Well, I think it's safe to say that Vivienne is potty trained now. She wears a diaper for her nap and at night, but other than that, she is almost completely accident-free. For what felt like a long, long time, I thought she had the ability to do it, but she would always say that she didn't want to wear her big girl underwear or use the potty. One day, that just changed and she decided that using the potty was the way to go. The problem is that Miles shows very little interest in using the potty. I keep explaining to him that if he uses the potty, he won't have to have his diaper changed anymore (which he hates). Maybe someday it will catch on.
It is nice to have fewer cloth diapers to wash, but I am looking forward
to the day when I only have one child in cloth diapers. I have never had only one child to change, so that will be a bit of a luxury. And to think that someday I will have no diapers to change... seems like a distant dream...
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Evelyn's First Birthday
Our baby is growing up. Our sweet girl has turned one already. She enjoyed her special day, complete with a fun new dress from Grandma. After church, she had a crawling session with her sister.
Miss Evelyn is full of spunk and smiles and cuddles. She often crawls a few feet away and then looks back with this devilish grin that says, "You're going to chase me, aren't you, Mom?" And she crawls faster and faster, giggling all the way, as I chase her down on all fours.
She only pulls up occasionally, but it is a rare sight. She doesn't show any interest in walking yet. I'm hoping she just crawls forever because it's pretty darn adorable.
Miles and Vivienne were more than happy to "help" Evelyn open her gift from Grandma. Of course, Evelyn didn't get to even touch the wrapping paper. But at least she got quick access to the fun toy inside.
And at least Miles and Viv let her open her very first card on her own.
After dinner, we let her dig into her smash cake. I made her a double layer chocolate cake with pink buttercream icing. I thought the roses were appropriate for our sweet Evelyn Rose.
And the rest of us got to devour some cupcakes. On a side note, piping icing turns out to be pretty easy and I really enjoy it. If only icing were good for you...
Evelyn loved her cake. She started licking the icing off of her hands first, and then, with a little assistance, she dug into the cake itself.
She really got into the whole "smash" part of the smash cake. She probably smashed it more than she ate it, but she thoroughly enjoyed herself.
You know the smash cake was a success when you're washing it off the walls.
The aftermath.
It's hard to believe that I have two 3-year-olds and a 1-year-old now. It's definitely true the the days go by slowly but the years go by quickly.
Miss Evelyn is full of spunk and smiles and cuddles. She often crawls a few feet away and then looks back with this devilish grin that says, "You're going to chase me, aren't you, Mom?" And she crawls faster and faster, giggling all the way, as I chase her down on all fours.
She only pulls up occasionally, but it is a rare sight. She doesn't show any interest in walking yet. I'm hoping she just crawls forever because it's pretty darn adorable.
Miles and Vivienne were more than happy to "help" Evelyn open her gift from Grandma. Of course, Evelyn didn't get to even touch the wrapping paper. But at least she got quick access to the fun toy inside.
And at least Miles and Viv let her open her very first card on her own.
After dinner, we let her dig into her smash cake. I made her a double layer chocolate cake with pink buttercream icing. I thought the roses were appropriate for our sweet Evelyn Rose.
And the rest of us got to devour some cupcakes. On a side note, piping icing turns out to be pretty easy and I really enjoy it. If only icing were good for you...
Evelyn loved her cake. She started licking the icing off of her hands first, and then, with a little assistance, she dug into the cake itself.
She really got into the whole "smash" part of the smash cake. She probably smashed it more than she ate it, but she thoroughly enjoyed herself.
You know the smash cake was a success when you're washing it off the walls.
The aftermath.
It's hard to believe that I have two 3-year-olds and a 1-year-old now. It's definitely true the the days go by slowly but the years go by quickly.
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Miles and Vivienne Turn 3!
It's hard to believe that these sweet little babies...
... have now turned three years old.
We had a fun-filled day, starting out with Grandma and biscuits (two of their favorite things). Then we headed for Marbles, a kids' museum in downtown Raleigh. We had not visited since they updated the first floor play area, and Miles and Vivienne had a blast exploring. Miles could have spent all day at the train table. Seriously, that thing is toddler heaven.
When we started running out of gas, we came back home for lunch and naps, and then Grandma came back again with a huge bunch of balloons for Miles and Viv. After Daddy came home, they dove into their presents and were overwhelmed with excitement at their new goodies.
Last year at this time, I was very pregnant and very sick (the worst illness I can remember ever having). I was unable to do anything special for their birthday, but luckily my mom and dad picked up the slack and bought them beautiful cakes and gave them a wonderful birthday. This year, I stayed up entirely too late baking them each their own cake - a chocolate cake for Miles and a cookie cake for Vivienne. They have been talking about these cakes for a few weeks now, so it was fun to make them a reality.
After dinner, I brought out their cakes. The lack of sleep was definitely worth the look on their faces. I made Miles' cake into a construction cake (thank you, Lynn, for blogging your beautiful cakes and letting me steal your idea). Vivienne's cake was pink and sparkly and happy, just like Viv.
After singing to each of them separately, we dug into those cakes. It was a fun, fun day celebrating our sweet, beautiful children. Now I can no longer say that I have three children under three. *sigh* (or should that be "Whoohoo!!!! We survived!!!"?)
... have now turned three years old.
We had a fun-filled day, starting out with Grandma and biscuits (two of their favorite things). Then we headed for Marbles, a kids' museum in downtown Raleigh. We had not visited since they updated the first floor play area, and Miles and Vivienne had a blast exploring. Miles could have spent all day at the train table. Seriously, that thing is toddler heaven.
When we started running out of gas, we came back home for lunch and naps, and then Grandma came back again with a huge bunch of balloons for Miles and Viv. After Daddy came home, they dove into their presents and were overwhelmed with excitement at their new goodies.
Last year at this time, I was very pregnant and very sick (the worst illness I can remember ever having). I was unable to do anything special for their birthday, but luckily my mom and dad picked up the slack and bought them beautiful cakes and gave them a wonderful birthday. This year, I stayed up entirely too late baking them each their own cake - a chocolate cake for Miles and a cookie cake for Vivienne. They have been talking about these cakes for a few weeks now, so it was fun to make them a reality.
After dinner, I brought out their cakes. The lack of sleep was definitely worth the look on their faces. I made Miles' cake into a construction cake (thank you, Lynn, for blogging your beautiful cakes and letting me steal your idea). Vivienne's cake was pink and sparkly and happy, just like Viv.
After singing to each of them separately, we dug into those cakes. It was a fun, fun day celebrating our sweet, beautiful children. Now I can no longer say that I have three children under three. *sigh* (or should that be "Whoohoo!!!! We survived!!!"?)
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Evelyn Pulled Up!
Well, it seems like it has taken a lifetime (or at least Evelyn's lifetime?), but she has finally pulled herself up. Yesterday, she apparently crawled over to the music table and pulled herself up. Grandad said, "She just crawled over there and stood up like it was nothing." He assumed that she had done this before, but I had never seen it. So, to date, she has only done this once, and she did it for Grandad. Maybe she will give Mommy and Daddy an encore performance soon.
For quite a while, she has been able to stand at the music table for a long time if we set her up there, but she just had never pulled herself quite all the way up on her own before.
We're still a long way from walking.
For quite a while, she has been able to stand at the music table for a long time if we set her up there, but she just had never pulled herself quite all the way up on her own before.
We're still a long way from walking.
Friday, June 28, 2013
Evelyn is 11 Months!
Evelyn is now 11 months old. She is a little ball of energetic cuteness.
Her most interesting recent development is certainly her crawling. She is crawling very fast now, and she is into everything. She loves to get into the trash can by the changing table and the bathroom. We have her pretty well quarantined from major hazards, but she still manages to get herself into trouble every now and then. She doesn't yet pull up to standing, but she seems eager to figure that out. It may take a while yet. Just recently, she starting stepping her feet a bit when we hold her up standing. I don't see her walking anytime soon.
She has probably about 7 teeth now, though they aren't all poking all the way out. She loves to show them off when she wrinkles her nose to give you a huge smile or belly laugh. She has beautiful, dark skin and one heck of a baby tan. The sun has also made her hair a little lighter in color, so there is less contrast between her skin and hair color now. She's my little chocolate chip!
Evelyn eats pretty much everything. She loves scrambled eggs for breakfast. Her favorite foods are probably blueberries and strawberries, but she also has a special place in her heart for avocado. She eats chili, curry, barbecue, roast beef, chicken, sweet potatoes, and almost any fruit. We don't puree anything or spoon feed her much. I also realized that she basically never wears a bib. I guess I'm just too lazy for that kind of thing anymore. With the warm summers here, we usually just strip all the kids down for dinners. I guess you could say that we're our own little nudist colony.
She loves to chatter up a storm, and is particularly fond of squealing and just any kind of screaming in general. There isn't much crying from her unless she is very tired or one of her siblings takes something from her.
Miles and Vivienne seem to love having a baby sister and interact with her a lot more these days. They will read to her or hand her toys or make faces to make her laugh. Miles sometimes gets frustrated when she is taking his train tracks apart or disassembling his lego creations, but he has more patience for her than I expected he would.
I can't believe that my next developmental update for Evelyn will be her first birthday. July is going to be a big, big month for birthdays around here!
Her most interesting recent development is certainly her crawling. She is crawling very fast now, and she is into everything. She loves to get into the trash can by the changing table and the bathroom. We have her pretty well quarantined from major hazards, but she still manages to get herself into trouble every now and then. She doesn't yet pull up to standing, but she seems eager to figure that out. It may take a while yet. Just recently, she starting stepping her feet a bit when we hold her up standing. I don't see her walking anytime soon.
She has probably about 7 teeth now, though they aren't all poking all the way out. She loves to show them off when she wrinkles her nose to give you a huge smile or belly laugh. She has beautiful, dark skin and one heck of a baby tan. The sun has also made her hair a little lighter in color, so there is less contrast between her skin and hair color now. She's my little chocolate chip!
Evelyn eats pretty much everything. She loves scrambled eggs for breakfast. Her favorite foods are probably blueberries and strawberries, but she also has a special place in her heart for avocado. She eats chili, curry, barbecue, roast beef, chicken, sweet potatoes, and almost any fruit. We don't puree anything or spoon feed her much. I also realized that she basically never wears a bib. I guess I'm just too lazy for that kind of thing anymore. With the warm summers here, we usually just strip all the kids down for dinners. I guess you could say that we're our own little nudist colony.
She loves to chatter up a storm, and is particularly fond of squealing and just any kind of screaming in general. There isn't much crying from her unless she is very tired or one of her siblings takes something from her.
Miles and Vivienne seem to love having a baby sister and interact with her a lot more these days. They will read to her or hand her toys or make faces to make her laugh. Miles sometimes gets frustrated when she is taking his train tracks apart or disassembling his lego creations, but he has more patience for her than I expected he would.
I can't believe that my next developmental update for Evelyn will be her first birthday. July is going to be a big, big month for birthdays around here!
No More Maya
Well, I knew it would happen sooner or later. For the longest time, Vivienne would call Miles "Maya." Over the past couple of days, I have heard her calling him a distinct "Miles" with the "s" and everything. I am hoping that when Evelyn starts talking, she'll call him "Maya" for a while, because, let's face it, it's just pretty adorable.
Saturday, June 22, 2013
Family Photo Shoot at Bond Park
A couple months ago, we had a family photo shoot at Bond Park, where we are frequently found at the playground or "hiking" around the lake. The images that the photographer captured were gorgeous. Here are our favorites.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)