Eleven Months Old

Elaine turned 11 months old on Saturday, June 8.  I can't believe our little cupcake is going to be one year in just a few short weeks.  

We sure to love our baby.  Here are Mommy and Daddy both loving on their tiniest girl!

At 11 months Elaine is a rock-star.  We are so excited about all of her accomplishments.

-She officially has taken steps and is quickly going to be a proficient walker really soon.  Her first steps were taken at our church's recent family camp trip on Friday, June 21.  Now you just can't stop her and she is moving around like crazy.  She is still very cautious though.

-Below she can be seen cruising like a pro at the library.  This was her first trip where she really wanted to get into everything just like brother and sister.

-She continues to love her vehicles too, especially her Mickey Airplane.

-Here she is pulling up on my leg.  I love that we were both wearing stripes in this picture.

-She loves to explore.  She wants to check things out from the bathroom to the cupboards to the drawers.  She is right there with you to lend a hand.  Some of her other favorite things to do are help with the dishwasher and unroll the toilet paper roll.

-Here she is climbing the stairs.  We finally have to start locking the gate at the bottom because as soon as she notices it is open she makes a bee line to start climbing.

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-Miss. Elaine also loves the backyard and playing with brother and sister.  Some of her biggest fans.

Here they are giving her some love and cuddles.

-Food is going good too.  Elaine is trying all sorts of new things.  Here she is checking out soybeans.  The most common thing Elaine can be found doing with food is chewing it up and spitting it back out.  Makes for a pretty messy experience, but at least she is trying everything.

We also have discovered the squeeze food.  I love it and so does Elaine.  Didn't use these with our other kids.  The bonus is Jim and I can actually eat our food too, since Elaine can just has to squeeze and feed herself.  She still needs a little direction, but the extra money for the squeeze food is totally worth it especially when eating out.

-Elaine is also a great sleeper and is being very consistent for us at night and during naps.  The big inconsistency for this poor girl is mainly our ever changing schedule, which she deals with and is usually pretty accommodating.  Here she is below smiling big as she plays with a balloon in the air.

-Our little girl loves to swing.  Here she is swinging at our friends the Pray's house.

And here at the park.

I had to post this face below.  It makes me giggle. :)

-Lastly, Elaine's favorite way to get our attention/communicate with us about when she doesn't like something is to make an ape sound.  The louder she gets the more unhappy or displeased she is.  When she stops making the sound she is happy again or got what she wanted.  Silly little monkey!

Our baby makes everything better!  We love you Elaine Grace and are so thankful for your developments and how much you bring to our family!  Happy 11 Months darling!!!

Matching Baby Doll Jammies

Someone is in love with her new pajamas.  Love this beautiful little girl!

Evan's Preschool Graduation

Evan graduated from Preschool on Thursday, May 30.  Here he is with Ms. Netty and his Preschool Diploma.

Here he is with all the other graduates.  This graduating class was all boys.  From left to right you have Ms. Netty, Mark, Cameron, Evan, Ewan, Charlie and Miles.

Here he is with his whole class.  This picture has the two girls, Kirsta and Olivia who also were in school with all the boys.  Gavin was also in his class on Wednesday's, but didn't want to get in the picture.

Here I am with my boy.  Sadly, Jim had a work trip he couldn't get out of so we took lots of pictures and video for him to experience the graduation too.

Here is Evan with his sisters and Grandma and Grandpa.

During the ceremony the kids performed their alphabet sounds and motions, a favorite number/math song, and one of their absolute favorite silly songs.

The kids had a real nice time at the event as they were able to play on this great playground structure and explore.  The ceremony took place at Krista's house.

 
They also were able to have a delicious pizza and hotdog lunch.

All the families got together and surprised Ms. Netty with a new chair and a Visa gift card.

The kids each put their handprints on it.  Evan is the yellow one on the left.

 
Here is our first born, Preschool Graduate!  Future Kindergartner!!!

We love you baby, you make your Mommy and Daddy so proud!!!  Where has the time gone.

Kindergarten Orientation

Just look at this cool dude with his super neat pose for me before we head over to Kindergarten Orientation.  Our son is just getting way too old.

On Monday, May 20 Mommy, Daddy and Evan attended his Kindergarten Orientation at his future school.  We got to meet all the teachers.  He will have an AM class, but we don't find out his specific teacher until the school year gets a little closer.  Mommy and Daddy were able to hear from the Principal and learn all the important information we would need to know to get Evan ready for Kindergarten.  Evan actually got to go with all the other AM students and visited his future classroom and check out the toys, teachers, etc.  He did amazing!!!  Here he is with Daddy after the Orientation is all over.  We are so proud of our boy and excited for this new milestone to come.

Evie's first time at the Dentist

 
Evie had her first visit to the dentist on Tuesday, May 21.  She did amazing and cooperated ever step of the way with whatever they asked of her.  She selected Bubble Gum fluoride (a.k.a. vitamins for your teeth).  I was so impressed and proud of my little girl.  Here she is with Dr. Chan after her exam.

After it was all over she got her little goodie bag and was so excited about her pink dental floss, her pink and purple toothbrush, and her colored floss sticks.  She also got to pick out a toy.  There were lots of neat options, but she choose a little airplane that you had to put together.  She thought Daddy and Evan would think this was pretty cool.  Love my thoughtful, brave girl.

Mother's Day

Me and my babies on Mother's Day, May 12, along with Dora, Baby Alive and Raggedy Anne. :)

This was us at our Mother's Day lunch at CPK.  This picture is so true to life of how crazy things can be at times, but I wouldn't have it any other way. 

 My littlest cutie smiling big for her Mommy.

That night we went over to my parent's house to celebrate with my Mom.  Here we all are together.  Rhett and Jim were taking the pictures.

This year I got to get my official first Mother's Day school gift.  I just loved it.  Evan gave me a plant with his hand-print on the card and on the pot in his favorite color, yellow.  He had Ms. Netty write on the card, "I love my mom because she is the BEST Mom!"  What more could you ask for.

Jim and the kids all got me these beautiful pink roses and gigantic Mother's Day balloon on Friday too.  I loved it all!

 
The following week we were able to celebrate Mother's Day with my Grandma too.  We got her this special frame that said We Love Great Grandma Shirley and had their names repeating on it too.

 
It was a beautiful Mother's Day and I am so thankful for all the special Moms in my life.  Thank you all for being such wonderful examples of what being a mother looks like.

Evie's Preschool Preview Day

Evie got to go to Preschool for the first time on Tuesday, May 2.  She was so excited as you can see from these pictures and did amazing.  She loves Ms. Netty already and enjoys all the other children in the class.  Evan was super excited to have her visit too and showed her all the ropes.  He even prepared Ms. Netty before the big day telling her all the things Evie does and does not like to do.  

What a blessing it is to know my two kids can both attend such a wonderful Preschool environment.  Ms. Netty is a true blessing and joy to our family.  Our kids just can't get enough!  

I leave you with a final picture of Evie on her big Preschool Preview day with her Dora bucket.  All the kids bring buckets to school instead of backpacks for their art, sharing etc.  She was so excited to bring hers today too.

A funny story is the next day after Evie visited all the kids wanted to know where she was.  They have all gotten to know Evie really well over the year with us being present at pick ups and drop offs as well as field trips and with her finally attending school one day, they thought well why isn't she continuing to come.  So adorable!  Very thankful that my daughter is enjoyed!

Crazy Climbers

A new play place opened up in Roseville this year called Crazy Climbers.  Our family has been able to go a few times and has had some real good times.  Here are some pictures of the fun.

Our first visit happened on February 20 with our friends the Ishams.  Below are Evan, Evie and Eli posing real quick as they took a little break from running around.

One of the best things about Crazy Climbers is they have this train.

The kids love it, especially Evan.  It takes a little bit extra muscle for Evie, but she enjoys it especially if someone pushes her around. :)

Elaine has been able to get in on the fun too.

The place also has a neat gun blaster.

This was all of us March 2 with the Cunningham Family.  We went why the Dad's were away at Men's Retreat.

We also went with my MOPS Table on April 12.  This is when Elaine got to try out bouncing for the first time.  She was a natural.  As soon as she sat down on the bounce house play thing she started to bounce it was adorable.  I actually got it on video too.  Just look at that happy face.

Here we are again on May 17 with another friend Olivia.  Just look at that smiles.

Whee!!!

I see many more visits to Crazy Climbers in our future.