1. I'd really like a fully funded savings account and less financial worries right now.

2. Son of a (that's it--I never finish it) is the word you'd most often hear me say if I stubbed my toe.

3. Possession is 9/10 of the law.

4. I love the tales of Captain Jack Sparrow.

5. Marshmallows and fire go together like smores and my tummy.

6. I could listen to Evie's laughter go on and on.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to date night, tomorrow my plans include working out at the Y, scraping and who knows and Sunday, I want to read!

25 Random Facts About Me...

Here are some things that you did or didn't know about me:

1. I hate feet. Hate them. Especially Shawn's. Especially bare feet. Yuck! I don't like them to touch me, be near me or touch me.

2. I stay up way to late reading romance novels. I keep saying to myself, just one more chapter or to the end of the chapter. Before I know it I've read the whole thing and its 1 am.

3. I hate mornings.

4. I buy 2-4 magazines every month from convenience stores. I can't help myself.

5. I like sleeping on my left side more then my right. It faces Shawn and then I can put my feet on him.

6. I hate getting ready for bed at night. It seems pointless because even though it might be 6-10 hours later that I am getting ready, it really feels like 20 minutes.

7. In general I don't like silence. It's not that it makes me nervous, it just seems lonely. If the tv is off then I usually put on some music.

8. Before I get in bed at night I have to go to the bathroom one last time. Even if its only been 10 minutes since I last went.

9. Two things I will do differently as a mom is 1. put shoes on them when they are still a newborn/infant and 2. put lots of ribbons/bows/headbands in my girls hair. Evie screams bloody murder if we put on different shoes AND pulls nearly everything I put into her hair out.

10. I hate scary movies.

11. I feel real achievement if I drink 20 oz. of water in a day. Typically, I only drink 1-2 diet dews a day and no water. Tsk, tsk, huh?

12. I sometimes ignore phone calls because I don't feel like talking.

13. I love to read blogs.

14. I sometimes wish I could hear my name for the first time. Everyone's first comment about my name is that it is "pretty." I don't hear it. It would be neat to understand what they mean.

15. We'll save approximately $100 this month on groceries by meal planning and shopping at Aldi's.

16. I am a member of MOPS and I love it!

17. I never knew that being a mother could feel like this.

18. I am comma-challenged.

19. I get to finally start talking and sharing about the changes that will be occurring in our lives in only a few more days! And no I am not pregnant.

20. I love Carmel Rice snacks. Delicious!!

21. I have only 17.5 more pounds to lose before I reach my goal weight. Yippee!

22. I still want 4 children.

23. I love my new Amy Knapp Christian Family Organizer. It's keeping me on track!

24. My favorite movie of all time is the Mummy 1 and 2. But I am a sucker for all romantic movies whether they are comedies or adventure.

And...

25. I wish I could learn sign language, become a great public speaker, and retire at 55.

And 5 random things about Evie:

1. She likes to rub Kleenexes, wipes, and napkins on her face and belly.
2. She's developed a love of ketchup. Tonight she dipped her homemade chicken nuggets in it and then licked it off. Uncle Brandon would be proud.
3. She just learned to say uh-oh. She was saying it appropriately but now she'll say it just because.
4. She has hazel eyes just like her daddy. His are blue/green. However, we've gotten 2 random comments about her pretty "brown" eyes in the past week.
5. Can point out her nose, ears, belly and fingers. Gets confused about eyes, mouth, hair etc.

If you blog and your reading this...you've been tagged.

1. Oh, I am so excited about April 1st!

2. There have been lots of changes, big and little.

3. During the day, I love to scrapbook.

4. Winter weather advisory--again; are you kidding me???

5. Right now I'd like to be right where I am.

6. My camera is my favorite gadget.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to being with family, tomorrow my plans include looking at Laura's wedding dress and more wedding details and Sunday, I want to be well rested!

Now a moment of...awwwww!

This is Evie all tuckered out from her exciting Christmas. Sitting in this little rocker, she was lulled to sleep. Isn't she just so precious? My heart sometimes feels it will burst from all the love I have for her.

1. Enough with the anti-Bush propaganda.

2. Marketing causes me to be conflicted.

3. I've been craving warm weather.

4. Evie makes me laugh.

5. I wish I could go to Texas next week.

6. My mom has been on my mind lately.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to date night, tomorrow my plans include going to Sara's (yeah!) and Sunday, I want to craft!

New Years

I haven't been able to blog about New Years. You know how it is...busy, busy, busy! So here are the highlights, though like Christmas it is hard to choose only a few.

Happy New Years from the "A" Family

Present time.

Opening presents. She loved to hand each little piece to a different person. By the end we were all sharing in her gifts.
Favorite toy of the weekend. A talking phone from Grandpa & Grandma V.

"Rocking" her new kitty (picked out by Cousin Xander) in her new cradle.

Sharing grandma's soup. This is one of Shawn's favorite moments and photos from the weekend.

She was trying to act like a big girl. Watching t.v. with dad and grandpa. Super serious.

Great-grandpa B. is so silly.

She was fascinated by the clothespins. Couldn't quite figure out that they work by squeezing the ends together. She kept pulling them apart instead.

Showing Great-grandma her clothespin "toys."

Grandpa lovin'

Mama lovin'

My sister and her husband. Aren't they cute?

She always has a good time with Auntie Jessie. And Auntie Jessie loves her lots.

Sooooooo tired!!!

Friday Fill-in

1. It's January 9--only 69 more days till Spring:o( .

2. Warm weather is what I crave most right now.

3. Cork and wine go together like I have no idea.

4. Dessert is so nourishing.

5. Let us dare to live our dreams.

6. I want to move my home.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to shopping, tomorrow my plans include Integrity Seminar (our management company) and Sunday, I want to finish some craft projects.

Favorite Things--16 months

It's been awhile since I've documented Evie's favorite things so I thought that I'd start out my 2009 posts with a new list.

1. Pacifier-this seems to never change. If she sees it she wants it. If you try to take it away she cries. The best things though is that if she wants something else, whether its food, water, or a toy. She will take it out, hold it out to whomever is nearby, and say something that sounds close to "here." It comes out more like "eh." And she won't stop holding it out until you take it. In November, she wasn't so nice about it. Instead she'd take it out and just chuck it.

2. Kissing and Hugging-Evie's back to sharing sweet kisses. Except now she makes a kissing noise with it. She blows kisses. Kisses her babies. She was even kissing the chair this morning--I think she was trying to kiss the cat but he wasn't close enough. Grandpa Jeff loves his Evie kisses. For a few months she wasn't giving him her usual loving and he missed it a lot. So did mom. She kisses more often now with a closed mouth (thank goodness) but I still get quite a few open mouth with all the slobbery trimmings. She also loves to give great big hugs. It's so sweet.

3. Babies-She still loves to play "mommy." One day in November she found the stroller we got her to help with her walking. It was in her bedroom sitting unused. So she pulled it out, popped in a baby and off she went. She's been pushing her babies around since. Note* She also pushes around her sippy cup, random envelopes, pacifiers, or other odd toys. Reason unknown. She does cuddle and rock things besides her babies. Monday I caught her cuddling dad's dirty sock. Now she has a cradle, from Auntie Jess and Uncle Goober, which she loves to rock. Actually, she rocks it so hard the cradle comes out.

4. Talking on the phone-She loves to put all "phones" to her ear and talk. Still gibberish. The best part is that she will "talk" for a minute and then give this adorable chuckle. Whatever she is saying is sure funny...at least on her end. Randomly she will put a non-phone item to her head and "talk" but this is becoming less. When Shawn or I talk on the phone with grandma's and grandpa's she loves to "talk" to them as well. Usually very loudly. She has no manners as she constantly talks over them and interrupts. I don't think the grandparents care much. It is very adorable.

5. Snacks and mealtime- Yogurt is one of her very favorite foods. She also likes Earth's Best brand cinnamon cookies, zesty tomato crunchers, pasta pickups, eggs, peas, beans and breakfast bars. She goes crazy for popcorn. She ping-pongs to everyone that has some snitchen from them. I'd say snitchen is also a favorite things to do. If you can't get her to eat a certain food she will eat it if its on your plate. New this month she had: wild rice hotdish (grandma Peg's speciality and mom's favorite), homemade soup (grandpa Jeff's), pickles (didn't care much for this), pumpkin pie (delicious), fish sticks (yum), and made-rights (grandma Lyn's). She also had her first taste of fast food. She enjoyed a chicken nugget Happy Meal at McDonald's. She loves to use a spoon and fork. She is slowly becoming more proficient, especially with her spoons. She tries to fork objects but doesn't quite have the technique and so resorts to pushing them on. When she does get something on a fork she usually dumps most of it off before it reaches her mouth.

6. Making a mess-I am sure she doesn't like making a mess, but she is really good at it. Ten minutes after she's hit the living room, toys are scattered everywhere. It's a little ridiculous, but it's definitely not something I can control right now. Despite how crazy it makes me.

7. Books-She still enjoys flipping through a good book, except now she will put it on your lap and want up for you to read it to her. I enjoy this immensely. We are still working on her asking "up" instead of whining and crying with her arms in the air.

8. Dancing-Evie started "dancing" often in October. She does this adorable bobbing. Now she also sways to the music. We've learned that she loves Abba, and is our very own "Dancing Queen." In addition, she was swaying to the childrens CD this morning and couldn't help but dance to "Sugar, sugar." Shawn must love that because every time that song comes on, I myself begin to bob. She must get her love of music and dancing from me and my sisters. We love to "shake our groove thing."

9. Rocking-Evie loves rocking chairs. Approximately a month ago she disappeared into her room. It was too quite (every parent gets scared when it gets quiet). Usually if she is in there she is pulling books off her shelf. So I went to look in on her and I found her in her rocking chair quietly rocking. I keep some of her dolls and usually by noon they are on the floor. She's kicked them out of the chair so she can rock. She loves it. Luckily, both sets of grandparents have a chair so she gets plenty of rocking time in there.

10. Oliver-She loves him to death. And I mean it. I think she'd hug him to death if we or Oliver gave her a chance. She lays on him, pulls his fur, pulls his tail, hugs him, runs after him etc. Every chance she gets she is letting him know that he's one of her favorite things. The nice thing, most of the time he lets her. Despite of all of his issues while I was pregnant and even now, he has no problem with her attacking him.

11. Smiling-Our darling is such a smiler and such a sweet personality. She has her moments but she is a real joy.

12. Exploring-Everything is new, everything is an adventure and everything needs to be figured out. She loves searching through drawers especially the drawer that holds my bobby pins, and napkin rings. She pulls the papers out of our computer bag. Pulls anything within reach off of tables, counters, and chairs. It's usually a lot of mess for mama to clean up.

13. Family-Evelyn adores her grandparents, auntie's and uncles. She goes to them right away and sometimes prefers them to mom and dad. She gives them kisses and special giggles. When she and Xander got together in October she couldn't stop hugging him. She has no anxiety with anyone in our immediate family but loves them all. And of course Evie loves mom and dad. She loves to cuddle especially chest to chest, something she never did as a newborn or infant. She loves to give kisses, wrestle, dance, tackle, find and play with us.

14. Talking-She tells stories, gives you a piece of her mind, tells jokes, updates you on her day all in her own special language. We've ascertained that she is bilingual. She speaks Aramaic as well as french. Our favorite: "umm bebe". This is obviously french for my baby. We'll never know what she is truly saying since we are much less intelligent and only speak English, but she certainly enjoys doing it.

15. Bits & pieces: Evie likes to sit on the couch with you, like a "big girl." She gets the silliest expression on her face, very serious. Then she turns and gives you a big grin. She also loves to point to her belly for you. She has to pull up her shirt to do it though. She is working on her nose and ears as well. She points to them 95% of the time and then randomly points to her chest instead of her belly or her cheek instead of nose. I think it's a bit of miscalculation as to exact location.

Hates:
1. Teeth: They are literally a pain in the gums. They hurt and they wake her up at night.
2. As always...not getting her way. This equals laying on the floor, whining, screaming, crying, stomping and anything else that will let us know she is VERY unhappy.
3. Hat and mittens: She literally lasts until she is in the car before she's whipping them off. The only time they stay on is if she falls asleep before she can move.
4. New shoes: If someone came upon us while putting new shoes on Evie's feet, they'd think we were torturing her. She screams like we've just put stakes through her feet when in actuality it's just a pair of soft shoes. Nothing hard like tennis shoes. We really don't know what to think. She couldn't enjoy her first time outside in the snow because she was to busy being upset about the boots. We've determined that any future children will wear shoes from the time they leave the hospital.
5. The word no: This obviously means she isn't getting her way or what she wants which leads to a very nice tantrum.