Our Family

It's getting very cold outside and we are nice and toasty inside...I love me a REAL fire. Makes the whole neighborhood smell wonderful. Wanna come over for some hot cocoa?

Sorry this took so long. I totally forgot to post these

This is the main floor...study, dining, kitchen, living room and 1/2 bath

This is the upstairs...master bedroom, guest bath and 3 other bedrooms


This is the basement...rec room, laundry, guest bedroom and bath

I have to say that we are having SO much fun with Evey. She is just so good and sweet...a wealth of kisses. We were talking with the grandmas on Skype last night and she just goes right up to the screen to give kisses. We laugh so much around here. She just has so much personality. She loves helping out by putting stuff in recycle. Her signing is going really well. She is saying thank you a lot more, which I LOVE nice manners. We are trying to teach her to say Moma or Dada when she needs help instead of whining which I REALLY dislike. She is just doing so wonderful.

Since we aren't going to be here for Christmas we just went ahead and got her her Christmas gift early. I had a coupon and gift cards and we beat the crowds so why not. We got her a playhouse (and some blocks and a puzzle, but those are more for learning). It sits in this useless space near the living room so she will get lots of use out of it hopefully. She seems to really like it and as she learns imaginative play I think she will like it even more. It is very cute and I think we picked the right one. James had to work Saturday night, but when he got home he wanted to put it together so she could play with it when she woke up. It was very cute...daddy putting together her first big Christmas gift.

Here is a link to a post by my friend Vanessa, she very eloquently writes a lot of things I am feeling as well.
http://alanvanessa.vox.com/library/post/election-results-and-other-things-about-our-country.html?_c=feed-atom

Halloween was a blast. Ben and Tana came up to visit. It was such a blessing to have them here. I thought this Halloween would be ho -hum for Evey but she was totally in to it. James and Ben took her around the cul-de-sac. She marched right up to the houses, took the candy, put it in her bag and signed thank you. So darn cute. When she got home she was so excited, like she had been eating candy for hours excited (she only had a little hot cocoa). When the trick or treaters got to the door...she would run to the door and then say Bye-Bye. So stinking cute. I just had so much fun cause she was having so much fun. Not to mention our friends were here to hang out and celebrate too.

On Saturday we went to the Holocaust Museum and then walked around DC. Evey once again was a trooper...very well behaved all day and then crashed when we got in the car.

Thanks for coming to visit Ben and Tana...we love you!

Today was Evey first day at her new school. She had a wonderful day, Praise the Lord. Let me back up for a second. After several incidents of another child biting her and ripping her hair out, plus the lack of napping...we decided to look for a new place. We found a place 2 minutes from the house...I could go pick her up in the stroller. We tried it out a week ago and she did fine there and we both got a good feeling from the place so we decided to enroll her. Today she was excited to go to school...not that she wasn't before, but a good sign. She took a 2 1/2 hour nap on a cot. She is in the toddler room now so she is the youngest, but I think this is great so she can learn from the others instead of being the oldest of the infants. They colored, played musical instruments and played with magnetic puzzles. All around I am so glad we switched. I think she will do much better at the new place.

Let me just say, Evey is the sweetest thing ever. Couple days ago I was sitting with her while she was drinking her milk and I whispered in her ear "I love you." She stopped drinking her milk, turned and gave me a kiss then she continued to drink her milk. Melt my heart!

She is learning to color, learning new words everyday, learning to kick a soccer ball, oh yeah...signing oh my gosh. Grandpa and Mimi gave her some books with kids doing different signs in them. They are her favorite books now. She does 85% of the signs in them and is applying them.

My mom and Christanne came up last weekend. It was a wonderful time. Evey just soaked up all the attention. We hit the ground running when they got here. Metro, Arlington Cemetery, Monuments, Memorials, and Museums. Evey did pretty good touring around, not great. We did a lot of trading off carrying her, but pretty good overall. The weekend was so fun. It was nice to be with my girls again. I just love being in DC. It is such a beautiful and clean city. The architechture...history...knowledge. I love it.

Several weeks ago we went to the National Zoo in DC. It was pretty fun. I don't have a lot to compare too but I thought it was good. Best part was it was free. I think Evey had a good time hanging out with us. Looking at all the animals and other children running around.

This weekend was wonderful. We headed north to Leesburg, VA to a farm and park. There Evey got to meet lots of new animals...chickens, turkeys, pigs, horses, and goats. She got to play in a cornbox...like a sandbox but with corn. We spent over an hour wandering through the Corn Maize. Oh my gosh, it was so fun. I would totally do it again. At first, it felt a little like we were in the "Field of Dreams." It was not easy. I am just glad that Evey was having fun too just being with us...riding on our shoulders. Here is a link to the The Maize if you want to see a picture of the actual maize.