nostalgia

Tonight, I had an interesting moment. We have this leprechaun bear in our possession -- it's an obnoxious thing that we have moved four times and has made it's way into corners of closets and under beds for the past several years.

I was first given the bear as a result of a very romantic/spiteful/sarcastic dispute in the middle of the DeKalb Walmart on some random late night excursion with Travis. I have idea what we were fighting about, but I can assure you it was something ridiculous that we had given way too much time out of our lives debating. Anyway, to shut me, Travis reached to an end cap, pulled off this St. Patrick's Day bear, and said, "All this grief you're giving me and I was going to get you this as a gift." Naturally, a series of sarcastic comments followed, which lead to Travis purchasing said bear for me as a gift. It's your typical St. Patrick's Day Irish nonsense, and the best part of it is that when you press its belly it says, "Top of the mornin' to ya" in the most stereotypical Irish voice the good people of Walmart could muster. In short, it was the perfect souvenir from obnoxious commentary.

Now, we have had several discussions about discarding the bear since then. Neither of us are Irish nor do we celebrate St. Patrick's Day. An Irish bear has no logical place in our house or our lives. But I can never bring myself to go through with it. The bear represents one of my favorite things about my relationship with Travis: our sarcastic banter.

We needed lightbulbs yesterday. We store them in a very inconvienent section of our hall closet. Out with our box of bulbs comes a little obnoxious bear. I smiled for a moment and then tossed it to Travis, who was playing with Evalee at the time. He laughed and pressed its belly and that familiar voice rang.

Since then Evalee keeps going back to it, lighting up when she sees it and giggling as soon as she hears his little voice. Why do I mention this? Because it really got me to thinking how amazing life is. Never in a million years on that boring night in DeKalb would I have ever imagined that bear would find me here, entertaining a baby that came from those two sarcastic morons. Who knows where it will pop up again in our lives again before it eventually stops working, as most things that come from Walmart eventually do. I have to admit, I'll be a little sad.

growing and learning

Tonight is a rare night where Evalee fell asleep at a decent time and I have the dishes done, laundry washing, and school work done. So, I decided to write a bit on the blog to catch up! Evalee has been so much fun lately. It seems like every day she is trying to master a new skill. Earlier this week she figured out how to buzz her lips, and she did it for about an hour straight one night and has done it for a least a good 10 minute period every night since. She just cracks herself up with it. She still isn't crawling, but she can really travel around rolling and pushing and she gets where she wants to be (which is usually wherever Gizmo is... she's the cat that will let her "pet" her). Tonight in the bathtub she discovered the echo sound her voice makes when she talks into the cup we use to rinse her hair, so she had a great time talking to herself until her water got cold. She has also discovered her little bookshelf in the living room where we keep her board books, so she has been enjoying rolling over there and pulling those off the shelf. In doing so tonight, she discovered a couple new ones we haven't looked at yet and that really captivated her attention for a while.

A couple weeks ago I got a song stuck in my head that I had not thought of for literally at least a decade. It was from a Christian children's song video that I used to watch allllll the time as a kid (it had sign language in it, so I loved to watch it and do the signs along with it). So, I had to look into it online and eventually found mp3's of the album online. It was a must-have purchase. Evalee and I have listened to it a few times and she grins and giggles through the whole thing. It's weird how all of the songs just came back to me like I've been singing them every day all my life. I guess what we learn as children truly does stick with us. We have also uploaded her Animal Friends Baby Einstein cd that came with her Baby Noah DVD and she likes to listen to those songs too.

She has been eating stage 2 foods now for almost two weeks, and she cannot get enough of them! Every "new" food we have tried she has absolutely loved. I can't decide if I think her favorite is mac and cheese or chicken and noodles, but she gobbles up the entire jar of either in record time. I have been browsing recipes for "stage 2" homemade recipes online, and I am hoping I get the chance to try a few out this weekend.

That tooth we have been working on since last weekend has finally broken through, though she is not interested in letting anyone get a good look at it really. As soon as we get a good picture I'll be sure to share!

Last weekend we all made the trip down to Springfield to visit the family. Aunt Molly and I had been planning a visit around this time of year for a while now, and I was happy that we managed to find some time to do it. Saturday night we spent the night with Grandma and Grandad Kershaw. Evalee was in a good mood and got lots of smiles and snuggles in with her grandparents. Then Sunday it was off to church before heading up to Williamsville for the game and some hanging out. Alex and Eva played pretty well together this time. Eva is now finally old enough to sit and play with toys, so she was a totally different baby than the last time Alex saw her. I think she definitely got him back a bit for the "love pats" he gave her a few months ago, and she looooved to chase after those pretty little curls of his! Aunt Molly and I even got some diaper-deal shoppin' in (AND got some Chiphotle. Yummy!) Uncle Adam made us some WONDERFUL pancakes for breakfast and then we decided to try to get some pictures of the munchkins. We got several where both sets of eyes are open and they aren't crying, so we considered the photo shoot a success.
It was so nice to see everyone and to catch up the news and excitement in the family :).

6 Months Old

You're a half a year old already! People keep saying -- "Can you believe how fast time has flown by?" And I just laugh because the truth is, it's hard to remember what life was like without you in it, baby girl. You have become our whole world and I have loved spending the last six months getting to know you.
You are such a happy and beautiful little girl. Your smile can melt anyone's heart -- from those that know you best to strangers in the grocery aisle. You love to give people hugs and, unfortunately, yank on their hair to tell them how much you love them. You love to giggle with your daddy, snuggle with your mommy, and talk to us both when you wake up in the morning. Your crazy hair has even started to get long enough to lay down! You also love to get sung to; your favorite song is "Plastic Jesus" (by a bunch of different people, but we like to sing the Jack Johnson version). Nothing can distract you from what you are doing quite like our cats, and you love to stare at them and beckon them to you with your jibber jabber (which never, ever works). Everyone that sees you compliments you on your pretty hair, big blue eyes, and wide grin.
Happy (belated) six month birthday Evalee! We can't wait to watch you grow over the next six to come!

I'm a Smart Cookie

Her shirt says it (even though I didn't do a good job of getting a picture that shows it) and it's certainly true! We continue to be amazed by what she can do every day. She has really started to develop her language lately. Her most recent discovery is the "p" sound, and it never fails to make me laugh when I hear her tiny little voice say "poooo...p." She also getting better and better and commanding the pages of the books we read. I know it's a cliche, but she really is growing up so fast, and we couldnt' be more proud of her!

Sitting up all on her own

Starting around the beginning of October, Evalee really started to sit up well on her own. Well e nough, anyway, that Mom and Dad feel comfortable letting her sit and play for a while so that they can eat dinner, throw in a load of laundry, and maybe even grade a paper or two. She loves to sit and play with her puzzle, even though she's months away from being able to put the pieces back in still! She has also start traveling a bit. She will roll and roll and roll until she gets to the toy (or parent... or cat) she wants!