Accomplishments

It was a big deal last week when Evangeline received her first composer bust from her piano teacher.  Mrs. Manuel gives her students a composer bust after they have memorized six piano pieces and can play them all for her successfully.  Mr. Johann Sebastian Bach is now proudly displayed atop our piano.  Evangeline has been working for this bust for weeks!  She's already hard at work on her next six pieces so she can earn another composer.  These pictures are from our walk home from class.  She couldn't wait to get him out of the box. 



Another highlight of the past week was cheer camp. 

I was absolutely cracking up during the pregame.  Evangeline was lined up with the cheerleaders awaiting the football players grand entrance onto the field.  I don't think Evangeline had a clue what was about to happen, because as the football players charged the field and fireworks where shot off, I watched as Evangeline nearly jumped out of her skin!  

Evangeline and her two friends, Myah and Kaylee, are in the bottom right corner of the below photo....

I think they were too distracted by these flags to notice that the football players were rushing the field at this very moment...

So here's the big picture of what's going on....


And here is a close up of Evangeline cowering in fear...

She finally put her hands up to cheer after the dust had settled.  I noticed that she was cracking up at herself....Oh goodness, it was hysterical.

Evangeline got to cheer during a quarter of the home football game last Friday night.  She did a great job.  Savannah and Lily were there, which made it extra special for Evangeline.  Savannah and Lily were the cheerleaders for the cheerleader!

It was especially exciting to see that Evangeline was one of the few girls that got to be a flyer (I think that's what they are called).  

Birthday Bubbles

We had fun celebrating little Cale turning 3.  Oh my!  How is this boy 3!! 

Jed at 2

Jed is the most affectionate little guy.  I can't put a number on how many times a day he says, "yuv you mommy" or gives me a big "mmmwwwaaaa"...kisses and "big uggs". 

  

He loves to be read to.  Right now some of his favorite books are: The Best Word Book Ever by Richard Scary, I Am A Bunny by Richard Scary, The Bunny Book by Richard Scary (He calls these books his "hop hop books", Pete the Cat's Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round, Go Away Big Green Monster by Ed Emberly, Goodnight Moon, Jake at Gymnastics, any picture book I've made with Evangeline in it, just to name a few. 

He's getting so good at talking, but he still says most words without the initial consonant sound.  He loves to point out vegetables when he sees them and when he says tomato he says, "ato".  The other day I came to pick him up from Peggy's after work and he was carrying a tomato around from her garden.  She had been working with him on saying the "t" sound at the beginning of the word.  She asked him to tell me what he was holding and he threw his head back very dramatically and said, "t-hateo".  It's so cute.  Now every time he says tomato it's this big dramatic version where he's really concentrating on getting that "t" sound out. This kid loves carrying vegetables around.  They are like his favorite things to get his hands on.  He also loves his play food and his play kitchen.

 

The other day I was making tomato soup for lunch.  Jed wanted some too.  He called it "t-hateo oup".  Another day Kyle mentioned to Jed that he was going to turn on the TV.  Jed got so excited thinking that meant that he was going to get to watch "Daddy Day", which is what he still calls Sesame Street.  Kyle said, no, we are going to watch the Cubbies game.  Jed started to cry saying, "no Ubbies, no Ubbies".  Yes, the no initial consonant sound is pretty cute and funny right now.  We are all enjoying his learning of the English language.

 

Jed has the softest, doughiest cheeks.  I love to kiss them and stick my nose in them.  I always tell him to let mamma kiss him in the dough and he knows exactly what I mean leaning over to let me give him a kiss on the cheek.  We also play this game were I tell him to give me some sugar.  He thinks it's so funny to say, "t-hateo" or "poato" or "onion"...I say "NO...I want some sugar".  He laughs and laughs and thinks this is wildly funny.  Finally he gives me, what he calls, "ugar"...a.k.a kisses and hugs. 

 

Jed loves to play outside. He loves his little slide and sandbox.  He loves playing with balls in the yard.  He loves collecting acorns and the little cherries that fall from our cherry tree.  He loves dirt and gravel.  He loves his sister and follows her all over.  He is calling her E.B. now.  They can drive each other crazy sometimes, but boy are they buddies.  He always asks for E.B. to play with him and he tells her, "yuv you, E.B." all the time, which is just so heartwarming. 

He is at the stage now where he does not transition well from one activity to another.  If I'm ready to leave a place that he's enjoying, I had better have something ready to distract him with or it's going to get ugly.

Jed loves to say, "whoa dut (dude)" and "oopsy daisy."  He always says "whoa dut" when we go over the train tracks by our house.  He has started saying "oopsy daisy" approximately 100 times a day for any reason whatsoever.  He is so full of wonder right now.  He follows me around telling me to look and hear everything, "ook, mama" and "ear dat, mama"......making me aware of the joys, pleasures and miracles I take for granted as he sees them with his fresh eyes.

Oh my, this child has brought so much joy to my life.  I love him so dearly.  What a blessing to be his mother.

Evangeline at 8

Evangeline is loving 3rd grade and North School.  I'm so happy about this.  She is doing so well so far. 

Evangeline loves to read, draw and craft.  She loves to bake.  She still is pretty firm in the fact that she wants to be a tea party planner when she grows up. 

Evangeline loves to listen to 1940's Junction on Sirius FM.  It's her favorite thing to listen to in the car and she is always asking for it.  She is really into the music of the 1940's, which is how I always pictured her voice anyway.  She has a very old-timey voice.

She prefers her hair in braids or pigtails and does not like enjoy wearing it down much. 

She still has a raspy, soft voice. 

Her favorite food to eat are hotdogs and corndogs.  She gets excited when they serve these things at school.  Most of the time she brings her lunch, but she always looks out for corndog/hotdog day.  She also loves snacks and sweets.  Her favorite drink is whole milk and Low Sodium V-8 (mommy win).  She has been using a special plate which has made dinner so much more pleasant.  The plate is a game board and she has to eat her way to the "treasure" a.k.a. sweet at the end of the plate.  This way I can put however many bites of veggies, etc. on her plate and she eats it right up. 

Some of her favorite books are Fairyopolis, anything by Dr. Seuss, Rainbow Fairies series, Where the Sidewalk Ends and every Berenstain Bears book (all time favorite).  She loves to read to herself, but she still loves being read to.  We still read to her every night before she goes to bed.  Picture books are still favorites of hers. 

She still makes her way into our room several nights of the week and sleeps between me and Kyle.
 
She is a wonderful sister.  I love to hear her talking sweet to Jed..."it's ok, buba", "Oh Jed", "Can I have a kiss".  She always likes to tell me if she thinks she has taught him a new word or anything new, this makes her so proud.  She loves to play with him in the playroom in the mornings if she has some extra time before we leave for school. 

She is a knickknack hording queen.  Her room is overtaken with knickknacks and she is SUPER sentimental so she wants to keep absolutely everything (just like me). 

She was weighed at the doctor's office the other day and she is 48 pounds.  She has always been very tiny. 

She is very interested in everything I do and wear nowadays.  She always tells me not to get rid of certain pieces of my clothing that she particularly likes because she is going to want to wear them someday when she's bigger.  She is always asking me questions about what she sees me do around the house.

She loves church.  She knows more about the Bible than me, I bet.  She is a good girl.  I am so proud to be her mother. 

On Nursing

In the spring I was down to nursing Jed 3 times a day.  I nursed him in the morning, after school and then at bedtime.  I stopped nursing him in the afternoons on April 22nd.  I stopped nursing him in the mornings when we were in MI over the summer.  And now I am no longer a nursing him in the evenings....I am no longer a nursing mother, nor shall I ever be again.  This makes me sad.  My plan was to quit nursing him all together the day after his 2nd birthday, but I just couldn't tell him no.  Thankfully he quit on his own last Monday.  My nursing journey ended on Labor Day of all things.  I thought this kind of funny because it was all I had left to hold on to of my time of being a mother to a baby.  It's what still connected me to the miracle of my pregnancy, labor, delivery and care of a newborn.  Nursing has been one of the most special, precious and miraculous things I have ever done or experienced.  The human body is amazing and God created it so perfectly and thoughtfully.  It never came easy for me at the beginning with either of my children, but it was so worth the fight.  Nursing was not only the most amazing bonding experience for me and my children, but it also taught me so much about myself....about my determination, perseverance, willingness to fight.  Though I would not fault anyone for giving up, it was so hard at first, I'm so happy that I fought through the extreme pain and even suffering, sleepless nights, judgmental eyes, stress, and total time commitment, to make it work.  It was worth it all.  I am so thankful for my cheerleaders that helped me keep up my fight when it got really hard...Kyle, my parents, Peggy and Jenn Smitley.  I have spent 4 years of my life nursing my babies and it's been one of my greatest accomplishments. 

A Quick One

Evangeline has been taking her piano quite seriously.  We are all so proud of her.  She earns piano pennies each week from her teacher for memorized pieces.  When she gets 6 songs memorized she will play them all for her teacher and earn a composer bust.  She will earn one this week.  She is very excited.   

Ha!  Jed's learned how to make this face.  He does it frequently and he looks like such a little punk.  It's hilarious.

Over the past weekend I went with Kyle and Jed to Indianapolis to finally buy some furniture and rugs for our house.  We picked some stuff out and then decided that we needed to go eat lunch as Jed was over it and needed a change of scenery.  After lunch we came back to the furniture store to place our order.  I knew it would take a little while so I decided to wait in the car with Jed.  As soon as Kyle got out of the car I thought I would climb back to the back to sit with Jed.  After a little while in the back I got out to walk around to the front of the car.  As soon as the door shut, the car locked.  I went straight into panic mode.  Kyle just happened to be walking out right after this occurred and I told him what happened.  He stayed at the car while I ran in to the front desk of the furniture store to get the phone number to the police station.  I tried the number several times and of course it was not working.  I had no choice but to call 911.  Thankfully the car was on and it was nice and cool in there while we waited for someone to come and help.  Kyle ended up going back inside to complete the order and I waited for the police.  All of the sudden there came sirens blaring down the street...it was a fire truck.  I thought...surely not...but, oh no, it was for me.  It was a big huge scene of a blaring fire truck and 4 firefighters.  Next came a squad car with a police officer.  I was teary eyed and very apologetic.  They were very nice about it and got the door right opened.  It was definitely embarrassing.  I will always remember the day we bought our furniture.