4 days till Christmas!

I can't believe how close Christmas is! Sweetpea is ready to open the presents, but she is being very patient! Last weekend we got a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Evans and Aunt Heather! Sweetpea had so much fun playing with them. She got a baby doll from Great Nana and Reah which she hasn't put down at all. She brings baby to school and lets her sleep with her.

Sunday we went to a hockey game with our friends. Sweetpea played with her friend Ty. After the game we all went to eat. After the kids ate their food, they decided they didn't want to sit with us anymore and they took their plates to an empty booth. Then they sat there together for a long time, just chatting away. It was really cute - and thankfully the restaurant was pretty empty!

Here is a video of Sweetpea wrapping up her toys. She decided since mommy was wrapping she wanted to join in the fun!

Big girl pants!

We had a great Thanksgiving seeing everyone! Sweetpea loved playing with everyone - especially her cousin Nathan! :) While on vacation she got all her stickers for her potty chart so we got to celebrate at Chuck E Cheese's! Then yesterday we tried wearing underwear and Sweetpea stayed dry all day at school! She stayed dry all day today, too! We are so proud of her!! Here's her school picture. As you can see, she wasn't too happy to be taking pictures that day!

Also, here's a video of her wearing her butterfly wings and tu-tu from Aunt Jennifer. She did not want to take that outfit off!

Bike riding!

Sweetpea went riding on her bike today with daddy. They were outside for a long time! Sweetpea was riding like crazy all by herself! Here's a little video of her and daddy cruising down the street.

We have been seeing a lot of Santa already - crazy, I know!! Sweetpea is more friendly towards him this year, but we haven't gotten all the way to his lap yet. With one Santa she just pointed towards his treat bag until he gave her a treat. :)

Here's a picture of Sweetpea in pigtails. She let me do her hair one morning and I was so excited. They didn't make it to school, though. I think they lasted all of 5 minutes! She's chattering up a storm lately and still peeing in the potty most of the time! I can't believe how big she's getting - both Aaron and I were amazed at how well she rode a bike. Sometimes we forget how big she actually is!

Halloween

We had a great Halloween! Sweetpea loved trick or treating. She started to get scared a couple times, but then she'd be brave and go get her treats! She made a killing on candy. We went trick or treating at the mall after church and then walked around the neighborhood that night. She liked to tell people "trick or treated!" Here are a couple pictures from the mall trick or treating.
Sweetpea has also been doing great at going potty! She earned a toy last week and she's almost got enough stickers to get another toy.
Yesterday at school Sweetpea was reading books to her friends. Her teacher asked her if she wanted to be a teacher and she said "Yes, just like mommy." Melted my heart to hear that!
Hope everyone else had a great Halloween!

Pee Pee on the Potty!

Sweetpea is finally starting to use the potty at home! She's been going at school for awhile, but this week she finally decided to go at home. She even went poopy! :) We've been celebrating that a lot!

She's getting so big, too! She can recognize an E now, and then today she told me where the number 5 was. She amazes me sometimes with what she knows!

We've been drawing a lot lately. She can make a pretty good smiley face - or at least the circle part of the face. Here's a video of her making a picture. She started to put the marker tops on her fingers and I thought it was pretty funny!

Yesterday we went to a halloween celebration at the zoo with some of her friends. Sweetpea really enjoyed the trick or treating part, but the costumes scared her alot. We had to hold her almost the whole time! She dressed up like Minnie Mouse and enjoyed wearing her costume - but just didn't want to see anyone else's!

Pumpkin Fest

Today we went to the pumpkin fest! Unfortunately, it rained when we got there and the parade was canceled. But, luckily the rain didn't last too long, so we were still able to have some pumpkin ice cream! Sweetpea had lots of fun with her friend Ty. There's a video of them dancing to the band that was playing. They also rode in a wagon together and shared ice cream!
Here's a picture of Sweetpea from last weekend. Aunt Dee gave her a dog to play with while we were there and she loved that dog! This is a picture of her sitting on her bed playing with the dog.

In memory...

Things have been busy around here. We went to Westphalia this weekend for Aaron's grandpa's funeral. He will be greatly missed. I'm putting a picture up here of the last visit we had with him.

We just finished closing up the pool for the summer, too. Sweetpea kept trying to throw her toys in the pool while we were closing it up, but luckily she didn't succeed! She's been chattering up a storm lately. Unfortunately, I don't understand a lot of it, but I know there are some good stories in there!

New computer!

Ahhh - we have a great new laptop and faster running desktop now thanks to our father-in-law! :) Now, if only I could add about 4 hours to each day I would have so many new posts for you. But, I am exhausted and heading to bed, so right now you just get a picture of Sweetpea

with her new haircut - which hopefully will suffice for now!

Technical Difficulties

I know I have been MIA for awhile, and I wanted to say sorry. My laptop died on me and the desktop is so slow I just haven't been really wanting to download the camera program on here, so I am trying to wait for a new laptop. Sorry for no new updates. We had a great vacation time, though, and really enjoyed seeing family! This past week was busy as usual with swim parties and seeing friends. I'm trying to relax a little this week before school starts again, so we don't have as much planned. Aaron is playing for a big golf tournament and he starts his actual playoffs tomorrow so good luck to him! Hopefully we will have pictures back soon - thanks for your patience!

Summer fun

Last weekend Sweetpea switched her bed over to a toddler bed - that was a big moment! She got really excited watching it change and loves that she can get in and out by herself. She has tried a couple times to sneak out while she was supposed to be sleeping, but as soon as we see her she runs back and gets in bed! Here's a picture of her new bed after daddy got done setting it up.

We've really been enjoying this weather lately! We had a water playdate yesterday with Sweetpea's friends - she had a blast playing in the sprinklers and kiddie pool. Today we went swimming in our pool! It's supposed to be a beautiful weekend, too, so I'm sure we'll be doing lots of outdoor activities. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Rockford

Last weekend we took a mini trip to Rockford. Sweetpea loved staying at the hotel and playing in the hotel pool. She wanted to swim all morning on Sunday. She is definitely getting more comfortable in the water now - and was jumping into mom or dad's arms over and over! She also made a friend at the pool. On Saturday we went to the children's museum in Rockford. She had a blast playing with all the stuff. The first thing she found was an arts and crafts area and, of course, she wanted to stay there a long time! She made a mask with daddy. They also have a whole area for toddlers with pretend play and a water table. She loved playing in the water! There was also a huge outdoor play house that she enjoyed. We had a great trip to Rockford!

Daddy's golfing

We had a great father's day! Sweetpea made her daddy a couple crafts and got him some Cardinals pajamas! We went to church this morning, then went swimming. After Sweetpea's nap we went swimming some more and then had a cookout for dinner - s'more's included!

This weekend we found a desk at a garage sale that Sweetpea can use for drawing. Here's a picture of her sitting at her new desk playing with her new favorite things - foam stickers.

Also - here's a video of Sweetpea the other morning. She was asking where daddy was and kept saying that he was golfing. I thought that was funny - she definitely knows what daddy likes to do!

field trip!

Today was Sweetpea's first field trip and I was able to go chaperone. We went to Wildlife Prairie Park and it was exhausting!! The heat didn't help much, either. Sweetpea loved riding on a school bus, though - I think that was her favorite part! Then they got to see cougars, horses, goats, and chickens. It was fun seeing Sweetpea interact with her friends - she is very cuddly with them! Here's a picture of all the kids after we got done walking around.

stormy weather

Sweetpea got to stay up super late Saturday night because we had crazy storms so we were all in the basement hiding out. Luckily, we didn't get any damage, but there were a couple tornado sightings. The tornados actually hit a nearby town that we had been in earlier that day for a strawberry festival!

We went to the strawberry festival later because it was raining in the morning, so unfortunately by the time we got there most of the strawberry food was gone. :( Sweetpea had lots of fun listening to the entertainment, though. She LOVED this country singer and wanted to dance to his music all afternoon! Here's a video of her dancing.

This morning while daddy was golfing, I painted Sweetpea's toenails for the first time! She actually sit still long enough for me to do it and she loved showing them off afterwards!

haircut

Sweetpea got a haircut today! Here's a picture of her shorter hair. She did a great job getting her haircut - she didn't really like getting her bangs cut, but she was still great! Afterwards we went to the library. Sweetpea loved all the books and wanted to read everything! I let her check out her first book - which was fun.

Sweetpea has been learning her colors lately and she is usually pretty good with naming them - although she'll occasionally get one wrong. Here's a video of her naming some colors.

Happy Memorial Day!

We've had a great weekend! Nana Karen and Grandpa Phil came to visit - Sweetpea had a great time! Saturday we went to the zoo. Sweetpea rode the carousel a few times and did not want to leave. We saw sea lions, monkeys, and tons of other animals. We did a lot of swimming this weekend, too. Sweetpea loved swimming in the pool. She wanted Grandpa Phil to push her around on the raft all afternoon! She also learned to kick her feet so she can go around in circles on her raft - here's a video of her showing off!

2 year checkup

Sweetpea had her 2 year checkup this week. Luckily, these are the last shots until she's 4 or 5! :) She handled it like a champ, though, and afterwards I took her out for ice cream! The doctor wanted to see if she knew her body parts, though, and she got all shy on him, so he had to take my word that she knows - which she does!

This weekend was pretty relaxing. We had a playdate on Saturday morning with two of Sweetpea's friends. She was the oldest and she played very nicely with them! Then that afternoon we went out to the mall and she was playing on the outdoor play equipment. She made a friend there, too, and was playing nicely with a little girl.

This morning we played outside with bubbles and Sweetpea held the wand and was able to blow bubbles out all by herself! Then at church she made even more friends and was playing with another little girl and boy. It's been a very social weekend!

She has been acting more and more like her Aunt Christi, too! Saturday morning I was rubbing her back and then as soon as I stopped she started pointing at her back and whining that she wanted more! So, in honor of Aunt Christi here is Sweetpea playing with the Mrs. Potato Head she gave her.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to everyone! We had a great celebration this weekend with a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Evans and Great Nana and Grandpa F.! Here's a video of Sweetpea giving Great Nana a kiss.

Sorry that I have been MIA lately, but things have been getting busy with the end of the school year! Sweetpea has been keeping busy, too. We bought a new tricycle with some of her birthday money and she has ridden it a couple times. Here's a picture of her with her new tricycle.

Last weekend we went to visit my friend Kelli and her kids (a 4 year old and a 7 month old). Sweetpea had lots of fun playing with Micah. They rode on Micah's power wheels jeep and Sweetpea loved it! She didn't always tell him when she wanted to get off, though, so she fell a couple times. Sweetpea played with Kelli's cats, but she did not like the horses. I think the horses were too big - she did not want to be near them at all!

Relaxing weekend!

We didn't do much this weekend, which was nice. Daddy got some golfing in and Sweetpea and I slept in both days! On Saturday we went to some garage sales and then when daddy got home we went to the park and out to eat. It turned out that it was kite day at the park, so it was neat seeing the kites up in the air. At first, Sweetpea was scared of them but then one lady let her fly a kite they had and she started to like them.

Today we went for a walk and played at the outdoor mall in their play area. Sweetpea liked going down the slide and did not want to go back home! :)

Last night we put Sweetpea in her outfit Aunt Heather gave her from Thailand (I think that was where it was from...). She was loving it and kept saying "cheese" and smiling for the camera! Here's a video of her.

2 years old!!

Sweetpea turned 2 on Saturday! We had a lot of fun at Chuck E Cheese's with all her friends. She didn't care too much for Chuck E himself, but she loved playing the games and running around. Then Grandma and Grandpa E. came up and we went to the park and opened some more gifts. She slept very good that night!

Today we relaxed and enjoyed the nice weather by taking a walk and eating dinner outside. We had watermelon. I cut some up for Sweetpea to eat, but she saw us eating it off the rind and decided she wanted to eat it like that. So, she wouldn't eat the cut up pieces, but had to have big slices! Here's a video of Sweetpea at Chuck E Cheese's - there were a couple really loud birthday parties next to us that you can hear screaming!

Easter!

We had a great Easter visiting family! Sweetpea was worn out tonight, though, and ready to be in her own bed I think. She loved getting all the candy and finding Easter eggs! Here's a video from her easter egg hunt at Nana Karen and Phil's. She started the egg hunt by collecting rocks, but as soon as she figured out that the eggs had treats inside she gave up on the rocks! :) Here is a picture of her in her Easter dress, too - on the go as usual!

Easter eggs, Easter hunts, Easter parties

It is clear that Easter is almost here! We've been to two easter egg hunts so far, we decorated easter eggs this week, and Sweetpea had an easter party at school today! We haven't gone to see the bunny, because I just assume it will be a repeat of Santa - and that wasn't fun! :)
Sweetpea had lots of fun getting easter eggs, though, and she enjoyed it even more when she realized there were treats inside the eggs. She loved decorating the eggs, too. She's definitely an artistic child. She put them in the dyes and then after they were dried she put stickers on them. Here you can see her creations (which mommy and daddy are eating!). She also stayed in the high chair and sorted the eggs for about a half an hour. Sweetpea and I are looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow as our spring break begins! Poor daddy has to go to work, though. :( Happy Easter!!

Happy St. Paddy's

Hope everyone had a great St. Patrick's Day! We had a good time - I got the day off so Sweetpea and I played all day. In the morning we went to play on Rainbow play systems. Sweetpea was walking up the stairs and sliding down all by herself (with me close behind, of course!)- she's getting so big! Then in the afternoon we had some of her friends over to play. At first Sweetpea didn't want to share any of her toys!

Here are a couple pictures of Sweetpea wearing her green!

Broadway singer

Sweetpea has been singing a lot lately! One of her favorites is E-I-E-I-O. She sings it everytime she sees a picture of a farm animal. When she sees a picture of a diamond or a star she sings Twinkle Twinkle. One day we were reading her alphabet books and there was a picture of a yak, so I sang "Yakety Yak." Sweetpea sang it back and it was very cute - here's a video of her singing!

First haircut

Sweetpea celebrated Dr. Seuss's birthday last week at school. One of the days was vacation t-shirt day, so Sweetpea wore her Washington, D.C. shirt from Aunt Heather - she was looking good!

This weekend Sweetpea got her first real haircut! It was needed since I messed up her bangs when I tried to cut them - so now they can grow out the right way! :) She did a great job for her first haircut - just cried a few times. There were tons of toys where we went, too, so she didn't want to leave at the end.

Winter fun

Last weekend we took a little vacation up to the Quad Cities. We went with our friends, who have a little boy Sweetpea's age - they had lots of fun playing together. The adults took turns going skiing, while the kids went swimming and visited the children's museum. They had lots of fun running around the hotel, too!

When we got back Sweetpea got a pretty bad cough and wasn't sleeping well, so Tuesday we went to the doctor and found out she had strep. We got some medicine for her, and daddy had to stay home with her Wednesday. She is feeling a lot better and finally getting some sleep (we're all getting sleep again!).

Here are some pictures of Sweetpea on our trip. I told Sweetpea we were going to get ready to go swimming and then I turned around to get my suit ready. Well, when I turned around again to get her ready I saw that she had already started to put her suit on! I had to get a picture of that - what a big girl!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Valentine's Day! Sweetpea got lots of treats for Valentine's day and has been playing with them all. At school they had a party on Friday and she ate lots of goodies, plus got some cards from her friends. Friday afternoon we went to a playdate with some of her other friends and she had lots of fun there, too. Grandma and Grandpa E. came up to visit on Saturday. They got to play with Sweetpea Saturday night while Aaron and I went out for Valentine's Day. Nyles came to visit, too, and Sweetpea had lots of fun playing with the dog. It was a crazy, busy weekend - but we had lots of fun!!

Here's a video of Sweetpea playing with her grandpa.

Reading

This weekend Sweetpea got to visit my school a couple times. We went to a volleyball game Friday night and then on Sunday they had open house with french toast and donuts. Sweetpea loved the donuts! Then she got to pick out a book from the book fair - and she found a book with her mouse in it! :)
Sweetpea has been reading a lot lately. She'll read to her mouse sometimes and it's very cute. Here's a video of her reading one of her books tonight.

More Teeth!

It seems we've been so busy lately and time is flying! This past Monday I had off from school so Sweetpea and I got to spend the whole day together! We went swimming in the morning and then went out for lunch. It was a very nice girl's day out.
Sweetpea has 4 new teeth trying to break through so we've had a rough week or so. It's really wearing her out because she's been sleeping a lot this weekend. We went to visit her godparents and their son Max last night. She had lots of fun playing with Max's toys and trying to give him hugs.
Sweetpea has also been helping daddy with the cleaning - here's a video he took of her helping him sweep the kitchen.

Where'd it go?

Last night at dinner, Sweetpea started hiding her pasta and playing "where'd it go?" It was very cute! Here's a video of her playing peek a boo with her pasta. This is one of her favorite activities lately. She also likes to throw her mouse down and say "mouse down."
We had a pretty relaxing weekend just playing at home - it was very nice! Have a great week!

Snow Day!

We had a snow day today so I got to stay home with Sweetpea! Poor daddy had to work. :( We had lots of fun reading, playing chase, watching Elmo, and coloring. This morning Sweetpea just wanted to sit at her table and read to her stuffed mouse she got for Christmas from Great Nana. It was so funny because she sat him in the chair and would read a story. Then she would have to reposition him and read again. Then she started taking off her sock. She continued to try and put her sock on the mouse - I guess she thought his feet were cold! :) Here's a video of that. Hope everyone is staying warm!

Happy 2010!

Hope everyone had a great New Year's celebration! We had a couple friends over last night and Sweetpea played with her friend Ty. They had so much fun chasing each other around the house! They ended up going to bed around 9:30, and we stayed up until 1! That's the latest we've stayed up for New Year's in a long time. I'm sure bedtime will be much earlier tonight!

Here's a picture of Sweetpea before her buddy came over last night.

We had a great Christmas, too. Sweetpea got tons of stuff that is all over the living room now - but she's having a blast playing with it all. She's been talking a lot more lately and using sentences more. When I picked her up from school this week she kept saying "where my socks?" because they were stuffed inside her shoes and she couldn't see them. It was very cute. On the way home from Christmas she also kept playing peek-a-boo with me. I'd hide and she'd say "where's mommy?"

Daddy's been trying to teach her how to do the "M-I-Z -Z-O-U" cheer and she's been doing a pretty good job with the M-I-Z part. I tried to video tape it, but she wouldn't keep doing it of course. If you listen at the very beginning you can kind of hear her say it, but that's the best I could get!