Everything Evangelo

Maggie is growing up and standing up!

2010-06-25T07:21:00.001-07:00

Maggie has learned to stand up!! from Christi Evangelo on Vimeo.

Natural Entertainer

2010-06-25T07:17:00.000-07:00

Chloe entertaining us from Christi Evangelo on Vimeo.

watch out for the dragon

2010-05-15T09:22:00.000-07:00

I thought it was funny today when Chloe and I were playing... she was a princess and told me to be the prince... we were dancing when she suddenly yelled "watch out, it's a dragon!" pointing at sweet little Maggie who was crawling towards us. :-)

Chloe has a crush....

2010-05-11T10:06:00.000-07:00

Chloe is watching Toy Story 2 for the 3rd time and I was asking her what her favorite part is... she said "Buzz Lightyear... (long pause) .... He's tute (cute)..." she then looks down and giggles. I think she might have her first crush. so funny!

She was also playing hide and seek yesterday in the backyard (alone) and I asked who she was playing with.. "Buzz Lightyear" :-)

ABCDEFG.....HIJKLMNOP.....QRSTUV......WXYZ.... Sing with me!

2010-04-08T19:09:00.000-07:00

Ok, so we have officially fallen off the face of the Earth....

2010-04-05T13:02:00.000-07:00

I know, I know.... it has been WAY too long. Had Maggie even come into this world when I posted last? I don't think so . There is just no way that I can adequately catch up..especially considering how little time I have these days.. (I have gotten up to relocate Maggie 3 times during this post already) She is a crawling and exploring machine!

Maggie is 8 months old now! She is such a sweet baby. I think she is going to be goofier than Chloe (who definitely has her serious side which is balanced with the silliness that she gets from her Daddy) Maggie has been very easy as far as babies go. She started sleeping through the night at around 9 weeks (6 hour stretches) and goes to sleep in her bed- no rocking required-in complete opposition to her older sister at this age. :-) Maggie has recently learned how to crawl, wave, clap, and pull up on all the furniture. It is an adventure around here.
Chloe is growing up so very fast! She will be 3 on June 4th but we have to constantly remind ourselves that she is only 2 because she looks and acts so much older. As I said earlier, she is quite the silly little thing and oh so witty! She is all girl: She loves to dress up like a princess, do "ballet", play with baby dolls and her dollhouse, and she LOVES all of the Disney princesses. Our trip to Disney was probably one highlights of her young life! She loves to learn and we are so proud of all that she is learning. She knows all of the alphabet (upper and lowercase) , the days of the week and can count to 15...most of the time. Her favorite time of day is when we are doing "school" and she would do that all day if I had the time.

Here are a few pictures of how the girls are looking these days! Enjoy!

An Update

2009-07-10T07:11:00.000-07:00

So things have been busy here and our family blog seems to be falling to the bottom of Mommy's ever expanding list... sorry!

Little Maggie will be hear really soon! She is scheduled to be delivered 2 weeks from today on Ryan's b-day! We are so excited and so ready to meet her. Chloe is just tickled about the whole thing. She spends lots of time talking to my tummy and telling Maggie to "come here".

Maggie's room is all ready for her. I will post a few pictures. Chloe is doing well and thriving in every area! The biggest news over the past few months is that she has turned into a GREAT sleeper! She goes to bed basically on her own and sleeps all night! Woo-Hoo! She is also almost completely potty trained!

Here are some recent pictures of our life here in Perry! Miss and love you all!

Maggie Ryann Evangelo

2009-06-06T09:45:00.001-07:00

Here are the new 4D ultrasound pictures of our little Maggie! She is going to be beautiful just like her sister!

Singing her Heart Out!

2009-06-04T11:32:00.000-07:00

There are several of these videos that I will post. I have one ready and just couldn't wait to upload it and share it! Too stinkin funny!

Chloe is turning Two!

2009-05-24T13:56:00.000-07:00

The many faces of our little princess

2009-05-24T13:52:00.000-07:00

Picking Strawberries

2009-05-24T13:46:00.000-07:00

Meet Slippers the Kitten

2009-05-24T13:24:00.000-07:00

We have another new pet...yes another one.. We might be insane. Most of you know that we recently got a Golden Retriever puppy named Charlie. Well, we decided that he seemed lonely so we got him a pet cat.. well kitten. Eventually she will stay outside some of the time with him to keep him company. For now, she is inside with us and she has become Chloe's own personal plaything. It is quite entertaining. Chloe just totes Slippers where ever it is she might be going. If Chloe is dancing, then so is the kitten. If Chloe is watching Blue's Clues then so is the cat. If Chloe is taking a nap, then the cat is forced to at least try to take one as well. (see pictures below) Here are some pictures of Chloe with Charlies' cat.
Ah and lest I forget Chloe's attempt at "helping" us feed the kitten.. We found this in our bathroom upon retiring one evening. Apparently, she wanted to feed the cat and the whole bag seemed like a good serving size to her. I bet she was proud of herself at first but then realized what a mess she made. For some reason she never came and told us about this feat (which she usually would) Kind of cute really.
Taking a nap with the Kitty....

Practice Easter Egg Hunt

2009-04-10T16:02:00.000-07:00

We LOVE hunting for Eggs!

Look at all those colorful eggs she found! She is going to be the winner at the big egg hunts this weekend. :-)

This is Chloe "hiding" all the eggs after she found them. She placed them one by one in this spot by the tree. Apparently, this is a good hiding place for eggs.

Modeling for Teeny Tiny Fashions

2009-04-09T18:40:00.000-07:00

Painting with Chloe...again...She likes it.

2009-04-07T16:29:00.001-07:00

Finally....an update

2009-04-07T07:15:00.000-07:00

I know, I know... I stink. It has been so long since I have posted anything on our site. I apologize. Do you forgive me?

I think I have announced on here that we are having another baby towards the end of the summer but I don't think I have told you all what we are having, etc.

We are having another little princess! Her name is Maggie Ryann and if she is anything like her big sister she will even outshine her Daddy in personality and that is hard to do!

Chloe is Miss Personality! She is a trip. She is learning and doing so much now. She loves books- which as a teacher, tickles me pink. Speaking of pink- Chloe is ALL girl! Her favorite past time is watching Barbie and Princess movies and dancing around the living room like a 'nunez'- that is Chloe language for Princess. Her is a video of her doing just that!

Chloe dancing to the Barbie movie and waving at you from Christi Evangelo on Vimeo.

Here is a video of Chloe playing with her Daddy. Please ignore the state of our living room. She had been sick all week and things had gotten out of hand. Plus that girl can drag out toys quicker than I could ever put them away.

playing with her daddy from Christi Evangelo on Vimeo.

This video is of Chloe talking on the phone to her cousin Cally. Well, she apparently wanted Uncle Ryan to talk to Cally too. :-)

Talking to her cousin Cally on the phone from Christi Evangelo on Vimeo.

I am working on uploading more videos now. So there are more of these to come.

Enjoy!

Abby Cadabby

2009-01-30T07:13:00.000-08:00

Chloe loves Sesame Street. She has always loved Elmo but today she discovered she also loves Abby Cadabby. Here is a video of her trying to say Abby Cadabby. Precious!

Just Like My Daddy

2009-01-05T08:49:00.000-08:00

Chloe loves to wear her Daddy's Texas Longhorns hat. Cutie!

I was folding clothes one day when Chloe decided she wanted to put on Daddy's work shirt. So cute!

Finger Painting Fun

2009-01-05T08:36:00.000-08:00

Christmas Morning

2009-01-02T06:22:00.000-08:00

Christmas was so much fun this year. Chloe was old enough to kind of know what was going on. She didn't know Santa was coming to the house or anything but she did know to be excited when she got up Christmas morning and saw all the toys. She was actually a little overwhelmed. She sat in my lap and just took it all in for a little while. Then she ran after the toys. Her 3 big gifts were a table and chairs (Ryan made the table), a Rose Petal Cottage, and a play kitchen. So far her favorite is the kitchen. She loves to cook for us. More on that later. Here are some pictures from Christmas morning. There are videos coming soon!

Christmas Pictures

2009-01-02T06:17:00.001-08:00

Cute Nightly Prayer

2008-11-30T06:31:00.000-08:00

I found this on another blog and thought I would post it here so I can remember it.
I love the prayer that Jen from Mommay's Mayhem taught her children
I think I am going to try to teach this to Chloe.

Thank you Lord for the day I had
Thank you for my mom & dad.
Help them take good care of me
God bless my friends & family.
Help me sleep well all night long
Guard me with your angels strong
When I wake up, on a brand new day
Help me love & learn & play. Amen.

Poor Sick Baby Girl

2008-11-24T08:30:00.000-08:00

Chloe had her first virus yesterday. She woke up early Sunday Morning (3:30 am) throwing up. At first we thought it was food poisoning but we found out that my niece and my Mom had it too. She got in bed with us and pretty much threw up every half hour during the night. It was so sad and pitiful. She ended up getting sick about 25 times before it was all over. By Sunday night she was finally keeping liquids down. Praise Jesus!

She slept last night from 9 until 8:30 this morning! She was tired. Today she is feeling much much better. She still doesn't want to eat but she is keeping lots of liquids down so that is good. I hope and pray that this doesn't happen again for a long time!

Calling Daddy....

2008-11-16T15:23:00.000-08:00

Chloe has a new "skill" that I think is quite humorous! The other night I was trying to get Ryan to come into the kitchen with me and Chloe. I was calling his name. Suddenly there was a cute little redhead yelling "RYAN" I almost cracked up. She was going to the back of the house just a calling his name.

Of course we laughed...bad idea. Now she knows that we think it is funny. She does still call him Daddy most of the time but tries to entertain us by calling for her Daddy by name! RYAN....RYAN...RYAN....

Carving a Pumpkin

2008-11-06T19:22:00.001-08:00

Just one of the Dolls

2008-11-06T18:52:00.000-08:00

Chloe loves dolls.. She is a girl after her Moms own heart! We have lots of them. Several of them were actually mine when I was a little girl. Here are some pictures of here playing with her dolls and watching Little Bear with them.Kissing her baby (this was one of my baby dolls)

Looking at my friends

Watching "Little Bear" on TV

Kiss, Kiss, Kiss

Serious Chloe

Forgive her mismatched clothes. She was only half dressed. We were looking for her matching shirt.

Chloe-Bug the Bumble Bee

2008-11-02T19:34:00.000-08:00

I can't believe we haven't posted anything since September. Where did October go? Being a youth pastor has added a bit more to our plates but we are getting into the swing of things quite nicely. Ryan is loving his new job and I am still loving mine. I have started to do a little bit of "school" with Chloe. Yes, I know she is only 17 months old but it is never to early to learn your colors and shapes. She loves art time. I will have to post pictures of some of our projects. She also loves books. She brings me books to read to her all day long. We are having a great time.

Youth ministry is AWESOME! Ryan is a natural. I am really enjoying watching him step into the ministry that God has been preparing him for. The kids love him! We have our first trip coming up this month complete with a lock-in at the church. We will let you know if we survive.

Well we don't get too into the whole Halloween thing but we do enjoy Fall, pumpkins and dressing Chloe up for Oct. 31st. This year she was a bumble bee and she was the cutest one I have ever seen.

Here are some pictures. More to come later.

Big news in Evangelo-Land

2008-09-22T19:26:00.001-07:00

No we are not expecting another baby- I know that is what you were all thinking. :-) However, we do have some big changes coming around here. As most of you know, Ryan and I moved to Perry (my hometown) at the beginning of the summer. We have been getting all settled at our new home and Ryan has been working.

We have finally found the right church and we are getting all settled there as well. Here is the big news part of this update- We have been asked to be the new youth pastors at our church and we have accepted their offer! Wow. We are so excited and so humbled that God thinks that we are the right choice for these kids. We will be officially starting in mid October.

In other news, Ryan got on at the base in an internship (full time while he finishes his master's degree) This is a huge answered prayer. He will be making twice as much and working days instead of evenings. Chloe and I were sick of him being on nights. :-(

So as you can see all is going great here. Hope you are all doing well. We love you!

Ryan, Christi, and Chloe

I think she is going to be a talker!

2008-09-22T07:06:00.000-07:00

She's got Soul

2008-09-22T07:01:00.000-07:00

Chloe's Newest Fascination(s)

2008-09-14T05:43:00.000-07:00

It is official- Chloe has her first obsession. About 3 weeks ago I taught her the word flower. It was our word of the week. We looked for flowers, we painted flowers, we sang about flowers and we read books about flowers. By the end of the week she knew exactly what a flower was. It didn't take her long to figure it out either. By the middle of the week the girl was finding flowers everywhere. She found them on her clothes, on the wall, at Wal-Mart, at the farmers market, and in other odd places. I will have to post some of her "flower art" for you all to enjoy. Stay tuned for that.

The reason for me telling you all this is that she has found something in our house that she THINKS is a flower. She constantly points to a little patch of hair on Ryans chest and says "flower...flower...flower". No matter how many times we tell her "no that is hair Chloe" she still says "flower". Too funny.

A few new pictures of Chloe from Sunday

2008-09-10T19:43:00.000-07:00

I really enjoy playing with pictures in photoshop and editing them. Here are a few that I have been playing with. The first one is my FAVORITE!

Some New Videos

2008-09-04T21:38:00.000-07:00

Chloe "talking"

Lots more of Chloe talking

Making Faces at my Mommy

More funny faces

Mrs Personality. I wonder who she gets that from?

Chloe Reading in a basket... strange title... I know.

2008-08-27T20:55:00.001-07:00

Spaghetti Anyone?

2008-08-21T17:19:00.001-07:00

We gave Chloe Spaghetti for the first time this week. It was a hit! She enjoyed every last bite. Here are the pictures that prove it!

Learning to put a block over the cap on the coke bottle! Impressive

2008-08-13T06:30:00.001-07:00

Wanna see more Wordless Wednesday?

New Scrapbook Page

2008-08-08T14:44:00.003-07:00

I just finished the most gourgeous page. I got a couple of new digital scrapbooking kits so you will see lots of these in the coming weeks. I can't wait to have it printed!

I got in!

2008-08-07T05:48:00.000-07:00

I just found out that House Party chose us to host a Fisher-Price Play Date house party!

According to the application we will be getting so many great toys to play with and some to share....

"Your amazing FREE party package will include: 1 Laugh & Learn™ Smart Bounce & Spin Pony™ 1 Laugh & Learn™ Fun with Friends™ Musical Table 1 Amazing Animals™ Spinnin’Around Musical Zoo 1 Go Baby Go Crawl & Cruise Musical Jungle™ 10 Fisher-Price toys to share with your guests, including Poppity Pop™, Rock-A-Stack®, and Friendly Flip Phone™ 10 Infant Product Guides 10 coupons for the Fisher-Price online store."

Go Baby Go!™ Crawl & Cruise Musical Jungle™ Retail Value $66.00

Amazing Animals™ Spinnin’ Around Musical Zoo Retail value $44.00

Laugh & Learn™ Smart Bounce & Spin Pony™ Retail value $70.00
Laugh & Learn™ Fun With Friends™ Musical Table Retail Value $40.00 And more!

Yay for us. Now if I can just find 10 guests with children between the ages of 6-24 months. Wanna come?

Getting Organized

2008-08-02T06:51:00.000-07:00

I have been trying to get into the swing of things with this whole stay at home wife and mother thing. I want to be the best that I can be and get everything in perfect (well close to perfect) order here at the house all while being the best mommy ever. I was struggling with this desire when I read a post from a friend at Feels Like Home. Here is a link to her post on housework.

Her post inspired me. I took her ideas and modified them for our life. I usually have 3-6 chores that I need to get done (other than the basic laundry and dishes) and the rest of the time can be spent with my daughter and husband. I have even programmed these chores into my Google Calendar (along with a months worth of menus!!) and they repeat each week. I check my calendar each morning to remind me what I need to get done that day. I love it! Here is my list of chores. Thanks Tara!

Tuesday- (the first day of our week)

Vacuum Floors and Sofa
Dust all living room surfaces - electronics, books, lamps, furniture.
Wipe TV
Wipe pictures.

Wednesday

Wipe all kitchen surfaces - stove hood, fridge, cupboard doors, dishwasher, appliances.
Wipe inside microwave and oven.
Mop kitchen floor.
Scrub sink.
Flush kitchen drains with boiling water.
Dust kitchen and dining room.

Thursday

Change sheets and pillowcases
Launder sheets, pillowcases, bath mat, towels, and washcloths
Dust
Vacuum carpets

Friday

Clean toilet and tub
Wipe mirror
Dust
 Saturday  
Clean out fridge
Check windows and doors, wipe as needed
Take out trash
Wipe inside and outside of trash cans and recycle bin
Dust ceiling fans if needed

Sunday and Monday are our weekends since Ryan is off.  So no extra chores!  :-)

DAILY CHORES

Work on Laundry
Wipe the bathroom counter & sink
Wipe kitchen counter, sink, and stove
Unload dishwasher & put dishes away
Reload dishwasher
Change dish cloth & tea towel

Hope this helps someone else like Tara's post helped me.
Sweep kitchen floor

Chloe Dancing

2008-08-02T05:41:00.000-07:00

Click here to see the cutest video EVER!
Chloe can dance. She must get that from her Daddy!

Knock Knock, Anyone home?

2008-07-31T14:53:00.000-07:00

Chloe loves to play with her dollhouse! She makes the little people "walk" around everywhere. Here is her new trick.

Digital Scrapbook Pages

2008-07-30T13:05:00.001-07:00

I have recently gotten into digital scrapbooking. It is how I got into blog design as well. I thought I would post my digital scrapbook pages here as well so that everyone else can enjoy them. I am also having them all printed out and put into the traditional scrapbook.

Here are a few from the past year. Look at how different she looks!

These are from a book I am making of her first year. I only have 2 pages done.

New Pictures

2008-07-30T08:36:00.001-07:00

We went to Picture People a few weeks ago and got Chloe's One Year pictures taken. They turned out so great! I do apologize for the huge word across the pics. These are the preview images that I am uploading for you to see. We ordered copies without the Zazzle! :-)
The first 2 are our favorites! I just want to eat her up in these pics. You can really see her little personality! The other little girl is my niece. (My sister Kelly's little girl Cally)

My Granny

2008-07-22T20:55:00.000-07:00

So this post isn't really about Chloe but it is about my family. My Granny passed away last Friday morning. She was 91 and had been in the hospital for a couple of weeks. I thought I had prepared myself for her death. However, it has hit me really hard. I have always been very close to my Granny (and she was not always the easiest to get along with) However, she loved me. She loved me unconditionally and without fail. She was such a constant in my life and I am having a hard time realizing that she won't be there anymore. In an effort to help myself deal with her death, I am blogging about her. (You are so lucky to be one of my readers!) I thought I would post some pictures of her. Looking at pictures has been very therapeutic for me. So here goes.

<------This picture is of Granny (Louise) and my PaPa (G.T) soon after they were married. 1940 I think.

<-----This picture is of Granny and PaPa on some vacation. I have no idea what year that was. I think she was around 45 or 50? I just love this pic. You will notice in most of the pictures of them, she lays her head on his shoulder. So sweet!

This is Granny being goofy. I think this was in St. Augustine at the old jail. ------->

This is just a pretty one of her walking down the street. I think this is in Macon in the 50's or maybe the 40's.

She loved Chloe so much and was so proud of her. At her funeral service one of the preachers said that Granny talked about Chloe all the time. She was constantly showing him pictures and telling him all about her. On a side note, that same pastor told my mom before the service that Granny talked about me and Chloe everytime he visited. He said that she was so proud of me, my faith in God, our love story, and our baby Chloe. He said that she often showed him pictures of our wedding or the baby and just talked about us. It makes me tear up just thinking about it. How about a funny Granny story for you all. This used to be so embarassing to me. :-) Many of you who know Ryan and I in real life know that we saved ourselves for marriage. Well, Granny just thought this was wonderful and loved to tell everyone that she knew. I had made this committment many years ago. When I would come to visit Granny at the assistive living homes and nursing home she would always introduce me like this...."Hi Mrs. Whoeveryouare, This is my granddaughter Christi. (in a whispered tone) She is saving herself for marriage" Mind you I am standing there and can hear her. What exactly was I supposed to say. I always just smiled and let her have her fun. She even did this with the old men who lived in the homes. That was really fun! Once Ryan came along she added him to the equation and just told everyone about us both! Ok, enough personal and slightly embarassing stories for today!

Now for my favorites. We were able to have Granny over here at the house twice since moving back to Perry. She came to our Memorial Day cookout and then she was her for Chloe's first b-day. Here are those priceless pictures!

Notice is the last picture where it looks like Chloe is pinching Granny's arm. It looks like that because Chloe was pinching Granny's arm. :-) She was playing with her skin. It was so cute.

Use your Words!

2008-07-18T05:58:00.001-07:00

I thought I would make a little post to document all the words that Chloe is saying. She is quite talkative. (Don't know where she got that from??) She is also using a little bit of sign language as well. I will have to add more if I think of any. I think she is doing well though.

WORDS
Look
book
ma ma
dada
that
ball
dog
I love you
more
what's that?

SIGNS
more
finished
potty
hat
baby
nose
mommy
daddy

New Family Pictures

2008-07-16T19:32:00.001-07:00

Sorry I have been so lax in posting lately. I do have lots of things to share but I will get to most of those posts later in the week. I did want to share our family pictures that we had done a couple of weeks ago. We went down to Panama City for a long weekend vacation and this is what we came back with. I love them so much!

There are many more but these are my favorites!

Here duckie duckie! Fine then, Here fishy fishy!

2008-06-30T19:19:00.000-07:00

We stopped by a local lake last week to let Chloe feed the ducks. They were being shy and swam the other way so we fed the fish instead. Now they were tee-tiny little fish but
we fed them just the same. Here are a few pictures of Chloe that day.

Walking with Chloe...Walking everyday...Walking all the way...

2008-06-30T19:16:00.000-07:00

Does anyone even know the tune I am singing in the blog title? Probably not...old childhood memory. Back to the big news!

CHLOE IS WALKING!!!! She started walking about 2 weeks ago. She is still kind of gun shy about the whole thing. She will walk for about 10 steps and then seems to realize that crawling would be so much faster. I am working on getting a good video of that! I just had to share though. I am so proud of her!

ook! ook!

2008-06-30T19:04:00.000-07:00

ook= book

It also equals look so you have to really pay attention to this gal!

We took Chloe to the library last week for the first time. They have a Toddler reading hour every Thursday. She did so great. She sat so still and just listened to the books. She tried to do the motions to The Itzy Bitzy Spider and she made her very first craft. It was a cute little picture frame for the refrigerator covered with bugs.

My Little Teething Queen

2008-06-30T19:00:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in a previous post, Chloe has been the Teething Queen!
In the last week she has had 3 of her top teeth pop through. It has been
quite the experience, let me tell you! There were a few days last week where
she was running a fever and generally feeling poopy. She didn't want to play or
anything. She just wanted to be held, sleep, or watch videos. So we made her
a little couch in the living room (out of our couch cusions) and she hung out and
watched Elmo videos. She was pitiful but oh so cute. I am still attempting to get pictures of those cute little teeth. She is not being very cooperative.

Nothing to do with Chloe...exactly

2008-06-29T17:08:00.000-07:00

So I found the cutest clothes for little girls at the greatest blog. This lady makes beautiful clothes. Well, she is giving away one of her outfits and all I have to do is write a blog telling you wonderful people about the contest. So, here is how it works. You to can win this cute little outfit. Write your own blog about the contest and then go to the website and leave your link in her comment section. Go here for better instructions. I hope that one of us wins!

Summer 2008

2008-06-19T20:43:00.001-07:00

Well, Summer is in full swing here in Georgia. We are having a great time despite the heat. I thought I would share a few pictures of all of our fun.
This first picture is obviously of Chloe's foot and her first "pedicure." Mommy was painting her toenails one day last week and Chloe was so interested. She took the closed bottle of paint and touched it to her own toes. Mommy thought that was too cute and gave in and painted her cute little toes. She sat pretty still for the process...even the drying.

This next set of pictures involves hairbows...lots of hairbows. She has a lot of them and loves for us to put them in her hair. One day she kept handing them to Mommy so Mommy kept putting them in her hair. This is the result. :-) In the second one she is reading her favorite book- "Ten in the Bed". We read it several times a day- Chloe's choice.

Now for some more pool pictures. We mentioned in a previous post that Chloe loves to swim. Luckily for us, Nana and Papa have a pool. Here are some of the newest pool pics.

Pinching Mommy's nose. (Did you guys know that when you pinch someones nose- it makes this crazy honking noise. Mommy's nose makes a high pitched honk while Papa and Daddy's makes a deeper honk- Thanks to Papa for introducing that one. We will never get our noses back) :-)

MORE PICS TO COME IN A LATER POST!

Reminiscing....

2008-06-19T13:47:00.000-07:00

As you all know, Chloe just turned one. In so many ways this year has been the longest of my life. I feel like she has been a part of our life forever. It also might feel like such a long year due to my utter exhaustion...you know she still won't sleep through the night- although she is making such great progress. I digress...
I started looking through old photos and videos of those first few weeks with her and when doing that- it seems like only yesterday. I can't help but be a bit emotional about the whole thing. I am so happy that she is growing up and I am having so much fun being her mommy. On the other hand, I feel like despite all the perfect strangers telling me to "enjoy it- It goes by so fast"
I sort of missed it. I mean I didn't really but somedays it feels that way. My favorite thing about looking at all these old pictures is seeing her little personality in them- things I probably missed when she was so young. I mean I didn't know her personality then. But now that I know her, I see other things. I know I am babbling. On with the pictures.

All of these were taken at the hospital- that incredibly long 5 day hospital stay. Now that is a blur to me!

In the posts below you will find some of the first videos of Chloe that we took. I hope you enjoy reminiscing as much as we did!

Chloe's first few moments of life...

2008-06-19T13:45:00.001-07:00

Getting used to the world...

2008-06-19T13:42:00.001-07:00

Her going home outfit...

2008-06-19T13:40:00.001-07:00

Terrible Teething

2008-06-17T18:29:00.001-07:00

Things have been a bit off around the Evangelo household this week. Chloe is cutting her 2 top teeth and it has not been pretty- well, she is pretty and even the incoming teeth are pretty, it's just the ensuing pain and crying fits have not been pretty. She got her 2 bottom teeth several months ago and we never really had any issues during that time.

This time however, she has every symptom of teething in the books... swollen gums, lack of appetite, upset tummy, screaming fits, and just generally feeling poopy! Poor baby! We have given her baby tylenol, baby motrin, baby orajel, teething rings, and all natural teething tablets.
I am glad to say that they all seem to help. One of the teeth has cut through. We are just waiting on that one last straggler to come on out into the open.

We will be a much happier and better rested family once it does!

Chloe Loves to Swim

2008-06-14T18:41:00.000-07:00

Ok, That's all we had to say!

Chloe's Party- Part 2

2008-06-12T18:41:00.000-07:00

So, back to the party. Chloe had her first taste of cake. We don't let her have very much sugar so she was just entralled by the cake. She was so girly and dainty while she ate it. (see video) She would put just one finger into the icing and taste it. She did finally get a bit more involved with the cake but it took a while. Enjoy the pictures and videos.

Chloe's 1st Birthday Party- Part 1

2008-06-09T08:29:00.000-07:00

We had Chloe's party yesterday. It went really great. We had about 5 kids there plus family. The house was decorated in pink and green- Chloe and Mommies favorites! Mommie spent about 5 hours making her birthday cake from scratch. It turned out pretty good.

Chloe had the best time at her party. She loved opening gifts and she really liked it when everyone was singing

Happy Birthday to her! She had the cutest look on her face.

Stay tuned for more pictures (of Chloe eating CAKE!) and several videos!

Happy Birthday Chloe!

2008-06-04T19:24:00.000-07:00

Today is Chloe's 1st birthday! It hit me that she is now a toddler....made me a bit sad. It is so hard to believe that she isn't a newborn anymore. Everyone (and I do mean every single person we see-even strangers at Walmart) tells us how fast it is going to go. Today, I can see what they mean. It has gone so fast. However, in some ways it has seems like I have known her my whole life. It is the same with Ryan- I can't really remember what it was like to be me before I had him? Anyway, HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY!

We are having her party on Sunday afternoon. I attached the invitation that I made. I am also making the cake...we will see how that goes.

Cutest Video EVER!

2008-05-29T18:29:00.000-07:00

Chloe has started saying I love you and kissing us. Here it is on tape. Man, I love this little girl!

Finally- An Update

2008-05-27T08:50:00.000-07:00

We are finally settled in our new home here in Perry, GA. We LOVE it! I have been busy decorating and Ryan has been busy painting and doing odd jobs around the house. Here are a few pictures of the kitchen. I will post others later so check back if you are interested.

Ryan also started his new job over in Warner Robins. It is at a place called Timco. He recently graduated with a degree in Aviation Management. He seems to be really happy there so far and I am sure they are all going to love him as much as we do.

For those of you who don't know, we owned a house up in Atlanta where we were living. We had decided not to sell it but to just rent it out. We had it advertised for about 3 weeks and several people had called but noone had come to see it. Well, on the day we were loading the truck to come to Perry, we got a phone call from some people who were living in a hotel room. They had been transfered here with their job from Indianapolis and hadn't found the right place yet. (they had actually been in the hotel for almost 4 weeks) They came over about the time we were finishing loading the very big truck with too much of our stuff. (we have way too much stuff!)
Anyway, I digress.

The family comes over and come to find out they were Christians as well and had been praying to find the right home just as we had been praying for the right renters. They are in ministry and were so excited to find our house. They knew immediately that this was their new home!
We were able to get the deposit, rent and sign the lease right there in the shadow of the Budget Rental Truck! How great is our God! He never fails to impress me with his timing or his provision.

Speaking of moving- I want to say thanks to Julian and Chris who really helped us by loading that darn truck. I know it wasn't fun but you guys are such a blessing to us.

Many of you might not know that I am now officially a stay at home mom! I can not tell you how much I am enjoying this. I feel like I am doing what I am supposed to be doing with my life. Nurturing my baby girl, taking care of our home, and being as good of a wife and mother as I possibly can. I thought I might miss teaching, but at this point that is not the case. I used to absoulutely love that profession but the last few years have been utterly draining. It got to the point that I did nothing but paperwork and teach kids how to take the CRCT- a state mandated test that they all had to pass to go to the next grade. That is not why I chose to teach special ed. It was just not fun anymore.

However, taking care of Chloe is the most fun I have had in ages. She is such the cutie pie and has such a fun personality- much like her Dad I think. She is almost walking, she can climb up and down stairs, she tries to snap her fingers, she says "I love you", "Uh-Oh", and "Look". Look is her favorite word. She points at EVERYTHING and says "Look, Look, Look!" So cute. Her newest thing is giving puckered mouth kisses. I will attach a picture. She does this constantly. She loves Elmo and baby dolls. She also LOVES dogs. She tries to kiss my parents dog which he loves I am sure. Hugs are also one of her talents. She squeezes us tight and pats us on the back. As you can see I am so proud of her.

Yeah, the baby is moving too!

2008-04-04T15:36:00.000-07:00

Chloe is quite the mobile little gal! She is still into everything and climbing up the walls and furniture. She's so funny too! Here are a couple of videos and pics for your enjoyment!

Moving, Moving, Moving....

2008-04-04T15:21:00.000-07:00

I mentioned it in the last post but it is officially official. We close on our new house May 1st. We are moving on May 9th! We are so excited- as are Christi's parents. We bought a beautiful home in a new subdivision in Perry. It is on the smaller size but the perfect size for us to all live in for 3-5 year until we are ready to build our "real" home. :-)

Here are some pictures. Christi will post more when it is decorated.

This is the kitchen. The bright blank spot you see is actually the living room. Not sure what happened with that picture.

Changes are a coming fast!

2008-03-18T19:38:00.000-07:00

It has been so long since I have written or posted anything. We have been so busy with things around here. Our big news is that Ryan got a job in Warner Robins at a place called Timco. It starts the week after he graduates (May 9th) We will be moving down to the town/county where Christi's parents live. We are all so excited. All this news means that we will be super busy for a while. We are in the process of looking for a house to buy down there are trying to get rid of our house up here. We think we are going to rent it out for a few years. We will keep you all updated on that front.

As for Chloe- My has she been changing! She is crawling EVERYWHERE! She pulls up on EVERYTHING! She put EVERYTHING she finds in her mouth!

Tonight she started taking steps while holding onto a table. It was pretty exciting. We have a video and I will post that tomorrow. She is getting so big. She is close to 20 pounds now. She is 9 months old! It is so hard to believe. She is growing so fast.

Her new favorite food is String Cheese! You would think that I was giving her chocolate or something. I will have to post some pics of that too. It's pretty funny!

Well, I am EXHAUSTED so I am off to bed. We have been painting and packing for days. Talk to you all later!

Our Smart Little Girl

2008-02-19T18:47:00.000-08:00

Chloe has learned so much over the past couple of weeks. I just have to brag a bit. She has started "giving us 5" and will play ball with us. (we throw the ball to her and hold out our hand. She give it to us) She has also started hiding behind the curtains and playing "peek-a-boo" It is quite fun. We don't have any of it on video yet but will soon.

She has also started to give up kisses. We were all lying on our bed on Valentine's Day just hanging out. She decided to climb up to Ryan's face and lay one on him. ( you know those cute, wide open mouth baby kisses!) It was so adorable. She then decided that Mommie could have some too. It is now one of her favorite hobbies. We make kissy faces and she plants one on us!

She is still crawling all over the place. We turn our head and she is down the hall. She has also discovered drawers and cabinets. We will be heading to Babies'R Us this weekend to grab some babyproofing gear. :-)

She has also started to pull herself up with the couch or coffee table. She seems very surprised when she gets there and doesn't quite know what to do with herself.

On another note, we went to Alabama a couple of weekends ago to visit my Great Uncle Jimmy. He is 94 and still lives on his own so we all went over for a visit. (My parents, my brother, sister, and a couple other people) It was a great visit and Chloe had Great time. Uncle Jimmy was so exicted to meet her. I will be posting video and pictures from that really soon.

We don't have too many new pictures to share right now but I will try to take some this week and get them up. She is cuter than ever.

Happy Valentine's Day

2008-02-14T20:38:00.000-08:00

Please Be My Valentine!?

Chloe's first V-Day was uneventful
since she is too young for chocolate.
However, she did take some cute
pictures that she wanted to share with you all.

As for asking her to be your Valentine, she will
have to decline this year... She asked her Daddy to be her very first Valentine and he said yes!

Happy Valentine's Day! We love you all!

Ryan, Christi, and Chloe

An eventful week....

2008-02-07T17:58:00.000-08:00

So life around the Evangelo household has changed forever. Wanna guess why?

Chloe has started crawling and man, she caught on quick! We put a video to the left for your enjoyment. She is so excited about this new skill.

She has also started kissing us. You know those open-mouthed, slobbery baby kisses. So cute!

Christi's laptop went kaput which explains the lack of posts lately. We will try to do better. Hope everyone is doing well.

Look at this CUTIE-PIE!

2008-01-26T08:02:00.000-08:00

Just had to share a couple of cute pictures we took this week.

That was after bathtime. She LOVES bathtime and is always so happy when she gets out. Look at those lashes.

This was her laughing in her Jump-A-Roo! She was having fun!

Your getting sleepy....very sleepy....

2008-01-24T09:18:00.000-08:00

Chloe was apparently exhausted. We were at Christi's parents house finishing up dinner. She was over it. Enjoy!

Videos

2008-01-23T18:50:00.000-08:00

Hi all! Just wanted to let you all know that we have been busy adding videos of Chloe to the site. They are located on the left hand side of the screen. We will be adding more as we get time so check back often.

Ramen Noodle Salad

2008-01-21T10:11:00.000-08:00

I know this is a bit off topic but I had several people asking for this recipe so I thought others might enjoy it. So here you go!

Ramen Noodle Salad

INGREDIENTS
1 (16 ounce) package broccoli coleslaw mix
2 (3 ounce) packages chicken flavored ramen noodles
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup sesame oil
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

DIRECTIONS
1. In a large salad bowl, combine the slaw, broken noodles and green onions.
2. Whisk together the sugar, oil, vinegar and ramen seasoning packets. Pour over salad and toss to evenly coat. Refrigerate until chilled; top with almonds and sunflower seeds before serving.

(Make sure that you don't add the almonds and sunflower seeds until the end. They are best crunchy. Also, Don't Cook the Ramen noodles. They should be crunchy as well. They absorb the flavors of the dressing)

It probably sounds like a strange recipe... But I promise it is wonderful. Even the men in our small group bible study raved over it last night.

Yum Yum!

Family Photos

2008-01-21T09:08:00.000-08:00

We haven't had any official family photos taken yet- We are going to do that soon though. However, my brother in law took some really good ones around Thanksgiving. I thought I would share them.

Here is us...awww!

Here is the WHOLE clan! (notice the silly face pictures) I think they are great. Hehehe

Chloe's first Boo Boo

2008-01-20T13:09:00.000-08:00

Ok, so it has been a bit of a stressful day around here. We had been enjoying some relaxing time at home just getting some stuff done around the house. I (Christi) was hanging laundry while Chloe played on our bed...You already know what is coming don't you? I really was watching her closely and had pillows all around her. She is just quick. I turned my back to hang a dress in the closet and Chloe went tumbling to the ground. It was traumatic. (More for me than Chloe apparently). I screamed, she cried. Then I cried. I just felt horrible. She has a nice little goose egg on her forehead but seems to be fine other than that. She has been playing away happily ever since. I have learned my lesson well. She will not be falling any more if I can help it. I immediately started lowering the crib mattress just in case she learns to stand up in the crib and crawl over all in one night. There is no chance of that now. Ryan seems to know that she is fine. He has been calling her "BigHead" all afternoon. Are we surprised?

Snow Baby

2008-01-19T18:19:00.000-08:00

It has snowed twice here in Atlanta this week. Today we decided that Chloe should have her first experience with snow. We got about 1/2 an inch at our house. Here are some pictures. It actually wasn't that cold outside. (at least not as cold as it looks) She originally had on boots but they fell off on the way outside.

OOPS...... She kind of lost her balance in the excitement of things! Hehe....

Oooooo.... What's this? She was confused because they kept breaking apart in her hands.

Chloe has something to say

2008-01-18T13:28:00.000-08:00

Hi guys. Did you know that I can type now? Well depending how long you have been around my parents this might not come as a surprise. I had my own website/blog even while I was in Mommie's tummy. (www.totsites.com/tot/evangelo)

Well, let me just tell you about myself. I am almost 8 months old (on Feb 4) I have a head full of auburn hair. I get that from my Mommie. I look just like my Daddy other than the hair.
I am really enjoying trying to get around our house. I am scooting around on my tummy but I haven't quite figured out how to crawl yet. I am working on it though. Mommie and Daddy better watch out!

I also am learning how to talk. I try very hard to copy what my parents say. I can say Daddy, MaMa, hi, and bye. I even mimic Mommie when she says "I love you". Daddy also says that I am part dinosaur... I make the greatest growling noises. Mommie said she would put a video here really soon.

Well, I have things to explore but I will be writing more very soon!

Welcome to our life

2008-01-18T13:07:00.000-08:00

We are so excited to start this blog. We are having so much fun as a family and we want to be able to share our life with you. Chloe is almost 8 months old and she is so much fun. She is definately a chatterbox- she gets that naturally. She is almost crawling so we will be doing a lot of chasing her around. We will share many stories and pictures of our pride and joy on here. Please leave us comments- we like those!