Sorry it took so long but ...

...things have been crazy at our house since the holidays and Evans birthday. I will try and give you a recap of everything important that we had going on. Besides Christmas and Evan´s birthday we had Grandma Ilona and Grandpa Tommy come over from Germany to spend both occasions with us.

On December 24th we celebrated Christmas Eve. In Germany, Christmas is celebrated on the evening of the 24th, not on December 25th like in America. Since celebrating in the evening is impractical for us considering Evan goes to bed by the time it would start, we usually celebrate a little earlier. Evan had already been waiting to open his presents since the morning when he had first seen them under the tree. He was so very patient though! He waited for all of us to get ready, including me and my camera. For the rest of the afternoon and evening it was present opening time for us. We all had a good time being together and Evan very much enjoyed his presents and the play time that came with them.

In the afternoon of December 25th, we celebrated Christmas with our extended family.

Click here (hier klicken für Fotos) or on the picture below to see some photos. I had the same problem as always with the lighting. Just can´t seem to stop my pictures from turning out blurry. I wonder if my camera just can´t handle low light situations or if I have my settings wrong. Anyways. Here you go.

Next was Evan´s birthday. Since Charles had to work until 3 PM that day, we decided to have the big "party" after he got home from work.

In the morning we put lots of balloons into his crib, sang him a birthday song, gave him one present and a special birthday breakfast, consisting of three waffles topped with ice-cream and m&ms and a candle on each side that he had to blow out. I am sure I don´t really have to tell you but he LOVED his breakfast!! He is still talking about it now and then. Grandma and Grandpa also gave him one of their presents when we picked them up at the hotel.

While Evan was taking his nap, I set up his birthday table. On the way out of the house I made sure to not let him see it since we wanted Charles to be there too for that. Everything worked out great and when we came back home Evan was very ready to have his party. When we first let him into the decorated room he took a look around, then grabbed the first present in view, walked over to his dad and sat on his lap to open it. After that he actually took the time to look at the rest of his decorations. He started playing with the train on his cake and even relocated the candles one by one beforehand so they wouldn't be in his way. For the next little while all he was interested in was picking out which present to open next and then opening it. He was so cute about it too. Every time he was done with one he put it aside and walk over to his birthday table saying "mehr" (German; more) along the way.

Later in the afternoon we took him on a walk so he could try out his new Puky walking bike. We were so excited to see how he would do with it, and even more excited to see that he enjoyed riding on it. I can say I am definitely ready for the spring, even more so now that we have this cool little bike to take out with us. It will be so much fun to be taking him out on walks when we don´t have to bundle up in five layers every time we want to go outside.

In the evening his great aunt Carmen called to say Happy Birthday. She talked to him on the phone, and he just kept saying "ja" (German; yes) over and over and over again. Then all of a sudden he started laughing like crazy. Then he stopped just long enough to listen to what his great aunt Carmen had to say, and then started up laughing like crazy again. He is such a silly little guy!

Although things had been a bit hectic during the preparation phase (Charles didn't have the day off and I ended up customizing a purchased cake instead of making my own like I had wanted to) things came out great in the end. Evan enjoyed being the Birthday Boy and he liked having so many balloons and presents just for him. He had picked the "Thomas the tank engine" balloon himself the night before. I am also glad that his grandparents from Germany were able to visit for his birthday since he cares so much for them. To see the pictures of the day click here (hier klicken) or on the picture below.

Many thanks to uncle Andre, aunt Verena, Milo and Silas for the present they sent over, as well as to Anke and Jörg who also sent a present over for Evan. He enjoyed all of them!
















And last but not least click here to see some pictures of Grandma´s and Grandpa´s visit to America. (Hier klicken für mehr Bilder von Oma und Dommy in Washtington.)

Have a good day everyone!