Our Girl Evie is 3!

One week later, I'm finally writing about Evie's 3rd birthday. What can I say - it was wonderful! See pics below ... We had a chef-themed party complete with personalized aprons and chef hats for all the kiddos. Attendees included Aunt Melina and Uncle Matthew, Yiayia and Papou, Great Yiayia, Phoebe, Ellie, Mabel, Maeve, Collin and Chloe (as well as their parents and siblings). The kids all played outside, made their own pizzas, sang happy birthday, ate cake and opened presents. Evie said her favorite gifts were from "anything from Aunt Meena," Cinderella and Prince Charming from Chloe and her camera. Here are the promised pics.

Right before the party began ... all is quiet and calm!

Evie waiting for her friends to arrive

Let the fun begin - our neighbor Phoebe is here!

Evie and Nora "making" pizzas (or eating all the shredded cheese!)

More cheese

All the little siblings

Evie's homemade pizza - see the "E"

Nora enjoying cake!

Evie with her presents

Oven mitts from Aunt Melina and Uncle Matthew

Chloe was such a good helper!

Since the party, I've had some time to reflect ... 3 is such an adorable age. Still a lot of whining but lots of imagination and personality. Evie is so observant and thoughtful, silly and creative. She loves dance (and even yoga now!), and she loves to sing all the time, color and craft, play outside with her neighbor Phoebe, look at Ella and Natalie on their blogs, make plans to hang out with Aunt Meena, Yiayia and Papou, play with Mommy's makeup and jewelry, watch Dora and Beauty and the Beast and, of course, terrorize/adore her little sister Nora. Evie, we are so proud to be your parents! You are beautiful and kind, and we love, love, love you with all our hearts!

Splish, Splash

I know I need to post pictures from Evie's birthday (it was wonderful), but here's a quick shot of the girls taking a bath tonight. They were having so much fun. Birthday pics coming soon ...

Valentine's Day and Other February Fun

My parents - Yiayia and Papou to the girls - gave Mark and me a very wonderful Valentine's gift - a weekend to ourselves! While Evie and Nora enjoyed lots of quality time in Nixa, Mark and I slept in, ate lunch and shopped on the Plaza, met friends for drinks (and gelato!) and just enjoyed peace and quiet - plus a remarkably clean home - for two whole days and nights!

Mark and I on a night out with good friends Maggie and Mike

  Once the girls returned though, it was time to celebrate Valentine's Day for the kiddos. We made muffins and surprised the girls with Dora balloons and Olivia dolls.

Nora with a muffin ... on top of the kitchen table

What the girls woke up to Valentine's morning

Enjoying morning milk, muffins, TV and their new Olivia dolls. You can even see the ribbons for the balloons. Kids are so easy to please!

The girls are really growing up. Evie loves to play with her babies, taking them shopping, feeding them, putting them to sleep, basically pretending to be a Mommy. I often hear her call them "Schnookie" - my term of endearment - and also putting them in time out! Evie also goes straight to Nora's room every morning when they both wake up. I often find them in there together, Evie reading Nora a book and both having a great time together. Thank goodness Nora is still in her crib! Evie also loves her dance class and says "plie" all the time, doing her ballet moves around the house. The recital is May 12. Oh my. Here are some more pictures from the month.

Nora really loves art now - just like Evie! Unfortunately, she likes to color on anything and everything, including her face, my office chair, the walls ...

Here's Evie at the church library. Her Yiayia, Great Yiayia, Papou and Aunt Melina took her one morning, and she picked out her accessories. She's been wearing rain boots all winter and has just recently asked for necklaces to go with her outfits too.

Time with Friends

The girls have had lots of playdates lately. It's so much fun to see them with their little friends - and fun for Mark and me too, since these little friends all have parents who are over too!

Here's Mabel - a new addition to the family. Her parents are my sister's brother and sister-in-law. Does that make sense? Well, Nora and Evie just love her!

Here you can see how much they love her! Poor Mabel.

Evie's friend Natalie was in town from Minneapolis and actually spent the night last week - the girls were up until 11!

We also had Evie's longtime friend Ellie over this weekend. Evie and Ellie met in their Mommy's tummies during prenatal yoga, and we've all been friends ever since!

When we weren't playing with friends last week, we were crafting! Evie and I made a Moose snuggle pillow from Nick Jr., but when it came time to make his companion, Zee the owl, we opted for a much simpler pillow with an E for Evie on it! Note to Nick Jr: These crafts are NOT for preschoolers! This Mommy was exhausted from all the tracing and cutting.

Snow Day

We all enjoyed a snow day today, building our first (though small) snowman and playing with neighbor and BFF Phoebe. Mark's school is already cancelled for tomorrow too, so we get another day with daddy!

A Week of Firsts

Both our girls are growing up so fast - this week, Nora had her first day of mother's day out, and Evie had her first dance class! Both made my Mommy cry, but the girls were amazing and loved every moment of their new experiences! Here are a few photos from our week:

On our way into school - both girls walked on their own so all I had to carry was Nora's backpack and lunchbox - hooray!

Nora made friends fast, pulling up her to dress to show everyone her tummy! Her teachers said she played really well with the other kids and "chatted" all day long.

Our big girl Evie was in her leotard and tights nearly 2 hours before her first dance class. She was so excited and thought she looked just like a princess.

 

No surprise, she loved all the mirrors at her dance studio!

We have a true performer on our hands. I watched from a little window during the class, and Evie really followed directions and loved, loved., loved all the little girls and her teacher. Poor thing fell asleep on our way home - before 5 p.m. and is still sleeping now at 7:21. I guess she may be down for the night - what an exhausting day!







Lovely Holidays

Our family had a wonderful Christmas and holiday break together with trips to Nixa, St. Louis and even a party (and night out for Mommy and Daddy) on New Year's Eve. There were so many great pictures from these last two weeks, it was hard to choose a few (or 12) to share with all of you. Thank you to everyone who helped make our 2010 holidays so special.

One of the sweetest - Evie with her Papou at our Nixa Christmas



Gotta love Nora - always up to no good!

Here, we managed a cute picture of our early Christmas morning in Nixa. Did you know Santa comes to Nixa an entire week earlier than he comes to Kansas City?!

Evie was so excited for the Polar Express train ride in Branson. Thank you Yiayia and Papou!

More pictures of Evie's excitement on the Polar Express ...



Evie and her daddy

 

I love this big group shot at a Starbucks in Branson. Everyone looks great!

 

The girls in their matching dresses Christmas Eve. Notice Evie isn't wearing tights. There are some battles you just lose before they begin.



The girls had so much fun with their cousins in St. Louis, including baby Mason!



The girls were watching for Santa out the window ...



My friend Jenna's chemo treatment in St. Louis - she is amazing, and her little baby girl (due in Feb) is a true miracle!



Mark and I ringing in the New Year at a friend's party in Kansas City