just another day

Evangeline is loving the outdoors. If I hold her too long out there she will start to squirm until I have no choice but to put her down.

 

She is also loving to do what she wants. Like test mommy. And eat grass. Or rocks.

The word 'no' is starting to become more dominant in conversations with her. But as you can see, she listens well and is obedient. She would never really eat the grass. :)

AJ took Ari fishing the other day. He was getting really good at casting out and reeling in. But I think that was all he cared to do. Waiting for a fish to bite was just too long.

Ok so maybe he did wait for a fish one time. But that waiting can really make your legs tired.

She has started clapping her hands now.

Before she would just take my hands and clap them together, but she's got the hang of it now.

curiosity or stalker?

I won't answer that question. But I will say that we did not stand in that line. For long. It was just ridiculous.

 But we did manage to get close enough to see that she is real.

Just in case you were wondering or had any doubts.

Thank you Ree for making an appearance, even if you have a violent cowlick. 

And also for making me a better cook.

anticipation

There are certain things I have been looking forward to since we have had a girl. Yes, it's the obvious little girly things like wearing pink, painting nails, wearing hair bows, or cute shoes. 

I've had to wait until she stopped putting her feet in her mouth to paint the nails. Ari asked for his nails to be painted as well, but he had to settle for just a picture instead.

This little bow didn't last long. Her hair is barely long enough to clip it in, but not thick enough to keep it there. Oh well. It was nice for a picture! She won't keep hats on so there is no point in trying a headband.  We are still waiting on the whole cute shoes thing. Her feet are chubby so it's hard to keep any on. So we will just admire all the little girls in the nursery that can wear bows and shoes.

In anticipation for the end of winter, I think we went straight in to summer and skipped spring. And we have been enjoying it to the max!

Rides every morning...

some kind of water play in the afternoon (we even have the pool out!)...

then off to the park in the evening. 

Evangeline sat in the swing for the first time and Ari got dirt on his nose from a face plant trying to play football. He was proud of it and so was his daddy!

With all this play outside, bath time should be more frequent around here!

what season is it?!

Since this winter was so mild, we had not been able to play in the snow like previous years. I was pretty bummed that Ari hadn't worn his snow gear at all and been able to make a snowman. All he wanted to do was make footprints in the snow.

But lo and behold it snowed just enough to build this awesome guy.

Ok so it might not be the biggest snowman, but he was there and lasted a whole two hours!

He didn't even show up in this picture!

So much for the snow, but at least I can say we got to enjoy it even if it was for a brief moment. A few days later it was so nice we didn't need jackets outside.

We were even able to get out his kite and fly it for a long while. It was so windy it took little effort to get it up in the air. This little taste of nice weather has got me pumped for spring and summer. Most people think I'm crazy, but I LOVE scorching hot weather. Hopefully it will come sooner than later. I think Ari is ready too because he has been asking to get his pool out.

a date with my man, then the kiddos

Some weekends are full of playing, some are full of productivity, and some are a mix of both. This past one was mostly playing. And oh did we need it. Even though we don't have any vacations scheduled for this year, it's nice to have weekends that feel like mini vacations.

AJ and I got to experience the Melting Pot for the first time. We like to have fun, but we also like to live frugally. We never would have come here if it weren't for a gift card we received. On top of that we had a coupon, so a nice date we had to take. 

The next morning we went to the circus. Also a first for us! And thanks to NBofI for the free tickets!

Ari was excited to go, but when we got there he seemed very overwhelmed.

He didn't want to leave our laps or take off his jacket.

He didn't even want to take a picture!

Most people don't get to see this side of him, but he closes down during big events like this. 

I think he ended up liking it, but the only thing he would talk about afterwards were the parts he didn't like...such as the clowns. I don't blame him there though.

After seeing the trapeze, tigers jumping through fire, a girl standing on the back of a horse, a man on a tall unicycle, and a dog jumping over a camel (Ari's favorite) we finally got a smile. After an hour and twenty minutes of watching the show, they stopped for an intermission. We had no idea the circus would take so long so we decided to leave during half-time. Maybe we'll go again next year and get to see the rest!

It doesn't take a lot of money to have fun. And it doesn't have to cost anything to spend quality time with someone. What are things you like to do with your family for fun and for cheap? We are always looking for new things to try!

10 months

How does 10 months sneak up on us so fast? It has been a blast caring for this little one and getting to know her personality. Although she is completely opposite of Ari in almost every aspect, it's so fun to get to know what she likes and dislikes.

Well she definitely likes to see people with funny things on their faces and heads, including herself.

She likes to give kisses. To everything. Look out camera!

She also likes to stand by herself. She constantly wants to use my fingers to pull up, then will let go right away. Even if she isn't balanced yet she lets go and will plop right back down. It doesn't phase her one bit. Then she will want to do it over, and over, and over again. Every once in a while she will stand and try to stay up.

She gets frustrated if left on the floor to sit for a while because she has still yet to crawl. She will roll around and get to things but she still won't get up on her knees. 

She likes to be close to ma ma and da da, especially when we are around people she doesn't know. She likes to bounce to music and wave hi. She prefers to eat her food on her own, instead of being fed by a spoon. 

And of course she loves her brother. He brings her toys to play with and wants to include her in (most) things we do.