Are we there now?

Chemistry can be fun too

2010-08-20T08:34:00.002-04:00

We're starting to feel settled in here in Salt Lake City, and our home renovations are almost done! I'll post pictures on that later, but wanted to share a fun one from a few nights ago. We were working downstairs, and Evan found John's molecular modeling set from grad school. These sets are basically a big box of beads and little sticks so that you can make molecules with atoms and bonds (I know, very nerdy). Anyhow, I can see how this would be a super-fun toy for a kid. Evan kept saying "open, please" but fortunately we managed to convince him that it is just as much fun to leave the box closed and shake it a bunch to hear the stuff rattle around inside.

Moving Day!

2010-07-03T19:36:00.007-04:00

Ever since we started packing the boxes to move, Evan's favorite book has been the Berenstain Bears Moving Day in which Papa Bear says "My dears, the time has come to move."

Well, a couple of weeks ago, our time came to move too. Evan did really well coping with all of the changes, even when he came home from day care to find our apartment full of boxes.

We were fortunate that Chicago was right on the way to Salt Lake City, so we could stop off and spend a few days with family while our stuff made its way across the country. Evan had a great time sharing his ice cream with Grandma.

The drive from Chicago to Salt Lake City was a bit rough on all of us, so unfortunately I don't have any pictures from that part of the process. However, we arrived into SLC and promptly went to check out our new house. Evan wasted no time in finding the broom and getting to work.

We've got a bit of painting to do in the house, and Evan has been a great helper in choosing colors. I love this picture because he looks just like a little interior designer pondering his choices.

One of our favorite things about our house is the awesome view of the mountains from the front porch. (Yes, our front yard is a bit patchy - apparently the greener patches are thanks to the previous owners' dog).

After looking at the mountains every day for about a week, we finally finished the unpacking and were able to go and explore a bit. We drove up Big Cottonwood Canyon to hike to Doughnut Falls (sadly this is the closest we will get to Dunkin Donuts in Utah). We didn't make it all the way to the falls, but Evan kept busy playing in the little streams along the way.

It has been difficult moving away from our dear friends in Boston and knowing that we still don't live close to family, but we are enjoying life in Utah and can't wait to have guests!

Home, sweet home

2010-06-09T13:00:00.006-04:00

So we're going with "home, sweet home" as the theme of this post, because right now, the definition of "home" is in a state of rapid revision for us. A couple of weeks ago, we went "home" to see Grandpa and Grandma Heemstra in Chicago, and Evan had a ton of fun drinking juice boxes with Grandma and helping his Dad and Grandpa replace sprinkler heads in the yard.

While we were there, the closing date for our new home in Salt Lake City came and went without any problems, so we very unceremoniously became home owners. Our house hunting trip was a bit of a whirlwind as we only had about 7 hours to look at houses before making a decision, but I think we've found one that will be great for our family. We loved the interior, but more importantly for Evan, we have a nice backyard that he can play in, which will be awesome since Evan LOVES to be outside.

Here are some pictures from the MLS listing. The cool treehouse looking thing is actually in the neighbors back yard, so Evan will have to make friends with them :)

In just 6 short days we'll be turning the car westward and heading out to Utah. Living in Boston has not been without its challenges, but it is an understatement to say that God has blessed us richly with a wonderful church home and dear friends whom we will miss very much.

I'm hoping to keep our camera from being packed by the movers, so stay tuned for photos from the road . . .

Dos Años!

2010-05-01T15:34:00.006-04:00

I can't believe our little boy is 2 already! Our lives have been a bit crazy lately, so Evan has had multiple small birthday celebrations instead of one big one. To start off, Grandma and Grandpa Heemstra sent a birthday gift of Evan's first tricycle. He had fun helping Daddy put it together, then took a spin around the living room.

All of this made us very thirsty, of course. The tricycle had a bell on the handlebars, which Evan loved, but turned out to be deeply traumatizing to our dog Nicky, so the bell has come off until we move and Evan can ride his bike outside in the driveway.

For Evan's birthday, we made his favorite dinner of fish sticks and sweet potato fries, and we were all set to have birthday breakfast the next day, but instead we were up at 4 am and on our way to the airport to fly to Utah. So, we waited until Grandma Cary came out to visit (which also involved fun birthday toys) and enjoyed our birthday breakfast of bacon and cinnamon rolls.

Not really part of the official birthday celebration, but today was a GORGEOUS day in Boston, so we headed downtown on the T and played at the Frog Pond playground for a while, then walked around the Common and through the Public Park. In an ode to Evan's Dutch heritage, we even took a few pictures next to the beautiful tulips that were in bloom.

After all of this playing, we enjoyed a nice lunch, followed by a leisurely stroll through the North End and a sleepy T ride back home.

Utah!!!

2010-04-16T20:01:00.003-04:00

After a job search with many ups and downs and generally a lot of waiting, we finally have an answer . . . we're going to Utah!!! The offer came through about 10 days ago and we went out this week for our second visit. Jen will be an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the University of Utah and John has some great leads on industry positions, as well as an offer to lecture at the University if nothing in industry works out immediately. During our visit, one of the professors took us sightseeing at Park City, and we got some pictures of Evan training for the bobsled team and playing in the snow.

We spent some time house hunting in Salt Lake City during our visit this week, and are in the process of buying a home. The offer has been agreed upon and we have inspection on Monday, so we're keeping our fingers crossed that all goes smoothly. This has been a crazy process because it was only two weeks ago that we found out that there was a good chance we would get the offer, and now we've accepted and are moving in just 2 months!

Thanks to all who have prayed with us through the high points and low points over the last year or so. We are very excited to see how God is planning to use us in Salt Lake City. We are also praying that Evan adjusts well to the move - if we get the home we have the offer on, Evan will have a nice big backyard to play in, so maybe that will smooth the transition.

Not quite beach weather

2010-03-13T20:05:00.003-05:00

A few weeks ago, we decided we needed to get out of our Boston apartment for a few days, so we headed up to Portland, Maine. One of the highlights of the trip was walking out to Crescent Beach on Cape Elizabeth. The road is closed in winter, and it of course didn't completely register that this meant we would be pushing the stroller through snow and ice.

However, the sun was out and the view was beautiful, which made it completely worth the effort.

On a completely unrelated note, Evan's head gets very sweaty when he takes naps (likely because we put him in lots of layers of warm clothes thinking that this will lull him into sleeping for an extra half hour), so he often wakes up with a really funky hairdo. Today's was particularly impressive, so I though we would share.

I hate to admit part of me is kind of proud of this

2010-02-13T09:05:00.004-05:00

Ever since Evan was born, I've been promising to take him to the climbing gym with me. But, lately he's decided that our apartment can also function as a perfectly good climbing gym. Step 1: pick up car and set down in front of chair. Step 2: use car as stepstool to mantle onto chair. Step 3: grab handhold of window ledge and climb onto chair armrest. Step 4: bring feet up to window ledge and stand on tiptoes to get the best view. Step 5: look at Mommy with a face that says "why do you look like you are about to have a heart attack?"

Christmas!

2010-01-17T19:20:00.005-05:00

Okay, so blog updating has not been my strong point lately, but hey, these things happen. The Heemstra family enjoyed a fun Christmas, complete with our biannual 1000 mile car trip from Boston to Chicago to see John's family. Nicky shook the whole way, and Evan stared at him with curiosity in between playing with toys. We then flew to Phoenix to see my family and Evan was once again a real trooper for a long travel day. We enjoyed a nice break from the job hunt, and Evan got to spend lots of good time with his Grandparents.

In the last month, Evan has also picked up a new hobby - sweeping the house. He's very much into emulating everything that we do, which leaves me a bit bewildered as to how he learned how to use a broom and dustpan. He is a bit dangerous with the real broom (think clearing off a table top in one fell swoop) so we had to find him a more Evan-sized version. As you can see, it also doubles as a very nice pony.

Halloween, helmets, and first snow

2009-12-05T20:18:00.003-05:00

My Mommy and Daddy have been busy traveling lately, so I thought I would tell you a little bit about what I've been up to over the past few months.

For Halloween, I got to dress up as a bat. We didn't go trick-or-treating, but we did get to go to the lantern parade at the pond in Jamaica Plain. Lots and lots of people showed up dressed in their costumes and walked around the pond with lanterns. I also got to wear my costume to day care - it is pretty comfortable, but I. Do. Not. Like. The. Hood. On. My. Head!

However, when I was playing in the kitchen while Daddy was making breakfast, I thought it was pretty funny to wear my bike helmet. Hey Colin, I'm all ready to ride in the bike trailer with you again!

Then, today we had our first snow of the winter! Daddy took me outside to feel the snowflakes and I thought it was pretty funny when Mommy made a snowball and threw it in the air. I can't wait to learn how to snowboard!

Walking, walking, everywhere

2009-10-10T14:04:00.002-04:00

Anyone who follows our blog might remember that, oh, about four months ago Evan took his first steps. After that, we had a long stretch of "I'll walk when I want to, and I don't want to." However, since about three weeks ago, walking is the coolest thing ever. So, we thought that we would share a video with you for anyone who last saw Evan when knee-walking was still all the rage.

Mommy needs to go back to kindergarten

2009-09-25T10:05:00.005-04:00

John is at a conference in Germany for four days, and even though he has only been gone for a day, the wheels are already starting to fall off. I thought I was doing pretty well this morning - get up, let the dog out, have coffee, feed Evan, feed myself, dress Evan, dress myself, clean up from breakfast, and pack lunches. Then, as we were about to walk out the door, I saw this (and am such an awesome mommy that I stopped to take pictures before fixing it)

Yup, those are two shoes on the wrong feet. I guess I need to go back to kindergarten and have someone teach me left and right again. Fortunately, Evan didn't seem bothered by it at all, which is good since he had been walking around like this for about half an hour.

At the rate I'm going, John may just come home to find Nicky sitting in the high chair and Evan eating fish sticks out of the dog bowl.

Boston sandbox

2009-09-13T19:10:00.005-04:00

On our vacation to Lake Tahoe, Evan had such a great time playing in the sand at the beach that we thought we should try to make him a sandbox to play in at home. I've heard a saying that "everything is bigger in Texas" and I can't attest to whether or not that is true, but one thing I have found is that "everything is smaller in Boston." So, we bring you Evan's very Boston-sized sandbox.

His favorite part of playing in the sandbox was shoveling up sand and tossing it into the air. We joke that by the time we move he will probably have filled in the whole space under the patio. It's a good thing sand is cheap . . .

Also, I caught this big smile on Evan the other day and thought I would share it with you. One of his fun new games is to pile a bunch of his stuffed animals into a box and push them around the house while making car noises. Here he is with "Tim Bob", which my brother's friend Brandy made for him last Christmas - there's a matching "Lucy Lou" but she's already in the "car." Maybe if Evan gets enough driving practice, he can take a shift at the wheel on our next trip to Chicago.

Lake Tahoe + Cousin Colin + Spatulas = Fun!

2009-09-06T19:47:00.008-04:00

by Evan Heemstra

Right now my Mommy and Daddy are pretty busy working on their research proposals, so I thought I would tell you about my fun vacation to Chicago and Lake Tahoe. A couple of weeks ago, we drove to Chicago, and though I did sleep most of the way it was still not very fun. But, at the end of the drive I got to hang out with my Grandpa and Grandma, so it was totally worth it.

A couple of days later, we flew to Lake Tahoe where I spent some time relaxing (day care can be sooooo stressful!)

and also visited the playground and had fun going down the slide on my own. I don't really like to eat solid foods like bread, hot dogs, or mandarin oranges, but those wood chips they have at the playground are yummy!

One of the best parts of vacation was that my cousin Colin, Uncle Jason, and Aunt Robin joined us in Tahoe for a week - they are way more fun than my dorky parents!

Our parents brought a bunch of toys, but we had much more fun playing with the spatulas (and the Corona box you see in the background).

The grown-ups had some good ideas, like taking us to the pool

and to the beach - the water was cold, but I found that the sand was almost as yummy as the wood chips from the playground.

We had one rainy day, so we all went down to Carson City to see the Childrens Museum (complete with my first time rock climbing).

And, since no visit to Carson City is complete without a photo op in front of the Governor's mansion . . .

We went hiking a lot - not a bad way to spend naptime!

But, my parents also had some not great ideas, like taking us for a bike ride in a trailer.

Despite the malfeasance of the bike trailer, I had a really great time hanging out with all of my family!

Goldfish make the world go round

2009-08-08T10:58:00.005-04:00

Well, maybe goldfish don't make the world go round, but they do give Evan and Nicky a way to hang out. Evan has always enjoyed feeding Nicky from his high chair, and Nicky dutifully comes running when he hears the click of the high chair tray. Today John put out some goldfish for Evan to eat while we were cleaning the house, and Nicky actually got up the courage to take some fish from Evan's hand. For quite a few months after Evan was born, the two of them operated with mutual indifference, so it is fun to see them becoming good buddies.

I love ice cream!

2009-07-30T15:19:00.011-04:00

Last weekend we flew to Chicago to see my Grandpa and Grandma Heemstra, and also to celebrate Uncle Rick's (he's my Dad's cousin, so I think that makes him my uncle . . .) wedding. I got to enjoy some of the fun things that come with summer, like splashing in the pool

and eating ice cream (yum!).

We also stopped in for a visit with my Great Grandpa and Great Grandma Heemstra, and they fed me cookes (also yum!).

Although I had fun playing outside, I also found many ways to entertain myself indoors. At home in Boston, I'm not allowed in the kitchen because I try to tip over the bikes and eat the dog food. So, it was a big treat to be able to wander around Grandma's kitchen and take things out of the cabinets to play with (yup, in that last photo I am in fact trying to drink a can of baked beans).

I also discovered the joy of climbing stairs and getting blanket rides around the family room.

What a busy weekend! Thanks Grandpa and Grandma for all of the fun (and ice cream!). I can't wait to visit again!

Blocko and the waterpark

2009-07-19T18:28:00.008-04:00

When we put down the alphabet mat in Evan's playroom, we had exactly six pieces left over, so we made a "blocko" for him to play with (I don't know why we have this odd habit of adding the letter "o" to the end of words . . . blocko, bibbo, spinacho . . . perhaps we are under the delusion that if we make it sound more fun, then Evan will like it more. Anyhow, the fact that blocko isn't a load bearing structure made for a few unfortunate events as Evan was learning to pull up on things and cruise around. But, today he discovered that blocko can be disassembled and provide fun in many forms.

The starting point.

The stages of disassembly (I especially love the first one).

And, once the destruction is complete, moving on to another toy.

After all of the heavy demolition work, we decided to cool down by taking our first trip to the spray park up the street. At first, Evan was NOT a fan because the water was too cold. But, once we found a nice little pool to sit in, he enjoyed splashing in the water and watching all of the other kids running around. We told Evan that his Grandma in Chicago has a kiddie pool, and I think he is pretty excited to splash around with his cousin next weekend!

Run, Mama, Run!

2009-07-14T15:25:00.007-04:00

Last weekend the boys got to spend some quality time together while I competed in my first post-baby triathlon. The race was in Waterville Valley, NH and the setting was absolutely gorgeous - mountains and pine trees everywhere you look. Unfortunately, due to the cold rainy summer we've had, the water temp was 53 degrees - a bit more chilly than the average of 72 that I was expecting when I signed up. I did have a wetsuit, however said wetsuit did not have sleeves as when choosing it I had reasoned "well, I don't need a full suit because I would never want to do a tri where the water is colder than 60."

The race was fun , but by far the highlight was getting to see John and Evan at each transition. Thanks to their awesome encouragement, I even finished under my goal time! After the race, John told me that he was surprised that he was able to get a picture of me on the bike because I was going so fast . . . thanks John - that made me feel better about getting passed by a bunch of racers in pointy helmets (if you don't know what I'm talking about, google "time trial helmet").

While waiting for me to finish the run (yeah . . . that was probably a long wait) Evan was playing in the grass and decided to share his cheerios with the local wildlife. We returned to the scene of the crime later in the day to capture these photos.

Evan seemed to have a fun weekend people watching and taking in the action, but he was also a big fan of the new water bottle that mommy got for finishing the race.

Thanks John and Evan for an absolutely wonderful weekend! I love you guys!

Best buddies

2009-07-06T18:38:00.002-04:00

With all of the fourth of July festivities, it ended up being a pretty rough weekend for Nicky (fortunately Evan was completely unfazed by all of it). Nicky spent most of his time hiding in various places around the apartment, but he discovered a new favorite one under Evan's crib. We think it's pretty cute that when Nicky gets scared, all he wants to do is go hang with his best buddy Evan.

Walking in its many forms (and first steps)!!!

2009-06-23T10:36:00.006-04:00

Anyone who has spent much time around Evan has gotten to witness his "knee-walking" technique. This evolved from his realization that it is difficult to crawl with things in his hand, but not wanting to walk yet. Both of Evan's Grandmas said that we have to get this on video before he starts walking, and we finally got a good clip . . .

At it turns out, we got this video just in time because Evan took his first steps yesterday!!! One of the parents at daycare has a daughter who also started walking kind of late, and they said that what finally made the difference was having regular shoes instead of the soft-soled slippers. This weekend I picked up some shoes for Evan and we tried them out on Monday. He was much more confident standing with the increased stability, and when we put him a couple of feet away, he walked right back to us!!! The really cool part is that after we changed him into pajamas (we waited until this point to take the video because the outfit he came home from daycare in was pretty ridiculous) and took off the shoes, he was still able to stand and walk! In the second part of the video you can see him shaking his head to say "no, mama, I'm tired of this game" but then he humored me anyway . . . thanks kiddo.

Table manners

2009-06-20T20:17:00.005-04:00

For some time now I have been putting off giving Evan a spoon to feed himself. This is largely because I imagine spoonfuls of food being launched catapult-style across the room. But, yesterday we finally decided to go for it and let Evan feed himself some pears (yes, I did intentionally choose something that matches the neutral decor of our apartment . . . just in case). We were pleasantly surprised by his display of table manners.

At some point the feeding experience devolved into the irresistible fun of sticking our fingers in the bowl of pears, but given his squeamishness about certain food textures we decided to let him enjoy. I guess we'll work on that table manner for next time . . .

Has it really come to this?

2009-05-31T20:44:00.005-04:00

About a month ago, Evan went through a bit of an eating regression and pretty much stopped eating anything "chunky" except goldfish crackers and cheerios (thankfully he is still a champ with pureed fruits and veggies). So, we are pretty excited when we find a new "chunky" he will eat. But as you can see, this does get a bit ridiculous. I never thought I would say "Yay, way to eat that doughnut! Great job!" Ahhh, the unexpected twists and turns of parenthood (though I wouldn't have it any other way) . . .

Fun with Grandma

2009-05-31T20:18:00.002-04:00

Last week, my Grandma came to visit us. She couldn't believe how much I had grown since she saw me 3 months ago! I showed her all my new tricks and we played with toys together. It was a lot of fun.

And, on Thursday we had a fun outing going to Costco and out to lunch. French fries are so awesome! I can't wait to see you again Grandma!!!

Hiking, swimming, pad thai, and guinea pigs . . .

2009-05-17T16:52:00.007-04:00

Yup, that pretty much sums up our trip to Brattleboro, Vermont this weekend. We packed up on Saturday morning and Evan helped out by testing out the water bottles for us.

We strategically planned the drive to coincide with Evan's naptime. Sweet.

This plan did not fail us, as Evan woke up happy and ready to play.

We stopped for lunch at a little cafe in northern MA, and Evan got to try a few new foods. For the record . . . potato chips - yum . . . bacon - yuck.

After fueling up, we headed into Vermont and set out to hike Haystack Mountain. We've had a lot of fun trying the hikes in our hiking with kids book, which we highly recommend to anyone living on the east coast.

The hike started out okay, but Evan quickly lost patience with the whole process. After getting almost to the top, we missed the turn to the summit and ended up on a side trail. So, with Evan's mood and the weather both turning on us, we abandoned our summit attempt and headed back to the car.

The next morning, we pretended to be Bostonians by hitting the Dunkin Donuts for breakfast. Glazed donut - yum . . . blueberry muffin . . . yum. To work off all that good breakfast, we took Evan for his first ever swim in the hotel pool. I think the water was a bit chilly for him at first, but after a while he actually did go in up to his waist.

We wanted to sneak in one more hike during the weekend, so we visited Chesterfield Gorge (another one from the book - this one I highly recommend). Evan's tolerance level for being in the backpack was pretty low, but the hike was only a mile long, so it was a good compromise.

At this point, you are probably thinking "wait a second . . . I've been reading this blog for a good minute and haven't yet heard anything about pad thai or guinea pigs." Take heart, the craziness is quickly approaching.

We stopped back in Brattleboro for lunch and went to a Thai place that was right next to a little city park. Now, we love Vermont, but it is germane to this story to mention that the state as a whole is pretty liberal, and Brattleboro is especially so in that "we appreciate your individuality" sort of way. So, as Evan was enjoying some pad thai from my plate (yes, for the record, pad thai . . . yum!) we were not entirely surprised to see a lady playing interactive games with her pet guinea pig in the grass right outside the window. Occasionally, the guinea pig would get away from her and she would be on all fours with her head stuck in the bushes looking for it. It was quite the spectacle. I looked at John and said "well this is Vermont" to which he responded "hmmm . . . Vermont - the guinea pig petting state."

So, we had a wonderful weekend in a beautiful area, Evan tried a lot of new things and even liked some of them, and we only sampled a little bit of crazy. Not bad . . .

Mother's Day gift

2009-05-12T11:30:00.009-04:00

Evan was incredibly sweet and made me a Mother's Day gift at day care yesterday! We have a bit of a running joke about the spelling of Evan's name, because his cubbyhole and picture at day care are both labeled "Even". We say that we might have to name our next kid "Odd".

Anyhow, when I picked him up yesterday, there was a mug in each kid's cubbyhole that they had made for Mother's Day (with a little help from the day care providers). I was completely expecting to get a mug that said "Even", which made it all the more hilarious when I found this:

Needless to say, I almost fell over laughing. And, after thinking about it, I realized that this is an awesome gift because it reminds me to treasure all of the funny things that happen when raising a child and that nobody is perfect.

Happy Mother's Day from the Heemstras . . . John, Jen, and Avan

Peek-a-boo and shape sorting

2009-05-10T20:07:00.004-04:00

Evan is learning all kinds of new tricks and games all of a sudden, so we thought we would share a couple with you. First, he loves to play peek-a-boo with his bib during mealtime. As you might imagine, this is much less messy if he waits until he is done eating his food. But, we're not always so fortunate. . .

Also, thanks to our wonderful friends, Evan has two new kinds of shape sorters to play with, and he has become quite skilled at this. He can get pretty much any of the shapes in, but he likes the circle because it's the easiest (I guess you can say that we've taught him everything we know).

Truckin' along

2009-04-25T08:40:00.004-04:00

Much to the dismay of our dog Nicky (look for his cameo appearance in the video below), Evan is getting really good at pushing his car around.

This is not only great because it wears Evan out before naptime, but also because our apartment is so small that Mommy gets a really good workout picking up him and the car every ten seconds and turning them around for another lap across the family room.

If I had a hammer . . .

2009-04-25T08:13:00.003-04:00

One of Evan's birthday presents was a hammer and toolbench (thanks Bunn family!) and Heemstra family lore is that John had one of these as a kid and used to play with it for hours on end. Like father, like son.

Evan is such a fan of the hammer that he walks around the house hammering at everything. This is usually entertaining, but occasionally results in "Evan, no, no" when he decides to hammer things like the heat radiators (and, of course when we say "no, no" he just turns and laughs at us). It is also entertaining at bedtime when he won't put down the hammer and insists on switching it from left hand to right and back again multiple times as we change into his pajamas.

Oh, and the title of the post is because every time I see Evan with his hammer it reminds me of the song:

If I had a hammer
I'd hammer in the morning
I'd hammer in the evening
All over this land
I'd hammer out danger
I'd hammer out a warning
I'd hammer out love between my brothers and my sisters
All over this land

Party like a rock star

2009-04-21T15:43:00.007-04:00

Although Evan's birthday was on April 9, we felt that it would be in bad taste to have a birthday party on Good Friday. So, he had to wait an extra week to celebrate with his friends. After all that waiting, he was very excited when the day finally arrived.

He got all fueled up for the big day with juice from his sippy cup (which he pretty much hated up until this point) and goldfish crackers (which are now one of only 3 "chunky" foods he will eat - the other two being cheerios and ritz crackers).

We, then enjoyed a wonderful afternoon with Auntie Sun (not pictured because she was too busy taking most of these pictures), Soren and his parents Carol and Jeremy, and little Kaitlyn and her parents Heather and Brian.

After an unpleasant prior incident with a birthday hat (I wasn't careful enough and the elastic snapped Evan a little bit), we decided we wouldn't risk putting the hat on, but we had to try to at least get a picture of him with one.

And, no party is complete without cake. Thanks Sun for making AWESOME cupcakes!!! Again, despite descending from a long line of cake-eaters, Evan was only interested in the frosting.

Easter and Birthday Fun!

2009-04-21T15:23:00.005-04:00

Okay, so I know Easter was a week and a half ago, but our daycare is closed this week so I get to stay home with Evan a couple of days and actually get to things like updating our blog. Yay!

Evan turned the big 1.0 on August 9, and Grandma and Grandpa Heemstra were able to come out from Chicago to celebrate with us and stay through Easter.

One of Evan's gifts from Grandma and Grandpa was a push/ride car. Evan was happy to help Grandpa put it together.

Then Grandma took Evan to the park and he had fun riding the swings, even though it was a little cold out.

Later, he got to try his first cupcake. Unlike his Mom and Dad, he is not a big fan of cake. But, he did enjoy the frosting.

Easter was a wonderful day as we got to go to church and celebrate Christ's resurrection with family and friends. Later, Auntie Sun and Uncle Dan came over for Easter dinner, and Evan had a blast playing with the new toys they brought him.

Oh, and Grandma even managed to get some pictures of Evan with the Easter bunny. She wisely used the plastic eggs instead of real ones, given Evan's propensity to pick things up and whack them on the table.

My new hiding place

2009-04-03T15:02:00.002-04:00

Evan has found his new favorite hiding place. Unfortunately, because the table is kind of slippery, he often topples out before he can get fully situated, but this time he was able to get nice and cozy.

The Joy of Bagels

2009-03-15T13:48:00.010-04:00

Despite Evan's complex and often strife-ridden relationship with "chunky" foods, he is starting to eat more and more things and has realized that he likes bagels. What's not to love - part yummy snack and part fun toy to bang on the high chair tray! We hope you enjoy the following photo essay entitled "Evan Eats a Bagel"

Not your average Sunday (aka first haircut)

2009-03-08T16:02:00.008-04:00

It all seemed like an average Sunday . . . we went to church, I hung out with my friends in the nursery, then came home to a big lunch and a good nap. After I woke up, I was happily watching some Nascar and cheering for my favorite driver Carl Edwards.

Then Mom noticed that I had funny bed hair and that it kind of looked like a rat tail, which apparently she found to be a bit disturbing.

I said "No way, that's just how all the infants are wearing their hair these days, you should know that Mom."

But, she didn't believe me. So, ugh . . . first haircut. I squirmed a lot, but didn't cry, and it was all over in about 2 minutes. I think she did okay. What do you think?

The Perfect Storm

2009-03-02T16:37:00.008-05:00

For those of you who don't live in Boston, we have had a very very snowy winter. And, just as we were starting to think that spring was on the way, we got a foot of new snow last night. To add to the fun, we woke up and thought "hmmm . . . it seems a bit cold in the house." Lo and behold, our heat had stopped working. Fortunately, our apartment is surprisingly well insulated and it only dropped to 60, so Evan still slept in fine, and just needed a little extra bundling up to keep him happy.

Day care was closed, which would normally mean party time with Evan all day, but Jen's boss apparently admires the postal service because rain or shine, sleet or snow emergency, they have a meeting at 9am Monday morning. John stayed home in the morning and got the heat fixed. Jen came home for the afternoon shift and her and Evan got the car all shoveled out . . . boy was it fortunate that Grandma got Evan a shovel for Christmas :) Just kidding!!! Evan was happily napping through the whole shoveling experience. Next year, though . . .

More Christmas

2009-02-25T14:36:00.007-05:00

My Christmas, Part II by Evan Heemstra

I think that my parents are a bit confused (but what else is new?) because we just celebrated Christmas . . . again . . . in February! But hey, I'm not complaining. This time we took an airplane to go to my Grandma's house in Arizona. The weather was great, and I enjoyed getting to stay in my pajamas until 10am.

Uncle Jeff came over to open presents and we hung out for a while. I haven't seen him since I was 3 months old, so he was very impressed with all of my new tricks.

There were presents under the tree again, but as you can see, my favorite part was the ribbon.

Grandma brought out a box of my Mom's old yearbooks. Boy, did that make me laugh! Even a 10 month old can tell you that it's not okay to wear hot pink socks with high top sneakers.

I got some fun new clothes and books, but was strangely most entertained by this water jug.

I feel really lucky that I don't just get one Christmas, but two! I had a fun time getting to play with Grandma and go for walks in the desert, and I can't wait to go back!

Climber in training?

2009-02-10T10:36:00.003-05:00

I've been meaning to post this for a couple of weeks now, but Evan has mastered the sit-start VO boulder problem that is the gate to his playroom. He did this the first time while we were eating dinner, which brought many cheers and clapping. He is still quite entertained by watching our reaction every time he pulls himself up (sometimes I think that we exist for the sole purpose of his entertainment). He is now starting to try to step up onto the bottom bar of the gate. I fear that he will figure out the high-step onto the big square plastic piece and within a year or so will be climbing right over the gate. The upside to all of this is that once he hits that point, he'll be ready for Mommy to take him to the climbing gym!!!

Snow Day!

2009-01-19T20:20:00.005-05:00

With a foot of fresh snow on the ground and the day off work (well, our labs aren't technically closed for the holiday, but any day that day care is closed becomes a day off by proxy . . . sweet), we decided to get some fresh air and go for a hike. Evan was very interested in why the park looked so different from normal, but then sleepiness got the better of him and he took a good nap during the second half of the walk.

Also, my project for the day was to convert our foyer room into a playroom for Evan so he can crawl and roll around in there while we get ready in the morning. So far, it seems to be a hit with Evan. Not so much with Nicky, who is afraid to walk through the gates, afraid to walk on the playmat surface, and completely freaked out by the fact that the gates are sometimes closed. Maybe it will be better tomorrow after he has the day to do recon while we're gone.

Christmas (a little late)

2009-01-09T11:28:00.007-05:00

My Christmas by Evan Heemstra

Sorry this is a little late - my parents somehow thought it was a good idea to leave Grandma's house and sit in the car for 18 hours. I am just now recovering. Anyhow, my friends at day care told me about Christmas, but they must not be Heemstras, because it was nothing like what they described. First we had a Christmas Eve party. It was really loud, and there were lots of people all wearing silly hats. They even put some reindeer antlers on me. I did get to sit in Santa's lap and get a present, which was fun.

Before Santa left, we all sang "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer." Again, loud . . . but fun.

Then, on Christmas day, we had Feliz Navidad. Somehow a sombrero ended up on my head. Mom and Dad ate enchiladas, then took part in a handbell competition. It was really fun, but sometimes I wonder about this crazy family I was born into.

It's a good thing I had my cousin Colin there for moral support.

Oh, and they tried to start giving me table food. YUCK!!! As you can see, they were too busy taking pictures to remove the offending piece of banana from my mouth.

But, then I got to bounce in my jumper and play with my new sandbox bucket, and all was well again.

All in all, I had a lot of fun (except for the whole banana incident). I hope you had a wonderful Christmas (or Feliz Navidad) as well!

The End

Hangin' with "Arizona" Grandma

2008-12-14T15:10:00.004-05:00

Evan got to spend all week hanging out with his "Arizona" Grandma, and as you can see, he had a blast.

Grandma brought him a rolling toy with little spinning ducks to help encourage him to crawl, but he prefers just to strettttcccchhhh his arms out to get it instead. Hey, that's okay, Mom and Dad are really really hoping for a basketball scholarship someday, so it's never too early to start working on that reach.

Block party!

2008-12-06T14:50:00.004-05:00

Evan got some blocks for Christmas (yeah, we let him "open" gifts early - and I say "open" in quotes because I never acutally wrapped the gifts . . . next year . . .). Anyhow, he especially loves the yellow one because when you press on the side with the duck it goes "quack, quaaaaack." His face completely lit up upon hearing this. He also had fun knocking down all the block towers that Mom built and having a block war with Dad.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T18:03:00.004-05:00

I don't know if it was the fun times with friends or watching Mom and Dad eat way too much, but Evan had a very smiley Thanksgiving. He did say that he really really really missed his family, though.

On the move

2008-11-25T20:51:00.003-05:00

Evan is getting soooo close to crawling. He can get up onto his elbows and knees and rock back and forth, and sometimes he actually makes forward progress. I'm sure he's baffled by how excited we get over this - we go absolutely nuts cheering and clapping. But hey, it's probably best that he figures out now that his parents are a bit crazy :)

Squash on the head and peaches in the cabinet

2008-11-21T10:15:00.003-05:00

Evan has had some big adventures at feeding time this week! Through quick thinking and stellar reflexes (okay, maybe just really good luck) he managed to intercept a spoonful of squash with his hand and fling it up into the air. Most of it landed on his head, and I'm sure he was thinking "yeah, really great parenting, Mom, taking pictures instead of cleaning the squash off my head."

Also, his high chair is right next to the hutch, which has a mirror inside. Evan loves to stare at himself in the mirror. Sometimes I "join" him in the cabinet, which typically wins me a smile, and on some days his peaches even show up in the cabinet, too.

Are we there now?

2008-11-15T14:30:00.000-05:00

Yup, I have finally been shamed (uh, I mean, motivated) into keeping a blog. So, welcome to "are we there now?" I was going to use "are we there yet?", but the url was already taken. I'm glad, though, because "now" actually works even better than "yet" to describe us.

I chose "are we there now?" because John and I are both 30 year olds who are more or less still in school, and still talk about a "real" job in the future tense. So often, we are tempted to look ahead to this time, only to forget all of the wonderful things that God has for us right now. The biggest of these, of course, is Evan who is now 7 months old and growing up so fast that it scares me sometimes (Evan also motivated the blog title because I'm sure it is what he must think when we drive 17 hours to Grandma and Grandpa's house). Anyhow, I've just come to realize that if I am always thinking ahead, life will spin past and I will be left wondering where it went, so I realize that I need to make a conscious effort to live and enjoy every single day with love and thanksgiving.

Okay, enough personal philosopy and on to the part that you all signed on to read about . . . EVAN! As you all probably know, his favorite hobby right now is putting things in his mouth. When confronted with a new item, the first goal is to try to fit it in his mouth. I gotta give the little guy credit for persistence in the face of adversity, as highlighted in the picture above. Evan has also begun to take quite an interest in Nicky lately, and Nick to his credit has become okay with letting Evan pet him for a little while. It's very sweet.