God Made Dirt and Dirt Don't Hurt

We bought Evey a Little Tykes play place over our winter break, but it had been too cold to play. Finally, we got our first good day, so Evey and I decided to test it out. She LOVED it!! She could climb the steps on her own, run to the slide, and zoom down. 

The only issue was location, location, location... when the boys placed it in our backyard, they faced the slide slightly down hill. WHOOPS!

The good news is that God made dirt and dirt don't hurt.

Evey was just fine, just a little shaken up. We went inside and took a bath. In the end, I was glad I took a couple of seconds to snap photos of this moment. It might never happen again! 

MILESTONES: 18 Months

Evey is 18 months. I still can't believe it.

I love saying "I'm the mother of a toddler." This age has been so much fun! Evey plays hard and sleeps even better. We did go through a shaky teething period in January where she kept waking up, but we discovered the amazing teething tablet (aka candy) and quickly made it back to our full-night's sleep.

At 18 months Evey has 13 teeth. She weighs 21 lbs.

Her favorite word is "this". She points at everything she's curious about and says "this". That's what she was saying in her 18 month photo and pointing to a red, victorian style chair that she thought was oh-so-fun! Mommy, on the other hand, thought that it didn't match her outfit at all!

She says so many words now and we're working on teaching her to use her words instead of making an "at" sound that she's fond of. I realized that's the first mommy mimic that stuck around. WHOOPS!

A lot of her words start with "B". She can say ball, block, bath, bye-bye, baby, beep-beep. She also says fish, off and on and will repeat almost anything I ask her to.

She LOVES animals. She says the sounds for cow, horse (which is her favorite), sheep, owl, monkey, cat, dog (her other favorite), monsters, dinosaurs, tiger, lion, and elephant. She thinks bunnies are called "Emaline" and says "ladle, ladle, ladle" with a soft a when she talks about them. She makes a similar sound for Llamas.

She still loves airplanes, cars, trains and all things that go.

She can say all of her immediate family member's names except for Harrison (but that one is difficult) and Auntie Ali where she uses her tongue instead of vocals to get the point across. She can also pick out most of us in photos. We're still working on Uncle Joel for that one!

She loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and does the sign for mouse whenever she wants to watch it, but her favorite movie is Spirit, Stallion of the Cimmaron. We watch it over and over. She also loves to watch Stellaluna, Monsters Inc., Homeward Bound (the "vuf, vuf" movie) and Over the Hedge. She watches Eebee Eebee Baby and Yo Gabba Gabba with Mimi and says both of those.

I love that she knows what every room in our house is. I can tell her to head to the kitchen for some water and she knows where to go. She knows the bathroom is where we go potty and take baths and she knows where Mommy's room and Evey's room are. She also knows the living room is where she plays. It still amazes me that she can follow simple directions so well.

She loves to play kitchen and baby. She wraps her babies in blankets and changes their diapers. She's a natural! She also loves to be "destructo-girl," as we call her, and build towers then run through them to knock them over. Her favorite toys at home are her Little People Noah's Ark and Farm and her coloring books.

She has gotten so good at using sign language that she even makes her own signs to get her point across. She made up her own sign for ice cream (she rubs her first finger on her tongue) and for coloring (she sits down and makes a coloring motion with her hand and arm). She's learned more, I'm sure. She can pick them up after we show them to her once, but I can't remember for the life of me.

She knows her head, shoulders and toes... we're still working on knees. She knows where her eyes, ears, nose, mouth, teeth, tongue, hands, fingers, feet, legs, arms, belly and belly button are. Oh yeah... and her butt! LOVE IT! She also knows how to say and sign all the different colors. Her favorite is "back" (aka black).

She loves singing with me. Her favorite book right now is Puff the Magic Dragon which I sing to her before bed 1-3 times every night. She also loves the Llama Llama books and Goodnight, My Love which is my favorite. We have this dinosaur 4 pack that she loves as well. How Do Dinosaurs Pick Up Their Room, etc...

We definitely stay busy. She loves water and bath time is her favorite time of day. We've gotten our Y membership back, but have been having trouble finding time to get over and swim this winter. She can go all the way up and down a play slide on her own and has mostly mastered climing stairs in general. I still have to help her go down - more because it makes me nervous than her!

My favorite thing to see her do is pray. She loves praying and we get to do it over and over - at her request. She folds her hands and says "Jesus" and "Men" (amen). It's adorable.

I'm so proud of all the things my TODDLER can do! Every day she learns something new. I have never enjoyed anything the way I enjoy motherhood and this little girl is perfect in my eyes. I am so thankful for everything she brings to my life. Who knew it could be this good?!?

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

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!