Boom boom

Rain, lightning, and most important, thunder; were the excitement of the weekend. On Friday evening there was a wicked storm that came on quick and dumped buckets. (Originally we had planned to go camping on Friday and Saturday nights… turns out we were lucky Patrick had to work late) Anyway, we started out on the front porch watching the rainfall… Evie and I even ran through it a bit, but just a bit because she got a little scared…. Then we moved to the more sheltered back porch and hung out and watched the trees bend, the thunder boom and the rain fall. Every time it thundered Genevieve would get a little nervous so we would turn to her and make light of it by saying “boom, boom.”

On Saturday (after a detour to the tire shop because of a cracked sidewall on one of the jeep's tires) we ditched our warm abode and drove the hour up to Mt. Lemmon and the Rose Canyon Lake campground. We were pretty excited to try out our new tent that I bought about four months ago. I had no idea when I bought it just how large it was… I have named it gargantor… Needless to say it is a huge step up from our little two man backpacking tent and has enough room inside to house a small army so it was pretty spacious for the four of us…. Maybe a little too spacious because Kita spent most of the night going from window to window pacing around. In the old tent she could barely stand up so we never really had that problem. Anyway, after we had the tent all set up we went for a little walk down to the lake and then I tried my hand a vegan car camping fare… I think it turned out pretty well but you’d have to ask Patrick for an honest opinion.



Overall it was a nice night out. The best part though was as we were all snuggled up together laying down to sleep for the night there was some thunder in the distance. I was a little afraid Evie would get scared and start crying but instead she laid there listening and then after awhile after a particularly loud clap of thunder she whispered… boom boom.

Socialite

Genevieve was quite the pint sized socialite this past weekend. On Friday Monica, Jason, Amelia and Soren came over (no pictures of Soren... all of the ones I took turned out to be a blur!) for dinner and a little play.



Then on Saturday Evie came with me to the Mamma Bookclub which (of course) doubles as a play date. At book club she had all sorts of fun getting into trouble with her fellow walkers Ila and Joe. Then Saturday night we went to Ben, Annie and Maxine's house to celebrate Ben's new book, A Boy and His Shadow. There were more awesome friends to play with there and... quite possibly the highlight of the weekend... a couch to jump on.



Then on Sunday Evie hung out at the racquetball club daycare and played with all sorts of kids while Patrick taught me how to use the weight machines. Finally, last, but certainly not least, Evie and I hung out at Ksenija, David and Joe's house with Haylee, Mark and Jameson because Ksenija and her family are moving to Takoma at the end of the month. They took us all over to the pool at the park and the three kids played and played and played! What a great weekend!!

A day in the life....

Generally I write about the exciting and unusual… you know struggles over finding a breast pump, torturous sleep schedules, unique bowel movements… I thought, especially for those of you who don’t get to spend “normal” days with Evie, I’d track our movements and the environment for a day a report (or rather blog) back. So here is what I found. The day is question is last Friday, July 11th.

5:45 am – Evie wakes to a very wet morning… it is actually only 72 degrees outside. I pick her up out of her bed and she says “gimme bear” then take the bear and gives him a big hug, a bear-hug if you will (ohhh sorry, couldn’t resist)
6:00 am – To the kitchen for banana and some spinach-scramble eggs (I’ve found that I can hide the spinach in the eggs and actually get her to eat it!)
6:45 am – Flop onto the bed to wake up Patrick
7:00 am – Run around the kitchen while we drink coffee. The dog food and water must, of course, be placed on the counter before she is allowed to run amok, otherwise there would be water and mushy food everywhere.
8:00 am – Says bye-bye and iloveyou to Patrick as he leaves for work.
8:30 am – Change the poopie diaper and jump into the car to go to the park and then the zoo!
9:00 am – Zoo opens. The monkeys were howling and jumping and Evie got very excited watching them. The lion was roaring too but she wasn’t nearly as interested in him as she was those monkeys. I let her out of the pack to walk around the aviary and she trotted off after one of the ducks who looked decidedly nervous about his little stalker. After about 45 minutes we played in the water park type area and she got sprayed by another kid, she did not like this at all and started to cry a little bit. I asked her if she wanted to go and she gave me an emphatic NO but also didn’t want to let go of my hand. We hung out there for a little while longer and then, all nice and wet, jumped back in the car and went home.
10:30 am – clean diaper and a nap.
12:00 pm – Woke up from nap, received a fresh diaper and then ate one of the frozen cream cheese lunches that I make en masse for her.
12:30 pm – Went out to Pollywogs baby resale store to trade in some clothes and sundries. Evie was very fond of the stuffed animals and the dolls. In the end I bought her: wooden car, cool cloth book with a little stuffed bear that you can remove and dress, three outfits and some awesome new shoes.
1:00 pm – Went to Bed, Bath and Beyond for some new storage containers
1:30 pm – Across the street to Trader Joe’s for the bi-weekly grocery trip. Evie kept grabbing the items out of the cart (once it was full enough) and handing them to me. At Trader Joe’s we saw Jenna, one of the nurses from my pregnancy class group, she said hi to Evie, but Genevieve was pretty shy with her. At the checkout Evie “helped” the cashier by handing him items to scan, she received a purple balloon for all her hard work!
2:30 pm – Home again for a snack of pita, tomatoes, grapes and a plum while I put away the groceries. She then helped me with the laundry by carrying one side of the basket and putting some of the laundry in the wash (and some on the floor…just to prove that she is not the totally helpful toddler)
2:45 pm – Bounces around the house playing with her toys, she was especially into the owl puppet that Uncle Brendy bought for her.
3:30 pm – Nap
4:30 pm – Wakes up, gets a clean diaper and eats a little pre-dinner snack of cheese and milk.
5:00 pm – More playtime. I sat with her at the piano and played some kids songs we have and tried to sing them to her. She seemed to enjoy just sitting there with me while I plunked out the songs.
5:30 pm – Patrick comes home. Evie is in the living room… she has figured out how to get on top of the piano stool and is playing the piano herself. We push the chair in so she can’t get on it and she gets upset.
6:00 pm – Dinnertime. Friday night vegan pizza special… (on my third try of making pizza from scratch I finally cook the thing all the way through!) Evie eats a little of the pizza, she really doesn’t like the tofu sausages (which, I swear, are awesome) because they are too spicy. She put one in her mouth and then, much to our dismay, spit it out onto the floor with surprising force.
6:45 pm – Bathtime! Now whenever you say bath Genevieve gets really excited and runs to the bathroom. She and Patrick take a bath together and brush her teeth.
7:15 pm – P.J.s and then the evening walk. Part of her bedtime routine is to walk around the neighborhood in the Ergo.
7:30 pm – Back from the walk. Patrick is tired so I put her to bed. This entails three stories and followed by three songs.
8:00 pm – Evie is happily cuddled up with her blankie and her doll, corelle and out for the night!

Whew what a day!

Fourth of July

As Patrick and I drove up to the cabin at Blue on July 3rd we discussed how we couldn't remember what we were doing for most of our July 4ths over the past five years. No longer able to blame such lapses on a lack of sleep; we determined that we just would have to do something exciting this 4th of July to make it memorable.





Well I am happy to report that we did not do anything exciting per se this holiday, we didn't even make it up to Alpine for fireworks, but that it was most certainly memorable. Genevieve hung out and played all weekend long, alternating between the jacuzzi, the stream, the sand by the stream, the front "yard" of the cabin and the bathtub. The common thread was definitely water. In fact on Sunday Evie managed to take a dip in the jacuzzi, play in the stream, bathe in the bath and swim in a lake (Lake Roper outside of Safford) all in one day!

It is always hard to leave the cabin, especially when my folks get to stay! But I am happy to report that it has started to rain here in Tucson... always my favorite time of the year!

Vocab lesson

As I mentioned last week Genevieve has gone from a totally unintelligible chatterbox to a mildly understandable chatterbox. When I was about this age my mother wrote down all of my words and their “meanings” and saved it for me; so I thought it would be cool to do the same for Evie. Not to mention the fact that it is a handy guide to give to anyone who is taking care of her and doesn’t naturally know the lingo. So here it is; vocab lesson a la Genevieve at almost 15 months:

• Milkie – pronounced noilkie = any liquid
• Cookie = all food, except for cheese
• Cheese = the good old cow stuff
• Balloo = balloon (she surprised me at trader joes this week by asking for one by name)
• Uppie = up and down
• Cuppie = cup
• Shoe = self explanatory
• Bath = the good old daily wash (and yes it is daily now… her eating habits are just to messy to do anything else)
• Eye = your eye, her eye any eye that she can poke a finger in
• Noooe = nose
• Book = big or small, this one also occasionally gets “ie”d to become bookie
• Blankie = usually means her green and white blanket that Lara made for her but can also refer to a towel or other cuddly object
• Duck = those yellow tub guys, also frequently gets “ie”d
• Baby = anyone smaller than her
• Car = those large tin boxes we ride around in
• Go = get me outta here
• Hot = anything with more heat than a fridge
• Keys = self explanatory and a personal favorite for stealing
• Hat = yup you guessed it, that thing that goes on your head to keep the sun out of your eyes
• Wow = expression for anything she deems to be exciting, new or fun
• Yes = hallelujah we finally got her to say yes! Usually accompanied by an emphatic nod.
• Give me = duh, give it to me. I am trying to turn this one into “please”… I know, good luck.
• Thank you = usually only uttered when we tell her to, but occasionally we get an unsolicited thank you
• The golden oldies of vocab: No, Hello, Bye-bye, Daddy, Mommy, Uh-oh, tickle, cat and doggie.

And, finally, my personal favorite: I Love You

ChicWOWgo

Last week the whole clan packed it up and took off to Chicago. Patrick had a conference/training deal-o there and I thought it would be fun to take advantage of a nice hotel room in the city! (Plus Patrick didn’t want to spend too many nights away from his “girls”) It was great for me because I was able to visit with a friends from grad school (Sara came by the first night before leaving for a trip to Las Vegas) and college.




The theme of the trip was WOW. Evie has recently converted from an unintelligible chatterbox to a marginally understandable chatterbox. One of her new favorite words is wow. On our first day we went to Millennium park and took part in some fun free kids festivities that included a circus show. As the jugglers juggled and the balancers balanced she started clapping and saying “wow”. I was soo amazed because this was the first time she was really saying things all on her own in reaction to something abstract as opposed to just the good old doggie or milkie.



The wows continued into the next day when we took a trip to the Art Institute. Patrick and I would show her a painting and she would look up at it and say wow. Although, quite frankly, it was the sculptures that really caught her eye. Fortunately for her the whole basement of the Art Institute is kid friendly and included a number of touchable works of art.

The biggest wow of the vacation was definitely Saturday morning at the Shed Aquarium. I let Genevieve out of her backpack and allowed her to wander around the exhibits. She would toddle up to an exhibit, smush her little nose on the glass, look back at me and then proclaim, “wow”. We stood at the Caribbean reef exhibit for at least 15 minutes (which to a 14 month old is the equivalent to 3 years I think).



On Saturday afternoon we went to visit my good friends from college Rachel and Lara and Rachel’s husband Mike made us a fabulous lunch. Rachel is pregnant and I am a bit afraid that Evie’s visit put the fear of baby-proofing god into them…. Don’t worry guys you have plenty of time before you need to do it ☺

When not out and about, Evie and I spent quality time in our hotel room. The biggest wow-factor here was the huge window complete with a ledge big enough for her to stand on. Literally every morning I had to drink my coffee and stand behind her (in case she got too brave and tried to walk along the ledge) for a good 20 minutes while she wowed at the street below.



Overall it was a fabulous trip and I was a bit sad to see it end because Evie and I really got to spend 5 solid days of mommy/daughter time, just a reminder I guess to do it again and again.

A hairdresser I am not...

OK. I give up. How the heck to other moms with little girls get their hair to be so darn cute? I have given this my best shot, honestly, and all I can come up with is a daughter who looks like an escapee from a Dr. Seuss book. Everywhere I go I see little darlings all dressed up with enviable pigtails and other forms of cutsy up-dos.

As I see it I have a couple of (pretty significant) forces working against me in my quest to be a master baby hair doer. 1) The only time Evie stays in one place for more than T-minus 10 seconds is when she is asleep (and even then you only get about a minute before she tussles one way or the next) 2) Having never really had luxurious locks of my own I have very little experience in this department and 3) The hair clip for the extremely fine-haired baby like my own has yet to be invented.

So I guess for the time being she will just have to be a stunt double for a Sneech (hopefully she won’t really be a snooty starry sneech though)

Paper Products

About a year ago Patrick’s Dad, Gerry, came to live with us for awhile because Monique, Patrick’s step-mom, was helping us watch Genevieve while I worked and Patrick studied for the Bar. One of his biggest concerns with our lifestyle was the serious lack of “paper products.” Gerard was appalled at the notion that we would not have any paper towels or paper napkins and only two or three spare rolls of toilet paper in the house at any given time. Living without an abundance of paper products was, well, not quite living. I thought this paper-rich lifestyle choice to a bit odd at first but have since accepted it as just another way of approaching a problem. (I myself am a cloth rag girl, for everything but toilet paper of course). Having accepted his way of life; whenever Gerry and Monique come to visit I make sure to go buy the jumbo pack of toilet paper and a few rolls of paper towels just so that they can feel at ease.

As it turns out my early acceptance of this lifestyle is a good thing because the “paper products” gene apparently skips a generation. Yes Gerard you will be happy to know that your granddaughter shares your penchant for paper products. Unlike her Abu, however, Evie is not satisfied with just an abundance of paper in the house. Oh no our little paper princess loves it so much that she feels the need to not only immerse herself in it but also to trail it around the house like a blankie. And all this would be messy but none too problematic, but Evie must, as is per usual, take it step further and has acquired a taste for paper, and therefore insists on carrying any paper she finds around with her like a snack, taking little munches here and there as the hunger takes her... (And yes I do think this is a comment on my cooking….)

Alas, I was originally hoping that the paper obsession was just a phase…. Given her family history, however, I fear it is going to be a permanent problem!

Snow days?!

The whole crew headed up to the cabin on the Blue this past weekend. Only this year it was not to escape the heat… in fact in Tucson last weekend it was a gorgeous 70ish degrees… which meant it was downright cold and in fact SNOWY up in the mountains. We drove through honest to goodness snow for about 2 of the 5 hour trip up to the aptly named White Mountains. Originally Patrick and I had lofty plans of backpacking overnight sans Evie to celebrate our 6th anniversary which is this weekend. Well we are both pretty hard core, but neither of us are masochistic per se, so when we saw all the snow we decided to scrap the overnighter for a nice long 18 mile hike up a mountain (Mt. Baldy) as our anniversary date. By Sunday it had stopped snowing and in fact most snow (well really we thought all snow…ohh how wrong we were) had melted away.

Excited about the exertion we took off in our car just like the good old days, Kita was the only child again ☺ We, however, only got as far as Big Lake (about 20 miles from the foot of Mt. Baldy) where there was sooo much snow (like 5 ft) and the wind was whipping so hard I felt like I was back in Wisconsin. Now this didn’t deter us totally. What really put the kibosh on the climb was actually the fact that the road to the trailhead was closed, it hadn’t been plowed!! (I later found out that actually the road has been closed for a whole year now because they are doing work on it and only open it on the weekends during the summer)

Plan B now thwarted we moved on to C, which was to drive to Greer and get a big ole greasy breakfast (ohh yeah it is almost like hiking :) While in Greer we wandered into this great little gallery where I found a fabulous painting that I decided we had to have. The price was right and Patrick agreed it was beautiful so we decided to buy it. (Clearly hiking is more cost effective for us) Well the only problem with our beautiful art is that it is ohh about 5 ft by 4 ft large and we don’t have a terribly large car. Getting it back to the cabin was no problem because we didn’t have Genevieve with us… but getting it home was another story… one involving Kita riding home in the front seat, Patrick scrunched up into such a little ball that the normally steel stomached man got car sick and me driving a car with NO visibility whatsoever. Anyway to make an already long story not too much longer we arrived home safe and sound and the painted was unscathed. Woohoo adventures with the Lacroix clan.

On the baby front – Evie had a great time playing in the “wilderness” She mastered the not so easy task of walking on uneven ground with a only a few muddy nose dives, got to swing in her fancy new airplane swing, played along the Blue in the sand and even was allowed to stay up late and watch Indiana Jones with the big people!

The American Dream....

Ahh the American Dream: the car and the house with a shiny pool. Life is easy and you are living large. Friends come by and enjoy and celebrate your success... Well folks I am happy to say that at the ripe old age of 13 months Evie has achieved American-Dream Status. Yes, she worked hard to get here and is very grateful to those who helped her along the way: Nanny Nicole provided the sumptuous cottage, cousin Melissa the fast wheels and Nana Mary the luxurious baby-olympic-sized pool. (And of course a nod must be made to me, aka Mom, for turning a lovely shade of purple in my effort to blow up the gargantuan pool)

Now that her dream is complete she goes out everyday to survey and enjoy her kingdom. First she takes a ride in her car. So far she can only manage to propel it backwards on her own, a bit dangerous, but worry ye not she is very good about looking back over her shoulder to ensure she does not run over any residential cat or dog. If moving forward is required she must elicit the help of one of her big people; who are generally more than happy to oblige. Then, once the car is nice and warmed up, she “drives” herself home to her plush baby-mansion and does any number of domestic tasks: open and close the shutters and/or door, cook a meal at the sink or just sit inside and enjoy the tiny roof over her head with a nice snack (provided once again by her big people). Then she suits up and jumps into her aquarium pool. Splish splashing around without a care in the world one can hear the giggles of happiness, her squeals of joy and the sighs of content that can mean nothing but ahhh yesss I have arrived.

Finally. and this is the apex of her day, she gets to take the inhibiting swimsuit off (or at least mostly off… she insists that wearing the top as a hat sets off her eyes and who am I to argue). She then gets to enjoy the most important part of owning your own kingdom… running around in the buff without any reproachful roommates or nixing neigh sayers!

Hula!

My folks just got back from Hawaii this Friday... sounds like it was an awesome time! They brought back Evie this rockin' hula outfit which (much to my surprise) she loves to wear!!

Little Miss Bubble Mouth

I’ll admit it, Evie does not take a bath every day… or really most of the time even every other day. It is more like every two days or so, provided that there are no extenuating circumstances (most of which you really don’t want to know about, trust me). This lack of suds means that when she does take a bath she gets pretty excited about it. She splashes, squeals and generally has a good old time. Splashing and happy babble are welcome bath time activities. I am afraid, however, that not all of her bath happenings are quite so innocuous. One of her favorites is to “pretend” like she is drinking the shampoo bottle. Although we do not bathe her every night, we are not reckless parents. We always check to see that the bottle is closed before she begins her faux imbibing. Or so we thought….

Last week Patrick was giving her a bath while I was cleaning up from dinner (which Patrick proclaimed to be Space Food… but that is another story entirely). I went in to check on them and sat and watched while they played and noticed that, as is per usual, Genevieve was drinking the shampoo. I mentioned to Patrick that maybe we should take the bottle away from her because it isn’t exactly a desirable habit for her to have. He pooh-poohed me and proclaimed the bottle closed… no worries. We went one for a few more minutes talking while Evie splashed, and then, Evie looks right at me, smiles really big, opens her mouth and a HUGE bubble comes floating out as she begins to babble. Guess that bottle did have some soap in or around it eh? The look on her face was utter shock and disbelief at her ability to produce something she was sure only came from the magical little pink bubble stick and bottle. After her initial shock she realized the comedy in the situation and started giggling, the whole thing put Patrick and I in stitches too.

Needless to say that tonight during her bath duckies and cups were in abundance but shampoo bottles were decidedly not.

Nature girl....

Genevieve is a nature girl! Every morning the first thing she wants to do is go out back and play in the dewy grass. She will toddle over to the door, look longingly out the window and make her "I want that" noise (and of course say doggie if kita is outside too). The throughout the day whenever she disappears from sight it is always to go stand at the back door (or front door if it is open to the screen) and bang on it hoping she'll be let loose.

Her recent journeys into nature go beyond the backyard however. Two weeks ago, on my flex Friday, we went out to Sabino Canyon and went on a nice little hike. She rode on my back the whole time ohhing and aweing at the flowers, lizards, birds you name it. The highlight of that trip though was definitely the creek where she got all wet and messy. (She also learned that walking in a stream is no easy feat and would not let go of my hand because she was afraid to fall)

Another recent outdoor adventure was last weekend when my folks came down and we took them out to Tohono Chul park. (That is where the pictures are from) We had a great breakfast at their tea room and then walked around for a bit (not too long though because it is already getting hot!!) The park has a children's area that Evie thought was pretty cool... again the water feature/fountain was the biggest hit. (Ahh way into water, she must be my daughter :)

Then just today we went out to the zoo for the second time. She was much more into it this trip... pointing at all the animals and laughing at them. I even let her toddle around in one of the aviaries. She thought that was really cool until she came upon a bird with big eyes that kept squacking at her and clearly made her very nervous... she wouldn't walk past it and had me pick her up to go by it.... too cute.

OMGTC phase

Over the past few weeks Evie has entered an exciting phase of her development… the oh-my-god-too-cute (OMGTC) phase. Now some may think that the OMGTC phase begins at birth and I am willing to concede that the precursors, building blocks to too-cute if you will, are definitely there. But once your child truly enters the OMGTC phase you’ll know it and understand how all the early cuteness was just training for the real deal.

And of course, because one would expect no less of me, I have been taking notes and gathering evidence to support my declaration of the beginning of the OMGTC phase.

Example A: Evie and I were shucking fava beans on the floor last week and she was “helping” me by trying to put the already shucked beans back into their pods. The best part about it was that she got this very serious, “I’m working here people” look on her face as she did it.

Example B: Genevieve took one of her shirts out of her drawer and proceeded to spend a good 10 minutes putting it on her head like Carmen Miranda… giggling at herself, taking it off and then putting it back on again.

Example C: We have booster chair for Riley that stays on the floor in a corner during the weekend when it isn’t needed. Yesterday Evie grabbed her spoon and a bowl, sat down in the chair and pretended she was “eating” while all the time talking to herself about her meal in a higher pitched version of her normal gnome.

And this, folks, is just one weeks worth of data gathering… I’m sure there will be much more to come!

Chatterbox

Evie takes after her mom.... she just talks and talks and talks. I am proud to say she is now fluent (or I am pretty sure because my skills are a bit rusty) in her very first language.... gnome.

Bagel Monster...

All visitors to the Mott Lacroix house be forewarned. There is a monster in our midst. She lurks beneath the kitchen table at around about the hour of 7 am. Appearing innocent enough, this monster cases the table’s underbelly waiting for her moment to strike. One must be vigilant, clever and quick in order to evade this monster, for she is swift, relentless and decidedly hungry. Yes danger waits for those foolish enough to try to eat their breakfast of the seemingly peril-free…. bagel and cream cheese.

Through weeks of suffering through this morning menace we have, as all good parents, learned to adapt. Simply feed the mini monster and occasional “bagel tariff” and all remains peaceful and good… but oh woe to you if you do not. The terrifyingly cute eyes will stare longingly at your feast, small precious hands will reach out for your hard-toasted fare and, if you are not paying enough attention, you may soon find your entire bagel and plate on the floor in the domain of the dreaded bagel monster (and of course her devious companion the D.O.G.).

To and fro this bagel monster roams. First a small morsel from dad, then a toddle over to mom for another bite, back and forth she will go until utterly sated. So, friends, family and visitors of all sorts consider yourself noticed. Should you choose to dine at breakfast time at our table a bagel tariff will be required of you!

Birthday Paarrrty!!

Evie's b-day is much like her... it just keeps on going and going and going! (But really you only turn one once, right?)

On Sunday we had a little group b-day shindig at Reid Park with all her baby pals from the birth center. It was so neat to see all of the kids at one year and how much they have changed! The theme of the party was storybook. I put together a little invite:

Anyway we all brought books to trade among the babies, but mostly the time was spent enjoying their cute little faces and trying to keep them coraled under the ramada. Evie was lucky to have some friends other than the birthday kids show up to wish her a happy one... including Evie's Uncle Brendon (who came all the way from Phoenix AND bought her a ice cream birthday cake) my aunt and uncle Lisa and Bob and cousin Melissa (who donated the awesome car to Evie which turned out to be a real hit at the party), Keren, Jeff and Zev and Annie!

Happy Birthday Genevieve!

Today was Evie's 1st Birthday!! It was a pretty laid back affair; attended by Patrick and I and my folks who came down from Phoenix for the weekend to celebrate with us. On Saturday we went down to the 4th Street festival and picked up a few presents for her... dad bought her a cool truck with a trailer full of blocks and grandma Mary picked her up a fabulous birthday dress and a cool jungle toy tote bag. Then today we walked over to Ikes for breakfast and my mom and I baked her a carrot cake. During a trip to the grocery store Evie got really excited about the mylar balloons so we decided what the hey, ya only turn one once and picked her up a balloon too :)



After the cake was made we threw on the b-day dress, put her in her "throne" (which was my little brother's chair originally) and tried to get her to open up the presents we had bought for her. Good thing there weren't too many of them because it was quite a challenge to get her to focus in on the task at hand. She kept crawling or walking off to go investigate the dogs... or the door... or the last thing she had opened.... or "wait guys aren't these bows on my dress cool?" Anyway it was all pretty cute and as you can see very well documented. Once presents were opened we sang happy birthday and tried to get her to blow out the candles... when it became clear that the candles were going to burn into the cake before she would blow them out Patrick and I gave her a hand. For Genevieve the highlight of the whole affair was definitely the cake. Man did she scarf that piece we gave her!! (Of course you'll see we had to remove the dress first; we didn't want it in the frosting line of fire)

Look who's walkin'

It occurred to me last weekend that Genevieve was starting to really walk and I had not yet captured the moment on film... So the dutiful milestone preserver that I am I took a little video... Here it is. As you can see crawling is still the quickest way around for her but she is looking pretty good as an amateur walker :)

Evie's Easter Eggstravaganza

Now officially last easter was Evie's 1st... but really I don't think it counts seeing how she was only about 48 hours old. Anyway, Evie's "first" Easter was a multi-day many partied event complete with THE perfect outfit.


Last Thursday we were fortunate to receive her Easter duds in the mail from Oma Monique who crocheted them from scratch! As you can see from the photos, this is not an outfit folks this is a work of art!

The weekend started with the dress debut at Annie's b-day party. We had a ton of fun and even hit the pool for the first time this year. The too cute bathing suit is courtesy of my aunts Barbara and Anita Mary (Evie is such a clothes horse... she has more swim suits than I do!)

Then on Sunday we showed her off at an annual easter egg hunt/brunch at a friend's house where I walked her around and helped her procure an egg or two. This had to be the coolest easter party ever. There were tons of kids and the eggs were hidden all over the desert behind their backyard. I can't wait until Evie is old enough to actually hunt herself!

And then finally easter dinner at my aunt and uncle's house complete with another egg hunt. This hunt was coordinated by my 7 year old cousin Melissa who was thoughtful enough not only to just place the eggs on the grass so Evie could easily "find" them but also to fill them with Ritz crackers so Evie could actually eat what was inside. They have two very pregnant pygmy goats so we were hoping for a little easter birth but no such luck. Evie enjoyed the goats so much that we are thinking about adding a few to our yard :)

Whew what a weekend!