Weekend in Review: Swimming, Sunnies, and Selfies!

While at Target the other day, I saw the crowds of people shopping for school supplies and thought...it's kind of early still, isn't it?  And then I remembered it was almost August.  Woah.  Summer slow down!  I must say, I do love August quite a bit...we still have the lovely summer weather, it's my birthday month, and the back-to-school shopping/sales are usually fabulous! :)  

This weekend was very eventful for us.  In addition to celebrating my Godmother's 40th wedding anniversary, we spent our days outside as much as possible.  Evie rocked her pink glitter shades and even managed to splash around in her little baby pool for a bit.

Swimsuit (Old Navy, soldout - Similar here)

In addition to all the outdoor time, we also spent quite a bit of time in the car this weekend, driving from point A to point B.  Lately, Evie has loved watching the videos on my iPhone that I recorded from her birthday and other family outings.  So this weekend, I let her play with my phone during one of our drives.  The next day, I look at my phone and see 50+ pictures of Evie's feet.  Poor girl is already trying to take selfies! ;)  

So there you have it - our weekend:  Swimming, Sunnies, and Selfies.

 

Evie's 2nd Birthday Party!

Evie's 2nd birthday has come and gone.  We've had a really great last 2 weeks celebrating our little girl and seeing her so happy!  I wanted to share some pictures from her birthday party!  Since we hosted about 40 people at our house, I was busy running around being a hostess so I'm sad I wasn't able to capture even more pictures, but we were still able to capture some great shots from the day that I wanted to share! 

Because of Evie's love of the outdoors, we decided to have a garden/butterfly party.  My little lady is always stopping to smell flowers and always loves to point out butterflies when she sees them...so it seemed only fitting to incorprate that into her birthday!  

I kept the decor fairly simple with butterfly paper cutouts from Etsy, some glittery garland from Martha Stewart, some balloons and birthday banners, and plenty of flowers throughout the house.  While I'd love to have focused more on decor, my main concern was to make sure the kids had plenty of activities and that the adults were well-fed! ;)  

While Evie probably won't remember this birthday, hopefully she can look back at pictures one day and smile.  I'm very thankful for my amazing husband who helped me keep my sanity during the entire birthday pre-planning process and during the actual event.  Hosting an event for 40 people is enough to make anyone's head spin, but I especially needed the help at 28 weeks pregnant! :)  

 While everything was certainly not perfect, it was really very special for us to share her big day with so many of our closest family members.  Evie also seemed to have a wonderful day, full of smiles, so that's all I can ask for!  

Happy birthday again to my amazing little girl!!!  

2 year update!

I'm in disbelief just writing this, but Evie is officially TWO years old!  My little baby is not a baby anymore!  In fact, she's quite the active toddler that definitely keeps us on our toes!  Evie had her 2 year old checkup last week so I thought I'd share a few stats and updates with all of you!

Age: 2 years

Weight:  27 lbs. 6 oz (76th percentile) 

Height: 33 1/2 inches (49th percentile) - her 18 month appointment said she was 34 inches...no she didn't shrink ;)  This visit they measured her standing up (vs. laying down) so they said the measurements might be off on this one.

Head circumference: 48 cm (72nd percentile) 

Clothes: Evie is now mostly wearing 2T clothes.  She still definitely has some 18-24 month shirts,skirts, and dresses, but most pants this size just fall too short now.  I imagine she'll be wearing 2T for quite a bit, so I'm planning on investing in some cute 2T outfits for the fall...hey, we DO have another little girl on the way that can wear these clothes too now.  That's my excuse for shopping and I'm sticking to it! ;)  As far as show size, she mostly wearing size 7 now but some of her size 6 shoes still fit too.  

Favorite Foods: Evie has NOT been a great eater lately.  I think it's because she's so active that sitting down to eat is tough!  However, when she does actually eat, her favorite things seem to be soups (tomato is a winner), pork hot dogs, bread and butter, cereal, oatmeal, and ANYTHING sweet.  Looks like Evie definitely inherited my love of sweets. 

Favorite Words: It's crazy how much more Evie is talking now.  She has become quite a little chatterbox at times!  There is still a bunch of gibberish that comes out of her mouth.  I'm always like "what did you say?!" but she also has picked up SO much in the last few weeks alone.  Last time we counted, she was definitely over 50 words, and has even started putting 2-3 word sentences together.  By far, her favorite thing to say is "Mama, chodz tu" which means "Mommy, come here!" ;)  As I mentioned previously in a post, we have been speaking to Evie in Polish exclusively.  My husband and I are both fluent and we want Evie to also know the language!  In terms of the "mommy, come here"...she LOVES to show us things.  I'm always going over to her so she can show me how she jumps, dances, kisses her baby doll, etc. etc. :) 

Favorite Activities: Being the active toddler she is, Evie loves pretty much anything that involves jumping, climbing, running, etc.  She LOVES the park and is constantly pointing in the direction of it wanting to go.  She also loves to throw/kick around a ball, splash around in a pool, and jump on a trampoline.  

Favorite Things: She LOVES her baby dolls.  This has been an obsession for quite some time.  She calls them all by the same name:  "Dudus."  I'm convinced this is a combination of the word for baby in Polish and her cousin Declan's name. haha.  Evie also really loves to sing, dance, and watch short videos (mainly on my iPhone).  She loves watching the chicken dance on YouTube and sing in her own little language.  She also absolutely loves making a mess.  Making a mess seems to be her job. ;)

Signature Moves: Because of her recent obsession with the chicken dance, Evie has recently been seen flapping her arms like a chicken and dancing in circles.  She also still makes the funniest faces.  She's mimicking Tom and I alot more, so if she sees us make a certain face, she will try to copy it.  It's quite hilarious actually. 

Other Milestones: Other than making huge strides in language, Evie has also learned to eat a lot better on her own with a spoon and fork.  She is also starting to show interest in potty training so I'm REALLY hoping we have some potty progress soon!  Otherwise, she seems to be on track with all other important developmental milestones.  

I know I've probably said it before, but this age is really really great and is my favorite so far.  Evie makes us laugh and smile every single day.  It's a blessing to be her mom and to  watch her grow into a beautiful little girl.  While we definitely have days of frustration, I wouldn't trade her fiesty little personality for anything. :)

Evie is TWO!!

As of Thursday last week my little Evie is officially TWO!  It's hard to believe how quickly the time is passing by.  I can officially no longer refer to her age in "months."  Cue the tears.  I've been super emotional about this transition for some reason (blame the pregnancy?!)  I just can't seem to shake the fact that she's not a baby anymore, and that she's becoming such a little lady!  She makes our hearts so full. :) 

We have her 2 year doctor appointment later this week, so I will save some stats for then, but I wanted to share some pictures from her 2-year photo shoot!  We were able to sneak in some family and maternity shots as well!  I LOVE them!  Big shout out to Jordann Tomasek Photography for the pictures!   Jordann is amazing and I highly recommend her for anyone in the Chicago area!  

I'm also knee-deep in birthday plans!  We are having family over this weekend for a garden/butterfly-themed birthday.  I decided to not go over the top for her birthday but I'm definitely envisioning lots of pastels, flowers, and cute tissue decor!  Stay tuned for lots more birthday fun in the next week!

Our 4th of July Weekend!

The 4th of July has come and gone. We had a wonderful extended weekend trip up to the Northwoods of Wisconsin at my sister-in-law's lake house.  Our trip consisted of: rides on their pontoon boat, fishing, eating, playing outside, fireworks, eating, relaxing by the lake, drinking (just juice for me, blah), games, and more eating. :)  We left early in the morning on Friday so Evie managed to sleep for a good portion of our 5 hour drive.  She is not the most patient person in the car, but we prepared with plenty of snacks, movies, books, toys, etc.  Honestly, we found that if we just talk to her, she is usually pretty good.  The only problem is that sometimes she gets antzy and tries to get out of her car seat.  Anyone else have this issue?  It's frustrating to watch her try to unbuckle herself, but we just keep reinforcing that she needs to stay in her seat, and she usually gets distracted by something else.

Anyways, back to our weekend.  Even though the bugs were out in full attack mode, we LOVED being out in nature for a couple days and enjoyed the easy life.  Evie also was super happy to wake up and see her cousins every day!  Here are a few pictures from our adventures at the lake house!  I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July weekend too!!