Evelyn's first birthday

 Grandma and Grandpa Chickens came for Ev's first birthday, and at first Grandma thought I had gained a bunch of weight because I was wearing a pair of Ben's shorts. We told them that yes, I had gained weight, but only because there was another baby in there, due in 4 months. Happy times!

 Grandpa helping Evelyn play with one of her birthday presents. If only older children could be so entertained with inexpensive gifts. 

 Daddy was helping her figure out this wrapping paper business. 

 Maybe a bit worn out from opening so many presents. 

 Having a giggle over another new toy that has continued to entertain. 

 Unsure of what to do about this cupcake and candle. I ended up blowing it out for her. She was nervous about everyone singing to her too. 

 We hadn't let her have much refined sugar up to this point, so she had no idea what frosting was. 

 But she figured it out. 

 And actually ate most of the cupcake. Our good friends, the Johnstons were here for this party, along with a few friends from the ward. 

 Her new phone. Evelyn had so many cute little dresses. I haven't been able to hang onto all of them. 

 Another little birthday party, this time at Grandma Green's house in Farmington. Complete with a fancy cake. 

 A generations shot. Great Grandma Green on the left, Grandma Chickens in the middle, and Great Grandma Cluff on the right. 

 Mom trying to help rid Evelyn of some excess energy. At this point, she'd had a lot of fun running around the wall that separated the kitchen from the living room. 

Me trying to keep on the matching  hat for this dress. It didn't work very well. None of my little kids have liked wearing hats. 

By one year, Evelyn had grown to about 21 lbs. She had most of her teeth, but wasn't talking much. She did a few signs, "milk", "please", "thank you", and the sound "mmmm," which meant "movie." She was just beginning to like watching Baby Einstein, which she ended up loving. 

Middle Summer

 Self-portrait with Daddy. I loved her big binkies. We went through so many with her. 

 Feeding Daddy a carrot. 

 Evelyn was still a cute baby, loving her bottles of milk. She was by far our best milk drinker. 

 She loved carrying bags or purses around. I would call her our little bag lady. The hidden pull-out drawers seen behind her were a favorite place to pass the time in our small apartment - pulling out all the silverware. 

 I got a new haircut and Evelyn enjoyed standing on the back of the couch and watching me pull faces. She would eventually just fall backwards to get down; she knew the couch would catch her. 

 A little more comfortable in the bath tub, as long as there was a trickle of water running. 

 Taking a nap with mom. This was before we discovered how a nap schedule would benefit our life. 

 Crazy Evelyn, going down head-first on the slide.

 Excited about a pair of shoes that she couldn't really walk in yet. She was just barely taking her first steps, and shoes made it more difficult. This was before all those pre-walker shoes hit the big box stores like Wal-Mart and Target. 

 Waltzing around naked. 

 Laughing at Grandma Chickens during a visit to Idaho. Evelyn was really comfortable around extended family members. 

 Trying to capture the color of her eyes, which were still undecided at this point. They were a dark green here, and kept lightening to a hazel. By now (she's age 7), they are a definite brown. 

Eating pancakes with Mommy in the morning. Grandma Cows was able to find a little nightgown for Evelyn, as I was unable to find clothes that would keep her cool enough during the hot summer nights.