4.22.2013

Happy 2nd Birthday Evie!

I'm finally getting it up on the blog! The celebration of the life of our littlest. Evangeline Rae turned two years old on March 28th.
For her big birthday celebration we went all out with Minnie Mouse (about the only character she seems to care about or recognize. Once she got Minnie slippers from Auntie Beka for Christmas she excitedly points out Minnie Mouse everywhere we go). Mekonen kept referring to Mickey Mouse as the "Daddy Mouse." Apparently we don't know much about Disney around here! Haha. 

In the quiet of my living room, with my sweet girl napping in the room next to me, I find myself choked up as I try to think of exactly how on earth I'm going to put into words all that she is and all that we feel towards her. I'm amazed at how "complete" each child makes your family, even if you desire to add more children to your family. When Mekonen came home, life felt complete. Sure, we wanted more children, but he was everything. We were complete. Then 1 1/2 years later, they finally called out "It's a girl!" and laid that sweet thing in my arms. I didn't realize how badly I wanted a girl until they said it and I just cried...life felt complete, again.

I feel a bit more anxious and fearful raising a daughter. I'm well aware of the world she's growing up in that tells her what she looks like, what she accomplishes, and what people think of her, is her worth, her identity, it's what she is to strive for. But as Christian parents we pray Jesus becomes King of her life and that she finds her worth and identity solely in Him.

So in celebration of my dear Evie Rae, for who she is, not who she might become, or who others think she is, or should become, here are 24 things (for 24 months), that make Evie, well, our Evie.

1. At 2 years old you are a pint sized little pixie weighing 24 lbs., wearing a size 5 shoe, and 24mo-2T clothes.
2. You speak in almost full sentences most of the time (although sometimes we don't understand every single word).
3. Daddy calls you Eve, Mommy still calls you Dolly-Doo and we all call you various names like Eve-Bo-Beeve, Beeves, and anything else along those lines that rhyme. Haha. You poor thing.
4. You love, absolutely LOVE babies!!! Most days you can be found nurturing your baby dolls.You want to bring a baby with you everywhere. Your favorite babies are these little mini ones from Target that come with a mini carseat, booster seat, etc. The carseat carrier is your favorite. You can always be found with a baby doll. You put it up on your shoulder, or lay it in your arms and bounce it up and down saying, "sh, sh, sh, sh." You love when Mommy swaddles your babies and you are obsessed with changing their diapers and wiping them. I am amazed at how natural this is to you and that no one taught you any of it.

You like to nurture anything really. Once you even had Mekonen's Bullseye horse swaddled in a blanket and carried it around all day.

5. You are an independent player. It's hard to tell how much of this is your age and how much is your personality. You don't necessarily like to be alone, but you don't need to be played with or entertained all the time either. You tend to drag all your toys into Mekonen's room just to be near him, and then play independently.
6. You are a snuggler to an extent, and only usually on your terms. You like your freedom and space!
7. You love to hang from things and are crazy strong for a 2 year old!


8. You love to read books in your bed, dialoging the entire time. You rarely ever go to sleep without a complete conversation with your babies or your books.
9. Your favorite phrase right now is "I do it," from your carseat buckles, to putting on your socks.
10. You call your big bro "Tonen" and have gotten out "Metonen" a few times. You two have really become best buddies. You always want to know right where he is and can't wait to join him!
11. You are a complete Daddy's girl. Almost always preferring Daddy to Mommy!
12. Your responses to life and its situations are often unpredictable, as you have quite the determination and passion inside that teeny body of yours. We're continuing to work on this!
13. You are a crazy sleeper! You've fallen out of your bed a couple times. We often find you right on the edge of your bed!
14. You are not a huge carb fan and almost always prefer vegetables over any other lunch or dinner food. But if fries are on the menu, that's all you want!!!
 15. You absolutely love to color! Here's a picture of one of your first real masterpieces! You worked on this one page for severals days in a row. You kept coming back to it and adding little scribbles. So cute.
16. When you have a question, you tilt your head to the side and ask it in a very intense, but quiet voice. It's hilarious and very hard to describe. 
17. You love horses! Horse books, your horse barn, and going to see the neighbor's horses. 
18. Your blankie is still your most prized posession! 
19. You love to help! Everytime you see me doing something you grab a stool and push it towards me saying, "Help! Help!"

20. Everyday, as soon as Daddy gets home you say, "solders. solders." (a.k.a. shoulders) to take a ride.
21. You still wake up in the middle of the night, for reasons we are almost never sure of! 
22. You love pushing your shopping cart around the house. You fill it up with all your stuff and bring it all over the house. 
23. You sit on the back of the booster seat, not down in the seat part, because you aren't tall enough. 
24. Macy steals food from your hand on a daily basis. You just freeze, unable to move, and she grabs it right from your hand. It's so common now, you don't even usually cry, unless it was "tandy" (candy).

And now, on to the party!!! Boppy & Grandma Magz, our friends Adam & Allie and their two boys,  Josiah and Isaiah, our friends Michael & Kenean and their little boy Moses, Jon's cousin Brooke & her little girl Avary, all came to celebrate with us!

Evie was so surprised to see what transformed that day during her nap. A Minnie Mouse wonderland! 

The birthday girl's place setting
I made the banner with the help of my friend Liselle. 
 Liselle and I also made these cute little stand-up Minnie's with the Cricut craft cutter.
I made Minnie ears for the girls and Mickey ears for the boys! Evie wore these for about 2 seconds and much more preferred her Minnie Mouse hairbow from her Auntie Ruthie. :) 
The cake! (We also made the cake toppers).

Trying to figure out how to blow out the candles. It was too cute. 
 Oh sweet baby, we love you. 
 Little friends! (And a dog waiting for food to drop. She's no dummy).
Presents. She knew EXACTLY how this part was supposed to go! 
 Family pic! Evie refused to wear the ears. Typical. haha. 













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