Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July!!!
We had a very nice day. Love that I can walk to the parade.

              Owen is just the cutest little boy EVER! He walked around waving his flag.

           This was an awesomely bad attempt at getting a picture of them, together..... Awesome.

Ugh. This. Child.

We had wonderful weather on the 4th. We went to the parade and then went swimming. Some of us loved swimming a little more then others..... Owen Martin... he preferred the pool snacks over the actual pool hehe.

First Post in TWO YEARS(Slacker)

Alright. First post in two years.

http://amandaandeugene.blogspot.com/2012/07/turning-25-what.html

My birthday is Wednesday, I will be 28! The link above is from a post titled, "25 things I am thankful for". I listed 25 things I am thankful for(Obviously), and 25 things I wanted. Below is a screenshot of 25 and my reflection.

This is great!!
1. I now have an almost 4 yo and a sweet 14 month old boy!
2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 - Thank you god!, the same.
11. No job!!
12. Almost done. Graduate May 2016.
13-25 - Im a thankful girl!
(Additions)
26. I was able to quit my job to finish school
27. Coffee
28. Washing Machine and Dryer




These are great!!
1. HAHAHAHAH, slight improvement, some days
2. HAHAHAHAHA
3. Got it
4. That was a fantastic day!
5. OH YAH!! Deans list : )
6,7,8,9,10,11 - YES!!
12. S.O. C.L.O.S.E.
13. Getting there.
14. I am so glad I was able to make Grandma a Quilt before she passed away, regret that it wasn't sooner.
15. Not really interested in scrapbooking anymore
16,17 - Not yet....
18. We converted the dining room into a bedroom
19. Nope
20. Its better
21. YES! Its very nice.
22. I never got it, and don't remember which one it was.
23. We have made many improvements.
24. HAH.
25. We have planned to see Jurassic World...

**28** things I want - (I looked back and giggled the first time, cant wait until next year)
(** - denotes repeats from 25 list)
1. A better attitude **
2. A garbage disposal
3. An essential oil diffuser
4. Finished basement
5. Bathroom in basement **
6. Lake House
7. Be done with school
8. Have another baby
9. Loose baby weight
10. Be more physically active as a family
11. Brick or concrete patio
12. Take time to blog more/research blogging
13. Finish all started quilting projects (Ah)
14. Credit Card Debt Free (So close!)
15. Save more money
16. Play with my children more
17. Stop worrying so much
18. Evie to sleep better ** (Sigh)
19. Start a quilting blog
20. Bathroom remodel
21. Vintage his and hers dressers
22. A golden girls patio set lol
23. Finish trim in house ** (80 asterisks wouldn't express how much I want this done)
(And I didn't know that is how you spelled asterisks)
24. Make screened in porch nicer/more usable
25. Read more(not for school/textbooks)
26. Make more time for friends
27. Repaint bedroom (color?)
28. New comforter and sheets to match new paint color.


That was really fun to reflect, assess, and write again!! Funny how we change. And, my list got a little more expensive this time(slightly concerned look).

Water Table

I used my bowling money return to buy this fun water table for Evie.

Easter 2013

We went to the SE Parks and Recs Easter egg hunt because Tessa played the Easter Bunny. Evie really liked picking up all the eggs.

April 2013

Picture 1 - Poppy garbage picked(Iwiped it down) this sweet cozy coupe from someone's trash in Thornwood! One wheel is bent a little but that does not bother her. She spent all day playing with it, regularly watches TV in it, has taken to putting her purse in the cubby on the back, and gets excited all over again when we come home. Great find poppy!!

Picture 2 - Isn't she so sweet when she sleeps : ) ..and a bit creepy... I made the mistake of letting her sleep with a pillow. She thinks its pretty cool. But, I looked up after giving it to her that the the AAP recommends no pillow until 2! Rats, bad parent. I took it out after she fell asleep a few nights now were back to no pillow.

Picture 3 - So it runs in the family... I garbage picked this cute kitchen last week!! It's missing a few things but Evie loves it!! Bought some play kitchen food. In business!

Picture 4 - What a HAM! Two cups of applesauce later...

Cousin Day

Grandma Diane and Evie had a Grandma Day with Aunt Lana and cousin Noah. They had a blast. Evie ran circles around Noah and chatted all their ears off. The piano was a favorite of the day.

Play Kitchen

This is the play kitchen I got for Christmas when I was Evie's age. Evie thought it was so cool. She was so excited that she was having a hard time waiting for me to clean it since its been in the garage attic for 15 years. Then we got the play food out and she had a blast.

Cheesy Smile

Yum, Mac N Cheese!!

Fearless

Let me just use my potty to vacuum Mom!!

Starbucks Baby.

Yah I drink Venti Mocha Frappichinos I'm almost 18 ... Months!!

141

I bowled a 141!!
That is all.
: )

Eskimo Evie - Snow Day!!

It has finally snowed a now respectable Chicago amount this winter(despite all but a few inches being in feb/march).
Evie LOVED the snow. She really enjoyed watching Bo play, lots of giggles and belly laughs.
Pic 1 - first time really outside in the snow, her face was priceless. Pure joy.
Pic 2 - were serious now, in the complete snowsuit ready to go.
Pic 3 - Evie and Mommy.
Pic 4 - Bo was not to sure about her holding his leash. Evie, however, thought it was fantastic. She yelled and pointed at the dog to sit and violently thrashed the leash up and down laughing.
Pic 5&6 - What a lucky girl to have such an awesome aunt. Tess pulled up, down, and all around. At first she kept falling off the back(lots of laughing), then she figured out how to hold on but would roll off on purpose(I think just so Tess would put her back on).

iPhone Blog App

There is an app for my iPhone that I can blog from!!! Hooray, my ass better blog more often now!!! It's so easy and it lets you use the pics off your phone(awesome). The app doesn't allow you to place the photos, they all go in after your done typing

RSV and a Trip to the Hospital

My poor baby came down with a case of RSV mid February. Brought her in to the Ped because she was burning up and her oxygen saturation was in the high eighties(bad mom!) two nebulizer treatments later and we were on our way to our room on the Peds floor at Sherman Hospital.
Pic 2 is Gene reading Evie her new book from Uncle Josh and Monica, Go Dog, Go!.(one of my favs).
Pic 1 is Evie getting neb treatment at home after discharge. Big girl!!
Pic 3 is a sick baby girl on her daddy : )
Pic 4 yes, after your child refuses food for two days you give her a bottle. Despite not having a daytime bottle for 4 months. Dehydration is not worth it.

January Update

             I need to take a writing class to become a better blogger!!  Organizing my thoughts and thinking of topics is hard!  I follow a couple hippie/natural mom blogs that i enjoy and would love to model my blog after.

TOPICS OF INTEREST

 1.Azure Standard - I have signed up and intend to make a purchase.

http://www.azurestandard.com/

Buy in bulk natraul food and produts.

http://beingfrugalbychoice.blogspot.com/2012/01/azure-standard-what-where-why-and-dare.html

(this is the link post in a blog I follow about Azure Standard)

2.Make your own hand soap - I found a recipe to turn bar soap into hand soap. One bar is equal to two 2 gallon jugs. Bought a bar of Mrs Meyers Basil bar soap to try it out.

3.Evie Gene is 16 months old. Time is warped, the first year of her life was the longest year of my life that feels like it flew by....what? Yes, exhaustingly long fast year haha(unsure laugh). She is getting so big, and clever, and funny. I love her so much. I actually get cuddles now. lots of kisses and hugs.

My big girl has made so many big steps since Christmas. 

- Sleeping through the night

- No bottles during the day

- saying words you understand with meaning

 mom, dad, tess, nana, pa, grandma, grandpa, good, yes, bo, sit, dog, duck, bye, bu bye, hi guys, bye guys, hi(name), foofa(yah), 

she is also starting to mimic/repeat what you say

 she understands requests like bring me(something), sit on your couch, wheres the dog, stop that(not that she actually stops) and many others

- loves giving kisses

- uses a fork and spoon correctly

- can get on and off the furniture by herself

- started climbing up things

- can get in and out of the bathtub by herself

- loves books

- loves her blankie, calls it bla

Evie is so busy and full of life and energy.

4. school....

School is going well. Last semester at ECC!! Hooray!!

No pictures today, posting from my Kindle.

Oh school...

 I find myself to be very crabby these days. School is stressful. I didn't like it the first time, its not much better this time around.

Things that have changed in 5 short years:
1 Everyone wears skinny jeans... even guys
2 ECC is completely remodeled with multiple additions, very nice
3 I have been to the library more in the past month then I did all of high school and college the first time
4 Toms are ugly, no question
5 The internet is used for everything!! -its great

Things that haven't:
1 I still hate school, period.
2 kids are still mean and clicky , not all
3 Why do all Liberians act like they hate kids? Don't get a job at a school then...
4 I love coffee
5There are still kids wearing pajamas to class, all the time

Apple Juice and Goldfish Crackers

I would have never guessed she would love goldfish crackers so much. Mom, Tess, and I went to the opening of the new SAMs club and they were giving out samples of goldfish. It was over from there.....

Yes, there is no nutritional value in goldfish(sad). But I don't fill her up on them, and she only eats about 3 at a time.

She does very well with the straw cup from avent, caught on very quickly.

I have to watch out and only give her 1 or 2 goldfish at a time because she will put as many in her mouth as she can, and sometimes I find one in her mouth 20 mins later. She is like a little chipmunk.

Vacuuming

I purchased this adorable playschool brand vacuum at Savers for $4.99. Totally worth it!!! It looks brand new, I wiped it down with a lysol wipe, let it dry... she thinks its awesome!! The cutest part is she  will make a vacuuming noise when she does the vacuuming motion haha!!

Vacuuming with Daddy!! He tried to teach her to yell "move your stuff out of the way I am vacuuming!" -only Mommy laughed....

Lesson: Don't leave the tissue box out

All I could do was laugh in disbelief lol. I was taking an econ quiz online, sitting on that blue ottoman in the picture in front of the computer.... I should know silence is not a good thing with an almost 1 year old.