a 3 year old

Well the birthday curse was in full swing this past weekend. Evaleigh turned three on Saturday and a few days before: she started throwing up just like her second birthday. It's been a whole year since she had gotten sick like that and as luck would have it on her birthday weekend she was sick again. Luckily on the actual day of she felt well again. We went out as a family to downtown Monroe and let her pick out some treats at a bakery and the Cottonwood Cafe, played in the pocket park, had some treats, went to the store to get her birthday gift, then came home and put together her birthday present.  We got her a pink tricycle and while she took a nap in the car John put it together for her. When she woke up we played outside until it was dinner time then we had pizza and birthday cake and she blew out her candles. At the end of the night she and I snuggled on the couch until it was bedtime.  A good day indeed.

Evaleigh Joy is such a blessing in our lives we love her so much. She is so funny and so sweet. When we asked her where she wanted to go on her birthday she told us, "Mexico".  One of my favorite things she says a lot right now is, "what's the plan dear?"  She loves to sing and make up songs she is very organized she loves to do puzzles and spirograph.  Although she loves her little brother he's tends to drive her crazy at this age.  She says the sweetest prayers and has the most tender moments I can tell she's very close to her Savior at this very young age.

Happy birthday to the little girl who made us parents.

the fastest

Our boy turned one last week.  That was officially the fastest year of my life.  And even now I'm feeling a bit weepy about it.  I love him.  We love him.  

It was a simple day.  He spent most of it chasing a bouncy ball around on the back porch.  He was so happy.

He is just the most perfect suprise.  I remember when I was pregnant with him and we found out he was going to be a boy.  John threw his hands up in the air, yelled out loud, and couldn't contain his joy.  

Me? Well I was terrified.  Girls were always something I thought I'd be great at raising. But a boy...a boy was something that I just didn't feel confident going in to.

Now here we are at his year mark and the love he and I share is unlike anything I ever expected.  Maybe it's that he loves me so fiercely but the bond I have with my son is one that has been one of the most unforeseen blessings of my life.

His favorite thing to do is run full force in to my body while I'm sitting on the floor with his arms outstretched as he comes at me.  He loves to follow his sister around and touch what ever it is that she is playing with.  He also loves to lounge back on us whenever John or I are on the floor.  He smiles a lot.  Big gappy toothed grins that take my breath away. He puts himself to sleep for naps and night time.  He loves to play in the trash, unroll all of our toilet paper, and if we've forgotten to put the lid down he can always be found near a toilet bowl.  He is incredibly strong.  He loves leaping off of high surfaces in to our arms.  He has a new wrinkly nose face accompanied by a fake cry that we don't particuarly like but it's growing on us.  He can throw a mean bouncy ball and practically pick up a gallon of milk.

Avett, you've added so much to our lives and you put a smile on your dads face that only a son can.  We can't wait to see who you become. 

the party that never happened

Whew, this past week has been a blur.  Friday was Evaleigh's 2nd Birthday.  I decided to be all "I'm a cool pinterest mom" and put balloons in Evies room the night before her birthday so they would be a fun surprise for her when she woke up in the morning.  John and I crept up to her room after we heard her start to stir and I began recording a video to see her reaction.  Well, it went something like this...

HAPPY BIRTHDAAAAAYYY!  

AH!  

Oh woops.

Oh thats throw up. 

Yeah.  

You ok?  

Ok. 

It was horribly sad...and graphic.

Evie spent all of her birthday wrapped in sheets with a nasty stomach bug.  Since we didn't want to plauge our whole family with the sickness we had to cancel her party.  I was pretty sad about it.  Her Auntie flew in from Colorado and John's Dad and step-mom came up from Florida. We are hoping they didn't all go home with the bug.

So here it is, the party that never happened. It was supposed to be a sewing theme party with a vintage Holly Hobby sewing machine, old wooden thread spool garland, a spool cake topper, and a hand made sewn bday banner.

I have a 5 layer confetti cake sitting in my refrigerator that I have no clue what to do with. 

The good news is that by that night she was running around saying, "I two I two I two."  The bad news is, John and Avett and I all caught the bug too.  Hopefully we will all be back to normal by tomorrow. 

Happy 2nd Birthday darling, sorry you spent your special day trying to keep down bites of pedialyte popsicles.

happy birthday Evie

I can't believe you will be two tomorrow.  You have brought a spirit and joy to my life that I never knew could be so great.  I always hoped becoming a mother would be wonderful but you came in to the world and made it possible for me to feel heart bursting love multiple times a day every day.  I can't believe that I'm lucky enough to love this much.  You make your dad and I laugh every single day.  The things you come up with sometimes are unreal.

You have an obsession with your own toes.  You must be afraid that someone is going to steal them because often times when someone gets close to you you exclaim, "my toes!"  and back away.  

You love to say your cousin Kate's name with a British accent and you call her Cake.

You give mommy back rubs a lot.  I can tell that you are a compassionate little soul.  You are often concerned about my back after I've been doing a lot of chores and you will sit beside me and rub my back ever so softly.

You are obsessed with stealing your brothers socks right off of his feet.  What's up with that?

You love polishing your nails.  

You love closing doors.  The phrase "When one door closes, another one opens." does not apply in our house.  You won't allow it.  One time you shut me inside of our very very tiny closet while I was trying to hang clothes.

You call the temple pimple.  You tell me ,"No prophet" when I try to read to you from Gordon B Hinckleys book.

When you cry you tell us "I'm crying".  It's so sad and so cute.

You are very much a daddy's girl and you love when he is done with work so he can chase you around the living room.  He gets you up every morning.  You love him so much.

You are learning new words and things everyday. You love to color, play with Besty, kiss your brother, sit with mommy, I love everything about this age you are now.  Watching you grow is bittersweet but I feel so lucky I get to do it.

happy birthday pops

Yesterday was our Pops birthday!  We love him so much and learn from him all of the time.  He is so special to us and we are grateful to be his kids.  Happy Birthday Pops!  Here is your NASCAR experience video! 

a little one year old

This past weekend we had Evaleigh's first birthday tea party.

It was surreal to be the mom at my child's birthday party.

Can't wait to share the details of the decorations tomorrow.

Til then enjoy these pictures by my dear friend Katie from Life Framed Photography (Thanks Katie!).  And a video of EJ smashing her cupcake (Thanks Jen!).

happy birthday evaleigh joy

Today, Evaleigh is one.

It has been such an honor to be her parents for a whole year.  It has been the happiest and most full year of our lives.  Watching her grow and make us laugh while we take in every minute of her has been simply the best.

I just don't even know how to take in the fact that we have had her for a whole year.  I remember a year ago today so perfectly. This time last year I had just woken up and we were getting ready to go to the hospital for the c-section.  That was the best day of my life.

Today Evaleigh is bringing me stuffed animals and giving them huge hugs.  Everytime we go down the stairs I'll sit down at the top steps and wait til I feel two little arms hug around my neck and then I give EJ a piggy back ride all the way down, she loves it.

This morning she woke up at 7am and John and I went in to her room together to get her while singing Happy Birthday.  She probably thought it was pretty weird.  She gave us an uneasy look, we are already embarrassing her.  

I can't wait to celebrate her life all day.

pears from the rafters

Here are pictures from mine and mama's barn birthday party.  It was so much fun in the fall air.  Mom made my special request of cauliflower soup and biscuits.  Ashlyn brought the most beautiful pie I have ever seen.  There were children everywhere and Evie fell asleep in the swing in the midst of it all.  We were surrounded by great friends and had boiled peanuts, root-beer, and a fire in the fire pit.

Have a great weekend!