Excited for Christmas

Eva got into the holiday spirit today when I put on some Christmas tunes.

Halloween Surprise

Cute video of Eva waking from a nap before heading out to trick-or-treat...

Eva-isms

It's been a while since I updated this blog and a few silly things have come up since the last post. I thought I'd get them down before I forgot!

1) Hair vs 'Head': Eva recently reported to me that only her Strawberry Shortcake doll has hair...all the rest have 'head'. By this, she means they are bald, but I couldn't help but laugh at her description!

2) Today Eva chose a toy from the 'treasure chest' at school. It was a mini-Cinderella figure. She was excited to bring it home to join her other princess figures. I saw her with both the big and little Cinderella figures, and overheard her say 'come on sister! let's go sister!' It was very cute but I was wondering if she was trying to tell me she wanted a sibling. So I asked her if she wanted mom to have a baby and she confirmed that no, she would like to be the only baby. Ok, glad that's cleared up! Though she does frequently ask if she can have a sister named Tinkerbell...

3) Eva and I were out shopping and needed to use the bathroom. While she waited for me inside the stall, she loudly exclaimed 'mom, your bum is so funny!' I know the person in the next stall had to love that one.

Election day!

My little voter!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Eva helped me bake a cake for Dad's 31st birthday. Her favorite part of the day was singing Happy Birthday and helping blow out the candles!

Fun with Friends

Eva and I enjoyed a playdate today at the Taylor residence. Eva loved seeing her very best friends including Reid, Claire, James, and Charlie. Plenty of food, friends and fun in the backyard and I don't recall a single child crying!

Eva and friends

Eva relaxing at home with 'friends' Louise, Aurora, Alice and Mr. Bunny...

Luau!

Eva had a fun day at a 'luau' party with friends!

Eva's first joke

It's an exciting couple of days in the Viciana household, as Eva has decided to tell her first joke. It goes a little something like this:

Knock knock
(who's there?)
Orange
(orange who)
ORANGE BOY!
(insert Eva's uncontrollable laughter here)

Nope, we don't get it either!

Here's the other one she likes:
Knock knock
(who's there?)
Party Hat
(Party hat who?)
PARTY HAT VICIANA!

Happy Father's Day!

Ready to go shopping!

Ok, she's ready to go shopping! Baby in carrier, purse on arm...um, we might want some pants!

3 going on 35...

I was in the office on the computer for a few minutes and when I returned to the living room, this is how I found Eva. Can we say DIVA?

Last day of school!

Today was Eva's last day at MMO (Mother's Morning Out) - well, at least with her current teachers, Miss Maria and Miss Shari. She will be in a program in June but with new teachers, and many of the friends she has seen twice/week she will not see anymore :( Funny how sad *I* get thinking of that...she's only 3 years old and already the friendships form! Not to mention the wonderful women that have taken good care of my baby two times a week from 9-1 since September. I suppose we will go through this each year!

Happy Mother's Day!

Today is a beautiful day and what could be better than spending it with my family. I enjoyed a nice morning of lying in bed reading my book with coffee delivered bed-side. Then we had a fabulous brunch at La Tavola in my favorite area of Atlanta - Virginia Highlands. Hearing my little girl say 'I love you, Mom' is the best Mother's Day gift anyone could receive. I am very lucky.

Guess who had pizza for dinner...

Bye bye diapers!

I can't believe my 'baby' has been in big girl underwear with no accidents for 4 whole days! Potty training is right at the top of my list of 'biggest accomplishments'...so far anyway ;) Eva had her 3-year checkup today as well and the doctor thinks she is doing well. She is 29 pounds and 36 1/4 inches tall which puts her exactly in the 50th percentile.

Progress?

Well, the exciting news of the past couple of days is that Eva is progressing with the potty. We haven't jumped in with both feet just yet, but little by little we're getting there! Today she went back to school after a 2-week break. Though she didn't go potty at school, her teachers said that she did TRY very hard and sat there for a while. When we got home, she told me she needed to go poo-poo, pulled down her pants and jumped up on the potty and she went! I was very proud of her. I was inspired and felt brave, so we ventured out to Target (I put her in a pull-up as we're not quite ready for underwear out in public just yet). It was not a fun shopping experience, as every 2 minutes she asked me to use the potty ('I go poo poo, go to the bathroom!) Needless to say we spent more time in the Ladies room than in the store itself, and all times were false alarms. But hey, it's progress! As Papa Baker would say 'she'll get there!'

How can this be...is she really 3??

My little girl is growing up...today she turned 3! Eva enjoyed a fun 'make believe' party with 15 of her friends at The Coffee Park.

Happy Birthday Mommy!

Today was a great day, as I celebrated the big 33 with my little girl and her Auntie Missy, who came to town to visit!

Charlie's Birthday Party

Eva had a great time at Stevie B's today celebrating her little pal Charlie's 3rd birthday. Highlights of the party included holding pal Bella's hand and eating a dinosaur cupcake...

One of those days

Terrible 2...I mean almost 3? Totally. I've battled Eva since she woke up this morning, which by the way was somewhere in the early part of 6am. Not sure what possessed me to attempt a haircut this morning. Maybe the fact that she's starting to look like one of the Beatles. She actually did better than the last time, but still was a challenge. The biggest battle of the day was getting her in the house from the car. It made me wonder why I bought her the new purple ball with pink butterflies on it! Well she's in the house now, but check out this picture. Scary to say the least.

Future soccer player

We tried out a new park yesterday called Swift-Cantrell. It was a nice day and Eva particularly enjoyed watching the older kids play soccer. Actually she really wanted to be a part of the game! Eva also enjoyed the company of one of her boyfriends, Travis.

Egg Hunt

Eva's school had an egg hunt this morning and Eva had a great time! She enjoyed finding her 6 eggs, but mostly had a blast in the bounce house after the hunt.

Spring is here!

Beautiful day here in GA. Eva and I enjoyed the morning with friends at East Cobb Park.

Spots

We've been enjoying a few minutes of snuggle time this morning and Eva decided to rest her head on my arm. All of the sudden she lifted her head and started studying my arm closely. After some consideration, she informed me that I have 'spots'. Of course she's referring to my many birthmarks, but now I'm afraid she may start telling people that 'mommy has spots'.

'I Do it Myself!'

The highlight of the past month is that Eva moved into a 'big girl bed'. She has done pretty well, I must say. Of course we have had our challenges, the main one being that she has required one of us to lie down with her to fall asleep. This past week I decided enough was enough. With the help of a piggy flashlight and Eva's new favorite phrase 'I do it myself!' I believe we may have achieved success!

Very First Blog...

So I just created our 'blogspot' today. I guess I was inspired by two things: One is that we have now lived in Atlanta for 2 years (as of yesterday to be exact). The other is that my 'baby' is nearly 3 years old. How did that happen?! One day not long ago I was trying to get her to point to pictures in a book and name the object and now...well, she's officially Miss Sassy Pants. 'Sit down Mom!' she says. Or how about this one, she told me today that she had the hiccups. Hiccups? Did I explain hiccups to her? And that's not all...she knows how to be cute too. Oh she knows. Yesterday she put her hands up in a dramatic way and said 'where'd cat go?' referring to her toy. But she knew that she looked cute with her expression and arms up in a questioning manner. Very expressive. Then, today at Jumpits, one of our local hangouts, she got off the bouncy looking all sad and pouting and said 'my sock!!!' It was sagging a little and not totally fitted or tight on her foot (gasp, the horror!) Well, the point is, there are many things that happen during the day that only I am around to experience or hear. Being away from family is tough at times and I wish everyone could be here to witness my 'baby' growing. So with this blog, I can at least try to capture some of the humorous, touching, frustrating, amazing moments.

Amanda xo