zoo

Thursday Tompa, Evalana, and i visited the zoo here. The first animal we saw was a wild rattlesnake. We liked the creatures in cages. Evalana especially liked the zebras.

palm springs children's museum

Grandma, Evalana, and I went to the children's museum the day that it was windy and dusty out here. One of our favorite parts was the grocery store. The thing I found interesting was that she only put things we buy in her cart (oats, beans, fruits and vegetables, crackers).

Palm Springs girl

Trying to catch up on our week. Here are a few more pictures of hanging out around the house.

I went to Walmart to get a few cheap toys while we're here. She loves her bracelets :-)

Evening walk around the neighborhood. Beautiful evening, but evalana didn't care for the stroller ride.
It was very windy here earlier this week. Here's a windy sunset picture.

little swimmer!

Evalana was last here when she was four months old, and she last swam several months ago, and she still loves it. Yesterday morning one of the first things she did was grab both pieces to her swimsuit and the seal she's been playing with in the pool, and head to the back door. Here are a couple of videos of first getting into the pool on Saturday.

cute post-swimming wrinkley foot

flight to Palm Springs

Finally posting from our Friday flight to my dad and stepmom's house in Palm Springs, California. bus from parking lot

flight to dallas

evalana was very attached to daddy on friday. Thursday night, for the first time ever, evalana wanted daddy to rock her to sleep rather than me nursing her to sleep.

flight to palm springs. no nap on this 2 1/2 hour flight. evalana decorated daddy with stickers.

good sleep in comfy bed

big bed for a little girl
waking up in La Quinta Saturday morning.

our little traveler

Evalana is a great little traveler (as long as we’re not in the car). Several of my friends have asked how we travel with her. I think a big part of it is just her personality, but there are also some things we do to try to make it easier for her.

• We love our sleepywrap. It allows us to keep Evalana on us all the way through the airport, including through security. Although this last time I used our sling instead since Evalana likes to get in and out more now. Because of the metal rings, I had to take her off to go through the metal detector, but it still worked great for carrying her and for nursing.
• Breastfeeding is the other greatest thing that makes our traveling easy. I try to feed her as we’re going up and down in the airplane to keep her ears adjusted. Now she isn’t wanting to breastfeed as much as she did on her first flight at four months, so we take lots of yummy snacks and a cup of water to keep her swallowing as the air pressure changes. I like to sit by the window and use our hooter hider or sling to nurse with the most privacy.
• The night before we leave for a trip, Evalana ends up staying up late. I’m always busy doing last-minute things, and it works well for Evalana to be tired enough to nap more while traveling anyway.
• We’ve never tried to get Evalana on a schedule or to sleep alone in a crib, so it works well while traveling that she’ll sleep anywhere whenever. She sleeps well in our arms, in her wrap, in bed, wherever she’s with us.
• For entertainment, she currently likes books and crayons, which are easy enough to travel with. I don't really remember what we've brought in the past, but it's helpful when we're able to open something new on the trip.

I have so much fun traveling and seeing new things with our girl.
As for traveling with multiple kids or without a husband, I have no advice; I’m amazed by people who have done that.

lap song

This is a song they sing and have actions to at Gymboree. Evalana loves it and is constantly requesting we sing it with her. Although this has reminded Joshua and me of how quickly she learns and how important it is to teach her Bible action songs rather than just a song about peas and carrots.

arkansas weekend

Last weekend Joshua, Evalana, my mom, and I were able to go visit Joshua's parents in Joplin and Rogers, Arkansas.
Evalana, Gigi (Joshua's mom in Arkansas), and one of their four dogs (Tiny or Scar)

Mama and Evalana bundled up at the lake behind Papa and Gigi's house

family in the fall

Gigi and Grandma Moser (my mom) with Evalana

Path from lake back to Papa and Gigi's

Playing at the lake

Walking with the grandmas

almost back to the house

wild pumpkin. it's actually a lot bigger than it looks. the leaves on the vine were huge.

Great Grandma Vaughn and her dog, Loopy

Jack Duvall (my friend Erin moved to Arkansas, so we got to visit her and her "new" 8-month-old baby)

Playing stickers and cars with Cousin Noah

Bye bye goodnight hug

one more hug

this is how we ride in Arkansas (just kidding)

lots of hugs for one of Grandma Kidd's two puppies, Patrick

walking with Grandma Moser and Grandma Kidd (Joshua's mom in Joplin)

Fell asleep on the way out to the car with Grandma Kidd
So thankful to have Grandma Moser riding next to Evalana since she sometimes doesn't do so well in the car. Evalana set a record for her happy riding on the way home last Sunday, though!

messy house

Evalana has been getting into everything these days. She's so tall now, she can reach tables and top drawers. Especially since we've been gone or busy over the last several weekends, the house has become more and more very messy. Joshua and I have a major goal of getting the house cleaned up and organized so that we can become a foster home and also feel more comfortable having people over, but with the time evalana takes with me, i feel like we keep getting farther behind. Recently evalana has started entertaining herself a little for short periods, which is nice. Here's a picture of her playing with stickers, crayons, and samson while i got a few minutes of cleaning in.

Autumn tree

This year we decided to get an autumn tree in addition to our usual Christmas tree. Actually we purchased a Forest Pansey Redbud to replace the one that blew over in front of our house during a summer storm, and we also got an Autum Blaze Maple while we were there. Joshua had to wait a few days before he could plant the tree, so we kept it in our living room, which evalana loved. She was also a big helper when Daddy wanted to plant the tree.