Evan's First National Park

We went to Zion National Park for the Fourth and had a great time. It was Evie's first camping trip. She did great. There will definitely be more camping in her future.


We hiked Angel's Landing all the way to the top( with no stops). I carried Evan 5 steep miles round-trip. As we came off the Devil's back bone, a group of about 20 hikers applauded and one exclaimed, "Now there's a woman!" Of course Evan slept the entire time, woke up for a picture at the top, and snoozed the entire time down. What a life!

From breast to CamelBack, that's my girl!

First public swim: in a frog pond of course!

My lovely scratch thanks to the swim-hole trail.

Oh Blessed Day

We finally got this baby blessed and Andy did not name her "Dave" as he had threatened to do. If you know Andy, you know he will do just about anything for a laugh, but I guess I successfully persuaded him that even though I am sure Heavenly Father has a sense of humor, I am also sure he wants ordinances performed in a reverent manner.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the Mormon church, we don't do infant baptisms. Children are baptized typically when they are 8 years old (or later, but never before). However, when a baby is born the child's father (again typically it is the child's father) gives the baby a name and a blessing. So, in this instance, Andy gave our baby the name "Evan Alice Howell" to be known by for the rest of her life and then proceeded to "bless" her with gifts, talents, and protections that he felt inspired to give her. When I was an infant I was blessed and given the name "Shawn Diane Rice."

Andy did an amazing job. It truly almost took my breath away to hear him pronounce such a beautiful and well thought-out blessing on our daughter's head. He is truly coming into his own as a father.

Howell family members in attendance Emily (Andy's sister and her 4 kids), Grandma and Granpa Howell, Rusty, Hans, and Danny (Andy's brothers) and Danny's wife and kids.

Thanks Nana (Dean) for the beautiful "princess" dress.

Disclaimer: if this seems like an obnoxious number of pictures of Evan, you are apparently NOT one of her grandparents. :)

So What Did You Do This Weekend-Part 2

The second canyon we did is called "The Subway." You will probably be able to tell from the pictures where it got its name. It is a less technical canyon than Pine Creek, but no less challenging as it is probably 3 times as long (9+ miles). For 2/3 of the hike you are pretty much walking in a river bed. It was super fun!

So What Did You Do This Weekend?

Finally, something that would actually qualify as an adventure. You were probably beginning to think that the name of this blog was misnamed, false advertising, but alas, we finally had a real post-baby adventure.Andy and I went down with some friends and family to Zion National Park and did some canyoneering. What is canyoneering you might ask? It is a sport truly specific to Colorado, Utah and Arizona. Basically it is hiking to the extreme. It involves swimming through extremely cold water, rappelling, boulder scrambling, and the like. I have to say that I LOVE it. It's probably my favorite outdoors thing to do because it involves your entire body.Andy and I did our first canyon last year when I was pregnant (very early on), but Evan couldn't come this year for what you will are obvious reasons. It was a great experience for me to feel so strong and capable, particularly after having a baby.

I love the problem-solving aspect of canyoneering. We have guide books, but you really don't have anyone to tell you how to get down, you just have to figure it out and it makes you feel awesome.

It also makes me feel awesome about my husband. Andy is amazing. He has incredible problem-solving skills and a keen understanding of how to just about everything outdoors.

The first canyon we did is called Pine Creek. It involves 2 swims, 1 deep wade, 6 rappels (including a 100 ft free rappel).

Save Some Green-Cloth Diapering

So, I am absolutely in love with cloth diapering. I was warned by my sister-in-law that people who do cloth diapering get addicted and become quite fanatical about it. Well, she was right. So, count me in as one of the crazy people.

I thought I would write about it because I just love it so much. I was a little apprehensive about the whole process: how to get started, what do I need, is it going to be disgusting and/or complicated? Luckily there are some really good Internet resources and the aforementioned awesome sister-in-law that got me started.

About being disgusting. Let's face it. I would rather be getting brownie batter on my fingers than baby poop, but dirty hands are going to happen regardless of what you put on your baby's bum. I will say that Evan has actually only had blow-outs in her plastic diapers. So far, no diaper rash either.

It makes me feel good to know that I am not adding all of the trash to the landfills. And with an HE washer and dryer, washing is a breeze. Right now since she is only breastfeeding I don't do anything to the dirty diapers before I wash them. I don't rinse them, soak them, pre-treat them. I just chuck them in the diaper pail until I am ready to wash them and they go straight into the machine. I know it will get more disgusting as she gets older, but again that is unavoidable whether or not we use plastic or cloth. I wash her diapers every 2-3 days. I think driving to Walmart to buy plastic diapers is alot more complicated. I even ordered my diapers online and they came straight to my door. Believe me, if this was difficult I would not be doing it. I love the earth, but even I have my limits.

Not only is it great for the green earth, but it is good for the ecological environment of your wallet. Evie is pretty much outfitted at this point for her diapering life for under $200. I probably could have done it for even cheaper, but I over-ordered some things because I just didn't know what I liked best. I even use baby washcloths for wipes, so there is one more thing I don't have to buy repeatedly.

I have actually found a surprising amount of joy in doing it. It somehow feels like a really organic mothering experience to fold the diaper and put it on my little baby. It just feels really nurturing like trimming the crust off of your kid's PB&J sandwich.

If anyone is interested here are some resources and ideas:
I really like unbleached chinese prefold diapers. Then I use a "Snappi" fastener and a "Bummis Super Whisper Wrap" diaper cover. My sister-in-law like Thirsties covers. There are lots of products and it can be overwhelming, so I got started by ordering the "Try It" kit off of www.cottonbabies.com. I have found that site to be very useful. Also, www.diaperpin.com is the mother of all cloth diapering websites.

Here are some pictures of my little hippie in the making.


Okay, I don't know how to un-rotate this picture, sorry. Anyway, this is a chinese prefold with a twist-type fold on Evie. The twist helps soak up more pee. The green thingy is a "snappi" fastener. It doesn't snap, so I can only imagine that it is named a snappie because it is a "snap" to use. This is the Bummis Super Whisper Wrap diaper cover. This goes over the cloth diaper and provides the waterproof barrier. The cool thing about this is that this doesn't have to be washed everytime you use it unless it got really dirty in a blow-out type situation. You can reuse it like 5-6 times before you wash it. Bottomline, this saves you ALOT of money because you don't need tons of these. I only have 3. And you don't have to get frogs, I just thought, "Hey, why not?"

Is this the picture of a happy baby or what?!?

Is blogging weird or what?

So, I was just embarking on what I had intended to be a quick perusal of my friends and family's blogs and got totally captured. I was actually stunned (in a good way) at the realization of what people are sharing.

It occurred to me that blogging might be a bit weird. Here we are, all spilling our guts and our lives onto a website for everyone to see. I have to say I love it. It would be great if I could sit down with all of you and find out the intimate details of your lives, but honestly no one has the time. And even if we did have the time, would we really talk about some of the things we are writing about? I don't think we would. I love looking at pictures of friend's kids growing up, moms sharing their ideas and woes and inspirations, folks heartaches and triumphs. When you look at all of this you can really see that life is complicated, but it really is beautiful. Wow. I am grateful that all of y'all let me take a peek into what is going on with you. When I read your blogs I hear your voices as if you were speaking to me. And then when I see you at church or wherever and you give me a quick "I'm fine." I feel like I know a little more about why that may or may not be completely true.

Well, I just wanted to say thanks for sharing friends!

Life is...a blur!

Wow, until I saw Tisha's prompt for a new post I hadn't realized it has been a whole month since I last wrote. Life is a blur, but hopefully you can tell, it is a happy one! Alot has been going on as you can imagine, so here is a brief update:

Evan- Has had a lot of firsts: bike ride, sunburn (it didn't occur to me that I needed to put sunblock on her, yeah "mom of the year!"), night away from mommy and daddy, purposeful smile.















Shawn-has started running again. My mind and surprisingly my heart and muscles have been in decent shape, but my ligaments not so much with all that relaxin still in my body. The first night away from Evie wasn't so bad. She is cute, but her daddy is pretty cute too. :) Celebrated my 30th birthday. Andy really surprised me this year with all kinds of goodies: a new mountain bike, surprise dinner with friends, some spa treatments for mother's day. What a guy!



Andy-is probably really looking forward to me going back to work in two weeks. Don't feel too sorry for him though, he is having alot of fun. He is playing softball, biking, shooting terrorists and hiring out his chores. Again, what a guy! :)


But Tisha didn't ask for an update on what we've been doing, she asked for what I am thinking. Hmmm, well, Tisha you know I will be visiting you soon and will give you TMI, but truthfully things are really good for the Howells. We're all really happy. Settling into a routine and a new life is kind of interesting and very tiring, but I think we've made the shift well. After all of the years of trying, I have to say, that Evie could not have come at a better time for me or Andy.

It is an interesting thing to have any birthday, but your 30th gives cause for evaluation and retrospection. I can say this wasn't too bad of a birthday. In fact, I wasn't sad at all. There was no reason to be sad because I feel like I've got a good life. I've got an amazing husband, a sweet little baby, we have good jobs, a nice house and great friends. Lest I sound like a braggart, let me add, we've got plenty of things and people to worry about, aches and pains, and unmet wishes. However, I think as we hone our ability to focus on what is truly important we are happier. Could I have a bigger house, nicer car, sexier body? Well, I don't know about the body...aren't stretch marks like racers' stripes? :) Hopefully you get what I'm saying. There will always be room for improvement, but I feel pretty dang happy right now. I feel excited about the challenges that lie ahead. And I have to say with complete confidence that the Lord will provide. Maybe I will write more about that in another post, but I know He will. I feel complete peace and confidence in that. I hope everyone reading this post is having peace and happiness in their lives despite heartaches and disappointments. I went to Womens' conference two weeks ago and one of the speakers at the beginning of her talk, I believe completely unplanned said, "I know the Lord loves you and is concerned about the things you are concerned about." I know that is true. Here are some pictures to just make you stupid happy: