Its Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

The holidays have really crept up on the Scandlen family this year! Cannot believe the big day is only a week away. We have been having fun with Everett and getting him ready for his first Christmas. I finally have all the shopping done and presents wrapped and mailed the ones that require mailing and now it is finally time to just enjoy the holiday through the eyes of a very active 10 month old!

Since it has been a while since I have posted, I will start with a Thanksgiving recap:

Everett had a great first Thanksgiving down in Williamsburg and of course loved spending time with Grammy and Pap Pap and even got to see Aunt Abby who drove all the way down from NJ to see him. Poor guy was under the weather most of the week, throwing up almost everything he ate, so at times it was very messy (and sad!), but he did get to enjoy a little turkey and a lot of stuffing :)

Since Thanksgiving we have fully decorated the house, gone to visit Santa a few times (the picture below will show you how that has gone each time!) and put up the tree and listened to hours and hours of holiday music. We even got a very special tour of the West Wing of the White House by Jessica.

I cannot wait to see Everett open up gifts (or more likely eat lots of wrapping paper) on Christmas morning. We are headed to WV, Olegbay in particular, to spend a few days in a cabin with Grammy, Pap Pap, Aunt Jenni, Uncle Will and the girls and Aunt Emily and Uncle Matt. Since all of our extended family lives in the Wheeling area they will be coming by for the festitives as well. They all begin on Tuesday night at Pap Pap and Great Grandma's birthday celebration and send with Violet's 1st Birthday celebration at the Good Zoo.

We wish everyone who reads this blog (all three of you!) a very merry christmas and a happy new year. We will post some pictures of the fun trip upon our return!

Likes and Dislikes

As Everett nears his ten month birthday at the end of this week, I thought I would post his "likes" and "dislikes" at this stage of his life.

Likes:

1. Standing- his # 1 for sure, he refuses to sit anywhere, always wants to stand!
2. Balloons
3. Animals/toys that talk to him
4. Having books read to him
5. Mommy and Daddy
6. Climbing the stairs
7. Chewing on anything electronic (tv remotes, blackberries, digital cameras)
8. His "Everett" stool

Dislikes:

1. Having his nose wiped!
2. Being held by a person other than mommy and daddy when mommy and daddy are in sight
3. Getting buckled into his car seat
4. Santa

And he's off!!

Well it was a long time in coming, but Everett is finally mobile!! On Halloween night Everett crawled for the very first time. He has such good form, don't you think? Here is a video of our little crawler. Love him to pieces.

Six Year Anniversary

Ben took me to the Sanderling Resort in Duck, North Carolina for our six year anniversary! Ben always does such an amazing job planning our anniversary trips. On past trips we have visited to Maine, the Northern Neck of VA, Miami, Spain and Hawaii. Of course our trips must be shorter these days, so we just took one day to celebrate and left Everett with his Grammy and Pap Pap for the night. We had a great time on our trip, got to go on a walk on the beach (the weather was amazing!), visit the spa, had a romantic dinner, a delicious breakfast and hit some of the local shops. With life being as busy as it is, I do not tell him enough, but every single day I am thankful for the amazing husband I married. I am so proud of the man that he is and the life he has provided for Everett and I. He truly is my best friend and I am so looking forward to all the things we have in store together. He always has a kind word to say or a helping hand to lend. And what I honestly like best about him is how much he loves me. I hope he knows how much I love him too. I am truly blessed in my marriage...sigh :)

Halloween 2008

We are not sure if Everett truly enjoyed his first Halloween, due in large part to his costume. I could not resist the elephant costume when I was browsing through a magazine a few months ago. Also, with it being election year and all, I figured why not? Well it turns out Everett does not like to wear anything on his head, let alone a big hat with huge ears and tusks and a long trunk. That however did not stop me from dressing him up and parading him all around town to various Halloween festivities. On Thursday night before Halloween, we went to the annual Taylor Halloween party. Wow have these parties changed from a few short years ago :) Now it is full of kids and everyone leaves for bedtime around 8! Everett did have a great time with his buddy Gabriel (the bat). On Halloween itself, I took Everett back to Cox Farms with my mom's group. We had a ton of fun and got to ride on a great hayride. Everett LOVED it. We also went into my work to show off his costume and then finished the night by handing out candy to the neighborhood kids. All in all, a great 1st Halloween. Here are some pictures!

Big Guy!

Well yesterday we confirmed what we have always known is true, Everett is a big boy! He had his nine month appointment yesterday (wow how time flies) and weighed in at 25lbs (95%) and is 29 3/4 in. long (90%). He was not too happy about his shots or his finger prick, but quickly got over it (he is easily distracted!). At least now I can feel better that it is not becuase I am super old that my back kills me after spending the day with him! Poor Grammy had to see a massage therapist three times after watching him for the weekend. We cannot believe how quickly the past nine months have gone. Everett has changed our life so much for the better, he is our joy and inspiration. We love seeing his shiny happy chubby face when we get him up in the morning. We look forward to what each coming day brings and we are so happy he is our little (I mean big) boy.

Pumpkin Patch 2008

We took Everett to his first pumpkin patch this weekend at Cox Farms in Centreville, Va. It was quite a production! We could not believe all the people there and all the fun things they had to do for kids (hay rides, goat world, corn mazes and slides galore). Everett had a great time and even let us dress him in his adorable elephant costume for a few minutes (he does NOT like the elephant hat!). Here are some pictures of our special little man-- the love of our life!

Let's Go....... Mountaineers!!

It is a requirement in order to be accepted in the Caldwell family to be a WVU football fan. With Grammy being the #1 WVU football fan in the continental states (heck, probably all 50 states), we knew that Everett had to get in on the action early. We took Everett to his first WVU game (well, technically not his first, he went in utero last season!) the first weekend in October. We had a great weekend, capped off by WVU's win over Rutgers, and got to spend a nice few days with Grammy, Pap Pap, Aunt Emily and Uncle Matt. Everett was under the weather the whole time, which was very sad (his first real cold), and he did not much like the game itself (too loud!), but we made it through halftime before nap time came calling. We told Everett he better get used to games in Morgantown, Grammy won't let him play ball for any other team. Here are some pictures from our fun weekend.

Seven Months Old

These past few weeks have been filled with family visits! Twin cousin Amelia and her mom, Monica and her grandma Maria came from Orlando (and Thailand) to visit and we got to spend some time with new cousin Lanna and her mom, Yoko and dad, Chris, as well. It is always fun to see Amelia because she and Everett were born on the exact same day. Everett thought she was especially tasty as he kept trying to take a bite out of her (but she quickly crawled away during each "attack"). We were hoping that watching Amelia crawl would inspire our little man, but no such luck. He is happy as can be just sitting and chewing on ANYTHING he can get his big hands on.

We just returned from four days out in Boulder, Colorado visiting Jenni, Will and our adorable nieces, Lucette and Violet. We always love going to Boulder, the weather is always sunny and crisp and we truly enjoy the little ones. We got a chance to see WVU play Colorado and although we had a wonderful time at the game and at dinner beforehand (the kids stayed home with a babysitter, so it was rare night out for Ben and I), WVU lost in overtime :( Thank goodness my parents are currently on a cruise in Europe and did not have to watch the game live (I don't think my mom could have taken it!).

Everett was a good traveler (although he refused to sleep on either flight!), and got three teeth while we were in Boulder, which translated into a few tough nights for mom and dad. He is such a happy little man and continues to be the light of our life. How did we get so lucky? We ask ourselves that each day. Everett truly amazes us. Here are some pictures of our trip and visit with Amelia and Lanna!

End of Summer

I cannot believe how quickly time has passed these past few weeks! The summer flew by and Everett had his seventh month birthday over Labor Day weekend. We spent a few days up in Long Beach Island, NJ with Abby, Ben's uncle, John, his wife Linda, his cousin, Amy and her husband, Dan and their kids Peter and Katie. We had the best weather and a great time. This time was much more fun with Everett on the beach. When we were in Pawleys, he was not yet sitting up, but this time he was! He sat on the beach for hours and played in the sand (ate a lot of it!) and watched the waves. We went on a few walks, ate a bunch of yummy meals prepared by Linda and Amy and just enjoyed being with family. Here are some pictures of our trip!

In other exciting news, my little sister, Emily got engaged to her boyfriend, Matt Reinert. We could not be more excited, we love Matt already like he is a member of the family! They have not picked a date yet, but probably sometime next fall. So happy for them, they make a wonderful couple. As co-matrons of honor, Jenni and I are thrilled! Lots of planning ahead.

This morning I co-hosted a surprise baby shower brunch for my roommate from law school, Marcela, who was in town from Puerto Rico. We had such a good time and pulled off the surprise- which is hard to do in this information age! I cannot wait for baby girl Jenkins arrival in mid-December.

We are also looking forward to an exciting fall, a visit from twin cousin Amelia, a visit from one of my dear friends from Arizona (via Thailand), a trip out to Boulder to see the LeMaires and a trip to Morgantown for some Mountaineer Football with Emily and Matt and my parents in early October. Everett continues to be the light of our life, having such a good time with him!

Viva Las Vegas!

Ben and I just returned from our first weekend away from Everett! We went to Las Vegas with our dear friends, Jess and Cliff, for two days of fun in Sin City. After a rough start on the outbound flight (four hour delay!) we arrived in Vegas on Friday night. Had a wonderful time, ate at great restaurants, got a wonderful massage at the Bellagio Spa, won a little money playing black jack, hung out at the pool....and of course lots of time missing our little man. My parents spent the weekend with Everett and by all accounts had a wonderful time. I think they really enjoyed spending so much time with Everett and he loved it too! It was great to get away for a little while with each other. We cannot believe how quickly the summer has gone by. Everett is now sitting up by himself and is getting more fun and interactive each day. He continues to be a very happy child, a wonderful eater, and the world's best sleeper-- we are truly blessed!

Here are a few pictures of our trip to Vegas.

Dis Bugdayi

Our very dear friends are Turkish and this past weekend their little girl had what is called a Dis Bugdayi party because she had cut her first tooth. Well, since we were there to celebrate her milestone and Everett has cut his first tooth too, we put him on the blanket to see what profession he will have when he gets older. The result? An engineer! He had a lot of options (artist, lawyer, writer, architect, etc.) and our little guy chose the protractor. See you at MIT in 2026!

Six Month Birthday!

Everett had his six month doctor's appointment today and is a healthy, growing boy! His measurements are 21 lbs (95%), 27 3/4 in. long (90%) and 18 in. head circum (95%). He did not even cry with his shots and even smiled at the nurse when she left the room (she said that was a first!). We cannot believe he is already six months old. He truly has been a blessing in our life and we are so thankful every morning when we see his smiling face. Here is a picture of Everett smiling at his daddy. We just love him!

Pawleys Island

We just returned from 10 days at the beach in Pawleys Island, South Carolina and had the most wonderful time! I have been going to Pawleys every summer for the past 32 years and it was very special to bring Everett for the first time and share with him all the positive memories I have of the island. Every year we go with my sisters, brothers in law, aunts, uncles and mom and dad. It is a fun filled week of family dinners, hours at the beach, long walks and playing poker and card games. Everett was such an amazing baby the whole week, he slept like a champ and had so much fun being held by all his family members. I loved spending time with my family, especially my adorable nieces, Lucette and Violet. They are such sweet caring little girls and I had such fun with them. Here are some pictures of our trip!

Water Babies!

Since I spent so much of my childhood at the pool and on swim teams, I want to get Everett introduced to the water early....well, maybe I have started a little too early :) Arlington County offers Water Babies classes for children from 6 months forward. Well, since I seem to think Everett is advanced at all things he does (don't all mothers?), I signed him up for a class that began when he was 4 1/2 months. Well, it turns out there is a reason they want the kids to be six months-- any younger and they simply are not into it and do not get much out of the class. Nevertheless, Everett seems to like the water (although he just stares at the rest of the kids splashing and kicking and picking up rubber duckies) and generally is very pleasant in the water. Here are some pictures of his first two classes, you can see that mom and dad take turns being in the water with him. We continue to have so much fun with the little guy and love him more each day! Here is our little Olympian in training :)

Rolling the Day Away

Everett will not stay on his back for more than a second these days. He even sleeps on his side now. Here is our little roller!

Everett Laughing

Everett is such a happy little guy. We hope this brightens your day just a little :)

First Father's Day!

We celebrated Ben's first father's day this past weekend by heading down to Williamsburg. Everett had his first boat ride on my parent's boat on the river by their house, we ate some good food and on Sunday after church we headed to the horse track, Colonial Downs, for some racing fun. I was the big winner, winning a total of $8.40! Everett was super cute the whole weekend and was adorable in his short pants outfit. I have NEVER seen Grammy so proud as when she was showing him off to all her church friends. Here are some pictures of our weekend! Every single day I am thankful for what a wonderful father Ben is to Everett- it is so fun to watch them together, they are best friends.

Puerto Rico

There are advantages to being back at work.... like traveling to Puerto Rico! I was able to schedule a meeting with our outside counsel on a case I am assigned to handle in San Juan and squeeze in a visit to see our dear friends, Marcela and Barton Jenkins. Of course I could not bear to leave Everett for the trip, so Ben and Everett traveled with me! Even though it was a short trip, we had a great time. Everett loved his first trip to the Carribbean.

Back to Work :(

I officially started back to work on Monday and honestly Monday was not all that bad, Tuesday, however was not so good. On Monday morning it was exciting to get up, get ready for work and be back with my work colleagues and feeling like there is something else to my life besides being Everett's mom. But by Tuesday, the novelty had worn off and all I could think about was not being with Everett! We are nanny sharing with a great family who has a little guy four days older than Everett and luckily, we hired a great nanny, Gloria, who has been a nanny for 20 years and was the nanny for my co-worker's twins when they were little, so she knows what she is doing and we trust her. Also, I have gone back on a reduced schedule (no work on Friday and "working" from home on Wednesday), so I cannot complain too much. It just breaks my heart knowing that Everett is being cared for by someone else, what if he is sad, hungry, or just needs to be held? When I envisioned my life as a mom, I always thought I would be a stay at home mom, however, I did not envision living in DC with a gigantic mortgage :) I know it will just be a transition, and hopefully someday our circumstances change so I can be home full time with my kids, but now, I am going to make the best of the situation and be thankful that I have such a wonderful job with great flexibility and good friends. Also, it will be nice to get out of mommy mode once in a while and practice law again. Now if Gloria can just work her magic and get my little guy on a napping schedule :) Good luck to her!!

Family Time!

These past few weeks Everett has met so many of his cousins and aunts and uncles, it has been a busy busy time! My mom, Everett and I went to West Virginia and stayed in Mannington, WV with my great aunt Violet and went to Wheeling, WV to meet Everett's great grandmother and see Aunt Amy and his second cousins Alison and Mallory. We also went down to Dayton, Virginia for cousin Maddy's first communion and to meet cousins Liam, Cavan and Chloe and aunt Charlotte and uncle Josh for the first time. Aunt Abby and her boyfriend Steve came with us and it is always great to see them! We just got back from Everett's first ever trip to Boulder, Colorado to see cousins Lucette and Violet and aunt Jenni and uncle Will. Jenni and I ran the 10k Bolder Boulder, the largest race in the country with 50,000 participants! We were super proud that we were able to run the entire race without stopping....not bad for two new moms :) Everett did wonderful on each plane ride, but has a hard time not sleeping in his crib...so Ben and I have had a few rough nights lately!

We are spending this last week before I return to work just hanging out and spending lots of time together. Everett had his four month appointment today and did wonderful with his shots...he is a brave little guy. He weighed in at 18 lbs, 1 oz and is 26 1/2 inches long. He is a big guy!! He started on rice ceral this week and although he only eats a little, he seems to like it so far. He is rolling over consistently as well (from front to back, but not yet from back to front) and loves his bumbo and jumpster. We signed up for music together and water babies for the summer session and continue on with our baby yoga on Fridays. He loves all his activities!

Here are some recent pictures of Everett's travels.... will update more later!

Best Friends!

Here is a recent picture of the adorable boys. They are all getting so big!