Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Long Overdue...

Wow!

I cannot believe how long I've gone without documenting anything about my baby's life. I didn't mean to drop off the face of the planet, but a certain someone is keeping me on the go constantly!

We've been so busy that I haven't even had time to think about blogging and we don't have internet at home anymore, so it's hard to get a post done in the few minutes a day I have to myself. Thankfully, our minds hold a ton of sweet memories that will last (perhaps not as long as this blog will!).

Evey is growing like a weed and my little sponge is so smart. She picks up new things every day.

At 16 months, she knows without a doubt who "Mama" is and calls her dad Papa, Mama or Bob. (I think that Bob came from trying to say Papa with a stuffy nose, but we love it!). She can point both of us out in a photograph.

Harrison was the first person she recognized in a photo. We've been playing "Where's Harrison" for months. It's amazing how she loves her cousin. And when I say loves, I mean it! Evey and Harrison have so much fun playing together. She hugs him all the time and they chase each other back and forth through Nana's house. It's fun to see how great of a bond they already have at this age and I'm glad that we'll get to watch it grow over the years.

She calls my mom Mimi and my sister Al-a. She apparently started saying "Na-nan" last night while walking into Christopher's mom's house. We're still working on the rest. When I ask her who Papa Flash is, she looks at Gordon and nods. It's adorable. I'm not going to lie.

She can say baby, ball, bath, box bus, cold, mouth, pizza, please, this, on, up, boom, boo, bye bye. LOTS of "B" words... most likely there's some that I've left out!

She repeats the sounds of a cow (moo), dog (woo, woo), elephant (mrrrrr), tiger (not a cat... a tiger [she does a hissing snarl sound that is hilarious]). Bears, dinosaurs, and lions all say the same thing - RAWR!!! The amazing thing is that she'll growl when Papa asks her what a stegosaurus or velocoraptor says... she knows lots of other dinos that Mommy can barely pronounce! She loves the sounds of a car, truck, airplane and motorcycle (Vroom, vroom! or a "b" sound while vibrating her lips). She clicks her tongue to call the dogs and cats and growls at the dogs (aka Amma) when they get in trouble. She loves to feed the puppies and makes sure that no food falls out of their bowls while they eat.

She knows the signs for 30+ words and can pick up a new sign after being shown only once! She signs: Mother, Father, Water, Milk, Drink, Banana, Strawberry, Grape/Raisin, Cookie, Yogurt, Ice Cream, Eat, Pacifier, Please, Thank You, Shoes, Swing, Pretty, Cold, Play, Music, Brush Teeth, Wipe, Shew-we!, and Help. I'm sure that isn't all of them and I hate that my forgetful brain is leaving some out!

She knows where her eyes, ears, nose, mouth, cheeks, chest, toes and belly button are and cracks up at Elmo's huge, orange nose! She knows every room in our house and can go to any of them when asked.

She cheeses for the camera. She puts herself to sleep at night and sleeps through the night. She loves playing with baby dolls and monster trucks, purses and airplanes. She's such a girly girl, but there's a little tomboy hidden deep inside.

She can wave, clap, run, jump and pick her nose with the best of them! She's a moving, grooving, dancing machine. She marches with Barney and she gets down to the Hot Diggity Dog song. When I ask her to show me her groovin' feet, she gets those little legs moving so quick into this little run/boogie. She loves doing somersaults and back-flips and cackles when she's upside-down. She's always got me laughing. 

I often look at her and think, "Where did my baby go?" but I am so in love with this age. It's so much fun to watch her explore and grow. She's so independent and can sit and play on her own for hours. She

Monday, September 17, 2012

Pretty, Pretty Princesses

 
While my family was in town, we went to Chick-fil-a's "Princess Day." The first time was an accident. We were all hungry after a day at the hosptial, so we ran to grab some grub. When we got there, the place was decked out in tulle and Christmas lights. Miss America was there and the girls got their pictures made. They were giving away wands and crowns to all the little girls and all the princes and princesses got to eat for free!
 
I love Chick-fil-a. They are always finding a good reason to give us free food. Yes, please!
 
Unfortunately, we got there right at the end of their event. We still got the free food, the crowns, wands and pictures (although this unprepared Momma didn't have hers), but we missed out on all the fun. They told us that they were doing the event again in two days at the Chick-fil-a on Nicholasville Road, so we made plans to be there. This time, we got it right!
 
Our friends Andrea and Lillie joined us for the fun and the girls all got dressed up with their hair done up like a princess.... even mine!


Prince Charming and the Fairy Godmother were both there for photos!

"Mommy says Prince Charming is too old for me!"

All the princes and princesses got to go on a royal carriage ride!

Our little princess stuffed her face with chocolate chip cookies!
 
 
Mommy's Pretty Princess


 
 

McDowell-Hughes-Johns-Underwood Family: Together Again

This August, my family from Florida came up to visit. They'd had a vacation planned, and ended up spending most of their vacation in the hospital. My grandmother had several kidney stones the size of golf balls. She went to the ER and they sent her to St. Joseph for surgery. Unfortunately, since she was on blood thinners, they couldn't actually do the surgery. Their temporary fix was to give her some stints and take her off the thinners until she was able to have the stones broken up. 

Fortunately for my grandmother, and the nurses, we were able to take her home on Thursday. 

We had made plans to get family photos made since it was the first time we'd all be in the same town in years. The last time we had a family photo taken, I think I was 9 - so it had been almost 20 years! I'd say we were overdue. We were really glad my grandmother was out of the hospital so she could come with us. Since she started the whole mess, it wouldn't be a family portrait without her in it! 

After our appointment, most of the family came to our house for BBQ (although we missed Kacy, Jordan and Clayton)! It was the first time my extended family had seen our house, and it gave me a really good reason to CLEAN, so I was excited!! 

My amazing husband whipped up some pulled pork and everyone brought some delicious dishes. It was such a beautiful day to spend outdoors enjoying good company! 

My cousin, Eric. 

My Aunt Jo enjoying some QT with her grand-niece!


Mimi and Evey enjoyed a piece of corn on the cobb. Evey is the only person I've ever seen my mom eat after. LOL. 



My dad and sister, and my husband, the photo-bomber. 


My cousins, Samantha, Eric and Hannah.




L to R: My sister: Ali; My cousins: Hannah, Joshua, Eric, Noah, Samantha; and, of course, my daughter: Evey


Even Whitney enjoyed the festivities.


We had so much fun, and I hope it isn't 20 years before we're all together again! 

Monday, August 6, 2012

Celebrating Evey's First Year


This is the movie I made for Evey's birthday. It shows some of my most favorite moments from the first year of her life.

Sunday, August 5, 2012

365



Here are some of the pictures from Evey's 1 Year photo shoots... Yes, shoots, plural. The studio shots were done at Portrait Innovations and the non-studio shots were done by Sarah G. Photography! :)





















Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head


We had one of the wettest July's ever, and August is shaping up to be pretty similar! The other day, Evey and I got home from Mimi's house and it was pouring, but there was no thunder or lightening.

Evey was tired, and screaming the whole way home, but I couldn't resist the warm summer downpour! When we got home, I threw her little raincoat on and out we went to play!

At first, she was a little unsure. She just stood in the same place, looking down and every now and then would move her little hand to feel the rain. After about 5 minutes, though, she got a little adventurous! She was toddling through the puddles and splashing when she could! It was so cute to see her enjoying the sweet summer rain!








She was excited to find a small hole in the sidewalk. Something I never would've noticed, but Evey stooped right down and had lots of fun splashing in her small little hole. I love seeing her discover things that are often taken for granted. The wonder of a child is inspiring to me!