Major Milestones!

Pay attention, this one is important.

I always tell Everett to "sign" her artwork so people know who did it. This is really just a way for me to get her to practice her writing skills. Which up until this point consisted of the letters E and J since I thought her full name was a bit overwhelming for a 4 year old. 

Silly me.

The other day I told her to "sign" her card and she disappeared into the sunroom for quite a while and then proudly presented me with THIS.

I have no idea where she learned to write her actual name. School, I suppose. I had no idea she knew it had more than 2 letters. I was beyond thrilled and so proud when she showed me this. No, it isn't perfect and it seems to be missing a letter or two, but man was I proud. And her teachers deserve a big high-five!

This is the artwork that she was signing  :)

Spring and the world's cutest toddler

After a cold winter with not-so-great weather, we were happy to see some lovely weather to welcome in the beginning of Spring. And that means lots of outdoor time and opportunities to get some good photos of Nora. She has really developed a distinct personality and is constantly making us laugh. Plus she is just about the cutest thing on the entire planet. 

This is pretty indicative of the kind of
winter we had.

So we were all excited when it got warm
enough to do THIS!

 This kid is just overflowing with personality.

And she LOVES to climb, jump, run, and slide. 

 Unfortunately she has been a bit of a bad influence on her friends (already)

She looks all innocent here.

But really she is teaching Baby Andrew the ins-and-outs
of the climbing wall

Uh-oh....BUSTED!

Sorry, Amy....

Between the mini-heart attacks she gives us and her neverending demands for more and more food (WHERE does she put it all?) she is an absolute joy and I just cannot get enough of her.  

Still rockin' those amazing baby blues!

Play peekaboo with Daddy

Such a charmer

Fun with Aunt Merrill

Such a happy girl!

Adore this kid. Every day is a new adventure, a belly full of laughs, and a heart overflowing with love. 

My and my girl

A soccer star is born!

Well. It appears I am officially a Soccer Mom. I suppose it was bound to happen. I tried to resist. But all of our friends decided to sign up for the same team and we thought it sounded fun, and thus a soccer star was born.

Let's be clear - 3 and 4yo soccer is basically a disaster show. They really have no idea what they are doing, they all run around in a clump surrounding the ball (if they are paying any attention to where the ball is at all - often they are picking flowers or performing some sweet dance moves on the other side of the field).  So you could say we were more than surprised to watch EJ actually seem to get it (when she is paying attention).

Learning the "no hands" rule

Going over some last minute strategy.

She has scored 2 goals in every game she has played in other than the first one, most of the time the only one scoring any goals. She is fast, and seems to instintively understand how to play defense and get between the mob around the ball and the goal.

But most importantly - she seems to really enjoy it. While it is fun for us to have the "star" on the team, what is most fun is seeing her excitement and happiness in this new sport. Both Omar and I grew up playing sports and it helped define our childhoods in many ways. We have had hopes that our girls would find similar experiences and we are so happy that EJ seems to be having such a good time!

She loves her awesome Coach!

And of course, little sis Nora has taken on the role of #1 Fan with much enthusiasm. We are sure that in just a few short years we will be watching her tear up the soccer field as well. 

Tiniest soccer player. 

Her sister's #1 fan

Taking notes.

 GO KICKERS!!!!

Snow day!

Luckily we did not have the insane winter weather of last year, but we did get one good "Atlanta snow day" which means about 3" that was fun for a few hours and gone the next day. My kind of winter. 

Of course the girls (well, mostly EJ) love it!

EJisms

As Everett approaches 5 years old (whooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh, slow down) she becomes more and more well-spoken, with an ever expanding vocabulary and an amazing, meandering string of logic that both makes us laugh and also ponder the world around us in ways we hadn't considered. She is a truly funny, smart, observant, and creative little girl and makes our days so much brighter with the way her mind works. 

Here are some of my favorites from the last few months... 

"Mama, if you listen very hard to the rain it makes music"

(when I asked her yesterday why she didn't eat the lunch I sent her to school with)
"But mom, I don't like rice on Wednesdays!"
.
.
At least she knew what day it was.

(In reference to the route I'm driving her to a birthday party)
"Mommy, unfortunately, I don't think you know what you're doing."

And of course, the wonderful mispronounciations that we love and it breaks our heart just a bit each time she figures out the correct way to say it:

• Bananture (adventure)
• Cross Game (lacrosse game)
• Squarecrows (scarecrows)
• "Uh oh pisghettios" (Uh-oh spaghetti-o)
• Ten Little Aliens (for many months she sung 10 Little Indians using this phrasing, which for a while I legitimately thought perhaps that is they way they were teaching it these days in an effort to be more PC)
• Bootius Maximus (they learn a part of the body every week to go along with the letter of the week. This week's letter was G....)
• Camote (remote)
• Joking hazards (choking hazards)
• Banana Squirrell - Omar and I are still not sure what she is actually trying to say, but it refers to a special desert that she tries to make us which involves bananas, ice cream, and a bunch of other weird ingredients. 
• Asigant (accident)
• Amimal (animal)

Love her.

Sisters!

As everyone who has done this before knows, one of the very best things about having two girls is watching their relationship as sisters blossom. As Nora gets older and develops more of a personality, is better able to communicate, and starts to really be able to interact with Everett, this relationship becomes more and more special. 

In their Princess Racecar

EJ "reading" to Nora at the doctor's office.

The girls got flowers from their daddy for Valentines day   :)

My beautiful girls. 

Bath time is one of their favorite times of day!

All the girls checking out the wide world. 

Love these amazing girls so much sometimes I feel like my heart could burst. How did we get so lucky???

Following the path less traveled is easy with a sister
at your side. 

Charleston Fun

Beautiful day in our favorite city!

We had to cancel our trip to Charleston over Christmas so we rescheduled for early in February and drove over for a wonderful weekend of fun!

Fun with Mama-J at the playground.

 We went to the South Carolina aquarium, which is always a great day. This was Nora's first time there since she was a tiny baby and she was mesmerized by all the fish!

Pop-E & Mama-J had a fancy event one night - they clean up well!  Of course EJ wanted to jump in the picture with them.  =)

Looking good!

Storytime with Mama-J is always a highlight.

 Because they live right on the marsh, there are an endless amount of great trails to explore right out the backdoor.  

I'm not sure who is leading who here. 

We are always sad to say goodbye, but are looking forward to our next trip over!