Happy Thanksgiving!

 So many blessings, so much to be thankful for this year...

(Thank you Uncle Adam for taking these pictures!  But we didn't get any of you holding your favorite niece!)

Look what I can do!

Evie had another first yesterday.... she pulled up on the laundry basket all by herself!  She been pulling up on Pat and I for a week or so now, but not on furniture or anything else.  Then tonight, she was barefoot and able to get enough traction to pull herself up on the laundry basket and then scoot it across the kitchen! I can hardly believe that she's doing this at 8 months. I don't really want her to walk early (I have a hard enough time keeping up with her crawling), but I am quickly learning that it really doesn't matter what I want.  Little Miss Evelyn has a mind of her own!

Just another weekend...

We spent a lot of time at home this weekend, just playing and hanging out.  It's so much fun to just watch how much Evelyn changes and grows everyday.  She getting faster at crawling and she knows how to follow me when I leave a room.  She is so busy.  She literally never stops moving.  She loves her books.  She'll chew on them, but she will also sit there and turn the pages back and forth.  She loves to explore and notices everything.  She has started to pull up a little bit on Mommy and Daddy's legs when we are sitting next to her, but thankfully hasn't tried to pull up on any furniture yet.  We're not quite ready for that!  She keeping us on our toes...and we love it!

Hanging with her buddy

Fun with Tupperware

Reading books

Bathtime!

Sunday at my house...I'm a hot mess!

8 months old!!

I absolutely cannot believe my little sweetheart is 8 months old!!  She's a full-fledged crawler now.  She's interested in everything - especially laptops, cell phones and remote controls!  We had a big milestone today...Evie cut her very first tooth!!  My sweet girl is growing up so fast!!

Busy, happy week!! :)

Evie had a busy week!
She hung out with Aunt Shannon while Mommy and Daddy went to the OSU game...

She had a photoshoot for our Thanksgiving invitation to our families...

She watched the basketball game with Daddy...

She had a day of coffee, shopping and dinner with Mommy and one of Mommy's best friends, Julie...

She practiced her crawling...

She went furniture shopping....

And then she fell asleep in the middle of dinner...

Here's hoping next week is as good as this one was!

It still fits!!

Evie's very special Auntie MA gave her a UK outfit before she was born.  She wore it at 1 week old during March Madness and it was a evening gown.  I managed to wedge it onto her tonight - it's now a UK mini dress.  Evie will ALWAYS be a UK Basketball fan (even if her Daddy does root for the Buckeyes).

1 week old....UK evening gown.

My sweet little wildcat

Ready to watch the game in her mini-dress

C-A-T-S!  Cats! Cats! Cats! (Sorry Daddy!)

I'm Thankful....

There are many things that I hope to teach Evelyn and many values that I hope to instill in her.  Honesty, forgiveness, and humility; respect for one’s elders and respect for one’s self; the power of prayer, and the healing ability of a good laugh to name just a few.  But one of the most important things that I hope to impart on her is a sense of gratitude.  I don’t think that there is enough gratitude in today’s world.  It’s not necessarily that people are inherently ungrateful beings, but these days everyone is so busy, busy, busy all the time that I think that we don’t always take the time to appreciate all of the good things in our lives.  I want to teach Evie to be thankful for the blessings in her life, and hopefully in doing so, I’ll remember to be thankful as well. 
It’s the month of November, the month of Thanksgiving.  This year, I have more to be thankful for than ever before.  And, although Evie may not understand it all yet, she has much to be thankful for as well.  Yes, she should be thankful for material things, like toys, warm clothes, soft blankets, clean diapers and food to fill her belly.  But she should also be thankful that there is so much love in her life.  She has so many people who care about her and who give her so many things.  They give their time, hugs, kisses, patience, smiles, cuddles, knowledge, comfort, caring and love.  Pat and I love our little girl so much and we are so incredibly grateful for the people in our lives that love her too.

Cheering on my favorite football team!!

Posing

Ready to brave the cold weather