Christmas Morning

Merry Christmas

Beams Family Christmas

We had the Beams Family Christmas on December 23rd at Aunt Marcia' and Uncle Bruce's house. While it is wonderful to have everyone together, this year was extra special as we had Aunt Jan, Uncle Randy and Keanu here from Hawaii! Keanu and Evelyn hit it off right away and have become great friends. He even gave Evelyn the first gift she has ever opened in her life! It took Evelyn a few moments to figure out what was going on, but once she did...ooooh, boy! Even her eyes got big as she started to tear at the paper. Of course, she is still more interested in the paper than in what the actual present is, but it is good fun. Christmas day should be a good time!

Evelyn posing with a bow she got as a gift from Emmye (see video above of her opening gift!)


Evelyn with ALL of the bows in her hair!


Back view of ALL the bows!

Grandpa Beams, Randy and Jan Maxedon



Grandma Beams and Evelyn


Emmye and Evelyn

Evelyn and her new buddy, Keanu!
(Notice that Keanu shared one of his favorite gifts of the night with Evelyn! In the first picture, you can see his Webkins Eagle behind his back. In the second picture, Evelyn is holding it. We didn't realize this until after we posted these pictures on the site. Thank you Keanu for helping teach Evelyn about sharing and the true meaning of Christmas!)

Santa's Coming! I KNOW him!

Although she may not always let on, Evelyn is waiting to hear reindeer dancing on our roof in a few nights. We know there is no way that Santa will pass by our house, not with such a wonderful girl living here. Evelyn has been turning into quite a Santa groupie having gone to see him TWICE! But even better than Santa is knowing that she will be spending the next weeks with family and friends who mean so much to all of us.

The Next Step...

Tonight we got some good news...

The court hearing went well today, as Evelyn's birthmother agreed to terminate her parental rights and our petition for adoption was filed with the court. While this blog is normally about Evelyn, we would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank Evelyn's birthmother, even though she may not ever read this.

You don't know what a gift you have given us. Every day we wake up so thankful for the fact that of all the people in the world, you chose us to raise Evelyn. The love you showed by making a decision that put her above all else is a love that some may not understand, but is known so well by us. Please know that we hold a special place in our hearts for you, and will be sure to instill this love in Evelyn. You have done so much more than give us a child, you have made us a family. And for that, we are forever grateful.

"I thank my God every time I remember you." -Philippians 1:3

Nil Lara

The great thing about having an iPod is the fact that you can shuffle songs and find some lost gem you never knew was in your collection. I was listening the other night, and the song, "My First Child" by Nil Lara came on. First of all, what an interesting name for a band (at least in our house!) and secondly, what great lyrics on the week of Evelyn's 5 month birthday. Not all the lyrics fit into our life, but here are the words that had an impact on me.




I've seen the response of God in me
Coming to life
Kicking me strong
Draining my blood

You're my first child
I'll show you no harm
I'll teach you my love
















Waking at night
Wanting caress
I'll keep you warm beside my bed
Together we'll rest
Deep in your sleep
My body's your glove






You're my first child
I'll show you no harm
I'll teach you my love





Smelling my skin
Feeling my face
I'll feed you each and every time
You cry into space
Holding my hands
Clutching my heart

You're my first child
I'll show you no harm
I'll teach you my love


We have had a lot of requests to hear this song...if you go to
http://www.ilike.com/artist/Nil+Lara
(You will need to copy and paste the above address)
under "Popular Songs" you will find "My First Child". It was written for a son, but is a wonderful song for any parent.

Santa!

Evelyn got to meet Santa tonight!

Grandma & Grandpa Rice took Daddy & Evelyn to Marquette to meet up with Mommy when she got done with work. We went out to celebrate Lara's birthday at The Border Grill and then headed back to NMU for the "Lighting of the Holidays" celebration.

Evelyn was VERY interested in all the people at the University Center. A dance school was performing to entertain the crowd waiting to see Mr. Kringle. What held Evelyn's attention the longest, of course, were the basic fluorescent lights in the ceiling, but at least she was entertained the whole time.

So, after waiting in line for a long time, we finally got up to see Santa Claus. As Murphy's Law would have it, as soon as Evelyn sat on Santa's lap, the battery in our digital camera ran out. NMU students were on hand to take Polaroid pictures, but the picture looked like they were about 3 miles away when they snapped the shot.

When we got out of line, we stopped by a table being run by the Golden Z club who were giving out books to all the children at the event. We picked out a cute story book that has a toy Santa for a cover.



Back at the stroller, we looked in our camera bag, and sure enough, there was another battery! After a quick check to see if it was charged, we got back in line to see Santa again. Lara got these shots of our little girl with the big guy. Thankfully, it was all grins both times. We are sure that Evelyn is on the top of Santa's good list.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We have so much to be thankful for this year! Brian and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary today! I love you, Bri!

And of course, we are so thankful that Amber, Evelyn's birthmother, chose us to be Evelyn's adoptive parents. Evelyn brings us so much joy each and every day! What an amazing year we are having!

Splish-Splash Puppy

Evelyn took her bath tonight so she will be all clean for Thanksgiving tomorrow, and got to wrap up in her great puppy towel. Just when we think she can't get any cuter....

Rice for the Rice!

How appropriate that Evelyn's first food is "Rice" cereal! This was actually our second attempt at feeding Evelyn cereal. Our first attempt was very brief as we didn't have the proper equipment, i.e. a baby spoon. The first few feedings are supposed to be mixed rather thin like her formula, so when I attempted to feed her with my finger (as suggested in one of our baby books), it didn't work very well! This past weekend we were able to pick up a couple of baby spoons and some bowls just for her. This second attempt went much better, although she still has a strong tongue-thrust reflex, so there was more cereal on her face than in her tummy! We'll just keep practicing!

Buy-Buy!

Well, if these videos are any indication...Black Friday will become a major event in the Rice household. Good news for the economy...bad news for Daddy's wallet!

More Halloween

Just a short clip of Evelyn sitting in her chair the day after Halloween.

Evelyn giggling!

She's growing!

Evelyn had her 4 month check-up today! She weighed in at 14 pounds, 5 ounces and measured 23.5 inches. We were dreading the shots, but they had a combination shot this time so there was only one needle poke! Evelyn handled it like a trooper--only a brief cry and then she was all smiles again.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone! Here's Evelyn in her pumpking suit. She enjoyed her first Halloween by helping Daddy & Mommy hand out candy to trick-or-treaters. She mainly just stared at everyone, but she did flash a couple of her charming smiles.

Our neighbor, Ruby, brought this pumpkin over for Evelyn a few weeks ago. She grew it in her garden this summer. Daddy carved the awesome jack o'lantern last night for Evelyn.

I had to snap this photo of Evelyn awake in her car seat! Auntie Ann and Uncle James sent her this adorable out fit--love the ears on the hood!

Evelyn has been trying out her Bumbo seat and seems to like it. We have a tray to attach and will do that soon so she can play with some toys.

Evelyn hanging out with "Spunky" the dog (my grandma had a cat named Spunky, so cousin Beth picked this up for Evelyn!)

Evelyn smiling away while playing on one of her blankets. Her cute sweater was knitted by Grandma Rice.

How she's grown!

Thought it would be fun to have some comparison photos of Evelyn so you can see just how much she has grown! The first photo was taken at the Up North Lodge in July. The second photo was taken at the Up North Lodge on October 5th. She's certainly filling up the car seat now! We've had to adjust the straps a couple of times.

We'll be going to her 4 month checkup on November 7th (just a few days after her 4 month birthday on November 2nd.) Can't wait to see how long she is and her weight according to their scale!

Evelyn's Baptism

Back row: Evelyn's godparents: Auntie Beth, Uncle Scott, Uncle David and Auntie Ann. Front row: Brian, Lara & Evelyn.

The first weekend in October was a busy one! We had family arrive from the Detroit area and Neenah, WI on Saturday and then Evelyn's baptism was held on Sunday, October 5th at Gwinn United Methodist Church. Evelyn wore the slip from my family's christening gown (handmade by my mom's aunt who was a nun) and a beautiful crocheted gown made by Mom/Grandma Rice. She didn't cry once during the service and was awake the entire time!

We enjoyed a delicious ham dinner following church (thanks Mom Rice!) then headed down to Farquar Metsa Tourist Park in Gwinn for some family photos. The fall colors were beautiful against a clear blue sky.

We enjoyed a visit from my college friend, Shelley Nerothin and her daughters, Elida and Ruby on Sunday, Sept. 28th. It was wonderful to visit and catch up! We hadn't seen each other since Shelley and Jason's wedding--too many years ago!

Elida and Ruby took an interest in Evelyn. It was fun to watch the girls interact with each other.

Auntie Ann, Presque Isle and Frosty Treats!

Evelyn and Presque Isle deer











Oh oh! Look out!









Evelyn sleeping at the Lookout!











Presque Isle sunset.










Auntie Ann and Evelyn near sunset point.





Auntie Ann arrived on Friday afternoon and will spend the next 10 days with us! She'll be babysitting Evelyn when Lara returns to work next week.

We're trying to get some fun in this weekend. Friday evening we drove around Presque Isle and then took a walk around Presque Isle. We made sure to stop near Sunset Point to enjoy the brief sunset.

Then it was on to Frosty Treats for an ice cream. This is the last weekend they'll be open for this season. Sadly, this was our first trip there this summer!

Big boy John-John

Yummy eggs, Aunt Lara!
"More juice?"
"Cheese!" We enjoyed a long weekend with the Milewskis this past weekend. It was so good to see them! As you can see, John-John is getting to be a big boy (2 1/2 already!) He loves having his picture taken ("Take picture?")
Saturday evening we enjoyed dinner at the now smoke-free (yea!) Vango's and then we walked around NMU's campus to check out all the changes that have happened since we all graduated.
Sunday morning, Julie took John-John up to Marquette's Lower Harbor park to play on the playground while the rest of us slept in (especially nice after Evelyn's wakeful evening!) After the kids had their afternoon naps, we headed over to a pig roast at Gwinn United Methodist Church.

Did you just meow at me?!

Had to laugh when I reviewed this clip of Evelyn! I was trying to capture her smile in a photo and didn't realize the camera was set to video instead, so I got a short clip of her smiling and what sounded like a "meow"--finally figured out it was just me coaxing the smile out of her! Fans of the movie "Super Troopers" might enjoy this clip!