First Day of Preschool

So this happened yesterday. I still can't really believe it, but as expected, my girl did great. No tears, no fuss, no real apprehension. Just pure excitement. She marched her little self right in there and hardly looked back.

Cue mama's tears.

Really though, I knew she would do great. Evie is so independent and social and loves basically all school has to offer her. :) I'm so so glad. I hope she always loves learning and reading and is excited to go to school. I am very pleased with and thankful for the program she's in and know she'll grow so much this year. But it's always hard to hand over your child to someone else's care. I was very ready to pick her up and hear all about her day!

My baby girl is growing up... I keep telling her not too, but she doesn't seem to be listening!

Tiny Dancer {2 Years}

Guess who's TWO!!????

I seriously cannot believe my teeny tiny girl is 2 today! Happy birthday little love!

Evie, you are a force to reckoned with. Each day your sweet little personality shines through more and more, through your actions and your words. Oh, the words! I knew the endless question portion of toddlerhood would come at some point, I just didn't realize it might be so soon! I love your endless curiosity and the hilarious and sweet way you state the obvious about, well, everything!

 JUMP!

You are always on the go. Your teeny little body running through the house, diaper swishing, is one of my favorite sounds. I love the way you act so dramatic when you hear a strange noise or car drive by or  dog bark outside. "Betteh watch out! Bettah watch out!" you shout. Hilarious. And dramatic. I predict life with you will never be boring.

Your love affair with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse continues.. I don't see that ending any time soon! And lately we've let you watch a few other shows as well. I believe I have the Super Readers to thank for you spelling out the first half of the word 'computer' last week! You never fail to amaze your daddy and I. I love seeing your little mind work. Sometimes you get in such a hurry to get out what you're trying to say, that it sounds like loud gibberish. Then you try it again, a little slower, and keep trying until you get the whole sentence right. It makes me so proud of you. You know just what you're trying to tell us and even know some of the correct tenses and possessions and keep working at the correct words until you get it. My smart girl.

Lately, you really like to make us laugh and crack up at yourself. You start laughing and then carry it on and on. I could listen to your deep belly laugh all day. And you know when you're being funny and say "halareeus". :)

You are such a delight to me, Evie. I cannot imagine life without you and I am so beyond thankful for the joy you bring to us each day. Holding you, rocking you, smothering you with kisses and just getting to love on you each and every day. Mothering you is such an honor and I hope you know how much it means to me. 

I love you to the moon and back!

  Happy happy birthday Evie girl!!! 

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!

Project 52:28 & 29 {change & growth}

thankful for...
change

My paintbrush has seen lots of action in the past two weeks. Our bedroom is done (pics to come- I pinky swear!) and then I started in on the office. This is the only room in our house that I've not painted in the less than 4 years we've lived here. Half of the rooms have seen more than one color under my watch.

I crave change, evolution and fresh looks in my home. Frankly, my home will never be "done"... I will never stop decorating it and redecorating it. So bring on the paint.

* * * * *

thankful for...
growth

This one. Oh my word, how she has grown in the past few weeks. Her feet seem bigger, her jammies are snug and I swear her hair is an inch longer. And her little mind. It blows me away. This past week, she has started spitting out all of the little phrases we say around here and stringing together words into sentences(!), using different tenses (as in, adding -ing to words, appropriately) and saying I and me, rather than just Evie. Yesterday, out of the blue, she started saying "Oh, myyyyy goodness. Oh, myyyy goodness!"

After my initial delight at hearing her little voice say something new, I just want to cry and stuff my teeny tiny baby back into a swaddle and carry her around all day. Stop growing, my girl.

* * * * *

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 {18 Months}

Evie Girl is a year and a half old!

Oh, this girl. She is a handful. :)

 We are so blessed. Evie is so full of joy and curiosity. And she is just so smart. (At least in my opinion.) It really blows me away sometimes.. it's very humbling and it's brought me to tears on more than one occasion. Precious girl.

Here's what you've been up to lately:

 

Smarty Pants. On Mother's Day, you decided to give me a sweet little present of your own- spelling your own name! We were pretty shocked, frankly. You spelled E-V-I-E all on your own on the way home from church. I was glad someone else was there to hear it! You've done it a few times since then, but typically you'll just do a few of the letters together at a time. It cracks me up when you do, because you use the exact same intonation that I do, drawing out the Eeeeeeee, veeeeee, eyeeeeee, E! It's pretty cute.

You've also been working on your numbers and counted up to 16 this weekend! We weren't really sure how you got that far (we typically stop at 10), but realized that Grandmommy counts as you climb the stairs at her house. You've been paying attention!

Swings. Hands down, your current favorite past time. We went ahead and bought you a swing to hang on our back deck/overhang and you LOVE it. Multiple times a day, you'll go to the back door and say "wing, wing, wing!" over and over. 

Strawberries. Your favorite fruit of the month. And the way you say it just kills me: Stah-beh-sees. :)

 

Shh shh shhhhh. You still love your babies and stuffed animals. Your favorites lately are Cleo the Cat, Roxy Rabbit and Baby Lisa. You do more loving on them lately and less throwing. Thank goodness! You will hold them up on your shoulder, pat their back and shhh shhh shhh as you rock back and forth. Makes me want to cry. You are a sweet little mama and love on your babies just like I held and loved on you when you were so teeny tiny.

Shows. Well, it's happened. As much as I fought it and held off, you have started watching some tv. But just a little! You somehow discovered Mickey Mouse and would go around talking about "mouse" all the time. It took us a while to figure out what you meant. So now you ask to watch Mickey Mouse Club all the livelong day. It is pretty cute how excited you get when he comes on, though. You've also watched Olivia, and like her, too.

Sweetie Pie. Since we went to KC a few weekends ago, you have been a bit more clingy. Nothing bad, but I've noticed you want to be held more and call out our names when you notice we're not in the same room. You have such a loving nature and I'm so happy you like to give out hugs and kisses and cuddles. Sometimes when we're in the car, you'll say "touch" and reach back your hand. You want me to reach back and hold your hand or stroke your face. :) Sweet girl.

 Potty Training. No, it hasn't happened quite yet, but we've been making some slight moves in that direction. You have been telling us more and more when you need a new diaper, but it's usually after the fact. I don't think it will be long! Mainly, I just need to bite the bullet and do it. :)

And finally, we've been working on being obedient and listening to mama and daddy. Like all kids, you have your moments of wanting to do or touch something that you're not supposed to.. or my all time favorite- throwing food on the floor. But we're working on it and I know you understand what we're asking you to do (or not do). It's hard not to laugh when I've told you not to do something and you walk away, shaking your head, saying "no, no, no, no no". Or you say "yissen, mama. Yissen, dada" which means Listen to your mama. :)

My sweet, precious Evangeline. Happy 18 months! 

I can't believe you are already so big. Your daddy and I decided we want you to stay little, so please stop growing right away. Listen to your mama! :)