Over the river and through the woods

I'm not sure if we crossed a river, actually, but Evelyn, Jax, and I all took a trip to Grandmother's house last week. I'm happy to report that everyone behaved and took nice naps in the car. Evelyn got to meet Gus for the first time, and had fun with Grandma, Papa, and Uncle Dan.

Gus keeping his distance...

...but in the end he couldn't resist a little taste.

There are lots of ceiling fans at Grandma's house!

Hanging out with Uncle Dan

Uncle Dan took this shot

Gus and Jax were caught in the kitchen with a box of graham crackers... We aren't sure how they got in the same room, but apparently they decided they could put aside their differences when graham crackers were involved. 

Money Shot!

She's smiling (dimple and all) and looking at the camera! This picture is worthy of its very own post. Happy 12 weeks baby girl!

Dog Psychology

People often ask us how the dog is taking to the baby. Well, they mostly ignore each other. These past few days, however, Jax has demonstrated some different behavior... how would you explain it?

Case 1: The Horses.
Tom went to a work event at Arlington Park, and brought Evelyn TWO little stuffed horse puppets. Even though Jax cannot count, he knows that isn't fair. So he has decided that he will find said horses and steal them from Evelyn's room.

Case 2: The Playmat.
Well, if the baby's asleep, somebody's got to use it, right?

So, is this a case of canine jealousy? Love for his little sister? Asserting his Alpha status? If only he could tell us.

Photo Shoot

(aka: Mommy playing with the camera settings by photographing the mostly cooperative dog and baby.)

Yes, we have a fun fancy camera. No, we don't really know what we're doing with it. We mostly stick with the "auto" or "flash off" settings. Last week I decided to play around with some of the different modes, and we got some pretty nice results!

My favorite shot :)

Evelyn was quite tolerant of the extreme close-ups.

The ceiling fan is quite mesmerizing. 

Almost holding hands

Family Fun

Chatting with Grandma

This weekend Evelyn got to meet some of her Great Aunts, Uncles, and cousins (or her 2nd cousins, or cousins once-removed or something like that... just cousins seems easier!).

Great Aunt Amy (and a soon-to-be grandma)--she got Evelyn to nap not once, but TWICE!

Evelyn enjoyed making funny faces with Papa Ed. Ok, neither of these faces are at all funny, so you'll have to use your imagination. I promise they were doing it right before I got the camera out :)

The adorable cousin Stella!

Evelyn did pretty well on the drive out to the suburbs, although Mommy did have to stealthily slip from the front seat to the back on I-55. Thankfully (?) we were in bumper to bumper traffic so it wasn't TOO dangerous. A few verses of "The Ants Go Marching" and everyone was all smiles again. Except for maybe Daddy, who probably doesn't enjoy Mommy's off-key singing as much as the baby does...

Happy Birthday Jax!

Our other "child" is celebrating his 13th birthday today! Ok, so it's actually his adoption anniversary... 8 years ago today Tom brought Jax home from the Anti-Cruelty Society. Some broken windows, screens, and blinds; several knocked out teeth and one amputated toe later we still love him as much as ever.

Forced sibling time :)

Oh, and a certain little baby also celebrated turning 2 months old last week...

Quiet, please

Shhh. Evelyn is catching up on her favorite book. In my expert opinion, she's probably reading at least at a 3 month level :)