much and can't believe a year has flown by...

Brynn's first field trip

The two-year-old preschool class goes on one field trip this year, to the pumpkin patch!  I worked from home to watch Evan, and Dwayne took Brynn on the field trip.  Unfortunately it was freezing, but Brynn was super cute bringing home two pumpkins she picked out - one for her and one for Evan.  

Evan - 11 months old

Evan now has 4 teeth at various stages, but none of of them are all the way in.

He loves to clap. If you say "say Da da da da" he usually will!


He's getting a ton of hair - I had to snip some off the other day because it was growing over his ears and neck; I think it might be time for a real haircut fairly soon.


Evan cruises a little bit but doesn't seem close to standing on his own or taking any steps yet - I guess he takes after his sister!


He is a good eater and a good sleeper. He loves graham crackers and yogurt and he's better about eating vegetable baby foods than he used to be. He's on the exact same sleep schedule as Brynn! They take one nap anywhere from 1.5-3 hours in the early afternoon and go to bed at 9.


Evan is definitely mischievous - he loves splashing in the dog water, trying to eat dog food, banging on the fireplace glass and pulling things out of cabinets. He is going to be a handful once he can walk, I imagine...


He's still fairly laid back, but hates when people leave a room or go upstairs without him - he'll scream bloody murder until you come back and get him!

Evan - 10 months old

Ok, I am a bad mommy and am just uploading his 10 month picture with his 11 month one so I don't really have any milestones for this month. I just noticed that he weighed more in this picture than last month - I guess my method of holding him on the scale and then weighing myself is not very accurate!

First day of preschool

This year Brynn is starting a 2-year-old preschool class at a local church school. She will go on Thursday and Friday mornings for 2 1/2 hours - for the 2's class they start them gradually so the first week she only went for one hour each morning.

Brynn is pretty timid about trying new things, so I was a little worried about how she'd like school. She did great! Dwayne dropped her off, and said she walked into the building smiling and holding the teacher's hand, and was still smiling when he picked her up. An even better sign was that she wanted to go back the next day. Ican't believe she's growing up so fast...before we know it we'll be sending her off to college!

Evan - 9 months old

The picture is actually a week late for this post since Evan just had his 9 month appointment today. He was such a good boy at his appointment, laughing and babbling at the doctor! When she was looking in his mouth, she pointed out that his first tooth on the bottom was barely starting to peek through!

In the past couple of days, he has learned a new trick of blowing raspberries constantly. He loves getting into things - his favorite toy is still the dog's water bowl. Bailey is the only thing that will pretty much always guarantee a laugh out of Evan, and the only time I've heard him crack up is when we get the dog all riled up and he is barking and running around!

Evan's eczema has been really bad lately - even worse than Brynn's was at this age. The lotions and creams we slather him with don't seem to help very much. Brynn grew out of hers though, so I'm hoping the same will happen with Evan. It doesn't seem to bother him, but it's all scabby and looks like it would be itchy.

Evan can pull up on anything and everything, but hasn't started cruising yet. He can hold on with only one hand once he pulls up. He can climb up the first step on the stairs! Definitely need to keep a close eye on this boy.

He takes only one nap for me, but it is usually 3-4 hours long. He likes to stay up later the past couple of weeks, and won't go down until 10 or 10:30 some nights, but then stays asleep all night long.

Fourth of July

Dwayne's family was in town the week of the fourth of July so we went to watch fireworks with Gammy, Pappy, Monica, Tyler, Savannah and Mommom and Daddad Pryor. At the new house we can't watch fireworks from right outside our back door anymore, so we went to the hospital. The hospital lets employees park there and sit on the hill to watch the fireworks at the farm museum. I had no idea how close they would be - they were setting the fireworks off only like 100 yards away from us! The view was amazing, but it was really loud, so Brynn spent the whole time in the car - Evan watched the first half with me, but then I started to worry about his ears, so he went in the car too! Ah well, there's always next year...

Evan - 8 months old

In the past week, Evan has started doing real crawling instead of just scootching on his stomach, and can sit up all the way from being in crawling position.

He also seems to like "real" food a lot more than Brynn did - this week he has tried salmon, crab cakes and canned green beans and liked them all. Hopefully he is not a picky eater like I thought and just doesn't like baby food! Lately he still seems hungry after a 6 oz. bottle, so some of the time we give him 8 oz. now.

The last week in June, Evan had some kind of virus where he had a fever for four days - it was getting higher every day, but he had no other symptoms and the doctor said it wasn't anything treatable. Thankfully he responded well to Motrin, but was pretty miserable for a couple of days.

Brynn spends half the time giving Evan ("Evie") hugs and kisses, and the other half saying "No Evie! Don't like it!" - with seemingly no rhyme or reason to which one it is!

Evan - 7 months old

I think this every month - but look how big our little guy is getting!

Evan is sitting up great now - he also gets up on his hands and knees all the time, and then pushes up onto his toes. He really wants to be mobile!

He loves fruit baby foods and opens his mouth up wide for them - but clamps it shut tight for vegetables! I gave him puffs for the first time this week - he did pretty well picking them up, but didn't put them in his mouth and wasn't too impressed with the ones I shoved in there.

He is generally a very laid-back boy. He doesn't seem to like to nap as much as Brynn did at this age, but sleeps great at night.

Birthday Party!

Since Keely and Brynn's birthdays are only a day apart, Rachel and I decided to do a joint party this year. We had it at a pavilion at Patapsco State park - it was a beautiful day!

Brynn - Two Years Old

At two years old, Brynn:

Is a total Daddy's girl.

Has hit the "terrible twos" already - lots of tantrums when she is tired or doesn't get her way, but in between she is still a sweetheart. Nothing melts my heart more than when you tell her "Love you Brynn" and she says "Love you more!" She loves to give hugs and kisses.

Has a huge vocabulary, and often uses words correctly that we didn't even know she knew. She is also very observant, always making statements like "plane up there!" "bird outside" and seeing tiny pictures in the corner of a book or computer screen.

Is a little timid about trying new things, but if left to her own devices will sometimes try them on her own time. Last year the swing was one of her favorite things, but this year she's scared of it.

Adores her Mommom and Daddad, and we are lucky to be able to see them several times a week!

Can recognize several letters: A, B, E, F, M, O. She is great at doing puzzles and likes to do them several times in a row. She loves being read to - favorites are Elmo books and Richard Scarry's Best Word Book Ever.

Since we moved earlier this month, she has turned back into a great sleeper and has slept through every single night without waking up! She sleeps from about 9 pm to 7:30 am, with usually one nap ranging from 1-3 hours.

Is somewhat of a picky eater - she likes chicken nuggets, french fries, waffles, cereal, oatmeal, macaroni and cheese, chef boyardee, yogurt and some fruits. Vegetables and other more "grown-up foods" are hard to get her to eat.

Is a peanut - she weighed 23 lbs 8 oz. and was 32 1/8" tall at her 2 year appointment, which was only 10th percentile for both!

We love our little princess very much!

Evan - Five Months Old

Look how big our little man is getting! At five months, we are finally starting to try rice cereal with Evan. Actually, Grandma Pryor has tried a few times with him and I did for the first time today. It took a few bites, but once he got going he seemed to like it! Still need to take pictures of that...

Just like Brynn, Evan loves the jumperoo - he must be taller because I don't think Brynn got in it until closer to 6 months and her feet were still a ways from the ground. He's still a little too small to really jump, but he loves standing upright and chewing on/looking at the toys. Evan will grasp toys if you put them up to his fingers, but will only really pick up fabric. He is close to sitting in the "tri-pod" position but not quite there yet.

I've been taking Brynn to a toddler music class for a few weeks - usually I leave Evan with Dwayne, but today I took him with us and he was such a good boy, kicking and smiling watching the other kids. Such a sweet, smiley boy!

I think Evan is starting to look more like the Pryor side - though it seems to change from week to week! I think I see a little of cousin Jay in this picture?

picture below by Granddad!

Gammy and Pappy Meet Evan

Last week, Gammy, Pappy and Savannah drove out from Indiana for a few days and got to meet Evan for the first time! Since Brynn hadn't seen them since August, I showed her pictures of Gammy a lot before they came - it seemed to work well as Brynn warmed up to Gammy immediately and loved hanging out with her. Thankfully, Brynn was also a lot nicer to Savannah this visit and they had a fun time playing in the bath together. Most of the weekend we ended up looking at houses - the kids were so well-behaved while we looked at 7 houses - on Monday we found one we loved and if all goes well we'll be moving in next month!