Alisson and Baby Bump

Alisson was in a wedding on Saturday. She ordered the dress for the wedding in February when she was just pregnant. She ordered a one size bigger. If the wedding had been two weeks later, the dress may not have fit. Alisson looked so cute at the wedding. She covered the baby bump with her flowers. A couple sitting at our table at the reception, did not realize that one of the bridesmaids was pregnant. Alisson allowed me to take some pictures of her little baby bump. If you remember, I took a picture of her with Evan at 8 1/2 months. Alisson is 4 1/2 months pregnant in these pictures. I pray every morning for God to protect this precious baby and to have the little one to grow healthy and strong. Alisson looks so cute in these photos.

So Lucky and Blessed

On Mother's Day I felt like the luckiest Mother. Our son called and wished me a Happy Mother's Day. Later in the afternoon we had Alisson and family over for a Mother's Day dinner. The real surprise happened at church on Mother's Day. Some people mentioned to me about the flowers. I said, "What flowers?" I quickly got a church bulletin. There in the bulletin was stated that the flowers on the altar were in honor of me given in love by Alisson and Terence and grandkids!!!!!!!!! I was so surprised and loved. Of course, I ruined my makeup with my tears of happiness. I am so thankful to God for my family!!!!!!! I feel so blessed. I just had to share the beautiful flowers.

Evan's Pappy

Evan's Pappy plays Vintage baseball and is on the Wood County Inmates team. This is a photo of their new uniform this season.

16 Weeks and Growing

Alisson had her 16 week appointment today. All is well. Praise and thanks to God. The baby's heart rate is 150. Alisson will have an ultrasound next month and hopes to know if she is having a little boy or a little girl. We are so thankful to God for protecting this little life as he or she grows and develops.

Funny Evan Story

Evan was helping his Pappy get corn for the squirrel feeders and bird seed for the bird feeders this morning. I thought this was a cute picture of Evan holding the corn for Pappy. Right after I took the photo, Evan put the ear of corn up to his mouth and said "Banana." Pappy caught him before he put it into his mouth. In his little mind it must have looked like a banana. Too funny!!!

Evan Having a Snack

Evan visited with us at 8:30am today. Around 10:30 I asked him if he wanted a banana. He walked right over to the highchair and said "Eat." When I put him in the highchair, he said, "Baby" and signed baby. He likes to watch the Baby Signing Time DVD while he eats. Evan ate a banana, 2 Ritz crackers for his snack. He then said, "Cookie." In this photo Evan is munching on a small piece of the cookie I gave him and watching his DVD.

Evan at Rainbow

Today at dismissal time at Rainbow, Evan reached out for me to hold him. Alisson was picking up the other kiddos. As soon as he was in my arms he said, "Ball." Evan helped me say good-bye to all of the Rainbow Lions and parents. He then went into my office to get a playground ball. Evan was happy to have a few minutes to bounce and kick a ball. Remember that I said that he is very, very interested in balls. When I was holding him as I said good-bye to my preschoolers, one little girl asked "Where did he come from?" I told her I was his Grammie. She responded, "Oh." I love being a Grammie.

Evan and His Blocks

Evan got these nesting ABC building blocks for Easter. He used to knock blocks over all of the time. When I build a tower with these blocks, I say, "Wait." When the tower is completed I tell Evan he can knock them down. As you can see, he is more interested in reaching the top block than knocking the tower over. Today when I said,"Thank you," Evan said, "Thank you, welcome." I was holding him and he saw the basket of Easter candy. Evan said, "Candy." When I gave him a Hershey miniature, Evan said, "Chocolate." I told Alisson that I gave him a piece of chocolate candy. He said, "Big boy" today. We played a lot of ball bouncing, throwing and catching today. Evan loves his balls.

Pappy and Evan

It was cute seeing Pappy and Evan on the floor together. Evan joined his Pappy to lie down next to him.

Pappy feeding Evan a treat of ice cream and a cookie.

Evan's New Ball

We walked through Ben Franklin's in BG with Evan on our way to Easy Street for dinner. Of course he spotted all of the balls. I thought we should get Evan one on our way back. We bought him a Tigger and Winnie the Pooh ball. As soon as we got the ball, he wanted it. Evan yelled ball when the clerk took it to ring it up. She gave it to me quickly and I said, "Of course, we do not need a bag." Here is Evan kicking his new ball. Evan really likes balls of any kind.

Fun With Evan

We are having such a fun time with Evan the past couple of days. He is a very good little boy. Tonight, Pappy decided to take us to Easy Street restaurant for dinner this evening. Evan was such a sweetie. He ate a grilled cheese sandwich, some french fries and chocolate milk. Everyone said he was so cute. I told Gerry that I realize now why I eat so fast.... it was when our kids were little, I ate fast to keep them busy. I did the same tonight with Evan. I ate my salad quickly so I could keep Evan entertained and busy. I think Evan's Pappy wanted to show him off to people he knew. This photo is a picture of Evan and Grammie at East Street.

Evan's First Day with Us

Evan is spending a few days and nights with us while his parents are attending a wedding in North Carolina. Evan's Mommy and Daddy are going to get together with Evan's Aunt Laurie and Uncle Zach. This morning Evan's Pappy made pancakes. Evan really liked the pancakes. He ate 2 pancakes. I just had to take the picture of Evan and Pappy watching Curious George together. Pappy is such a good sport.

Evan Visits Great-Grandparents

Yesterday was Evan's Great-Grandpa's birthday. So today we went over to visit Evan's Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa. The one picture is a cute one of Evan with his Great-grandparents. The other photo is Great-Grandpa doing a trick with his fingers and Evan is so interested in it. We had a fun day visiting and Evan was so wonderful!!!! Evan said "birthday."

After His Bath

Here is Evan playing after taking his bath. Pappy and I gave him the nesting ABC blocks for Easter. Evan is very interested in them. Evan now says A-B when he wants someone to sing the ABC song.

Evan Signing

I have been playing the Baby Signing Time DVD while Evan eats his dinner at our house. He has just started to sign "baby." He signs it and says "baby." He is so precious.

Blog Title Change

I changed our blog title to Grandchildren since Evan is going to be a big brother in October. We are so thankful to God for the good report from the doctor and the ultrasound today. The baby has a strong heartbeat and is doing well!!! Please keep Alisson and the baby in your prayers throughout her pregnancy.

Evan Playing Outside

Evan was with Pappy and me for 3 hours on Friday. It was a very nice day so we played outside with Evan. He loves to go outside. Evan played with balls. Pappy was playing basketball and Evan really wished he could throw the ball up high, too. I took Evan for a walk and he pulled his Fisher Price dog along behind him. It was so cute. Evan's Mommy told me that he says "Gammie" and "Yeah" when she pulls into the driveway of our home. I just love hearing that. Pappy was glad to be home on Friday to play with Evan. Enjoy the photos.

Playing Outside

Today is a gorgeous spring day. It is sunny and in the 70's. When we got back from the picture taking "fun", I changed Evan into play clothes. He loves to be outside. I stayed and talked with Alisson and played with Evan a bit.

Evan in his Easter Outfit

I went with Alisson to get the kiddos picture taken in their Easter outfits today. There were a zillion kids at the photo studio. When we got back to Alisson's, I took a photo of Evan outside. His shirt is hanging out.... a typical boy! Thanks to Alisson for getting an Easter photo of the kiddos.

Fun Sunday Night

We had Evan with us from 5:30-11:00pm Sunday. His family went to see the Toby Mac and Skillet concert. Evan sat in his highchair at the dinner table with us and ate a big bowl of spaghetti for dinner, bread, a banana and blueberry yogurt. When eating his yogurt, he said, "Cookie." Pappy asked, "Did he just say what I thought and he spelled "c-o-o-k-i-e". I gave him a small piece of a cookie because we had cake, too. I asked "Evan, do you want some cake?" Excitedly, he said "CAKE!" Evan fed himself all of the cake with a fork and he said, "Yum." I think he may have a sweet tooth. We were excited to see Evan use a spoon when eating his spaghetti. If we had some spaghetti on his spoon, Evan could even get some spaghetti into his mouth. What a big boy!!!! He went to bed so nicely for us. Evan asked for "doggy." He has a tiny silk blanket with a dog's head. We gave that to him and he put his thumb in his mouth and went right to sleep. Evan's Mommy called about 10:00 to tell us that they would be home at 11:00. Evan heard the phone ring and woke up. I changed his diaper and said, "It is still night night and you are going back to bed". He said "Bed. Doggy." Once again, he had his doggy blanket and went right back to be bed with no crying at all. Evan is such a good boy and so much fun!!!!! We are so blessed.

Aunt Bon's Birthday

Last Saturday we all got together to celebrate Aunt Bon's early birthday. We ate at Phil's Inn and then went back to Evan's Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa's house for birthday cake. Evan is watching as Aunt Bon is ready to blow out her candles. It was a wonderful family time.

Evan Came Home

Evan and his Mommy and Daddy came home at 5:00pm Thursday. At 5:30 Evan came over to play. When I held him, he gave me a kiss. What a sweetie!!! I had so much fun with him. Pappy came home and played with Evan. Evan saw Uncle Zach's 10 string guitar. Last week Evan's Daddy played some tunes on the guitar for Evan. Tonight, Evan pointed to the guitar and said, "Guitar." I said, "Not tonight, your Daddy is not here." Well, the smart child that he is, Evan went over to Pappy and tugged at him and said, "Guitar." Pappy said, "Does he want me to play the guitar?" Pappy got out the guitar with Evan on his lap. Evan is very interested in the guitar and any music. I just thought this photo was adorable.

Missing Evan

Evan had his first airplane ride to Chicago with his Mommy and Daddy on Monday morning. He will not be home until Thursday early evening. Alisson has been so considerate and loving and has called me last night and tonight to let me talk to Evan. I miss my little buddy. Tonight when I said, "I love you," Alisson said that Evan kissed the phone. When he heard my voice, he didn't say anything but he did smile a lot. Evan got to go swimming today. Alisson said that everyone thinks Evan is so cute.... of course. I am so glad that I had Evan play with the Fisher Price airplane at our house recently so he could say "airplane" while they were flying. Now he knows what a real airplane is!!!!!

A Great Moment for Grammie

Evan was looking at the pictures on the wall in our hallway. He saw his Daddy and said, "Daddy." I pointed to his Mommy and Evan said, "Mommy". I pointed to Gerry's picture and said "Pappy". Evan repeated "Pappy". I pointed to my picture and said "Grammie". Evan said, "Gammie". I said, "Yeah" and "thank you". Evan gave me a kiss then. That is the only time he said Gammie the whole night but HE CALLED ME GAMMIE for the first time!!!!!!!

Having Fun With Pappy

As soon as Pappy comes home from work, Evan, first wants Pappy to pick him up. Then, Evan follows Pappy into the bedroom. Tonight, Evan stood at the bed and said "Up". Evan likes to be on our bed as Pappy plays a game with him. Pappy brings his hand down and gets Evan's tummy. Of course, Pappy is very animated while bringing "the claw" down. In the first photo Evan is anticipating and the other photo shows Evan's response. He just loves this game with his Pappy.

Evan Water Play

After Evan ate his spaghetti tonight, I thought of having him play in soapy water to wash his hands. He had a great time playing in his "water table." He splashed the water and even said, "Bubbles." Evan is talking like crazy. He says "nose" and then touches everyone's nose. He, also, says "mouth", "ear" and "hair" and can touch those body parts, too. Evan said "sketti" for spaghetti and he said "ogur" for yogurt at dinner tonight. "Bana" is his word for banana. Evan signs "more" and "all done." Today he saw a squirrel outside and repeated "squirrel". I was surprised to see him take his pants off when I asked him to do so before his bath. Evan is 15 months old now. He had his check up yesterday and all is great. Praise God!!!

Evan Tonight

Well, Evan scored well with Pappy tonight. When Pappy came home from work, I said, "Can you say Pappy?" He very clearly said, "Pappy." Gerry was so happy to hear that. When Alisson and Terence picked up the kiddos, I said, "Evan, say Pappy." He said, "Duh Pappy" for "the Pappy." Then Alisson said, "Say, Duh, Gammie." Nothing. I am willing to hear Grammie or Gammie. Oh, well, I know he loves me and that is what matters. I will shout from the rooftop when Evan calls me something.

A New Old Toy

Since Evan was feeling better today, I thought I could introduce him to an "antique" toy. He is playing with the Fisher Price airplane that was Evan's Uncle Zach's. Evan's new word today was "airplane" said as "airpane." He was very interested in the airplane and played with it for at least 5 minutes.

Fun with Evan

Since today is a snow day for me, I called Alisson and asked if she would like me to watch Evan today. Does a mom ever say "No" when a grandma offers to watch her children???? I had a lot of fun with him today. Here is Evan watching PBS Sprout with The Berenstain Bears show. Today was the first time that Evan really played with the toy corn popper. He walked all over the house with it... either pushing it or pulling it along. It was great for me. As long as I heard the popper, I knew Evan was on the move and not getting into anything (which he usually never does, but, you never know). When the toy stopped, I would go check on Evan. It is sort of a baby monitor :). I, also, opened the sliding glass door and let Evan put his hands in the snow for a sensory experience. He felt around in the snow and said "Cold." I let him bring some snow in. When it melted, he kept looking at his hands as if he was wondering where the snow went. Too cute!!! When Alisson picked Evan up, she said to Evan, "You better keep being cute so Grammie will want to watch you." It is really easy to watch him now that he can tell me what he wants most of the time. I understand his language... for example... "wogger" is water. I remember Zach and Alisson both said "Gup" for milk and we always had to tell a babysitter what "gup" was.

Think Spring

Can you tell I am tired of snow? Today is another snow day and no school. I am thinking spring!!!!! Here is a picture of the Easter outfit that we bought for Evan. When we saw it, we(or rather I) just could not resist buying it. I would like to get him a pair of shorts so Evan could, also, wear it as a summer outfit. I think he will look so cute in it.

Evan's Cold

Evan was over today. Poor little guy..... He has a cold with a runny nose and cough but no fever anymore. Usually when he first comes in to our house, he just walks all around and looks at everything and then starts to play. Today, he wasn't interested in his toys. He said, "Rock." Bless his heart.... he only wanted to be held and rocked. Evan did eat well and asked for more "bana" (banana). When Pappy came home, Evan said, "Book" to Pappy. So they sat in Pappy's rocking chair and read a book. When his Mommy picked him up, Evan was cuddled in my arms in the rocking chair. I pray that he is better soon. It tears at my heart to see him not feeling perky.

Just a Cute Picture

I am so glad I had my camera ready. I was wanting to get a cute picture of Evan in his new outfit from us. Well, I got this adorable picture of Evan. He spontaneously kissed the bear in his rocking chair. It is just too precious. We love him sooooooooooooo much!!!!

Evan's New Outfit

Last weekend we were at Kohl's shopping. We saw this cute outfit for Evan and it was very, very reasonably priced ( or cheap!!) Actually, Pappy found it first for his good buddy. Even though it was an 18 mos. outfit, we just had to get it for Evan because it was cute and cheap. It is a one-piece with a hood and it has a dog ont he front with Gr-rrrrr!! We gave it to him for Valentine's Day. His Mommy is so good in having him wear clothes to our house so we can see Evan in them. Here are just two candid shots to see his cute outfit. I now go directly to the kids section when I go shopping and then I look for myself. Being a grandma will do that to you.

Evan's New Toys

Evan got some new toys for Valentine's Day. Aunt Bon and Uncle Charlie got him the Lil Snoopy pull doggy. Evan got the Farm See n Say from Pappy and Grammie. When the toy sings Old McDonald Had a Farm E-I-E-I-O, Evan says, E-I-E-I. He is such a sweetie!!

Evan with Grammie

I am so thankful that Evan still likes to have me sing the "Deer song" to him on the computer. All I have to ask is, "Evan, do you want to do the deer?" He says, "Deer." I just love this time with him. It is a very special time for me with Evan. I hope he always remembers this. His Daddy calls it Evan's praise and worship time :)
This photo was taken right after Evan's bath... see the wet hair??

Evan Eating

Evan will eat almost anything if he can feed himself. As you can see, he likes macaroni and cheese :). He doesn't like peas so he picked out just the carrots and left the peas. We say he is just like his Pappy G. I introduced Evan to using a spoon---- it was Uncle Zach's engraved spoon. Evan was more interested in tapping it rather than eating with it. Oh well, Evan will get the hang of it sooner or later.

Evan with Pappy

Evan looks forward to Pappy coming home from work. Once Pappy is home, Grammie takes a backseat. Here is Evan sitting with Pappy. He is giving Pappy a High Five and clapping with him. Evan is a very happy little boy.

Evan Playing

Here is Evan playing with toy that his Mommy and Uncle Zach had on their crib when they were babies. Evan is very interested in it. It is so cute to see our grandchild play with a toy that our children played with.

Saturday Evening

We were happy to have Evan with us for a few hours on Saturday evening. Evan loved Pappy's grilled cheese sandwich and he loved his banana. He ate almost a whole grilled cheese sandwich and a whole banana. Oh, he drank a cup of chocolate milk,too. His Mommy Alisson told me that Evan's latest new food is ice cream. We gave him just a little of vanilla ice cream. Evan said, Mmmmmmmmmm. I called Aunt Bonnie to talk to Evan. Evan walked around saying Hi, hi, hi, hi, hi. I asked him to say Bonnie and he did!!! No Grammie yet. Evan says his dog's name Jackie!!! He now calls the bear in his rocking chair "a big bear." I introduced him to "a big brown bear". Maybe that will be next. I asked him if he wanted to read a book or have his bottle. He said, "Book." Too be sure that is what he wanted, I started to give him his night time bottle. Evan turned his head away and said, "Book." So, I got a book to read to him. I am so thankful that he likes to have books read to him. I love that time with him. He is a little boy now.... so grown up.... too fast and he is only 14 months old.

Today With Evan

Evan visited with us today. I got my time with him for 2 hours before Pappy got home from work. Once Pappy is home, Evan just wants to wrestle and play with his grandpa. Today, he ate left over spaghetti, garlic bread, a whole banana and chocolate milk. I gave him a bath right after his dinner. He had spaghetti all over him. Evan liked it though. Evan is just talking so much. His latest is Tank you for thank you. Evan says "outside", "cookie", "cracker", "mirror", "pretty", "book", "I did", "all done", "a baby", "a bear", "rock", "bath', "eat" and "a ball" to just name a few. He now talks in sentences that are mostly his own language. If I listen carefully, I sometimes can catch a word that I understand. Oh, he also repeats "Big boy." He must think he is a big boy because he will call children 3 or 4 years old "a baby." Evan loves any kind of a ball. We are thankful for the time that we have with our precious grandson.

Busy Evan playing

Evan With His New Toy

Evan saw his corn popper toy for the first time this week. At first he was not sure what it was or what to do with it. Evan soon started pushing it around. This photo was taking in action as Evan was pushing the popper towards me.

Evan Can Climb

Evan's latest skill is climbing up into his rocking chair. He sits down and says "Rock." There is usually a bear in his rocking chair and Evan throws it on the carpet before climbing into the rocking chair. When seated, he said, "Bear down." When asked, "Do you want the bear?", Evan answered, "A bear." He is so proud of himself by climbing into his chair.

Fun Time With Evan

We had Evan with us today for a few hours while his family went to see Alvin and the Chipmunks movie. Evan was so much fun. He talks so much and understands a lot. He ate his lunch and played with his Pappy and Grammie. We introduced him to chocolate milk today. He really liked it and drank it right out of a regular cup. He said, "Milk" after drinking the first small cup. I read to him Five Little Monkeys Sitting in a Tree. When the crocodile Snaps, I clapped my hands. By the end of the story, Evan was clapping for the snap, too. His Mommy said, "Evan has a little cold. He may want to just sit and cuddle." He was on the go from 11:45 to 1:30. Here is a picture of Evan getting tired. We kept him awake so he would nap for his Mommy and Daddy. I thought this was a sweet picture of Evan and Pappy.

New Toy

We saw a popper push toy at Meijer like our kids had before Christmas. We could not find it after Christmas at Meijer or Walmart. Gerry decided it would be easier to buy a new one for Evan rather than search all over the attic for the old one. Well, today, Evan's Pappy came home with a new popper. He got it at Toys R Us. I said, " You always say Evan has Grammie wrapped around his little finger. I think his Pappy is, too." Gerry said, "Yes." How cute!! The one Zach and Alisson had was wooden. Evan's is made all of plastic. Evan will get to see it on Tuesday (if not sooner... I wish :).

Evan Dancing

Evan not only clapped to the music, he, also, danced while sitting. It was too cute. He bounced up and down on his bottom. He is becoming such a little man. Tonight, he did not like the turkey rice and vegetables meal that his Mommy brought over. He took one bite and said "All done." (I know that is my fault. I taught him sign language for all done a few months ago." Evan, also, turned his head away. When I tried one more time. he even pushed my hand away. Evan said, "Cracker." So, I gave him some Ritz crackers and cheese. When I gave him some cheese, Evan said, "Mmm-Mmmmm". Evan spends most of his time walking from our kitchen, to the family room, down the hallway to our bedroom and back to the kitchen. He sometimes detours to the living room. He doesn't get into anything, he just walks, walks, walks. Evan does like to see the Thomas Kincaid night light in our bedroom. He looks at it and says "Pretty." Evan's favorite words are "a bear" and "a dog-ruff ruff." He is so funny. We are enjoying him soooooo much.

Evan Clapping

We had some music playing the other evening Evan was with us. He just started clapping. He likes music.

Evan Loves His Pappy (Papa)

Evan calls Pappy "Papa" now. Here is Pappy reading The 5 Little Monkeys Bake a Birthday Cake to Evan. I caught this cute picture of Evan looking up at Pappy. They are best buddies.

A Kiss

Evan gave me his first kiss today. I asked, "Evan, can you give Grammie a kiss?" He leaned his head toward my mouth and kissed me. How precious!!! Later, I said, "Can you give Pappy a kiss?" He kissed Pappy, too. It was a wet one and surprised Pappy. Evan has been kissing his Mommy and Daddy for awhile. Today, was my first kiss!!! I realized today that he looks and acts more like a little boy than a baby. They grow up too fast!!!!

Pappy brought down some toys from the attic that Uncle Zach and Evan's mommy used when they were little. I am excited to see Evan at our house on Tuesday to show him a doggy that he can pull and the Fisher Price Farm. I will only show him a couple new old toys at a time. It is such fun having a grandchild.

A Special Time

Evan was with us last night and he did something with me that he has not done in a long time. He cuddled with me after taking his night time bottle. I held him and sang some of the songs I sang to him as a baby. Pappy took this picture as I was singing to Evan. It was so precious he cuddled with me and put his thumb in his mouth. Evan also played with my hair as he used to do. What a special time!!! He is a little bit bigger to hold than when he was 4 months old :). Doing this just brought back so many memories.

Evan at Our House

We were able to have Evan at our house on Tuesday from 3:30-8:00pm. Pappy was home, too. We had a great time with Evan. I had to take this photo. Alisson and Terence had this shirt in my Christmas gift bag. Evan was wearing it today. It says... "What happens at Grandma's, Stays at Grandma's." (This includes dirty diapers). Alisson said she just had to get the shirt.