Greetings to family and friends,
Megan was recently in California where she ran into many old
friends (most of whom are on Facebook) and almost every single one of them
said, "who are those kids?" So, realizing that we may not have done a
great job keeping others informed - here is your 2014 Evans Family Update:
Let's first address the elephant (in the form of a 3.5 year
old and an almost 2 year old) in the room:
Brandon and Megan became foster parents in February. The
whole process from top to bottom took about 9 months - of which, the last 4
months were spent trying to convince the State of Arizona that we did, in fact,
have car seats.
In mid-March, we were notified that we would have 2 little
boys move in. They were brothers - 18 months and 3 months old. Megan got
herself ready for a little baby by practicing getting up in the middle of the
night. She was a complete failure at it. Then, two days before the move-in date
- with a blue and green nursery decorated - we were notified that the boys
would be placed into a different home to be with relatives.
Back to square one.
This time, no specific children were in mind for us. So, our
licensing worker showed up with a 14-page document including 473 names. The
information was limited to name, date of birth, primary language and current living
situation (e.g. shelter, emergency foster placement, etc).
With no real criteria to guide our decision-making, we
decided to pick the only kids on the list with our same last name. And, so it
was. We met them for about 45 minutes on a Thursday, they had a day pass to our
home the next Sunday, and then they moved in 3 days later on Wednesday, April 2. Status:
"Only temporary. Maybe 2 months."
Eight months later with severance apparently [hopefully??] on
the horizon, let us introduce you to the two little girls that captured our
hearts:
·
The 3-year-old with long, light brown hair
o
AKA Ms. Independence.
o
She is full of silliness and energy. Sometimes
she smiles so hard that her eyes bug out and cross - I have basically forgotten
the facial anatomy, but I think this
is natural.
o
While in Utah in November, she cut her own bangs
- Ms. Independence in the study with the scissors. Upon discovery, she
confessed that she had watched carefully where the scissors were put away after doing a craft with Grandma, LIED about needing to go potty while we watched a movie, and then
snuck upstairs to cut her hair because it was in her eyes. Ladies and
gentlemen, she. is. three. Criminal mastermind at three!
o
She is a candy fiend.
o
She has recently taken to dressing herself each
morning. This usually looks like a girly, twirly dress with a shirt and pants
underneath. You won't hear any complaints from us.
o
She loves to read books in her room - easily
describing the pictures and making up her own storylines.
o
She is OBSESSED with "Blue Elsa" - she
sings the songs from Frozen's to herself at night, she used to sit outside the
bathroom while Megan was [eh-hem] indisposed to ask if she "wanted to
build a snow man" through the door, and she loves wearing her Halloween
costume around the house... leaving a trail of blue glitter everywhere she
goes.
o
If she knows she has crossed a line, she quickly
asks for a "big hug and a kiss.
o
She is a natural athlete and is known to run up
to 2.5 miles without stopping only to arrive home and ask if she can ride her
bike. When Brandon thinks about her - he thinks of a little tiny girl with big
hair bouncing around as she runs.
·
The almost-2-year-old with short, dark brown
hair
o
When she first moved in she looked remarkably a
lot like Liza Minnelli - dark hair in her eyes and unreasonably long eyelashes.
Nowadays, she looks more like Boo from Monsters INC. Although, when Brandon
gives her the "daddy hairdo" she looks just like Ringo Star.
o
She is a monkey food eater (BANANAS!)
o
She is a cuddle bear - she is content as can be
if she is snuggled into your lap with her cheek pressed up against yours. At
bedtime, she likes to have you pretend that she is a tiny baby. Megan, who wishes
that she had an opportunity to have a little baby, loves to play this game with
her. Note: this wish is usually fleeting as Megan remembers that she doesn't
really care for neonates and she loves her sleep more than really anything in
the world.
o
She wants to be just like her "Sissy"
o
She is slowly but surely learning to use the
froggy potty and loves the "Pee Pee in the Potty" celebration that
follows any successful attempts.
o
She will hug and kiss anyone. Anytime. Anywhere.
Even without warning.
o
She recently adopted the "cheesy grin"
for cameras - this includes squinted eyes and a jutted-out chin.
o
Her first words happened a couple weeks after
moving in and blew the speech evaluation recommendation out of the window when
she proudly proclaimed "I want that" referring to the couscous on
Megan'splate. Since, some of her favorite things to say are: "No! I do
it!" "Mickey Mouse" "Come on. Swing. (while holding your
hand in an attempt to lead you outside)"
"That. No. Doggy." "Don't like it" "Ewwwww.
That yucky."
o
If she knows she has crossed a line, she uses
humor and smiles to win you over.
The
big notable events for Brandon have been:
·
He started his 3rd year of teaching 8th Grade
Science at a Math/Science Magnet school in Tucson. He is in charge of a
Catalina Island field trip each year. This is really his calling in life - only
specific people have the stuff it takes to work with peripubescent teenagers,
and Brandon is basically made of whatever that stuff is.
·
He completed a 100-mile bike ride in California
in September. And, although he was the youngest person on his team by about 30
years, their team came in the top 15% of all riders. This is probably because
of the fancy Italian carbon-fiber road bike he got in the summer.
·
He enjoys tinkering around our house completing
the landscaping and irrigation systems by himself, working on painting various
projects, and trying to fix the air conditioner when it went out on a 108
degree day.
·
He is also an almost full-time swing pusher.
The big notable events for Megan have been:
·
She has officially stayed in the same office for
a whole year. In the 3.5 years that she has worked for her company, she has
moved 5 times... so this is a big deal. The latest addition to her office will
be a treadmill desk. This has the potential to either be a colossal failure or
a great idea.
·
She is completing her last year in her 20's and
is feeling pretty good about what she has been able to accomplish, survive and
learn.
·
She is still the proud owner of a now 14-year-old
miniature schnauzer named Duncan Stanford Tolman I. He is still kicking it and
it makes her very happy. She is also a huge advocate for rattlesnake
destruction.
·
She won an award at work for innovation out of
almost 3000 employees earlier in the year.
So, in summary, life is full of joy, silliness, and fun. We
couldn't ask for more and we look forward to what 2015 has in store. Note:
unintentional rhyme.
Love and kisses on the forehead (if we know you well) or
high fives and handshakes (if we don't),
M, B, A, A, D, B, and S
[Mom, dad, girl, girl, dog/love of Megan's life, dog, and bird]
