Ella turns ONE! & Okla{home}a!

Lets just be honest. I have sucked at keeping everyone informed about what we're up to in OK! Life has been nothing short of CRAZY (and usually it's been CRAZY in a good way) so I'll take that.

Let me break it down for you. . . . 

1st things 1st, Ella Girl turned the big O.N.E. (I'm not going to elaborate for fear I might have a "moment") Ok, I'll elaborate a little. This is a BIG MILESTONE! 

Ella got some babies (from Evie, who "secretly" got them for herself I think LOL) and one of those "stroller cars" to take for walks and some DARLING clothes! 

Ella keeps us smiling that is for sure! I've probably said it before, but she is the comic relief in our family! Everyone family needs one. Growing up, it was (and is) my little brother, Cy. In ours it will be Ella. Someone to balance out the equation, and keep everyone going.

Ella has the sweetest soul. You just know it the moment you meet her. She's precious!

Happiest Birthday to you Ella Zoe! You make our world spin 'round! Can't begin to believe that you're already 1 year old! You're so loved!

XOXO - Mama, Daddy & Evie Grace

And now we'll rewind and get to some other stuff that's happened in the last 2 months!

~We MOVED 1,000 miles away from "home"! 

~We live just outside Tulsa and are loving it so far

~Oklahoma is BEAUTIFUL and green and humid and lush! In my mind I was thinking cowboy desert for some reason. It's not.

~Evie just started a new dance class and will be starting soccer in a week!

~Evie is still confused about the distance. There have been a few times I could tell her heart was just broke because none of her grandmas or friends from "Bernal" have visited her new house yet. That kills me. I've explained it as best I can, and she's beginning to understand. Still, that's the hardest part!

I'm going to not over-do my 1st blog post in the last 2 months! We'll stop here. Stay tuned, I'm getting a little more settled and will do better at keeping "Y'ALL" informed. <---ya and="" back="" because="" come="" div="" hear="" i="" in="" it="" legit="" live="" now="" oklahoma.="" s="" said="" ya="">

XOXO

Whitney

Ella Zoe is 10 months!

Can this be true!? Apparently it can. Isn't 10 months and one year like almost the same!? Noooo, they are not! But I know in the blink of an eye she'll be eating that 1st birthday cake and I'll be wondering . . . 

HOW IN THE WORLD!?

Here are 10 things about Ella at 10 months:

1. Ella is so close to walking! She's taken 2 steps! She has great balance and will stand up from a sitting position without any help. And proceed to stand there making you think she's going to take off walking any minute!
2. She is mischievous!!!! She can open anything, climb on everything, and get into places that you never though possible. She's everywhere all at once {this is how I feel}.
3. Ella still loves to eat, but she HATES sitting in the high chair. Go figure.
4. She crawls at the speed of light when she wants to, but still in the bear crawl. Oh her hands and feet - booty high in the air. 
5. HER TEETH! OMGoodness! She has 6. Her two front teeth kill me. I LOVE them. They are so big and have that little gap and match her personality to a T. I can't explain it. It was meant to be :)
6. She puts EVERYTHING in her mouth. I suppose this goes with the mischievous one, but I feel it deserved it's own number. I am CONSTANTLY checking her mouth for random things. She literally goes from one thing to the next trying to eat stuff. Mothers worst nightmare!
7. Ella LOVES her dad. When he get's home from work I'm chopped liver!
8. She loves the wind. It's pretty funny. She even likes when you blow in her face. She just closes her eyes and smiles like YAY. 
9. Ella and Evie were sealed to us in the Vernal, UT LDS Temple on the day Ella turned 10 months. I thought that was pretty special.
10. She is starting to say tons of words. Her newest "thing" is saying Weeee Weeee Weeee! She started saying this after we took her to the park to swing and I was telling her Weeee :)

What a sweet baby you are Ella girl! Please don't grow up!

Celebrating Dad

This Father's Day I'm especially thankful for the husband I have. He makes one INCREDIBLE father to our two darling girlies. 

{You can tell where Evie got her eyebrows + where Ella got her eyes + their passion for food + chubby cheeks anyone!?!}

Braden is the dad who walks through the door after work with a smile on his face no matter how his day was. 

He immediately hugs Evie and talks to her about her day, and picks up Ella to squeeze her darling bum :)

Not only does he tell us all he loves us daily, but he shows us through his actions.

When Evie asks him to play barbies or come be "the kid", he doesn't say "wait just a minute" or "maybe later", he goes right then.

He's never afraid to be silly.

When he's running late, or trying to get out the door and Ella crawls over to him, he picks her up and kisses her.

Our children have never, not once, been a burden to him.

Braden,

We love you with all our hearts. Someone invented Father's Day because of men like you. Thanks for taking such great care of us and making our life such a beautiful one.

We love you!

xoxoxoxo,

Whitney + Evie + Ella

Do ya hear?

So, I was looking through old posts. I was shocked to see that all my posts concerning Evie's hearing have upwards of 300 views. Some 500! Creepy? Well anyways, people always ask me how she's doing - if she can still hear - what's up with the hearing aids - how are her ears - etc. So . . .

here is a quick update on my lovely lady with hearing loss.

Evie, is doing fantastic. Because she has a type of progressive hearing loss (can get better and worse) we are constantly monitoring her hearing. So far there have only been very small changes. I could not be more proud of her. I'm pretty sure she listens better than normal hearing kids. With her hearing aids on she hears everything. She hears me whisper to her! SO COOL HUH!? She talks REALLY WELL. Her articulation is, well, it's downright impressive.

If any of you are reading this blog because you are just finding out that your child has a hearing loss, or you're worried they have a hearing loss, or you know someone who knows someone who has hearing loss - well that is awesome. Frrr real. Don't be scrrrrd. (What just happened there?) Anways . . . 

Because we live on this earth, at this time in history we have access to INCREDIBLE technology. 

To anyone just finding out your child has a hearing loss - the first part is the hardest part. Whatever emotion you are feeling, let yourself feel it. Don't be ashamed. It's normal. Things get easier and then all of the sudden you are like HEY my kid is still the same kid they were before. And there is SO MUCH HELP out there for you and your child. Find it and take advantage of it! You WILL find success if that's what you're looking for. With all your might, be POSITIVE, this is not a bad thing. Life is beautiful.

To anyone feeling like your child is showing signs of a hearing loss - GET THEM TESTED. Like NOW. It's so simple and so quick and so painless and so FREE! Answers make everyone feel better. If it turns out there is a problem, the sooner you know the BETTER. 

To anyone who knows someone with a hearing loss - If you ever have a question, ask. Very simple :) 

Evie Grace enjoying her summer:

 Sometimes if I say "PRETTY PLEASE" I can get Evie to strike a pose.

 This was pre-yard sale day. As you can see, she found some treasures.

Eve loves "penguin ice cream"

And she loves ice cream in general.

Just because

This is what happens when you throw out your last pair of contacts, unknowingly, and have to wait 2 weeks to get new ones because you have to see the eye doctor first! Booooo!
I wear glasses on glasses like a boss.
Imawesomelikethis. . . .

I also have to point out that in Evie's "Mother's Day" note they sent home from preschool she said this:
My mom is special because: OF GLASSES

And now you know why.

Words

Aside from the fact that Evie has a hearing loss, I think that most 3 year olds have a few words that they say ToTaLLy Wr0nG!
And sometimes you just don't want to correct them because it's toOOoo gosh dang cute!

In the above picture, Evie is holding her, as she calls it, sumbrella.
And one of Evie's favorite pass times, as she calls it, is to play on the sum-pull-a. (Computer!!!)

Most people don't think Evie talks, unless you're family or a close friend. She mostly keeps to herself unless we are at home or in a comfortable place.
The crazy-awesome thing is that Evie's speech is SO GOOD! Obviously she has some vocabulary words straight from the personalized Dictionary of Evie Grace, but how cool is that!? WAY. She speaks clearly and is understood probably 90% of the time. I've said it before, I'll say it again: TeChNoLoGy Rocks our world.
In preschool her speech and language teachers are AMAZED with our little gem. I'm so proud of Evie girl!

Remember when . . . .

Evie has been on a "Remember When" kick! Just today she has reminded me of these things . . .

1. Mom, remember when you were a baby and I was your mom? {No, I actually don't recall that one LOL}
2. Mom, remember when I have a tooth and it comes out and I am the tooth fairy? {Yeah . . . .}
3. Mom, remember Jaisha? {So funny, we picked up candles from Jaisha this morning, so this one I actually really do remember}
4. Mom, remember when I was just a little baby and I was in your belly and I said WAAA let me out. And I said WAAA I want my binky. {I surely do sister sue}
5. Remember this morning when Hadliegh use to stay here with us. And remember when she went to my dance class? Remember? {We use to babysit my niece Hadliegh while her mom went to nail school. She did come to dance class with us a few times}

Evie is about 3.5 years now. This age is hilarious, hard, crazy, fun, demanding, exhausting, and rewarding. All bundled into one package of adorable-darlingness! I just can't even get enough of Evie's funny personality!