Isabel Katherine Evans

I am the proud aunt of a 4 week old (on Thursday to be exact) baby girl who weighed in at 7lbs. 3oz. Isabel absolutely deserved this respect well before now, but her birth unfortunately coincided with a very upsetting event that regretfully took most of the attention. We were all fortunate, however, to have such a joyous occasion to draw our attention away from our sadness.


My brother, Tim, has emerged into a proud and doting father literally over night. I about collapsed on the floor when he referred to his daughter as a "princess" and "pumpkin." I don't think Tim even knew his vocabulary extended any further than "buddy" or "football player." I was elated nonetheless. "Daddy's little girl" is a common phrase for a reason. I always knew she would have him wrapped as soon as she graced us with her beautiful presence.


I am flying up to Chicago in November to meet my little niece. I will also be meeting Tim's wife, Ruth, for the first time as well. I am really looking forward to the trip. Evan will meet his first and only cousin from our side of the family. I'm sure he'll just stare and point and say "bu-bee." Yes, Evan, it's a baby. But I am so excited to get pictures of them together.

Congratulations Tim and Ruth!
I love you!

Words Are Fun

My mom and I were walking through the Wal-Mart parking lot a few weeks ago and Evan, as always, wanted to show off his impressive, yet limited vocabulary. As we walked he pointed to every single parking space and said, "car...car...car...car...car..." until we reached the front doors. We parked quite a distance away so I had "car" ringing in my ears as we went inside. I was still a very proud mama!
Evan has since made a few additions to his vocabulary that I have happily recorded to show every one how brilliant our kid is...yes, you may all gag now.

Redecorating on a Loooow Budget

I have millions of great ideas floating around in my head but when it comes to actually creating them or putting them in action the idea doesn't seem nearly as brilliant after the fact. I've made a conscious decision however to dig a little deeper and pull out any bit of creativity I can find in this cloudy brain of mine.

I've been wanting to redecorate for awhile now, but I had two major hurdles in my way. #1 - No money. This is fairly essential to the task at hand, but I've surprised myself nonetheless. #2 - I don't have a great deal of design knowledge, but again, I've maneuvered around this and now have much more confidence in my design choices.
With those two hurdles out of my path I'm ready to transform my home! I'm also ready to put some pent-up energy into something that doesn't involve poop, diapers, drool or Noggin.

My first finished project was an easy, yet pleasing one. I've hated our computer chair for a very long time. And when I say very long time I mean since Robert and I first started dating 8 years ago. For whatever reason this chair has followed us everywhere. There was absolutely NOTHING remarkable about this chair, but I guess it decided it was staying no matter what. Here is the chair that used to be (it doesn't have the back on it because I didn't remember to take the picture until after I took it off - I'm sure you'll still get the picture):

I decided I would recover this chair to bring some life back into it - if it ever existed in the first place. I bought a laundry bag from Ikea a couple of years ago that I never really used. We had baseball hats stuffed in it when I took it out of the closet. I bought the bag simply because I liked the design on the fabric and it was cheap. I thought it could be better utilized by being cut up and used for fabric for the chair. And voila! That's exactly what I did:


We now have a decent looking chair with a little more character and it didn't cost me a dime! My mom will be so proud of my resourcefulness. And there's much more where that came from.

The Joy of Bathing

I wish I enjoyed bathing as much as Evan does. If I allowed him to stay in the tub as long as he wanted his skin would literally peel off his body. I guess warm water and bubbles are a great therapy for his ADD...I wonder if it would work on Robert too???

Strength and Love

It is unfathomable how much has happened since my last posting. It's been said that "when it rains, it pours." In my family's case, we've been stuck in a hail storm.

The passing of my brother, Jonathan, was none other than shocking and devastating. Even as I write this it seems so surreal. I think I've convinced myself that he's still living in Charlotte, but is on vacation or out of the country. Many times in the past three weeks I have scrolled through my speed dial list and called him expecting him to answer. But the operator's voice informing me his number has been disconnected jolts me back to reality in just those few seconds. And then I realize I will never hear his voice again. And I cry. But for some reason I still can't bring myself to delete his number from my phone. I'm just not ready to let go. I want to hear, "Hey, Frachelle!" just one more time. I realize it's going to take time for me to accept and move on. But for right now I'm not ready. For right now I still want to feel as though he's alive...I imagine in my heart he always will be.

Jonathan's absence has been amplified by my mom's diagnosis of breast cancer. My mom has been feeling unwell for over two years and has had a series of tests done to try to pinpoint the cause. Jonathan and I had daily conversations expressing our worries and our thoughts on what could be causing mom's discomfort. Six days after Jonathan's death my mom received her diagnosis. I had no one to call.

Since my mom's diagnosis we have also learned that the cancer is present in her bones and in the lymph nodes of her chest. She has started an oral treatment that will fight to get the cancer under control. My mom has already battled this once, 17 years ago. I honestly believe the cancer has no chance. My mom is a survivor and the strongest woman I know. And I know Jonathan is there fighting for her every step of the way. He loved her so much and I know he will make sure to protect her.