Everyday there are so many things that happen that I want to remember and make note of! I could fill books.

Yesterday I was crying a little bit over something silly. Eva noticed and sang a line from the Dumbo song over and over to me "Baby mine, don't you cry, baby mine dry your eyes" And smiled at me. She gave me her stuffed Dumbo and told me he would make me feel better. And ya know what? I did :).

Eva has a special gift to understand abstract concepts. For example she often notices if she stands a certain way it looks like an upside down "y" or that her chip looks like the letter "D". Today we were inside a shop that has a glass front. The address was 439 and she was able to identify them even though they were backwards.

She is starting to throw huge fits. Battle of the wills have really become battles. I am happy to say that the past couple of days I have been able to win, but it takes real endurance!

Abby is our little octopus as usual. She has always had an uncanny ability to reach everything! She is eating anything we give her - except black beans not fan. She also is saying a lot of new sounds trying to say words. She said "quack" and is saying ba and lala now too.

Off to bed!

Oh My My My

Well Abby is only days from officially moving up to the title of "Toddler" and is showing lots of signs of being ready. I caught her trying to climb out of her pack n play last week. Her little heel was resting on the rail while her arms were trying to pull herself up and over. She climbs up the slide alone and then slides back down. Last night she screwed back on the lid to my powerade bottle! But what is most depressing is that she quickly losing interest in just sitting happily on my lap for long periods of time. Though I do still get some of that.

I have found myself calling her Abby-girl or Abigail instead of Abby Joy like I always use to. Maybe its because she seems older. She likes it too.

Eva crawls on her hands and her knees to be more like an animal and Abby has started to follow suit.

Talking on the telephone is definitely something that I have a hard time doing these days. If I am reading something for a few minutes Eva will dump all the toothpaste into the sink. Or today I was on the phone with Justin for 1 minute and she got into her vitamins. She sucked them all and then put them back into the container...

I weighed the girls recently and Eva is 29.5 lbs and Abby is 18.5 lbs. they are so cute now because they are often playing together. When they stand next to each other Abby only comes to Eva's shoulders - actually not even.

Well the earring thing did not work out so well for our girls. Eva got hers at 18 months and pretty much protested cleaning and changing her earring the majority of the time she had them. This past week they officially closed in the back. Abby cried a bit when she got hers done at 7 months but otherwise it was no big deal. The problem with earrings suppose to be sterling silver, but I don't think the backs were. They started to cause scabbing in the back so I switched them to solid gold. She has since then started playing with them and sometimes they fall out. The last straw came when one came out in her crib while she was sleeping and she end up rolling onto the point - it poked her eyelid. So I took them out. Its not worth it. No one told me it was this much trouble to give little ones earrings. Well I am telling you.

I took the girls to the park and they played together so well. Abby is more independent. She climbs up the slide all by herself and then slides back down just like her big sister. Eva is always on an adventure. Her imagination is beautiful.

Abby is starting to say some words. When she wants MORE food she'll say "mo". She calls to me all the time with the most wonderful sound "mama". Justin gets "dada" of course, but when she is really excited to see him she says "djadjadjadjadjadjadja". The other night my dad said good night to her and she said, "nigh". She asked for water yesterday before nap time "wawa". Whether she accidentally drops something or intentionally wants to watch something fall we get an adorable "uh oh". When she wants to stop being held and crawls away she'll often say "I wannn". And most rare is her "buh buh" when she says bye.

Eva has been taking huge strides. She can screw and screw back on, sleeps without a diaper, has started dressing herself and picking out her own clothes, will take herself to the potty and wash her hands independently. She is really making an effort to speak nicely and ask for things kindly too. She likes to color with pens instead of crayons because she can stay in the lines and do the little details so well now.

That is all I can say for now. Eva is calling to me to come play. We are going to make a tent and a bridge for our kitties...

Eva Mae

Well my little baby is such a big girl. She is so smart and articulates her thoughts so well that sometimes I forget that she is only 3. Its only when I am standing next her and see how short, tiny and precious she is ...that I remember my daughter is such a little girl. She is so smart! I know a lot of people say that kids will manipulate you and well I know that it is true, but I wish I had a better word to describe it.

She is learning her boundaries. I have had a hard time getting on to her about certian things because she is so sweet. She would get out of bed, knowing that she shouldn't, and say things to me like, "But I just love you. I just want you to hold me and cuddle with me. Its because I want you." How do you spank a child when they say that? That is genius for a 2 year old! yes she was saying those very words before she was 3.

She is really trying to ask for help before she gets frustrated and just speak without whining in general about everything. She has making a lot of efforts and it has been really nice to hear her sweet little girl voice.

The other day she was so tired and had missed her nap because we had taken a day to go to the outlet malls in north Georgia. Well she got herself so worked up that I had to put her in time out. Once she had finally calmed down I told her it was time to walk to the car and drive home. She stood up and asked so sweetly, "Carry me please mommy?" I told her, "Thank you for asking so sweetly but I am so tired and its not far, you need to walk." She replied kindly, " But I am happy and smiling. Carry me please Mommy." Now that she is asking properly she has to also learn that just because you ask nicely doesn't mean that you can get whatever you want.

Her imagination is wonderful. Everyday she is a different animal. She loves animals. A fox, a dog, giraffe, elephant, etc. She also has started with adventure playing. For example she will play on the edge of the couch and say that she doesn't want to fall into the fire or the water - "oh no!"

She loves to cuddle but also hates it. She is getting to the transition stage :). She is a source of great pride to me.

Ask her her name and she will say, "Eva Mae Honse!" very confidently. Her age, "I'm free!" while holding up three fingers.

Abby Almost 1 year Old

Abby is a delightful little baby. She so ready to laugh and giggle about everything. She is such a cuddler too. She has deliberately given me kisses many times and often will crawl over to me and just sit in my lap. She weighs a wopping 18.5 pounds and only doesn't even come to Eva's shoulders.

She crawls on her hands and feet instead of knees now and we know that if she had a little more confidence she would be walking. She cruises around all the time. A couple of times she has walked little bits just holding my finger or Janice's. She loves being with Poppop and Janice and lights up when they come home. When She sees Justin on the webcam she calls out to him, "Dadadadada!" over and over. Its so sweet.

She loves pat a cake and is easily tickled. She loves it when I nibble on her toes and bottoms of her feet. And of course rasberries are a hit. She especially loves it when Eva plays with her. She adores Eva and has since she was born.

She says, "Uh-oh" and when she wants more food has justed saying, "mo". Which is a lot easier on the ears than her typically shrill squeal. She jabbers on about little things and has little chats with us.

Speaking of food Abby is a wonderful eater. I started her later than Eva on solids because she kept almost choking or would always cough while eating and scare me :). Over this past month she has really just started eating safely. Now she is a passionate little eater - not picky at all and loves poweraid zero :). The other day I took the skin off an apple and let her hold it and eat it herself. Oh, she loved it! She has never liked being fed with a spoon - she really only likes to feed herself.

This morning Justin started to sense how much Eva has been missing him and her growing need for his attention and approval. With that in mind he decided to stay home for the first half of the day to be with his girls. We gotta ready slowly and headed to Bagel Boyz for a greasy breakfast. After that we went to A Latte Fun, which was insanely busy! They had a new costume for Eva to love - Piglet. We also did a quick mini photo shoot with the girls.

Justin and I have officially entered the world of smart phones. We have each have the samsung intercept and oh boy - its pretty cool. I am happy to just have unlimited text messages and picture mail honestly. We are still getting the hang of it :).

Eva loves giving rasberries - especially to me. She knows it tickles and makes me squirm and cry for mercy :). Its a great way to transition into nap time. NOT! But I love it and I love her little laugh too much not to get her all hyped up.

And as of right now the girls are taking the longest nap ever! It has to have been about 2 1/2 hours! Woohoo!

The Greatest Day

Today was a wonderful day. I couldn't have asked for a better day. I started the day with cuddling with Daddy, then Eva, and then my Abby Joy. It warmed my heart the whole day through. Then when we dropped Justin off at work he asked us to pick him up a coffee at some point. So we girls went over to Publix and wondered around looking and exploring different fruits and viggies picking a few to try. Then we wondered over to Starbucks and got a chocolate milk for Eva and a mocha with a shot of vanilla for me with a cinnamon bun for us to share. It was so much fun! We hung out like girlfriends being silly and saying hi to the people coming and going. When my coffee was cold and almost gone I got up to get Justin his coffee so that we could take it to him and get going. I looked back and Eva had slyly taken over my coffee :), she was being so cute, "Dats MY coffee" with a little smirk.

We had a visitor in the morning, Lauren came over. Eva and I were both really excited :). All of us went over to Target. Eva was so cute she even put herself down for a nap in the store cart. I got to hold Abby and just enjoy her.

Eva and I had a nice lunch at home and when I put the girls down for a nap we had another wonderful visitor! Jesika came over.

Really it was just a wonderful day of being together and taking it slow and savoring the day.

Abby 4 Month Check Up

My little trooper hung in there for her shots. It was a wild ride at the doctors office with a toddler and a tired baby - but I survived and so did Eva.

Weight: 12 lbs 12 oz, lower 50%

Length: 24 in., 50%

Head Circumference: 15 1/2in, 25%

Shots: DTaP, IPV, HIB, Prevnar, Rotateq

Side note - I compared Eva's numbers at 4 months and Eva was almost a pound heavier and 1/2 an inch longer.

Mother's Day

Eva's First Ice Cream Cone