Utah Trip Day Two - Thanksgiving Day

We arrived at the cabin while everyone was still asleep- at least everyone but Sarah who woke up early to let us in. She was joined quickly by Joy and we had a quiet but bouncy reunion. It was fun watching my sisters get so excited to see their only niece, who they hadn’t seen since before she could crawl.
Once everyone else was up there were hugs all around. It had been a while since I’d seen most of my family. My cousins had all grown up so much! It was extra fun watching everyone interact with Evie. She got really good at waving and saying “Hi!” to everyone who came in the room. My aunts and uncles (who have of course been promoted to “Great”) let her play her favorite game- cell phone!
After the last of the family arrived, we all sat down to a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner together. After dinner we played games and had fun until Evie decided she was ready for bed.
Scroll down for some pictures from Thursday. You can read about Friday in Day Three’s post.
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life&lemons

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Playing piano with her Auntie and her Great Uncle

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Swinging with her aunt

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Playing foosball with the cousins

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All dressed up for Thanksgiving dinner in a turkey dress!

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Totally LOVING being the center of attention with all the cousins. (They were all really extra amazing with her all weekend. Those are some great kids!)

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Serving up Thanksgiving Dinner. (My hubby thanks the Santa Fe crowd for introducing him to putting Hatch green chiles on his, well, everything on his plate, including the stuffing, mashed potatoes, the turkey, and his breakfast eggs the next morning. I hope you guys know you created a monster!)

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Watch me go! That girl was on the move all weekend… most of my pictures of her are blurry because she was having too much fun to sit still!

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Getting in a little more piano time, first with her Great Uncle and then her Aunt.

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One quick ride around the room with Grandpa, and then it’s off to bed!

Utah Trip Day (or really night) One

We left for our big Utah trip after Daddy got off work (and took a little nap). The plan was to drive during the night so Evie could sleep through the drive. It turned out that this tactic did not work so well…

The rest of the drive was no fun, but it was all worth it when we got to the house and saw the look on her aunties’ faces when they saw her for the first time in months.

Read more about it in the Day Two post.

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First Halloween

Happy Halloween!
I hope everyone had fun. We sure did! Evie and I dressed up as Halloween witches (Evie's costume was a candy corn witch) and her Daddy was Clark Kent/Superman. We headed over to our church carnival with a chili cook-off, face painting, games, and of course Trunk-or-Treat. At first Evie wasn't so sure about all the strange-looking costumed people running around, but after a while she really got into it. She let us get her face painted, and she LOVED the glow stick she won. When we started trick-or-treating she didn't get why I wanted her to hold the pumpkin, but after she watched a couple people drop in candy, you couldn't get her to let go! I'm so glad she enjoyed her first Halloween. I sure had a lot of fun doing everything with her!

Look how tall I am!

Since when can you reach the piano?!

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

I didn't take as many pictures as I thought at Grandma's birthday party. Sorry about that!

Here is the silly cake I made her, inspired by the peanut butter and jelly ice cream she liked at Baskin Robbins:

And here is a cute picture of Grandma with Evie:

Love you, Mom! Happy Birthday!

Standing up

First, hi! Look how big she is getting! (And so beautiful!)



Anyway, just a quick note today- nothing fancy. I just realized that we’ve been “playing” at standing up for a little while now, and I haven’t even told some of you about her new trick! So, excuse the messy room and the un-edited video. I just wanted to share and didn’t have time today to make it pretty!

So.. an update on standing. She regularly lets go of her support here and there while playing (if you watch close you will see her do that with her music table) and she’s getting really good at our “game”. She usually laughs when I let go and she realizes she’s standing alone. Believe it or not, this was actually a short time for her- I’ve counted more than a minute of free-standing!

Just some comments…

Like I said, this was an impromptu video, so please excuse the mess. I’m working on packing for our move, and the play area has been pretty low on my cleaning priority list. Also excuse the unedited video, especially the part where I’m looking for a spot to set the camera. I sure got lucky with that camera angle!

An explanation for the “no dada” bit. You don’t hear it, but before the video she would say “dada” and I would tell her “Dada isn’t home. He is at work.” Actually, she’s being saying “dada” all day every day for a couple weeks now. She even seems to know who dada is! Mama is feeling a little jealous. She might have said Mama first, but I haven’t heard that word for a month now! In fact, the more I try to get her to say “mama” the more she just says “dada”. Trent is starting to feel for me and even tried to help me a couple nights ago. But, and I’m not kidding, when he said “ma ma ma ma ma ma”, she would respond with “da da da da da da”! She would copy the number and rhythm (smart girl) but switch mama to dada every time! I think she’s toying with me on purpose…

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Laundry Day

Today we did laundry together. Mama messed up and waited until ALL of Genevieve’s clothes were dirty, so there was nothing for her to wear! She ended up in her ladybug socks, her diaper, and a tutu with pigtails and a big bow on her head while her laundry was in the wash.

 

Too cute! (Next time I’ll remember to do laundry when there is still a clean outfit for while it’s running!) She had lots of fun helping mommy sort the laundry; we sat in the middle of the floor together, and as I was sorting it into piles she picked things up and sorted them out of piles. But she was so cute I didn’t mind.

She is getting so smart! We recently turned the family room into basically one big playpen. The room is baby-proof and full of toys, and the big “L” couch and side table mostly closes it in. We used a heavy plastic tote of clothes to finish blocking the opening. When she decides she is done playing on her own, she will stand at the plastic tote and yell. Well, yesterday I came over and found that she had dragged one of her big toys over to the tote and was standing on it and trying to climb onto the tote and escape! …I’m in trouble!

We’ve been hearing lots of new babbling sounds lately. Every day she is playing with a new syllable. Today has been a lot of “b” sounds. Yesterday I heard “V” and “L” several times- I choose to believe she was trying to say “I love you”. J We’ve heard “dada” off and on this week, which makes her daddy happy. “Mama” usually doesn’t show up until she is tired or hungry (so maybe she does know what it means!)

She has also gotten pretty good at waving when you wave to her, and she has started experimenting with letting go when she is standing up. With her front four teeth pretty far in she has become an expert at picking up a soup cracker between her pinching fingers and then carefully taking a bite. Her new sippy cup (the “360 Miracle” that you drink out of like a normal cup but doesn’t spill) really was a big hit. She figured it out right away and got so excited! She drinks out of it so well she can pick it up and drink all by herself.

She is still a super happy little soul. She loves to laugh and squeal and giggle and play. She loves tickle time (when she is in the mood) and is even a little more into hugs and snuggles than before (she was always too busy trying to move and be upright to have patience for being cradled.) She always gets happy when we pray out loud with her, and usually lets out a little squeal or giggle. She loves people and will share big smiles with everyone, even new people. She loves going to church and watching all the little kids in our primary class. She especially loves singing time and sometimes tries to join in.

 

That little girl lights up my world and I couldn’t love her more. Sometimes she is just WAY TOO cute and I wish there was a way I could save it and package it up and share it. I love you, sweetie!

ttfn,
Life&Lemons