The Last 8 Months

I'll try and give you a quick run-down of the last 8 months. Well, as quick as I can covering 8 months worth of stuff. They've been crazy with several ups and downs.


The last update was back in November after we got the "okay" on our house. Since then we have:

Celebrated Christmas

December was a crazy month. Full of packing up our things and boxing them up. Our tiny condo living room was jam packed with boxes. Christmas was, however, overshadowed by our move. We closed on the house 2 days before Christmas. We put the Christmas tree up about a week before Christmas, and took it down the day after. We didn't even have time to wrap Evan's Christmas presents. Christmas morning, we just took them out of our hiding spots and gave them to him! Poor kid. I promise, though, that his next Christmas' will be more special. Two days after Christmas was the big move. Two Men and a Truck came out and loaded up everything and made the track to the new house. We are still unpacking boxes though 8 months later! We spent our first night in our new house the next day. But we were able to spend time with family and friends. The days leading up to Christmas and after were hectic. But we had a good Christmas with many memories that will last us a life time. It was low-key and hectic all at the same time. Being that our families are so large, we had three separate celebrations to go to, and it was a great time with everyone! Below are some pictures from different family celebrations!

Heil Christmas

Evan's Aunt Becky and Cousin Brooke

Evan's Christmas morning amongst moving boxes...

Gilbert/Devine Christmas

Christmas with Evan's Poppie

Worked On the New House

Woodrot

Even though it was built in 1995, it is everything we wanted - awesome school district, good neighborhood, front yard, back yard, etc - it's ugly and needs several of repairs. The previous owners did not take care of it whatsoever. The had let the gutters overflow, which caused water damage to the siding. A large woodrot hole under the dining room window was fixed immediately. The dishwasher needed to be replaced. The garbage disposal didn't work. So we bought a new cheap sink with a garbage disposal that will do until we can get an entire kitchen remodel. So with the help of my brother-in-law, we got those taken care of. But in order to get the dishwasher out, we had to break a few tiles in the kitchen. Those will be replaced eventually, and right now we have a throw rug over the missing tiles as a quick fix. The house also needs all new windows... The driveway and back patio are sinking, so we are going to have those mudjacked. Recently, our basement flooded. We had to call Roto-Rooter out to snake the mainline, and come to find out, the pipe has settled and bellies underneath our sidewalk, about 100 feet from the house. Not an issue now, but down the road it maybe. Good news is that it is on the city's property, so any repairs that may be needed in the future will be at their cost. The front and backyard are full of weeds and crabgrass. The good thing is the owners before the previous ones planted some great annuals and we have some cool flowers popping up. The interior of the house needs to be painted since it's just blah...but Linda & I hard having a hard time trying to settle on a color for the main floor. We want to also completely replace the flooring on the main floor. The main floor living room has this dark green ugly carpet I have dubbed "The Green Monster". We will replace that with a more neutral color. There's tile in the kitchen, light colored carpet in the dining room, and light colored wood floors through the entryway into the hall and to the eat-in kitchen area. Linda & I want to pull all that tile, wood flooring and dining room carpet out and replace it with a darker cherry wood, large plank sort of wood flooring that would run consistent throughout those rooms.


We are having to live with ugly for a while. Lots of projects for this house. Seems the previous owners throughout the years loved wallpaper. The dining room was covered in nasty green (peeling) wallpaper; the kitchen had this gross orange wallpaper with a border; the main floor bathroom has this brown wallpaper that looks like leather - in a room that has no windows; the upstairs bathroom has more wallpaper and a border; the master bath has purple wallpaper in the jacuzzi part, then this tropical palm tree wallpaper in the shower/toilet part. The house had a finished walkout basement - but the previous owners had painted it brown, every wall. It felt like we were in a paper sack. In fact, I believe the paint color they chose was called "Paper Sack". I found the empty can in the basement. Linda & I chose a cool bluish-gray called "River Valley" from Behr. and that was our first project. I have since stripped the green wallpaper out of the dining room and painted it a deep blue, called "Sapphire Blue" from Behr. I then got the kitchen stripped of wallpaper and that is a light green, called "Dried Chervil" also from Behr.

Downstairs - Before

Downstairs - After

Downstairs - Evan's play area - Before

Downstair - Evan's play area - After

Dining Room - Before

Dining Room from front door looking into the kitchen - Before

Dining Room - After

Dining Room - after wallpaper had been stripped

Dining Room - After (with a paint swatch in the entry way)

Kitchen - Before

Kitchen - After

Kitchen - Before

Kitchen - After

Kitchen - Before

Kitchen - After

The deck was in desperate need of staining. Also, when it was built, it was only nailed to the house. Our inspection said it would need to be bolted to the structure. Got that taken care of. I spent a week staining the deck, and also got a helluva sunburn. Also the privacy fence was leaning and that had to be fixed as well.

The deck - Before

The deck - After

Back of the house - Before

Back of the house - After

We moved from a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom, 1200 square foot condo to a 3 bedroom, 2 full / 2 half bath, 2800 square foot house. We didn't have enough furniture to fill it up. And our old couch we had to toss because Truman had destroyed it. It was leather and had taken quite a beating with Truman sleeping and drooling on it every day for the past 5 years. So we tossed it out before we moved. Linda & I needed furniture. So we bought a new sectional for the downstairs living room; and a sofa, loveseat and arm chair for the upstairs living room - the room we've dubbed "The Room We Never Use". Linda wants that to be the "formal" living room. No TV. The place we entertain. I want a TV up there. The room serves no purpose because we don't entertain a lot. Linda thinks a TV up there will cause it to be dirty? I dunno. And when we do entertain, it's not like the TV is ever on. At any rate, I digress... The previous owners had left behind some furniture - including two couches (one had a broken frame, which we had to call for a special pickup to dispose of). One of the couches has been designated as "Truman's couch" and it sits downstairs, and we just threw a slip cover over it. Truman isn't allowed on the new furniture. We have also bought a new coffee and end table; bureau to store all our TV components and DVDs; a new casual kitchen table; and patio furniture and umbrella for the deck. We also had to buy a lawnmower and weedeater.

The Room We Never Use - Before

The Room We Never Use - After with new furniture

Downstairs Living Room - with new sectional, coffee and end tables 

Casual Kitchen - with new kitchen table

Our next big project is to get the house painted; the driveway and patio need to be mudjacked; and the privacy fence powerwashed and stained.

Lost Family Members

2012 has been a rough year for us. Since January, we have attended four funerals. Never before January had I ever been a pallbearer. I have since been a pallbearer at 3 of the 4 funerals we have attended. And the last three funerals were all in the month of June. Evan has now attended two funerals in his two years of life.


My Granny passed away on January 3rd. Which also happens to be my biological mother's and sister's birthdays. Granny had suffered from Lupus for the past year and took a turn for the worst.

Evan & his Great Granny - April 2010

My Granddad passed away on June 1st. I think he missed Granny. He went in for a routine procedure, and turned out to be eaten up with cancer, slipped into a coma, and passed away 2 days later.

Evan & his Great Granddad - April 2010

Linda's Grandma died June 9th. She had suffered from severe dementia for the past several years and took a turn for the worst. She had lived a good 94 years though. Linda was very close to her Grandma, so this loss has been rough for her, along with the other losses we have suffered this year. Grandma McNally was such a sweet person, a kind soul, with a huge heart and loved everyone. I'm glad that Evan got to spend some time with her before she passed.

Evan with Linda, his Nena and Great Grandma - June 2010

My dad passed away on June 16th. He had been suffering from Pulmonary Fibrosis for the past 15 months. The day of my Granddad's funeral, we had to admit him into Hospice House. Hospice House was great and really made dad feel as comfortable as he could, given the condition he was in. My sister, Becky, and niece, Brooke, flew in from Florida and stayed with us for almost 2 weeks. Dad didn't want a big hoopla made over him when he passed away. When speaking about his funeral arrangements, he told Becky & I just to "put him in a pine box". We didn't want to do that and refused that request. Dad hardly ever spoke about his time in the Navy. But towards the end, he mentioned it more and more. He was proud of his service, but not boastful, and never looked for praise. He did request instead of a funeral spray on top of his casket, he'd like for it to be draped with a flag. When Becky & I made his arrangements, I asked the funeral director about this. She said she would be happy to get that arranged with the Navy and Dad was given military honors, a 3-Volley gun salute, Taps, and the Navy servicemen presented me with a folded up flag. It was very moving. I know it probably was morbid, but I had Linda's brother videotape the military honors...

Evan with me and his Poppie - Thankgiving 2011

Evan saying goodbye to his Poppie - June 20, 2012

Dad hardly ever drank any alcohol, but when he did, he drank Milwaukee's Best. So as a toast to him, we had some and toasted to him the night of his funeral. And Dad always put salt in his beer...so we did too!

Linda, me and my sister, Becky, toasting Milwaukee's Best in tribute to Dad.

June is a cursed month in this family apparently. From memory, I lost my Grandpa in June 1990; Linda lost her Grandpa in June 2000; my biological mom had a brain hemorrhage in June 2007; my mom died in June 2007 (a few days after my biological mom had her brain hemorrhage); then this year takes the cake with three loved ones dying. Three funerals in three weeks. Here's hoping July is a better month and 2013 is a better year. I feel like I need to put a bubble around all my friends and family. 

Had Fun with Evan

He's done great with the move and the chaos of the last 8 months. We celebrated his 2nd birthday on his birthday - April 7th. It was a great time with family and friends. He had a "Toy Story" themed birthday...the kid loves "Toy Story"...we own all three installments. 

Evan's "Toy Story" Cake

"To Infinity and Beyond!"

Life-sized Buzz Lightyear!

The Birthday Boy!

Evan, Linda & me with some of his cool toys!

Mmmmm...birthday cake!

It's amazing that two years have flown by so quickly. It's bittersweet to see him grow up and learn. I hate how quickly the time flies! Everyday brings a new adventure. He's such a goof-ball. He loves to climb. He loves to play outside. He likes to swim, but doesn't want to get his face wet. He doesn't like to have messy hands. He loves to play with his toy cars and has to take Buford with him everywhere he goes. He loves to dance. He is still a picky eater.


Last April, I enrolled him in an Aqua Tots swim program at our community center. We completed most of the course - except the last day. He loved the splash, and jump into the water for me to catch him...but wasn't a fan of going under water. I hope that changes. I wanted to get him acclimated to the water, so he wouldn't be afraid of it, in preparation for summer days at the pool... But with this past June, we haven't had much time to get there. Hoping July and August will let us get some pool days in.

Got a New Car

We decided to get rid of my 2003 Pontiac Grand Am GT for a more fuel efficient, family friendly car...so we got a 2012 Hyundai Sonata hybrid! So far, it's been a great car!

Our new 2012 Hyundai Sonata

So now you're caught up for the most part. I can't promise when Linda or I will update again, but we will try and do better!

See This...

...street? This street is where Evan will learn how to ride a bike. This street is where Evan will go trick-or-treating. This street will be where the bus will pick Evan up for his first day of school. And where he'll splash in rain puddles. This street will be where he meets his friends after school to play. This street will be where Evan will learn how to drive. This street is where Evan may take a stroll with his girlfriend.

...driveway? That is where he will play "Red Rover Red Rover" with his friends. That's where Evan will learn to play basketball, and we will play "H-O-R-S-E" and shoot free throws. Where he'll wash his first car. And where Linda & I will stand as we wave goodbye to him - teary-eyed - as he leaves for college.

...front yard? That's where Evan will play in the sprinklers. And jump in leaves. And build snowmen and snow forts. And catch fireflies. The yard he'll mow. And where his prom date and him will have their pictures taken.

...top left window? That will be Evan's room. The room where he'll sleep. And have sleep-overs. That is the room where he'll do his homework. That window he may try to sneak into and out of when he's in high school and going out without permission, or stayed out past his curfew.

...front porch? That's where his first day of school pictures will be taken every year. That's where we may sit on summer nights and enjoy the neighborhood. That maybe the place where he has his first kiss.

...house? This house is where Evan will grow up. And this house maybe where Evan brings his children to visit their grandparents.

...backyard? This will be the place Evan will love to play. This will be the place he goes snow-sledding, plays in the mud, and finds earthworms. And hunt for Easter eggs. And build a treehouse. And play baseball. And football. This will be the backyard that will host playdates and birthday parties and family get-togethers with his cousins and any future cousins (or siblings).

That's right! We're moving! This house is where our memories will be made. This will not just be our house, but it will be our home. A home that I hope Evan will love and remember for the rest of his life, like I did my childhood home. This home has so many memories waiting for it...I can't wait to begin!

Trials & Tribulations

These past few months have been crazy. Linda & I have put a bid on a house last August - it's a short-sale - and are still waiting on word if it's gonna go through or not. In doing so, we were attempting to rent our condo out, but have kinda put that on the back burner until we know something about this other house. We took our much anticipated cruise last month too.


Evan is definitely on the go constantly. While we were gone on our cruise, we had to leave Evan with my cousin, his sitter, then Linda's mom for a few days since we were gone a total of 8 days. (Getting someone to commit to watching an active 17 month old for that long is near impossible!) And lemme tell you, he wasn't happy with us for a whole week after we got back. He did great staying with everyone, but was not happy with us and was a total hellion. His epic temper tantrums have reached their zenith, and I hope the start declining.


For a week straight after our cruise, he was prone to outburst. He has a habit of head-butting different objects, depending on why he's angry - the door if one of us leaves; the floor if we tell him no; the coffee table if we scold him; etc. Linda had had Evan into see his pediatrician awhile back and explained this to him. His pediatrician said it's completely normal and that he himself had 4 sons, and one of them was a head-butter. Evan was upset at this doctor's visit, and demonstrated his head-butting abilities for him. It's a phase that will pass, hopefully sooner rather than later. He also has gotten into the habit of hitting and throwing his toys when he's upset. We're working on getting him to stop that altogether, and we've implemented a time-out program for him.


In our living room, we have a ten-paned glass door that leads out to our porch. The hell-week after we got back from our cruise, Evan was in a mood one day. I went to close the door, and for some reason that pissed him off. He promptly ran over to it and put his head through one of the bottom panes of glass. It happened so quickly, before I really knew what happened, I heard glass breaking. I ran over there, snatched him up, looked him over and thankfully no cuts on him. He did get a couple shards of glass in his hair that did cause a few tiny cuts, and I rushed him to the kitchen sink, bent him over backwards, turned on the sprayer, and rinsed out his hair. Needless to say, he didn't like that... And I didn't even wait for the water to warm up. So, I'm sure that was shock to get sprayed off with cool water. Since then, his head-butting tantrums have subsided. Later that week, he started playing and being silly again...and it was so nice to have our son 'back'.


Evan had his 18 month checkup a few weeks ago, and he's still growing and on track with everything. He amazes me everyday with the things he is learning. He points to something and I'll tell him what it is, and he'll try to say it. I really noticed that awhile ago. I was loading groceries into the car and a yellow car had pulled in. One of Evan's most favorite things in the world are cars. He pointed at this yellow car and exclaimed "caaa! caaa!". I told him that was correct and it was a yellow car. He studied it for a second and said "yah-yoo". Just yesterday we were at the grocery store and he pointed to the cantaloupes. He loves cantaloupe, but always calls them "baas" (for balls). I told him that was a cantaloupe, and he tried to say it, "caah-ooop". One of the funniest things he says - when he sees Frank (our cat), he'll say "catttt" (he enunciates the T very matter-of-factly). When I ask him what the cat says, he says "cowww", which is his way of saying "meow". He did bust out a full sentence last week. He likes to hide his toys in the end table and coffee table drawers... He would close the door and say what sounded like "Where did it go?", and came out kinda like "weer-iid-tt-ooo". We also play the body parts game, and we'll ask him where his nose, eyes, ears, mouth, head, hair, knees, toes, foot, tummy, butt, hands and fingers are, and he'll correctly point to each - then sometimes do the same on us!


Evan loves gadgets, just like his mom & dad. We had downloaded a few learning apps to the iPad, one of which was pretty cool. It's an interactive alphabet and Evan quickly got the hang of it, knowing what to press and how to go to the next screen. Also, to quell his temper tantrums, we downloaded a few movies onto the iPad for him... We created a monster with the iPad though. We have to hide it now. It was getting to the point that the first thing he'd do in the morning was go look for the iPad and demanded to play with it or watch a movie on it. It's now out of sight, out of mind.


As I mentioned earlier, he loves cars...and his favorite movie happens to be "Cars". Surprise, huh? If he's throwing a fit and we can't get him to chill out, we'll start that up. I'm afraid to admit I know practically every word to that movie now. He also loves "Toy Story" and "Toy Story 2".


I've been trying to get Evan out and about more often, besides runs to the grocery store or the pet store, and to the park more often, and more socially stimulated. At first when I started taking him to the park, he was shy and didn't really know how to interact with other toddlers. But now, it still takes him some time to get warmed up, but soon though, he's up there in the action and making new friends.


Crazy how fast time does fly though. It's hard to believe in less than 6 short months, he'll be two years old.

Learning how to be a kid again

It's amazing to me when I look back at Evan's pictures from when we first brought him home just a short 17 months ago and the boy he has grown into today. The worst part about Evan growing up is the snuggle time gets shorter by the day. The best part, though is watching him learn and watching him play.

When we grow up, start families, our careers, etc., it seems that life can suck the fun right out of you. Even worse, its like you forget how to be a kid and just have fun with whatever is in front of you. Evan is teaching me how to be goofy again. Whether it's jumping on the bed - which is his personal playground - or playing the "I'm gonna get you game" where we run up and down the hall, it's nice to come home from a long day of seriousness and, for a short amount of time before he goes to bed, be a kid again.

As adults, when else can you play with stuffed animals, throw the ball in the house, read Dr. Seuss or just squeal in delight, than when you are with a little toddler? It's a great atmosphere to come home to, which sounds crazy coming from me, knowing how I felt about the idea of having kids just a few years ago.

Evan's favorite thing now is doing a little dance that Brian and I call the "Evan Irish Jig." He just starts moving his feet up and down SO FAST and just howling with amusement of his own imagination. He also has discovered the phenomenon of dizziness. He'll spin around and then just crash into things. He loves it and finds it funny. I find him very funny and a fantastic dance party.

I recently put up one of those digital picture frames in my cube at work, filled with photos of Evan just being himself - from his first week until now. When I am having a long day, it reminds me of our goofy times together with Brian, and what I can look forward to when I get home. It's also a good reminder not to take myself so stinkin' seriously and just relax and have fun!

So Much To Say...

Now that Dave Matthew's Band song will be stuck in my head the rest of the day...

Anyway, I can't believe it's almost been two months since either Linda or I have updated this poor neglected blog. Dunno if we still have any readers left! Lots and lots of things to share, I just dunno where to begin.

Let's see here, over the past two months - Evan got his first haircut; we transitioned him into a big boy bed and back again; we are house hunting; planning our cruise; and just working, working, working!

Life with Evan

It is crazy/fun - especially now that he's practically running and into everything! He is incredibly ornery. He's got a serious attachment to his toy ambulance that he got from his babysitter, Michelle & family. Most children have an attachment to a stuffed animal or blanket...but not Evan... If he knows his ambulance is nearby, he has to have it. He refused to take a nap the other day unless it was in his crib. He also screamed for it just the other day when I was trying to feed him lunch - I had to put it up on his tray so he would eat. It seriously rivals mine & Linda's addictions to our iPhones and iPads. (And you read that correctly, we now have "his & her's" iPads. I got Linda an iPad when they first came out for her 1st Mother's Day...she got me the iPad 2 for Father's Day this year!) He is definitely going to be a gadget geek, just like us. I dunno how he does it, but he has gotten his hands on my iPad on more than one occasion (when I thought it was out of reach) - and somehow looks at the pictures or starts iTunes on it. I dunno how he does it...it's got a passcode on it that you have to type in before you can look at anything! But his favorite iPad app is the Interactive ABC Flash Cards...he gets so excited and knows how to work the app. It's very cool!

1st Haircut

Evan got his first haircut last June. He was getting pretty shaggy, and was developing a baby-mullet. No child of ours will have a mullet. End of discussion. At the recommendation of a few friends, we took him to Sheer Madness in Olathe. They cut only kids' hair. They have cool barber seats made out of toy race cars, airplanes, etc. Evan did great, except when the stylist brought out the clippers to buzz around his neck line. It was amazing how much older he looked when he was done!

Big Boy Bed

Around mid-June, Evan somehow managed to climb out of his crib, and took a nose-dive to the floor. I had just gotten up and was fixing coffee...when it heard a loud "THUD!" and immediate screams from Evan. I ran in there and found him on the floor, luckily his large stuffed dog broke his fall and he wasn't injured. After some thought, we decided to see how he would do in a big boy bed. His crib is a lifetime crib that will convert from crib to day bed to a full sized bed, so I made the adjustments, bought him some "Toy Story" bedding and went from there. The first week he did great. The next week he was a monster. Refused to go to and stay in bed... He liked the freedom of just hopping out of bed and coming into the living room. We tried in vain almost every night for 2+ hours to get him to go to sleep. Once we did, he'd wake up in the middle of the night and roam out into the hallway. The next week, we put the crib back together, but had the mattress lowered to the day bed setting (all the way to the floor). He's gotten back on track with sleeping now. Thank God!

House Hunting

Linda & I have gotten the house hunting bug again. We are desperate to get out of the city, and get into a real house. We both have grown wary of city life. While our condo was great when it was just us and the dog - for a family, not so much. We've looked at several houses around the metro and in good school districts... A house that we can stay in for the next 15-20 years or more. Last week, we looked at three, a few nights ago we looked at four, last night we looked at four more, and tonight we are supposed to look at 5 or 6, possibly. It's exciting and depressing at the same time!

The Cruise

Dunno if I shared it or not, but I won a cruise last March through work... Linda & I have never been on a cruise before, and my luck finally paid off in a raffle they were holding at work. We booked a 7-day, 5-port western Caribbean cruise on Royal Caribbean. We have ports in Labadee, Haiti; Falmouth, Jamaica; George Town, Caymen Islands; and Cozumel, Mexico. We leave next month! I'm counting down the days. This will also be the longest that I've ever been away from Evan since the day he was born. I dunno what I'm gonna do... Thankfully we have Skype and will be in touch to see how he is doing. But, we are gonna relax and enjoy ourselves. Linda has been working some long hours lately, and we both need a break to relax. We haven't explore too much on excursions, but I did talk Linda into going on the largest zipline while we are in Haiti. We are just gonna take things as they come... Another must see for us, at least that I really want to do, is the Mayan Ruins while we port in Cozumel.

I had to get my passport renewed since it expired in 2009. I procrastinated too long on it, and had to send it off with a rush to get it back to me in time. Linda's passport is still in her maiden name though...and I keep bugging her to get it changed.

Seems between both our work schedules, taking care of Evan, and all the other things that life throws at us, we keep steaming along! Hopefully it won't be another 2 months before we update again! At least I'll try and make a conscious effort to update more regularly!