Turning One Is A Big Deal

My nephew Sanford turned one last week.

One. 

One whole year has already gone by in the blink of an eye.

I remember the day he was born...hearing my phone ring just before the sun rose. My sister announced excitedly that I was an auntie and her brand new baby boy was simply perfect.  I hurried over to the hospital that afternoon and held my tiny nephew in my arms. He was perfect. I had recently just found out that we were expecting our own baby in the summer and tried to imagine nine months from that moment...our babies would soon be best of friends.

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We celebrated in one year old fashion with a Curious George party.  My sister and mom are cupcake geniuses and we laughed and clapped as Sanford dove into his monkey cake.  I loved watching how new and exciting everything was for him.  He is so so special and we can't imagine our family without him.  

 Sweet cousin kisses

Life Lately {In Black and White}

This week I have so much to be thankful for. I am excitedly counting down the days until my twin sister and brother-in-law fly back to Colorado for Thanksgiving, we get to celebrate my nephews first birthday, and I get to celebrate my birthday together with my twin sister for the first time in six years!

Here's a snap shot of life lately...filled to the brim with Everdeen of course :)

We Had An Election and the Cat Won

Today I taught my kinder friends all about an election and voting.  We voted on a very very important issue...which book to read after lunch. 

These are two of my classes favorite characters, Pete the Cat and Skippy Jon Jones, and they were really excited to see which one would win! We wrote our votes down, P for Pete and S for Skippy. 

 

I told my students this was a secret ballot so no telling your friend who you are voting for.  Of course then you have the few students shouting out, "What letter do we write if we want Pete the Cat to win?"  Pretty sure everyone just heard you :)

We folded our papers and dropped them in the jar to be tallied.

We could hardly contain our excitement as we counted each tally mark! Which cat is going to win??

Yay! Skippy won by two votes!

One of my students looked at Pete the Cat and told him it was okay he didn't win and patted him on the head. Maybe we should have had a little dose of five year old in this year's presidential election :) 

Just She and I Together

When somebody loved me,

Everything was beautiful

Every hour we spent together lives within my heart

And when she was sad,
I was there to dry her tears

And when she was happy,
So was I
When she loved me

 Through the summer and the fall

We had each other, that was all

Just she and I together, like it was meant to be.

When She Loved Me by Sarah McLachlan

three months

Everdeen Kate you are three months old! I can't believe how much you have changed this month.  Your personality is really starting to shine through and you are so interested in everything around you. You are the calmest and happiest baby I have ever known. Every morning when we wake you up, you greet us with a big giggle grin and we scoop you up and give you hundreds of kisses on your chubby little cheeks.  

This month you are babbling and cooing, have learned to roll over to your side and love to put everything in your mouth...including your daddy's nose. You are now 11 pounds and 23 1/2 inches long, growing bigger and stronger every day!

Beautiful girl, we love you more than you'll ever know and are so thankful for the joy you bring to our lives. 

two month update

one month update