The hutch is finished!

Sanding, priming and three coats of paint later, it is beautiful. Now we have a place to properly display our tea sets. Can’t wait to fill it up.

This is going in our backroom which we are transforming into a lounge/bar entertainment area. It will have a daybed, papasan chair, table and bar with stools. It will be a perfect place to come over and have a drink with us. And for the kids, we have whole milk on tap.

I would also like to add that I helped with this project, I did some sanding and primed it. Matt took care of the painting.

After church on Easter we spent the day at Nicky and Adrian’s house.
We played games, opened Easter baskets and ate yummy food!
Here are some pictures from the day and a video. Enjoy.

Chloe with her Tio Adrian.

Chloe plays with the “throw the peeps in the baskets” setup.

Chloe opening her basket

She got cool new shades!

Chloe and Claire have the same silly mouth expressions.

Cousin Claire

Alex and I, with Rich being silly with Chloe. Typical Evjen scenario.

A small video from the day, Chloe looks for eggs during the peep throw down, and the Evjen/Vender kids open up their baskets! Even Baby Evjen, in Alex’s tummy, got some goodies! Next year, Baby Evjen will be with us celebrating in person! Yay!

PS – I need to make an effort at getting more “entire” family photos.

Chloe playing with her new comb and brush set from her Easter basket from Nana Graciela. (Taken with instagram)

“To be in a relationship with God is to be loved purely and furiously. And a person who thinks himself unlovable cannot be in a relationship with God because he can’t accept who God is; a Being that is love. We learn that we are lovable or unlovable from other people. That is why God tells us so many times to love each other.”
-Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller

On Sunday, April 15th, we are dedicating our daughter Chloe Ava at The Oasis church.

Child dedication is the parents making a commitment to God, in front of their Christian community, to raise their child in a family that makes Jesus Christ a priority in their life.

It’s a public way of saying, that we want to raise Chloe in a way that she knows Christ’s love for her and how that love can change your life.

We are excited to make this public commitment to her; and to have the support from our family and community to help us do that.

Two Years Ago

I was sitting in our apartment with my dear friend, enjoying a sandwich. Matt and I had just found out we were pregnant. My friend and I were talking about the pregnancy, our excitement, our fears. Being newlyweds, me still being in college, and planning to only survive on one income was intimidating.

We knew God was going to provide and care for us, but not knowing how was scary.

I made a comment to my friend, that I was afraid we weren’t going to be able to give Chloe everything she needed.

She looked at me and told me, you guys are going to love her so much, she will have so much love surrounding her, that’s all she really needs. She happens to be a marriage and family therapist, so I think she may know what she is talking about.

That truth was what made me overcome most fears that came my way, she’ll be loved and that’s really the most important.

We’ve been completely blessed with the love that pours out onto our little girl, from family and friends. There is something incredibly special when you see someone else love your child. You know they are special, because you are their parent, but when someone else sees it, it’s beautiful.

Love

Raising a child is kind of intimidating, I mean, come on, God has entrusted you with a human being, to raise, to care for, to love. Most of what they learn and know comes from you. I hope that one day she’ll make the decision to follow Christ. That she would see her mommy and daddy be in a personal relationship with Him, and that she would want the same. I pray that our actions never push her away from Him. The great relief is that God is greater than our faults.

I pray that we surround her with so much love, she will know that she is loved, and be able to accept a God that is Love.

Join Us

We invite you to come celebrate our daughter on Sunday, April 15th, at 10AM at The Oasis Church.

They currently meet at:

Basha High School
5990 South Val Vista Drive
Chandler, AZ 85249-9028

They are located on the NW corner of Val Vista and Riggs, here is how to find them.

Chloe’s new favorite hangout, the papasan chair we got as a gift from a friend.

It’s pretty much the favorite seat in the house, once you get in, you can’t get out!

The funny thing is that everytime I say chair, she thinks I’m saying hair, so she touches her hair. Haha.

We decided to match the pot and went with spray paint color “tropical breeze” from Valspar, found at Lowes.

Now, who wants to enjoy a cup of coffee with me?

I found two new chairs to put in the front of our house. What color should we paint them?

Snagged this video of Chloe today, showing us where her eyes, hair, head and hands are. Also had her say “What’s that?” “Ball,” “Good Girl,” “Baby,” and “Mi mi mi.”

Then mama tickled Chloe. Enjoy!

I’d like to say that bottle transition sucks, a whole lot.

Day 3 was the worse, she was super hungry but still refused the milk. She cried, screamed, which made us cry and scream. I almost wanted to just give her the bottle, but I knew I couldn’t give up.

Day 4, she is actually drinking milk out of the sippy!!! Oh praise Jesus. She drank 16oz today and had a solid breakfast and lunch.

Oh, I’m so happy. Before this bottle removal, she would only drink milk and maybe snack on solids, but eating was always so stressful. She didn’t want solids, only milk from the bottle. Now she is actually eating real food and drinking milk. Yay Chloe!!!

So, even though it sucks to transition, it is worth it.

She is still having to be rocked to sleep, but atleast I get to cuddle with her now. Chloe is a lover, just not a cuddler. Too many things to explore, no time to sit with mama.

So thankful for the people that encouraged us to stick with it.

Hello friends and family,

Cold Turkey

Today marks Day 2 of Chloe’s cold turkey bottle removal. It’s going better than expected but she still isn’t in love with the idea. The first day she cried and cried for her bottle, she only drank about 6oz of milk all day. She did have water and juice and some solids. Laying her down was the worst part, it took multiple times of laying her down and rocking her to sleep. Thankfully she didn’t wake up during the night wanting her bottle.

This morning she didn’t cry as much, she whinned but seemed to know that a bottle wasn’t coming. She still isn’t drinking as much milk as usual (which is prob a good thing, haha). I’m hoping by tomorrow she’ll be on board with the milk in the sippy.

We have tried to do this before and she would just throw her sippy at us. This time it’s much better. I think what made me more calm about the whole thing is that the doctor said she will eventually drink her milk. She wouldn’t make herself starve or get dehydrated. We would just have to be strong.

Good Girl

In other non-milk news, Chloe has some new words. She asks “what’s that?” a whole lot, and learned “good girl” from Jubilee. It sounds more like “goo gurl,” Haha. Matt says she said “baby” last night, and I keep on hearing her say “ChloChlo,” not sure if she’s trying to say her name or what. She still can’t master words with “n” sounds. Sorry Nana.

My mom sings her a bedtime song that goes “mi, mi, mi, mi mi mi” when she rocks her to bed. Chloe can sing the first three notes. So darn cute.

She also knows what her shoes and socks are, she can even say socks! Which reminds me, she always takes her socks off and throws them out of her crib, found some against the wall, hidden behind her crib.

When she needs her pants changed, I ask her “Chloe do you have popos en los pantalones?” Pantalones are pants. She then runs to her room. She’s a smarty pants.

It always amazes me what words/things she picks up.

15 month appointment

At her 15month appt, she was still in 95% for height and 75% for weight. We were happy to hear that since she doesn’t eat much solids. I want to buy some protein shake or vitamins to make sure she’s getting the right nutrition. Anyone have suggestions?

Family

As you saw in the previous post, my family came over and her oldest cousin played dress up with her. She enjoyed running around with her tias, she even got a bath from nana. She was tired but wouldn’t go to sleep until they all left. She zonked out in my arms. She is not wanting to fall asleep by herself in the crib, wants to be held/rocked. I’m sure this is because her tummy isn’t filled with milk. Praying that tomorrow she drinks more milk! BUT, on the plus side, she is eating more solids.

And, if you haven’t heard, Ryan and Alex are having a baby! Yay! So excited for their announcement. Can’t wait to find out if it will be a girl or boy. I’m leaning toward boy since there are so many girls in the Evjen fam. But we also thought Chloe was an “Elijah” and Leila (Chloe’s cousin) was an “Isaiah.”

PS – Matt loves my short hair.

Getting lots of complements on the hair, Matt thinks I should keep it that that length. I agree, much easier to deal with. It doesn’t feel as weird to have my hair “gone” as I’ve had it shorter in the past. I can still feel it on my neck, so I forget it’s short until I look in the mirror. Glad I made the decision to cut it.

Hope you enjoyed this random update on us.