two years old

i can't believe that december 27th came and went. i can't believe my baby is two. people always say...don't blink...i completely understand now.

my sweet baby girl...who's NOT a baby anymore has filled our lives with more joy than we ever could have imagined.

• evie is now almost 24 lbs and 33 inches long (10-20th percentile)

• she is wearing size 3 diapers.

• evie is attempting to potty train and at times we are successful.

• she LOVES to sing! her favorites include amazing grace, itsy bitsy spider, jesus loves me, and twinkle twinkle.

• evie is still a late teether. her eye teeth and two year molars have yet to make an appearance.

• she is starting to use pretend play and it's beyond adorable. especially when she cooks in her kitchen and takes care of her babies!

• evie can sing the ABC's from beginning to end and identifies many of the letters. her favorite letter is O and she points it out wherever we go (target especially b/c of the large target circle symbol...)

• she can count to 10.

• evie loves to eat fruit! especially bananas and oranges (aka nana! oooonnnjjjjj!)

• she's also discovered "treats" (jelly beans and m&m's especially) and asks for them frequently.

• evie is obsessed with elmo & dora. she wakes up asking for them.

• she's a shoe fanatic (like her mother i suppose)

• evie enjoys putting puzzles together, reading, and coloring (scribbling).

• evie speaks in 3-4 word sentences on a regular basis. some of the repeat phrases we hear include "evie do it!" "evie try it mommy!" "mommy/daddy...help please!" "watch melmo/dora please!" "no mommy/daddy! evie get it!" "i did it!!!!" "look mommy/daddy!"

catching up on some light reading.

so big

"sledding" (evie was terrified so we mostly watched)

evie woke up on her birthday to a new dollhouse!

i'm two years old today!!!

evie ailene, thank you for warming my heart every time i see you. you brighten everyone's day with your giggles and constant love and affection. we love you!! happy birthday!

hustad christmas 2011

after we returned from south dakota, we spent some wonderful quality time with the hustad clan. we always have so much fun. we laugh a lot and watch toddlers run around in circles. this christmas was especially fun to watch the kids open their presents. they were filled with joy and excitement before, during, and after each present!! i'm so blessed by the family i married into. such a lucky lucky gal am i.

so excited!!

the cousins lovin on one another (evie in her cute new apron!)

more fun more fun!

kinsey & me

ashley, mark, gus, janie

evie reading with aunt kinsey

uncle jason making evie laugh...like usual :)

distracting the kiddos with a little dora while the adults open their presents

andrew spent a majority of the night taking care of baby soren...i may or may not have taken a million pictures of him once he finally sat down to open his gifts. i may or may not have gotten flipped off at one point for the incessant picture taking....

relaxing with uncle mark after a fun-filled, energy draining evening

the whole gang!

and...the more appropriate picture for this group.

haggar christmas 2011

we spent four days in south dakota with the haggar side of our family. it was a very relaxing few days and evie loved getting lots of hugs & attention from everyone there.

a new puzzle + papa = happy little girl

evie watching elmo while sitting next to elmo :)

papa and all evie's friends reading books

mimi & evie playing piano

evie trying the piano out on her own

we went to the christmas eve candlelight service at my dad's church.

evie was so adorable in her new christmas dress!

because evie rarely sits through church (she usually attends the toddler childcare at our church) she didn't understand that we needed to be quiet. every time her papa got up to read something (which was every 5 minutes...) she yelled out "papa!!! papa!!!" it warmed his heart, and even those around us commented on how sweet it was. to add to her exclamations for the evening, at the end of some special music (we were instructed not to applause) she screamed "YAH!!!" and clapped her hands. we couldn't help but giggle on that one. the person singing really did a terrific job!

so thankful for my family

my favorite picture

after church, we opened presents. what a fun time to celebrate our love for one another! evie got some really fun new toys!!

christmas day, evie's great-grandma joined us for our christmas celebrations.

great grandma (evie's namesake) and evie have a special bond!!

we ate some really yummy food and of course played some cards.

evie got to participate in her very first card game!

loved our time in south dakota. the drive home was a long one, but evie was a trooper. dora and elmo kept her company :)

extra extra!

read all about it!

erik was highlighted in an article by the omaha world herald this week! read the article here! YAH!

to the rescue!!!

toddler brain

christmas is in the air...

with thanksgiving behind us, i can't believe that christmas is only a month away! where has the time gone?!

one thing i have been dying to do this year is a christmas card. i have yet to put together a christmas card since erik and i have been married [four years in three short weeks]! and i've never captured sweet evie in a christmas card either. so it's time.

my sister.in.law ashley helped us get ready for the christmas spirit by capturing some family pictures for us!

i've been looking and looking at christmas cards! there are so many fun designs to choose from...and i've fallen in love with numerous cards on the tiny prints website! i've ordered invitations through tiny prints in the past and LOVED what we got! so, i'm excited to design a christmas card from them! now i need your help! what card would you suggest?!

this one, is my favorite...for sure. i love how fun this card is! gives a little twist to the holiday spirit!

i'm not sure if this card will go with the pictures we took...but i really like the feel to this card.

i'm loving the foldable cards!!

i love how we can incorporate multiple pictures on this card.

simple. fun. love. yet another foldable card! ha!

this card would really match the outfits we wore for our pictures.

i'm torn on this one. i love the colors! but not sure if it looks to crowded with pics.

i love this card (primarily because the pictures this cute family took are so stinkin adorable.. if we have a boy...he's definitely getting a mohawk upon age three!)

can't wait to see what we come up with!! here we go!

life updates in november

it's been an absolutely crazy month. november has gone so so so fast. how is it possible that thanksgiving is tomorrow and christmas is a month away?!?!

pregnancy: i'm now 14 weeks along. hard to believe that the first trimester is now behind us. this week's doctor's appointment shows that baby is doing well with a strong heartbeat of 156 bpm. i'm feeling pretty good and feeling much less fatigued (thank goodness).

kimbrough wedding: my dear friends alexis and walter got married on november 12th. erik and i sang in their wedding and i was lucky to spend friday and saturday with the bride as her personal attendant. we had such a fun weekend. i'm so happy for these two and couldn't have been more thrilled to be there to witness all of it!

GUP: GUP kitchen has taken off this past week. this second week of business has been much less hectic than last week. erik & gabe (erik's cousin) worked really hard over the weekend to get some of the kinks worked out...and that work paid off. they are slowly but surely nailing down locations and hope to open six days a week for lunch (and a few dinners) through the winter. my sister.in.law snapped a great picture of the boys with my nephew declan on day one being open!

mimi & papa: my parents came to visit us last week. it was such a treat to have them here. they brought a basketball hoop and a few other fun new toys. my dad and i used to play ball together all the time, so it's fun that she can already start that with her papa. my mom helped me with so many projects around the house....including re-upholstering my kitchen chairs!! we always love our time we get so spend with them. it's hard saying goodbye, but we are looking forward to our trip to south dakota for christmas! (i did a terrible job of taking pictures this week...i only got one of the chairs! oops!)

iowa: evie and i made a trip to iowa to visit my birthmom tammy, sister kayla and fam, and brother ryan. we had so much fun! evie loved playing with her cousins kiara and spencer...and LOVED meeting her brand new baby cousin harper. i loved my snuggle time with the sweet princess. we spent lots of time chatting and playing super mario bros. we also celebrated kiara's 4th bday. we laughed til we cried and it was just fabulous. evie got spoiled by her gramma and loved all of the hugs and kisses she received! it was a wonderful weekend to escape town for a bit and spend it with people we love.

brother ryan and his sweet girlfriend branygon, kiara & spencer

branygon making evie laugh

gramma & evie

uncle ry-ry

road tripping: drinks & elmo on dvd...the good life