Iowa Christmas

We were very fortunate that the weather cooperated and we had an easy trip down to visit Les's family. Many gathered to celebrate Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa H's. Here Eva is pictured with her cousins: Katy, Andy, Emma, Adam, Ryan and Abby. (Not pictured: Baby Bailey... coming sometime early April.)
Grandma and Eva enjoyed some bonding time. Here they are - all smiles!
Emma, Eva and I ducked into a bedroom for a while. The girls had a great time crawling in and out of a tent and pack and play. There was lots of laughing and shrieking by the two.
Eva sports her new chicken pj's with Great-grandma Sheckler.
The following day we made a trip over to visit Grandma and Grandpa Marshall. Eva LOVED all of their dancing/musical Christmas decorations.

Christmas Eve Pics

Christmas Eve has always been my favorite time during the holiday season. Since I was a little girl, we got dressed up for church, ate a meal of homemade soup, and opened family gifts. This year, we were excited to carry on the tradition and host it at our house. All dressed up...

While Ryan, Jenny and I are a little calmer about the holidays then we were when we were kids, its wonderful to continue to share it with them. In this picture, Ryan and I are sporting some Christmas clothes and Jenny cuddles her Christmas cat.

Visit from Nate, Jenny and Peanut

We have had some special bonding time with Jenny, her boyfriend Nate, and cat Peanut. They spent Friday afternoon with Eva and I and were over visiting again today. Eva loves to bake cookies (and eat cookies!) Here she helps Jenny cut out gingerbread men.
Classic picture of an over-stimulated 17 month old (and a patient Jenny and Nate)
Eva smiles with her first Cabbage Patch doll, a special gift from Nate. Morgan Tiffany has brown hair and green eyes just like Eva. The doll brings back wonderful memories of my childhood. This one is new and improved with a pretty scent, eyelashes, and underwear. (That could come in handy when talk turns to potty training.)

Two New Nates!

Last night we celebrated the Holiday season with my mom's side of the family. In many ways, it was the same as other years: eats, drinks, laughs, and gift giving. This year, however, we welcomed two new Nate's: Jenny's boyfriend, Nate and baby Nate- 9 months. Les and Ryan prove to be handy with the camera's automatic timer
Natalie and Eva enjoy art activities. Natalie spent time coloring while Eva spent time pulling crayons out of the box and putting them back in.
Eva and Nate enjoy this child sized table that mysteriously appeared at Grandma and Grandpa's. It seems a little small for them...I wonder what this could be for?

Feeling "Goldilox-ish"

For Les and I, our 4 years in Arizona just "clicked." We found jobs we enjoyed, wonderful friends, and lots of recreational opportunities. We moved back to the midwest 2 1/2 years ago...already. It's taken some trial and error to get adjusted...but I think we finally got it right. We tried out a variety of jobs and living arrangements before settling into a lifestyle we enjoy.

This past weekend we moved into our new "home". (It was two years ago to the day that we were moving into our Verona home.) With Ryan's help we got moved, unpacked, and decorated for the holidays. It was a lot of work, but the payoff is fantastic on these cold, dark winter nights. We are looking forward to hosting my family in our home for Christmas.

And, on another note...Eva started walking on Friday, December 14! She is still a little unsteady but she will walk by herself from point A to point B. For us, that has been the highlight of the season!

Our cozy living room on a rare moment when it is not cluttered with toys
Our new kitchen...just waiting to host some parties

The Cat

Pepper is back living with us after a brief hiatus. Our landlord has a strong dislike for cats, so Pepper has been living with her aunt Jenny in Illinois. It's nice to have a pet in the house again, but conversations are quickly turning to getting another. She had two kitty friends on her floor with Jenny and is starving for attention. We're starting to talk about getting another little feline friend. She has spent hours sitting by windows the past week watching all of the snow. I haven't heard a count yet, but we have to be breaking records. It just keeps coming!
Pepper is very tolerant of Eva, who loves to chase her and "pet" her. We caught a rare moment of the two of them cuddling in the rocker.

Snowed In!

December has brought snowfall after snowfall to our home. We've managed to go sledding a couple of times, but most time is spent indoors. Here are some ways Eva has been entertaining herself: No Christmas tree yet...but she sure likes "Santa"
Wearing her new boots around is lots of fun.
Candy Land!
Eating Dad's french toast
Modeling Mom's clothes...almost a perfect fit

Eva Anecdotes

Here are some fun glimpses into Eva's development as a 16-month-old!

-Her PT is going great. She is making so much progress! She enjoys cruising around the furniture and we are working on strengthening abdominal muscles and reaching for things. This past Tuesday, she took four steps by herself! Dad got to witness this first milestone. She showed Grandpa this new trick today at church too.

-Eva loves animals...petting them, looking at pictures of them, and playing with them. She can sign the names of several and mimics the sounds of cows, horses, and chickens. Our cat Pepper is back living with us and Eva LOVES to chase her around the house.

-Her shoe fetish is starting young...she wears shoes at all times to support her ankles and thinks Mom should do the same. She will often come crawling across the house with my shoes in tow and insist that I put them on. She also likes to change her shoes often. I keep her extra pairs of shoes hidden...out of sight, out of mind. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

First Thanksgiving at Grandma and Grandpa's New House

Wow! It's been nearly a month since my last entry. This could be due to the fact that our camera was smashed in the car trunk... We just got a new one for Christmas and are dueling over when we can start using it...

We had a nice, relaxing Thanksgiving vacation. We spent some great times with extended family and did some fun things of our own. Les enjoyed time tromping through the woods in search of deer. I did some hunting of my own for Christmas presents with my mom and Jenny.

We also got our first taste of winter and snow. We had fun pulling Eva through the snow and stealing up to Dubuque to see Santa and Christmas lights in Murphy Park. December is looking to be a busy month with Christmas parties and our upcoming move. We're hoping to be in our new house by mid-December. Then, things should finally calm down a bit, right?

Fall Fun!

October has brought a lot of excitement to our lives. Here are some highlights of the fall season: A visit to Vesperman Farms with Grandma and Grandpa H. Riding a hay wagon and picking out our pumpkins made this trip worth it.

We've spent lots of time with Uncle Ryan. He and Eva enjoy some time together in the masses of leaves in our front yard.

Tonight we hosted a "Pumpkin Carving Party" at our house. Grandpa Ron works carefully on his masterpiece of the year. Eva has her own fun with the seeds and gushy parts.
A sneak peek: here is our little chick!
The Hollingsworth pumpkins of 2007...a spider, a pirate, a happy baby, and Scooby-Doo.

Beth's Wedding!

Time for some back-blogging. We spent the weekend of October 19-21 in the Quad Cities for Beth's wedding. Everything was beautiful...the bride, the ceremony, the reception, the weather. It was a perfect weekend. Mr. and Mrs. Tony Runkle!!
Dad, Mom and Eva pose for a shot.

"Where's your belly button?"

Eva is learning so many new words in the past few weeks. Talking to her has taken on a whole new excitement. We're still waiting on her to talk, but she understands so much.

A few of her new words are belly button, hair, hand, shoe, shirt, duck, dog, cat. She can also sign dog, hot, more, and food. We are eating this up! Responding to "where's your bellybutton?"

All smiles in her tunnel...many thanks to Randy, Sue, and Steve.

The refrigerator is an exciting place for Eva. Here she is, biting into Dad's pepper from the Farmer's Market.

Transformation

Okay, I'll admit it. I have way too much fun with Eva's hairstyles.

Here is Eva, squeaky clean from her bath, getting ready for bed. (And, playing with yet another household item that she has decided is way more fun than any of her many toys...the laundry basket.)
And here she is the next morning upon waking up-

Mom says, "Eva, I love the toupee!"

Dad says, "It's a Donald Trump look-alike!"

Just Like Dad...

In case you can't tell...Eva is a major source of entertainment at our house. It seems she is always coming up with something new and goofy to do. She has discovered a new toy...Dad's neckties. He loaned her an older model. She enjoys wearing it around the house - "just like Dad." "I'm ready for the meeting."

Up close and personal.

Look Who's Standing!!

Mom's cousin Karen got married on Saturday. The wedding took place at the groom's farm. It was a beautiful setting and an equally beautiful day. I forgot to bring my camera, but I pilfered this shot from Sue. Here is Eva, standing and looking at some kittens. Her cousin Steve was giving us the tour. He named the three kitties after us: Steve, Eva, and Lindsay. Eva has discovered that she enjoys standing and "walking." We did lots of walking this weekend. Mom's back is a little sore today from being bent over, helping Eva. Eva has been a little tired from all this new muscle work.

For the love of Honeycrisps!

Grandpa Ron LOVES Honeycrisp apples. He recently bought a half bushel of them while he was up in Gays Mills...true apple country. Eva was very curious when she saw me eating one. She age it a try and found she likes to bite into it just like corn on the cob. In fact, when I later offered her apple slices, she refused them, wanting the whole thing instead.

On a side note, I try to keep this blog full of fun things going on in our life. But, life has its challenges too. We have noticed slight delays in Eva's large muscle development for some time. This morning we had her formal evaluation. As a 14 month old (today!) she has the balance and muscle control of a 10-month-old. This means that she has a 28% delay, qualifying her for physical therapy. Already today, the PT gave us lots of great suggestions. We're looking forward to working with her to help Eva continue to progress in her development.

Shenanigans!

We have a little jokester in our house. Eva loves to do "silly" things and laugh and laugh at herself. She has quite a sense of humor. She loves to play "mother cat," transporting her toys around the house by carrying them in her mouth.

And now, peek-a-boo with a twist...she likes to crawl around with the dish towel over her head. It took a couple of head firsts into the walls or cabinets before she realized she needs to pay some attention to where she is going.

Lovely

Eva poses in front of some beautiful flowers at Park Farms Winery.

Platteville Dairy Days

Our old town of Platteville is swinging in full force this weekend for Dairy Days! We took in the morning parade and spent the afternoon at the fairgrounds. Our fun included seeing livestock and new puppies, eating fried cheesecurds, playing at the park, and going on 2 rides! Eva could've swang for hours...

Dad and Eva brave the slide

A baby puppy!

Hey guys, check out our hot car

And last, but not least, a spin on the carousel

Good Morning!

Eva...fresh out of bed on a sticky summer morning.

Another Adventure of Eva and Mom

Les and I have recently been pretty preoccupied with moving, building a house, and work commitments. So yesterday, I planned a day all about Eva. We played all morning and went for a long walk. Then, in the afternoon, we planned to load up and head to Verona to visit Liz and all of her "friends" from daycare.

Things didn't go as expected. We had just gotten on the highway when the car failed. It was pretty scary...at 65 mph I suddenly had limited steering ability and brakes. Thankfully, we were on an uphill incline so I coasted up the hill and pulled onto the shoulder before throwing the car into park to come to a full stop.

Luckily Dad came to the rescue about 10 minutes later and we had the car towed. No word yet on the fate of our little Daewoo... While it was definately an "adventure" we really had the best case scenario: close to home, in the middle of the day, and help was easily available.

Labor Day at the Park

We met Grandma and Grandpa at the park for a Labor Day picnic today. The bees were terrible! They kepts swarming our table. Eva enjoyed playing at the park. Afterwards, we stopped out to see our new house. It's coming along...the shingles and electricity are going in right now.