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st. louis

Four is Fantastic

I’m afraid to even put it in writing but I think we have finally exited the season of sickness in our family! The past few months were rough but I am grateful that all the sicknesses were just minor and that we are all finally back to our “normal” selves.

I’m behind on my blogging but I have multiple posts lined up if I can ever find the time to sit, edit pictures, and write. But of course I had to start with Evangeline’s birthday. On May 5th, our little Cinco de Mayo baby turned 4 years old. Our baby girl, my best friend, our firstborn daughter. The girl I had been dreaming of for so many years. There were many days when I thought I would forever be a boy mom (and that would have been perfectly okay.) But I am so thankful that I have been blessed with, not one, but TWO precious girls.

At 4 years old, Evangeline loves all things pink and purple. She loves changing her outfits approximately 357 times a day. She loves princesses, fingernail polish, lipstick, and braids. She loves My Little Pony and all things girly.

But at age 4, she also loves playing with Legos with her brothers (what she is currently doing.) She loves playing in the dirt and racing with the boys until she eventually falls over and scrapes her knees–which then leads to the next 5 hours babying those scrapes. She loves Star Wars and Transformers and doing everything her brothers do.

If you ask her her name, she will give you one of a few different answers: Miss, Missy, Miss Evangeline, and rarely, she will let you know her name is Evangeline.

She spends most of her days sitting at the table, drawing and coloring pictures. And writing “miss” in her sweet handwriting.

She is the sweetest, outgoing child with a hidden switch somewhere that turns her into a shy, stubborn, sassy little girl (I’m still working to find that switch to make sure it gets permanently set to “sweet” haha) She loves all of her siblings so much and has such a special unique relationship with each of them.

We are so blessed to have this sweet girl in our house!

On her actual birthday, we went to the usual Mcdonald’s and came home for her choice of dessert, “a heart cake.” I know you all are currently in awe and praising my decorating skills on that cake but I have to just let you know, I charge a high price for cakes like that. (Can you read the sarcasm there?)

A few days before her birthday, we headed out to the zoo for the morning. Of course it was the first nice day we had had in quite a while. We had so much raining and flooding leading up to that day so I’m pretty sure everyone flocked to the zoo all at the same time.

We ended up at the park that evening, trying to find some photo locations for a project. We ended up not caring for any backgrounds but took a few shots of the kids while we were there.

Clem’s face makes me wish for the heart eyed emoji on here.

Actually, so does Desmond. Most pictures of him involve him pointing at the sky and saying “bird” so I’m glad Don caught a candid smile as Des was running towards him.

Okay, and one more time…this picture of both of them together. Des loves his baby sister with all of his heart–he even shares big bites of his food with her. Food that she doesn’t even know how to chew. That is love.

The past 4 years have zipped by so quickly. I can barely remember Evangeline as a baby..which is so sad. But I absolutely love having this sweet 4 year old.

also–a little throwback

Evangeline’s first birthday pictures and her first birthday party

Evangeline’s second birthday

Evangeline’s third birthday

I hope you all are having a great week! I (along with Don and 6 of our closest friends) are on day 7 of Whole 30. I was actually considering writing up a few posts about it. Not as an expert, but as an honest perspective from the pickiest eater in the world. So I’m hoping to recap the first week pretty soon! In the meantime, I hope you all are thoroughly enjoying cheese right now. Because I am not 😉 Have a great day!

May 18, 2017

apricot studio, spring, st. louis

City in Bloom

Happy Wednesday! We’re having a super gloomy day today, with severe storms heading our way shortly. So instead of getting out and playing outside, we are hanging out at home. I’ve just been scrolling through these pictures from a couple of weeks back and missing the gorgeous weather we had.

On Don’s weekends, we love to get out and do fun things in the city on at least one of the two days. We really enjoy Forest Park because it’s beautiful, free, and there are tons of places for the kids to run around and explore. I was so blessed to have been given the opportunity to take some photos for Lily Jade recently so we took advantage of the all the pretty blooms and I snuck in some photos of the kids as well.

The building in the background of these photos is called The Jewel Box. And nearly 10 years ago, on a day that was equally as rainy as today, Don and I got married in that building while it rained on our guests. Even though we haven’t actually taken the kids inside the building, it’s so special to revisit now with our children.

When the big kids saw this bench, they ran over to sit down on it. Desmond looked so cute walking over to them to join in. Seeing them all lined up like this was the sweetest sight so of course I immediately grabbed my phone and camera and snapped and snapped as fast as I could.

I was so excited when we found these pink trees. I cannot get over how gorgeous they are! And this is why spring is my favorite (along with the beginning of fall!)

Group shots are my favorite but definitely not the easiest. Desmond’s cooperation is hit or miss, even with a sucker in hand. So sometimes I have to resort to handing off Clementine to one of the two big boys and holding him myself. I’m telling you, when he’s in a good mood, I absolutely do not want him to get any older because he is so hilarious and fun. But when he’s in a bad mood, that’s another story. I’m working on not wishing the time away, in the good times and bad.

Clementine’s face in the picture below–I just can’t get over her cuteness. And of course Kai in my giant pink Willy Wonka sunglasses haha.

The boy needs to work on his posture (much like his parents) but I love that I finally captured a genuine smile. A fun fact for those of you who don’t know, sometimes 5-8 year old boys don’t really have the best “camera smiles” so we usually have to resort to telling jokes for the real ones.

We get a lot of stares when we’re out with all the kids, along with many comments about having our hands full or “are they all yours?” (No, we just found them wandering at the zoo and figured they would want to join us.) But each adventure out is becoming more fun as a big family and it makes me really look forward to the years to come.