May Bonfire

This is admittedly late, I kept meaning to blog and then forgetting. But we had a BBQ and bonfire at the the house a few weeks ago, and the kids had a blast running around the yard, filling up on s'mores, and searching for the perfect marshmallow roasting stick in the woods.

Daddy was pretty enthusiastic with the fire at first, it started out a little big ;) But the kids were very good listeners about staying back until it was safe to roast marshmallows

Ruby and Declan, on their 467th graham crackers

Riley enjoying a s'more

Logan REALLY enjoying a s'more 

Ruby and Evie having a tickle fight in the wagon- so cute!!!

This kid cracks me up

Here's Evie down by the creek, throwing rocks into the water. And after each throw, she cheers herself on with "woohoo!", imaginary high fives, and fist pumping. I was cracking up watching her, I love it! :)

Evelyn Clara: 24 months old

AKA two!!! Oh man, she is growing up fast. :) And yes, I know I am way behind on this post, but with Eric's grandfather passing away and then Evie getting the dreaded stomach flu that's going around, we've been pretty busy around here the last couple of weeks. So, on to the photos!!

2 Year Facts
Evie's favorite foods: pickles, black olives, yogurt, grilled cheese, pancakes, cookies, juice, and broccoli
Evie's favorite toys and activities: Mr. Potato Head, her play kitchen, balls, playing in the creek, jumping on the couch (or anything else she can jump on), taking care of her baby dolls
Evie's favorite shows/movies: Fresh Beat Band, Doc McStuffins, Cars, Toy Story 1,2, and 3
Evie's favorite books: The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Colors, First Words, A Day at the Shore, Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See?
Evie's favorite songs: "Drive My Car", "These Are My Glasses", and "I Know a Chicken" by the Laurie Berkner Band, and "Hot Potato" by the Wiggles

When Grandma was here for a visit, Evie received a tea set from an aunt that she loves. Since then she's been super into drinking tea, and anytime anyone is drinking it she immediately asks "tea?" in this super cute high pitched voice. Who can say no?? :) So she's been drinking a lot of tea lately (her order is decaf with lots of milk and sugar). She's gotten surprisingly good at drinking out of an open cup over the last month or so, she rarely spills if she's paying attention.
Evie's language is starting to improve, she's getting better at trying to repeat words that we say, and has added some new words to her vocabulary. We're still working on two syllable words, she's only got a couple of those down. But we're working with a speech therapist now and I hope to see some more progress soon.

Evie's sense of humor is really starting to shine, she understands when things are funny now and does things on purpose just to get a laugh. She's a happy girl, still very friendly and outgoing with everyone. She loves other kids, especially babies whom she always wants to hug and kiss and hold. She's pretty stubborn too, occasionally carrying on about something or other way longer than I expect her to. But overall she's very easygoing and laid back.

Evie is definitely a nature girl, which is so exciting for Eric and I to see!! She loves to be outside, to play in the dirt and run in the grass. She doesn't mind getting dirty and she loves bugs. She also loves loves LOVES water, and since the weather has finally warmed up we've been down at the creek behind our house a lot. She likes to look for fish, throw rocks in the water, climb around the banks, and pick flowers. It's hard to get her away from the water she loves it so much.

Evie is also quite the daredevil which is fun (and occasionally scary) to watch. ;) She loves to jump on anything, and since we went to SkyZone a couple times over the winter, trampolines are her favorite. She has no fear, just loves to go as high as she can. She also jumps on our sectional at home quite a bit, and her mattress in her crib. She likes to go fast and high on the swings, and squeals "wheee!" the whole time. :) 

It has been an amazing two years, and we're looking forward to many many more!

Spring is finally here!

Just a few photos from the last week or so, we've had lots of rain, but also some really gorgeous days thank goodness- today it was nearly 80 degrees!! We are so happy to be able to get out of the house and play. :)

Also, sadly Eric's grandfather passed away this past Tuesday evening. He was a wonderful man who loved his family and we will miss him dearly.

Scolding the Ducks

Evie often lines her ducks and other bath toys up on the tub ledge and then knocks them in for fun. Well last night they must have been misbehaving, because Evie gave them each a talking to before they got to swim. She cracks me up. :)

Evelyn Clara: 23 months old

 When is spring coming??? We are SO ready!! Evie is just one month away from being two years old.... TWO YEARS OLD. I can't believe it. We didn't have a whole lot of excitement this past month, between the weather being pretty awful, and almost two weeks of sickness between croup and a head cold for Miss Evie. We stuck around the house for the most part, doing lots of arts and crafts, and watching lots of movies. ;) These days, we are all about Toy Story (1, 2, and 3, with 3 being the favorite). We also watch a few other movies- but really it's all about Buzz and Woody!!

 Evie is doing great, I feel like I don't have much to report this month.... much of the same. I took these photos on one of the three decent days we had all month, and when I say decent I mean above 40 degrees. I'm excited to see how different Evie will be this summer running and playing- she's definitely pretty fast, and is starting to master the skill of moving her little car by herself (which she did for less than 3 seconds in the video below). We are ready to get back to the playground and park and beach and all of that.
I'm going to try and get some nice photos of Evie for next month- I actually miss doing Evie's 365 blog, because I had better odds at getting good photos of her when I was taking them every day. It's hard to capture a toddler on camera, so I need to work harder at remembering to pull my camera out!

Evie the Artist

Evie has been sick with croup and a cold for a week now- so we've been doing whatever we can to keep busy and get through the days stuck in the house. One of Evie's favorite things to do these days is paint. :)