December

Decemeber was a fun month, especially celebrating Everett's first Christmas. We took her to see the Christmas lights around the duck pond at North Florida Regional Medical Center on the 5th.

We had Christmas Eve and Christmas morning at Mom and Dad's, with Christmas dinner at Marjorie and Art's.

Opening her first Christmas present, a little block, one of 20 we individually wrapped.

new gator walk behind toy, she walks all over the place with this thing. Needs to figure out reverse still though.

The day after Christmas we took off to St. Augustine for a one night trip just the three of us. After playing at an awesome playground and lunch in the Old Town shopping district, we drove down the beach at sunset. We got a giggle out of driving down A1A later that night singing "On Top of Spaghetti" over and over to put Everett to sleep and then watching football because it was the only thing that was remotely reasonable to watch on mute in the hotel room. A bit different from our last trip to the beach just the two of us!!

This month Everett got her 3rd, 4th and 5th teeth, started pointing at things and asking "dat?", shaking her head "no", handing you things, putting things "in", giving real hugs, waving and saying "hi" spontaneously (even to things like empty bathrooms), standing without holding on, walking behind push toys, and she even took one step. She took her first bath with free range of the big tub. At her 9 month check up, she weighed 19 pounds 10 ounces and was 62nd percentile for weight, 63rd for height and 99th for head circumference. We like to think big brain but several people have pointed out "thick skulled" as a possibility, given her genetics.

helping Daddy fix cabinets

We had a New Year's Eve bonfire which turned into a high school reunion of sorts with me, Jenny, Tom, Sheila, Frank, Ido and Ryan all in one place 16 years later!

Christmas brings out the love between Turbo and Tony, brothers from different mothers

Check out all these teeth!

like father, like daughter

November

So much to be thankful for this year!! What a busy month with lots of milestones for Everett.

We went out to Coon Hollo Corn Maze with friends from high school and fed the cows on the hayride.

Oona and Curtis came home for Thanksgiving so Everett and Max had their second date.

Everett got her front bottom teeth, the first on the 7th and the second on the 22nd. She started pulling up to stand and now pulls up on everything and everyone. She started waving goodbye, crawling on hands and knees, and said "da da" to Patrick. She had her first camping trip, first Thanksgiving, first real cold, and first haircut: a bang trim. For Patrick it was the culmination of several months of hard work: the launch of Republic wireless, which was a sell out success. We finished up some long overdue yard work and had a bonfire with the trimmed tree limbs Patrick chainsawed and piled on the Mimosa tree stump.

mmmm............thanksgiving dinner!

Braving the cold at Ichutucknee Springs Campground

reading books with Daddy

October

October has been a fun month. We have continued our push toward sustainability. Seems to be our new hobby. We visited Siembra farm and learned about growing crops with sustainable methods and maximum nutrition, we researched and constructed a composting system, researched chicken keeping and designed a coop, and started making our bread from scratch. We are hopeful that solar panels and a classic car converted to electric are in our future. Those are in the "someday" file for now.

We had a nice trip down to Arcadia to visit Grandma Janet and Papa Bob on Janet's birthday.

We took Everett to her first pumpkin patch,

first Gator football tailgate

and first classic car show, the Ocala Pumpkin Run.

We took Everett out on Halloween to see the trick or treaters in her bumble bee costume but she fell asleep in the stroller, so we'll save first trick or treating for next near. We dressed up for a Halloween party as characters from a commercial for dish network with huge cowboy hats and long mustaches. It was pretty funny, but it turned Brokeback mountain pretty quickly. We had a play date with Greg, Jenn, Noah and Eli. It was fun to introduce the little ones. She got her first injury this month, a busted lip, but recovered like a champ. Patrick and Laura were upset about it for way longer than she was.

Her favorite things this month include pulling the ceiling fan pull cords to turn on fans, practicing sitting up from her belly by herself, scrunching up her nose, blowing raspberries, finger feeding herself and dancing when a toy plays music. She belly crawls everywhere now, so Patrick put in a banister across one side of her play room to contain her a bit. She has discovered she can get to electrical cords so it is getting tricky to walk away from her for a minute.

Our fridge died but we got a new one that we really like. Patrick has been working hard to get the "build" done for the release of Republic, a new wireless phone provider.

September

Everett likes her new dog from Joanna

September was busy with Patrick and Laura's fourth wedding anniversary, our trip to the beach and our trip to North Carolina to see Oona and Curtis and meet Max. We celebrated our anniversary at Paramount Grill and listened to a reggae band after. Everett had her first overnight at Grama and Grampa's. Laura met up with Jenny and Joanna for a visit with Maggie and Everett (and Jenny's cute baby bump) on the 22nd. Everett has become quite a good eater. She'll eat anything we're eating put through the grinder: stuffed peppers, chicken parmesean, minestrone soup, burritos etc. the more seasoning the better! She belly crawls like crazy and Patrick put up a baby gate across the threshold between her playroom and the kitchen and started working on a banister for the other side of the playroom. She had her 6 month check-up with Elizma at Dr. Benton's. She is 81st percentile for height and weight, 92nd for head circumference. Laura and Grama took a great two day course on the SCERTS model for autism intervention and Patrick got lots of time with Everett. The Benzo and the fridge have been on the fritz but at least the A/C is still working. Highlights of the month was the birth of Tim and Jen's daughter Aria and a call from Carrie to say that Gator onsies sold well at the boutique.

Hanging out with Joanna

 Apparently there is a similar picture of Patrick in existence

 Looking awfully happy for someone who is in jail.

 Headed out for the night on our anniversary. Still looking good.

A frequent face this month

Casey and Karla's Wedding

Patrick traveled to San Diego for the weekend of the August 13th for Casey and Karla's wedding. Saw Casey, Karla, Cody, Jason, Ally and Mark.

Trip to Raleigh to meet Max

Laura and Everett flew to Raleigh, NC for the weekend to visit Oona and Curtis and meet baby Max. Max was 2 months old and Everett was 6 months old. They were fast friends as expected.On Saturday Oona and Laura took the kiddos on a nice walk around a big pond and to dinner at a pizza place in Apex. On Sunday we toured the state farmer's market before flying home.

They had their first date. They met at the bar, she had a wine, he had tequila. Conversation was a bit lacking, but when it is true love, you don't have to say anything at all. You can just be together.

Everett's first trip to the beach

We went to the Crescent beach for one night with mom, Judy Angley and family Sept 10th and 11th. Everett wasn't too sure what to think of the beach, but she sure looked cute in her suit and hat.