Love this laugh...

Evie and I stayed in today while Ford took Amelia to the sledding hill. Great sunny day but pretty cold. Caught this moment of hilarity on tape while we played in our tree tent set up indoors...fully equipped with sleeping bag, books and toys. Evie loves it in there. Check her out.

Happy Christmas, Happy Birthday and Happy New Year!

I can't even believe the whirlwind of events that have taken place these past few weeks! So much activity and so much to be thankful for. Let's start with our birthday girl...
Evie is ONE! One whole year with sweet little Evie rounding out our little family. Joy, laughter and amazement are the 3 main words that come to mind when I think of her. She is growing leaps and bounds and like her sister, tends to act older than her age. She is testing out her legs lately. She took her first step on December 13th with Amelia and I there to witness the exciting event. She has been practicing ever since! She's speedy with her walker and loves to just stand up and balance. She just hangs out for a while, standing, pointing at things, making her talking sounds. Speaking of speaking...she's been working on her vocabulary! Dada, mama, up, duck, wawa, uh-oh, Santa, soft, star, grandpa, sister (some of these words sound a bit like "dada" but we know the difference), she says "huh?" with her hands turned up when she is perplexed or looking for someone. She also makes a multitude of animal noises...monkey, dog, horse, bear, lion, rooster. She is great at communicating, with words and with sign language. She laughs, almost with relief, when we understand and say back to her what she is requesting. And what she is usually requesting is food or milk. Those signs she has mastered.
She thoroughly enjoys food. She hums her food songs while eating. She has different songs for different foods. I thought today, I wonder if she will always hum while eating. After lunch today, Ford was changing Evie's diaper in the bedroom and she must have been asking him for more food as I heard him say to her..."Evie, you get three meals a day, and a few snacks. Got it? You just ate, kid." I had to laugh out loud.
It's great fun watching Evie and her sister develop their relationship. They love each other so much and yet, like sisters do, they fight...often. So far, for the most part we have been letting them work it out on their own, unless someone gets physical. It's usually Evie. We are teaching her to be "soft" and "gentle" but she is automatically on the defense when big sister comes around as Amelia at times displays her senior status...likes to show who's boss. I often over-hear Amelia saying things to Evie like, "Evie, if you do that again, there is going to be a consequence." But, truth be told, Evie can hold her own. Let's just say, I'm not all that worried about her. We've got two strong-willed little ladies on our hands. Should make for some interesting teenage years.
We introduced cow's milk to Evie this past week. So far it's a no-go but I said the same thing about solid food 6 months ago and look at her now. She spits the milk out and makes terrible faces.
She's got 4 teeth now, 2 on top and 2 on bottom. Cuteness.
I had an Amelia deja-vu moment with Evie yesterday. Ford was trying to read to her before nap and she was not sitting still, as usual, for book-time. This is common with Evie and book-time, she's much too busy and has too much exploring to do. So I said to her "Evie do you want milk?" She laughed and made the sign for milk. I said, "okay, but first you have to lay down and finish book-time with Dad and then you can have milk." She totally laid down and waited for Ford to finish reading. Stinker understands everything we say. Amelia often shocked me like that at this age as well.
Christmas was fun and crazy and exciting and full of memorable moments. Amelia was so excited for Santa to come and was amazed at all of the magic Christmas brings. Love seeing Christmas through her eyes. She was the most enthusiastic present opener this year, announcing each gift with a loud and truly excited voice. She was just as excited for her sister's birthday and did not forget about Evie's important day despite all the Christmas activity. Amelia LOVES to give gifts and I love to watch her give them. She talked for weeks leading up to Christmas about all of the things she wanted to buy for Ford and I. A very giving girl and I am thankful. I got a bright pink sweater and a Rudolph ornament from my sweet girl on Christmas morning.
Amelia has had a fun and exciting Christmas break but misses school terribly and I am so glad for that! She cannot wait to go back tomorrow. What a blessing to have a child so enthusiastic about school, and what a blessing to have her enrolled in such an amazing pre-school with teachers we've missed very much. I've already cried about Amelia's graduation from ONS. Sigh...
Here's to a fantastic and exciting and blessed New Year! Hopeful for good things in 2012.

Tis the Season...

Evie cheering for the Christmas tree!



Looks like Evie's celebrity mug shot. But really, just fun with food in the hair. Aw, poor Ev.


"Look, Mom! I drew the whole 'activity' scene!" Did it all on her own. The sweetest. Warms the heart.


Someone is FIRED UP about Christmas! She dressed as a Christmas cheerleader and cheered in front of the Christmas tree...it went a little somethin' like this..."I SAY BABY, YOU SAY JESUS...BABY! JESUS! BABY! JESUS!"

The season is upon us. The season for Christmas trees and decorations, Christmas music and Christmas cheer, snowflakes and coziness, and anticipation...not to mention law school finals and midnight Christmas shopping and hurried Christmas baking and wrapping...when I am going to do the wrapping??...and not enough sleep and Christmas rushing and sometimes, yes, sometimes Christmas stressing...
So...I have attached a few images that remind me what Christmas is all about Charlie Brown. And I have two little presents of my own who make it all worth while...one who was even delivered Christmas Day one whole year ago...

Winter

Winter is here. The first snow came last night. Lots of it! Turned out to be the perfect winter's night for a 4 year old. The best part was it was totally unplanned. Amelia was adamant that she would be playing in the snow after dinner. We tried to explain that it was very cold out and the snow was really wet, she didn't care. She was out the door with Ford all bundled up to "take a walk" in the snow. She came in one snowman later covered in wet icy snow, drippy nose and rosy cheeks but pleased with her first snowman of the year. She jumped in the bath, hot cocoa with mini-marshmallows waiting. To top it off, a little Rudolph was on television. Amelia's first time. Cozy in her jammies, hair still wet from her bath, warm cocoa in her tummy and tucked under a blanket between Mom and Dad on the couch (Evie was asleep in her crib), she watched Rudolph and the Abominable while she nervously chewed on the blanket in anticipation. Her first experience with the Abominable and all his scariness...and she couldn't stop talking about him afterward. And how come he wasn't as scary after her had no teeth, anyway? :)
A four year old's winter memory.

Mama Mia!

It seems Evie is learning a trick or two every day now. Some new ones and some new and improved...
Mama Mia (pictured above)
Waving...she's been doing this for a while but now she waves at EVERYONE. Random strangers even.
She is getting the gist of blowing kisses although her hand starts at her chest instead of her mouth...but she's got the swinging out action down and her intentions are good.
She says "Uh Oh" in response to anything that is dropped, whether it's on purpose or not.
She goes to sleep by herself! I almost gave up thinking this would ever happen for one of my babies...but she does it. The set up: Sucky, lovey, soft music, sound machine, dimmed room and a little snuggle, swaying and humming...lay her down. She's out without a peep. It's truly awesome.
Singing. She's been doing a lot of singing, in her crib in the car, while she's getting her diaper changed...I love it.
Tantrums. This is a nice one. She's continues to arch her back and scream when she doesn't want to partake certain things, namely getting in her car seat, being placed on the floor to play when she'd rather be held, or being placed in her exer-saucer. Feisty that one.

And perhaps my favorite is this...
While playing with her big sister on the floor recently another fight ensued. Amelia was hoarding the nesting/stacking blocks with her back to Evie. Evie was trying hard to get a few. A scream and then a scream in response...back a forth a few times. I encouraged Amelia to teach Evie to share by giving her a few blocks. It worked. Amelia shared, Evie shared back. The rest of the playing session was amicable.
Later, that same day...the same scenario, same blocks...but this time, Evie hoarded two blocks right off the bat, held them close to her chest and stared right at her sister and shook her head "NO." Wow, 10 months and taking her stand. Right on.

The 9th month

Evie is quickly approaching 10 months! Her 9th month has been action packed. She's officially on the move. She's crawling! She took her time a bit on actually moving forward...mostly she'd just hang out on all fours, rock back and forth, go up to downward dog, down to her belly and then push herself up to sitting. Next, she invented her own way of getting about thus negating the need to travel via hands and knees...more of a roll or two up to sitting, then roll again up to sitting. It worked for her until one day I put some Gerber Sweet Potato Puffs on the floor a few feet in front of her...wa la...now she crawls. She loves herself some Puffs..who knew they'd be so motivating.

Some other tricks she's pretty much mastered this month...
Loves to clap! All the time. Claps to music and for happiness.
Itsy Bitsy Spider may be her favorite song and she does the moves! So cute.
She's also enjoys and participates in patty cake.
Still thinks peek-a-boo is just as hilarious the 700th time as it was the first.
She is, already (and has been), quite musically inclined...loves instruments, loves music, loves to dance. Bounces and smiles and claps when she hears music.
She's enjoys eating now! Eats it all. Well, mostly the baby food I make, and Puffs and Cheerios. :) She's had baked potato chunks and pieces of banana...about to embark on the world of soft table foods.
She does the sign for "more" when she wants more to eat or drink. We are working on other signs.
She's got a temper! Watch out for this one. When she's got something on her mind and things don't quite go her way...she throws back her head, arches her back and wails. It's all very dramatic and reminds me a lot of somebody else I know.
She's go 2 teeth! Both on the bottom.
Her 9 month appointment went well. She's doing great and developing normally. She's even right on time for separation anxiety...she didn't care so much for the nurses doing their thing...cried a bit when she got weighed and clung to me.
She says "uh oh" when she drops (or throws) something to the floor. She says "ma ma ma" and "da da da."
She enjoys roaring. Most animals do roar, in case you didn't know...lions, bears, cats, scarecrows, even ducks.
She thoroughly enjoys the fish tanks at Meijer. Total happiness when she sees them. Giggles and laughs the entire time and then cries when I pull the cart away. Kind of sad.
She LOVES her sister. Today, however, I believe they had their first fight. Screamed back and forth at each other until Evie cried. Then they made up, and love each other once again.
She was baptized last weekend. It was a great day and a special moment for me. Emotions still well up when I think about how God granted me not one but two miracles. God bless Evelyn!

Some important things...

Oh my. Posts are few and far between because this life is BUSY! I wish I had more energy to write. I wish I had more time to write. I think of things to write about almost daily. But...husband in law school, a 4 year old, an 8 month old, and of course it would help if I had my own computer...excuses, yes, but good ones. So I write when I can, and I wish it was more.
So...some important things:

1. Evie cut her first tooth! And it was hard for everyone. She was so cranky these past few weeks. But now she's happy. Until the next tooth. The front bottom right tooth has arrived. I can't believe it. This does indicate that time is truly flying by.

2. Evie is up on all fours! She spends a lot of time of her tummy excitedly moving her arms and legs in and out...much like a pollywog swimming. But in the past few days, she's done a few push-ups with tummy off the floor and then up on her knees. Crawling is next!

3. Amelia decided, on what seemed to be the last weekend of summer, to swim. I mean really swim. Goggles on, held her breath, went all the way under and paddled...until she was swimming almost half-way across the width of the pool. Just like everything else in her life, she just decided that it was time. She was ready. And now she swims. It was awesome. A really proud moment.

4. Amelia has an exaggeration number. 120

5. Evie is falling asleep on her own these days. She welcomes her bed and I am so grateful. Maybe it really is a little easier the second time around?

6. Amelia and I have started reading the Laura Ingalls Wilder books. I actually have the book series from my childhood. She LOVES listening to them. Her first chapter books. I have to admit...I love the influence these little girls and the way they lived are having on her already.

7. Evie LOVES herself some puffs. I mean she can eat some puffs. She's currently 75/25 as to what she actually gets in her mouth and what ends up elsewhere...floor, under her butt, stuck to her cheek...

8. Amelia attended her pre-school open-house tonight. Excited for year 2 of pre-school! Ford and I laughed at how much different it feels this year....for all of us it seems. We were all a little nervous at last year's open-house. This year? No chance. She acted like the senior of the school.

9. Life is busy and full and hectic and at times stressful and going by much too fast. And I love my girls.