Fall Fun

Yes, I realize it's almost Christmas and I'm just now posting Halloween pics!

This was the pumpkin that Mat carved. Evie was curious about it but did not enjoy the pumpkin guts sticking to her fingers.



Evie, the cat.


At Evie's school, eat classroom decorated their front door. This was Evie's classroom. Can you find her picture?

On the Friday before Halloween, the children paraded through the building visiting multiple offices. This is some of Evie's class stopping at an office and collecting candy. Notice Evie's arm dangling down in the basket of candy.



She loved sucking on a Dum Dum.


Mat created this display so that parents could take posed photos of their children in their costumes.


The butterfly wings...
Evie loves The Wiggles DVD Wiggly Safari (it's the only Wiggles DVD we have). There is a song on their called "Butterflies Flit". She loves to watch and tries to sing along. Mat saw these wings after Halloween on sale at Walmart, so he bought them for her. These pics were taken just after we put them on her for the first time while she watched the Wiggles DVD. She had the biggest grin on her face!

18 months old

Stats

Height: 30 1/2 inches (19%)
Weight: 23 lbs 1 oz (31%)

Our sweet little Evie is now 18 months old. I think that means she is officially a toddler, and we have certainly begun to experience it. She definitely tests her boundaries but the majority of the time will listen and obey.

Evie still enjoys reading books. Her favorite books at the moment include Peek-a-Boo I Love You by Sandra Magsamen, Abigale the Happy Whale by Peter Farrelly, and Time for Bed by Mem Fox. She has started drawing or coloring a bit more and is now fond of The Wiggles. We only have one Wiggles DVD - it's Wiggly Safari with the late Steve Irwin. I don't mind watching it because it was filmed at The Australia Zoo, one of my favorite places. But it's hard to get the songs out of your head!

Evie loves to be outside. She likes to go to the park and swing or slide. She recently discovered that the dead leaves on the ground make noise and likes to stomp on them. When we are outside she always comments on the sounds we hear: airplane, train, car, dog, bird, etc. She's very observant.

Her vocabulary is growing more and more every day. She has started saying a few two syllable words such as her middle name, Charmaine. She can now say her full name! She really picks up on things we say. For example, when the phone rings Mat always shouts out "Phone!" And just the other day, when the phone rang Evie said "Phone". It really cracked us up. She has also learned some Hungarian from Mat. She recognizes the words and can even say a few of them. (Mat's dad is from Hungary.)

At school she has been working on her colors and shapes. If you ask her what color something is, her first answer is either red or green. Maybe those are her favorites? She can recognize a circle, square and star. She calls the star "up above" from the song "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star". I think it's cute.

Evie still loves to eat and will eat whatever we put in front of her, most of the time. She loves sauce (ketchup) and usually will ask for it even on her fruit. She drinks from a cup really well and can eat with a fork and spoon but will use her hands if she is really hungry and couldn't be bothered by eating that slow. She loves bananas, pineapple, mandarin oranges, corn, carrots, crackers and Cheerios.

Just polished off some chocolate cake at school on Pajama Day. She's also wearing a badge from the Fire Department. They came to school that day as well.

She got to sit up in the fire truck.

Evie has changed from a baby into a little girl in such a short time. We enjoy and cherish every moment God has given us. We are blessed!

A Trip Down Under

On September 1, we, along with Papa and Gran, hopped on a plane bound for Brisbane, Australia. This was Evie's first trip on an airplane so we had no idea how it would go. We packed lots of books, toys and snacks for the trip and prayed for smooth flying. Guess what? Evie did awesome! I think it helped that we were flying at night so she slept most of the flight. When we landed in Brisbane she even said, "More, please."



Mat's parents met us at the airport - Bill sporting a Texas flag! Evie was happy to see her Nanny and Poppy. After we loaded up in the cars, we headed up the highway to Caloundra. It was really nice to see the Australia sky and trees again, not to mention the beach! Mat was itching to get a meat pie so that was our first Aussie meal - at brunch no less. Evie enjoyed the pie - she ate practically all of Nanny's.




So for the first 10 days of our visit we stayed at an awesome 3 bedroom condo on the beach. It was perfect for all 7 of us. We took many trips down to the beach and received a lot of visitors. We really enjoyed seeing family and old friends and introducing them to Evie. And I just had to make another trip to the Australia Zoo - love that place!





After our stay in Caloundra, Mat and I headed to Hervey Bay for a few days while Evie headed to Toowoomba with the grandparents. I was very sad to leave her but knew that we needed the time away. Once we arrived at our hotel I knew that we had made a good decision. We were able to relax and reconnect, and boy was it quiet! I never knew what time it was or much cared when we ate. But I sure did miss my sweet girl. Now Evie, I'm not sure she knew we were gone. She had a ball with the grandparents!


We spent several days in Toowoomba catching up with people and then caught a flight to Melbourne to visit Mat's brother and his family for a few days. We really enjoyed catching up with Ken and Asha and finally meeting our nephew, Arjan. We strolled around the city and took a drive down the Great Ocean Road to see the Twelve Apostles. It was beautiful! Sadly, these structures are slowly being washed away.



We flew back in to Brisbane and stayed with the Coker family until it was time to return to the US. We had an amazing trip and enjoyed catching up with everyone. It was fun introducing Evie to everyone - she was a big hit! We hope and pray that it will not be another 5 years until we return. We love and miss you all!

15 months old

Weight: 21 lbs 2.5 oz
Height: 29 1/4 inches
25th percentile

Evie started walking (on her own) one week before turning 15 months old. She's been able to walk while holding our hand but was very cautious about doing it on her own. Now, she tries to walk as much as possible...unless she's in a hurry and will crawl. I love the way she waddles!

She is learning to use crayons on paper - thank goodness for washable crayons! She still loves to go outside but during the week we don't go out until just before bedtime because it's so hot. She likes to walk around in the grass and swing.

She is a great eater...eats whatever we eat. She usually isn't picky. She is still a great sleeper, too. At school she has 1 nap a day but at home she will still take 2 naps and sleeps 11 hours at night.

At school this month, Evie is learning about animals. She had a head start on this thanks to her love of books, the Fisher Price Noah's Ark and her farm puzzle. She is also learning to recognize family members. We were asked to provide some family photos that the teachers have put on posterboard. Vocabulary words they are focusing on are aunts, uncles, sisters and brothers.

Evie recognizes and can say several body parts: eyes, nose, ears, toes. She also has a good sized vocabulary. Bye bye, Duck, cat, shoes, socks, hat, bath, car, bus, truck, hot, wall, done, and poop are some of the words we can think of. Also...

Ma = Mom
Da = Dad
Nan = Nanny
Pop = Poppy
Daw = dog
Mo = more
Side = outside
Pup = cup

We took a few pictures over July 4th weekend but just haven't been good about taking pictures since. But here are some shots of Evie with Daddy. She is a big fan!



Evie is a joy to be around. She smiles all the time and makes us laugh. What a blessing she is! We love you very much sweet girl.

14 months old

Evie is now 14 months old. We are so blessed to have her in our lives. She is surprising us almost every day with something new that she has learned. She is unfortunately beginning to show the not-so-nice pre-toddler signs. But overall, she is still the same happy and laid back little girl. She is a lot of fun these days!

Since my last post, she has moved to the Toddler Room at school. She is so little compared to the rest of the children but she holds her own quite well. Even though she is not walking yet, the children treat her the same and she always gets a big welcome each morning. It's quite sweet. At school she is learning how to brush her teeth, drink from a cup, use a spoon and fork, and to recognize shapes, colors, and animals. She loves books. We often find her sitting in the middle of her floor with a book in her lap. And she has grown quite fond of stuffed animals. It is so precious to see her cuddling and giving kisses to her koalas, cat, polar bear and Mickey Mouse.

We have tried to enjoy the outdoors as much as possible...she loves to be outside. We've gone swimming at the community pool and splashed in our wading pool in the backyard. We also took in the USA vs. England World Cup match down at Victory Park. It sure was noisy but she enjoyed watching the people and the match on the big screen. We are watching a lot of soccer in the Dusza household at the moment!

Thank you Ms. Sheila and Molly for the cute Minnie Mouse swimsuit.

Practicing drinking from a cup - we end up with wet clothes and a bib full of liquid but we'll get there.

Using a spoon - she can't quite get the food on the spoon yet but she can get it in her mouth.

Enjoying soccer with Daddy

And Happy Father's Day to Mat! You are an amazing father and incredible husband. Evie and I are greatly blessed. We will continue to pray for you as you lead our family. We love you very much!

Growing up

Video of Evie over the past couple of weeks...


She can name several animals and make their sounds.


Learning to walk.


Standing on her own.

Happy Birthday to Evie

One year ago today God blessed us with a beautiful little girl. What a wonderful year this has been! She has brought such unimaginable joy to our lives and we thank God every day for this gift. Thank you to all of our family and friends for the love and support you have given us this past year. We are amazed by your generosity and your love for Evie. We are so blessed! God is good!

So, how much has she grown in a year? Physically not a whole lot. She is definitely petite.

4/16/09 - 7 lbs 1.5 oz, 19 3/4 inches
4/16/10 - 19 lbs 9.5 oz, 28 1/4 inches

However, in a year she has gone from being completely helpless to almost walking, talking and feeding herself. Amazing!


To celebrate her birthday, we drove down to Victoria last weekend to share it with my family. It was such a great time. She had a ball playing with Gran and Papa, and Mat and I even got to go on a date! Thank you to Mom, Dad, Maw Maw, Paw Paw, Aunt Linda, Courtney, Ashley, Aunt Paula, Lindsey and Kendra for coming to celebrate with us.


My mom made my birthday cakes growing up so I thought it would be extra special if she would make Evie's first cake. She agreed. Of course the theme was Mickey Mouse, what else? Evie got to have her first taste of Chick-fil-A (Mommy's favorite). We also had a fresh fruit salad and Rice Krispies Treats in the shape of Mickey.




She was mesmerized by the lit candle. She stared at it while we sang "Happy Birthday" to her.

Tasting chocolate for the first time.

Not too sure.

Chocolate is yummy!

She was really enjoying herself...laughing along with us.

I am 1!

Trying to get a family pic. If anyone got a good one of the 3 of us, please send it to me. Mat was the photographer most of the time.

After a bath, we opened some presents. Thanks everyone!


This wasn't one of her gifts. It happened to be sitting near by and she felt like going for a ride. Loved it!


After the party, we went outside to get some photos in the wildflowers that were growing on my parents' property. Just beautiful! I love Texas!


Going after the cat.



She is constantly pointing at everything and saying "sat?"

Thank you God for our sweet Evie Charmaine.