Our sweet Evie girl is 8 months old. It's unbelievable that we've had 3/4 of a year with her already.
This little girl is FULL of personality. I thought I'd just snap an 8 month phone photo. Ha ha ha.....no.
Our girl has several "likes" and an equal number of things she doesn't care for. She doesn't like being left alone, getting her diaper changed (too busy!), or being told "no." She does like mischief, testing boundaries, flashing grins, laughing, being loved, and being with her people.
Evie is getting better at napping and nighttime is *improving.* Slowly. She always lays right down for her morning nap in her bed without fuss, and usually does the same for afternoon nap. Bedtime continues to be the biggest struggle, but we're persevering.
Tired girl, laying down for nap...
Evie is a joy spreader. She enjoys water, and exploring, and is afraid of nothing.
{dimpled chin, dimpled hands}
Evie is adventurous. She'll taste anything and go anywhere. Stress and an infection have affected my supply and we've started supplementing with 3-5 ounces of German Holle Stage 2 Organic Follow-On Formula and she's done wonderfully. (We chose this formula b/c the food industry overseas is much more stringent on by-products and fillers - it's a more pure product and has not affected her tummy or bowels at all.) Evie also sits with us at supper, and often breakfast, and tries new things or has a few bites. She loves black beans, {Papa's home grown} beef, scrambled eggs, berries, apples, sweet potatoes, and a large variety of other things. Breast milk and her formula supplement are her main sources of nutrition, but she's not shy at the table.
Evie is opinionated! If she doesn't want put down, she'll tell you. If she disagrees with a no-no, she'll let you know. If she doesn't want to eat anymore of that particular food, she'll try to hit the spoon, or she'll just throw it on the floor. Much training to be done with this young grasshopper. She got it in her head that she was done with her dress....
Evalynn understands a great deal and verbally expresses only what she wants, when she wants. Her newest word, "mama," she just started saying this week, and mostly when she wants to eat or wants picked up. She started saying "papa" 2-3 weeks ago, but you can't make her say it - it's on her own terms!
Evie hasn't been touched by anyone outside of our household since March 8th. We are praying her anxiety towards others is not too heightened when we are able to come out of isolation.
Evalynn is beautiful. Adored. And so very loved. God knew what He was doing when he gave her to us.
Zayden has been wanting to ride the tag-along, and we've very much enjoyed each of our kids getting to take their turn on it as they've grown. However, that means either Evalynn has to stay behind, OR.....
That's right. Mom who's been riding for all of seven days has to try to pull the queen's chariot.
Xavier actually offered to pull one. Truthfully I have no doubt he has more strength than me, but his bike wasn't big enough to hook the tag along onto and pulling an infant sister is quite a lot of . responsibility for a young man - someday though.
So Mike hooked me up and off we went. The weight difference actually was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be and the queen and I got along just fine.
I'm not ready to ride any long trails yet, but I'm getting a little stronger.
Zayden and I both tried new things tonight - I pulled the chariot and he rode the tag along. Mike took him down a big hill really fast and his laugh, man I wish I could bottle that laugh. I didn't get it on video but I hope it stays in my heart forever.
(Tonight's pics are all from Mike's phone - not so crisp as mine!)
We had to cut our ride tonight short, because the queen fell asleep and sleeping in the chariot is not so comfortable.
Good thing her belts were secure, because she was tanked.
Trying new things on our bikes was a great end to what turned out to be a pretty sweet day. We're thankful for making memories.
Sunday, April 19th
We did church at home and then Phil and Sara came up for a yard visit. It was nice to see them and get to catch up.
Evie stayed awake the whole time they were here, so she had a late couch snuggle with Daddy.
Zayden got sent to time out at 6:30 and when I went to talk to him a few minutes later I found this. Naps at 6:30 - no good.
Monday, April 20th
School as per usual this week. Natalee and Xavier started a new science unit about atoms and molecules. Emotions about the new unit range from excitement to intimidation as this is a lot different than the other science units we've done so far.
Day 1's lesson let them explode vinegar and baking soda so that was exciting. I was also supposed to have diet coke and mentos for day 1 but I hadn't looked closely enough ahead so I ordered it with this week's grocery order and we'll do it soon.
This dolly is getting some hair!
She's so precious. And ornery. She must be cutting some mean teeth because she will not let me look in there and she's been fussy all week.
Evie is becoming a book lover - warms my heart.
Tuesday, April 21st
School, school, chugging through. The kids took a recess break and when they came in we sat down to an art project. We all needed a creative brain break.
Close up of the project and a couple cute mugs....
Windy story...
Zayden did a puzzle and wanted to take a picture. I told him he had to take a picture of him and the puzzle, too. Too cute not to include, even if he did miss most of the puzzle.
This girl got to try her first bites of homemade biscuit this week - she loved them.
Wednesday, April 22nd
Zayden finished his preschool workbook!
He also graduated from spring hinge loop scissors to regular kids scissors.
We sure do love this boy.
Now the dilemma of "what" to do with him when he wants to do school....more preschool type work or on to kindergarten material?
A typical school day for mom - from preschool to kindergarten in a minute's time.
Sweets up from her nap.
Lunch break. On Wednesdays this month, we have macaroni and cheese with some kind of meat in it - sometimes boxed, sometimes homemade; lately it's whatever we can get the supplies for. This week it was boxed and we had leftover hot dogs to put in it! This is Mia's favorite meal and she was chef!
I was asked to do a story lesson for the kids' JAM club at our church back home and I really enjoyed planning and sharing about loneliness.
Bath time for baby...she doesn't really fit in the tummy tub well but she sure does like it. Aaaand, she's cute.
After everyone was in PJs we sat down and played the new gave we'd gotten int he mail - Scrabble! I turned Word World on for the little two since they aren't quite old enough for Scrabble (although Mia says, "I can spell cat and dog and and and lots of other words." She's right, but a few more lessons before Scrabble!)
Thursday, April 23rd
We were blessed with a couple beautiful sunny days in a row and we soaked them up. Evie's first time exploring the grass and she wasn't a bit afraid.
She was actually a crabby bear, despite the cute pictures above. She fought naps, and was just so fussy.
Friday, April 24th
We rode a LOT of bikes this week. On Friday, Mia decided to give up the training wheels and she's done splendidly.
We rode down to campus and called daddy outside so she could show him her new skill! The blessing of being close to his work.
Evie ready to walk to campus. A friend, Debbie, passed us this darling sweater- is she not sweet? Look how she's holding her mouth....something hurts. Poor bunny.
New skis for this big footed fellow.
Working some more on the atoms and molecules unit. We learned how to identify the number of protons, neutrons, electrons, and atomic mass by looking at the periodic table!
The big kids and I have continued studying World War 2 this week and it's just a heartbreaking time period to teach and learn about. We started reading The Winged Watchman which takes place in Holland. My new Dutch neighbors would not be so impressed with my accent and pronunciations but we are enjoying the book so much. The kids think it's fun to read a book set in the country that our area, and especially the town 20 miles north, is largely based after. They can relate to it better because of our move.
This sweet little napper - morning nap is by far our best nap of the day. She always goes down willingly and usually sleeps two hours.
As a bonus, she's so sweet and snuggly when she wakes up.
I slow cooked beef roast all day Friday and Ev ate her fill while we were getting it cut for supper.
Saturday, April 25th
While the other 4 kids watched their "Saturday morning cartoons" I left Mike and Ev snoozing and went to do our Wal Mart grocery pick-up. We got everything we ordered with only 2 substitutions! That's pretty good. When I returned I washed all our groceries and worked up our produce and then made yogurt cups with Mia to freeze for later breakfasts.
It was another lovely day - a little cooler but still nice - so after morning chores, the kids played outside while I worked up a big supper. On Saturdays the kids eat a mid morning brunch - they get to choose what they eat - and then I make one big meal to eat in the afternoon. I didn't move as fast today so we actually didn't eat until 5:30 but I guess that meant everyone was good and hungry.
Today was fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, roasted broccoli and green beans, corn, and homemade biscuits. Evalynn was my kitchen helper. She ate a milk pop and strawberries while she was "helping."
When we have Sunday dinner at my folks', mom always puts everything in serving dishes and passes them, like normal family style meals should be served. I, too often, serve from the stove or throw the pots and pans on the table. Since we haven't been able to have Sunday lunches at Grandma and Papa's, I decided I should probably work on teaching my kids some table etiquette. You'll notice I don't actually own enough serving bowls and had to resort to glass measuring bowls. Shame. Also, when little 4 year old boys serve their own food, they might end up with 1 bean and 1 little broccoli on their plate, but somehow 2 biscuits manage to find room. Ha!
Natalee made a chocolate cake for dessert, but we had to ride off some of our food first, so back on the bikes we went to pedal around campus.
We had a pretty good week. The days often look a lot the same from one to the next, but we're doing our best to accept what is and enjoy what we've been given.
