Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Happy 1st Birthday Emma!! A letter to you.

Oh. My. Gosh. That was insanely fast year. I don't know if it was because of our busy schedules or what, but I feel like it just zoomed right past me. 

If you'd like to read in detail what happened exactly one year ago today, here's the blog post for that: Emma's Birth Story Post

Or you can just look at a few highlights below:
Meeting Tiny Two for the first time, still in the operating room
Daddy gets a chance to meet her as well
A few hours old, all swaddled up tight, saying hi to the world
Itty bitty feet and 10 tiny toes
Mommy's first chance to bond with baby without the rest of the world
Sisters meeting!! One of my favorite moments of all time
 Fast forward (almost) an entire year:
Okay, this *particular* photo was a few days before
 But then TODAY, Emma's 1st birthday:

Morning little one! happy birthday!! 



We actually got up to a lot of fun today, but I'm going to post about those in a separate post. For now I just want to think about my baby and reflect on the past year. 

Dearest Emma,

A year ago I had no idea what to expect. Would you be tiny or big? Would you be inquisitive or relaxed? Demanding or flexible? Would I be able to love two children equally and whole-heartedly? Would I know what to do with sibling rivalry? Would I have a clue at all about what to do with two children under 2 years old?

And, of course, reality was NOTHING like I expected it to be. I can truthfully say that this year has been one of the hardest years of my life, but also one of the most fun. There is NOTHING in this world that I enjoy more than seeing you and your big sister love on one another. If my faith has ever struggled, seeing the bond between you two girls has reassured me that the love God has for me is even MORE, and that's unbelievable. You two adore each other, and I pray so fervently that it always remains so. 

You started out such a serious little thing. It was so hard to make you smile and laugh, even though you were happy. I have no idea what prompted the change, but you have blossomed. You love people, you love the world and you want to see it ALL, and explore it ALL. You love your family and your friends, and you even like strangers. It's a common sight to see you and Clara sitting in the double stroller both waving and saying "hi" to everyone you see. 

You crawled later than average, but picked up the most adorable scoot I've ever seen. I will miss it when you begin to walk, the process of which has begun already. You're taking one and two, and occasionally even three steps these days unassisted, and walking all over the house with the assistance of furniture, two fingers of a trusted adult, or with the aid of a push walker. I even caught you using Maverick once, although he's not terribly reliable so be careful with that :) Now you're even climbing all over! And you LOVE to slide!! (Although your attention span with swinging is pretty short). 

You are a chatter box, although most of the babble I can't understand. You clearly say "hi," "byebye," "mama," "dada," "cheese" (as in taking a picture), "aboo" (thank you), "wah" (water) and "t'at," (that), and there are a few other words that are emerging. You don't make any animal sounds yet, but think that mommy and Clara roaring and barking and baa'ing is pretty fabulous. Your favorite song is "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and you do all of the motions with it. Music soothes you. 

You can't stand to watch someone else eat and not have some of it, so you eat pretty much all of the time :) Your favorite foods are chicken pot pie, soups, peas, pouches of all kinds, applesauce, queso, pretzels, gold fish, oyster crackers, and cheerios. You're willing to try just about everything, although we still have to be cautious because you're allergic to sweet potatoes, carrots, and beets. 

Daddy says that he loves how happy and smiley you are, and that he's really excited to see what all you do during year two. He also wants to reassure you that socks and shoes aren't really as bad as you think they are. (Momma would add that diaper and clothes changes aren't all that bad either!)

We love you so much. We are proud of you. We believe you are a beautiful person, inside and out. 

Be strong. Be brave. Be loved.

Love always,
Mommy 

Museum & Scootering

I wrote this post the other day, but then realized that something must've happened with the internet connection because although it saved, it never published. 

Clara is such a cute little kid! 
All shy and sweet, "Mama, we go to firetruck?"
You wouldn't believe the deep conversations that happen between these two while Clara is waiting patiently to go peepee in the potty.
If only I understood more of what they said! "poopoo" regularly features in these chats, though, that much I've got
We decided that since Clara took a good nap we could go to the "Fire Truck" (also known as The Woodland's Children's Museum to those that are not 2 years old). Luckily for us the Bunnis family decided to make an appearance as well!

up the stairs and down the slide, over and over and over








All of us worked up an appetite, so we went next door for some "chicken and rice" as Clara calls Mexican food.  I specifically took this photo because of the way Clara is wearing her napkin :)

cutie patootie
Emma has been cracking me up lately. She found a Maverick toy that she adores and plays with regularly.

We've had such gorgeous weather the past few days!

Walking her puppy
Riding around
Clara's getting really good with her scooter! She also loves that it comes with a snazzy helmet accessory. I hope she always think of helmets as cool hats and not a hassle :)
Rough'n'tumble Ballerina
Check out these moves!!



I'm so proud of her!

Scooter Potty Break: 
Apparently Clara has watched Daddy in the bathroom one too many times.... oh dear :)
Blackmail potential :) hehehe
The aforementioned potty break situation led to a (predictable) outfit change before scootering around some more :)
Don't forget your church purse!
Safety first when taking coloring breaks
Being a goober :)

Taking another break on the door step. Playing is a lot of work!
Emma has started a new skill too. If you ask her "where is your pretty hat?" she will usually put whatever she holding on her head. I keep trying to catch it on video but haven't been able to (yet)!

Saturday, March 28, 2015

Emmy's Birthday Party Prep (Milk & Cookies Theme)

On Thursday both Mom and I had quite a bit of free time. We decided to get some of the stuff I wanted to do for Emma's party done. 

First was a stop at Joanne's to get some burlap, ribbon, and "cookie"ish fabric :)

When Lulu & I got distracted by the cookie decorating aisle, Emma started taking off with the shopping cart. It's like looking at Clara! Unreal.

Video once I finally got my camera out to video:

And again:

Once we finished up there, we went by Party City, and had maybe a little too much fun trying on hats :)


Being adorable and getting ready for a birthday is terribly exhausting.

Finished with our shopping, Lulu collected Clara from school and we got started on some of the crafting.



Can you guess which letters are Emma's toe prints and which are Clara's finger "prints"? :)
 Then the girls went outside with Lulu while I worked on the banners. I love the way this turned out!
"O" = cookie, for the milk and cookies theme
Please ignore the mess on the couch and floor and focus on "Emma Lou" banner, haha
 I decided to see what I thought of them being all pink with toe prints instead of Clara's finger printing. I like it. Haven't decided if I'm going to leave the M's as is or fix them up. We'll see :)

It's so close!!!

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Little of this, little of that the past few days



Just a recap of the last 3 or so days in pictures & videos:

Addicted to slides in a big way
Slide video:

Just a normal minute in the Evans' household:

Me: It's night night time, little dude.
C: Oh. Welll, maybe 2 mo' minutes, Mommy? I need to write a yesson pwan"
Writing her "lesson plan" :)
I cut up 31 cantaloupe the other day for church. This is me post cantaloupe massacre. 
Feeling sticky! And yucky!

"Hiiiii"
I picked up Clara about 30 minutes early the other day from school and they were out at recess. I had the privilege of watching some 2-3yr old races, hehe
"on your mark, get set..... GO!"

Clara is wearing the blue jean skirt and orange top
Clara likes to go against the tide.... in so many ways ;)
Video:

Another video:

new church shoes
stylin'
Deep sisterly conversations regarding the fireplace key hole happen right here

"But my piwow need me mo'"
Emma snuggles at school

Gymnastics class from yesterday:






Helping Mommy grocery shop

coloring and practicing our "C"s and "a"s
I made up a song to help Clara spell her name and now she's got it! I'll get a video of her singing it too.

We've been doing lots of playing outside and enjoying this fantastic weather
kick kick kick kick kick
chatting with the neighbors

Happy Thursday!

PS Going on 5 days potty accident free! whoop!