Tiny Dancer {Eight Months}

Our girl is 8 months!

Whew! This has been a BIG month in Evie-town.

She started crawling on July 3, just past her 7 month birthday, and never looked back. So dad and I have had to be on our toes. This girl is into everything! She's so curious and so, SO busy. :) Once she gets playing she will hardly sit still! Nursing has become a full-contact sport, as she jumps and looks around at any little sound and just doesn't want to miss a single thing.

We've added lots of yummy fruits and veggies to her diet. Her favorites are bananas and avocados. Take note- this is exactly like mom!

Green beans didn't go over quite as well and she was on the fence on blueberries. She kept opening her mouth for a bite, but then would make a sourpuss face and even gagged a time or two. It was pretty funny.

Our girl has been growing and growing, but she's still a petite little lady. Everyone who sees and holds her comments on how little she is. It amazes me to see her crawling around and doing all these big girl things in such a tiny package. But I'm glad she's still teeny!

Last week Evie and I took a little road trip up to see my family. That was our first trip just the two of us, and she did great! I am so proud of her! She was a champ in the car and hardly fussed at all. That was a big relief, since I know she can get antsy after a while. Especially now that she wants to crawl everywhere.

It was such a nice visit. And she did great with seeing so many people and being passed around. She is just such a sweet and happy baby. It makes me so happy. I love seeing how much joy she brings to all her grandparents and family. 

While we were there, my mom saw that Evie was starting to want to pull up on a chair. Yeesh. So she helped her do it and stand up. And now? Well today I went in to get her up from a nap and she was STANDING in her crib! So I blame Grandy! I just can't believe how fast kids learn! She's a smart little cookie. 

Oh! And about two weeks ago her first teeth broke through! No chance for pictures, but her bottom two are peeking out! I thought I would know when they were coming, because I expected some crankiness, but I didn't have a clue! In hindsight, she was drooling pretty heavily the few days right before. So big!

** About this time in the photo shoot, she was over the chair and wanted down on the floor to explore :)

My little ham:

One last sweet thing. I have always showered my girl with kisses, especially when she's laying on the changing table or on the floor. I'll tell her I want a kiss and then kiss all over her sweet little cheeks and face. Well recently we noticed that she would lean toward you sometimes with her mouth open! She did this to my parent's dog while we were visiting and it was hilarious! Now I know for sure what she's doing and it makes my heart so happy. Ask her for a kiss and (usually!) she'll lean right toward your face so you can kiss her on the mouth. My sweet, sweet little girl.

I love you so much Evie!! 

Nana & Papa Great

Evie and I made a little trip home the past few days.. My grandparents were driving through town on their way back to Louisiana from Minnesota (yikes!) and we wanted to see them! It was the first time they got to meet Evie and was such a sweet time. They were smitten.

Here are some pics from our visit:

Four Generations!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

The 100 Workout

So I saw this little workout plan on Pinterest yesterday:

The 100 Workout

100 Jumping Jacks

90 Crunches

80 Squats

70 Leg Lifts

60 Jumping Jacks

50 Crunches

40 Squats

30 Leg Lifts

20 Jumping Jacks

Run for 10 Minutes

I pinned it at first, but then when I clicked through to the source, it was some awful blog about eating disorders. And not how to overcome one. Not cool. So I unpinned it, but printed out the plan first because I thought it was something I could actually do.

And Lord knows I need to workout.

People. It's seriously been months since I've done any real exercise. That includes going for a walk around the neighborhood because we are currently in the middle of Heat Wave Twenty Eleven, not to be confused with our previous fun weather experience this year, Blizzard Twenty Eleven. What is UP this year, Al Gore???

Anyway. I did it! And I'm still alive to tell about it.

Follow along, won't you? A little play-by-play for your Hump Day. No need to worry- I thought pictures of me doing this might cross the line a bit and guarantee you would never be back. You're welcome.

100 Jumping Jacks. Ok, ok. I can do this. Not a problem. Right around jack 60 I decided it might be a good idea to throw on a sports bra. Duh. Also during this little break I noticed that my shorts were on backwards, so all around off to a winning start. 

90 Crunches. Ahhhh, laying down! Good call, since I may or may not be hyperventilating after jumping around the living room. As a rule, I hate crunches, but these didn't bother me at all.

80 Squats. Easy peasy. All thanks to my semi-daily teeth brushing squat regimen. I'm rocking this workout. 

70 Leg Lifts. Back to the floor! I now have an audience in Evie and Duke and you would think it was opening night on Broadway the way they're tracking my leg flying through the air.

60 Jumping Jacks. Not too bad.. starting to feel a slight clenching in my hiney on the right side..

50 Crunches. Evie's losing interest in the freak show and staring off into space and let's be honest- I'm doing more resting than crunching. Break to put her down for a nap.

40 Squats. al.most.done.

30 Leg Lifts. A little slower but still going.

20 Jumping Jacks. My jacks have definitely lost their pep. My body is basically out of my control as my arms fly around haphazardly. You can do it. You can do it.

Run for 10 minutes. Yeah, not happening. 
  A. It's one billion degrees outside
  2. I don't have a treadmill and running in place lost it's shine for me around age 7.
  And d. I figure I got all the cardio I need today with those jumping jacks.

So instead I did 10 push-ups. On my knees. No need to get crazy. I realized this plan left my arms completely out of the mix. Whoever came up with the workout must be a mom with a 35lb baby carrier and therefore, arms of steel. Like moi.

So! To say I'm proud of myself for working out is putting it mildly. A reward in the form of something sweet is likely in the cards for me. I like to reward good behavior. For myself. Reward myself.
Don't you??

So what are you doing to keep active this blasted hot summer? Anyone into yoga? I still want to try it consistently sometime. I figure those hot yogis are making a killing with all they're saving on their heating bill right now. Just send the poor people outside and call it a day! 

A Midday Bath

Get a load of my cute kid.

Seven months in and this was our first "big" blowout.

We survived, but a few toys and a large floor pillow might never be the same..

Some Finished Projects

Time for a little housekeeping, aka Operation Project Dump.

I've been up to all sorts of little projects and wanted to share a few with you here!

First up, this $8 mirror that I scored at a church rummage sale a few weeks ago. I actually kind of liked the gold metallic finish, but it just doesn't go with anything in my house. 

Gratuitous leg shot is a gift from me to you. Enjoy.

After a little faux silver leafing, black stain and some distressing, she fits in much better with our decor.

Not that you can really tell by these stellar pictures. Mirrors are hard to photograph!

Some of the gold peeks through because of the distressing I did, but I like it!

Next up is this little tray I made over. I found it in Hobby Lobby's clearance section (along with a bunch of other great stuff!) and knew I could make it over to sell in our booth.

After some white paint, a few painted stripes and distressing, I like this baby MUCH better!

I don't have a Before picture of my last project.. but they were another Hobby Lobby clearance score. Originally these hooks had a fleur d'lis painted on the front. I just painted right over it and then attached these metal numbers. 

The numbers stand for the ages my husband I are if you calculated it by how much water we drink daily, our sun exposure and how much sleep we get each day. 

Can you guess which one of us is 41???

Total BS up there on the numbers. Just some random numbers I picked. 

Wink Wink.

So what projects have you been doing? Do share!


Linking up:

4th of July Festivities

Don't let my post title mislead you.. there won't be a bunch of festive-ness displayed here. Sorry bout that. But I thought I'd share a little of our Independence Day Weekend with you- the good, the bad, and the shocking.

Swimming. We did a lot of it. Pool time was on the agenda this weekend and we definitely crossed it off our list. Though you wouldn't necessarily know it by my tan, since Evie's swimming sessions have a shelf life that (mysteriously) corresponds with her nap time. As in, mommy only gets to stay poolside for a little while until a certain someone has had enough and wants to go inside to play/eat/sleep. But that's okay. It's fun while it lasts and I can't really argue with this cuteness.

Moblie. Someone up and decided to CRAWL on Sunday night! What a way to celebrate your Independence, ay? Mom is sooo in for it.

See ya, suckers.

Crafting and Shocking. I'm happy to say I got a ton of stuff done for our booth this weekend! We named our booth Lilac Row, by the way. In case you were wondering. Anyway, I had some spray painting to do, and since it's 113* around here, I have to do it very early or very late in the day. So Saturday or Sunday night (can't remember which day, so take your pick) I'm minding my own business, watching a horrible movie on On Demand, eating oreos, painting inside and spray painting outside. (I like to multi-task). I step out the back door to sand down a little tray I've painted and decide to turn on the porch light this time. When I'm done, I turn around to come back inside and see a DEAD ANIMAL lying next to the step. I almost jumped out of my skin and I'm quite sure I woke up the neighbors.

Reasons this is alarming (other than the obvious):

1. I am barefoot. I seriously could have STEPPED on the thing and would have literally been scarred for life. 
2. This was like my third trip out in the dark and I didn't bother to turn on the light previously. So that creepy thing was just hanging out there a foot and a half away from me. In the dark. While I'm barefoot. Gag.
3. My dog's blue racquet ball is sitting right next to the animal. Basically his calling card. Awesome.

At this point I determined that it was probably a baby rabbit that Duke had nabbed and I'm firing off an excited text message to hubby that he has a fun little surprise in store for him. I couldn't care less that he killed a rabbit (They're rodents, people. And they're rampant around our neighborhood and eat my plants.) but I could do without him bringing it to the back door for us. Also? He tries to lick my baby with that mouth. Gag again.

Name Stealers. I was getting lost in the blogging black hole last night when I came across something upsetting. Long story short- some lady in Oregon is pregnant with her third daughter and will be naming her Evangeline Rae!!! HHHMMMPHH. I couldn't believe my eyes and was NOT happy. I may or may not have stomped through the house to show hubby the upsetting evidence. That led to a downward spiral of googling my baby girl's name and it turns out it's not as original as I thought! There's some artist and a model (blah!) and some people on random baby name boards talking about the name. What the heck! It's not exactly common, especially first and middle names together. Or so I thought. Sigh. My only consolation here is that there is some other Aja Lea running around with my name out there, too. I randomly came across her blog when I first started blogging and it rocked.my.world. Since she's my same age, I can only assume that her family lived across the street from us when I was born, as one of our neighbors pestered my mom to tell her what she was naming me while she was pregnant. And when my mom finally gave in, the lady up and named her kid THE EXACT SAME THING when she delivered a few weeks before my mom. The nerve. This is why I keep baby names a secret! Take note, preggos!
So anyway, like mother, like daughter, I guess. {Trying to find the silver lining..}

So how was your 4th? Find any dead animals in the backyard?? Do tell!

Tasty Toes

I posted this on Facebook the other day but had to share here on the ol blog cause it's just too cute!

Mom shops and I snack