ONE looks good on you!

Happy Birthday to Evie Knight!

We are so glad that you belong to us.

So glad, in fact, that Mom took over 200 birthday pictures of you.

I might just love all 200 of them, but I'll just share my absolute faves.

Birthday hat and birthday balloons with the birthday boy.

I LOVE that cheesy grin so darn much.

But I do love that serious mug too...probably because it accentuates those kissable cheeks!

"I'm turning how old? La-la-la-la. I can't hear you. I'm going to pretend I'm Mom's little baby forever."

Um, holy cute.

Ok, so maybe the littlest mister was not loving the photo shoot the whole time. But MOST of the time, yes he was!

I don't know why, but I look at this picture and I see Evie as an 8-year-old. He's getting so big...and I LOVE that face!

But he looks like a sweet baby in this one, so it makes up for him looking like a little man in the last!

He's growing up. ONE YEARS OLD. Wow.

Happy Birthday Ever!

Tomorrow's the big ONE

Everett Knight turns one tomorrow.

He made it to one. We made it to one. Oh, what a year.

My emotions have surprised me this week. I have felt excited and happy and grateful--always, ALWAYS, grateful. But I've also felt really sad thinking back on this time last year. What was supposed to be such a joyous event, the birth of our new baby boy, was overshadowed with a heart anomoly. The pain of Everett's diagnosis and subsequent surgeries is still fresh, although somewhat buried in busyness, and remembering last year brings those raw feelings to the surface. It's only been a year and it's already been a year--I don't know which one applies. I know we are blessed and I know we've had it so, so good...but instead of bringing me peace that knowledge has made me feel a little guilty and a little scared for the next thing that could/will go wrong. My heart has had an interesting week. 

{precious little Everett sleeping in my lap at 24 hours old, right before the diagnosis}

But last night, as I sat thinking, thinking, thinking about this year and trying to make sense of my feelings, I received some helpful inspiration. This weekend, I realized, was meant to be spent celebrating the BIRTH of my beautiful, strong, snuggly son Everett, not "celebrating" his diagnosis. Everett has congenital heart disease and our family is proud of that and proud of his strength in the CHD journey {and frankly, we love to celebrate/honor CHD as often as possible}, but Everett is not congenital heart disease--he is so much more than that.

So tomorrow, instead of feeling sad or anxious, I am going to remember that one year ago we were given a very special gift from a loving Heavenly Father--a precious little boy who has taught us about faith, who has taught us about love and who has been a blessing every single day of his life. I am going to honor a baby who loves to scoot on his bum, who laughs when you sneeze, who gives open-mouth kisses and loves to eat vegetables and fishy crackers (and just about anything else you give him). I am going to reflect on how perfectly beautiful he was at birth and how peaceful that first day with Everett was--him laying on my chest and visitors expressing their love. And when he stands up on a piece of furniture and smiles the biggest, cheesiest, proudest smile you've ever seen, I am going to smile right along with him. 

{June 28, 2012. can't wait to shar all of his birthday pics!}



Yep, tomorrow I am going to party hard because this little boy is one and this little boy is mine. 

I love that little Evie McEverson. 

Peterson Auto Museum

If you are ever in LA, and if you or your kids or anyone you know loves cars {or even if they don't}, the Peterson Automotive Museum is a MUST SEE. I had no idea how amazing this place was going to be, but super amazing it was. We ended up staying FOUR hours at this museum with no complaints, whines or grumps out of either boy. It was great and we'll definitely go again. 

 

The top floor is a discovery center just for kids. This is a real race car that the kids can climb into and learn about. The employees and volunteers were some of the nicest people I've ever met. This guy hung around most of the day explaining to T exactly how the cars work, where everything goes, how to repair them, etc.

 There were lots of fun experiments and hands-on activities for the kids.

T on a real police motorcycle {the only motorcycle ride or cop car he'll ever be in if I have anything to do with it!}

 Everett loved watching T and the other boys race their hot wheels and derby cars down the track.

 Evie the Fireman!

Most of our time was spent in the kid zone, but we did make a sweep of the whole museum and every last piece of it was well thought out, well laid out, and incredible. Of course, my favorite were the Hollywood cars--Grease Lightning and the Batmobile.

And T found a whole Lightning McQueen exhibit in the Hollywood section that had him giggling and squealing--literally. That boy loves his Cars!

There was a Johnny Rockets inside the museum so the boys and I had some lunch together...and no, T didn't eat salt for lunch! But he did down at least two of those big lemonades and was so excited about every sip!

The museum was around the corner from The Grove shopping center {where they film Extra} and so we had to check that out since we were so close! It was gorgeous and we loved watching the water show.

The Grove offers free trolley rides around the mall and Talmage was in heaven. Seriously, a car museum, lemonade and a trolley ride all on the same day? I'm pretty sure he didn't think life could get any better.

Nothing like a sleeping baby, or two...

 Anyone else obsessed with pics of sleeping kids?

Celebsightings

On Monday night I went to a movie premier in Westwood and saw some serious celebs! It was so fun and I was at least a little giddy!

 Jon Voight

 Salma Hayek

 Blake Lively

Taylor Kitsch (the real reason I came to the premier!)

I also saw Kelly Preston, John Travolta, Connie Britton and a few others. And today I saw Kourtney Kardashian and her too-cute preggo belly walking down the street. Have I mentioned that I kind of love living in LA?

Standing

It's this little turkey's birthday week, and he has reached quite a few little milestones. He has learned to roll over (finally!) and sit himself up from laying down. He has also learned...barely...mostly...how to stand up on furniture. He still isn't cruising, but by golly he's standing! And he looks so cute doing it. And do you know what is even cuter? Seeing how proud he is when he gets up!

Some Parties and One Heck of a Burger

Pool party for Jim's work. Delicious cupcakes and a huge pool full of new toys and friends. Heaven anyone?

Birthday party for some of our new friends at Mother's Beach. No waves, lots of sand, more cupcakes and swings overlooking gorgeous boats. Heaven. Yep, heaven.

Apple Pan, recommended by our cousin Ira. The hickory burger was out of this world. Plus fries, IBC from a bottle and apple pie. Heavenly.

So basically, my dad rocks.

Yes, yes, I know Fathers Day was last week. But darn it my dad rocks. Like, really rocks. Once again this week I saw how much he cares and once again this week I realized how lucky I am. And so today, one week after Father's Day, I'm gonna share the story with you. Because my dad is awesome.

 It's a story of a three year old who doesn't listen, a door that locks from the inside and a really screwed up fork.

The mischievous three year old is our very own Mr. T. Shocked, right? Listening is not his strong suit lately. He is strong-willed and ridiculously independent and I don't know if you know this, but he totally knows best.

The door leads from our front room into the hallway where our only bedroom and bathroom are. It locks from the inside and there is no key to open it from the outside. T has a fascination with locks and I have told him at least 300 times NOT TO TOUCH THE LOCK!

Listen?
Of course not.

A few days ago we were coming home from doing laundry and T had to go the bathroom so we went to open the door. Locked. My first inclination was to knock. Smart Heath, real smart. When no one answered I immediately turned my attention to T who was smiling at his work (locked door). He wasn't smiling for long because once he realized I couldn't open it he panicked...big time.

Of course this all happened on the night James was working on a big deal and had to be at work past midnight. I'm a really independent girl most of the time, but sometimes I just want to be saved, and this was one of those times.

Our house is unfurnished and we only have the bare essentials...REALLY bare essentials. I found a paperclip and tried picking the lock but it didn't work. After saying a prayer with T and trying some more I called my Dad.

He was so calm and so helpful. Instead of just saying, "Sorry honey, that's lame," or "Wish I was there, but don't know what I can do from here," he started brainstorming all the things that could possibly open the door. I, of course, didn't have any of them.

He sat patiently on the phone while I played with the lock, grunted and huffed over how lame this situation was, and then bucked up and tried some more. He helped me make a list of things I would need from the hardware store (since I couldn't get the door open with my lousy paperclip) and seriously walked through the exact steps for our plan a and plan b.

After 20 minutes on the phone (he honestly just sat on the phone with me for 20 minutes) he had an idea. A FORK! He asked me how attached I was with my forks, and then told me that he thought a bent fork might just do the trick. Since I purchased our forks at the dollar store last week, I decided that I was not too attached to ruin it.

Can I just say that my dad is a genius! It worked! I started screaming with joy and T started sobbing hysterically and yelling, "You did it! Da door is opened Mommy!" It was super dramatic.

I couldn't stop praising my Dad. He was the brains of the operation and my hero. He was kind and resourceful and brilliant and patient.

And then, just like that, he said he had been praying for us the whole time, Heavenly Father must have given him the idea, and he was glad we were ok. And off the phone he went.

Dad, you're amazing. And humble too. I think I would have thrown myself a party if I'd of come up with the winning idea!

I almost threw the fork away before I realized I probably will need it again in the future (although T has promised to never touch the door again!) It's currently hanging out in the hall closet.

Venice

We started the day at Chace park in Marina Del Rey. It was a cool, foggy morning, perfect for walking around and looking at boats and for sea creatures. We saw hundreds of boats and only one seal and a few seagulls, but T was satisfied with what he saw.

From there we headed to Venice Beach. Oh Venice Beach. I love you Venice Beach. It was perfectly beautiful and quiet. It was a weekday and we only stayed for a few hours in the early afternoon, but there were only a handful of other people there the whole time and it was lovely. We played and tanned and even got in the water a little bit...our toes at least.

 Me and the littlest Mister.

The great thing about the beach is that the boys play SO well together. When we go swimming, they are on such different levels that I am constantly going back and forth between the two of them and neither are totally satisfied the whole time. But at the beach, they just sit and play in the sand together. It's amazing. Life changing really.

We parked ourselves next to this lifeguard station, which I for some reason fell in love with. Isn't it gorgeous?

 Evie and I buried T's whole body under the sand. He loved every second of it and wanted us to do it again and again.

The three of us, warm and toasty and about to go home. But don't you worry Venice Beach...we'll be back before you know it!