Project 52:35 {beginnings & endings}

thankful for...

beginnings & endings

In the next few days, we will celebrate both the new beginning of a family and the end of life.

The two events seem so far from each other, yet they're not.

Both bring a flood of emotions. Both celebrate the richness of life.
Both bring far-flung people together, with a common cause to celebrate one of life's biggest milestones.
And both offer an opportunity to reflect on love, family and the hope of the future, whether it's here on earth or in heaven, with Jesus. 

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Read more about my Project 52.

Linking my Project 52 with:

styleberry BLOG

 What We're Sayin'

Oh The Places We'll Go 

Englexas 

Wicked Kate

Tiny Dancer {21 Months}

Twenty-one months! Oh my goodness, sweet girl. You take my breath away. 

You have grown and changed so much this summer. More and more, you are becoming a little person.. with your own little personality, quirks, mannerisms, and more. We love seeing more of who you are each day.

It's hard to describe what I feel when I look at you, Evie Girl. You are so full of life and joy. You are very expressive and loving and sweet. You make each and every day so much fun.

So. Here are a few of things you've been up to lately.

 

You are on.the.go.
Running everywhere. Yelling "yets GO!" and "ready pesegedi" when it's time to head out the door.
And we're not sure how or when it happened, but you have become President of the Seat Belt Patrol. "Mama seat belt?? Dada seat belt? Mama seat belt ON!" Goodness. You like things just so. :)

You now love to color (which I love) and want to do it daily. You hold your crayons correctly(!), in your right hand, and constantly ask us to draw things for you. Like Mickey, mama, dada, baby, pacifier, pony, rainbow, a house, circles and on and on and on. We're working on getting you to draw these things yourself. :)

You are SO very expressive. You have all sorts of 'faces' you make throughout the day.. some of my favorites are your disgruntled ones. Hilarious. You've also started to be a bit pickier about what you like to eat this month, which we're hoping is just a phase, but does produce some pretty memorable faces. You cross your arms over your face, fling your head back and to the side, scrunch up you nose.. the whole bit. Not dramatic or anything.

You are our little Jeopardy contestant. Always asking questions. I knew this would happen at some point, I just didn't think it would be so soon! You're so inquisitive! Hands down, your most commonly asked questions (as in, 50+ times per day) are:

Is it? Isisisisitisitisitisitisit????

&

Sounds like?

Any time you hear a sound, even if you know what it is, you say "sounds like?" wanting to know what the sound is. And the whole isitisitisit business.. we have no idea why you stream it together over and over like that, but you don't let up and get progressively louder until we answer you!

 

You still say a few phrases from my point of view, ie, exactly like you hear them. Some of my favorites:

Hold you!

Mama read to you?

Help me? 

(you say this when you want to help me with whatever I'm doing, not when you want help with something)

You continue your love affair with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and ask to watch it every single day. Sometimes you will randomly rattle off all of the characters and then shout "So much fun!" It's pretty cute.

The other day you set your Mickey doll in a little chair and pulled it up right in front of where you were sitting. After you had him just so, you reached out your arms toward him and said "Come ere, saweetie. Come ere saweetie." I seriously melted. You did this over and over, then changed his diaper. :)

Every time we drive by the park in our neighborhood, you say "Swing a Mama? Swing a Mama?" You are referring to this yellow tire swing. In the past I've laid on it, with you laying on top of me to swing, and clearly, you loved it.

You are beyond amazing, Evangeline. I can't believe how fast time is flying by and can't imagine life without you. Please stay little bitty forever!

We love you to the moon and back!

sweet moments

Yesterday, I held and rocked my girl in the dark for close to an hour. She had a very restless (and sleepless) nap of about 30-40 minutes. So after 5 minutes of "hold you daddy.. hold you mama minute.. hold you mama" once she woke up, I went in there and scooped her up and rocked her so that she could get some rest.

It took me right back to a year ago. More than that, even. 

She wasn't a good sleeper in the beginning. Seemed to boycott it daily. We eventually figured out that she cried each night because her tummy hurt :( I still have quite a bit of mommy guilt about that. But even after cutting out dairy to remedy the gas, that didn't really fix the 30 minute/5 times per day catnap "schedule" we were on. It was exhausting. Physically and mentally. And time after time, I would go in there when she had awakened to hold and rock her in the dark, trying to extend that nap just a little bit. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't.

Yesterday, it did. And I just breathed her in. 

She's still so tiny, that girl of mine. Her little body scrunches and molds to fit in my arms, just like it has this whole time. Her head still nestles into the right side of my neck. Always the right side. She still gets a little sweaty from our body heat, but wants a blanket to cover her, just like her mama. When she stirs, she often mumbles something in her sleep. Usually it's about her Daddy, and always, it makes my heart ache.

There is arguably nothing sweeter than holding a sleeping babe.

 

I don't want to forget these sweet, stolen moments and I definitely don't want to waste them. Now that she's older and typically a champion sleeper, I battle with whether or not to hold and rock her for very long before bedtime. My mind says no, keep it short... we don't want her to start to rely on us more to go to sleep and start the middle of the night wakings again. But sometimes my heart and my arms just long to hold her a while longer. To squeeze her to my chest and kiss her soft, chubby cheeks and face over and over and over. And to whisper in the dark how she'll never know just how much I love her.

 

May 2012

 

Project 52:34 {precision}

thankful for...

precision

Well, she's definitely right handed. And this girl is precise about the way she holds her crayons.  No rough fist grabs for this little lady. I swear I only placed the crayon in her hand correctly 2 or 3 times, and that was all it took.

She's also very precise in other areas. Like "tying' her shoes, the way she plays legos and the thoughtful scoops of dirt she dumps out in strategic areas of the garage. She knows exactly what she's doing. And I could definitely take a cue from her precision.. slow down a bit and focus on what I'm doing, to do it correctly, rather than rush through, just to cross it off my list.

* * * * *

Read more about my Project 52.

Linking my Project 52 with:

styleberry BLOG

 What We're Sayin'

Oh The Places We'll Go 

Englexas 

Wicked Kate

this & that

Just a few randoms today... We had a great weekend. On Saturday, we celebrated baby Emmy and it was such an adorable shower! Afterward, a few friends and I went to this big consignment sale and proceeded to shop ourselves cross-eyed. I get pre-sale tickets to these things from work, otherwise I wouldn't bother. Yes, there are some good deals to be found, but it's ca-razeeee in there. I was thinking, though, how much fun the day was. It's really not often that I get to spend time with my girlfriends (without kiddos) for any length of time, doing things we enjoy. Sad, really. And, I think, just the time of life right now, with young families. But I do miss it, and want to make a point to do it more often.

  I can hardly handle the boot adorable-ness.

This girl continues to rock my socks off with her cuteness and spunk. She had a cold all last week, on top of cutting her 4 incisors. Not fun. But she's been a trooper and I've been trying to soak in all the extra cuddles and middle of the night rocking sessions. I've also been attempting to catch some of her antics on video lately, and will hopefully share those soon. The way she sings her ABC's cracks me up.

I started reading Sense and Sensibility last night. It's been, like, 20 years since I've read it. I thought I needed a little prose in my life. :) Definitely not a book you can read with the tv on in the background. I'm going to have to use my whole brain to catch all the nuance!

Yesterday morning I was laying in bed, waking up and starting to read my Bible, when I heard what I was certain was a gunshot. In my room. Seriously. I popped up and looked around but didn't see anything funny. No smoke or holes in the wall (!). I checked the drawer where we keep our gun, and it hadn't gone off. It was SO bizarre. I honestly have no other ideas what it could have been.

I'm watching Parks & Recreation episodes while I type today.. it makes me super excited for the new season coming up. It's so funny. Any shows you're looking forward to watching this year?