Everett 17 months

Oh our little Everett is 17 months old and absolutely FULL of personality!! He has become quite the expert walker and is really enjoying his version of running. Everett is into everything, I mean EVERYTHING!

Everett has gotten a few spankings lately for misbehaving but we are learning to pick our battles with him. He is also learning how to wrap his parents around his fingers with a sweet little smile... we are in trouble for sure.

Everett remains the sweetest little boy. He makes everyone laugh around him and usually gives out sugars to those who ask, unless he thinks you want them too much then he makes you wait. He loves to wave to anyone and everyone.

Everett has a little bear, named Meyer, whom he has gotten very clingy too. He has slept with him for the past several months and is now carrying him everywhere with him and will not get out of his bed without him. I secretly love it!

 

I love bedtime and nap time but I miss you so much when you are sleeping my little love. You continue to make everyday and absolute adventure! I am ridiculously blessed to be your Mom and am so grateful for the opportunity to stay home with you everyday! I love you so much little bear!!

Our very own little Walker

We had a Great 4th of July spent at our Powell Family Reunion here in Amarillo. Drew and Everett got to meet family from Nana's side that I haven't seen in years and we had a wonderful time catching up. But the best part of our 4th came later that evening when our little bear FINALLY decided to walk!!

Everett, my love,  you take your time and do things at your own pace. For the past 6 months I have been watching you work on your walking skills but not wanting to take the leap for more than 5 or 6 steps on  your own. Your doctor credited this to your amazing crawling skills and you being comfortable getting around so quickly crawling you haven't felt the need to walk. You spent the past few days watching your little relative Issac walk around and you must have gotten motivated. During our family meal at Ruby Tequila's you were outside playing with your Dad and took off walking. You are the cutest little walker I have ever seen and I am so proud of you!! As your Aunt Cindy said she didn't think your personality could blossom any more but you have flourished even more since learning to walk.  I love seeing  you take risks and challenging yourself with new things! I love and adore you! Let the chasing begin!

Hiking in the Canyon

While Ryan was in town we took a little outing to Palo Duro Canyon. Drew had only been once in his life and Ryan hadn't been in many many years. We loaded up Mom, Everett and the three of us in the car and hit the canyon road.

First up was a little splashing in the creek which was full of water from all of our recent rains. Drew and I got Everett in and shortly behind us Mom came plunging in. She kept saying "I love this, I love this place" and "can we stay forever here." It was pretty precious! We then took a short little hike down a path and Everett got to ride on his Dad and Uncle Ryan's shoulders the whole way. It was a quick little outing but we all enjoyed it... especially Mom who can't wait to go back.

 

 Clearly Everett was not a big fan of the creek and yes we do look a little redneck.

 

 

 

Happy Father's Day 2015

As far as Father's go Everett has one of the best! I love to watch Everett's eyes light up when his Dada comes home and Drew's are shining just as bright!! These two are nuts over one another and I couldn't be prouder. Drew is such a loving and devoted Dad and never balks at changing diapers. He can always make Everett laugh harder than anyone else and has a special way of making playing all the more fun! They are two peas in a pod, not to mention how they look exactly like one another!
So Happy Father's Day to our favorite Dad! We wouldn't want to do life without you! We love you!!

 

Little Family Photo Session

The past few weeks have been super busy around here. Patrick got engaged to Taren Bullock and we are beginning wedding planning and celebrations there. We love Taren and are so excited she will be becoming a part of our family. I truly couldn't have asked for a better girl for Patrick!

We celebrated Sweet Kelsey's High School Graduations, pictures and post to come. And we received a surprise visit from Ryan!! It has been almost 2 years since we have seen Ryan or his family. We last got together in New Orleans just before they left for Hawaii. Ryan came in just in time for Kelsey's graduation so for several days my Mom got to have all three of her kids together in one place! Of course I had to document the occasion with a quick little photo session. It was a little difficult to work with a timer and get Mom and Everett to look at the camera but I think we got a few keepers from the mix!

15 month old boy!

Sweet Everett turned 15 months on Wednesday! We celebrated with shots and he didn't even cry.

Everett is weighing in at 25.6 lbs, 31 inches long, 87 and 93 percentiles respectively. He is doing all things that are expected of a 15 month old including getting around by himself (still not officially walking although he has taken a few steps on his own) and recognizing all sorts of objects. He has also added "ball" and "dog" to his vocabulary although he only says it when he feels like it and usually not for an audience other than Mom and Dad. Everett has a ferocious appetite which has involved picking around his veggies lately. Recently he has discovered a love of a classic PB&J sandwich and enjoys eating them with his Nana (my Mom).

We have seen a few tantrums from our little bear, usually when he can't be held and wants to be or when he isn't getting to eat what he thinks he needs. These tantrums involve a scrunched up face and flinging himself backwards, a nice preview of what is to come I am sure. Everett is "sharing" things with adults, not so much kiddos yet, he likes to hand out snacks or his sippee cup to whomever is nearby. We have baby proofed all cabinets, drawers, the toilet and screen door all of which he mastered opening before we got this done. Everett is fast... I mean a FAST crawler. If not in a contained area do not turn around because he will be gone in a flash. Drew and Everett's Gran-Nana have both fallen victim to his speed recently. Everett is a big lover and gets enjoyment from sharing his kisses with anyone and everyone except the person who is asking the most for them, he usually makes that person suffer while he kisses everyone else and then chuckles at their loss.

Everett is still an excellent sleeper, going down for 12 hours a night and then taking a two hour nap... I am blessed! His favorite book right now is a Jesus loves me book that sings out loud. He barely has anything to do with his walker unless Norah is over and they can bumper car together. Everett loves to swing outside and will quickly laugh when his Dad jumps out of the way of the swing saying "ouch" like he got hit. Everett loves this little game. Everett loves to look out the window and screen doors and most particularly when it is time for his Dad to come home. I tell him to watch for Dada and he goes to his spot, as soon as Drew pulls up he begins jumping up and down on his knees and waving his arms. But when Drew comes in the door Everett crawls away to "hide" a game he also thinks is so fun!

Our sweet boy is going full time to the nursery at church and even though he cries when we leave him we are told it doesn't last long and he enjoys his time.  Everett has always been an observer of things around him and this continues. He is a full on flirt... we cannot go anywhere where people are not giving him attention and telling how precious he is. He greets all of this with his wrinkled nose face, some aren't sure if he is going to cry which he never does, and sometimes a little snort. If Everett is not getting attention from strangers around him he seems to think something is wrong and begins to seek it out. Recently at a graduation event for Kelsey, Everett realized there were rows of people sitting behind us and stood up in my arms waving and making faces to entertain them. To the man to our left who was not paying attention he leaned over and stuck his head out until he got the attention he wanted. We have a full on entertainer... he is a lot like his Nana.

Everett my love you are your Father and I's absolute Love and Joy! We miss you when you sleep or are away from us. We love to watch you grow and discover the world around you. You make us laugh harder than anything else. You love us unconditionally and give us all the kisses and hugs we want. You continue to be a sweet and easy baby. We take you anywhere and everywhere and with the exception of you learning to use your voice and wanting to be on the move at all times you are an excellent companion. We are madly in love with you little bear! Thank you for letting us love on you and be  your parents!

A little trip to Dallas

A few weeks ago I braved taking Mom & Everett to Dallas for the weekend. Patrick had really been wanting us to come down to meet some important people in his life and Drew had a trip already planned to go visit our new niece in California, so I took them on my own. I loaded up the car with both of their favorite snacks and lots of movies, had them both in the backseat and off we went. Everett is a good little traveler and did great right up until the very end when he had had enough! It was helpful to have Mom in the backseat handing him things even though it wasn't always what I was asking for her to give him.

Patrick had a big weekend planned. We drove in Thursday night to meet him for dinner and then Friday we met for lunch and went to the Dallas World Aquarium. It was awesome! I highly recommend it to anyone in the area looking for a way to kill a few hours. I was expecting lots of different aquariums but it is really like a rain forest over several stories that you walk through. Lots of birds, reptiles, and giant fish. Mom was constantly afraid of the animals getting her, sometimes I think its a bit of an act, but she loved it as did Everett. The coolest part to me, aside from being face to face with an anaconda was the Manatee swimming in the pond. You see the pond from the very top and can see the backs of all these giant fish but it's not until you get to the underground part that you see the manatee. So cool! Anyway after that Everett needed a nap and without having to go back to the hotel we decided to go to the Perot Natural History Museum so I could push him around and let him nap that way. After already walking around quite a bit we were a little tired and I hate to say didn't quite get in to the Perot like I would have wanted. We did all enjoy the dinosaur exhibit but after that Mom was pretty much ready to go. We had a great evening waiting out a massive storm at Taren's house eating Pizza with Patrick and Taren watching the Mav's playoff game. Saturday morning Mom, Everett and I got out to do a little shopping around before meeting Patrick, Taren and her parents in downtown Ft. Worth for lunch.

Patrick and Taren have been dating for a little over a year now and they are sure they are "the ones" for one another. We couldn't be more happy with his pick but more on that another time. Taren's Mom, Emily, attended ACU the same year that Mom did and knew of her as well as some of the other family. I am so glad that someone in Taren's family knew of Mom before her disease, who knew somewhat of her personality as it truly was, of her vivacious life! Mom was very quiet throughout lunch as she tends to be in new settings. Everett was clinging to me for dear life, I tried to pass him off to her a few times because she really comes to life when she is with him but he was not having it. Our plan was to go to the Ft. Worth Zoo after lunch and Taren's Mom was going to come with us. We got really lucky and got both of her parent's to come. It was a great afternoon spent with people who are so important to Patrick and looking at God's humor in the creation of animals. Topping our night off with Cheesecake Factory it was a great weekend trip.

By Saturday night though I was exhausted and worn down. Everett had decided to absolutely HATE the hotel and not let me put him down much less out of his sight while in the hotel room. This was incredibly difficult as Mom's disease makes her more confused in the mornings and evenings needing lots of extra help. After two days already of this, Everett screaming crying when I put him down and Mom getting anxious and angry I lost it a little bit. We were driving home from dinner with Finding Nemo on in the car and Mom asked if it was OK for Everett to watch this show. My mind flashed back to trips to Target or Best Buy with her hunting down the copies of whatever Disney movie had just been "released from the vault to never be released again." She was desperate to get copies of everything for her future grandchildren. I scoured her closet before we left and was so grateful for her diligence and time in hunting so that Everett could watch these. And now she was asking if it was "OK" for him to watch them. I lost it on the highway navigating my way home. She became immediately worried and I blamed it on missing Drew. As we got back to the hotel and I began the difficult task of getting them ready for bed and packing up our belongings. As Everett cried and Mom paced I began to lose it again. She was concerned and I told her I just missed her. That I missed my Mom and needed her. She said I know and began to cry to. She came over and wrapped her arms around me, very unusual for her, and told me she loved me. I felt a little touch on my arms and raised my head to see Everett beaming up at me hugging me too and giving me sugars. It was in that sweet little moment that I pulled myself together and knew that we would all make it out alive. A little dramatic maybe but for a time I really wasn't so sure. Mom told me "that I would see him soon" and I realized she was still thinking that I was missing Drew. I thought for a moment that she was really with me and knew what I was talking about but even so that moment meant to much to me!