Happy 3rd

Three years ago today, Linds and I tied the knot on a scorching hot afternoon in Indianapolis, IN.

It's hard to believe it's been three years already, but even harder to believe all the happenings within those three short years. By the numbers...

3 cities lived in (together & separately)

1 home sold

1 home purchased

2 oceans crossed

2 rings lost

1 magazine cover story*

2 dogs adopted

2 new degrees

2 new jobs

1 baby made

0 disagreements, raised voice occasions or fights*

So far so good, huh. Happy anniversary Maximus... I love you!

* slight exaggerations

4 months

Evie hit the four month mark today, which unfortunately meant another tough round of shots at the pediatrician’s office. E checked out with a clean bill of heath, nailed all the “by 4 months your baby should be doing X”s and the measured a whopping 15.1 lbs (90^th percentile) and 26.6” (>97^th percentile).

A few of Evie’s latest tricks include…

• Rolling over, spinning and arm-free crawling in every possible direction
• Using the aforementioned skills to kick the ON button to her crib’s soother/music maker to wake us up each morning
• Spitting ”raspberries” at us as a sign of her affection (or at least that’s how we’re interpreting it!)

A few of Evie’s latest favorite things include…

• Her exersaucer
• Her hands, feet, tounge and mouth… and trying feverishly to get them all together
• Relentlessly kicking and slapping Mom or Dad’s hands away when changing diapers or giving a bottle (related, Linds’ and my least favorite recent activity is trying to “hog tie” the child’s four limbs while holding a bottle, burp rag and baby)

Cheeks

Just a couple pics to showcase Evie's newest attribute... big ol' cheeks!

She's ba-ack!

It's been a stressful couple weeks around here. Our little Maya has been depressingly lethargic, losing weight, losing hair and mopey... essentially the exact opposite of her usual peppy, rambunctious self. After weeks of vet visits, multiple misfired diagnoses and even a few hospital stays, we've finally gotten to the bottom of it... and Maya seems to be turning the corner (and "smiling" again!).

Maya has Addison's disease, which is a deficiency of the adrenal gland that affects the organ's ability to produce the hormones that help deal with stress (physical, emotional, etc.).

The good news is that she'll be able to live a restriction-free, normal and healthy life from here on out. The not-so-good news is that she'll be on meds her entire life... but then again, so is roughly half of the American population!

We're just happy we've got out (first) little girl back!

Master of the house

As shown in video #1, we run a tight ship here in the Backer household. Dad speaks... things get done. Well, at least it happens occasionally... and now I've got video evidence!

Just in case you didn't buy Evie's roll in the first video, I tossed in a second to showcase her latest trick in full.

Mill City

We also snuck out last week to another one of Minneapolis' great outdoor music venues, the Mill City Museum, to see Jeremy Messersmith kick off their summer concert series (Mill City Live).

We loved it, but as you can see... Evie was unimpressed.

Walker

Linds, La, Evie and I spent an afternoon at the Walker this weekend.

Linds loved the the sculpture gardens, La loved the opportunity for a senior photos-esque photo shoot, and Evie & I particularly dug the BBY mini video lounges.

Loungin'

The 4th of July weekend was a busy one for us, but as it turns out we had the camera tucked away for 95% of it. I snuck up to the McNerney's cabin to join them and the Furbers for a Mantrap weekend and Linds stayed home with the little one, hosted Joe and Tisha, dogsat their pup... and nursed a sick Maya back to heath.

In retrospect, cutting away this weekend may have cost me the 'father/husband of the year' award... but from the looks of the pics Linds took while I was away (like those above) things didn't seem too stressful for her?!?

Just like anyone

Linds and I hit up a Soul Asylum concert at our new favorite venue, the Minnesota Zoo. Check out their 2009 summer schedule here: http://www.mnzoo.org/events/musicinzoo.asp

The pirated video above is a clip from one of my favs, 'Just like anyone'. If you listen close you can her Linds on back-up vocals... getting most of the lyrics right.