Photo shoot

For those of you that don't know, B's family is full of really talented photographers. B's sister, Alisa, took pictures of us when we were pregnant with Evelyn (mind you, those were in Oregon in November-- complete with sweater and jeans!).  Brendon's brother and his wife were here last week (more about that soon!) and Brent was kind enough to take some pics of us for this pregnancy.  Temps have been in the 70s-80s, lately... and even a few 90s. Thankfully, we found a shady spot for some pics.

Here are some of my faves.
Brendon, 34 years.
Annie, 30 years.
Evelyn Anne, 2 years, 3 months.
Baby girl Powell: 25 weeks.

A lesson...

In fried okra from am visiting expert. At long last!!
Thanks Deanne!











So wonderful to have you visit!!

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Ev sings about the planets!

She's been singing about the planets for about a month now- thanks to aunt and uncle for finally catching it on video!



Here are the words, incase you missed 'em:

Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars,
These are the planets near our star.

Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, too.
Neptune and Pluto, we can't see you.

I know the planets, do you?

(Yes. We still include Pluto!! Long live Pluto's planet status!)

Evelyn Anne-2 years and 3 months

So... we are just a few days shy of Ev's 27 month birthday.  I have neglected to post about her birthday activities we had in February. Amazing how time flies.  We had a wonderful party at her daycare, as well as one at our home with family. Before pictures, here are some stats:

First, let's remember where we started:
Born: ~6:30am, Feb. 8th 2010 in Portland, Oregon (8 days overdue!)
Weight: 8lbs, 11oz (85%)
Height: 21.5 inches (90%)

1 year appt:

1 year check up on Feb. 21, 2011 in Nashville, Tennessee

Weight: 19lbs, 9oz (22%)

Height: 28.5 inches (22%)

2 year check up:
2 year check up on Feb. 10, 2012 in Nashville, Tennessee
Weight: 26lbs, 9oz (40%)
Height: 33 inches (32%)

She's still a little peanut... the biggest she ever was, was when she was born. (Lucky, mom. ha!)

We have lucked out, though, in that her appetite and her willingness to sleep are MUCH bigger than she is!!!

In addition, we are really excited that she's turning out to be every bit as inquisitive and talkative as we expected. Congrats to her on her quick mastery of book memorization, exclusively eating with a spoon and fork, saying all her ABCs and counting to 10 in both English and Spanish, trying many different foods, continually working to be polite, and speaking full sentences and singing us songs.

Among other things, this past year brought her first haircut, potty training and learning to dress herself. 

What will the next bring??

((After all this bragging about her... there is one little parenting thing that Brendon and I want to brag about:

Some of you know this, but... WE DID IT. We made it 2 years without EVER buying her a single stitch of canned/jared baby food.

To those of you who think it's impossible to work 2 full time jobs AND make your own baby food- I must implore you that it IS possible. And WAY easier than you think!))

Congrats on 2 years, Evelyn Anne. We love you.

And now for some birthday pics....

Outdoor eating!

My amazing husband took this pile of old redwood from my boss' old deck:


And repurposed it into an outdoor table. In a record 90 minutes!!! (literally by the time we got back from purchasing some chairs and pads!)



Reason #572729 it's wonderful to be married to a talented woodworker!


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It's a....

GIRL!!!



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A day with my friend...

Our daycare is on spring break this week, so we are doing the shuffle attempting to meet our respective work commitments. Luckily, our good friends have come to the rescue. Today Ev got to send the day with her bestie Elsa. Elsa's mom, Kathryn, sent this pic. Adorable. So thankful for good friends!!


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Not 1/2 Way!

As some of you know, Annie had the distinct honor of having a paper published in Cell on Friday. She was first author. It is hard to put this in context for those not in science, but getting published is the name of the game in academic science. Over the course of grad school, Annie was published numerous times and twice as a first author. These publications helped Annie to develop her thesis, prove to her thesis committee that she was ready to receive her PhD and also obtain a position in the lab she is currently a postdoctoral fellow in. That is what publications do for a graduate student.

Much the same, publications help progress the career of scientists and ensure that they are able to receive funding, institutional support and invitations to collaborate on other research projects (like laying a foundation for a house). In less than 2 years, Annie has not only been able to get a publication or even a first author publication but a publication with Cell! Cell is on top of the pyramid along with Nature and having a publication with either of these journals puts Annie among a very select group of scientists (like laying a bomb shelter as a basement to build your house on).

As the title of this post implies, by no means has Annie done this 1/2 way. Every step has been with purpose and determination and she has earned every word that got published. Annie has not only maximized the opportunity given to her here at Vanderbilt but has established a new par level of achievement that the scientific community is realizing and allowing her to work in. As has always been the case but now more defined, the sky is the limit for Annie and opportunities will be easier to find based on her extremely diligent work.

Here are links to the online version of the Cell paper as well as an article from the Vanderbilt newspaper. The write up in the Vanderbilt newspaper is extremely good for us non-scientists to be able to wrap our heads around the work she is doing.

1/2 Way!

We were talking on the way home from dinner tonight about how we were half way there. Not half way home but half way to having this baby. It is crazy to us how time just flies, it seems like just yesterday that it was December and we were just finding out that we had a second child on the way. Now what is crazy is knowing how quick the next 20 weeks will go! Are we ready? Sure. Do we know what we are having? This Thursday. Does Ev comprehend? She says hello to Annie's tummy and gives it kisses but we don't know how much she gets yet. Do we have names picked out? Yes. Will we share these names? Nope (you know the drill). How is Annie? She is doing good, this has been a much more challenging pregnancy than the first but the last few weeks have been easier for her. The morning sickness has subsided and she has had more energy to get through the days and evenings. Traveling? Not much. We are fortunate to have a number of visitors lined up this spring and have a weekend planned to go to North Carolina in June to spend a weekend with a group of OHSU friends. Annie is also flying to NC to give a talk at UNC Chapel Hill. I have a show in Chicago at the end of April and hope to have a business trip to the NW sometime in summer. Other than that we are going to try and visit some destinations within driving distance to take advantage of our time here in the south. Pregnant in the south in the summer? Thank the Lord for an AC unit the size of a school bus that keeps our house as chilled as we want it to be!

Speaking of weather, we have been blessed with an amazing run of 70+ degree days, no humidity, no bugs and many opportunities to be outside enjoying family time and life. Ev loves to blow bubbles and run around the yard and we love to watch her. Often I get to quietly watch my beautiful pregnant wife and beautiful 2 year old daughter sauntering about the yard, discovering new and interesting things.

We will keep you posted on the news from Nashville and especially whether the new baby Powell is a he or a she!

(pics of Annie and Ev this evening while waiting for a table at the restaurant)

For the record...

Evelyn is officially potty trained.
Well, she was a week ago, but I am finally posting about it.
Took us a little over a week.  Thank goodness for her in-home daycare that spearheaded the whole thing and "taught" us rookie parents what to do! (We bought the potty a long time ago.  Just never really committed to trying to train her...)

Amazing to no longer have to look at buying the giant boxes of diapers.

Well, at least until late August.