Thar She Blows!

We took a riding tour of Port Stephens and Nelson Bay where we encountered a very angry sea! Kristen-Take note of the pictures where Lindsey, Evan and I are being blown off the bluff. Our hair looks like it did the night of your wedding!

Peppers Anchorage

This is our latest hotel. It is called Peppers Anchorage. It is a beautiful hotel. The first evening we arrived (Thursday) the weather was beautiful and the sunset was magnificent. We tried to get some decent pictures but photographers, we are not.

Gummy Bear!

We were hoping we could get the nurses professional opinions. It looks to us like Evan is going to get every single one of his top teeth at the same time. If anyone thinks differently, please let us know.

Happy Early Birthday!

We held a small birthday party this evening for Evan's 1st Brithday. It is, of course, April 6th. However, Daddy will be in Australia and will miss it so we decided to have a little party two weeks early. Truthfully we mainly wanted to see the little guy eat cake. GiGi (that is Grammy's new name) and mommy bought some blue cupcakes at the bakery and let Evan have at it. He was very timid and was not too sure what to think about the whole thing. He really enjoyed smearing the icing everywhere. I even think there might have been some in his hair! We thought you might enjoy some of the pics. Other exciting events to note include Evan's second bottom tooth has finally popped through, we believe he is trying to get his two top teeth as well. No wonder he wasn't feeling very well! Also Evan has taken his first unassisted steps yesterday. It was only about four steps but man were we excited! We are trying to capture it on tape so that we may share it with everyone. We head to the coast tomorrow night and we couldn't be more excited for a little fun in the sun and surf.

If you are happy and you know it...

...Smile really big! Evan just hanging out at the cottage while daddy is at work! I don't know but hanging out with two gorgeous chicks doesn't sound too bad to me.

The Jason and Evan Show

So Evan hasn't been feeling very well the past couple of days. We believe he is getting another tooth and this has caused him to feel a little crankie and run a low-grade fever. We have been giving him good ol' American Baby Motrin and he is feeling a little better. He was feeling so well in fact we took him to the pool to swim a few laps and get a little R and R in the sun (shade really). Daddy was the main man yesterday so all of the pictures pretty much have either just Evan or Evan and Jason. Evan is feeling a little better today, although still just slightly warm so we will see how the day goes. Jason wants to check out a few more wineries so we may do that. Next weekend, Easter weekend, we plan on heading to the coast to check out the beaches. We are scheduled to stay at Peppers Resort at Port Stephens....here is the link. We should be there Thursday, March 20 checking out Monday, March 24. We will still have Jason's cell phone though.

http://www.peppers.com.au/Anchorage

Only two weeks left!

Miss Carol

This a picture of the gang with Carol. She and her husband Peter just took over Thistle Hill three months ago. They have done a fabulous job and our stay couldn't be better. I took some pictures of our cottage but with the shadows all you could see was the roof. So I will have to do a better job next time and then post those. Evan wasn't too sure about Carol at first (I think it was the South African accent) but now he absolutely loves her and reaches his arms out for her when she comes to visit. Jason is back in town, he has been staying in Maitland (30 minutes away) for meetings so we are glad to have him back for a while. I suppose we will hit the wineries again this weekend....oh darn!

Just checking things out!

Evan was checking to make sure his stroller is sturdy...yep looks good!

Peek-A-Boo!

Evan has learned a new game as you can see. He is such a little pip-squeak! He thought he was the funniest little man and mother and I would have to agree. Don't you?

Gone Swimmin'....Again

I know you have seen this type of picture before, but it was too cute to pass up posting another. This was taken at Thistle Hill's pool. Evan is a born water baby. He loves to splash in the water!

More Beach Photos

I thought I would include more Evan pictures. I don't think you can ever have enough. These are still the pictures of the beach adventure to Newcastle. After a little fun in the sun we headed to the top of the hills in Newcastle and found ourselves a shady tree in a park to have a lunch. No pictures to share, but it sure was fun!

The Pacific Ocean!

We ventured to Newcastle this weekend. It was beautiful! This was the first time Evan has seen the ocean. It is kind of funny that the first ocean he has seen is the Pacific. I always thought it would be the Atlantic. The water was a little chilly, so we only put his feet in it. I don't think he was too sure what to think about it, but it was fun. It was really hot at the beach and of course with my near albino skin, I got burned. But have no fear...we put spf 50 on Evan!

Evan the Great!

Of course I had to include a picture/video or two of Evan! He has been quite good on the trip. He is rolling with the punches and we get our beauty sleep whenever possible. He is drinking his formula less and less and eating more big boy food. I think his favorite is still the scrambled eggs. He has become very sassy lately though. If he doesn't want to eat something or do something, he will definitely let you know. We are trying to keep him in line though. He is learning how to wave hi and bye and that is what is captured on the video. He is becoming more brave with his walking. He still has to hold on to something but lets go every now and then to test his freedom. I don't know if it makes him nervous but sure does make mother and grammy very nervous! Boys!

Wine Tasting...Mmm Mmm

We have been making our way through the Hunter Valley, vineyard by vineyard. The tastings are free and we take full advantage of them. Of course we buy a bottle of wine at many of the places so I think it all comes out even in the end. The only problem with "tasting" all that wine is that we forget to take pictures of the places we have been. These are just a few of the pics. We will try to do better next time! Oh, just as a side note: Evan forgot his I.D. so he is not able to taste. But that works out okay; we made him the D.D.!

Chloe The Kangaroo

So Jason and I went to the grocery st0re this afternoon leaving mom at the cottage with Evan. She went to go check on Evan and walked past the front door and noticed this out of the corner of her eye. This is Chloe. She was standing right at the front door. Mom got some great pictures of her. I am not sure if she wanted food or just wanted to check out the new folks in the cottage but she sure is cute.

A Day Of Firsts

We arrived at Cypress Lakes Sunday, our layover resort, and encountered many firsts. We were sitting around having a bit of wine, of course, and looked out to see a family of kangroos munching on the grass. One of them had a baby joey in her pouch so that was kind of cool. We also discovered one of Evan's hidden talents. Since our house in Indiana is only one level, we had never experienced steps. However Evan is a natural climber as shown on the little video clip. We then ventured to the lagoon pool on the property where Evan enjoyed his first swim in Australia. I think he looked quite handsome in his little board shorts. Although there were no ladies to impress. We left Cypress Lakes on our way to Thistle Hill. Of course we had to take a pit stop for a little gelatto. MMMMmmmmmm. We should be here for about three weeks. They have a tame kangroo on the property named Chloe. She is very sweet and will even let you come up to her. The cottage is gorgeous and the people are quite lovely. We will include pictures on the next blog hopefully.

The Yanks Have Arrived

The Yanks have arrived down unda after a very long day of flying and we felt like the walking dead. However Jason made us walk 4 blocks to Darling Harbour. The first picture is of the Sydney Opera House in the background. The other two have the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the background. We hung out there for a while and saw some street performers including a woman about the size of Jaime contort her body to fit into a 16 inch box. Very interesting. We drug ourselves back to The Westin and got into bed at about 6 pm, skipped dinner and fell asleep until 6 am Sunday. We feel very refreshed today and ready to head to the Hunter Valley. Jason will be driving so pray for us all! We are heading to Cypress Lakes Resort and Jason had a difficult time getting onto the internet so you may not get an update for a couple of days. We miss you all!

uhhh....did someone say we're going down unda?

Evan has his kangaroo all ready to go to Australia! We leave on Thursday, February 28th and arrive in Sydney on March 1st. Don't forget the time difference there....I believe it is about 16 hours. It should be a very exciting adventure! He is the itinerary:

Mar. 1 The Westin Sydney http://www.westin.com.au/ 011-61-2-8223-1111

Mar. 2 - 3 Cypress Lakes Resort http://www.cypresslakes.com.au/ 011-61-2-4993-1555

Mar. 4 - 25 Thistle Hill http://www.thill.com.au/ 011-61-2-6574-7217

Mar. 26 - Mar. 30 To Be Determined

We will fly home on Sunday, March 30.

You can always call Jason's cell phone 1-812-319-4259 or email edavis@peabodyenergy.com although we all should be able to check our email.

G'day Mates!

Bruiser

Evan's new name is Bruiser. As you can see, he has his first big boy bruise. He was chasing one of the cats into the dining room. Of course he was very excited and tried to stand up too quickly and his hand slipped off of the table's leg and he hit his cheek. I think it scared him more than anything. He of course was scooped up into his mother's arms and after a minute or two of rocking everything was all better. It doesn't seem to bother him now but it looks pretty nasty. We just tell people.....you should have seen the other baby! Please also excuse the hair...he just woke up. He got his 6th haircut yesterday (I believe it is six). So he is ready for his trip to Australia. Now if only I were as prepared!

Mmmm....

It had just begun to snow here and the window was very cold. As you can see....Evan finds all things tasty. Rest assured the window was clean before he licked it. What a silly little man!

Tickle Me Evan

This is just a short clip of Tickle Me Evan. The high pitched squeals are from him! No babies were hurt during the filiming of this clip!

Egg On Your Face

Evan is branching out to new foods every day. This picture is of him eating his scrambled eggs. He seems to like them pretty well. He loves his puffs, graham crackers and cookies. We have tentatively tried pasta and that is going fairly well. It looks like he has a tooth but that is just egg. No teeth yet. We keep waiting but alas, just gums. Needless to say Evan does everything at his own pace! He is crawling all over the place and man is he quick. You definitely have to keep an eye on him! I have come to discover that my entire house is one big baby hazard! Evan also loves to stand and cruise along the furniture, walls, doors, etc. Chasing the cats is probably his favorite passtime right now. They play along too, letting him get close and then walking a few steps and stopping so that Evan can catch up. I am not sure who is having more fun, Evan or the cats!

Finger Foods!

So Evan started to eat finger foods. So far so good. He really likes the Gerber puffs. And from the pictures, you can tell he loves the graham crackers. However I think he gets most of it on his face and hands instead of in his mouth. I find that I have to hose him down afterwards since he is so cracker covered. But he is becoming very independent. Besides eating finger foods, he is crawling like crazy, pulling himself up to stand, and walking with some assistance. But that is ALL he wants to do. We will take small breaks to play with toys and take a nap every now and then. He definitely keeps me on my toes!

On The Move!

So I know the last video shows Evan crawling but this one shows him crawling (on his hands and feet) and standing. What a big boy!

No Paparazzi Please!

Man look me go! The parent-azzi have been trying to get this video for weeks! Now I know how Brittney feels.

Happy New Year!

Hello! We have returned home from Virginia after Christmas and can we say that Evan was spoiled! Thank you again to everyone for all our gifts. We had a wonderful time visiting with all our family and friends and wish that we had more time to spend with everybody. We love and miss you all already. Hopefully we will find ourselves living closer to everyone in the future (I know I am keeping my fingers crossed). We arrived home just in time for the ball to drop for the new year. Happy 2008 everyone! Last year was needless to say...amazing. Little Evan has changed our lives like we never knew it could but we wouldn't change it for the world! Evan is growing by leaps and bounds (still no teeth yet though). I definitely think he likes to do things at his own pace. He is close to crawling and loves to stand up and walk, with a little assistance of course. He is trying to pull himself up but you know when your legs are like tree trunks it makes things difficult. He continues to try and that is what is important. I will keep you posted though!