Casa Alegre in October

Another beautiful and relaxing trip to Casa Alegre! It never gets old seeing THIS view!

THURSDAY

Ember was eager to get to the beach....

... but she had to eat a good breakfast first

But once we got down to the beach, she was a little scared of the loud, moving water! Daddy comforted her! But she eventually warmed up to it and crawled around all over with her butt in the air like a little stink bug!

Maci tried on Ember's hat - she was obviously thrilled

And Mima got to cuddle and warm Ember up after the post ocean shower! Mima is SO funny!

And Dustin and I finished the day off with a quad ride down to the estuary.

FRIDAY

Started the morning off by working on her walking skills

Spent the afternoon playing at the beach with Maci

And we got some cool silhouette pictures at sunset time

Dustin tried to get the telescope to work so we could look at the strange bright lights/stars we saw in the sky on previous nights! (He was REALLY excited! :)

SATURDAY

Waiting patiently for Uncle Ryan, Aunt Molly, and Cousin Kiley and Corbin to come!!

They came! Let the beach playing fun begin!

And Maci decided that she wanted to start digging wholes in between running in circles around everyone!

Then, Ember played with the kite box and kite tail to cool off some

SUNDAY

Dustin, Ryan, and Kiley went on a kayaking fishing adventure! Here the brothers are ready to go!

They got one!!

MONDAY

Playing in the ocean! Trying to stand on the boogie board. Then Kiley jumped on my back and Dustin tried to pick us both up while standing on the boogie board! We did accomplish it but the onlookers said it looked like we were trying to drown Dustin... oops!

Ember doing her two favorite things on the beach:

1) Trying to walk

2) Eating sand

Some sunset family pictures!

And a gorgeous sunset it was!

And the moon decided to peak out too! 

We LOVE this place and can't wait to spend Thanksgiving there next month!

Yum Yum Yum

I decided to get adventurous and make my very 1st real cheesecake - not a no-bake one out of a box. And instead of just trying a plain and simple one I decided to make a Pumpkin Pecan Cheesecake with Gingerbread Crust! It was actually fairly easy and it turned out SOOO good! (I only made a 6 in one). So, of course, I had to take some pictures! :)

11 Months Old

It has been another big month for our little girl! She has gotten better and better at standing on her own and now can stand for 10+ seconds easily! At the beginning of the month, we introduced her to finger foods and she LOVES taking control and getting to eat by herself like a big girl. She started off with things she has already eaten like banana pieces, pears, and puffs but we quickly started introducing her to new foods as well. Ember has now had turkey and chicken, dairy such as yogurt and string cheese, honeydew, wheat such as sprouted grain bread, English muffins, and tortillas, blueberries, and black beans. She still breastfeeds and eats pureed foods at each meal to make sure she gets enough food. She loves her meat (like her daddy) and her cheese (just like her mommy). She is getting better and better with the sippy cup but still plays with it more than drinks from it. Ember has officially said her first word - "uh oh" and continues to say it over and over again! She has also learned how to give a high five and make a fishy face this month. We got exciting news from the Brucks family that baby Brucks #2 will be a little girl and we are all so excited for another cousin to arrive! Ember's second tooth popped through - her bottom right one. It is fun to hear her put those little teeth to good use crunching her puffs at meal time. She learned how to spin around in a circle while sitting down, how to climb a FULL flight of stairs, and how to climb all the way up onto her diaper box. The biggest new thing this month was Ember taking her first steps! One night when we were hanging out and playing as a family, we looked over to watch her take four steps in a row. After that she learned how to stand up without pulling up on anything and got that skill down to an art but still only takes between 1-4 steps at a time. It is so fun to watch her concentrate so hard to wobbly pick up and move those little feet. I am sure it will click soon for her and she will be walking everywhere in no time. Ember did finally graduate out of Size 2 diapers and moved on to Size 3 Pamper's Cruisers diapers. Just further proof that she is growing up and getting bigger. I am still in awe that in 1 month, our little 6lb 8oz helpless newborn baby girl will be a walking, talking, laughing and smiling 1 year old! 

Zucchini Gone Wild : /

Some of Dustin's clients always bless us with some zucchini in the summer time! However, they recently went on a 9 day vacation and came back to this zucchini gone wild and gave it to us! Ember enjoyed her "new friend" for a few days before we started eating it and gave some to Grandma and Grandpa Flin! :) 

Reminds me of a picture of me as a wee baby next to a big zucchini! Not this big... but I was littler too!

My Birthday! :)

Well, even though I am not excited about getting dangerously close to the age of 30 (eek!)... Birthdays are always fun when you have family and friends in your life that make you feel extra special and loved on your big day! 

On Tuesday, we didn't do anything too out of the ordinary except Dustin met me at Starbucks for a delicious Pumpkin Chai Latte and some time with him! That night we had our first Life Group Bible Study through church that just so happens to be at Jeff and Aleecia's house and of course Aleecia was a sweet friend and made me delicious cupcakes and everyone sang to me. I got to open some nice cards from family and friends and got some generous gifts and gift cards! I also got some pictures with my little family! :) (What a great birthday present having this little cutie to celebrate with this year!!)

Even Maci got a pic with the birthday girl! :)

To actually celebrate my birthday we thought it would be fun to do some sort of wine tasting.... but that is a little complicated with a breastfeeding baby who doesn't drink out of bottle anymore so we decided to buy the stuff to do a Wine Tasting at home! 

Here are all the supplies! We had 3 bottles of wine - a Riesling, a Pinot Noir, and a Merlot Chardonay.

During Ember's afternoon nap, we started with a wine and cheese pairing/tasting! We had 5 cheese choices: sharp Cheddar, Gouda, blue cheese, Swiss, and Brie. We tried different cheeses with little bits of each of the wines and had some oat crackers to use too! It was fun and delicious!

Then, after Ember was asleep for the night we pulled out the chocolate bars for a wine and chocolate tasting/pairing! This was so good! We had 4 different chocolates: white chocolate with coconut (my favorite), milk chocolate with hazelnuts, dark chocolate with caramel and sea salt, and dark chocolate with black currents (Dustin's favorite). 

This was so much fun! Plus we had wine, chocolate, and cheese to enjoy during the rest of my birthday week! I couldn't have thought of something better to do at home since cheese and chocolate are two of my favorite things! Then add in some elegant wine and my dashing husband and my birthday was so enjoyable! 

Thank you to everyone who helped make turning 28 a not so scary thing and making me feel special and loved! I am very blessed by ALL of you!! :) 

10 Months Old

Our big 10 month old is growing up! She went to the doctor this month and was 26.5 inches long and weighed 15 lbs and 3 oz. She is in the 7th percentile for her age.... just a petite little thing! But her size does not stop her from doing anything! She is standing for longer and longer on her own - up to about 7 seconds. She is walking all over the place while holding on to things and crawling so fast all over the place! One of her favorite things is to be up on the couch or the bed and be able to crawl, climb, and fall on the soft couch/bed. She giggles and squeals with delight when we let her do this! She continues to dance more and more to music. She will move side to side while sitting, stand and bob up and down, and of course still rock back and forth on all fours. She has decided that music is not the only thing that she should dance to but also the garbage disposal, blender, and any other loud noise she hears. Such a silly goose! Ember added sweet potato puffs, green beans, plums, and squash to her foods this month and likes all of them! We let her try a sippy cup and she is getting the hang of how to hold on to it but is still not able to suck and get the water out of it. She thinks it is fun non-the-less. Ember has learned how to wave at people and clap her hands and does one or the other pretty much all the time. She has also started sometimes doing the signs for "more" and "all done" when eating. You can tell her growing brain is trying so hard to understand this big world around her. Another big milestone - the first tooth has arrived. After a few nights of waking up more during the night, Ember's bottom left tooth poked through. Probably the biggest new thing this month for Ember was her first plane ride and her first time visiting a different state. Ember and mommy flew to Fargo, North Dakota to visit the Brucks! She did a GREAT job on the airplane, sleeping 1-1.5 hours both on the trip there and the trip back. She got to go to her first zoo while there and ride on a carousel for the first time. She loved both of those but her favorite part about the trip was playing and trying to keep up with her cousin Ryken! They spend their days playing on the air mattress, standing at the porch window, crawling after each other, and "sharing" toys. It was sad to leave the Brucks but Ember was so happy to see her daddy again - she following him around and kept staring at him as if trying to make up for lost time. Ember has also adopted a toy as her security object. She loves her silkie bear and grabs it immediately when we put her in her crib for a nap or for bedtime. I gave Ember her silkie bear on the airplane and she immediately put her two fingers in her mouth and calmed down. So precious! It was another big month in the life of Ember Renee Evans and we look forward to seeing her grow and learn more and more each day! We just wish time would slow down a little bit because our sweet little girl is growing up way too fast.