The Many Faces of Everett

The past few months it has been so fun watching Everett's personality come through with his grunting, his laughing, his smiling, his talking, but most especially his facial expressions.

On the rare occasions that I remember I have a nice camera to use, I take a bajillion pictures. Almost literally. Within five minutes, I have at least 100 pictures. Sometimes that means 20 or 30 shots of almost the exact same thing, but sometimes that means that I capture some really awesome faces, some of which are intentional on Everett's part, and others are just lucky shots of a changing expression, sneeze, or yawn.

Below are some pictures from the last little while that have made me smile or even laugh out loud. These are the pictures that I go back to and look at day after day (usually after Everett goes to bed and I start missing him).

I wish I were funny enough to caption all of these with an idea that matches his expression. But I'm not😂. So use your imagination.

This one was from a long time ago (or at least it seems like a long time--4 months ago), but Everett used to make the BEST pouty face when he was sad!

This is his determined face when he's trying really hard to do something. In this case, pull this toy toward him.

I'm SO sad that this is blurry because this would be my very favorite picture otherwise! I love his squinty smile, but it's so fleeting and hard to capture!

Another determined face...the "I see, I want" face.

The stank face. Usually provided after trying a new food, or a new texture of food (like his "lil bits" that we've moved onto).

 

A rare crooked smile!

So excited to be outside!

Because flowers are for licking, right?

I forgot to turn off the flash, and this was the result. His wide eyes + his hair = crazy face.

I wish this were a face he actually makes often, but I really just caught it mid-yawn. But it's so dang cute.

Another accidental expression.

This one is TOO GOOD. It's a mix of the smushed cheek and the mid-blink that just kills me.

Another favorite in our house. He was tired of being in his carseat and kept trying to propel himself forward to get out of it. It wasn't working...😂

I get this one a lot. The pity smile usually given when I'm trying to be funny.

We just love this little guy and all his many faces!

Miles to Magnolia

When Spencer and I bought our house, we did a lot of research to decide on our style and how we wanted our house to feel. This consisted of a lot of Pinterest, browsing furniture websites, but mostly a lot of HGTV (back in the good ol' days when it was on Netflix😑). There were two shows in particular that resonated with us: the Property Brothers and Fixer Upper. They both have awesome style and watching the home transform was super interesting.

We both love Fixer Upper the most though. Maybe it's because Chip and Joanna are hilarious. Maybe it's because Joanna's style is beyond awesome. Or maybe it's because I actually know where Waco is. (Having grown up in a small town in Central Texas, I'd always tell people I lived halfway between Waco and Austin. And about half the time, they'd look at me funny, not having heard of Waco. Well thank you, Fixer Upper, for putting Waco on the map again so people can understand where I live😋.) When we decided to visit my parents this month, we knew we wanted a trip to Waco and the Magnolia Silos to be on our list of to-dos.

We had an awesome time, and I did a little better about busting out my camera and documenting the experience. I still felt a little weird taking pictures inside the store, but I captured a few of the things that spoke to me the most.

  I was only a little excited to see the Silos as we were driving through town. 

 Someone please teach me how to fill a flower box like this. 

 Oh how I wish I could keep a plant alive...

I don't know if it's just because it's at Magnolia, or if it's the chalkboard signs or the planter box, but I just loved this little garden!

They had so many good food trucks and the cutest spots to eat!

I need a bigger backyard and a different feeling about being outside, then we can build a pergola and fill it with gorgeous hanging plants.

Everett loved it so much he fell asleep! My mom was a saint and kept track of our sleeping babe while Spencer and I wandered around the store. I wish our house was a little less complete so I had an excuse to buy more, but we walked out with a great souvenir that I'll show you once our kitchen is complete! (Which will hopefully be soon, since we only need a stinking range hood). 

Plants, plants, everywhere! But seriously, how cute is this arrangement of plants? I especially love the ones in the scale. 

My decorating mantra that I didn't know I was living by. A room doesn't feel finished until it has a floral arrangement in it. I think it just softens a room and adds some life to it.

In addition to a flower addiction, I also have a thing for vases? I guess they go hand in hand, but I also decorate with empty vases. So this collection (though arranged this way for retail purposes) really spoke to me.

 I love this collection of little vases! And the little sprig in the center one? 😍

If only we weren't flying back to Utah (and the stems were cheaper), I would've bought all the flowers in the store. 

Anyone have an old bike that they want to donate to me?

Those are all of the pictures of the market. I felt a little silly walking around, trying to be all artistic and capture everything when the store was crazy busy. But they had everything I dreamt of as we were decorating our house. Rustic signs, cursive metal words, unique dishes, flowers galore, the best colors of paint, small and large vases, cute (and probably filled with tasty food) cookbooks, and so much more. If I hadn't had a hungry baby and a short visit in Texas, I could've spent a whole day there.

They just opened this cute little bakery the week before we went. They'd previously been running the bakery out of a food truck, but had enough interest that they opened a brick and mortar store! Since it was so new, the line was a little too long, and since Everett was hungry, we had to jet. I guess it's a reason we have to go back...

 Loved this cute little sign! And I also loved having my mom around to take pictures of all three of us😁

Proud Grandma. She didn't want a picture with her daughter, but her grandson? Absolutely. 

This was as close as we got to the cupcakes...outside the bakery.

It was a very bright and sunny day (I even got a sunburn...😑), but it was the perfect trip to the perfect place.

Six Months of Everett

...have FLOWN by. During my pregnancy, I heard lots of people say that pregnancy time moves so slow, but once the baby's here it would go so fast! Well in the middle of a period where the weeks can't pass faster (pregnancy), I didn't believe them. But here we are 6 months after Everett was born and I can barely remember being pregnant at all, it seems so long ago!

In honor of this guys 6-month "birthday" I've decided to (finally) recap what's been going on in our house the past few months! Be prepared for tons of baby pictures, lots of random thoughts, but a whole lot of cuteness! (And yes, I know that 99% of the pictures are terrible, iPhone quality images. We were tired and Everett had quick mood swings, so it was hard to have the camera ready at a moment's notice. I love these pictures all the same, and I hope you do too.)



Our life lately has consisted of...

• Cuddling the baby.
• Feeding the baby.
• Listening to the baby cry.
• Changing the baby's diaper.
• Spencer giving Everett a tour of the house (my favorite part was that he told Everett he'd have to kill spiders for Mom in the basement).

• Worrying about jaundice.

• Going to the hospital for billirubin tests.
• My mom coming to town (the week after Everett was born).
• Watching a whole lot of tv. (Shout out to Shonda Rhimes for writing all the best shows. Currently addicted to Scandal. So much so that I'm almost caught up with the current season AND I'm watching it again with Spencer. So I'm basically watching the whole series twice in two weeks. And I'm not even sad about it.)
• Gaining the nerve to go out in public with the baby.
• Losing the nerve after he freaks out ten minutes into said outing.
• Everett smiling in his sleep.

• Going up to Eden and Pineview reservoir with Spencer's family.
• Many, many baths.

• My dad and sister coming to town (the beginning of September). They originally came to town for the baby blessing, but we learned very last minute of a regional conference that conflicted with the date we had scheduled 😑

• Staring at the baby.
• Making the baby smile.
• The baby making us smile.

• Everett shaking his fists as he stretched when he woke up. (I already miss it!)
• One night where Everett slept the WHOLE night. (like 6pm-6am)
• A first trip to church as a family of 3!

• A trip to Idaho for Conference Weekend at the cabin.

• Many, many funny faces (on Everett's part and ours).
• Little baby laughs.
• Too much stress about Everett's weight gain. (He was born in the 95% and dropped steadily through several appointments to the 18% before being diagnosed with reflux)
• A trip to the pumpkin patch, just because.

• Two Halloween parties in one night.
• Scheduling the baby blessing four times and finally having it happen!
• My parents coming out for the blessing.

• Hosting ~50 people in our house for the baby blessing (which also took place in our home!)
• Many sleepless nights. And sleepless days (this baby only takes 30 minute naps!)
• Hanging out with friends like Alex and Jane, and Mackenzi and Zander.

• Three sets of shots (the pokey kind, not the drinking kind).
• The cutest little frowny face.

• Daylight Savings that created a regular bedtime (prior to that, he'd go to sleep at 6:30/7 and only sleep for 30 minutes then want to play for another 2 hours, but after the time change, he started falling asleep for the night around that time)
• Many car rides with a screaming baby...

• A four-month-sleep-regression that lasted four dang weeks (and only ended because of some sleep training)
• Going to my friend Emily's bridal shower.

• Lots and lots of laundry

• Many outtakes to get the perfect monthly update picture (below are just a few. When I say many, I mean like hundreds-each-month many)

• (Finally) Having some happy trips to Target!

• Spencer's brother McKay returning from his mission to Thailand!

• Spencer traveling to Phoenix Monday-Thursday for 6 weeks.
• The mystery of the missing jeans (which we loved and were so sad to have lost! Update: they were found under our bed...after they grew too small)
• A trip to St. George for Thanksgiving.

• More funny faces, with growing intention behind them on Everett's part.

• Watching Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (and a baby that slept the whole time!)
• A desperate attempt at sleep training that actually paid off and worked (so far!).
• Nearly 2,000 iPhone photos of this cute little boy.
• Lots of love and not nearly enough cuddles.
• An increasingly chubby baby! (He was up to the 23% at his 4 month appointment).
• Everett learning to spit, and thinking it's the funniest thing.
• Playing with Dad and getting stuck in a box.
• "Drinking" Dr. Pepper with Mom.

• Big belly laughs that fill the whole room.

• A first snow!
• A wonderful white Christmas (where Everett got spoiled).

• The mystery of the orange tongue (remains a mystery, but has since gone away).
• The start of solids! Rice cereal (short lived because it upset his stomach), oatmeal, sweet potatoes, squash, bananas and carrots so far.

• A visit from Aunt Kim!

• An early New Year (we celebrated at 9:30).

• A second try at a movie (Rogue One) that didn't end as well as the first (we took turns in the stairwell entertaining Everett).
• Everett sucking on his bottom lip until it was chapped.
• Everett sucking on his top lip and making the funniest faces.
• Learning to roll over (front to back, then back to front)
• A handful of naps longer than 30 minutes.
• Learning to suck on his top and bottom lips (separately).

• Learning to fall asleep in the car (and at church in the carseat).

• A few shopping trips that lasted more than 30 minutes (more than two hours even!)
• And more funny faces.

• Riding around on the robot vacuum.

I can't believe how fast time is going! I look back at pictures from a month ago and feel like Everett is a whole different baby! And the pictures from his birth feel like a lifetime ago! We sure do love this little boy and are so excited to have him in our life!


(and that long blog post is the reason I've decided to be better at blogging! That was rough. Congrats and thanks if you made it this far!)