Things other than Baby Evie

Although Evie is a lovely and vibrant part of our lives, we have been up to other things lately. We do try to maintain a balanced life!

In work…

I enjoy my job a lot. I work for a non-profit company that serves families with children with developmental delays. My particular focus is kids on the Autism Spectrum, ages 3-5. I began managing this program a year and a half ago, first by overseeing social playgroups for these kids. We provided and staffed groups of 3-6 kids, all with autism, which provided structured play and social opportunities for them. The kids can encounter other children in a structured, predictable environment while staff help them to work on their particular challenges in having autism. 6 months ago, when I returned to work, we expanded this service to going in-home. As in, we now have a person who visits the family and works with the family and the child to make their own particular family life more accessible to their child. We help the child with autism play with a sibling, eat at the table, help with chores, etc… This has been very challenging and exciting to organize and supervise, and I'm having a blast. God has really provided an amazing job for me that challenges me and allows me to still take care of Evie for a large portion of the day.

Michael is still working with adults with disabilities, helping them to find real employment opportunities in the community. Although this is a noble job, he continues to seek work that is more interesting to him. Currently he's going through a long (although almost finished) application process for the State Parks, in hopes of becoming a CA State Park Ranger. The odds are really stacked (when have job opportunities ever been easy in our adult lives?--never!!), but we're hopeful--yet still preparing to think about something else for him if this doesn't work out. A living wage would be a good start.

In home…

We've been hosting a Korean exchange student this winter. He's been here about 6 weeks and may or may not stay on with us for another 6. He's been pretty pleasant to have around, and the whole endeavor has also provided us with extra cash, something that's always helpful!

We also (when I say we, I mean mostly Michael) undertook the re-flooring of the kitchen and entryway. This has been a MAJOR process, which began in September and concluded in January. Basically, he ripped up the old floor, laid a new subfloor, and then tiled the whole thing. Not easy. We now understand why tiling is expensive--it's not the materials, it's the labor. Cha-ching! However, it looks great and is a big improvement from yellow vinyl flooring and fake stone in the entryway. Here are some pics, although I'll post the finished product in a later posting. I know--how cruel!

Laying the hardibacker (cement board)--very heavy stuff!

mortar it down, then nail it down…

Laying out the tile on top of the hardibacker…

Entryway, experiencing new freedom from nasty black and white fake stone.

Evie, participating in the sanding of the grout, so we could clean it and seal it…then done! At long last!

I am also enjoying participating in our church choir, which performs every Sunday, as well as does a couple of special performances throughout the year. Michael has been doing a little fishing and snowboarding, and may be launching a new project with some friends that involves a cow. We'll see. More on that later.

And Evie? She comes along for the ride, and since she can crawl and pull herself up now, we're trying to stay one step ahead of any potential near-death experiences for her. Whew! Good stuff…God stuff!

Cutie Pie

Evie gets around. She's about 6 -7 months old in these pictures.

Evie with Grandpa Joe for his birthday. We went to Aunt Jeannie's house in Santa Rosa. She is 7.5 months old and he is 91.

He loves her very much.

Evie and Uncle Greg at Upper Bidwell Park in Chico. She's his buddy.

(7.5 months)

Evie and Daddy (January '11)

Daddy and Evie tiling the floor together.

(6.5 months)

Miss Evelyn is doing a lot these days; it's a bit hard to keep track of it all, but I need to write all this down somewhere.

-constant babbling, squealing, screaming, yelling, laughing

-very intentional yelling at her mother

-eats solid food (broccoli is a new favorite)

-plays with toys

-likes to read a book with Mama or Daddy

-crawling as of 3/2

-loves people games like peek-a-boo and catch

-is generally quite wonderful!

The Baby Gourmet

I decided before I had children that I would make my own baby food--really, it's just mashing up the good food that those of us with teeth are enjoying. But I'm finding it to be fun and fulfilling, knowing that I'm giving my baby wholesome, healthy, and fresh food, just like I like to eat!

Some of my favorite recipes/combinations so far have been:

-bananas with…

avocado, homemade no-sugar applesauce, or carrots

-applesauce and carrots

-chicken broth with carrots

-potatoes, spinach, carrots, and broth

-yams and butter

-egg yolk with sea salt

And one of Evie's favorite (but not too frequent) treats is pizza sauce! Go figure...

I've followed some recommendations to delay introducing grains, legumes, honey, and dairy until she is at least one year old, but in the meantime, food has been fun and tasty! She is a Hanes through and through and loves her food!

Oh wait, that's cardboard. Well, she likes that, too.

Highlights of Fall--Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving in Anacortes this year--a trip we were very excited for. The weather was pretty crazy this year--snow, sunshine, rain…all in 8 days! Michael and I tried to keep our visit relaxed while still getting around to see our friends and family.

Any visit to Anacortes warrants a trip to Rosario Beach.

Eryn and Baby Evie on Rosario Head.

Nana and Grandpa on a walk to Heart Lake.

note: my mom has had that sweatshirt for at least 15 years.

Evie loves dogs. She giggled at Tristan's dog Dakota for about 30 minutes. Dakota was very gracious and gentle as she allowed Evie to pet her ears and pull her hair. Dakota is just a bit smaller than an elephant, and I was very impressed with how well Tristan has raised her. There's not many people's dogs I would trust with a little baby, but Tristan is one of them.

Daddy showing Evie one of his favorite spots in Anacortes.

Just Because She's Cute

I started back to work the middle of August and have been frightfully distracted with managing my time and sanity between work and family. As you may have noticed, the volume of pictures has gone down significantly. But I have not abandoned the photos altogether, so it's just a matter of getting caught up!

Fairly unconcerned that I set her in her chair on the front porch while her dad and

I did yard work.

Seriously, I am one chill baby.

Chillin' on the front porch wears me out.

Who can resist my cuteness?

(Evie, right around her 3-month mark…)

Our National Park Next Door

Mount Lassen Volcanic National Park is a mere

1.5 hours from Chico (which is an average distance for anything of interest outside of Chico). We were experiencing the itch to get out of town and opted for a place that was yet unexplored by us. What a great find! Mount Lassen is not heavily trafficked, and the scenery is really interesting. Take a look…

Lassen Peak

Lassen Nat'l Park, looking east.

Mount Tehama, now known as Broke-off Mountain.

A ja-zillion years ago, Mount Tehama blew its top off and scattered volcanic rock all over Northern California. Anywhere you go in the Chico area, you can see evidence of this ancient event. Broke-off Mountain is now a great hike (on my list) and is said to provide great views.

The focus of our trip was the Bumpass Hell trail, which led down to a concentration of fumaroles (holes in the volcanic landscape from which gas and vapor escape). A boardwalk allowed us to walk amongst the bubbling pools of mud, while sulfur seared our nostrils.

Evie is enjoying a little break from the Ergo.

Steam and mud; a little too hot for swimming.

We highly recommend a trip to this National Park, and we'd be quite happy to be your novice tour guides the next time you come to visit our area.

Half Dome

I encouraged Michael to mark his 30th year with something he's always wanted to do: hike Half Dome in Yosemite. It was a little bit more difficult to coordinate this trip than either of us had anticipated…the National Park is now limiting the number of people who can go up to the top of the face to 300 per day, which means that each climber needs to purchase a ticket. Way back in April when we started looking, the first available tickets were for August 6th. I suppose I have to appreciate them wanting to keep hoards of people off of a 3000-ft. precipice, but a 4-month delay was pretty crazy! We also learned that if a person wants to stay overnight in the Yosemite area during the high season, whether it be in a campsite or in a hotel, it is impossible. So, we had some coordination to make happen. Michael's climbing team were his sister, dad, and friend Matt. They all left at 3:00 a.m. in order to drive into the park and be on the trail by 6:00 a.m. A grueling 15 hours later, they were finished. I watched them limp back in the house at 11:00 p.m. Long day though it was, the experience was pretty spectacular, and the photos were the proof.

Beginning of the trek; I'm seeing lots of energy here!

Good to know.

What did he get himself into?

The ants going up the side of that rock are people.

Views from the top…

This is how they got up and down the dome.

I (Eryn) had really wanted to go on this hike, but didn't think I was up to it this summer. Now I'm not sure if I'm up to it at all, after looking at these pictures. Well, you know what they say, "never say never."