Wee haw

Some of Evie's words:

In place of "yee haw" she says, "wee haw"

Instead of "yogurt" she says, "yo-yo"

She says, "nilk" for "milk"

Evie loves band-aids. She calls them, "man-ays"

She loves "steekers" and begs for a pack of them each time we make a Target run. She puts her stickers on everything and we call it sticker art.

After a messy pizza lunch, Evie says, "was a han" for "wash your hands". I love that one!

"Yesh" is yes in Evie's world.

"Mine" is perfectly clear and sad to say that she says it more than "share". Hopefully, that will change soon... maybe!

I do not want to correct her words until she starts kindergarten. They are just so cute! Grady corrected Gavie Ann's "Fursday" to "Th-ursday" on Christmas Day. Courtney was upset when he taught her the correct way to say it! She was trying to get Gavs to say "fursday" and she wouldn't!

I think I will feel the same if anyone, but me, tries to teach Evie the correct way to enunciate her words!

Artichokes, where are you?

This afternoon I took Evie to run errands with me and left Eden home with Ms. Brittany. Evie and stopped by the grocery to pick up a few items for tomorrows Christmas party at Court's. It's rare to have just Evie with me on errands. I usually am alone or if I'm brave enough, I take them both.
We made a stop at a store I do not often frequent, so I was out of sorts as to which aisles contained what. I said to myself, "I wonder where the artichokes are?" and then Evie shouted as loud as she could, "artichokes, where are you?" It was so cute and made me laugh our entire grocery run!
We got home and were putting Eden in the bath. I asked Evie to try and potty because lately she's been tinting the bath water with her pee pee. She didn't go the first time she sat on the potty. I asked her to sit again and bribed with an M&M. she did it! She emptied a very full bladder right into her froggy potty! Brittany ran downstairs and got the bag of M&MS and we fed the girls while in the tub! It was one small pee for Evie, but one giant sense of accomplishment for me!

Caring for Eden

Evie is beginning to look out for Eden. After the girls ate their lunch meat and cheddar bunnies, I offered Evie homemade banana bread and she said, "Wow! Eden nana bread, Mama." She wanted to make sure Eden partook in the goods. After I had served her the last of the banana bread, she walked over to me and told me, "More nana bread store, mama!"

Evie makes sure that Eden drinks her bottle. If Eden drops it, Evie picks it up and chases Eden down, sticking it back into her mouth. It's so funny to watch. Eden stops what she is doing and lets Evie feed her.


We have one more hour at the house before we go to Courtney's house to play and hang out with a good friend. Courtney and I began sewing her playroom draperies last night. We got all four panels cut, prepped and ready for the big sew. That is what we plan to do this afternoon while hanging with our college friend and refereeing all 6 kiddos. Should be fun!

Court is trying to get her new house decorated before Wednesday. After celebrating Christmas at my grandparent's house for 32 Christmas', we have now decided to move it to Courtney's house. Courtney's home is large and has the largest toy collection. It will keep all 9 children under 6 years of age occupied for the longest amount of time while us adults work puzzles, play games, and catch up on long overdue family time. I'm going to miss my grandparent's home where many memories were made at Christmas. From Christmas plays put together by the cousins, to broken bones, and the laundry room being where all the goodies are kept for after lunch, Spring Valley Road, you will be missed!

Baby steps and conversations

Evie is engaging in conversations. At night, she recalls each part of her day. Last night she told me about the day. First she said, "Ride bus, church mama!" I said, "Yes, Evs. We rode the bus to church. She said, "Mama, music!" I proceeded, "Yes, Evie. You sat with Mommy and Daddy in the Christmas program and listened to 'Happy Birthday Jesus'!" Evie then said, "Fun. Bebe, Poppy's, fun!" I said, "Yes, fun at Bebe and Poppy's and a good nap there too!" She follows with, "More snow, Mama!" And I finished it with, "Yes, little Evie! There was lots of snow today!" Lastly she says, "Jesus Loves Me Dis I Know, Twinkle Twinkle, ABCDEFG.... sing Mama, sing!"

Baby steps are Eden's sole focus! She is determined. She now takes her baby steps running. She isn't playing anymore, she is ready to go! She also tries pulling up onto the couch or ottoman with me and Evie. I place her on one of them with us and then she immediately kicks her little legs around and practices getting down by herself. As soon as she successfully reaches the floor with her toes, she gives me the biggest grin! Love!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EVELYN ASHLEY

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY EVELYN ASHLEY

Friday and Saturday we celebrated Evie's 2nd birthday. She was 2 on December 10th. It felt like my birthday waking up to see her excited about her birthday. And I guess in a way it is my birth-day. I did give birth on that day!

So, Grady and I woke Evie up singing "Happy Birthday". She was singing it with us. We took her downstairs to eat her birthday cake for breakfast that I made the night before in a ramekin. She blew out the candles before we could begin singing "Happy Birthday" again. I wrapped her little chair that goes with her table and she opened that. She was so excited to sit in her chair and eat her cake. It was magical.

Daddy rented Toy Story 2 for Evie to watch on her birthday morning. So, me, Eden, and Evie watched Toy Story 2 while we finished breakfast and got ready for the next birthday celebration. We met my dad, Courtney, Stockton, and Renley at Cracker Barrel for a birthday brunch. Evie had so much fun with her cousins. She loves being with them and often starts talking about them saying, "Mama, Stockton fun. Channing fun. Gavie Ann fun." She lets me know that she has "fun" with them.

Evie and Eden had "birthday naps" and then woke up to Grandma coming over to bring Evie her birthday gift. Gigi also came by to see the birthday girl. Evie was super excited about her new Elmo book that Grandma brought her. It's such a gift to be on this side of life enjoying the good gifts that I see my daughter receive. It's a small glimpse of how the Lord must feel when we receive the gifts that He gives to me.

After Daddy got home, we went to our favorite hamburger dive "Rotier's" downtown. We ate so much and Evie loved every bit of it. Finally, we ended our very fun day with a trip to the Opryland Hotel to see lights and Christmas decor. Evie and Eden enjoyed it. Evie was amazed by everything she saw. She pays attention to details and to people. I can already see a love for others and wanting to reach out to others. If we are at a restaurant or out in public places, she immediately starts waving and saying hi and telling strangers about her sister or what we are doing. My mom tells me that Evie reminds her of my sister (who never has met a stranger in her life). I love that about my sweet Evie. She is outgoing and full of life. I am so thankful for the wonderful 2 years that we have had with her. Our prayer is that the Lord would give her a heart for Himself, a long life filled with her affections being placed in Himself.

 Evie and her Cousins Stockton and Gavie Ann. Gavie Ann and Evie are identical cousins! "They laugh alike, talk alike, you would lose your mind, cause these cousins are two of a kind" Hehehe!

Below is the party I made for Evie. It did not fit very well so she only wore it for a few minutes.

Here is Evie's cake. It is a Dora the Explorer cake gone really really bad. I made a chocolate organic cake twice. The first one fell apart coming out of the mold. The second one was great, but I messed up the food color and was too stressed to get it done. So, as you can see, the Dora the Explorer cake turned out to be a really interesting pastel with the writing done with black icing. It was a sad cake day. I was disappointed with how the cake looked. It did taste delicious! 

 Three of Evie's cousins: Renley, Wade, and Wes

Three more cousins: Adelynne (whom we cannot see because she has her backed turned towards us), Aubrynne (holding onto Adelynne), and Gavie Ann (right)

Aunt Chandra holding Eden in this picture. Eden looks a lot like her auntie!

 Evie with three more of her cousins: Zoe, Jackson, and Madelyn (from L to R)

 Evie with her Poppy, Zoe, and Madelyn

 Evie opening her Dora microphone

Evie opening up her ballerina skirt

Saturday was her birthday party. We had 32 family members over for pizza, cake, and ice cream. There would have been 40 family members if a few more had been able to come to the party. It was a lot of fun! Evie ate pizza, she was able to play with her 13 cousins. She has 14. Cohen was not here to play. And she excitedly blew out her candles 3 times as we sang happy birthday again! It was a wonderful party and I felt so blessed by it. I know that Evie's cup was filled with love from her family.

Big Girl, Eden!

Eden is changing everyday! She is saying, "Nana" (banana), "Da-da", Mama, and my favorite, "Wow!". A few days ago, I put Eden on my hip, and stepped outside to light the grill. As soon as it lit up, Eden said, "Wow!". She is so loud, animated, and wriggly. Sitting still has never been a characteristic of hers. Today she is 11 months and is trying with great efforts to take more than two steps at a time!
 Evie is beginning to talk in complete sentences and sing her A,B,C's! As we do our bedtime routine, Evie asks for the following songs to be sung, "Twinkle, Twinkle", "A,B,C's", and "Jesus Wuvs Me Dis I Know (with an inflection on "dis I know") I love it when she requests the last song because of the inflection she puts on the last three words. It's like she knows that she knows that Jesus loves her!

This week has been filled with fun already. A little Bunco last night, working on my drapes for my dining room tonight (hopefully, I will be able to hang them after I finishing sewing them this evening), playdates scheduled for the week, shopping with my family on Friday night, and then Evie's second birthday party on Saturday! What a fun week planned! So thankful for all that is happening this week.