Evie Turns 3

Our darling Evie doll is officially three-years-old.  Wow!  Where does the time go?  She is seriously a ball of fun and a ray of light in our family.  She says the cutest things and wants to play all day long!  She is busy, inquisitive, athletic, kind, and full of life.

We celebrated her birthday with a quiet, little family birthday party this year.  I took her to pick out her birthday cake in the morning, which she was ecstatic to do.  She chose the one with carrots on it.  I tried to persuade her to pick something else that I thought she might like to eat better, but she was insistent on getting the cake with carrots on it.  (And, for the record, she loved eating this cake.  She's a girl after my own heart.)  I then took her to get a picnic lunch that we could eat at the park since the park is one of her most favorite places to play.

We had all sorts of fun playing at the park.  We climbed, went down the slides, and did plenty of rolling down the hill.

Here she is rolling down the hill.  She LOVES it!

Later that night we took her to dinner at one of her most favorite places.  She chose the place and her grandmas and grandpas joined us.  Evie was thrilled.

Have you ever met a three-year-old who had a
Thai restaurant as her favorite restaurant?

We then hurried home to open all of her gifts.  She was completely spoiled.  So many people love this girl!

She got a big barn, animals to go in the barn, a new umbrella, a fishing pole,  clothes, a doctor kit, money for her education fund, a new pair of cowgirl boots, a Squirrel game, puzzles, play dough, markers, and kinetic sand.

She loved it when we sang, "Happy Birthday" to her.  And, she loved blowing out her candles.

We love having this beautiful girl in our family.

We spent the rest of the evening playing with all her new toys.  She was in heaven.

She loved playing with her new fishing pole with her dad.

We let her stay up way too late, but isn't that okay when it's her birthday?

Her new barn and animals.  She is loving this new toy!

I must share what Evie is up to now.  It is totally impossible to share EVERYTHING that a busy, busy three-year-old girl does and likes, but these are the things that come quickest to my mind.

• She loves shave ice.  If she could, she would get one EVERY day.  Her favorite flavor is "Blue Hawaii" and she calls it her "blue ice cream."  
• Among shave ice, her current favorite foods include rice with Masaman Curry (found at the Thai place), hot dogs and corn dogs, corn chips and salsa/dip,  popsicles, applesauce, broccoli, carrots, tomatoes, and cucumbers.
• She knows all her shapes and recognizes them wherever we go . . . especially in road signs.  She'll constantly point out the red octagons (stop signs) and yellow triangles.
• She is extremely curious and inquisitive.  She wants to know why things are the way they are and what things and people are doing.  She is so bright and soaks it all in.
• She recently potty trained and did a great job learning.  She caught on very quickly.  
• She constantly gives us hugs and while hugging us she'll say, "I love you, mom/dad."  Yes, it's a heart melter every time!
• She is very flexible, active, and athletic.  She is a great climber, she loves to jump on trampolines, and she can run forever!  She loves to "exercise" with me.  If I am running on the treadmill, she'll want to take "her turn" as soon as I'm done.  She loves to play with basketballs and footballs.  She also loves to watch basketball and football with her dad.  She constantly asks her daddy if he'll take her to a basketball game.  Now that the basketball season is over, Beau is telling her that he'll take her to a soccer game.  Fun!
• She continues to love animals, but right now kitty cats are her most favorite!  She LOVES our barn cats (Thelma and Louise).  She also loves to pretend to be a cat, and she constantly takes her stuffed animal cat with her places.

• She loves to take Codee for walks.  She will do just about anything to earn the chance to walk Codee around the block.  She loves that dog!
• She prefers her daddy to put her to bed.  After we say prayers and read scriptures, he'll stay and cuddle with her and sing songs with her.  It's so tender and cute.
• She constantly wants to go up to the mountain . . . she'll want to go to the mountain to climb, look for big bucks, build fires, sleep in tents, look for Christmas trees, and whatever else comes to her bright mind.
• She loves to dance and loves music.
• She is way into imaginative play.  We "play" every day doing something.  She directs the play (telling me what to do or who I am) and it's so fun to watch her mind work.
• She absolutely LOVES her little sister, Adeline.  She loves to hold her.  She "baby talks" to her, rubs her head, gives her kisses, helps to get her pacifiers, is always concerned if she's crying, and always wants her to come with us wherever we go.

• Her favorite movies right now include, "Rio" which she calls, "Blue Birds," "Curious George," "Annie" which she calls, "Sandy" for the dog, "Madegascar" which she calls, "Alex the Lion," "Beauty and the Beast," and "Lady and the Tramp" which she calls, "Mister and the Lady."
• She is kind.  She is always concerned for the sad or the hurt.  She also loves the "underdogs."
• She can count to 20 (sometimes missing a couple of the teen numbers).  She can also count backwards from 10.
• She still knows her alphabet.  She knows the letters, the songs, the sounds of each letter, etc.  One of her favorite apps she loves to play on the iPad is "Hooked On Phonics."  We are lucky that she is so interested in this aspect of learning.  

• She loves anything that allows her to be creative/artsy.  She loves play dough, painting, drawing, coloring, using markers, etc.
• She still loves to read books.  
• She is fascinated with bugs.  She loves to look for ants and ladybugs, but most other bugs "scare" her . . . although she wants to see them and is completely fascinated by them . . . so long as they don't move or fly.  If they do, she can lose it a little.
• She would probably love to play at the park above just about anything else. Although, she does love to go swimming and she loves to ride the train.
• The first 2 1/2 years of Evie's life we hardly ever took to her the doctor, except for wellness visits.  I think we took her to the doctor twice for minor ear infections.  However, the last half year has been a COMPLETELY other story.  She has been to the doctor for stitches under her eye (which we ended up gluing instead of stitching), for a sprained wrist, and for a kidney infection.  She also had the flu and RSV of which we didn't officially take her to the doctor because there was nothing they could do for her for either virus (but we did call the doctor/nurse to talk to them about her symptoms and how to treat them).  
• Because of her various doctor visits, she actually has grown quite fond of the doctor (I'm sure the fancy bandaids, suckers, and stickers helped).  She loves to play doctor too.
• She is so independent and wants to do anything and everything on her own. 
• She has really captured the spirit of holidays.  She gets sooo excited for a holiday, birthday, or other celebration.  It's so much fun!
• She loves the weather.  Every day we determine if it's a snowy, rainy, windy, or sunny day.  Along with that, she LOVES umbrellas.  

• She has fantastic speech.  She talks so well and has such a broad vocabulary for a three-year-old. She talks as well as most four-year-olds.  And trust me . . . she talks a lot and I LOVE it!
• Her hair!  It took a while to grow in, but now that it's really coming in, it is soooo beautiful.  We can't go anywhere and not have people comment on her darling curls.  
• She makes friends easily.  She is always sad if we go to the park and there aren't other kids.  When there are other kids, she loves to make friends with them and wants to play with them.

This girl seriously makes my heart swell with love.  She is my Evie Doll who will forever be my Evie Doll.  It's such a delight to watch her grow.  I am completely honored and blessed to be her mommy.

Mother's Day of Love

I love Mother's Day.  I know that this day can be hard for some for various reasons, but for me, it is a special day.  It always has been.  Even when I desperately wanted children and I wasn't getting pregnant, I still loved Mother's Day.  I loved celebrating my mom and Beau's mom.  They are key figures in our lives and I loved taking the time to honor them and spend time with them.  I still love this aspect of Mother's Day.  Oh, how I love my mommy.  She is largely the reason I have become what I have become.  She is one of my strongest anchors.  She is one that I know will be there for me NO MATTER WHAT.  It's funny how, as we age, we still want/need our moms.  I love this woman more than words can say.

I love Beau's mommy too. I'm so grateful for the son she raised and so many of his GREAT qualities were developed because of her loving mothering.

And now, I also love Mother's Day because I actually am a mom now.  We worked so very hard to become parents and we don't take this special opportunity for granted.  Being a mom is something worth celebrating.  It's, by far, the hardest job I've every taken on, yet the most rewarding.  I love my littles with all that I have.  They have made my heart grow a million times larger and they teach me SO much every single day.  I am BEYOND grateful for the opportunity to be their mommy.

We also LOVE to celebrate the birth mothers of our sweet babes.  These mothers hold such a high place in our hearts.  Without them, we wouldn't be parents.  They are definitely birth MOTHERS.  Even though they aren't raising these sweet little people, Mother is still attached to their title.  They love these sweet girls in a way that only mothers know.  They love these sweet girls so much that these moms broke their hearts to offer these girls a better life from the very start.  Great mothers sacrifice all that they can for their sweet children, and the birth mothers of our sweet girls definitely sacrificed A LOT when they placed them in our home and family.  We honor them. We respect them. We love them.

This is Adeline's Birth Mother.  She lives relatively close, so we were able to visit her on
Birth Mother's Day (which is the Saturday before Mother's Day).  We wished we could
 have visited Evie's Birth Mother too, but she lives in another state.

It was a special Mother's Day as we were able to see our beautiful moms.  Beau and the girls spoiled me with gifts and love.  I love all the moms in my life and I love being a mom to my beautiful girls.

The following are a few quotes that come from The Importance of Mothers in the LDS Church news.

The power and responsibility mothers wield in shaping humanity is awe-inspiring. Each one of us has been affected by mothers.

When a person spells mom upside down, it spells wow. Rudyard Kipling wrote, “God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers.”

The mothers in our lives do so much. Their divine sacrifices should be remembered and honored. Reuters news service reported in 2010 that a U.S.-based international calling firm called VIP Communications conducted a study about call volumes on holidays. The firm found that call volume on Mother’s Day is the highest. It’s interesting to note that one of the Savior’s last concerns at death was a plea to His disciple John to care for His mother: “When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home” (John 19:26–27).

President Thomas S. Monson expressed perfectly why disciples of Christ acknowledge the mothers in their lives when he said, “‘Mother,’ more than any other word, is held in universal esteem by all peoples everywhere. It brings forth from the soul the most tender of hidden emotions, prompts more good deeds, kindles memories’ fires as they burn low, and reminds all to strive to be better” (“Honor Thy Mother,” Mother’s Day pamphlet, 1981).

Addie at Four Months

Our sweet Adeline is officially four months old today.  I tell you . . . I thought the time flew by with Evie, but it is flying so much faster with Addie.  I'm sure it's because I am caring for two children now, but I sure wish time would SLOW down.  These little babes grow so fast that it seems like you blink (or literally go to sleep one night) and they are bigger and headed on to the next stage.

Addie is a dream.  She continues to have the sweetest temperament.  She is delightful and happy and brings so much joy into our home.  I just love to snuggle her whenever I can.

Here's what she's doing now:

• She is finally sleeping longer at night.  She'll give me anywhere between 5 and 9 hours at a time, although it's usually 6 or 7 (an occasional 5 or 9 sneak in there).  
• She's eating about 4 ounces at each feeding.  Very occasionally she'll eat a little less or a little more, but it's usually 4 ounces every time.  She also loves to hold my hand while she eats.
• Okay . . this girl totally rolled over (one way) for the first time two days ago.  That is not super usual for babies.  Usually they roll over some time after four months, but she beat the four month mark.  Once she took her first roll, she had it down.  She rolls ALL of the time when she's put down on her back.  The funny thing is, once she gets rolled over on her tummy she doesn't want to stay there for very long.  Silly girl!
• She definitely responds to her name now.
• She started to play with toys . . . you know, the ones that can dangle over the babies while they lay on the floor.  She has fun with them for about 5-10 minutes, and then she's done.  But, she does enjoy the play for a few minutes.  She'll grab the toys, talk to them, and she'll also try to grab them with her feet.  Being the social little baby that she is, she particularly loves the toys that have eyes (our little frog or butterfly are her favorites right now).  This being said, she would obviously still WAY rather play with us and talk with us.  She prefers one-on-one interaction above anything else.
• I constantly find her looking at both of her hands held above her face.  She loves to watch them move as she plays with her fingers.
• She's so wiggly.  She seems to be constantly on the go.  She even wiggles when we feed her . . . which is sometimes pretty difficult and looks like a circus.  
• She can easily scoot around by using her heals.  She'll turn in circles a lot.  She's never in the same spot when I get her out of bed because she'll scoot to the other side or something.
• She loves to watch the TV.  I joke around about how I have a TV Junkie at 3-4 months.  She's a riot.  She'll seriously turn her head to position herself so she can watch the TV.  It cracks us up.  Most babies could care less about the TV at this stage.
• She loves to laugh.  She'll often times give me a spontaneous laugh to let me know she just wants to giggle.  So, I'll tickle her or just simply laugh back and she'll start laughing and laughing.  I tell you . . . baby giggles are the BEST sound in the whole wide world!
• She is slobbery.  I don't know where all that saliva comes from, but she's got plenty of it.  If she's not sucking on a pacifier, then she'll often times suck on her hands and that saliva is everywhere.  
• She is very partial to her immediate family members.  She's getting picky about who she lets hold her.  She usually breaks out in tears and wants her mommy or daddy back.  And, she always wants to know where Evie is.  She watches that girl like a hawk.  She recognizes all three of our voices and will turn towards them if she hears them.
• She loves to play/sing "Pat-a-Cake."  She also loves the "Jump, Jump, Jump Jimmy Crow" song because it has actions and we use her name instead of Jimmy Crow.  Both of these songs usually spur on her giggles.  She also loves us to sing, "I love My Addie Baby, She Loves Me" as well as "Here We Are Together" as both of those songs have her name in it and she always smiles SO big when her name is mentioned.  
• She just started to razz (make a wet razzing sound).
• She can bear some weight on her legs when held upright.  In fact, she loves to stand on our laps because that brings her on a closer eye-to-eye level with us.

Her official Stats from her 4-month Wellness Check:

Weight:  14 lbs, 13.5 oz (62.92 %tile)

Length:  25 inches (71.47 %tile)

Head Circumference:  83.87 %tile

She is so healthy and happy.  She is sweet as can be and seriously adds a HUGE dose of her sweetness to our home and family.  We love her to pieces.  I mean. . . look at her!  How could we not be in love with this beauty!?

It's Another Birthday!

My birthday came around again and we had fun celebrating.  Before the date of my actual birthday both my parents and Beau's parents took me out to dinner (on separate nights, of course).

Goodwood with my parents.
(Addie was there . . . just out of the picture sitting in her car seat.)

Magelby's with Beau's parents.

I love the excuse to make dinner plans and I'm super grateful to both sets of parents for their love, for spoiling me with a paid dinner, and making the time for me.

The day of my actual birthday was spent with my little family.  Beau had to work during the day so I chose to take the girls to a picnic in the park.  I had a friend offer to watch my girls so I could go shopping or something, but my girls are my best friends and I wanted to be with them on my birthday.

Best picture I could grab with the self timer.  :)

After naps, Beau had made his way home from work (earlier than usual) and he brought a babysitter with him so he could take me out to dinner.  Super thoughtful, right!?  With kids there is usually a snag and this particular night there were two (one for each kid).  Addie would not stay with the sitter.  She cried and cried.  As soon as I would take her back, she was totally fine.  So, instead of torturing the sitter and Addie (and truthfully myself as I would have worried the whole time I was away) we let Addie come along.  The second snag was with Evie.  She hadn't been feeling very well (she had been fevering) and she didn't want mom and dad to leave either.  I gave her some medicine and food to see if that would temper her a little and it did.  Her fever came down a little and she was ready to play.

HORRIBLE quality (dang iPhone), but we had fun.

While we were away Evie was spoiled and our sitter bought her a "blue ice cream" as she likes to call it (really it's a shave ice).  She was thrilled!

When I got home we opened presents.  Beau was SUPER great with the gifts this go-around.  They were all things I wanted.

Evie REALLY wanted to get me birthday balloons.

I got the 48-cup muffin tin I wanted and a book on my list.

I also got a big flat screen TV.  We brought it in the house a couple days later.

So . . . I survived another year.  I was pounded with loving texts, cards, and messages during the day from people who love me and thought about me.  I am grateful for all of the people in my life and feel so blessed in so many ways.

April Snowman

Evie has never built a snowman.  Last year she was still just a little too small to make one and this year we really hadn't had any good snow . . . until today!  When the snow came down and it was wet, packable snow I knew today was the day Evie would build her first snowman.  She was SO excited to play in the snow.  We hurried to get our snow gear on and we headed outside (all while Addie was napping).

Here she goes!  I would start her snowball for her
and she would push until she couldn't push anymore.

This was the our finished product.  Our snowman got a hat,
a scarf, and its very own carrot nose.  Evie had to have her own carrot too.

Evie was so happy with her snowman.
She named him Olaf (big surprise!).

I gotta be honest . . . playing in the snow is not one of my favorite things.  However, it is A LOT more fun with little children . . . especially mine.  Evie is definitely worth "suiting up" for when it comes to snowy weather.  We had a blast together!

Beau Is a Winner

He totally is!  He was nominated for an alumni award at Snow College and, after they reviewed all the recipients, he was chosen as the winner for the Lorenzo Snow Young Alumnus award.  This award recognizes recent Snow College graduates who have gone on to demonstrate excellence in their personal and professional achievements.

Anyone who knows Beau well will attest to his determination to work hard, achieve great results, and inspire others along the way.  He TOTALLY deserves this award and so much more.  I'm kind of a proud wife.  :)

Easter Fun

We had a lot of fun with our Easter celebrations this year!  Evie was WAY into the Easter egg hunts and Addie added another element of sweetness to everything.

We started with a family Easter party on my side of the family.  Everyone was able to make it . . . even my sister's family from Idaho came.  We always do a huge Easter egg hunt, filled by a very yummy lunch.  Afterwards, the kids just play and play.  

Here are all the younger cousins right before the hunt.
(The older cousins are "too cool" to get in the photo these days.)

Evie found lots of eggs and loaded up on the candy that was scattered all over the yard.
We had a blast following her around the yard.  It was hard to keep up with her . . . she is so fast!

Here I am with my little Sweet Pea.  She is so darn cute!

We spent Easter morning just with our little family.  Evie made her way into our room where we all snuggled together on our bed for a while.  

We watched a video about Jesus because we want our girls to know that Easter is more than about eggs containing candy.  Evie is definitely at an age where she is starting to understand more and more and we want her to know Jesus and follow his example.  If you want to watch what we watched . . .   This is the video we watched.  It's only two minutes long.  Evie was actually VERY engaged and when it came to the part where Jesus wasn't in the tomb she asked, "Where did Jesus go?"  We continued to watch and when he showed up in white she said very excitedly, "There He is!"  I tell you . . . these little kids KNOW and they feel of the truth and the love that Jesus has to offer us!  

After that, we asked Evie if she wanted to see if the Easter bunny left her a surprise?  We told her that the Easter bunny brings surprises and he always includes one about Jesus since Easter is about Him.  She was excited to go see.  

She loved going through her basket.  She got an Easter book called "Easter Walk" where a couple of kids go on a treasure hunt with grandpa and find things that resemble the Easter story.  She also got a new Pez dispenser of a baby chick, a new train for her train set (Emily), a new dress, and the "Penguins of Madagascar" movie.  There were a couple of "healthy" treats in there too.

Addie clearly loves her basket too!  She got a little board book entitled, "My Heavenly Father Loves Me."  She also got a bunny rabbit Pez, a hide-n-seek book, a new dress, and baby lotion.  

The Easter bunny hid a few eggs for Evie to find too.

We then just hung out and read their new books and snuggled with our girls.  We're so incredibly grateful for them!

We had Easter dinner with Beau's family.  We enjoyed being with them.  Evie loves playing with HaLee . . . they are only 9 months different in age and they have so much fun together.  

Their aunt Amber surprised the girls with this motorized car!  They were truly surprised and VERY delighted!  I'm sure that car will get plenty of use!

The girls also got to go on a little Easter egg hunt in Nana and Papa's backyard.

We had so much fun with family this weekend!  We're so grateful for the reason behind Easter . . . that our Savior died for us, that he rose, and that he lives.  His atonement is real and allows us to live forever with our families.  

We hope you had a beautiful Easter weekend!  Happy Easter from all four of us in the Hunter clan!