Yum!

Evelyn takes after her daddy in her love of my homemade pizza.

First Boo-Boo

Yes, I'm that compulsive of a picture-taker that I took a picture of Evelyn's first boo-boo induced band-aid. She didn't even cry when she fell and cut her knee open on the concrete, but she was quite intrigued by this new thing stuck to her leg!

Evelyn's Dedication

We had Evelyn dedicated on October 18th at Timberline Church in Iowa. The pastor of Timberline (Steve Hudson) is the same pastor that married Scott and I over 3 years ago. In case you are unsure what baby dedication is, I think the transcript of what Steve said during the dedication explains it best:

Throughout the ages, godly parents have presented their children to the Lord in dedication. You follow a noble heritage.

While dedication is a worthy act, you must understand that it offers no saving virtue. Dedication does not guarantee your child’s salvation, for this requires a personal commitment that each one must make on their own upon reaching the age of awareness and accountability. Salvation is obtained by grace, through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ as personal savior. Though the dedication ceremony does not save, it is nonetheless a most significant act of faith and declaration of intent by the parents to provide Christian nurture to their child.

Believing that this child is a gift from God, and that He shall hold you accountable for her, do you now solemnly confess that it is you purpose to dedicate this child to the Lord and to His service? Will you pray with her and for her; instruct her faithfully in the doctrines of the Christian faith; teach her to read the Word of God; to pray and to lead a holy life; take her faithfully to the house of worship to attend its services; and do all that is in your power to bring her to the knowledge of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord?

Parents: “We will.”


Evelyn in her pretty dress.


Her cousins love her!


Daddy reading the verse we picked out for her.

Banana Pumpkin Bread

2 ripe bananas mashed
2 eggs
1/3 c oil
1 1/3 c pumpkin or squash puree
3/4 c honey
2 1/2 c whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350. Combine wet ingredients in a large bowl. Combine dry ingredients and then stir them into the wet ingredients until just combined. Don't over stir! Makes one large (9x5) loaf, 2 small loaves, or 4 mini loaves.

Bake for 30-45 minutes (depending on the size of loaf) or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out dry.

One Year of Blogging!

A year ago today I made my first blog post! It doesn't seem like it could have possibly been that long ago. So today you get another picture.

Evelyn loves this little stroller she got for her birthday. She pushes it all over the house after loading it up with toys. A few days ago she tried to push it through her tunnel and ended up pushing the stroller and tunnel all over the house as the stroller is clearly too large to fit through. She ended up crawling through the tunnel, dragging the stroller behind her.

Sigh...I Love You Too

Evelyn is cutting some new teeth. This always leads to sleep deprivation for me, shortened naps for her, and extra crankiness from both of us.

A couple days ago I was particularly exasperated. She was clawing at my legs, whining, while I was trying to get dinner cooked. I picked her up and said, "I'm frustrated with you. Nothing I do is making you happy! I'm tired, you won't sleep, and you won't let mama get anything done!"

She responded by puckering up and giving me a big kiss on the lips followed by her sweet smile.

How can you stay upset with that?