19

                                                   

Nineteen Months

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Full of life, bold, fiesty, silly, sweet, FUNNY (just like her Daddy)

Tough, quick to put her brother in his place, not easily pushed around, very social (just like her Daddy)

Loves to dance and sing.  This is probably the most defining characteristic of this month.  The girl can break it down and sing, even though she can barely talk.
Her obsession with babies has been taken to a new level.  Her favorite has been named "Bebe" and it is ALWAYS tucked under her arm.  If you even try and come near it, she will hug it and say, "MINE." 
The nursery workers call her "The Boss."  Help us all.
Her obsession with pretty little accessories continues on.  She has even grown to admire her "pretty pacis," as she ooh and aahs when we hand her brightly colored ones.  She still refers to her paci as a Nah-nah and her lamby as been affectionately named, Meme.  She is the queen of trying to carry all of her favorites with her at one time---bebe, meme, nah-nah, cup of crackers, and sippy cup.
EM is notorious for climbing and is incredibly good at it.  She can lift her little leg up on to a high surface and put her foot down flat footed, then pull herself up in one fell swoop.  She is known to be found watching a show while also standing up on top of a dining chair.  Shockingly, she rarely ever falls.
The girl loves some Magic Muffin and will cheer/clap when we pull into the parking lot.  She will also eat just about anything if you chant "Woo woo, woo woo woo!" 
Her latest obsession is art.  The child has great dexterity and can peel stickers like she has been doing it all her life.  Her pencil grip is incredibly impressive and she will sit on the floor in the corner and color for a realllly long time.
All in all, the best way to describe this baby girl is to say that somewhere deep inside her prissy, squishy, sassy, girly exterior lives a 16 year old girl and a 12 year old tom boy.  Verdict is still out on which way it will go :)
S
Evie Marelle, you bring SO MUCH JOY to our little family!!.  We are all smitten beyond belief with how precious you are to us.  I cannot believe you are my daughter.  What a gift!!!.
Above all, I pray and pray and pray that you grows to know the Lord at as young of an age as possible and learn to walk in His ways and LOVE it!
Loves loves loves, Mama.

17 & 18

Evie Marelle, Lulu, Lou, Evie Lou, Bop, Baby Bop, Baby Lou, Baby Marelle.........She answers to them all.

Brave, Silly, Focused, Agile, Tough, Girly, Smart, and Squish..............That's our girl.

Evie Marelle is going strong and continues to show us more of her true colors.  She is rough and tough mixed in with a whole lot of girly.  EM loves all kinds of accessories: shoes, hair bows, clips, jewelry, sunglasses, and purses.  However, she spends most of her time playing with cars and balls.  It's the perfect combination of her Mama and Daddy.  She is surprisingly coordinated and can climb up or down just about anything.  She is also great at throwing a ball.  Her most consistent obsession is with bracelets--she does not go anywhere without something on her arms.  She also still loves her paci and her lamby.  Poor girl usually just watches whatever television show Brother has on, but she prefers Dora and Tinkerbell.  Evie Marelle loves to sing and dance like most kids her age.  Her favorite songs are: Baby Bumblebee, Wheels on the Bus, and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.  Because she refuses to speak very much, she has come up with signs so she can act out all of her favorite tunes.  She has started to talk a bit more and can say quite a few words when she wants to, that is.  Evie Marelle LOVES puppy dogs, pointing to all her body parts, and doing animal noises.  She is all over the place and quite a nut.  I would not say she is one to suffer silently :) and brings a lot of spunk to our days.  She is a true gift.  We love you Lou!

(new post below)

 

Beach 2011

We had the MOST INCREDIBLE vacation this year in Fort Walton Beach.  7 glorious days of pure rest just for the 4 of us to reconnect and enjoy one another.  Then, we got to spend a fun-filled Memorial Day weekend down the beach in Watercolor with the Estess family and it was a wonderful end to our yearly break from life.  These two love bugs loved every second and were a complete joy to be with.  They were blessed with TEN full days with their Daddy constantly by their side and I was blessed to just watch family happen over and over again.  It was perfect.

David was the ultimate beach bum.  Getting the boy to take a shower was a feat in and of itself.  He was all about building sand castles, boogie boarding, and swimming at the pool.  I often would hear him whispering how fun the beach is and then he would just come up to me with a huge grin and say, "The beach is FUN!"  I don't think he took his hat of the entire week.  I love that picture of him with his outstretched arm commanding the waves to stay back from his castle....typical first born I guess, thinks he can control it all.  Though it was hard to get many pictures of him, I love these where he is just braving the elements and being a little boy.

This girl is the cuddliest, squishiest, most precious little thing.  Day one was filled with all kinds of new experiences and Lou was overwhelmed to say the least.  She cried at the beach and at the pool.  After watching Brother play in the sand for an hour from the comfort of her beach chair, she decided to get up and play herself.  I don't think ever looked back.  By the last day, she was running in and out of the ocean on her own.  Evie Marelle lived in her sunglasses and neon bracelets.  She loved carrying her Dora and Boots bath toys around and LOVED swimming around like a big girl.  She spent most of her time piddling from beach chair to beach chair, filling her cheeks with crackers. In the end, girlfriend came home with blonde hair and a tan that her own Mama envies.

I look forward to May every single year for this very trip alone, and this year did not disappoint at all!  Praise God for family.  It is a gift!

16 & 44

Our babies are 16 and 44 months.  The combination of the two makes for quite a busy, hectic, silly, exhausting, and funny life.  We are blessed beyond measure!  My favorite change over the last two months has to do with their little budding friendship.  These two truly adore each other.  David has pushed through the urge to claim that every toy belongs to him and he is great about including Evie Marelle in his play now.  They are a great match.  Policman Dave is still keeping his risk taking Sister alive and well.  And I really think that Evie Marelle's inherent bravery allows for them to play together much sooner then if their temperaments were reversed.  Their favorite thing to do as a pair is ride on the see-saw.  EM could ride that thing for hours!! 

I cannot believe our boy will be FOUR in September.  He is a hoot to be around. He gets sillier by the day running around in various super hero costumes, speaking some made-up language, and doing funny dance moves to get the attention from his baby sister.  He loves to read, could watch Toy Story 2 all day long, and spends most of his afternoons creating some new adventure in the backyard.  He has his Daddy's toy rifle and throws it over his shoulder and runs off into the land of boyhood.  David has gotten really great at riding his balance bike and I feel sure will be coasting down hills with no feet come Fall.  He also has inherited his Daddy's childhood baseball glove and just kind of wears it all the time whether we are playing catch or not.  We are still working on the idea of closing the glove to catch a baseball, but he has fun nonetheless.  The one quality that I feel marks his 3 year old year has to do with how detail and schedule oriented he is.  His compass-like abilities make for an interesting car ride.  I often feel like we have a GPS in the back seat repeating the phrase, "Mommy, you are going the wrong way.  Turn around."  He knows his way everywhere!!  On top of that, he loves to have a schedule for the day and protests big time if there is a unannounced pit stop.  He is very independent and basically handles all his personal needs without much assistance.  We have graduated to the big boy cup and it is quite nice to be down to one set of sippy cups.  David's latest obsession is Go Diego Go.  He has created a rescue bag and loves to run around the house trying to save all kinds of imaginary animals.  After we left the zoo, he said his favorite animal was a pygmy marmaset.  He also loves the cotton-top tamarins.  It cracks me up even knows animal names like this! 

Evie Marelle is a teenage woman in a squishy baby body.  She is opinionated, not easily pushed around, and a little on the dramatic side.  With that said, she really is the easiest toddler!!  Other than being a bit on the busy side, she just kind of piddles around and plays on her own all day long.  She loves to read and is currently obsessed with her newest library book--The Mud Fairy.  I had to renew it the other day because she grabbed it and ran off, refusing to let me put it in the book return slot.  We read it over and over, all day long.  She loves a ball, can climb up on just about anything, has great balance, and is fearless.  However, all her bravery melts away in the face of a large human in an animal costume.  Aubie and the Easter Bunny have just about made her tremble to death!!  She understands EVERYTHING we say and I love that we can have conversations with no words.  The words EM can say are--ball, car, backpack, baby, bow, Mama, Dada, Day-Day, Gaga, Papa, Nanny, milk, and more.  However, she really only says ball, more, milk, Mama/Dada/DayDay voluntarily.  She calls her paci "nah-nah" and I think she is trying to call her lamb "mamby."  Her newest obsession are bubbles and I actually did hear her say the word "bubble" the other day weirdly enough.  Her favorite animal noise is a bear growl and now every animal growls--whether its a duck, bee, or kitty cat.  However, she does seem to have down the lamb, puppy, tiger/lion/bear down.  She loves to play in the backyard, slide, swing, ride a see-saw, and is dying to be big enough to ride David's old tricycle.  Her favorite song is that bringing home a baby bumblebee one--and she has a love affair with bumble bees.  Anytime she sees one, she stings herself with her little chubby finger, then giggles.  EM also loves jewelry and could spend an hour putting bracelets on and off her little arm.  It is the only way I can get a shower while she is awake--I just pull out a box of my old costume jewelry and she goes through it for 20 minutes.  She still loves Dora, Tinkerbell, and loves to dance, snuggle, and give kisses.  She is a nut and we love her to death!!!

So sorry for the crazy long detailed post, but I had to get it all this down for future reference :).  Enjoy the pics and skip the words if you need to!!