Trip to California

From Friday through Tuesday, we were in California visiting my parents: Nana and Papa.  Here are some highlights of our trip:

Sat., June 26--We went to Zuma Beach in Malibu.  Mo loved playing in the sand while Eva walked with Daddy in the wet sand and incoming waves.  She got knocked over by a cold, powerful wave and soaked from head to toe.  But as soon as Daddy convinced her she had just swum in the ocean, she was very excited.  Later that night, MO TOOK HIS FIRST STEP!  It was a total shock because he has just recently become a pro at pulling himself up on the furniture.  He hasn't cruised much at all.  But the little daredevil let go of the loveseat and lunged for the Nate's leg.  He grabbed Nate's jeans and then Nate reached down and steadied him, so the risk was successful.  It just figures that Mo would walk to Nate.  We call Nate the Baby Whisperer.  All children love him and Noah was named after him, so it was very fitting how the drama of the first step played out.
Sun., June 27--We celebrated Eva's third birthday with Nana, Papa, and my cousin, Emily.  Eva was excited to have birthday cake, but was so exhausted that she asked to go to bed after dinner instead of eating her cake.  Michael worked his magic and convinced Ev to stay up long enough for us to sing "Happy Birthday."  She loved blowing out the candles on her pink cake, but asked to go to sleep as soon as she was done with the candles.  It was probably only 7 p.m.
Mon., June 28--Eva went on her long-awaited date to Vons (my beloved grocery store; I love it so because it reminds me of home) to get a balloon.  She has Papa wrapped around her little finger!  It has become a tradition that everytime we visit, Papa takes her on a date to get a balloon.  They both seem to love those outings!

Miscellaneous Tidbits: Eva fell in love all over again with Nate's Maltese dogs, Buddy and Trixie.  No one knows why, but she called one of the dogs Porky and Porkypine (aka porcupine) all weekend.  It was cute and hilarious!  Who knew she knew the word porcupine?!  (However, she must not know what it means...)

Eva also started calling my dad, Jerry.  She will not call him Papa anymore.  She seems pleased as punch that she knows his real name.  The only other thing she'll consent to call him is "Mama's dad" because she's also quite excited that she understands how we're all related to one another.  Miss Smartypants is a kick!

Father's Day 2010

Father's Day was great this year! We surprised Michael with breakfast in bed. I made banana-pecan pancakes, a delicious recipe which Michael created several months ago and I had yet to try. The pancakes turned out well and when Michael was ready to get up, he found a few presents waiting for him on the kitchen table, the best of which were Father's Day photos of the kids. Here are some of them:

The concept for these photos was kids dressing up in daddy's clothes. The photos turned out really fun! Michael loved them!

At church, Eva sang "Daddy's Homecoming" in sacrament meeting with our ward's one primary boy and five nursery kids. It was her first actual performance ever. She did great; she sang the whole song and performed all of the hand motions too. Her kiss at the end tailed everyone else's by just long enough to ensure that all eyes were on her. It was unintentional on her part, but seemed fitting that she would want show her flair for the dramatic. The entertainment was Eva's present to Michael!

Noah pictures

Baby Noah Nathanael Cummings was born this week. 7 lbs, 13 oz, 19.5 inches. He's a cutie, and Eva is totally adorable with him. For a few more pictures, go here.

Noah Nathanael Cummings

A fun little picture of the little one sucking his thumb. Though Shaughan's getting to the point where she's ready to be done with the pregnancy, we have to wait another three months before welcoming our little boy. Eva's so excited. She can't stop talking about baby Noah.

Dormant no more

So, to all of you who have been breathlessly waiting for blog updates for the last approximately 18 months---- you can breathe easy now. Shaughan has been let loose on our blog and is beginning to figure it out. Now that no one has to depend on me to post, I am sure updates will happen more frequently. But at what cost?

I have this hidden (but I guess it's not so hidden anymore) fear that Shaughan will become a blog addict, that each detail of our personal lives will be laid bare for the world to see, and she'll stay up until all hours of the night telling people about Eva's boogers. It's probably an irrational and unjustified fear, but that doesn't make it any less real. Thanks for your support and understanding during these next few months while Shaughan transitions into being a full-time mommy blogger.

Flower Girl

It's Shaughanie. We're back from the dead. I actually never knew how to blog...sad. But I am in DC visiting my sis, Jocelyn. And she is teaching me how to blog. Yes! Jocelyn married Zack Parks on Oct. 18. And Eva, as the only niece in either of their families, earned the grand distinction of being the flower girl. Here are some pics. Enjoy!
This is the rehearsal dinner. Really, it was just a huge pool party with In-N-Out food. After all, what was there to rehearse?
We "rehearsed" chasing Ev. But how is that different from any other day? My ever-helpful Michael kept track of our little bunny, which gave me time to meet Zack's fantastic family.
Daddy and the bunny hand-in-hand. We have so many pictures of her back because she's always on the move and knows exactly where she wants to go.
The mama with beauty baby Eva.
Family picture taken outside the Los Angeles temple. Look at what a great time Eva is having--even though she bruised her head. (The initial injury happened a few days before the wedding. We bought arnica cream to help the bruise go away quickly. It worked...but then she injured the same spot by falling on her noggin just before Joce and Zack exited the temple.)
Our gorgeous nephew, Cooper Campbell. He was my date at the wedding reception. We have a mutual crush. Michael was at the reception of course, but Cooper staked his claim. And really, who am I to complain?

This pic captures my favorite memory of the evening. Ev was only 15 months old, but shocked us by dancing the night away for four hours. She even joined Jocelyn and Zack during their first dance. Needless to say, it was a very romantic moment for the three of them! Whenever we tried to pick her up, she vehemently declined. She preferred to stay in the lights and flirt with the DJ's 13-year-old son. Where did this kid come from?

Stay tuned...more blogs to come. Jocelyn vows this will be the case even if she has to babysit my blogging efforts.

The Cutest Baby in the World

The last several months we've taken some ADORABLE pictures of Eva. Here are a few of them.