Evie The Explorer

Evie's 3rd Birthday Party was on Sunday, January 12.  She wanted a Dora Princess Pink party.  I had a lot of fun putting this together.  As always the Internet had tons of great ideas and suggestions which made my job a lot easier.  Also, Evie was able to give her input and help, which made it even better.

As guests arrived they were greeted with this welcome sign.

Here is what some of the decorations inside looked like.  Dora and friends was peeking around every turn.

I made Backpacks for Everyone which included their Map and all the supplies they would need for our Birthday Adventure that we take later on during the party.

Rhett and Debra posing with Boots and Swiper in the background.

A festive multilingual sign in the front room.

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The party started with everyone being able to make a special bracelet just like Dora.  My mom helped get all the little girls started.

Then it was pizza time.

Below is Evie's beautiful Dora Princess Cake.  Made with marshmallow walls and ice cream cone towers.  The cake is built from two square cake pans, featuring two different flavors: strawberry (a.k.a. pink to Evie) and vanilla. :)

During the party after everyone had eaten, I discovered that Evie's Birthday cake was missing.  The only thing we could guess was that Swiper had taken it to his hideout.  The good thing was that each child had a Backpack.  Here I am telling the kids what happened.  

Here I pass out a Backpack to each child.

In each Backpack was a map that would help lead us to the Birthday Cake.  Look at Evie's face in this picture, she looks so serious.  I love it!

Up close look of the map that I crafted and colored. 

First stop on the map was to go around Crocodile River.  In each of the kid's backpacks they would find a Dora kazoo.  The trick was we needed to blow these kazoos to scare the Crocodiles away so they wouldn't get us. 

We all got in on the fun.

Look at Evie blowing her heart out on this little kazoo.

After we made it past the Crocodiles then we had to make it over to the Shape Bridge, but to do that we had to go through this obstacle course first.

Last but not least through the course was our little birthday girl.

Finally we made it to the Shape Bridge wear the kids had to look in the backpacks and find a shape.  Then they had to identify the shape on the bridge to fill the hole so we could walk across.

Here is Evie placing the official last piece, an orange square.

After this we finally made it to Swiper's Hideout where we played Pin- the-Tale on Swiper.  In each kid's backpack was a Swiper tail.  Here is Evie trying her best to get it in position.  All the kids did so good with this game.  We had three prizes that I gave away to the children who got the closet, minus the birthday boy and brother. They couldn't win, Evan wasn't too sure that he liked this rule.

After we finished up at Swiper's Hideout the kids had to look in their bag for a glow-stick (this was a little funny only because it hasn't really gotten dark yet, but everyone got the idea just the same) which we would then use to walk around the house in the backyard to come back in the house to the kitchen table where Evie's Birthday Cake was.  Turns out Swiper didn't want to take the cake, but instead help us get it all set for Evie to blow out her candles.  Oh that Swiper!  Gotta love him.

Here are all the party guests eating their cake and ice cream.  From left to right around the table, Tyler, Ariel, Macy, Evie, Jayne, Cameron and Evan.  The Moons were invited too, but unfortunately were unable to attend.

Here are the Dads enjoying the treat too.

After cake it was present time.  

 
 Evie was having so much fun and loving everything.

A big treat was at the end of present time when she got this super cool Dora desk from Aunt Debra and Uncle Rhett.

It was a magical party for sure.  So thankful for all our family and friends and the love they have for our baby girl.

Pictured below are the special party guests.

My family, Debra, Rhett, Grandma, Mom and Dad

The Pray Family (Jon, Macy, Cameron and Ariel)

The Wisner Family (Dave, Natalie, Tyler, Jayne and Baby Wisner)

Lastly, I leave you with an adorable picture of our little Elaine at 6 months old in her Star Outfit, Dora loves stars and she wanted to fit into the theme too.

This is also a cute picture of the three kiddos, along with DJ, Evan's Cars car.

Lastly, a family pic taken at the end of the party.  We all look a little worn, but a sign of a great party for sure!!!

Happy Birthday Evie!!!  We love our little Explorer you are the best 3 year old ever!!!

Ten Months Old

Elaine turned 10 months old on Wednesday, May 8.  Time is soaring by.  She is in double digits now.  How did this happen?!?!

-She continues to want to be independent.  She has stood three times that we have seen all by herself.  Not for very long, but for a few seconds or so.

-She is a cruiser and can be seen moving around on everything.  She especially likes all the vehicles that we have inside and outside.

-She is a talker too and loves to say ga ga ga, da da, ma ma.  Her favorite lately is saying ga ga ga really loudly and with excitement.

-She is a  little helper around the house now too.  Well kind of. :)

-Her teeth have come in, the top four and the top two are smiling brightly for all to see.

-She likes to wave, she actually started doing this last month too and pat Mommy on the back.  I remember the others doing this too.

-Elaine gets into everything these days.  Nothing is safe if it is at her level.

-I have been able to put a hair clip in her hair.  I started this last month, but here is a picture.  She doesn't have as much hair as Evie at this age, but we make it work and she looks adorable while doing it.

-She is eating more food now and especially loves her snacks.  She tried goldfish last night for the first time.  Wasn't too impressed yet, but could have also just been the mood she was in.  This month I am sure we will continue to explore with more tastes and textures.

-She continues to love her brother and sister and always enjoys being with them.  We are very thankful for their precious relationship.  Evan and Evie are so good with her too and are the best helpers.  Making sure she doesn't get into things she shouldn't or put too small of pieces in her mouth.  They also help to keep her happy in a sad situation.  Evan insists that her favorite song is this one he made up that goes, "Goo Goo Ga Ga, Goo Goo Ga Ga" and that it helps keep her calm.  So blessed by my big kids too.  Here they are all enjoying a ride together at Incredible John's Pizza.

This beautiful girl is a true blessing and we continue to thank God for her each and everyday!  Thanks for reading about our princess at 10 months!  Happy 10 Months sweet Elaine!  Mommy and Daddy love you!!!

Nine Months Old

Just look at our big girl.  Elaine turned nine months on Monday, April 8.

She is growing by leaps and bounds.  We are so proud of her, and look at all her fun new achievements:  

-She can pull up and can be found trying to stand on everything in view.

She has gotten stuck in this box below when she digs in to get a toy that is a little deeper and I have to rescue her as she has her little feet dangling in the air.  It's a pretty silly sight.

-Nine months also came with more hair...but it was growing out kind of long and would stick up.  The funny thing is you can tell it is longer now and has grown out a bit as it doesn't stick up as it did right when she turned 9 months.  The picture above was when she turned 9 months and the bottom is a little more recent.  She has much calmer hair now.  

-She says Momma!  This Momma is very proud of her new verbal skills.

-She also can push along with the cars and cruise a bit on to different things as she stands.  We have got her standing by herself two times.  Such a big girl.

-She loves playing/wrestling with her siblings.  Especially Evan...he loves it too! :)

-She loves her tongue and can be found sticking it out quite frequently.

-She also has gotten in several new teeth.  Still has the two on the bottom, but her top three teeth are coming in, and the fourth top one appears to be coming in now too.  She has discovered biting and we have to tell her no and not to bite.

-She still has her fun one leg up crawl.  We love it!

-She absolutely loves bath time.  Especially splashing!  You pretty much have instant smiles during all of bath.  When she hears the water start to come out she rushes to pull up on the tub and can't wait to get in and have fun.  Her other favorite pastime out of the tub is playing tackle with her siblings as everyone gets jammies on.  She thinks this is the funniest thing.  Mommy loves it too as there is nothing more precious then a naked tushie crawling around and trying to escape from their diaper and jammies.

-She enjoys her food and is becoming a more controlled eater.  She is not getting as messy as before, but still enjoys getting control of her spoon.

-Elaine enjoys her snacks now too, puffs, crunches, and Cheerios are great!  She has also had a few yogurt melts.

-She really enjoys going outside and rushes to the door if she hears anyone out there or headed out there.

We are having endless amounts of fun with this little one!  Thank you for being such a treasure Elaine baby.  We love you!!!