A quick catch-up of the last 8 months ... biggest news at the end :D

Here's what we've been up to over the past while.

We celebrated a big-deal birthday (in fact, we celebrated it 3 times)!  This is what was left of her cake:

After a long, long search, we found a lovely house in Katy and bought it.  Felt like home from the moment we drove up!

We celebrated Halloween ...

Thanksgiving (not sure if we actually took pictures!) ...

and Christmas.  (Notice Steven's bandage in the second pic; it came completely off shortly after that, so we really had a reason to celebrate!)

We spent time together ...

and with family and friends.

Sometimes we were adorable ...

and sometimes we were trouble ...

and sometimes we were a major ham.

And then a little over 12 weeks ago, unbeknownst to us until a couple of weeks later, we had a HUGE SURPRISE BLESSING!  We are due at the end of October, and couldn't be more thrilled.  

Shame on Me

Seriously, I haven't posted since late last summer?!  That's just sad.  To be fair, we've been incredibly busy.  I'll update in a separate post ... it's a LOT!

Sometimes I seriously consider getting back on Facebook, just because it's so much easier to post pictures, etc. there than to create a new blog post.  And it's not that I'm ruling it out forever, but I have to say I'm loving the (mostly) drama-free life and friendships, and I've found out how much I really do value my privacy.  But I miss connecting with extended family and friends at the drop of a hat.  So we'll see what the future holds.  :)

As we head into the second year ...

I just can't believe that Evangeline is about to have her first birthday! I'm going to go ahead and get my sappy mom emotions out of the way now. :)

So, heading into the second year, we are seeing a lot of major changes!

This is the first top-tooth picture I've been able to obtain, other than a couple of her screaming. I felt too bad to post those. Anyway, as of today, Evangeline has six teeth. Heaven knows she's had a tough time getting them in!

What a perfect transition to my next topic - this girl is a little foodie! She will eat most things we give her, and she has a palate like any regular little person. No fish sticks and PBJ diet for her!

She has recently started to take a real interest in Lyla. Before that, she could take her or leave her. By the way, "puppy" is one of the words that she knows (there are now ten). About half the things she says sound like "bah-bah" - it takes a master translator to interpret (aka Mom).

This girl is sooooo ready to take her first step! I mean, seriously ... we expect it any day now. In the meantime, she pulls up on anything she can, stands independently, motors all over the place, and climbs stairs. She is the busiest little kid I have ever seen. She still "squids" across the floor, though - my parents suspect she just likes the reaction she gets. :)

As you can see, her hair is getting much longer! It's actually longer than this now (pic was taken maybe three or four weeks ago). She went through a phase where it stood up ALL THE TIME. Too cute! Now it lies flat, for the most part, although I definitely detect some wave in the back. Also, we still get a  hint of redhead sometimes.

Overall, I am just so amazed by her every single day. She truly has her own little personality, and she is oh so much fun! What a blessing you are, Evangeline my little lovey!

A Quick Catch-Up

I'll get to my Evangeline post in a bit, but first a small update on what's been going on otherwise.

We are swiftly approaching Steven's second (and last!) foot surgery. This one is his right, so that's a bigger deal - obviously driving is out for quite a while. Fortunately, my job allows me to be completely flexible. And, we just found out that he will be carpooling with his Aunt Tracy! That means, of course, that I won't have to subject Evangeline to a couple of hours of sitting in traffic each day - a load off my mind, let me tell you!

Steven's attitude has been so amazing throughout this entire process. While he isn't looking forward to being laid up, he isn't particularly dreading the surgery. He's just thankful that his feet and knees will feel so much better in the long run! In the meantime, we are going to try to pack as much as possible into this last week before his operation. We will be celebrating our wedding anniversary a little early this year, and we're going to try to make it to a movie as well. Date nights are always so special, anyway. :)

It is with mixed emotion that I write this next bit. I just finished my second summer session of the year, possibly the last class I will be teaching face-to-face for a while. While I will be teaching online as much as possible, I am now for all intents and purposes a stay-at-home mom! That's a very strange thing to process. I love my job as a speech instructor. I adore it. But it's time to focus on my main role for a while, especially in this time of transition as Steven heals and we search for a house. I want to thank Steven's mom for taking such tender care of our girl while I've taught my face-to-face courses. We would truly have been up a creek without the help!

What's in a name?

First I'll talk about Evangeline's name, just because I can't resist posting this cuteness. :) Then I'll get around to the name of this blog ...

Evangeline, meaning "good news" or "bearer of good news," was a name invented by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow for his Acadian epic poem, "Evangeline." It became somewhat popular around the year 1900, but flew under the radar until 2006-ish. Around 2007 was when Steven and I started talking about the possibility of using the name if we ever had a daughter. At that point, its ranking was #459. Now it's almost doubled to #286. Go figure.

Anyway, enough of that. As most of you know, I started this blog so I could get away from using Facebook. I planned this escape a few days prior to posting this, but I needed a decent blog name. Something simple, yet memorable. Something meaningful, but not "cutesy." (Originality, however, was not an issue ... How many Skadals, other than my husband's family, can there be?)

"Summer of Skadal" works, I think. Steven and I got married in summer. Evangeline was born in the summer. Heck, it's summer now. Also, "Summer of _____" is awesome in general because of the 156th episode of Seinfeld, "The Summer of George." How can we go wrong with that??