Happy New Years Eve!

Evie and I had a busy morning going to Costco, the bookstore and picking up our groceries at Harris Teeter. They had story time and an art project at the bookstore. Evie had a blast picking up the snow from the snow trail and making a snowman. She's really getting into crafts.

   We came home and played a bit before nap time. Carl got home early and he took Evie for a jog. It was another gorgeous day with a high of 67. That's my kind of weather!

   I finished up spending the money in our Flexible Spending Account. Nothing like waiting until the last minute. I seem to be doing more and more waiting until the last minute these days!

   We went to a New Year's Eve party at a friends house. They had a such a great party and provided babysitters. Evie did not like the idea of staying upstairs with the kids. She wanted to be with her Mommy and Daddy. Most of the other kids felt the same way so the babysitters became servers passing out plates of food. Carl and I both had a fabulous time and it was so fun to have something exciting to do on New Year's Eve. Everyone brought a dish so there were lots of yummy things to try. Evie loved the mac and cheese and the birthday cake. Evie is on her way to bed and we are going to try to make it to see the ball drop. One good part to living in Central Time is we can watch the ball drop at 11 Central Time and still get to bed at a decent time. Maybe Evie will sleep late in the morning!

   Hope you all have a safe and happy night!

Back in the Groove

Evie and I had a good day today but missed having Carl at home. It was a long day but we had fun. Evie is spending a lot of time with her kitchen and dressed her baby in some new clothes. She figured out that the baby only closes her eyes when she is napping but Evie gets mad at her face when it turns. The baby has a rotating neck and Evie likes it perfectly centered on the body of her baby. She holds the baby really close and says, " baby face" until I remedy the situation. Evie has very clear ideas about what she likes.

   Paige came over to babysit Evie for a little bit and they had a blast. I am not so sure that she was happy to see me when I got home. She kept saying "hug" to Paige and they hugged a few times. Evie must have felt badly for me because she gave me a few hugs too.

   It was fairly warm for a Nashville winter day although it was quite windy. Carl got home before dark and wanted to go for a walk so we quickly dashed out of the house for a brisk walk. Evie loved seeing all the pretty lights from the comfort of her stroller.

    We made some taco soup for dinner and Evie ate so much. That must be one of her favorite meals because she barely made a peep. Carl has been watching the UT- Carolina game so we had dessert in the den. Evie was practically lapping the ice-cream right out of the bowl. Then she finished up my bowl too!  She loves her sweets just like her Mommy.

Christmas Recap

We had a pretty crazy drive to my parent's house and saw enough snow to last us for a long time. Evie was so excited to see her Nana and Ipop. We think it is so amazing how she knows just where we are as soon as we get to their neighborhood. We had a quick dinner before opening presents. Evie received lots of wonderful items. My parents gave her a Bitty Baby and she gasped when she saw it. That was pretty cute! My brother gave her a huge stuffed springer spaniel and a food cutting kit. Evie was so happy with all of her new toys.


We woke up the next morning and got ready for the day. My grandmother and aunt came over for lunch. Evie got even more presents including snow boots, a Mrs. Potato Head and a pink riding pony. Evie just loves presents now. My parents babysat Evie while we went out to eat with our sweet friends Candice and Carl. It was just like old times since we left our kids with their grandparents.


Tuesday was a laid back day relaxing at home. We did go to Best Buy to get Evie a surprise for the trip back to Tennessee. Evie and I both took long naps. Everyone else watched movies. Carl and Ben took Evie to pick up pizza. Ben got everyone a special dessert of fried oreos. Yummy.


We had a wonderful Christmas. Our trip back home went well with Evie's surprise of a DVD player. She loved watching her "shows", reading all her new books, playing with her new baby and petting her doggie. Traveling is a lot easier with the help of Elmo and Sid the Science Kid. We only stopped once which is amazing for a 420 mile trip.


Evie started talking about cookies when we pulled in our neighborhood. I figured that she was ready for a snack. Evie ran in the house and found her tray of cookies and started baking them in her oven. Her boys gave her the cookies and she loves them.


Our house is a total disaster with boxes and bags everywhere! Maybe I can make a dent tomorrow on it. Carl goes back to work. Evie and I have loved having him home for the last eight days.

  We had a wonderful Christmas with our families!

Merry Christmas

We have had a fabulous Christmas! It was so special waking up to a white Christmas in our own home. Evie was so excited to see what Santa brought her. We were not sure what to expect but she knew just what to do. Evie went straight to her kitchen and started cooking away. She put her oven mitts on and went to town. Her chair was a big hit too. She sat right down and read Elmo some books. We did not get Evie tons of stuff and she had a blast with all of her toys.


Carl really surprised me with an iPad. I love it and it is so much easier than a laptop. Carl loved his sled and might get to use it soon from the weather reports we are seeing on television.


We had a nice breakfast before Carl's parents left for Atlanta. They took the snow to Evie's cousins. We were sad to see them go but are so glad they came to be with us for Christmas. Carl really appreciated them being here for his birthday.


Evie played outside in the snow and then we had some hot chocolate. We had lots of time for playing with all of her new toys. Evie was so impressed that Santa brought her some jelly beans. I am pretty sure that she had about 100 jelly beans today. YIKES! It's a good thing Christmas only comes once a year.


Evie and I napped while Carl checked out the weather. Evie played a bit before we headed back outside. We had fun hanging out with our neighbors in the snow. Evie loved all their toys especially their John Deere gator.


We came inside to warm up. Evie decided she was ready for something healthy and nutritious. We started packing for our adventure to my parent's house in the morning in the snow. It looks a little crazy out there but we will take it slow and are so excited to see my parents and brother. Evie will be thrilled to have Christmas all over again tomorrow!


Carl prepared the filet's and we had a delicious dinner celebrating his birthday. We had a wonderful, relaxing Christmas. There was no agenda. We just did what we wanted to do. Carl got his fill of the The Weather Channel, I snacked and slept, Evie played and we had lots of family time together.  It was so special being in our home and seeing Evie really experience the magic of Christmas. Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve!

We had a nice, low-key Christmas Eve. Fresh Market and Puffy Muffin were are only adventures. I needed steak for Carl's birthday dinner tomorrow and some sweet treats for myself.

   We tried a new church and really liked it. Lots of kids and young families, granted it was Christmas Eve but we felt encouraged for the first time since we moved to Nashville. It was a beautiful service and we even saw our photographer. Evie looked so precious in her sweet little dress.

   We came home and had our Christmas dinner with Tony and Sheila. Evie has had a ball with her grandparents. Two more people that think she is just perfect! We enjoyed a yummy dinner and Evie stayed up late to be with us. I told her there would be a surprise after dinner. She's really into surprises these days. The surprise was cake for her Daddy's birthday!

   Carl and I put her to bed and we are so excited about tomorrow. Way more excited than she will be but it's so fun to be Santa. We had fun putting all her stuff under the tree and filling her stocking with care. Christmas will be so much fun with our Evie. We are so thrilled to be spending Christmas in our home for the first time ever! It will be so wonderful to relax in our own home without traveling or rushing around. I am hoping for a lazy day watching Evie play with all of her new toys.

   Wishing you a joyous Christmas morning celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ!

Getting Excited for Christmas

Evie is getting excited about Christmas. She loves all the presents under the tree and seeing all the Santa's everywhere.

   We had a good family day yesterday. Carl needed an oil change so we dropped his truck off before we headed out for our adventures. Our first stop was Goodwill for a Christmas sweater for a party that we are going to tomorrow night. It was time for lunch so we tried a new spot. They did not have highchairs so Evie sat in the booth with us. She loves to go out to eat and get a big girl cup. The cup got a hole in it and lemonade went everywhere. Our food was good but that was an exhausting lunch.

    We came home for naps and then I went to run a few errands. Carl worked on getting Evie's new kitchen set ready which took some concentration. We were ready for bed last night.

         We woke up this morning to prepare for Carl's parents. Evie was so excited to see her Sheshe and Poppy. She had so much fun investigating all the new toys and luggage coming in the house. Poppy and Sheshe gave her a little toy wand filled with candy. Evie was so happy watching the snowman twirl and talking about her "tee tacs" in the wand.  We had some Brunswick stew for lunch and the Evie napped a bit.

   Sheila needed to pick up a few things so we headed out for a bit. Traffic was crazy but the stores were not that bad at all. Evie was awake when we got home. Everyone besides me went for a walk. It's too cold for me!

    Dinner was our last meal swap meal and it was so delicious! I cannot wait for the next meal swap. Evie loved dessert best and devoured her peppermint ice cream.

Christmas Card

I LOVE getting all the beautiful Christmas cards in the mail and look forward to sending ours out every year. There was an article in the paper today about how Christmas cards are going out of style and that every year the number of people sending them declines. That makes me so sad! Sweet Birdie's Nest did our cards and we just loved them. I found a card at Costco but it was so expensive. More than $500 for only 100 cards. I sent the card to Beverly and Heidi and they created a beautiful replica for me. I save our cards in a little red album and it's so fun to look back at how we have changed as a family. Wishing you a Merry Christmas!!!

Weekend Wrap-up!

Our weekend got off to a sweet start on Friday. Evie and I went to a cookie swap. It was a lot of temptation for my little cookie monster. She just did not understand why all the children were happy playing while there were hundreds of cookies sitting on the dining room table. We had some delicious cookies! Evie thought it was a fabulous idea once she was able to sample all the cookies.

      We did a little Christmas shopping that afternoon. I was not expecting Evie to enjoy it too much since we went without the stroller. Mommy was wrong. Evie had a blast looking at all the pretty lights, festive decorations and all the different people. She got her very own shopping bag at our favorite store Hot Pink with her bows inside. Evie was so proud to have her own bag and showed it to everyone that she met. Carl came home with a pizza for dinner.

    Saturday was a divide and conquer type of day. Carl took Evie shopping and I went by myself. I spent a lot of time looking for Christmas cards with a place for a picture. We had the cutest cards made by Sweet Birdie's Nest but I ran out of them. OOPS! You know it has been a great year when you run out of cards. We are so thankful to have made so many new friends in 2010. I finally found some cards!

       I was exhausted from my shopping excursion so our afternoon was spent on the couch watching mindless television. We took Evie to Blue Coast Burrito for dinner and I got a second wind after she went to bed.

        Evie woke up 3 times last night! Let's hope this is not going to be our new normal. We are not sure what was wrong with her but she was not too happy. She slept late this morning but we have still been exhausted all day!

           We had a nice day at home although nothing happened the way we had hoped it would. That's okay, we had fun with our sweet girl. We are experiencing a heat wave. The high was 43 which is the warmest it has been in quite some time. Our favorite part of the weekend was eating peppermint ice cream with hot fudge sauce. YUMMY. It was even more special because we spread a towel out in the den and had a little picnic. It's the simple things that are always the most fun. We are so excited about this week because Carl only has to work tomorrow and then he is off for the next 8 days. Tuesday is our family day and we are still trying to decide what to do. It's supposed to rain. Carl's parents come on Wednesday to spend Christmas with us and then we head to my parents on Sunday. It's going to be so fun experiencing the magic of Christmas with Evie especially since there is a chance of a White Christmas!

23 Months Old!

Dear Evie,

   You are 23 months old today! It's amazing to see you change by the minute. Some things never change, you still love your babies, Raffi goes everywhere (and I really do mean everywhere) with us and you make us laugh all day long.

   You weigh about 28 pounds. Daddy thinks you get taller every day. You can see right over the kitchen table now, We can remember when you could walk under it.

    You have learned to point out things as your own. Eh- e's cookies, Eh-e's toy, Eh-e's shoes! You also know what objects belong to Mommy and Daddy. It's so cold that we always wear our coats and you always say "Mommy coat" when I put your coat on so that I will not forget my own coat.

       School is really fun for you! I hear about school all week. It's so cute to see you walking down the hall to your classroom with your backpack on your back and Raffi in your arms. You went right into your classroom this morning and waved "bye-bye" to me.That made me so happy that you were so happy to be at school.

     You are still a great sleeper! Bedtime is at 7 and you have been waking up between 8 and 8:30 for the past two weeks. Let's keep it up! Mommy loves this especially when Daddy is out of town and I can sleep late too. Naptime was crazy last week because of your coughing but you are back on track with your three hour naps. Mommy loves this time and would appreciate it greatly if you could keep it up until you go to Kindergarten.

      Some days you eat and some days you do not! It's so amusing because you more than make up for the lack of eating on the days you do eat. You can eat more than me when you set your mind to it.

        Snow is one of your new favorite words. You had so much fun playing in the snow and point out snow in your books and magazines. We made cookies this afternoon and you were convinced that the flour was snow.

     You do everything we do from reading the newspaper to trimming your fingernails. I love to see you put your contact lenses in your eyes and drink your coffee in the morning, Sometimes you prefer tea but you love to refer to your drinks as coffee. I must say, "it's okay" a lot because you say it all day long and can tell if it's not okay. Then you say," Mommy okay?"

       Evie, you are talking in sentences quite a bit. Some of my favorites are: "I said out.", "Mmm, that's good.", and "I see lights."

    We took you to see Santa and you were not exactly thrilled to be there! Ho Ho is on your mind and you talk about him all the time. You point Santa out everywhere you see him and love that he is riding on a John Deere at a house nearby. Christmas is going to be really fun with you! I sing you Christmas songs before you go to sleep and it always makes me teary. Those words are so much more meaningful now that I am your mother. You have figured out that I am singing Christmas songs because you ask for "Ho Ho" when I sing so I always throw in a round of Must be Santa or Santa Clause is coming to Town. I just love rocking you and holding you! It's such a sweet time for me at the end of the day. All the colorful lights have captured your attention and you love seeing all the light displays. You have two nativity sets that keep you quite entertained. You can identify a few of the pieces and like to put both of the Baby Jesus figurines in the same nativity set. Mommy loves Christmas cards and you do too! We sit on the kitchen floor every afternoon and look through all of our cards. It's so fun to see your reaction to the different families. You love the baby cards best!

       Evie, you are so special to us in so many ways. We are so thankful for your health, your lively personality and your kindness to others. We cannot get enough your hugs and kisses and constant cuddles. We feel so privileged to have you as our precious daughter! You are loved by so many and have brought joy to everyone in your life. Can you believe that the next letter that I write will be to my 2 year old daughter? Time is going by so quickly and we are filling up on memories that will last us a lifetime. Precious, amazing memories of being your parents! We are having a ball living life with you.

Love,

Mommy and Daddy