Way to go Cougars!

We had a fun yet cold Saturday! I froze all day long and it's going to way worse before it gets any better. We tried to find Evie a snowsuit this morning since we are expecting more snow but were unsuccessful. At least in finding one that is a reasonable price for someone that is growing by leaps and bounds. Evie wore her College of Charleston in support of her COugars! It must have worked because the beat Wofford tonight. Sorry Uncle Kurt! That shirt is the one piece of clothing that we own that Baby Boy Niemeyer can wear as well as Evie.

    I was in need of some coffee again so we swung by Starbucks. January is the best time for free coffee and it's when I use all of my gift cards.

   We had a low-key afternoon at home before heading to Jacob's birthday party. Evie took a very short nap so we were a little worried about how she would do but she had a blast with Jacob and his friend Tyler. It was a super fun party! Evie loved decorating the cookies shaped liked number 2's and of course eating cake. She was very helpful at assisting Jacob with unwrapping his presents and she gave him lots of birthday love. Evie loves to kiss Jacob! We were relieved that she did not kiss Tyler since it was the first time she met him. That would be a little too forward! Anna performed her role as the birthday boys sister perfectly. I did not hear her peep the entire time and she was so happy snuggling with her Nana. Second children sure seem less high maintenance.

   Evie's party is tomorrow and I am second guessing my decision to have it at a party place. I just could not handle all those kids in my house not to mention the mess! Peek a Boo takes care of the mess and I just bring the cake. We are excited to see all of Evie's friends in one place and celebrate that our sweet baby girl is turning 2.  It will be interesting to see Evie's reaction to it being her own birthday party!

My Little Monkey

Evie and I had a busy morning with a trip to get a monogram, a coffee break and a stop at Monkey Joe's to play with our friends. Evie got so very excited to see all the fun inflatables and had a blast. It was fun for me too but the first thirty minutes were the best because it got pretty crowded around 10:45-11:00. Evie showed zero signs of separation anxiety and had a blast playing with all her friends. Of course, I made the mistake of commenting that I could not believe how well she was doing. BAM, there she was wanting me to tag along with her inside all the inflatables. No wonder, they make you sign a waiver, it's pretty crazy in there! We had fun and hope to go back soon.

     Nap time was in order for us both after our busy morning. Evie went down earlier than usual so we had time for two quick errands after nap. She knew that we were near Monkey Joe's and kept asking me to "play." That girl has a really terrific sense of direction!

   She is eating again! My secret weapon is a King's Hawaiian Roll with ham and cheese. She LOVED it. No wonder, it has 6 grams of fat per roll so it's not the healthiest bread available. However, it is so good! Lindsay suggested Buddy Fruits which were a hit too. Evie sucked down four of those today so at least she got 200 calories in her little body.

   Carl and Evie took the lights off her little playhouse this afternoon and played with her wagon a little. It's supposed to snow this weekend. Evie is really good at identifying snow now. She learned a bunch of new words again today. My two favorite are sprinkles and bank. Her cookie at Publix at sprinkles and she pointed them out to everyone who came within a three foot radius of our cart. I LOVE this age! She has so much zest for life and every single day is new and exciting to her.

Fun Day

Evie and I had a fun day although Evie has had major separation anxiety. We went to Little Cottage to get her a few things. They have a fabulous play area which usually entertains her beautifully. Not this morning, Evie wanted to be with me. I kept hearing her sweet little voice saying Mommy trying to find me in the store. I found a cute little dress and she carried it around the store happy as a little clam. She just likes to be a part of every thing that  am doing.

   Our next stop was a trial music class with our MOMS group! I loved it but am not willing to drive 20 plus minutes for a music class. It was held at a huge church and it was a major production to get to the classroom. Strollers were a definite plus considering the distance! Many of the kids cried as they came into the room because they recognized it as a church nursery with name tags, sign in sheets and they all thought we were leaving. Evie was not so sure at first but once she figured out that I was staying for class too she settled right down. She had a BLAST until the teacher took her drum away which really annoyed her. Evie was not finished with the drum and she let everyone know it. She also did not like it when they turned off the lights for the lullaby. I kept hearing her chant "light" as if they would magically come on. It was so cute to see Evie so happy and really enjoying herself during the class. She danced off a bunch of energy and loved all the musical instruments. One mom told me that Evie was dancing like a little Indian girl!

   Evie has not been into food today although she did eat 2.5 clementines. That has to count for something! I figure she will eat when she is hungry but I like to document this for future reference with Baby Boy! Carl came home so I could get my hair done and she did not eat for him either so at least she provides us both with similar experiences. She had an anxiety fit before I left which is so rare since she LOVES playing with her Daddy because he is way more fun!

Evie and I were talking this afternoon about her brother and I mentioned that he would sleep in the crib. I asked her if he could sleep in her crib with her and she was quite adamant that was not a good idea so then I suggested that he sleep in her crib and she gets a new one. She did not like that either although she liked the idea of moving into our office! We love to go check on her at night but it wakes her up since she is the world's lightest sleeper besides for me. She sits right up in her crib and looks at us like we are crazy before she goes back to sleep with her Raffi.

   Evie learned a bunch of new words today: rail, yes, peel, bathtub, soap, mop, sweep, Cheerio and drum. It still amazes me that some words seem so basic yet some words are not really even part of a day to day vocabulary. I am thrilled that she learned to say yes and am hopeful that we begin to hear more of yes and less of no from Evie.

Music Day!

Evie woke up so happy this morning and ready to read so we sat in her room reading books. She was so content reading in her chair that I had a chance to organize some drawers and put away some clothes. We finally got around to eating breakfast around 9. Evie did not eat much of anything today.

   We went to Whole Foods to see The Zinghopper's. Evie had a blast singing and dancing. She also announced that she wanted a snack as soon as we got to the bakery. Smart girl!

    Kindermusik started back today and we had a nice time. I am trying to decide if we are going to continue. Evie likes it but I feel like there are so many more things we can do now that she is older and I love not having standing commitments. We are trying another music class tomorrow with our Brentwood MOMS group so maybe it will be geared more towards active toddlers.

    Evie is starting to make lots of connections! I ordered some soap for her that Carl loves and is  IMPOSSIBLE to find in the stores. She opened it right up and said, "soap, shower" to me and was all set to hop in the shower with her Daddy. We were preparing dinner together and I was chopping veggies for the salad. I reminded her that knives are sharp and she left the room. She came back in the kitchen with her play knife and knew that they were similar. Things like this are happening all the time and are a constant reminder at how hard her brain is working at processing all the new information she is learning.

Lunch with Friends

Thank you so much for all of your kind words! We are thrilled about our baby and look forward to becoming a family of 4 in July.  Evie and I stayed home all day and had a wonderful day! Our friends the Porter's came over for playtime and lunch. We had such a good time. Anna makes having a second child look easy. Kristin had to feed her once and other than that she slept or hung out in her infant carrier. It was so nice to have a baby in the house and imagine us with our baby boy this summer. Evie was pretty interested in Anna but I do not let her get close. She blew her some kisses and all three kiddos laid down in a row while Anna had a diaper change. That was pretty cute! Evie gave Jacob lots of hugs and kisses too. She sure is an affectionate little girl. Evie and Jacob ate a great lunch. We had chicken and wild rice soup, veggie squares and hummus dip. My SIL  gave me the recipe and it's so easy. Take a container of pine nut hummus, spread it in a dish, cut up some cucumber and sprinkle on top. Then top with feta cheese. It is so delicious! Jacob and Evie helped me test my cupcake plan for Evie's birthday. I am thinking cupcakes will be easier for her party and both kids had so much fun devouring their cupcake. Evie wanted another one after lunch which reminds me that it sure would be tasty with a glass of milk. We had do to perform a major clean up after lunch but the cupcakes were a hit.

   Evie slept and I organized our room a little. I have been so lazy lately and my entire house needs to be reorganized. There is not one cabinet or closet in my house that looks the way it did a few months back.

   Evie and I did a few things around the house after nap and played with her new kitchen. She is still loving it but loves it best when I play with her. Evie is a very independent reader and will sit for long stretches with her books but she likes for her parents to play with her a lot. We love it! Evie is very attached to her new Bitty Baby and I captured a few shots of her mothering Sadie.

    We were so happy to see Carl come home. It was so nice having him home but it also feels good to be back in our routine. I am a schedule kind of person and we have lacked a schedule for several weeks. We had fun skyping with our friends the McDonald's in Charleston. Evie and Hudson are just a few weeks apart and now we are both having babies this summer too.

    Hope you had  a great day too!

Evie is going to be a Big Sister!!!!

We are so excited to announce that we are expecting our second baby! It still seems like Evie is brand new but she will be 2 next week. Babies seem to happen quickly with us so we were a little surprised but thrilled at the same time. Around Halloween, I started feeling like I was pregnant and took a few dollar store tests. They all came out negative but I knew something was different. I waited another week and bought the real deal - the EPT and it turned to pregnant in a flash!

    Carl was upstairs skyping with his friend. I waited - not so patiently - for him to get off the computer. While, he was upstairs I placed a hamburger bun in the oven with a pink and blue ribbon wrapped around the bun. He finally came downstairs and I told him that something was wrong with the oven and to please check it. I could not believe it but he did not even notice our bun in the oven. He finally saw it and we both were so happy!

    I was able to get an appointment for that week with my doctor and she confirmed that I was indeed expecting a baby. Due date is July 9 so it will be totally different having a baby in the summer. Evie was born on a cold January night.

    We told our parents at Thanksgiving and they were so excited too. Evie wore her Big Sister shirt to share the news and both sets of grandparents figured it out real quick. It was so hard not to tell but we kept it a secret for a long time from most people.

    I am 13 weeks pregnant and thank goodness I can finally tell. People were probably starting to think that I must have indulged in too many cookies over Christmas.

    We had an ultrasound this morning and the technician is positive that we are expecting a baby boy! What a blessing to have a healthy baby but we are also looking forward to experiencing life with one of each.  We will know with more accuracy in a few weeks but it looked pretty obvious! Either way, we will be thrilled to have a new baby to love in our family! Evie loved watching the baby on the screen and definitely knows that there is a baby in my belly!

   Yes, I am nervous about having two kids since some days I can barely handle Evie! Several of my friends who have 2 have assured me that something just clicks and that I will figure out how to balance it all. I sure hope so! Evie and her Baby Brother will be 30 months apart in age.
I have a feeling our life is about to get a lot crazier!

Happy New Year!

Our 2011 got off to a great start. Evie slept until 9 which was so wonderful for us. We made some muffins before heading to the REI blow-out sale.Some people were really into this sale but we did not find anything that we needed.

   Evie is chattering away and it is amazing how quickly her vocabulary has grown in just a few short days. She loves band-aids but she calls them mermaids. I think it's pretty cute.

   Our friends the Onello's came over for an early dinner. We prepared the traditional Southern fare of pork tenderloin, greens, cornbread and our favorite macaroni and cheese. I tried to make some Hopin' John but it did not turn out this year so we had some black eyed-peas on the side. It was so good to see the Onello's. Carl had not met Sydney and Tori yet. They are such good babies and just blend in with whatever we are doing. Evie was so excited when Abby got to our house and was trying to lead her all over the house. She also kissed her and hugged her more than Abby probably would have liked. Evie loves Abby so much and has been talking about her all day.

   We went to church this morning and Evie enjoyed having so many kids to play with in the nursery. They said she cried for 10 minutes but settled down as more kids came into the nursery. Carl and I were really impressed with the four childcare workers and liked that they had beepers.

    We had a pretty lazy afternoon. Evie and I both took naps and Carl has watched lots of football. Carl and I went in the living room to take down the tree and I thanked Carl for starting on the tree. He said that he had not done anything but we spotted this on the couch.

 It appears that our two little girls gave the tree a headstart last night since the bottom third of the ornaments were missing. I was thrilled that they helped out! Our house is slowly getting back to normal. Hope your 2011 is off to a fantastic start!