evans...us

need some minerals?

2008-10-29T15:29:00.000-07:00

this is just a good picture to blog. we were at the beach with mom and dad and she kept acting like she was going to lap up some water or sand, whatever. she never actually made contact between the tongue and sand, which i prefer...

a family picture

2008-10-29T15:26:00.000-07:00

this is from san diego. my mom and dad came down for a visit a couple of weeks ago and we saw san diego.
it was actually kinda funny because we drove all the way down there - about an hour and a half - and we went across this bridge into coronado (sp?) and parked and walked to a little market. we went pee in the market and had lunch, which was really yummy - great "natural" sandwiches - and then we walked down to this sorta lookout point where you could see across the bay into the city. we saw a couple of aircraft carrier ships or whatever you call them - they were pretty cool to look at, big... so we took some pictures and then drove back home! i guess we did drive around balboa park where the san diego zoo is and stuff. they had the world fair, or whatever that is, there several years back, so they had some pretty cool things left from that - sculptures and stuff. there were some cool looking museums, but the kids aren't quite the right age yet... :)
we also stopped at a state beach on the way back and watched the real hippie surfers surf. that was pretty cool.
anyways, we had a blast with mom and dad. it was so great to see them and have them see where we are now. we all went to disneyland another day, that was pretty cool too. it's a totally different experience now that we have little woogies that we like to see have fun in places like that.
oh! and zooey started like full-out walking like the second day they were here. we are all loving that!

are you serious!?

2008-09-11T10:07:00.000-07:00

i hear banging on my door at like 8:55 this morning, about 5 minutes after i put zooey to bed. i'm rinsing out poop from keaton's diaper in the toilet... i open the door, it's a cop. "we got a report of a baby screaming. are there any babies here?"
"yeah, i have two - and yeah, like 30 minutes ago keaton - oh here he is - was screaming because he didn't want me to change his poopy diaper. so, i just let him cry it out a little then he let me change him..."
"ok, so everybody is ok?"
"yeah, thanks for checking..."
"good luck. obey your mom."

what the freak... i feel like my motherhood has been challenged or something. like the guy was really nice about it. i think he just had to come because someone had said something, and he seemed to know that kids scream and cry sometimes, but it really unnerved me... i kinda just want to give keaton and zooey tranquilizers until they hit 8 or 9 and go from there. i don't know... i'll simmer down in a little while. what was i supposed to do let the poop bake on his butt then give him a horrible rash? he's freaking two years old, he can't decide if he wants to leave crap on his butt or not. ugh! oh well, in a couple of days or weeks or months or years, i'm sure i'll love telling the story and laughing about it. thing is, he reminds me of me...

progress

2008-09-03T07:17:00.000-07:00

okay, i wake up this morning, and i was like, woah, i didn't get up at all last night. then i did a little dance, sang a little song... then scott goes, "how many times did you get up last night?"
"never, she slept through, i guess." (i had turned off monitor again)
"what about that time i hit you?"
"you hit me?"
"yeah, she was crying, so i hit you."
"hmm, never heard her, don't remember it..."

so, i don't know how long she cried for, but i guess it wasn't as long as the night before. and i don't have any bruises or anything from being hit, so that's good.
still not doing too great in the weening world.
whatever. life.

last night

2008-09-02T06:42:00.000-07:00

preface: zooey has been waking up about 2-3 times a night wanting to nurse. i've been trying to wean her, but it's not going very smoothly. it would be no big deal if i didn't mind her wailing around the house, following me everywhere and then crying for like 30 min every time i put her down for a nap before she falls asleep. i had her trained to sleep through the night up until about 3 weeks ago. i'm guessing that it has been the teething that has messed it all up... just guessing. so, we are at the training stage again.
last night: she wakes up at like midnight-ish. i had turned off the monitor so i couldn't hear her wake up and wail, so i don't know exactly how long she had been crying for, but her screaming woke both scott and i up. so i did what i've always done, for her and keaton, let her cry/scream/wail. (and i am lucky in the fact that keaton sleeps through it all, poor kid gotta try and sleep through screaming.) well, this goes on for about an hour, she winds down and is quiet - ah, blessed jesus. now i can try and go back to sleep. then, we hear a click... keaton is saying, "mommy..." i cussed - not a really bad word, but a bad enough one... uh-um. then, "wwwaaaahhhh...." so, i end up feeding her and we all go back to sleep. dangit. i guess we'll try again tonight.

so,

2008-08-26T13:04:00.000-07:00

i've lived in the oc for about a month now. it's good. totally wasn't digging scott being in north carolina for 2 weeks for training whatever, but he's back. the thought pretty much crosses my mind once a day that i can't believe that i live here - where people come and vacation. it's pretty cool. i've got a fave beach to take the kids to, when it's just me and them. it's like 4 miles away, we can park up the road for free and i can do this pretty sweet switcha-roo with the stroller, and we walk the rest of the way to the beach.

the other day, we walked to this park that is in the stereotypical oc, really nice houses, like REALLY nice houses, nice cars, REALLY nice cars, you know... and so, there were the real housewives of orange county all around me, and it was surreal. i felt like i was just watching, and they didn't even know i was there - i was totally, i don't know, apart. i wasn't dressed like weird, or picking my nose or a wedgie or anything, but they were just different. i know what it was: botox, liposuction, and whatever else they do. seriously, i heard them talking about who was getting it done next and how it looked fake or great and i was like, woah. i don't care that they do it, and they all seemed nice enough, but it was just really different from the hippy, yoga, granola people of austin and the redneck hillbillies of missouri. it was cool to be cultured. and, not everyone around here is like that. just like not all of austin is hippie or all of missouri are hicks, but they were all there all at the same time or something.

hmm, i guess this is what blogging is, just rambling and it's okay if you don't make any sense. do any of you ever offend someone with your blogging?

my totally great friend, karina, had her first baby the other day. jade. that's the baby's name. i am really sad that i can't be there. it's really the first time that i've been sad-ish since being here. i was sad in missouri, mostly during the winter, but she was close by when i had keaton and zooey, and now i don't get to be there when she is a first time mom. i know that she and daine will be great, and i want to see it! anyway, someday i'll meet her!

i've put the pillows back on our couch seriously like 8 times already, and they're off again. i guess i know how i can fix my problem, just leave them on the ground. but then, that's the main fun of it i think, taking them off the couch. i could make keaton put them all back himself, but he can't yet, so i'm stuck. i can't really complain, i am home all day long, this is why. so i can put the pillows back on the couch, pick up the stuffed animals, wipe crap off tushes, do some laundry, and get hugs and kisses from my kids.

how do you know if you want more kids or not? one day i feel one way, another day, totally different.

i'm lucky

the humble abode

2008-08-01T20:05:00.000-07:00

here is the front of our little boy blue home. it goes a little more to the left and then the right, and then there's a garage. i wanted to get the hidrangeas in there though - i can't believe how huge and beautiful they are! we sold them at smith and hawken in pots, but they weren't near this big, and there was no way in forever that you could get them to do well in the ground there.
this is in the morning time - it's kinda weird, pretty much every morning it's somewhat overcast, but then by like 11 or noon, it's all nice and bright california sunshiny!

our new home

2008-08-01T19:57:00.000-07:00

we made it to the beach - about 4 miles from our house - this one anyway - on the fri that gma was here. keaton absolutely loved it - zooey as well, since she could eat it...
keaton wasn't so sure the first couple of minutes, but after that we was running through it laughing and splashing and falling in it and having the best time in the world. it was totally cool to watch.

...gone

2008-07-29T06:42:00.000-07:00

we are here, in the oc!! it's crazy awesome.

grandma and the kids and i got here thurs. night and then gma left on sat. morning. we had our 5th anniversary that day too - we walked along the beach, totally cool.

it was hardish leaving the fam. we will miss them lots for sure. the only reason it was hardish and not hard was because i hadn't seen scott for 2 whole weeks and i was really excited to be with him again. anyway, i totally a ton of fun while i was there. rock climbing, volleyball, swimming, mom took me out to eat a couple of times, and just the time in the morning when the boys were getting ready for work and joking with them, etc. i always did like my family. =)

so, the kids did great on the journey over. mom and dad drove us to rolla to meet gma and bob (gma's "friend" - who's absolutely great by the way) the kids did pretty good on that drive. then we had some snacks at panera, let the kids be outta the seat for a while, then we headed on to st. peters - we all slept on that leg of the journey. gma made her famous hamburgers and we had fresh peaches from GA, homemade cookies... mmmm! the kids had fun roaming around her condo and then we headed to the airport. we got through all of that fine, after i realized that i had left my phone in bob's car and he had to turn around and bring it back. no sleeping the first flight (the long one, to phoenix), but they did pretty good - as long as i kept the snacks rolling. we had some wendy's in phoenix, and keaton was pulling our carry-on, because he thought it was the coolest thing ever, but he has this problem of not watching where he's going, so he ran into this pole and screamed like his arm had been cut off. so, that was the craziest it got. they both fell asleep before we even took off and didn't wake up until we had to pick them up to carry them off the plane in orange county. they were so excited to see scott. it was the coolest thing ever to watch. they got the biggest smiles on their faces, and zooey wouldn't let go of scott forever.

so now we are at our cute little house. i absolutely love it. it's got some age and dings to it, but overall, it's really great. it's a great size, and i'll send pics as soon as we've got internet at the house. our neighbors are great - everybody does everything with everybody. there's a family across the little drive from us that has a 14 mo. old boy, so keaton and zooey and him all play together. then there's a 4 yr old girl that lives next to us and she will have a new bro or sister in a few months. then everyone else doesn't have kids, at least not that live with them - they are a bit older, but they all love our kids (i mean, jeez, who wouldn't), and it's a ton of fun!

everybody needs to come and visit soon! y'all are invited, just not at the same time...

take it easy.

going...

2008-07-05T04:58:00.000-07:00

well, we have a place that will be called our home in orange county, california! scott and i flew into santa ana about 10ish on monday. we had like 5 appointments and also just stopped and looked at other properties. there were several that would work fine, but there was just something not so perfect about them. location, washer/dryer hookups (that would fit our current set), enough room for all of us, the landlord being iffy about two little kids in there, stuff like that.
so anyway, we met with my good friend, keturah, that i knew here from springfield. she went to school out there, then stayed. she lives in costa mesa now, which is where we really wanted to be. so we saw a lot of the newport beach, carona del mar, and costa mesa areas with her. went to an amazing mexican place - btw: we are so stoked to have good mexican back in our lives :) - the area is so great! the weather is awesome. it's seriously like in the mid to upper 70's there during the day - in the sun it feels a little warmer. the beach is so nice and close. so then we went to American or America Cup - it's a little frozen yogurt place where you fill your own cup with a type of yogurt (i got peanut butter) then put toppings on it and they weigh it for price. it's way cool, and pretty darn yummy... not sure if it tops andy's frozen custard here in MO - or amy's in austin, but it's really close!
okay, so we looked at a few other places on Tues. then we met with my aunt's brother and his wife (tim and bonnie) who also live in costa mesa and we went to lunch at a really yummy little place and then drove around and around and around just looking for signs in this eastside area that we wanted to be in. we found several little for rent signs, but most of the ones that we could afford were already rented out.
so, tim and bonnie return to their day, and we're like okay - we've got to make a decision on the ones that we had looked at, but like i said, nothing was really the "right" one. so, we were driving off, and saw one last sign... you know what's coming now... so we called - it sounded awesome over the phone - 3 bedroom, 2 bath, little yard in the back, washer/dryer hookups, for a very good price for the area - so we asked to have a walkthrough and she was like, "yeah, tomorrow at 2," well our flight left at 2:30 - not gonna work. so i get off, tell scott, and he's like, "this is perfect, this is what we want, call back and just see if we can put in an application." so, i call back, and he ends up taking the phone and talking them into letting us come up and fill out an application. so, we had to drive a good piece to this office, and we filled out an application - and there it is!
we rush down to newport beach and have dinner with scott's boss and soon to be co-workers at the cheesecake factory - yummy! it was really great getting to meet them and know them. they are really great gals - yeah, he will be working with 4 women... :) anyway, we really connected, that was a lot of fun.
by the time we get done eating and headed back to north santa ana where we were staying - very cool, by the way, scott's parents have friends that live there and we were able to stay at their home, totally nice deal (we got to sleep on a sleep-number bed, that was pretty cool) - so by this time we've decided that we are going to see if we can postpone our flight until Thurs. so that we can look at this place. so, all that works out - we can get a flight out early thurs. morning and turn our rental car in then at no extra charge, my family okay to keep the kids an extra day.
it was really nice how it turned out, we had time to shop a little, go see scott's office, go to beach, and of course see the townhouse. anyway, it's smallish, but more bigish than all the rest we had seen, the carpet is brand new, so that's nice, the way that it's set up, the kids can ride their bikes and stuff out in the parking lot. the 3rd bedroom is actually a converted garage - they did a pretty nice job with it - it's not like concrete floor still or anything, but it's way tiny, no windows, but a skylight. there is no a/c, but the coastal breeze is pretty good coming through and we'll be fine in that dept. i'm hoping they'll allow us to paint b/c the walls are seriously white - i mean white white, and the cabinets like a really dark brown stain on plywood type stuff. so, i think we can really make it look cool, but it will be determined by how much we can do to it... what the rules are.
um, so yeah. i think that's pretty much it for now. scott and his parents and i worked on switching their stuff out with our stuff that was here in the house yesterday. we just have a few more things to pack up, but i think we're pretty set. it's really nice being able to go ahead and just pack everything up because their dishes and things are here to trade out with.
scott is going to drive out on the 10th pulling the honda with the pathfinder. then the kids and grandma and i will fly out the 24th.
we are excited for the new adventure that God has in store for us. thank you all for your prayers during our "transition" time. you can pray now for our leaving time. it will be difficult to leave family again, esp. now that i have babies, but i'm totally happy that i'm not moving to russia or timbuktu or somewhere half-way around the world where we couldn't see family very much at all.
we would love for every single one of y'all to come out and see us... maybe not all at the same time though. i guess if you bring your tent you can just camp on the beach or something...
our addy is 2132 b, orange ave, costa mesa, ca 92627

here's what's happening

2008-06-26T05:43:00.000-07:00

well, it's been 500 years since i've last written - thank God it's gotten nice and hot out and NO more ice for a long time. especially since we are moving to southern california!
yeah, for real, we are headed the santa ana, costa mesa area. scott just accepted an offer from samaritan's purse a week ago and he will start work the 14th of july! here's some info on samaritan's purse: www.samaritanspurse.org and his area of it, operation christmas child: www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/occ/. he is regional manager for the south california district. i'll know more once he's doing it obviously, but one of the main things he'll be doing is training volunteers.

so yeah, we are totally stoked - esp. the kids and me because we'll pretty much be like 15 minutes at most from the beach - oh yeah baby!

other than that, things aren't really too different for us than most families - the kids are growing, keaton turned 2 last week - that's nuts - scott's been working, and i've been doing the laundry and changing diapers - to name a few!

ice

2008-02-11T11:35:00.000-08:00

another ice storm... i wish i was at the beach!

sharing

2008-01-22T08:49:00.000-08:00

keaton likes to share with his sister - so far anyway.
can you tell i'm bored? i've posted like 200 blogs and pictures and junk in the last few minutes. i'm iced in here in Springfield, MO. i was going to get out, but i backed out of the driveway and the ice slid me right back in, so i decided i'd rather not be stuck in a ditch with two babies, somewhere out here in the frigid arctic weather... so, we are in... and bored. that's why there are 200 posts today, and there haven't been any for 200 years before this. did you know that 200 is not a significant number in the bible or anywhere else that i'm aware of?

re-united

2008-01-22T08:45:00.000-08:00

daine and karina hopped over to see us after Christmas. it was so great to see them. keaton was very happy to see uncle daine, aunt karina too, i'm sure. and zooey probably didn't care... except that she got held more than usually, so she probably did care too.
thanks for being such great friends, guys!

wild blue yonder

2008-01-22T08:42:00.000-08:00

this is keaton "the kid" and presley and weapons of choice - only used for self-defense of course

top chef

2008-01-22T08:39:00.000-08:00

this is how i'm able to cook - keaton helps! he loves to "cook" any time of day - or night probably too. he stands at the sink and runs water in and out and through all the utensils i use. this time he decided to rinse the whisk without the aid of water...

belly dancer

2008-01-22T08:36:00.000-08:00

i think the plan is to start lessons as soon as she is able to stand on her own.

nothing new

2008-01-13T09:38:00.000-08:00

i haven't posted in a while, so i thought i'd put a quick blurb.
christmas was tons of fun. we saw lots of family and the kids didn't get too many toys. scott and i got a rice cooker - it's awesome!
we are still in springfield. i think we are very ready to know what God has in store for us, but it has been a very good resting and growing time.
that's really all that's new, well, actually nothing is new, except for the rice cooker.

looking back

2007-12-02T06:07:00.000-08:00

oh my gosh, i remember this! she was so tiny. keaton didn't know what to think, we were carting him off to stay with different people all the time. scott had his princess, and we were surounded by the best of friends. i want so bad to be able to hold daine and karina's little one in the hospital some day. i guess you never know. now i look down and she's sitting in the bumbo, holding her own head, pooping her pants (loudly), and watching espn. i am so blessed.
*content sigh*

addicted

2007-12-01T05:47:00.000-08:00

yeah, so the sun was back out this week - and i actually was able to get out and kick the soccer ball around and bump the volleyball and throw discs (as in disc golf discs), and i had an "awe, i have a wonderful life, i love life" week. scott has heard before that people can get addicted to the sun just like they can nicotine or booze, just on a different level - much different level, i told him... and i think it's true. i'm such a weirdo, but i get cabin fever faster than people run to the crapper after eating brownies with laxatives in them. i've never had that happen to me by the way - yeah, i've had to run for the pot, but i haven't had the pleasure of being pranked with the Imodium ad brownies. i'd like to just keep it that way too... but yeah, i need the sun - not to get some fab tan either, but there's something about the bright warmth of the going to kill you if you get too much of them uv rays. i guess it is like nicotine or booze - if you get too much it kills you in the end. man, this is kinda turning into a dismal talk.
my buddy daine likes the sun too though... and i'm sure there are more, so i won't die alone. =) okay, yeah, that's all on this subject. i'm a dork.

uncle dirk

2007-12-01T05:32:00.000-08:00

how many of you have an uncle that is just 7 years older?

this is what i live for

2007-11-25T16:24:00.000-08:00

my beautiful little girl. she's already sitting up in the bumbo - which keaton can say by the way. yeah, my kids - even though sometimes i can still imagine life without the whining - before the whining - i wouldn't trade it for anything. i love my kids more than words can express. people would stop me in the grocery store and say, "now you understand how your parents love you." which, when keaton was a week or two old, i still hadn't grasped. but now, yes, i would do absolutely anything for them. except let 'em have the entire jar of applesauce on the highchair tray... so, when i get all crazy at the end of a "boring" weekend (which most people would love to have to be able to just relax... i have so many issues) i look at my babies and it's all okay.
hey "dukes of hazard" or whatever it's called with jessica simpson is on. i'm not a great fan of hers... to say the least.
i better go help scott - he's cooking with both kids in close proximity.

stuff

2007-11-25T16:18:00.000-08:00

well, it's past thanksgiving; i should be excited that the "brisk, cool, seeing your breath, and rosy cheeks" weather is here... but i'm not. my babies are sick, snotting and coughing. i have the most horrible sore throught in the world. and i just want to go to a beach somewhere and soak up the sun.
we spent the afternoon at my family's house. that was nice, i didn't have to cook lunch or sit here thinking about all the things that i want to try and get done before my in-laws come next week. we had chili. that was a pretty great eat on a colder than cold, foggy, dreary day.
keaton has climbed onto the chair behind me and has now taken over the desk and keyboard.
i know, i should tell him no and remove him, but i'm just tired of dealing with it. tired of being stuck inside all day, not being able to go out because of the climate. washing and rewashing snotty rags and t-shirts.
well, sorry to be all a-muck - but i'm sure i'll snap out of it soon - or at least when the sun reappears.

what we did this weekend:

2007-10-21T13:07:00.000-07:00

we re-did the entire front yard. my bro, eric, was awesome. he brought a mini excavator from a job, so we got to use it for free, got a dump trailer for the entire weekend for only $50 - because he has the hook-up, went back and forth from spfd to ozark to dump old dirt, get good dirt (with poop in it - horse poop that is) and mulch, and helped spread it all out. another bro, carson, helped with the whole process too. he even helped to place the plants, so if you don't like where they are, take it out with him.
then today scott and i put in the stone walkway, and presto chango - we are done! just got to water and weed and keep the acorns and the leaves off.......

hopefully i'll figure out how to get the pictures on here soon - i don't know what the deal is today. i guess i'm in dirt mode and forgot my computer skills...

i'm frustrated

2007-10-21T13:06:00.000-07:00

okay, i've tried to post a couple of new things twice now, and they aren't showing up! i'll figure it out later...

reeeach...

2007-10-14T08:48:00.000-07:00

we got to go climbing in ak. a couple of weekends ago. it was such a blast. let's just say that scott is a natural with all that lean muscle mass - let alone all that length. it was so great being able to leave the kids with mom back home and take off for the entire day! the pump i had to take sounded like a cow though, it was the battery powered one. everyone felt a little more at easy knowing i could sustain the group if we got stranded up there......... gross.

growing... up

2007-10-13T16:43:00.000-07:00

keaton's vocabulary has exploded the last few days. he can say "open, please, thank you, milk, kaden, blankie, nanna," and probably a few others i can't think of right now. he's almost to that stage where you can tell him to say... whatever... and he'll repeat it. such fun! he still speaks fluent keatonese as well - glad we haven't grown out of that yet. we enjoy it. oh, and he knows how to "put it back", kelly is really loving that one!

cheese

2007-10-13T16:37:00.000-07:00

we've started smiling!

becoming green

2007-10-05T05:33:00.000-07:00

taking the white away is so much fun... before kelly could start with the color though, she had to paint the hallway, living room, entryway, kitchen, and laundry room ceilings - white. i thought closets were the worst... changed my mind... ceilings are

while kelly works

2007-10-05T05:30:00.000-07:00

this is what keaton does to help

this is what zooey does to help

2007-10-01T20:37:00.000-07:00

this is the office we painted - the colors of a giraffe - a stuffed one anyway. i think the real live ones are a bit more muted...

sure, i'm biased...

2007-10-01T20:33:00.000-07:00

but they are so totally cute! and everyone says they look like me (kelly)... so that means i'm cute too - ha! keaton is now in a size 7 shoe (he gets that from dad though), and still likes getting dirty, running outside, and anything that has to do with water.

zooey lost her b.button plug on saturday, therefore she got her first true bath on saturday (she smelled horrible), and started responding with smiles today... ahhh... she still eats a ton too - trust me, i know...

housework

2007-10-01T20:26:00.000-07:00

i hear that we should have seen it a month ago - i saw what they carted off to the trash - NASTY! thanks so much to all my families for buying the wood floors, carpets, tile, dishwasher, microwave, stove/oven(double i might add), sliding glass door... and for installing all of it. i would most definitely be wondering what i was smoking if i had agreed to help install it all. don't get me wrong, i wouldn't have really minded, but with two kids...? i'm sure that all y'all that did install were glad that they weren't there to "scream" you on... anyway, thanks a ton to you, we love it. esp. keaton... he loves pushing the broom around on the floors. i love it too - it's a lot quieter than when he plays with the pots and pans. =)

anyway, we've painted two rooms, installed one ceiling fan, painted two closets (most boring thing in the world to paint) - i still have to do the second coat on one - and mowed the lawn! oh, and gotten one car into the garage.