Merry Christmas!!

Such joyful children :).

David & Evie Marelle 2010

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Evie Marelle Turns ONE!!!

This year has flown by in so many ways.  However, there are days where I feel like I have always known our girl and can't believe she has only been with us for such a short time.  We are so blessed to have her.  She is the most joyful child and so much fun to be around.

 In case you have not heard, we have decided to make it official that our girl will go by her double name Evie Marelle.  Marelle was my maternal grandmother's name.  I was extremely close to her and have so many fond memories of our time together.  I was thrilled to be able to pass the name on to our daughter as her middle name.  At first, Husband was not on board with the double name and I gave up the name for simplicity sake.  I thought I would be able to let it go, but a year later I was still regretting not going for it.  Over time, Grant has grown accostumed to the name and very open to making the change.  We are thrilled about it and hope within 6 months people will feel comfortable with it as well.  David is doing great with it, much to our surprise!!

 Moving on....
We go for Evie Marelle's one year appointment next week, so I don't have any stats to document just yet.  However, her weight seems to have plateaued and if you look at clothing, I would say she is short for her age.  She is still able to wear 9 month footed pajamas, which surprises me because her brother was always out of his size a month early due to length issues.

This child is a mess.  I cannot believe I am getting to raise a girl with such an amazing personality.  It will definitely be a challenge for me to learn her ways, but there is no doubt she is going to be a blast.  The girl is wild, always moving, so very brave, spunky, sassy, extremely self-aware, and quite communicative considering she has no words besides--Mama, Dada, Hi, and Bye.  I am constantly amazed at how mature she is for her age.  I wasn't all that sad about her one year old birthday because I really feel like she has been behaving like a 15 month old for a few months now.  She is very opinionated and does not take 'no' for an answer without much protest.  I never had to use redirection with David, but it is a must to get us through our days with Evie Marelle.  Her spunk has made her relationship with Big Brother quite funny.  I never have to worry if she is being terrorized without my knowledge because she is sure to tell me from across the house.

EM loves loves loves baby dolls.  It is so cute!!  I so enjoy watching her rock her baby or pat it's bottom.  I actually had to BUY a 3 dollar doll for her from Target.  It was my own fault because I let her carry her around in the buggy to keep her content.  Well, at the register I handed it off with no intent to purchase and baby girl LOST IT.  I was that Mom, who let her infant child get her way through pitching a fit.  It is a funny story now and man, does she looovvve that baby doll.

No true steps taken yet, but she will speed walk if holding your fingers.  She isn't one for standing and still prefers to bear crawl.  It looks like she might be a climber because she loves to get up and down from the sofa after diving off head first.  EM also loves a ride toy.  She puts a death grip on the handle bars and begs to be pushed across the room.  She is still very social and loves some attention, but has become much more clingy on her Mommy and Daddy.  Speaking of Daddy, the girl is obsessed.  It is the most precious thing I have ever seen.  She lights up like I have never seen, arms erect above her ahead, moving, shaking, grunting, fussing until she is in her rightful place--her Daddy's arms.   I am thrilled!

Lastly--working on tooth four and it looks like five and six are not far behind.  The top teeth have been hard on little one, but she is doing great at night.  She still sleeps WONDERFULLY.  I rarely hear from her before 830 or 9 in the morning and she still likes a big big afternoon nap.  We are onto cow's milk and have just about dropped all her bottles--she still takes one in the morning and before bed, but she does great on the cup as well.

Cannot believe I have TWO toddlers.  Life is full.

Squishy, Smooshy, Smiley, Sassy

 This girl is ELEVEN months old and she brings so much joy to our lives.  Her little personality just about makes her jump out of her skin.  She is extremely aware of her surroundings and never misses a beat.  Sitting still is not her strong-suit because she prefers to be down on the floor exploring and working it out.  She rocks.  We love her.  Enough said.

All in all, she is a hugely easy child.  She still just sleeps and sleeps and sleeps.  Evie also is really great at playing alone for extended periods of time.  I usually let her loose in the playroom and she just tinkers around in there forever.  Though she is content, I would not call her mild or mellow.  She is for sure our spunky one and is definitely run by her feelings.  The girl can't talk, but she does a fine job commanding and ordering us all around.

 As of now, she is clapping, blowing kisses, feeding her babies, saying bye-bye, waving, signing milk and more, and responding to all types of commands.  I don't remember David comprehending so much at this age.  Maybe it's just a second child thing or maybe I just don't remember, ha!!  Ev loves a good beat and dances all the time to any kind of music.  My favorite is when she bounces and swings her one little arm back and forth ferociously.  She loves the Auburn fight song and breaks into clapping as soon as it starts.  The one thing that has shocked me most is her love for baby dolls.  I never imagined that Evie would be actually "caring" for her dolls at 10 months old.  She loves to pat their backs, kiss them, and feed them a bottle.  And boy does she loves to push that stroller around.  Girls are a whole new world!!

Fall Fun

We had a wonderful October.  Holidays with little ones are just dreamy.  I don't even like Halloween and I had so much fun making it a big deal for David and Evie.  Between picking out costumes, pumpkin patch play-dates, Halloween parties, and trick-or-treating; we are worn out.  David loves candy and always has claimed Halloween as his all-time favorite holiday.  He also LOVES costumes...so much so, that I had to wash his Buzz Lightyear outfit on Friday because it was so stained from the many many days he has been wearing, sleeping, and eating in it.  The wings were a last minute addition and they definitely were the highlight of the weekend.  Evie was the cutest fairy and wore her headbead the entire weekend, shocking!!  

 

Happy Halloween!!

Firemen To The Rescue!!!

We just recently celebrated David's 3rd birthday at a local fire station.  It was the sweetest little party!!  David was blessed to have a few friends from our church Core Group, his class, and also our supper club join him on his special day.  The fire department went above and beyond and I was so impressed.  The kids got a little lesson on fire safety, were able to tour the station, see the ladder get raised to its highest position, and get a picture in the ladder truck itself.  We then had cookie cake and ice cream at the park.  The weather was PERFECT and the company truly blessed us.

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War Eagle, Hey!

I just love this picture and had to include it for future documentation.  To say we are an Auburn family would be an understatement.  David has picked up on our slight obsession and has taken it upon himself to accept our brainwashing and love Auburn as well :).  He is obsessed with Aubie, the marching band, the fight song, and loves to wear his jersey to school.  One second he is marching around the house as if he is the drum major at Tiger Walk and then later is running around the house with his football helmet on.  Evie has learned to clap at the end of the fight song and wear her Auburn attire with pride just like any classy Auburn girl should :).  This dress was smocked by her Gaga and I am soo thrilled with it.  I always have wanted a smocked Auburn bishop, but refused to pay the ridiculous prices I was seeing around town.  Thankfully, Grant's Mom is BEYOND gifted as a seamstress and continues to make the most beautiful clothing for our children.  Thank you Gaga!!

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Our Babies!

These two are becoming quite the pair.  It is a good thing Evie is so fiesty, otherwise, David would be completely running the show.  Just recently, Evie has become VERY vocal with her feelings and I have found myself the referee of their every little interaction.  It is exhausting.  If I'm not coaching David on sharing or protecting his little sister, then I am rescuing Evie from some compromising position.  He has had no problem stepping into his role as big brother in the sense that he loves to boss her around, reprimand her, and pick on her.  We are talking a lot about who is actually in charge of Evie :).  On the flip side, David's take-charge personality has really saved Evie from herself time and time again.  Whether she is trying to stand up in the grocery cart, unplug a lamp, or eat some dog food; David is quick to put her in her place by reminding her of what she should or should not be doing.  For this, I am thankful, haha.  Overall, they are really sweet at times and it's fun to see them have their own little relationship.  Evie idolizes her brother and has to have her eyes on him at all times.  It has made going down for nap quite frustrating because she knows he is out in the house and refuses to lay her head down being rocked.  She just stares at the door whining for her big brother.  Sometimes the feeling is mutual, like when I overheard David singing a little diddy that went something like this, "You are my best friend, Evie.  You're my best friend."  It was so cute, but I couldn't help laughing as I wondered how long that would last.  They have definitely entered a new stage where I can see a real sibling relationship starting to form--between tickling, sharing, laughing, and reconciling--I am blessed to help them learn to love and accept one another.

TEN

Baby Girl is a squishy, schmooshy, smiley mess.  And we love her so very much.

Month 10 has brought even more personality out of our little girl.  She got tubes early in the month and has become even more vocal than she already was.  You will never find yourself wondering if Lou is happy because she will certainly let you know if she is not.  This is so very different from her brother as a baby and has made her our spunky one.  It is funny because I often feel like we are having conversations and all she can bring herself to say  is "Mm-Bah."  She definitely comprehends a whole lot more than I ever was aware a 9/10 month old could when I was doing this with David.  I guess she is just really good at getting her point across :).  Evie loves people and is still incredibly social.  She never meets a stranger and smiles at just about anyone that will look at her.  She learned to clap and is very proud of this new found skill.  She also loves animals and I think Marley can tell she is an animal lover.  He always gravitates towards her and lets her pull and push all over him without even a peep.  The child still has zero teeth, but somehow eats absolutely anything put in front of her and is a bottomless pit.  She has started this new thing,when we are out to eat, where she rejects her food once my meal arrives and fusses until she gets to partake of what is on my plate.  Her favorite foods are black beans, mandarin oranges, Multi-Grain Cheerios, sweet potatoes, green beans, and carrots.  However, I have never seen her refuse anything either.  Though Evie doesn't love to stand, she is a crawling machine and has graduated to the 'bear crawl,' where she crawls around on a her hands and feet.  She does pull up and cruise along furniture, but it doesn't feel like she will walk anytime soon.  Evie also is a wonderful sleeper and never makes a peep before 830 AM.  Thanks to her pink lamb that is now brown and nasty, she goes down to sleep in about 2 seconds flat.  I only rock her for my own enjoyment :). She certainly does not need it.  All in all, she is a funny, fiesty, tough, sweet, and happy baby who adores her brother.  So far, there is no sign of the Mama-stage going anywhere anytime soon.  She likes to be in eye sight of me and prefers for me to feed and hold her if given an option.  However, you should see her excitement when her Daddy walks in the door!!  It is too precious.  We love you Lou!!

(David's THREE year old post below!!)