Two years old

Stats
Height: 34 1/4 inches
Weight: 24 1/2 lbs

Evie is 2! What a sweet, beautiful, funny, and special child of God she is! We are blessed to be her parents and love her dearly.

Evie is now asserting her independence as all toddlers do at this age. She likes to pick out her shoes for the day and tries to put them on. She enjoys playing outside and helping Mommy and Daddy in the garden. Whatever we are doing, she wants to do it too.

Some of Evie's favorites are:
DVD - Yo Gabba Gabba or The Wiggles
Music - "Jesus Music" (usually a Zoe CD) or The Wiggles
Toys - Mr. Potato Head, Buzz and Woody, baseball, soccer ball, stuffed animals
Books - Bible stories about Jesus, books about trucks, Little Critter books
Food - tortillas or pizza, but she eats pretty much everything (very good eater)
Sayings - You funny. What's that? Stinky daddy! Sit down (pointing next to her).

WE LOVE YOU!

With her cousin Austin at the Grapevine Botanical Gardens

Throwing pebbles into the water

I love Evie cuddles.

Easter egg hunt with church family



Sign on classroom door (can you see her through the window?)

She loves to slide.

Her first bike, a gift from Mommy and Daddy

She is eating a grape. I love how she is sitting with her ankles crossed.

Butterfly birthday cake - made by Gran.
Thank you for a fun birthday party. We enjoyed seeing you all in Victoria.

I can read

She still loves books.

I like to sing

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells

We had a "wonderful Christmastime" this year. Evie really got into it and enjoyed all of the festivities with the family. She will still sing Jingle Bells at random and she still wants to read her Christmas books.

We drove down to Victoria on Christmas Eve morning as soon as Mat could get away from work. There was a steady rain all the way down until we hit Cuero and the heavens opened up! Uncle Jim and Papa Gigi had to rescue us from the car with umbrellas. We were late for dinner at Maw-Maw's house but they saved some food for us. After dinner we took a load of pictures with all of the families minus Shane, Whitney and Austin - we missed you! And then it was time for presents! It was fun to watch everyone open their gifts but Evie was getting all of the attention. She sure got spoiled and was loving it all! After the gifts and stockings were opened we all enjoyed Mom's Christmas Punch. Evie got to have her first taste of it and could not get enough. Before heading home we took our annual Baker family Christmas photo. One of my favorite gifts this year was the photobook from the Bakers of "25 years of Baker Christmases". I will cherish it!


Cousins!


We love Maw-Maw and Paw-Paw


Evie loves books!





Gran's punch is good!

On Christmas morning we exchanged gifts with my parents. I think Evie was overwhelmed a little - so many gifts to open again. We were blessed with many wonderful things. She loves her Little People School Bus and book and her art easel. We went to the Slough's house for lunch and enjoyed Gary's fajitas.




Mat returned home on Sunday while Evie and I stayed with my parents until Tuesday. They drove us home and stayed for a few days. We exchanged gifts with Uncle Shane, Aunt Whitney and Austin on Wednesday. Evie got a Sheriff Woody doll and loves him. On Friday, Uncle Danny and Oscar came to visit from Japan on their way to Orlando. Evie really enjoyed spending time with Oscar. And finally we hosted a New Year's Eve party with a few friends.


Visiting Grandma Lumpkins


Evie and Austin


It's Woody!

It was such a fun time surrounded by family and friends and blessed beyond measure. God is so good! I hope you all had a very merry Christmas season.

Snow Days

Our area of north Texas has been dumped on by Mother Nature. Thanks to the sleet/freezing rain/snow mixture I had 4 days off last week. It was a treat to stay home with Evie and play. Unfortnately I did not take pictures of our activities (reading books, painting on the easel, glueing and coloring a picture of "Wombat Stew", watching Wiggles and Yo Gabba Gabba, playing on Disney.com and listening to music) except for playing in the snow - which Daddy was happy to do. I watched from the window. It was just too cold! Enjoy!

All ready to go outside! "I can't put my arms down!"



We got almost 5 inches of snow on top of the ice. It was very dry, powdery snow. Beautiful!




In the front yard with neighbor



Going for a walk on the Greenbelt with Daddy

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!