Adeline is 18 Months Old

Oh my!  This little sweet pea is 18 months old.  She is SO DANG CUTE and we're loving this stage she's in.  We seriously cannot go ANYWHERE without people commenting on how adorable she is.  Between her beautiful looks and her sunshine-of-a-personality, she's pretty irresistible.  Just sayin'!

Here's what the darling Adeline Joy is up to now.

• She's finally starting to say words.  She can say hop, hot (she is VERY good at this one), help (hep), dog (gog), hotdog (gog-gog), beep, brrrmm, mom, dad, ba-ba (for bottle), bye, ba-bye, up, shhhhh (for when she's sneaking up on someone), and she also says shhhh for when tries to mimic the sleeping sound that has a snort followed by the shhhh sound.  She's doing her best to mimic us when we say, "Addie, say _____."  It's coming, it's coming.
• Along with words she loves to do animal sounds.  She does dog (both the sound and panting like a dog), cat, elephant, tiger/bear/lion, cow, horse, owl.  It's hard to make out what animal sound she's making, but when we ask her to make the sound . . . she makes a sound.  Dog is, by far, our favorite because we get the panting and it's sooooo cute/fun.
• Even though she is not speaking, she understands almost everything we say or ask her to do.  The other day I was talking to Beau and in conversation I mentioned sunscreen.  Adeline was just playing around us, but as soon as she heard me talk about sunscreen she when right to the swim bag, pulled out some sunscreen, and brought it to me.  
• She is TOTALLY climbing.  She'll climb on anything that can be climbed.  Her favorite climb right now is to climb on the bar stools and then up on the counter.  Oh, she's a stinker!
• She loves to empty out bags and containers.  Often times when I'm doing my makeup I will give her a bag full of stuff to explore and empty onto the bathroom floor.  It keeps her busy for several minutes.
• She can officially go to the nursery at church.  She DID NOT like being left in there without her mom or dad.  So, mom stayed with her for one hour and then dad stayed with her for the second hour.  She had tons of fun playing with the toys and the kids . . . so long as mom or dad was in eyesight.
• She's loving babies right now.  She loves to hold and play with baby dolls.  She also loves to admire and stare at real babies.  She gets very excited when a baby is brought into a room.
• She's a dancer.  She's always been a dancer, but the better she is able to get around, the more moves she drums up.  This girl starts bouncing whenever music starts . . . on a TV commercial, a ringtone on a phone, radio, etc.
• She just cut three of her four eye teeth.  This girl pretty much has all her teeth but the one eye tooth.  
• She is a pretty good eater.  However, she still eats what she wants to eat and spits out what she doesn't.  Her favorite foods are anything protein and dessert.  She'll eat meat like it's going out of style.  She doesn't care much for carbs like bread and stuff (although she does love potatoes).  And then, she loves anything for dessert.  That being said, she is not a fan of yogurt-like or whipping cream-like textures.  She'll eat yogurt if I freeze it (so I freeze go-gurts and she'll eat those like a champ).
• I started pulling her away from her binkie.  With her speech starting to come, I really don't want the binkie to hinder her ability to speak correctly.  Plus, we don't want to mess up her pretty teeth.  So, she gets her binkie when she's sleeping and that's it. Baby steps, right?
• She loves to read books now.  We can get through an entire book and even go back for another or two.  Hooray!
• She's getting fast on her feet.  This girl can run and it's super cute!
• She's starting her little independent phase and wanting to do things by herself.  She wants to hold her drinks by herself, feed herself with her spoon/fork, etc.  She usually does relatively well with all of this, but we have to watch her close otherwise we end up with big, fat messes.
• She had an ear infection a month ago.
• She's moved to just taking one nap each day on most days.  Every so many days, she still needs two, but she can usually get away with one long afternoon nap.
• She loves swimming.  I suppose this is not a huge surprise since she loves her baths.  If I ask her if she wants to go "swim-swim" she gets very excited and runs to grab her swimsuit.  
• She loves to hug my legs.  She'll hug Beau's legs too when he's around.  I love it.  I could be doing the dishes and she'll just run up and hug my legs.
• She loves to copy her big sister.  If Evie is doing something, Addie must be doing it too.  This is true for most things.  If Evie is drinking juice, Addie want her juice in a similar cup.  If Evie is twirling around, Addie will twirl around.  If Evie sits in my lap, Addie wants to sit in my lap.  You get the idea.
• She tries to hop.  She'll make a jumping motion and say, "hop" while she does it.  Her feet don't quite leave the floor, but she's getting closer.  
• She loves to accessorize.  She's always trying to grab bows and headbands and then wants to place them in her hair.  When she can't quite figure that out, she hands them to me to put in her hair.  

Evie at 4 Years Old

Our Evie Doll is growing up and we want to remember what she's like at this very stage.  She has more personality than most people can imagine.  She's full of love, full of energy, has a stubborn streak, wants to play all of the time, and keeps us on our toes.  We embrace every aspect of her.

I found a little Birthday Interview questionnaire and decided it would be fun to get Evie's answers.

Birthday Interview - Evie at 4 Years Old
Mom's clarifications are in parentheses.

1. Who is your favorite person in the whole world?  Addie Bug.  (Love the relationship these two girls have!)
2. What is your favorite color?  Pink, purple, and yellow and sparkles.
3. What's your favorite television show?  Arthur.  Zootopia. (She really does love any show on PBS kids.  Her favorite changes from day-to-day or week-to-week.  Today Arthur wins.  And, since Zootopia just came out on DVD…..that wins in the movie department.)
4. What is your favorite outfit?  Parrot Pajamas.  (She loves to get her PJ's on at night.  She also loves to "match" her clothes now.  She'll put a blue shirt on with blue shorts or a striped shirt with striped pants.  Those combos are a "bit much" but she's working on the matching concept so I let her wear such outfits when she chooses them . . . most days.)
5. What sport do you like best?  Basketball.  (She loves to snuggle with Beau and watch sports.  They watched a lot of the NBA finals together.)
6. What song do you love?  "Shut Up & Dance With Me."  (She can about sing the whole song word-for-word.  She mostly loves up-beat pop hits.  She also loves children's songs too.)
7. What is your favorite cereal?  The square one.  (Life.  She's not a huge cereal fan though.)
8. Who is your best friend?  Mom  (This melts my heart.  One day we were driving in the car and she asked, "Mom, are you my best friend?"  Of course I am, sweet thing!  I always will be.  So many friends will come and go, but I will consistently and forever be your biggest fan and bestest friend.)
9. What do you want to be when you grow up?  A Mom.  (I've asked her this question at random times and this is always the answer.  Love!)
10. What is your favorite book?  Petunia  (Thanks Grandma Polly!  We read it ALL of the time.  That being said, she has always loved reading and her favorite book also changes from day-to-day or week-to-week.  We read a lot.)
11. What are you really good at?  Being careful, being nice, not pooing or peeing in my pants.  (This made me laugh right out loud.  I suppose this gives you insight into what we continue to remind her on a daily basis.  She's not careful, she's crazy!  Thus, we're always reminding her to be careful.  And, she still has random potty accidents, so again, we continually remind her to get to the toilet before it ends up in her pants.  Oh, she's a funny one.  And, she truly is a nice and sweet girl a large majority of the time.  We just try to gently correct her behavior if it isn't quite up to par.  She's also VERY athletic, runs fast, has amazing upper body strength, talks incredibly well for her age, is starting to read, she is great with animals, she plays well with others.)
12. Where do you wish you could go on vacation?  To a hotel.   (Seriously!  What kid really cares about the destination so long as there is a hotel involved?  Ha!  She loves hotels.  Jumping on the bed, watching Disney Jr, and swimming in the pool are definitely highlights when staying over.)
13. What would you buy if you had $1000? Chicks, bunnies, and fishes to eat.  (Huh….no surprise that chicks made the list.  I'm guessing bunnies is coming from her new love of "Zootopia."  And, she just went fishing and learned the difference of getting fish for pets versus getting fish to eat.  Ha, ha!)
14. What vegetable do you love the most?  Broccoli and carrots.  (She is a great vegetable eater.  She prefers her veggies raw and will eat most of them.  She also loves cucumbers and bell peppers.)
15. If you could have a wish, what would it be?  To fly and I wish to be a cheetah.  (She does love to chase birds and she constantly tells me that she wishes she could fly like them.  She wishes she could be a Cheetah so she can run fast . . . .like Cheetah power.)
16. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?  The ice cream where you put candies on it.  (She's talking about going to a frozen yogurt place where we put the ice-cream in the cup and then she can put whatever toppings, in her case it's candy/cookies, on top.)
17. Who is your biggest hero?  Dad  (Shouldn't every little girl's dad be her hero???)
18. What do you like to do best with your friends?  Play at the park.  (For sure!  One of her most favorite things to do.)
19. What do you hope you'll get to do before your next birthday?  Skate.  (She keeps telling me she wants to try skating.  Oh dear!)
20. What is your best memory?  I don't know.  (She doesn't really know how to come up with a best memory.)

Other things that Evie is up to at this age.

• Loves playing with friends.  She is always asking if a friend can come over or if she can go over to one of her friend's houses.
• She always wants to be doing something.  Every day she asks, "Mom, where are we going today?"  And, it's not too uncommon for her to ask me at night when I lay her down to bed, "Mom, where are we going tomorrow?"  That girl's always wanting to have a plan.  
• She loves to pretend.  We are constantly pretending as we play.  "Mom, pretend that we are at the swimming pool."  "Pretend that you own a pet shot and I bring my sick animals to you." "Pretend that you are the kid and I am the mom."  You get the idea.
• She is still very athletic.  She's been in gymnastics and athletically, blows most of the kids out-of-the-water.  She also has been doing swim lessons and has more endurance that most of us dream of and can actually swim.  She loves climbing . . . especially in trees.  And, she is constantly running all over the place during the day.  When the doctor gave did her 4-year-old wellness exam he turned to me and said, "she's going to be an athlete, isn't she?"  She's built so tough and muscular.  
• She is getting much better at riding horses.  She's advancing to a full-size horse that she can almost ride all by herself.  She sits in the saddle and rides while Beau helps lead the horse.  However, the goal is to have her riding all by herself with the reins by the end of the summer.  
• She has LOVED hatching baby chicks the last few months.  She absolutely adores the baby chicks and would sit and hold them all the day long if she could.  They just might be her favorite animal.
• She loves fry sauce.  She'll dip anything in that stuff.  She would eat it plain if I would let her.
• She loves to "sneak into mom and dad's bed" in the middle of the night.  A lot of times when we put her to bed she'll say, "I'm going to come sneak into your bed during the night."  When she gets up to go potty, she'll do just that.  I know some parents absolutely do not allow this.  But, we do.  Time goes by so fast and this won't last forever.  So, we're taking these snuggles and cuddles while she is freely giving them to us.  
• She loves to say "last night" when she refers to anything in the past.  "Mom, I got an owie last night."  "Dad, It was my Birthday last night."  These things could have happened last month, but she still says, "last night."
• She is the 2nd mom around our house. She's always watching Adeline, telling her what she can and can't do, and making up all the rules.  This is very helpful at times and not so helpful at others. This trait just comes from being the oldest girl in a family.  Right?  (I suppose I know a little about that.  Ha!)
• She is starting to read. She can sound out words and usually gets the phonics right (man, watching her sound out words reminds me how hard our language is and how many exceptions to letters/sounds we have!).  She's not quite sure how to smoosh it all together once she has sounded it out, but that'll come soon enough.
• She loves to chase birds and butterflies.  She has high hopes that she's actually going to catch them and is slightly disappointed every time when they fly away from her, but she still loves the thrill of the chase.
• She loves to sing and to lip sync.  Her mind is incredible in that it memorizes stuff SO fast.  She picks up on songs almost instantly.  She'll lip sync and dance for us and we LOVE it.
• She always wants my hair to be down.  She's slightly obsessed with this.  She will sometimes have a small meltdown if I refuse to wear my hair down (you know . . . those days when you just don't have time to wash it and you have to pull your dirty hair up into a messy bun or a ponytail?).  She's even been known to be concerned about my hairstyle during potty breaks at 4am.  Oh, she's funny!
• She loves to have her hair down and lately she wants it straightened with the "hot thing."  She's learned that straight hair = less snarls.  So, we see her hair straight more often than naturally curly these days.

This girl is growing up fast.  Way too fast! Oh, how I love her so.  

Father's Day 2016

Beau's Father's Day was busy.  We had a farewell to attend for a great friend down in Ephraim, UT that day.  So, that took most of our day . . . . which he loved.  He loves being in Ephraim and we absolutely love any chance we get to spend with the Howe family.  I'm kind of mad I didn't get a photo.

We did stop to visit Beau's step dad and my dad on the way home.  Both visits were great.  We're so grateful for what our dad's, and now the girls' grandpas, do for us.

By this time, it was late and the girls fell asleep on the way home.  So, Beau got to open his gifts the following morning.  The girls LOVED being his helpers.

He got new clothes, a new lunch box, and more tools.

I just can't help but say how awesome of a dad Beau is to our two girls!  He seriously loves these girls with all that he has.  Evie and Adeline have brought more purpose to his life and he can't wait to get home to them at the end of every work day (they can't wait either…….you should see the smiles and the cheers of excitement when he walks through the door).  He loves spending time with them (dancing, reading, riding horses, swimming, etc.), he loves helping to care for them, and he adores them to pieces.  He is adamant about teaching them valuable skills, keeping them safe, and showing them how to play and work.

These girls are SUPER blessed to have such a wonderful father and I know Beau would say he is MORE blessed to have such special girls.

Spring Family Campout

We had a chance to go camping with a few other families in our neighborhood.  And, it just happened to be the warmest weekend of the year yet.  It was awesome!

We started with a campfire right from the get-go.  We roasted some hotdogs for the girls and Beau and I threw in some tinfoil dinners for ourselves.

We then set up our camp.  The girls LOVED the tent.  It was a like a little bounce house for them.  They could have played in that thing for hours and hours!

We had a lot of fun with the other families there.  The girls loved playing with the other kids.  

Plus, we brought a couple of our horses and we got LOTS of riding in.  This was the first time that Evie rode all by herself following Beau on her own horse.  This made my heart so happy for both Evie and Beau.  I think they are going to be riding buddies forever on.  And, talking about riding buddies . . . Adeline LOVES being around and on the horses.  They make her so happy.  She pulls and whines to be put up on a horse.  She loves to pet them and always giggles when she's around them.  So, I'm pretty sure we've got a couple of riding buddies on our hands.  :)

Camping is a LOT of work with little people.  But, for us, it's worth it.  We love making these precious memories and it's fun to watch the girls be so happy and free as they play around to their hearts' content.  

Evie's Magical 4th Birthday

Evie has been excited for her birthday for WEEKS.  This is the most excited she's been for her birthday yet!  Weeks before her birthday we discussed what she wanted to do for the big day.  She definitely wanted a friend party and when we talked through different ideas, a Unicorn party was the clear winner.

We started out her birthday right from the minute she awoke.  I had decorated the house the night before so she woke up to a fully decorated house and she walked all around saying with big eyes, "Oh my gosh!" about 10 different times.  Then, for breakfast she was given donuts that I had picked up on my way home from my morning workout.  She was more than thrilled.  

Beau stuck around throughout the morning to start off the celebration.  He ate donuts with us and then we let Evie open her gifts from us and Adeline.  She got lots of summer clothes, shoes, balloons, and a play chicken coupe with toy chickens.  Beau and I had one more BIG gift for her, but we decided to save it for her party.

  

I then asked Evie what she wanted to do during the day before her party.  What else?  Go to the park!  So, she chose the location of the park and we picked up some corn dogs and fries/tots on our way.  We had a picnic in the park and Evie, Addie and I played our little hearts out.  

After the park we headed home to put all the finishing details together for her fun party.

When the friends started arriving Evie was so elated!  She was so happy that all her friends came to HER house for Her birthday.  Here are all her unicorn friends.  :)

This was a girls-only party.  Evie said that boys don't go to unicorn parties.

We started the party out with opening gifts (Evie's wish).  Her friends brought her lots of fun stuff.  Beau and I gave her the BIG present we had saved for her and it was her very own saddle.  She couldn't believe it!

After gifts we had a dance party.  Evie loves to dance, sing, and lip sync so this was perfect.  She chose the songs and the girls danced away.  This was all followed by cake and ice cream.  Evie and I spotted a rainbow cake on the internet while we were looking for ideas for her party and we both loved it.  I recreated it and all the girls thought it was HUGE and AMAZING!

This was all followed by the anticipated activity of the party.  Unicorn Rides!!  Here is our magical unicorn.

Don't think for one second that she isn't real.  If you try to convince any of the girls that were at Evie's party that it was a "dressed up horse" well, good luck!  They all knew she was legit and the real deal.  They loved their rides and we loved giving them.  It was sooooo much fun!

Once the friends had all gone home we spent some extra time with Evie's grandparents.  They had all come to witness the unicorn magic and then they stayed around to give her gifts and extra love.  She received toy hamsters, cowboy boots, and talking toy parrots.  All of which was on her birthday wish list.  She also ate up their company like she always does!  

We then took Evie to dinner to her choice of restaurant.  She chose a Hawaiian place and we all loved it and loved spending that time with her.  

Afterwards we came home to play with all the birthday gifts.

Evie heard from various additional family members throughout the day . . . by phone and by special visits.  My heart is so touched by the amount of love that continues to be showered upon my sweet Evie Doll.  She is loved and adored by so many and the good news is . . . she TOTALLY knows it.  She feels of your love (because if you are reading this blog, chances are you are in the circle that truly loves her) and it means SO VERY MUCH to her and to me and Beau.  My heart is so warmed by the thoughtfulness that surrounds my children and our family.

This pretty much sums up Evie's big day.  She had a total blast!  And, now she is 4!!!  

A Perfect Birthday

My birthday just rolled around and I gotta say . . . it was the nicest birthday I've had in years.  I didn't end up doing anything crazy or outlandish.  The day just went so smoothly, the weather was WAY better than expected, my girls were even more angelic than usual, and so much love was sent to me by so many of my most favorite people.

My sweet mother and father-in-law took me to lunch a few days before my birthday.  That was so nice of them and we had a great time together.

When the day of my birthday rolled around I was pretty excited.  Not because I LOVE my birthday, but because Evie had been anticipating it for DAYS and was so, so excited.  She definitely brought an element of magic back to my special day and it made it that much more fun.

Because she was so excited and loves donuts, we just had to have them for breakfast.  That is DEFINITELY a special occasion at our house.

Beau then had to scoot off to work (boo!), but the girls and I had more plans.  We met my parents up at Sundance for lunch.  Oh, it was so pretty, the food was so yummy, the girls were so well-behaved during lunch, we had no potty accidents, and my parents were a delight to be with.

We then headed home for naps and awaited Beau's arrival.  He made it home for dinner.  I didn't want to worry about cooking or doing dishes, so we decided to go get take-out and head to a local park.  With the weather being so nice, we had to take total advantage of it.  It was SO fun.  We ate and then played.

After we had lots of play time and dusk was upon us, we loaded back up in the car and headed to a fabulous cupcake shop for dessert.  It was SO yummy!

When we got home, I was given my stack of gifts.  I was given balloons, flowers, and a new Kindle Paperwhite (and all the gear to go with it).

I was definitely spoiled in all sorts of ways.  My favorite thing is to be able to spend quality time with my family and that is what made this birthday so awesome!  Here's to another great and exciting year!

Adeline is 15 Months Old

Well folks!  She keeps on a-growing!  It seems all-too-fast, but what can I do about it?  She's SO much fun right now.  She has the warmest heart, the sweetest cuddles, and the biggest melt-your-heart smile imaginable.  Yeah.  She has us ALL by our little fingers.

Here's what she's up to now.

• She's walking well now days.  She finally prefers walking over crawling (yay!) and it's so fun to watch.  She still has that little waddle/toddle walk that's so adorable with babies.  
• She still loves to be chased.  It's fun to go after her and watch her try to "run" while she is giggling the entire time.  It's infectious.
• She loves purses.  She'll find them, put them around her neck or over her arm, and walk around the house.  
• She also loves shoes.  She loves to bring them to me to put on her feet.  
• Along with shoes, her next favorite item to wear is a jacket.  She'll also bring me her jackets and ask me to put them on her.  I'm guessing that she also knows that jackets mean we go "bye-bye" and that may be part of the "love" of the jacket too.  
• She loves anything with a lid that she can remove or pop open (toothpaste, lotion, hair gel, hand sanitizer, etc.).  She thinks it is fun to pop those lids open, but then she also thinks it fun to try and suck out the contents.  That is NOT fun for mom/dad and at that point she usually has to relinquish the item in hand and she proceeds to get a little mad.
• And, speaking about the little mad part  . . . . She is starting to get REALLY frustrated when she doesn't get what she wants.  If we take something away or won't let her have something she wants, she'll scream quite loudly.  Sometimes she'll even break down into an awful cry and melt into the floor while doing it.  Silly little tantrums.  :)  The great thing about babies at this age is that they get over it SUPER quickly and move onto something else in no time.
• She is a hit-and-miss eater.  Some meals she is a champ and eats SO well.  Others, she barely picks at her food and then just wants her bottle.  She still loves her bottles and drinks a ton of milk.  Another funny thing with Addie is that she'll just spit her food out when she's done with it.  This happens when she doesn't like the food, or when she's chewed the good parts and doesn't want the "bad" parts (like when she chews cherry tomatoes . . . she'll eat it all, but spit out the skins), or if you happen to put something in front of her that she wants to try right away . . . she'll just spit out whatever she's eating to make room for the new option (heaven forbid she just finishes and swallows what's already in her mouth).  This gets tricky if we let her "snack" while not in her highchair because she'll seriously just spit stuff out wherever she is.  It makes for some crazy messes sometimes.    
• She still hates to be tied down or locked into anything.  (This is part of the eating problem some days.  She just doesn't want to be stuck in the highchair.)
• She is still a little cuddle bug.  She'll just walk over to me or Beau, hold out her hands for us to pick her up, and then she'll just sit in our laps.  We both will NEVER get enough of that.  I hope she wants to sit on our laps forever . . . even when she's all grown up.
• She also loves to hug and cuddle with Evie.  She'll just go up to Evie and wrap her arms around Evie or snuggle up right next to her.  It's so darn cute!  Sweet sister love!
• She LOVES to wave and say hi or bye to people.  She also knows the social queues for when someone is leaving.  If any of us put on shoes and a jacket, she'll start waving and saying "bye" before we can even think about getting out the door.  It makes us smile.
• She loves to go down slides!  She'll kind of play on other playground equipment, but the slide is, by far, her favorite.

• She's still not talking in words.  She'll attempt to say "hi" or "bye" as she waves and she'll say mama or dada occasionally, but usually she'll just babble, grunt, and/or point when she's trying to tell us something.  Heck, it works and we can usually decipher what she wants.  The words will come soon, I'm sure.  That all being said, she understands the English language very well.  I can say, "Addie, go over there and get your bottle and bring it to me."  She will look over at the bottle, walk to it, and bring it right over to me. 
• She recognizes prayers/praying.  She doesn't have the arm folding down, but she'll clasp her hands together.  When we say, "Amen" she smiles bigger-than-life.  And, before meals, she'll sometimes put her hands together to remind us that we need to pray.  
• She tries to comb/brush her own hair.  And, speaking of hair, it seems to be growing in fast and thick.  It's beautiful!
• She did have a cold that lasted nearly three weeks this past month.  I'm happy to report that she is healthy and well at the moment.  Hooray for healthy children!
• When you ask her what a dog says she'll stick out her tongue and pant.  :)
• She loves driving our Cozy Coupe car.  We say, "Brrrmmm, Brrrmmm, Beep, Beep" and she smiles or giggles all-the-while.
• She is starting to feed herself with a fork and spoon.  She is quite good with a fork if she's picking up easy stuff to stab (like hotdogs).  For other things, we'll load her fork or spoon for her and then hand her the utensil.  She'll gladly take it and feed herself with it.  She loves doing this.
• She still takes two naps a day (most days).  This girlie loves to get her sleep.  :) 

Needless to say, she's coming right along and is such a joy.  I still kiss all the day long and can't get enough of her sweet cuddles.