Sawyer's first day of school

Hours after arriving home from a holiday of travel, we were slapped with adjusting to a new reality. With Linds’ maternity leave officially over, today marked the first day of back to work… and more significantly, two kids in day care!

On “to do” list this morning: shower, dress, eat, dress the kids, feed the kids, walk the dogs, feed the dogs, pack E’s school bag, pack S’s diaper bag, bundle the kids, grab our work bags / laptops, scrape the car, commute to Hopkins, fill out E’s school sign-in sheets, fill out S’s school sign-in sheets, commute to Mills… oh, and get it all done by 8am!

The reason for the season…

Top: L's sis (Ashley), R's mom (Nancy), R's bro (Joe), R&L's dog (Maya), R's dad (Tom)

Middle: R, L's mom (Linda), S, J&T's dog (Carter), E

Bottom: R&L's dog (Griff), R's sis (La), L, L's dad (Bob), R's sis-in-law (Tisha)

Xmas 2010, v3.0

Continuing with the theme game, Xmas with Nana was all about establishing / continuing traditions. One tradition, handed down from Evie’s namesake (Nana’s mom, Evelyn), that Nana began to establish with the next generation is cookie baking… lots and lots of cookie baking. The most sentimental holiday cookie to our family is the Norwegian waffle cookie, Krumkake (or “scrollers”).

Shown above is Nana and E making a batch of Krumkake using the same iron griddle I remember using with my Grandma Evie, some 30 years ago.

Xmas 2010, v2.0

If the theme of Xmas v1.0 (the Maxwell version) was all about discovering the magic of Christmas for E (i.e. presents!!!!), then the theme of Xmas v2.0 (Grandpa Tom’s) was all about the fire truck. Evie spent hours playing with her new fire truck, watching fire videos on YouTube with Uncle Joe and digging through G’pa’s (fmr. fireman, by the way) collection of fire department gear, souvenirs and photos.

The frozen tundra of TCF Bank

Linds (watched the kids), my dad (bought the tickets) and the guys (endured the conditions) treated the birthday boy (me, 12/20) to a night out at TCF Bank Stadium, taking in one of the craziest and most memorable games in Viking history*.

Thanks all! Great night.

*The Purple lost 40-14, but the win/lost thing was hardly the biggest headline. The Dome collapse, the return of outdoor football in MN, snownami 2010, Favre's last game (?), Joe Webb's first/last game (?)

Xmas 2010, v1.0

The Maxwell clan journeyed to snowy MN for a long weekend and Christmas get-together.

The family time was great, as getting everyone under one roof is a rarity... but my personal highlight was seeing the light bulb pop on in Evie's head that all these funny colored boxes that had been piling up in her playroom (a.k.a. our living room) contained... toys, toys and more toys!

2 months

Sawyer Rose hit the two month mark on 12/13. Here's the monthly update...

A few of Sawyer's latest tricks include:

• Smiles, coos and aahs
• Fist-to-mouth coordination
• Bottle-blocking with her tongue (try to sneak a bottle to her mouth, you'll see)

A few of Sawyer's favorite things include:

• Her mom (it's only fair... E is Daddy's girl after all!)
• Kisses from the dogs (the only thing that consistently produces a smile)
• Being swaddled "Captain America" style (one arm out/up)

The blizzard of 2010

Mother Nature dropped temps well below zero (-30F wind chill) and dumped 18" of snow on most of Minnesota this weekend, the most since the Halloween blizzard of '91 and the 5th most in state history.

Too darn cold to get E outside for snowmen and sledding (plus, Dad was tied up shoveling around the clock!) but I don't suspect this stuff is going anywhere for a while...

Finn Lawrence

On December 2, 2010... Evie and Sawyer welcomed another "cuz", Finn Lawrence Furber.

Finn rounds out that "three amigos" next generation... for now?!?.

20 months

Big sis' turned 20 months yesterday... here's the update:

A few of Evie's latest tricks include:

• Singing songs (not sure she totally "gets" the lyrics, but she but she learns and repeats like a parrot!)
• Climbing, running, jumping, climbing, running, jumping...
• Communicating more and more in sentences, e.g. "Evie play downstairs" (a little caveman-like yet, but still...)

A few of Evie's latest favorite things include:

• "Baby Sawyer" (kissing, poking, hugging, poking, covering, poking, carrying, etc.)
• Sesame Street (the TV show, the website, and her character dolls)
• Chasing and being chased by Maya

*In case you can't tell, video 1 is the "ABCs" and video 2 is "The Itsy Bitsy Spider"

Happy Thanksgiving

... a "hand turkey", by EJB.

Sweet dreams

A rare sight around the Backer house these days...

Winter Wonderland

Minnesota delivered it's first snowfall of the season, much to Evie and the pups' delight.

1 month

SRB celebrated her 1-month'er yesterday. Up a pound and a couple inches from her birth weight, this little peanut is already outpacing her big sis'. Nights still aren't a ton of fun, but all-in-all Sawyer is an excellent eater, decent sleeper and is getting bigger and stronger by the day.

While it's still a little early to be reporting "tricks" and "favorite things", we can say definitively that Sawyer is happiest when laying on Mom or Dad's chest, is so, so tolerant of her big sister showering her with kisses and eye pokes, and is angriest when strapped in a car seat.

Madeline Rae

On November 5, 2010... Evie and Sawyer welcomed their newest "cousin", Madeline Rae McNerney.

Nice work, J & M!

San Francisco

While technically a work trip, I did manage to squeeze in some "me time" to get a acquainted with the city by the bay... and catch up with some old friends this past week.

Matthew, Sush and Mike... so great to see you guys!

As for you SF... I hope we meet again soon.

Mary Lou II?

E tried her hand at gymnastics this weekend and took to it surprisingly well, constantly waving off the spotter and fearlessly jumping right in.

Must be the genes (Mom was a hop, skip and a jump away from Olympic completion back in the day, you know…).

Grandma and Grandpa Maxwell

Linds' parents paid a visit to MN this past weekend to meet the newest addition.

Evie was happy to see Grandpa Bob and Grandma and paraded around rattling off her latest and greatest tricks. Sawyer focused solely on showing off her steadily increasing lung power.

Trick-or-Treat

E made a killing on her first door-to-door Halloween this year... and then insisted on paying a visit to her buddy "Conan" (Cohen, actually).

You tell me...

E and S... or S and E?

Either way, both were admiringly looking toward Dad during their ~ 3 week photo shoots.

Mini me

Evie and Sawyer snuggled up in their first pair of matching PJs.

That is, if eye and ear poking count as snuggling...

Splish splash...

Sawyer was takin' her first bath,

Long about a Saturday night...

A rub dub, just relaxin' in the tub

Thinkin' everything was alright...

[strum, strum, strum]

Pumpkinfest 2010

The rapidly increasing number of children didn't get in the way of the McGorman Halloween Carve-Off 2010...

However, I'm pretty certain the after-party lasted beyond 7:45pm in years past!

Evie, Sawyer... Sawyer, Evie

Lil' Sawyer's stint in Special Care meant that E couldn't meet her new sis' until we brought her home on Saturday (well, except for the quick, "illegal", through-the-glass introduction our nurse caved and let us do early Thursday morning).

When the two finally did meet, Evie instantly assumed the role of caretaker. Whenever Sawyer cries, Evie runs over to hold her hand. Whenever Sawyer gets a diaper change, Evie is quick to toss a blanket on her.

Alright, back to the fam...

Meet Sawyer Rose

Sawyer Rose Backer (7 lbs, 12 oz / 19.5 ") was born at 9:47pm on Wednesday, October 13th.

Just like the last time around, Mom and baby are fighting through some minor complications... but all-in-all, everyone is doing wonderfully well.

Evie anxiously awaits meeting her new little sis'!

Minnetonka Orchards

Linds and I took a break from our final weekend of pre-baby nesting to take EJB to the apple orchard / pumpkin patch for a little apple-picking, hayrides and cider.

*E grinned and guzzled that entire glass of the freshly squeezed stuff, by the way. I don't know that we'll ever be able to pull off the extreme dilution we typically do at home ever again...

Welcome home, Nana

Grandma Nancy moved back home this weekend after a stint in Denver, CO.

Evie couldn't be happier to have another one of her biggest fans closer, especially as she's about to be competing for competition at home!

Now, if she could only get those Ohio grandparents up here... :-)

18 months

EJB is halfway to three?!? Yikes!

Here's her last monthly update as an only child...

A few of Evie's latest tricks include:

• Speaking multi-syllable words (“E-ri-cka”, “Man-uel-la”) and real sentences/fragments (“Maya move please”, “upstairs with Da-da”).
• Naming colors. It’s probably dumb luck much of the time, but she nails “pink”, “red”, “purple” and “black” more often than not.
• Calling her father “Ryan”… and laughing it up with her mother. Personally, this one isn’t one of my favorites.

A few of Evie's latest favorite things include:

• Claiming she owns everything (usually with a “Evie’s”, sometimes with a “me”… and when she wants to be perfectly clear she’s not messing around she’ll go with “miiiiiiiiiiiiNE!”)
• Coloring and painting on her little IKEA easel.
• Chicken (or “chich-en”), broccoli (“brocco”) and apple juice. She’ll order exactly that whenever asked what she’d like to eat.
• Shopping. Unfortunately, she’s outgrown riding in the cart and insists on helping push and selecting products.

The next generation

Thirty four years ago, in southern Minnesota, right about this time of year, one could have taken this very same shot with the moms of still-to-this-day BFFs Jason, Brett and I.

Fast forward a generation and now our wives, Linds, Michelle and Suz are all due within a few weeks of one another, in the very same order we boys entered the world.

Smells like trouble to me...

Surprise!

G'pa Tom turned 60 today... and to celebrate us kids coordinated a big surprise bash at the New Ulm Country Club. Out on the links with Joe, Tish and I... as Dad approached the 9th green he was greeted by a motley crew of friends and family.

Of course, the "gallery" made him putt it out before they'd let the party start...

17 months

Evie celebrated her 17th on Friday. Here's the update...

A few of Evie's latest tricks include:

• Stringing together mini-sentences. There’s not a word Evie won’t try and she’s now piecing them together 2-3 at a time. My personal favorite, used when she would rather have her dad help her with something than her mom, is “momma no, dada”.
• Going potty on the potty. We’re still months away from ditching the diaper, but at least once daily Evie will say “potty”, point to her little toilet… and actually go!
• Drinking from an open cup, using utensils and going to bed without a bottle. While these may not sound all that impressive, they were “requirements” in Evie’s new school that she/we weren’t 100% prepared for… but after a mini boot camp and some tough love, E’s got ‘em all down.

A few of Evie's latest favorite things include:

• “Go-Go” (GoGurt), “Bob” (SpongeBob SquarePants) and “App-Sa” (apple sauce). Evs demands each at least once daily.
• Coloring / drawing outside with her sidewalk chalk or inside on her little easel with markers.
• Picture slideshows. We showed E some pics on our Picasa site one afternoon and ever since, anytime one of us cracks open our laptops she sprints over and insists on a show (saying “pitch-a, pitch-a” while simultaneously signing “please”)
  

A visit from the Maxwells

G'pa and G'ma Maxwell paid us a visit this past weekend... but their time here was only partly pleasure... house-hunting was also on the "to do" list!

I guess the goofball pictured above is doing her fair share to help revitalize the local housing market!

Date night

Linds, E and I met up with the Racciattis for a quick bite on Saturday night. What we thought was simply a double date night seemed to quickly go triple!

Green Lake

Summers in Spicer, MN on Green Lake have been a Backer family tradition for generations... and this past weekend Evie got her first taste, joining the Genelins, Paulsons, Jay Backers, Dan Backers and G'pa Tom for a few nights at "The Settlement".

Pictured taking a few casts at dusk are Noah, Hannah, Jay, Maddie, Greg, Elliot and Cole (L-R).

School girl

Big day for our little girl...

Evie's first day in her new school/day care was a success... but didn't come without a few tears.

The morning goodbye was a bit difficult, but I guess E rallied and made herself at home today playing to exhaustion with her new friends. Aside from that goodbye, E's new teacher (Andrea) said the only problem came when Evie was informed that she's not allowed to fingerpaint the table with her ketchup at lunch!

G'pa & Maddie

Evie Jane got her fill of splishin' and splashin' with G'pa Tom at great uncle Doug's annual pool party.

She also got her fill of potato chips, brownies and Dr. Pepper thanks to Grandpa and company...

The graduate

Evie and fam' had to say some tough "goodbyes" yesterday, as E wrapped up her final day of daycare at the GMICC.

All are so excited for E to move on the bigger challenges and new opportunities, but it's going to be tough to replace her friends and experience at Mills. Evie learned so much from Ta-Ta and company... and the Purple Room was truly a home away from home for her.

Thanks so much to all of you*... we'll miss you!

Stay in touch!

* Tosh, "Mol", "Shay", Misty, Genet, "Marsh", Nicolas, Addison and all E's other friends from this chapter of her life

Happy 4th

Four years ago today, Linds and I threw one helluva party... and it's been quite the ride ever since!

Here's to many more...

I love you, babe!

16 months

EJB weighed in at 25 lbs (~75 percentile), measured nearly 35 inches (>95th percentile!) and cleared her 16 month check-up with a clean bill of health. Here's the rest of the monthly update:

A few of Evie's latest tricks include:

• Playing "mockingbird" (the kid continues to try to mirror everything we say... "purple", "backpack" and "bubble" are three of her newest favs)
• Playing "checkout lady" at the daycare (I guess at each day's end, Evie insists on handing her friends parents their daily paperwork and follows the handoff with a kiss goodbye and a wave)
• Playing "foreigner who doesn't appear to speak the language, but is secretly fluent and carefully eavesdropping" (despite her small spoken vocabulary, we're constantly amazed by how much Evs understands... we test her daily with things like, "can you please get daddy's shoes?", or "can you please turn off the TV?" and she rarely fails to deliver)

A few of Evie's latest favorite things include:

• Her new pink Crocs (the day doesn't start until they're on her feet)
• 'The Foot Book' by Dr. Seuss
• Water (splashing in it, floating on it, drinking it, squirting it, saying it...)
• Joe (we're not so sure if it's Uncle Joe or "Uncle" Joe, but one of the Joes in her life is who she's most commonly talking to on her toy phone or yelling about when playing these days)

Chips!

The highlight from the past few days was definitely the few short but sweet moments we had with our long-lost friends, the Chipelewskis... in town from the U.P. for a family wedding weekend.

It was wonderful catching up and Evie absolutely adored the twins, Kaleb and Kendall (as did we, of course!).

J&J... let's do this sooner next time, OK?

Kissing cousins

Evie got her first chance to meet her second cousins (Owen, Zach and Logan) this week as Danelle and Derek (my sole Asleson-side cousins) were briefly back in Minnesota from Phoenix and Texas.

Great to see ya'll!

*pictured with E and Linds are Danelle and her 6 m/o, Owen

City Slicker

Last weekend we had a little family reunion in Chicago, piggybacking on some work travel I had the following week.

While in the Windy City we did the usual big city things: outdoor block parties (headlined by BNL), fun dining (Greek Islands, Jane's, Pequod's), beach time on Lake Michigan, et cetera. Evie loved it all, but nothing compared to the urban petting zoo we stumbled upon in Bucktown Sunday afternoon.

Thanks for hosting, J & T!

Reason #237 to love the iPhone

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Nights away from home base in Minneapolis (I've been conferencing in Chicago since Sunday!) aren't quite as bad with the daily iPhone video snipet from my baby girl.

Can't wait to see you tomorrow, Evie!

(You too, LMB!)

Editor's note: This clip is shot EOD on-site at Evie's daycare. Tosha, Molly and Shayna are E's teachers.

4th of July

Linds, E and I spend most of the long weekend hanging out with Uncle Joe and Aunt Tisha (that is… when they weren’t out on, or recovering from, Big Island). Got in some QT with the Racciattis, G’Pa Tom, Auntie La and her Joe as well.

Friday’s Twins outing and postgame fireworks, lots of beach and water time with Evie Jane plus food, food and more food pretty much sums up the weekend.

E loved it all, but it was especially fun to see her reconnect with J & T... it had been way too long (hint, hint, you two!).

Signing off... Back to reality in t minus 8 hrs or so.

Big G

Lintu Art does an annual Dogs Around the Lakes series featuring a handful "regulars" from each of Minneapolis' signature lakes. Well, guess who made an impression and is gracing the cover of this year's Dogs of Lake Harriet?

Enjoy your 15 minutes of fame, Griff... Maya is already eying next year's crown!

Up nord

The McNerneys invited us and the Furbers up to the family cabin on Mantrap Lake in northern MN this weekend. While chasing E and Cohen around the cabin and pontoon all day did slightly (OK, significantly) crimp our style, we still managed to get in some fishing, swimming and enjoy a few late night drinks fireside. Evie absolutely LOVED being outside all day and had some fun swimming herself… although could’ve done without that annoying lifejacket.

Thanks, J & M. We had a blast!

15 months

Evie Jane hit the 15 month mark yesterday. Here’s the monthly update:

A few of Evie’s latest tricks include:

• Words, words and more words (E now tries to repeat everything we say… yep, including the f-bomb I dropped after botching an IKEA assembly!)
• Signs, signs and more signs (“poop”, “I’m mad” and “yes” are three of the most useful new additions)
• Napping on a “big girl” cot, and eating/playing at her “big girl” table and chair

A few of Evie’s latest favorite things include:

• “Row-Row” (rocking back-and-forth while hand-in-hand, singing Row, Row, Row Your Boat)
• Being outside (or “’side” to her… E constantly requests this throughout the day)
• Soda Pop, the neighborhood cat

Happy Father's Day

EJB treated her dear ol' dad to quite the day today...

Breakfast (crepes) in bed, a trip to REI, a stroll through the Walker's Sculpture Garden (pictured), a roast for dinner and homemade tres leches for dessert... and a bunch of new books and yard toys!

Love you too, Evs... and thanks for your help today as well, Linds! ;-)

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

Linds started another new chapter today, joining the marketing organization at General Mills... specifically as an "Associate Brand Manager on Big G - Strategic Growth Channels - Target/DD&D" (or in layman's terms, she'll be worrying a lot about cereal... especially at Target).

For la familia Backer, it's beginning to seem as if the the only constant is change. Not that we'd have it any other way, of course. By my math, since we got engaged in 2005, we've collectively held 6 jobs, attended 2 schools and held 4 addresses in 3 states...

Oh, and added either a dog or a baby to the equation about every 14-15 months!

Amber & Joey's Wedding

Linds' cousin Amber tied the knot in Louisville, KY this weekend. It was great to see the Maxwell side, as it had been a while.

Sure, the bride was beautiful and all... but our little EJB sure did her best to steal the show. For two solid hours Evs raced on and off the dance floor and from table to table, busting a move or hamming it up with anyone that crossed her path.

Evie's other non-wedding related highlights from the trip included messin' with G'pa Bob and chasing the G'Ma Linda's cats.

Great to see you all. 'Til next time... ;-)

* Unfortunately I didn't capture this on camera, but my favorite moment of the weekend came when little Miss EJB was tearing it up on the dance floor and she spotted my cell. Evie yanked it out of my hand, stormed over to the DJ booth, plopped on the floor, turned the phone on and proceeded to have an angry conversation (with Lord knows who!) for several minutes... then set the phone aside and worked her way back on to the dance floor to rejoin the party [i should've left my phone at home, 'cuz this is a dis-aster] .

Memorial Day weekend

Beautiful weather and a visit from Nana made for quite the Memorial Day weekend around these parts. Linds and I took advantage of having a live-in sitter and snuck away to Stillwater for a day and Evie soaked up the sun playing at Auntie La's pool, strolling around the MN Zoo and goofin' with G'ma and the pups on the deck.

Thanks for coming, Nana. Miss you!

The leap

Linds, rarely the camera operator in this family, tried her hand at playing photographer while atthe Minnehaha dog park last week and caught this gem of Griff, My and I.