Making Memories

One of the only benefits of not living near family is that wonderful "coming home" feeling. I get this feeling whether we're at Steve's parents' or mine, and this weekend was one of those times. It usually hits me when we've unloaded the car and we're just sitting around, catching up. I just love having the whole family together! We spent Labor Day up in Ohio; it's the first time we've been up there since Evelyn was born, and it was great that Matt and Julie could drive up from Dayton and be there, too!

These pictures aren't in any particular order...just a quick glimpse of our weekend.

Maddie and Bella on Sunday morning. I rarely leave Bella's hair down, just because there's so much of it, so it felt like a special occasion to leave it down when we visited "Grandma's church".

This is such a great picture of Mom and Evelyn on Sunday morning!

Our whole family...usually our official family picture is taken inside because it's over the holidays and incredibly cold outside, but this one turned out so great outside! All of our nieces and nephews are getting so big! It's so much fun to spend time with them and interact!

Just us. I love Ohio in the summer; it's all so green!

All of the cousins in their Cousin Camp t-shirts. I also learned this weekend that their shirts were homemade! Everyone got to design their own tie-dye design - I was so impressed and I love the design Mom chose for Bella and Evelyn's shirts!

Bella was stinkin' thrilled to be with her cousins all weekend! This is the first time she's learned the word "cousin" and who to associate it with. All weekend, we heard, "Cousins, c'mon! Let's play!" Our little girl was rarin' to go the entire time; she didn't take a nap for 3 days straight! 

We went to a county fair on Saturday, and Bella loved seeing all of the animals up close!

A wishing well at the fair. I passed out pennies to the cousins so we could all make a wish!

Steve and Evelyn taking a break with Maddie, Kelem, and Aunt Julie.

We've been telling Bella for weeks that she would get to ride on Grandpa's tractor. She was so excited, but in normal three-year old fashion, she took one trip around the yard and decided she was done.

Maddie and Kaylie chasing Bella around the yard. We are so thankful for how sweet and patient her cousins were with her. Bella wanted to be near them at all times, and even the boys were so playful with her!

Evelyn got to meet her Great-Grandma Ferguson for the first time! We don't get to spend enough time up in Ohio, and it was a crazy, but fun and special weekend!

Checking In On Our Little Humans

Little Human #1...the Kumquat

Bella has been loving preschool and can actually say both of her teachers' names. On Tuesday, she told  me that she played with her friend, Pier, but it came out "Pair"...I really am raising a Southern belle.

She is learning more details and able to retain what she's been taught. Instead of telling us that she painted a fish, she knows that it's a "rainbow fish" because that's what she learned in school.

I can't believe I'm going to put this in writing (deep breath), but after 9 months of kicking and screaming (from all three of us!), Bella is finally potty-trained! FINALLY!!! The "#2" part of training has been especially dramatic in the last two weeks since we told Bella pull-ups were going away once school started. There were squeals of pride and excitement, and wails of stubborn refusal that lasted all afternoon. After four consecutive days of successful, low-drama yuckies, I'm calling it a win. (Cross your fingers!) I'm hoping this will be my last "potty post" until Evelyn starts the process.

I told Bella to get down from the table yesterday, and she said, "I crazy, Mama! I crazy!" She's a random little bugger! It takes work to keep a straight face when she sounds like a teenager.

Little Human #2...the Squirt

Evelyn has her 4-month checkup yesterday; she now weighs 16 lbs. 4 oz. (90%) and is 25" long (95%). She had a good growth spurt on her height, so the doctor even had the nurse re-check!

I asked the pediatrician about the frequency of her nursing and whether or not she thought it would be okay to cut back on one of her nightly feedings. She's still feeding every three hours, even at night, and sometimes my body just looks at me like, "Are you kidding me?" I think when we get back in town from Labor Day, I may try to cut out her 1:00 AM feeding. We'll see how it goes...

Evie has started laughing! It's not too often, but it's so precious! I can't wait for her laughter to become more consistent!

She is very strong and can hold her head up so well! She can prop her head up and push up off of her arms. I need to start putting her on her tummy more so she'll actually roll over!

She still has a clogged tear duct in her right eye, but the ped. said we should be able to work on it at home instead of doing any treatment through a specialist.

Me and the girls at the zoo last week with Whitney, David, and Charli. Trying to keep Bella still while there were animals to look at is pretty much impossible!

My Project Wall

I don't know if there are other people who do this, but whenever I look through magazines, I'm constantly ripping out recipes I want to make, projects I want to tackle "one day", or things I want to add to my Christmas wish list (yes, I start planning early).

All of these papers get piled on my desk and, of course, usually forgotten. I had an epiphany last week about a project wall next to the kitchen. We have a little hallway leading from our kitchen to our dining room that I thought would be perfect because not many people see it. I figured I could buy large sections of corkboard and basically create a giant, unframed bulletin board.

Fast forward a week and let's just say that I couldn't find "large sections of corkboard" anywhere! I figured it was one of those ideas that would just need to sit in my head for awhile...but THEN (do you see where this is going?) I had a new epiphany about how to accomplish the same thing for free!

Bella has an easel with a roll of butcher paper attached to it. I stole four, large sections of paper, tacked them to the wall in a row, and then used tape to start putting up all of my random papers. It looks a little haphazard in the pictures, but it came out very clean and it's perfect for what I needed! I'm a very visual person and I needed a place where I could see everything at once.

I have sections labeled "HOME" for random color swatches I have or decorating pictures I love, "BELLA" for fun activity ideas that I want to do with Bella or things I want to make for her, "GARDEN" for all of the planting ideas that I rip out of my Martha Stewart and Lowe's magazines, and "FOOD" for my recipes and meal plans.

I'm amazed my wonderful husband lets me take up a wall in the house just for my ideas and pictures! I just keep walking up to my new wall and staring at it. Love it!

Milestones

I need there to be a setting on my computer that says, "Make my pictures look like they were taken by a professional"! My poor little camera phone struggles to take decent pictures.

Evelyn is reaching a new milestone! She is actually grasping little toys and putting them in her mouth. I haven't been able to find a lot of the baby toys I had with Bella. Knowing me, I probably threw them out. I have the opposite problem of a pack rat - I'm constantly throwing things out that I will need again one day. Luckily, I have Whitney to pass on Charli's old toys!

Back to the kid...even though the pictures are a little fuzzy and a little dark, I was able to get a few of Evelyn putting Bella's toy giraffe in her mouth. Bells wasn't pleased, but we had a lovely talk about sharing. (Not that the talk worked, but we still had it.)

She does much better focusing on one object now.

Grasping Bella's her little toy.

Success! She seemed quite pleased with herself that she had figured it out. Lots of drooling and gurgling!

Four Months Old...Say It Isn't So!

Evelyn is four months old!

She is cute and chubby and smiles all the time! Our little squirt is such a chill baby. She sleeps really well in her crib now and loves to sit up and look around.

Look at me, Mama!

She is so close to laughing now...she smiles whenever she sees our faces. She loves watching Bella play, too!

My "Bella comparison" picture...I think they are starting to look more different now. I'm not sure if I'm right about this, but I think Bella has my features with Steve's coloring. Since Evelyn seems to look so much like Steve, I'm wondering if she'll be darker like me. It's fun to see their individual looks emerge.

Bella at four months old.

I'm Not The Only One, Right?

This is a "therapy" post...

I've entered a new stage of mommy-hood that I wasn't ready for. I'm not even sure how to describe it, but basically, it's that horrible, horrible sadness you feel as a Mama when you think your child is being left out or had her feelings hurt. Now, I should mention that the reality is, Bella has never felt left out or had her feelings hurt - it is completely my perception and my emotions!

It could be during a playdate or observing her at school...if one of her friends tells her "no" or doesn't want to play with her, my heart breaks. I actually start crying! It makes me want to scoop her up in my arms and run home. Which I don't do, because she has no idea what happened and would start crying that I was taking her away from her friend!

The second half of this new experience is when Bella doesn't get to do everything her friends do. Bella is in preschool again this year and loves it! It just so happens that a lot of her friends are also doing ballet classes at our church. After talking about it with Steve, we decided that we just didn't have the money to pay for anything extra. The prices are wonderful at the church; we just have other things our money needs to go to right now. When Steve and I had this talk, I was balling. 

And this is definitely a case of "what she doesn't know won't hurt her"...Bella has no idea what a ballerina is or that you can take classes to look like one. She doesn't know that some of her school friends are taking these classes; she just knows how much she loves school. 

Maybe it all boils down to contentment. We are truly, truly blessed. And I don't just say that because it's the "Jesus" answer; I'm honestly thrilled that we're able to afford preschool and I know that there are many who can't. As a mom, I have just been struggling with the fact that many "extra" experiences I want Bella to have, cost money - the zoo, the aquarium, ballet, etc. I know it's all in my head and heart, and not in Bella's. She loves the playground, the park, school, heck, she gets excited about the front yard!

So I'm going to take a deep breath and say lots and lots of extra prayers that God will give me a thankful heart for all of the wonderful things we have been  able to give Bella so far, and that He will give me a much stronger heart for all of the times I may imagine her being "hurt" in the future.

Ironically, my Bible study topic this week is contentment. I'm already looking forward (and at the same time, NOT looking forward) to what I will learn and what God is trying to teach me.

This is my Bible study. I'm only on Week Three, but it has been amazing. I haven't been using the DVD's; Mel said each one is only about ten minutes long and isn't necessary to do the lesson. Since I'm doing this by myself, I didn't bother with the video segments. The book is about $7.99 at the Christian bookstore, and I would highly recommend it! It's not as in-depth with Scripture as a Beth Moore study is, but it's very practical and hands-on.

Back 2 School!

It's crazy to think that every August for the next 18 years or so, I'm going to say the phrase, "Is it time for school to start already?" Sending Bella to school was much less emotional for this year; partly because she's used to it and partly because it snuck up on me!

Oh, and my funny, "good job, Kate"-moment so far...I bought some supplies at the end of the school year last year to make "thank you" presents for her teachers, but with the baby coming and zero energy, it never got done. I decided to save the project and use it as a "Welcome Back To School" gift for Bella's new teachers this Fall. I had the supplies sitting on my counter all Summer, but still didn't get it done in time! We just finished our first week and I'm hoping I remember to do it this weekend!

Bella got to go to a "Meet and Greet" on Monday morning to check out her new teachers and see her classroom. She didn't seem too impressed with her teachers, but she tends to act shy around strangers at first. She did love exploring the classroom and playing with the new toys. Her main teacher, Ms. Cheryl, is one of my friend's moms, so she already knows Bella. The assistant, Ms. Ernestine, is one of Ms. Betty's best friends, so I'm looking forward to getting to know her better! By the way, how beautiful and Southern is the name Ernestine!

Here are some pictures from her first morning (they're on my phone, so they're a little rough):

Bella insisted on her "big giraffe" coming in the car with us.

Look at her posing like a big girl!

On a side note, last year, I bought most of her dresses and pants in Size 4T so they would last for two years, and so far, everything still fits! I'm very thankful we don't have to buy a new wardrobe this Fall!

She's off to a great start!