Birthday Fun

Yep!  I had another birthday.  It was a good one this year!  It was fun to celebrate with loved ones and, to NO surprise, it was a blast having my little Evie with me this year.

Beau spoiled me by surprising me with an overnight trip.  He made all the arrangements and we got to go to the Blue Boar Inn in Midway.  It's quite the fancy, little place.  The package deal included the one-night stay, plus dinner and breakfast.

Here we are at dinner.  Everyone in the dining room LOVED Evie.
Our server couldn't believe how well-behaved she was for a baby.

I said it was a fancy place, and the dinner was WAY fancy too.
I had Filet Mignon that was topped with a crab cake (potatoes on the bottom).
Beau had some crazy Wild Game Cassoulet.  It had wild boar, pheasant, rabbit and
rattlesnake sausage.  No lie . . . it was absolutely delicious!

There is no doubt that Evie loved going on this over-nighter with mom and dad.  She LOVED playing on the giant, king-sized bed.  She crawled around on that thing and giggled until she had no more giggles left.  She was in heaven.  It made me remember what it was like when I went on vacation with my parents and I would jump on the beds (when they weren't looking, of course).  It was a blast.  Well, Evie had a blast too.  She was a beauty at breakfast too.  She loved sitting in the highchair, watching the server fill our water glasses (the clank of the ice is VERY awesome), and eating strawberries to her heart's content.

We rounded out the rest of our day by going to pick up my new bike and having dinner at Thanksgiving Point.  I loved having this quality time with Beau and Evie.

 My actual birthday was yesterday (Sunday).  We went to church (where Beau & I had the great opportunity to speak in Sacrament Mtg.) and I just couldn't resist putting Evie in a cupcake outfit.  

I L.O.V.E. this scruchy face she pulls sometimes.

After church we opened my gifts.  Beau and Evie gave me a pair of running shorts I've been hoping for, some flowers for my planting pots on my front porch/walkway, and a workout DVD.  I also got a new bedroom set.  I don't actually own it yet because Beau wants me to be the one to pick it out, but I'm going to start shopping ASAP.  

Later that afternoon we headed to my mom and dad's house where my mom served us a delicious meal.  The rest of the family showed up for dessert which was Strawberry Shortcake.  Yum.

I also got spoiled by Beau's mom and dad.  They took us out to dinner at Goodwood.  They also gave me a beautiful watch/bracelet.  

Evie tried her first lemon.  While she continued to pull a sour face, she kept going back for more and loved it.  We all couldn't stop laughing.  She was so darn cute.

My mom and dad also took us to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.  I totally forgot to get a picture of us there, but we had a great time and the food was wonderful.  I did however take a picture of the gifts they gave me.

They gave me the cute shirt I'm wearing along with matching earrings.
Mom also made me this darling quilt hanging that I wanted.

I have two important things to admit!  #1 - My birthday was wonderful.  I was spoiled and I thoroughly enjoyed the love that was sent my way.  #2 - I'm kind of glad it's over because I ate too many desserts and I got a little bit tired (I must really be getting old).  

Here's to one more GREAT year.  

Piggies and 4-Wheeler Rides

This isn't the first time Evie's been to the farm, but it was the first time we really got pictures with her there.

While daddy was feeding the horses, Evie and I looked at the piggies (we don't own the piggies, but the piggies are on our farm).  Evie is such a riot.  She was so interested in watching those piggies move all around, eat, and snort.  One of those pigs ended up sitting right down on its bum with it's two legs out in front of it and Evie let out a huge giggle.  She TOTALLY knows what's funny.

Here we are with the piggy wiggies!  Oink, Oink!

After we were done looking at the piggies, we went to check up on dad.  He was just finishing up with feeding the horses so we let Evie take a ride on the 4-wheeler.  She LOVED it.  She giggled and "babbled" practically the whole time.  Dad loved it too!

Fun on the farm!!

Evie - 11 Months

Oh. My. Word.  This girl is a ball of fun, full of giggles and we cannot believe she's almost one year old.  She is so busy and full of personality that we can't get enough of her.

What is Evie Doing now?

• She started eating baby yogurt and LOVES it.  She's also started to eat a little more table food.  The doctor said we don't need to worry about that until she's one, but she's practically begging for it so we think she's ready now.
• She's getting better with her balance.  She can now stand on her own momentarily.  She's not brave enough to take steps on her own, but she's getting a little braver and braver every day.
• She is great at giving High-Fives!
• She loves to take objects out of their place and then put them back.  For example, she'll constantly take things out of her little toy bucket and then put them back in.  She also loves pulling everything out of the diaper bag too.  Sometimes she'll put the stuff back and other times she'll just crawl away once she's got it completely empty.  Love it!
• She knows how to give kisses.  They're totally open-mouthed, but nevertheless, they are kisses.  We love them!
• She said her first word (other than momma or dada).  She can say, "Baby" and it's the cutest thing.  We think she's saying other words too, but it's hard to make them out through all the babble.  I'm just excited that she's picking up the language so well.
• She loves to be chased.  We'll say, "I'm gonna get you."  Then, we'll start chasing after her and she bolts into a fast crawl that is coupled with her infectious giggles.  So fun!
• She had her first ear infection.  It was relatively mild and in her right ear.  It caused some serious runny noses though and it scared me into thinking she could have RSV.  I was VERY grateful when I left the doctor's office with the ear infection diagnosis instead.  
• She knows where my nose is.  She can point to it when I ask her to show me where my nose is.  She also thinks it's such a funny game because a lot of times I'll wiggle my nose while I ask her and I must look pretty silly because she laughs and laughs.
• She loves pointing at objects, particularly in the books we read. 
• Her new favorite song is, "The Wheels On the Bus."
• Changing her diapers has turned more into a wrestling match.  She doesn't really love getting her diaper changed and would rather stand up and play on the changing table instead.  
• She loves to scrunch her nose as of late.   
• She loves to drop things.  It's fascinating for her to watch things fall to the ground so she'll drop things over and over and over again.
• She's finally found the buttons on the TV and knows how to push them in order to turn the TV on and off.  Oh, and she thinks she's SO funny when she does it!

We're having fun and enjoying this bright, little girl every single day.  

Good Habits Start Early At Our House

Can you ever start an exercise habit too early?  Go Evie, Go!  (Sorry about the video quality.  The lighting was horrible and I guess I didn't focus very well.)

Eggs on a Cold Day

The eggs have to be collected every day . . . even when it's cold outside.  Evie wanted to go out and get the eggs regardless, so daddy bundled her up and zipped her right inside of his coat.  These two are two peas in a pod!

Movin' Up to the Sippy

Our baby girl keeps growin' up on us!  We're teaching her how to drink from a cup.  She does well when there's just a tiny amount of water in the cup AND if we're holding the cup for her.  We allow her to try herself too and, as you can guess, that just ends up with a soaked shirt.  But, she's got to learn some how, right?!

For bigger gulps of water, we let her drink from the sippy cup.  She loves it and I'm happy to report that she likes drinking water.  I'm certainly not a juice mom (bad for teeth and most of it is too sugary), so I'm smiling from ear-to-ear with her love for water.

Easter Sunday 2013

Easter Sunday ended up being pretty low key.  We started out the day by checking to see if the Easter Bunny came.

Sure enough, there was a pretty little basket waiting for Evie.  We showed it to Evie and she went to town in discovering its contents.

She got a cute little Easter dress, a matching cardigan sweater, a darling bracelet, and treats (yogurt bites and baby yogurt . . . her favorites).  

We went to our church meetings, which is always a nice thing to do on Easter Sunday.  We're so grateful for what Jesus Christ did for all of us.  The glorious gift of the Atonement and the miracle of the Resurrection is hard to fully comprehend.  A tremendous amount of love fills my heart when I sit and ponder the actual events of Christ's life and then apply it to me personally.  If we allow Him, our lives can be made easier (or more bearable during difficult times).  

Beau and Evie took the time to go collect eggs from our chickens before we headed out to spend an Easter dinner with Beau's family (which was so nice!).  She gets soooo excited to carry the eggs herself.

We hope your Easter celebrations were as fun and meaningful as ours.