Back to the Zoo

Just a week after our first visit, we went back to the Zoo, this time, to check out some flamingos, reptiles, and kangaroos.

Flamingos are very verbal and communicate a lot with each other. They were very noisy and Eva loved every second of it! After the flamingos, we went to see the reptiles..snakes, frogs, lizards, iguanas, turtles galore. Eva and I actually petted a VERY SMALL snake. It was surprisingly soft. I wish we had a picture of it! Next time.

After looking at the reptiles, we made our way over to see the kangaroos. Along the way though we decided to take a little ride.

At first I was more excited than Eva. A part of me thought that even though she LOVES movement, that she might be freaked out a little on the carousel or that she might not want to sit on the horse and have a fit because I couldn't hold her in my arms. But she did her I-see-an-animal-happy-excited-squeal as soon as we made our way onto the ride. As soon as the carousel started moving, Eva starting smiling and laughing and jumping up and down. John took tons of pictures but these were the only ones that came out....of course 'cause our camera sucks at taking pics of movement shots!

After the carousel ride, we made our way to our final stop...Australia, to check out the kangaroos.

After the zoo, we went and had an early dinner. What a great day. It is so awesome to see Eva excited and learning and happy. To hear her laugh and squeal at seeing all the animals just melts my heart!

Going to the Zoo!

We recently purchased a family membership to our zoo - The Columbus Zoo. It was one of the things that John said he wanted for Father's Day. I decided to surprise him by getting it WAY before Father's Day (the week before Memorial Day). Since we've gotten it, we've been able to visit the zoo every week since then.


This week we decided to visit North America - we saw alligators, crocodiles, black bears, brown bears. We saw animals that I've only seen on TV before. Some of those animals were truly awesome to see up close...so much so that I forgot to take pictures! I think I enjoyed it more than Eva.

It wasn't until we got to the aviary section that I remembered to take some snaps. We were supposed to be quiet so as not to frazzle the birds. Eva had a different agenda.


Eva loves touching plants and greenery:

And then just outside the aviary on the opposite end we saw these incredible creatures:

I don't know how many of you have actually seen a bald eagle this close up before. There were 2 of them and they were only about 50 feet away. Their nest was massive. I found myself holding my breath as I was looking at them, watching them. I tried studying every part of them that I could while they allowed us to see them. All I kept thinking of was "This is the bird that God talks about in the Bible. We are to soar like eagles." What a majestic bird!!

Shortly after, we headed for the exit. There is music piped all throughout the zoo on speakers. Eva decided she wanted to dance her way to the parking lot. Great 1st trip to the zoo!

Afternoon at the Park

Our weather here in Ohio just broke for the better a couple of weeks ago. I have been so excited to see the sun out, hear the birds singing and the breeze whistling through the trees. We have a park that is just a hop, skip, and a jump from our front door and I mean to take advantage of it!! Here are some pics of Eva, finally able to wear her summer clothes, at the park.

16 months old & 3 months home!!

Today our little girl turned 16 months old.
And she has officially been home with us now for 3 months.

The time has gone by so quickly and yet I can remember when we first came home with our little Eva. She was sleeping in our room in her crib, waking up every 3-4 hours wanting a bottle. She wasn't even tall enough to see what was on our night stands or end tables. She walked gingerly and could only take a few steps before she fell on her bottom. And she only had 4 teeth, 2 on the top and 2 on the bottom. There was also lots and lots of babbling going on.

Fast forward 3 months: Eva is now in her own room, sleeping wonderfully through the night and has been doing so for 11 weeks. She now sleeps 10-12 hours a night. She's tall enough now to just be able to reach whatever is on our night stand or end tables so we are having to move some things to higher ground! Eva now motors around the house at a fast pace, but is not quite running yet. I know that day is coming soon though. We have added 2 more teeth (on the top) and I think she's cutting 2 more teeth but I can't be for sure. And while there is still a lot of babbling, she is definitely throwing some real words into the mix.

Of course, everything for the most part is still "da-da" but here's her vocabulary so far:
"bubba" = bubbles
"dawh" = dog
"ba-ba" = bottle
"hey-yo" = hello
"tee" = teeth
"noo" = nose"
"beh" = belly
"bay-bay" = baby

She waves hello and goodbye, blows kisses, gives kisses and squeezes (hugs), complete with a little grunt as she's hugging. There are so many words and phrases that she understands and responds to, it's so amazing! I feel so blessed to be able to witness all of this!

We've also had a sort of graduation of our own. Eva's has graduated from this:

to this:

She loves her big girl car seat and even more she loves the fact that she can actually see where Mama and Daddy are driving.

It's so awesome to see and experience how much she's grown and progressed since she's been home with us. The eating experience is still wonderful. We feel so blessed that she's not a picky eater because, as most of you know, we love to eat and love to try new food. Every day with Eva is such a blessing. Of course there are those days, moments when I want to have a meltdown or get tired of saying the same thing for the 50th time, but those times are by far outweighed by the joy I have when I see Eva smile and hear her laugh, that deep belly laugh. All I can do is thank and praise God for all that He's done.

Just Photos!

This was the first time since we’ve had Eva home that we’ve been able to be in our (back)yard enjoying the weather.  It’s all about the pictures....Enjoy!! 

Franklin Park Conservatory

Last Friday I went out with a new friend, Amy, to the Franklin Park Conservatory. She adopted a little boy from Ethiopia. In fact, Eva and her son are just 2 months apart. Both Eva and I really needed to get out of the house. The cold mixed with all the rain made for quick cabin fever. We met up around 11 in the morning. And just had a great time. For all the years I have lived in Columbus, I had never been to this place. Just beautiful. We strolled around for a little bit and then went to the butterfly exhibit. Eva had so much fun watching the butterflies and checking out all of the plants and flowers.

Then we went to the Palm House and let the kids out at the fountain. It was a great place for them to splash in the water and stretch their legs a bit.

After being there for quite a while, we went back through the butterfly exhibit and stopped and watched the fish for a while before looking at more butterflies.

Eva and her friend Tesfa - My friend Amy jokes that Eva & Tesfa will get married one day 

Afterwards we went out to lunch and then called it a day. It was a great day at that!

Easter Egg Hunt

Although I wanted this Easter to be really special for obvious reasons, the truth was that the day of Easter was a regular day in our household. John works a particularly long day on Sundays and Easter was no exception. At first I thought about taking Eva to church but after talking with my Dad about it, it seemed that that might be just a bit overwhelming for her since it would be her first time in our church (our church has about 5000 members). So we stayed home and it was business as usual.

Later that week though we did an Easter egg hunt for Eva at home. After dinner, while John was giving her a bath and getting her ready for bed, I got all the little plastic eggs together and put them around our dining and family rooms. I also put together her Easter basket.

Once John brought her  downstairs, we showed her where the first egg was and she was off to the races after that. She heard those jellybeans in those eggs and she didn’t need any more instruction!

Eva decided to sit down for a spell and enjoy some of her jellybeans. I don’t know if you can see it, but my girl is drooling BIG TIME!!

She found the last couple of eggs and then we gave her her Easter basket and a couple of new toys.

Afterwards Eva & I shared a bowl of ice cream and then it was off to bed. It was so great to see her enjoy herself. That was all I wanted.