Milestones: Evelyne 15/16 Months Old

Our little 16 month old! Doesn't she make the cutest faces?! I could just eat her up!

Eve has had a lot of milestones over the past two months, the biggest being that she has weaned from breastfeeding! She still struggles, like at night when I try to rock her. She gets her little feelings so hurt when she realizes that we are JUST rocking and not nursing. And then she suddenly wants nothing to do with me, as if she is trying to hurt my feelings as bad as I am hurting hers. So we have come up with a new bedtime routine where we stand in front of the big mirror in her room and make faces at each other! We laugh and giggle, blowing kisses and waving hello. She loves it and it helps lighten the mood before the sad moment of having to go to bed. I don't know why kids hate going to sleep. I would kill to have someone tuck me in early every night!

She loves all her stuffed animals and has adopted them all as her babies :). She even calls them baby and makes sure she has at least three of them in her crib with her before she goes to sleep!

She is also a huge dog lover! She seriously gets so excited when she sees one and starts barking at it hahaha! Her little high pitched "Arf! Arf!" melts my heart like butter! She also barks at her stuffed animal puppies right before she kisses them :). Little girls seem to be born with this innate nurturing side and it is too cute for words to see that side come out of her!

She continues with teething, this last tooth being especially awful. It caused her to have the most horrible diarrhea that seems to have left scars on her little bum from the diaper rash! The rash was so terrible, we were bathing her every single time she pooped because the acid from it seemed to be eating away at her skin and caused really bad sores. I was at my wits end trying to come up with a cure. We are talking jello water, acidophilus, no milk or milk products or anything that might cause diarrhea, constant lathering of extra strength Desitin on top of a layer of Aquaphor.... Like I said, it was awful. I'm so glad that is over and hope her little bum scars disappear soon or she is going to have an interesting story to tell her husband on their wedding night....

The age of fall on your face and have a tantrum has appeared and it's more hilarious than it is frustrating because she is so bad at it! She does a face plant and kicks her legs a bit, and then looks around to see if you noticed. If you did notice, she plants her face back down and screams a bit to make sure you know how serious she is. If you didn't notice, she just gets back up and moves on. I'm sure she will have plenty of time to practice being dramatic, but for now, I am happy with this toned down version of girl drama! haha!

She loves Austin more than anyone in the world. At night, he is the first person she goes to for bedtime hugs and kisses and throughout the day she follows him around EVERYWHERE. However, she is also extremely jealous of him if he goes anywhere near her Mama! A bigger Mama's girl there never was and she makes sure everyone knows who I belong to! If he is on my lap she makes sure she is on top of him pushing him off. If he is crying and getting loves from me, she starts crying too and makes sure she is also getting her fair share of hugs and kisses. It makes my job a million times harder than it already is and makes me feel so bad for Austin. But I'm not really sure what I can do about it..... The girl just REALLY loves her Mom!

We started potty training Austin and Eve appears to be almost ready to potty train herself! Whenever we go potty, she has to take her turn sitting on the little potty herself (fully clothed) and then sticks her hand out for some toilet paper and wipes! Then she throws it in the toilet and says, "Done!" in a happy, confident tone :). How amazing would it be to have both kids potty trained by the end of the year?!!

Every time we go for walks she holds onto my finger... It's little things like that I don't ever want to forget!

I LOVE putting her in onesies because it shows off her leg rolls!

We made homemade ice cream and she got very upset when she realized she wasn't strong enough to shake her bag like her big brother. It's so hard being little sometimes!

She always has to be front and center to see what Austin is doing. It bothers him so badly because she is always in his way and usually ends up knocking over his block tower or steals his crayon from him. Lots of crying around here because of this!

 Since she had that horrible diaper rash, I let her run around naked a lot, trying to heal her poor little bum! Plus there's nothing cuter than a naked baby :).

Austin needed to go potty but didn't want to stop playing long enough to go inside, so he decided to pee in the flower pot! Well, Eve thought that was pretty neat and just HAD to try it herself! haha

Whenever she concentrates, that little double chin makes its appearance. I LOVE IT!

Reading with socks on her hands. I don't know what inspired this fashion statement but who am I to question her sense of style? By the way, this girl loves books! One of her favorite things to do is sit in my lap and read :).

Making a huge sandy mess with her brother while we hung out inside, trying to hide from the hot desert sun...

She is the perfect addition to our family! We would be so lost without our sweet baby Eve.

We are always on the go and morning naps just get in the way. So this poor girl tries so hard to stay awake during it all. Look at those tired eyes!

Playing in the dirt is Evie's favorite :)

She also LOVES bubbles! She gets so excited and starts shouting "bubbo! bubbo!"

Playing on the parachute at dance class :)

Oh how I love that morning smile! She's always so happy!

And just look at those big brown eyes... ugh, my heart!

Her brother is her absolute favorite person in the world! I hope their relationship only gets stronger all throughout their lives.

The first day of weaning from breastfeeding (15 months). We kept a sippy cup of milk with her at all times and it worked out pretty well! Mostly because it was Austin's special Ninja Turtle cup and she knows that ;)

"Hey Austin! I've got your cup and there's nothing you can do about it!" hahaha!

Celebrating with Mommy and Daddy when Dad got his new job promotion!

Always near, around, or on top of Mommy

She also kinda likes her Daddy.... :)

Having a beautiful baby girl is like having a porcelain doll you can play dress up with! I'm so glad she enjoys it as much as I do! She loves to wear jewelry because Mommy wears it and is so adorable when she walks around carrying her little purse!

Brotherly love.

Whenever I cook, these two are right there with me! It gets so hard sometimes because I can't do anything without tripping over a toy or knocking over a child but it's all about the memories, right?!

Family picture! Now if only we could get the two blondes to keep their eyes open...

We love Grandma Porter!

Gladiator sandals are cute, but it's a whole new ballgame when a baby wears them!

MY HEART!!!

Just a little ball of chubby perfection!

Her face! hahahaha!

My little diva lounging out by the pool.

sitting poolside, wondering if she should risk the cold and jump in!

Pony rides with Daddy before bed time!

I attempted to do a little 16 month photo shoot this morning but it didn't go so well. Little Miss wasn't interested in having her picture taken so this was the only pic I could get of her smiling... or giving half a smile.

This is her "pick me up Mama" look that she gives me 24/7.

She has started doing this hand wringing thing. It doesn't seem to be a nervous tick or anything. It's more of an "I have something I really want to say but I don't know how to say it" thing. It is so fun learning each child's little quirks!

Is she not the cutest little thing in the whole entire world?! Just looking at this pic makes me want to go wake her up from her nap right now and squeeze her!

Staying true to her girlish nature, she can be smiling and laughing one minute......

..... and then crying the next! Don't you just love how she covers up her mouth when she cries?! Like a true little lady!

A Little Trip to St. George

I have been going insane with this ridiculously hot summer and trying to keep the kids entertained indoors. So I planned a little vacation to Great Grandma Wiegel's house to add some fun to August! And fun we did have!! It was just what the doctor ordered for all of us. Daddy had to work so he got to rest and enjoy the house all to himself with us gone which is a plus all in itself. But I wouldn't have traded that fun filled trip for ANY amount of sleep, it was that good! And coming from a sleep deprived Mama, that's saying something!

The kids were excellent travel companions and didn't cry at all! For that I was extremely grateful because there's nothing worse than being stuck in the car with screaming kids....

About ready to hit the road. Peace Out Vegas!

After we got ourselves situated there at Grandma's house, we went to the St. George Temple! This was Austin's first temple experience and the fact that this was where Josh and I got married made this experience even more special! Before we left the house, Austin was playing with Grandma's cordless phone, pretending to talk to his Daddy. When I told him it was time to go, he said, "Hey Daddy I've got to go! I'm getting married in the temple today and I don't want to be late!" hahahaha! Oh my goodness that kid cracks me up! Apparently, he put two and two together that the temple is where you go to get married and since we were going to the temple, he must be getting married today! :)

Austin on his "wedding day" (hehe)

I love this lady with all my heart! She is such a special woman and has been the greatest example to me.

Holding Great Grandma's hand.

"I love to see the temple, I'm going there someday.

It was so much fun!

Watching the fountain

What a beautiful experience!

It was pretty hot outside, so after we toured the Visitors Center, we drove over to SWIG for their amazing sugar cookies and hand crafted sodas! Seriously, we were in heaven it was so yummy!! We also stopped by the new Tabernacle that is being built to look at the new statue of Robert Garner Jr. (my Great Great..... Grandpa)! When I was little, we used to go camping with my Dad every summer and I have the most wonderful memories of lying in the tent, huddled under our blankets and sleeping bags, listening to my Dad read from Robert Gardner's journal by lantern light. He was truly an incredible man and it was such an amazing experience to show my children his statue and explain to them that this was their Grandpa! Austin was enthralled by it and could not take his eyes off of the "big hammer" he was holding. I know this experience stuck with him because a couple days later we drove by the statue without even thinking about it and from the back seat heard Austin say, "Look! It's Grandpa!" We were shocked that he was able to remember that and recognize it so easily! The pictures we took weren't the greatest, but the experience was second to none.

Then we spent the rest of the night in Grandma's backyard watching the kids run through the sprinklers and play with side walk chalk, along with lots of bubbles!

Backyard fun!

The next day we went to the Children's Discovery Museum and played for hours. Austin did not want to leave but it was way past lunch time and Evie was starting to get grumpy. My Mom showed up right as we were about to leave. She was supposed to be with us the entire trip but she wasn't feeling well and decided to come up later. I was just grateful to have another pair of hands to help out at Chuck 'o Rama which is where we decided to eat lunch! Eating out with two young kids is always a stressful ordeal, but between the three of us women, we were able to make it fun! We went back to the house afterward and played on the slip 'n slide my mom had brought with her. It was a huge hit with Austin and before we knew it, both my Mom and I had put on my Grandma's funny old lady swim suits and joined him in all the fun! Because we had been playing in the water for so long, the yard started flooding! So we decided to take a break and go for a walk over to the pond to see the swans. They were mean suckers and I was totally freaked out that they would attack the kids! But they sure were beautiful. We didn't want the fun to end so we went into the club house and let the kids run around. It was such a perfect day :).

Working on the car in the "auto shop" was Austin's favorite part! Well, that and flying the airplane.

Fixing the tires.

Grandma showing Austin how its done ;)

Evie found a boyfriend while we were there! This little boy latched onto her like a fly to chocolate and would not let her out of his sight! He was obsessed with hugging her and was so cute as he helped her do her shopping! hehe! Is it possible to meet your one true love at 16 months old?

Farm boy milking the cows

Evie riding the cow as it was being milked hahaha.

There was this board that had all the different animal furs on it and Evie loved rubbing her face on it! Grandma thought it was pretty funny :).

My little copilots flying their plane.

Buying groceries

Playing in our castle!

Evie playing dress up on stage with the other little girls. She was so cute twirling around to the music!

Slip 'n Slide action!!

This boy was obsessed!

The next day we packed a picnic lunch and took the party up to the Pine Valley mountains! We spent the entire day playing in the dirt, wading through the stream, climbing rocks, and gathering wood for the pretend fire Austin was building on his big rock! The clouds came in along with thunder and we thought the rain would cut our party short, but we got lucky and only felt a couple raindrops. Plus the cloud cover made the temperature even more perfect! The only unsavory part of the whole day was Austin needing to go poop but struggling to go in the outhouse. He pooped his pants multiple times and I was about to lose my cool with him! Then my Mom pointed out that my shirt says "Love Life" and laughed at me. It made me laugh too and helped me to get through this potty training struggle.

The BIG ROCK Austin conquered!

Evie was so funny. She would NOT let anyone carry her and seemed to be on some kind of mission to prove to herself that she could do what everyone else could do (story of her life). Look at that little proud face!

Playing in the stream

Austin took every chance he could to pull down his pants and pee on things.... such a boy!

Hanging out and chatting while the kids played. It was so fun and peaceful!

We also stopped at the old pioneer cemetery to visit the graves of Robert Gardner and his Wife Leonora Cannon Gardner (my Grandma and Grandpa). I know this sounds strange but I absolutely love old cemeteries! I love looking at the beautiful headstones and wondering what their story was and what their lives were like. Once again, it was a special moment for me to share with my children. One of many on this trip!

Attempting to take a generational picture with our ancestors... Austin was more intrigued by the stick he'd just found.

Pretty soon Evie joined in on the stick hunt.

I have always LOVED that beautiful old white chapel built by the pioneers. It is amazing how well preserved it still is, along with many of the old houses!

The graves of Robert Gardner and his three wives.You gotta love polygamy! ;)

I just want to point out that with every strong man, there is an even stronger woman in the background. Leonora Cannon must have been amazing! I wish I could have known her.

Sweet little Eve has so much strength of her own inside her. I have always known that she is an old soul in a young body. I'm sure she had an amazing relationship with our pioneer women ancestors in the preexistence.

Austin cried the next morning when I informed him we had to go home. I couldn't blame him because I felt the same way! All I could do to make him feel better was promise him we would come back soon. Maybe next time Daddy will be able to come along with us! :)