My big girl!

Can I just say, Evie is like a grown up girl these days! Everything about that girl just blows my mind! Her hair is SO long, when I pull on the curls her hair is to the middle of her back! WHAT!? She cooks food for us with her kitchen, we get pizza, drink refills, you name it! Just today I hung up a bird on the fridge that she made at story time . . . She's making crafts already!? We've gone to Jump N Jive about 4 times now, each time she gets a little more brave. Now, rather than sliding down the slides, she jumps from the top to the bottom. It scares me. She laughs her butt off. She sings "The wheels on the bus" like it's nobody's business! She memorized all the actions to "Catch a falling star". And last but not least, she had another evaluation recently, to make sure she's up to speed, and GUESS WHAT!? They told us that had Evie not been given a diagnoses of 'hearing loss' they would not be able to help us anymore, because she's doing so well! That tickles me to death! I'm so proud of my little miss! :)

Lexie's Pictures!

My cousin, Lexie, asked me if I would take some senior pictures for her (she just GRADUATED!) yay :) So here are a few! I am NO professional, but we did have fun! Love ya Lex!

Like my mother does.

I have a super amazing mom! I don't tell her NEARLY enough how much I appreciate her. She helped me SO much with Evie while I was working, and still does. I love how much she loves Evie. I love how thoughtful she is. I love how accepting she is of others. I love how she learns from the past. I love how she understands. She's such a sweetheart! I love you mom :)

I tried to post this song, but it was taking forever, so here is the link instead. To my sweet mom: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX-04oKskFs

Rewind: Halloween!

Evie was a little fairy for Halloween this year! We walked across the street and went to the 'Mayors Walk' around the Rec Center for 'trick or treating'. Evie had her head in her candy bucket the whole time, digging for more yummy treats! She didn't hardly look up!

Hopefully next year she'll be more into the dressing up thing, I had to wrangle this poor girl to get her in her costume!

Evie turns 2!!!!

Each and every post about Evie I always have to say TIME is not on our side! Especially with a 2 year old! It's just FLYING by! Evie is such a sweetheart! We had a lot of fun with her party! I decided to do a 'Cookies and Milk' theme, because what 2 year old doesn't jump for cookies and milk! I know Eve does!

The week before Evie's party was HECTIC! I asked (FORCED) Braden to finish our dining room before the party, and when your house is going on 101 years old, it's not always as easy as it seems. We didn't quite finish, but at least it was somewhat presentable! :)

Evie LOVED having all the kids at our house! It was so packed, I just kept hoping everyone was comfortable! We've NEVER had that many people in our house, but it was so fun! I wish I would have taken more pictures! I didn't really slow down to think about it :) Thank goodness for the wonderful Jess! She snapped most of the pictures from Evie's party! I wasn't even thinking about it! THANKS JESS {have I told you, you're awesome!}

We just love Evie Grace to pieces! She's so smart, happy, loving and SWEET as a cookie! I know as soon as I press 'Publish Post', another year will have flown by and we'll be planning a 3rd birthday! SAD! So I am going to try and soak up every little moment!

I'll end with a little 'Evie-ism':

{Evie was in the tub: "HAAY, Baby! I'm in the bath . . . OKAAAY!?"}

Good Grief Child, YOU'RE ADORABLE!

My sweet 2 year old! Wait, WHAT!?

First of all, I just have to say that time HAS to be going faster. I can't figure out how it's possible that I have a 2 year old 'baby' girl!

Evie Grace is just the sweetest little girl! She has the most tender and loving personality. There have been countless times where Braden and I simultaneously look at each other and say, "Evie is such a good girl!" She really is SO good! Let's not forget that she IS going to be 2 tomorrow, and we all know 2 year olds can be a handful - but really, she's good!

Lately Evie has been addicted to the TV! It's nice when I'm trying to get ready for the day, or clean, but she would honestly watch TV ALL day long if I let her! Literally the second she wakes up she says one of the following: "Monkey!" "Mickey Mickey Mouse!" "Waberry!" or "Bear!". These translate into Curious George, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Strawberry Shortcake, or Winnie the Pooh.

Evie also L.O.V.E.S. her babies! Which, contrary to popular belief, does not mean it's time for me to have another one . . . yet! :) We got her an American Girl Bitty Baby with the crib and high chair! I can't hardly wait until tomorrow to give it to her! It's killing me! She is so motherly and loves taking care of her babies. She even takes care of Braden and I. I'm telling you, she's that good!

Just a few other randoms about Evie @ 2 (for my own remembrance): She loves to color - especially with MARKERS, she is experimenting with more words and putting multiple together to express herself, we can usually get her to mimic anything we say, she loves her little friends - she's always talking about Kai Kai on her toy cell phone, she loves to get on facebook with me and look at pictures of her friends :), she knows every word of Baa Baa Black Sheep, Wheels on the Bus, and Old McDonald's Farm, she loves listening to nursery rhymes in the car, her ears have not changed over the past year!

Whew! Just love this little girl! Party pictures to come :)

Last Day

Today was my last day working at Anadarko! It was kind of a hectic and bittersweet day, but now that it's all said and done I couldn't be happier! I'm so excited to be home with Evie! YAY!The office took me to lunch today and even showered me with gifts :) One of which was an awesome camera! Since Braden had class tonight, Evie and I went out and took some pictures with my new camera. Enjoy :)
Ahhhhh FREEDOM from work! LOL!

Update: We're still alive!

I hate when I don't blog for so long! I forget everything! So I'll do my best to update for the past 2 months!

• Evie has become seriously independent! There aren't many things she wan'ts help with anymore . . . especially things like playing in the pool @ the rec center, or at the park, which can be S.C.A.R.Y.
• I QUIT MY JOB :) Well, I'm still working for a few more weeks - possibly months, but I did it! I'm so happy for myself, and more importantly EVIE! She needs me and I'm so happy I can be with her all the time now! :) :) :) :)
• Braden got hired on with Anadarko Petroleum, and he really enjoys his job! We're so proud of him :) Such a good hubby & daddy!
• We've been riding our bikes like crazy. Evie packs her babies, a movie, and her cell phone and she's good to ride in the trailer . . . as long as we make her think it was her idea! LOL
• We took Evie to Seven Peaks in August and she had the time of her life! She went down at least 4 big slides with her daddy! She also LOVED the kiddie pools, they had so many little slides and fun things for her to play on. She wore herself right out - we had to make a bed out of one of the tubes for her to sleep on.
• We also went to the Larsen Reunion the first weekend in Aug
  ust. We all had a great time! Evie loved being outside so much, playing with her cousins, dressing up like a fairy, and painting!
• And last, but not least - we're having mixed emotions about summer being over soon :( BUT at the same time - who doesn't LOVE everything about FALL {besides how many sticks fall from my trees and make my yard look trashy . . . boooo}.

{My Silly Girl}

{Where's Evie??}

{There she is :) She loves swimming @ the Rec Center - and playing in the lockers while I change! They are just her size!}

{Painting @ the Larsen Family Reunion - Evie's an artist!}

{Evie's new favorite thing - swimming in the backyard butt naked}

{Sleeping @ Seven Peaks in the tube}

{Evie loves dressing up lately. She put this shirt on of mine and I had to snap a picture because it looks like a formal gown LOL}

{And lastly, Evie is entering the terrible two stage! There are some days it makes me laugh, some days it makes cry, and some days it makes me crazy! But we sure do love her!}

Happy 4th of July

Today I am especially proud to be an AMERICAN! There is just something about this holiday that leaves me on the verge of tears all day long! I feel so overwhelmingly BLESSED to live in this country, the BEAUTIFUL USA. I sat with Evie and some of our FAMILY @ the parade today watching the VETERANS drive by and all the American FLAGS. It seriously chokes me up! There are so many BRAVE men and women who fight for our FREEDOM on a daily basis - truly amazing.

THANK YOU!

I love this picture of Evie - it just screams FREEDOM to me! What an awesome thing it is to know that Evie can run, and play outside, and that she will always have place to call HOME!

We are so BLESSED! I could not ask for more!

Happy 4th of July 2011

Evie's 1st day of Nursery

There she is :) There are SO many kids in our Nursery it's insane!

I can't believe my baby can go to nursery already! It was exciting, but SO sad! I felt like there were so many kids that no one would even notice Evie :( I went and checked on her 3 times! Once I went in because I couldn't stand looking @ her through the door {which was a bad idea - then she didn't want me to leave}. Evie is a good entertainer, and usually likes to 'mother' other kids her age. We think Evie is the greatest! This is the funnest age! Evie has been reading books to me, and teaching her dolls everything she knows! It's the sweetest thing! Love ya Eves!

Playing @ Grandma Jody's!

{Evie and Kai Kai)

Can NOT WAIT until the weather gets warm more often! Evie LIVES for being outside! She will go knock on our door and beg me to take her outside! We spend hours strolling the neighborhoods around our house! We got her a baby stroller for her dolls and she absolutely loves taking them for walks! When I try to turn her around so we can head back home - she whips right back and keeps walking! I told my neighbor who had just witnessed her telling me what to do, "Evie thinks she's my mom!"

McDonalds!

{Eve and cousin Chloe!}

{Weeee!}

We decided to go check out the new McDonalds play-place for lunch w/ my cousin Shellie and her girls. There were SO many people there! I didn't dare let Evie try out the new play-place because I was sure she'd get run over! So she stuck to the tree slide!

Softball Season

{Evie and her Papa Robinson!}

This time last year, my sister-in-law, Deedra, and I were talking about how we couldn't wait for our tiny babies to be able to run around next year. NOW IT'S HERE! Crazy! Evie has so much fun cheering her daddy on at the games! She stands behind the fence and yells, "YAY!" and claps her little hands! It's so sweet! She claps for everyone! She does really well for the most part, until I took her to the park - then all she wanted to do was run back to the park!

Goofin!

Braden played in the Ice Breaker Softball Tournament this weekend . . . and it SNOWED - so Evie and I only got to watch one game from the bleachers. The rest we sat in the truck! I was hoping Eve would take a nap, but instead she decided to be crazy! She was making me laugh so hard! She would climb up in her car seat and then jump down. She thought she was the funniest thing ever! Don't I have the cutest baby girl EVER :)