Éva

Like keeps happening around here.

It happens quickly.

So quickly sometimes that I'm not able to catch it and that kind of breaks my heart a little.

I heard somewhere this week that life with children under 5 means "very long days and very short years."

So true.

Éva and Izzy continue to grow and learn at an alarming pace and I find it hard to keep up.

There are moments that I wish I could freeze in time.

I want to be able to remember this time with my girls. All of it.

This time when I was still the epitome of beauty in their eyes,

when their Daddy can do no wrong,

when an exertion of their will (very strong will) over ours will merely land them a time out instead of a heavier consequence that they might carry with them forever.

It's a time of innocence and humor and I fail sometimes to see it in the shadows of the daily grind.

So here today, I want to document them. Today,

Éva:

Éva is in preschool this year at a local church. She comes home every Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoon with something new. A new letter, number, idea, friend or attitude. I've loved watching her interact with the other children and her amazing teachers! She graduates next week. I'm making cupcakes (shocker!).

Éva by nature is an encourager. She's always ready with a kind word or a helpful tidbit. She tells me daily that she loves me and that I'm beautiful. She's good for the self-esteem :) She also loves rules. In fact, I find her creating new ones all the time.

For example: The other day, as she delicately ate each fruit snack in her daily, highly anticipated package of fruit snacks, I found her holding the last one tightly in her hand and it seemed she had no intention of eating it. "Aren't you going to eat your last fruit snack?" I asked. She looked at me with all kinds of seriousness in her eyes and said, "Of course Mom. But I have to wait until after Veggie Tales is over."

Éva saves things for God. Whether it's her last bite of ice cream or the toy she got out of her Chick-fil-A kids meal, she'll set it aside and tell me that she's saving it for God. I love this quality in her. I hope that she'll always save things for God. Most of all, I hope she saves her heart for Him and all the wonderful things I'm sure He has planned for her.

Éva is an emotional child. She's very in tune with how she's feeling and very willing to express it. While this quality can bring about a bit of unpredictability, I love it about her! Being so in tune with her own emotions means she's also able to recognize quickly emotional shifts in others and she responds with such compassion. She'll be a wonderful friend. While Paul was gone, I had a few "sit-on-the-stairs-and-cry "moments. Éva never hesitated to sit beside me, rub my back gently and ask, "Mommy, do you miss Daddy?" When I would tell her yes she'dlook at me and say, "Me too. But he'll come home soon. It's going to be all right," which are the exact words I'd say to her when she was having "I miss Daddy" moments.

This little girl teaches me lessons on a daily basis. She's actually a lot like me (stubborn as all get out!) and that means that we often butt heads. But behind that strong willed demeanor is a heart that is being shaped and molded by her Creator and I'm blessed with the privilege of being an active participant.

Fashion is in the Eye of the Beholder

I have girls.

Two very girly girls. Izzy hates to have dirty hands and she loves baby dolls. When she's wearing a pretty dress, she twirls. It's instinctive. I didn't teach her to twirl, she just does. She knows how to handle a pretty dress. She's a girl. She gives kisses on command and bats her big brown eyes at her daddy when she wants something. She's a natural at being all girl.

And so is Eva. Eva doesn't so much enjoy her baby dolls as much as her TAG books, but boy does she love dress up. She loves dress up and nail polish and make up, much to my great concern. She pretends to be a beautiful princess under a deep sleep and she'll ask me frequently to kiss her so she can wake up. And I don't mind being the handsome prince...it's better than being the evil villain, I suppose.

And she has her own style when it comes to dress-up. Although, if it's not a Princess Dress-up dress I'm not real sure I can call it dress-up as much as fashion.

Eva is a true Carrie Bradshaw when it comes to her clothing. She is daring, bold and cares not what is considered "conventional." A true fashionista!

She'll humor me in the mornings by allowing me to pick her out a boring (cute) top and some shorts but when she has a few minutes to herself in her room, she immediately strips down and changes into something a little more...exciting.

And she's definitely not matchy-matchy. Oh no. Socks don't need to match one another, shoes don't have to be on the right feet, and the outfit need not match the shoes. It's all about what makes you feel good and Eva gets that.

She stares Old Navy in the face and scoffs at it's "safeness." Eva knows that if you can't express yourself through your clothing, then why the heck wear any?!?

She's a true revolutionary in the fashion world.

Izzy and I? Well, we're fine with our Old Navy clearance rack finds. We don't mind matchy-matchy.

But we sure do love the anticipation of seeing what Eva will wear next!

Emerald City Dreaming

Last week was my friend's daughter's 3rd birthday. Did I say that right? Sounded weird? Whatever...

Anyway, Becca (my friend) asked me to help her make a Wizard of Oz birthday cake as Eden (the birthday girl) is obsessed with all things Wizard of Oz. She's 3 and she'd take Dorothy over a Disney princess any day! It's refreshing actually. I really love that about little Eden.

Anyway, having never decorated an actual CAKE before (I tend to stick to smaller confections) I did my best to re-channel all of those Food Network challenges I've seen time and time again and Becca did some research online to find the perfect cake to replicate.

After about a week of research and pre-making about a million fondant poppy flowers, this was our end result...

Not bad, huh?

And I have to admit, I had some help. Becca did the baking, my friend Michelle has an eye for placement so she came over to help us figure out where everything should go on the cake and well, I had the cutest little assistant when it came to making the fondant decorations...

Ain't she cute? Poor thing. Worked to exhaustion. We don't play around at the Cortez house when it comes to fondant. We just don't.

Elliana = Eva and Isabela

Baby woman, tiny in stature now

But your heart is a treasure

Little princess come follow behind me now

I am reaching for you

Elliana, God has answered my prayers

Elliana, God will conquer my fears

To mother a daughter, to look you in the eye

To know that I had everything, to walk with you in life

To give you to Jesus that He would impart

The wisdom that I'm longing for to mother your heart

Elliana, God has answered my prayers

There will be others to lead and to guide you girl

But only one you'll call Mother, the honor is all mine

To show you what a woman's like

I'm so glad you're mine

Elliana, God has answered my prayers

Elliana, God will conquer my fears

To mother a daughter, to look you in the eye

To know that I had everything, to walk with you in life

To give you to Jesus that He would impart

The wisdom that I'm longing for to mother your heart

Elliana, God has answered my prayers

Tenderness of God is twirling around

In our living room tonight

Lighten up your daddy's eyes

And know that he just wants to freeze you in time

Elliana, God has answered my prayers

Elliana, God will conquer my fears

To mother a daughter, to look you in the eye

To know that I had everything, to walk with you in life

To give you to Jesus that He would impart

The wisdom that I'm longing for to mother your heart

Elliana, God has answered my prayers

Elliana's Song by Watermark

Play song from iLike.com A Grateful People - 2006 - 5:23

A Lesson in Coloring

The other day, I walked into the kitchen to find Eva and Izzy giggling infectiously at the breakfast table. Eva had taken it upon herself to teach Izzy all about colors and coloring and she was going through a handful of crayons waiting for Izzy to decide which color she wanted.

I decided to stand in doorway and just observe for a minute. This is what I heard :

Eva: This one?

Izzy: Uh-uh

Eva: This one?

Izzy: Uh-uh

Eva: This one, Iz?

Izzy: Uh-uh *shaking her head*

Eva: How bout this one?

Izzy: Hmph *nodding her head up and down*

Izzy reached out to take the crayon and Eva gently corrected her. "No, no Izzy. First let me show you how. Okay?"

Izzy agreed and watched intently as her big sister delicately pressed her crayon to the paper and made small red strokes back and forth across a small section of the coloring paper.

Eva then passed the crayon to her baby sister and said, "Here Izzy, you try."

Izzy readily took the crayon from Eva's hand and excitedly scribbled across the paper while Eva monitored, every few seconds encouraging her little sister with a "Good job, Iz."

I watched with pride as my girls played and bonded. I was proud of Eva's willingness to be patient and gentle with her younger sibling and it made me beam from the inside out.

And just as quickly as I had stumbled upon this sweet moment of affection and patience and learning...

it was gone!

And there was lunch to be made.

Importance

I am a type A personality. I love routine. I thrive on rules. I don't like to be late, and I need always to have a plan.

I am also a mom of a 3 year old and a 17 month old.

These things do not always mesh well.

I have come to find in recent months that it is more important to spend time with my kids than it is to stick to a schedule or a routine. The routine is useful and helpful and even necessary for the sanity of the home, but sometimes it needs to be strayed from. Sometimes it's better to take things one day at a time...one hour at a time. Sometimes, a mom just needs to sit in the floor and play "dollhouse" instead of making sure that their children learn to entertain themselves so that she can sweep the kitchen or start another load of laundry.

I have also come to discover that there is such thing as too many rules. Rules are good, safe and again, necessary. But sometimes, rules are stifling and can smother the spirit of our children. There doesn't have to be a rule for everything.

Sometimes, a mom will walk into the room of her should-be-napping toddler and find her 3 year old in the crib and both wide awake.

And that mom will have two choices:

1) Scold the 3 year old for waking the youngest and for climbing on the furniture

Or

2) Grab the camera and snap some pics, treasuring the sweet moment of sisterly affection and fun and mischief.

Today, I chose the latter.

Tomorrow...

...well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Eva-isms

Eva talks incessantly. Like, all the time. Like, sometimes Paul and I actually have to ask her to stop talking for a second so we can talk. And I love it. I love that she wants to talk to us and that her mind is constantly going. But sometimes, I just need her to stop. SO I can think...hear other things...function.

In all of this constant jabber, Paul and I sometimes notice a word escape her sweet mouth that we don't quite see fit for that particular sentence. For example...

Eva wears a pull-up to bed. She is potty trained, but still has night time accidents more often than not and so she wears a pull-up. In the mornings after an accident-free night, she'll wake up and exclaim loudly, "Look Mom, I drive!" Which, in Eva land means "Look Mom, I'm DRY."

Or, if we're in a store and Eva suddenly feels the need to use the ladies room, she'll tug on my shirt and say, "Mom, I need to go peep."

Or, say you ask Eva if she would like some yogurt for a snack. If she wouldn't, than instead of giving you a simple "no", Eva would say "no, I didn't," as she shakes her head, giggling.

Or, if you tell Eva that there is something that she needs to do, and hasn't done like clean her room, her response would be a frustrated, "Yes, I am." Which, in Eva land means, "yes, I did."

All of these little Eva-isms make for many laughter filled conversations and in their own little way, keep me grounded and calm when I might otherwise be inclined to fly off the handle for no good reason.

I mean who could be upset at someone who desperately needs to go "peep" in the middle of a commissary excursion?

Shy...But Not Really

I used to think Eva was an introvert. She's not. She's smart is what she is. She knows that if she can put on her sweet, innocent "shy face" that people will try even harder to win her over. I mean let's face it, no one can stand the thought of a child not warming up to them.

Eva knows this. She's smells it from a mile off. She works it to her advantage.

She doesn't do this to everyone. Ironically, the people who show no initial interest in Eva are the people that Eva immediately warms up to. Why? Because she knows they won't try for her attention. She knows that all of her 3 year old wiles would be lost on them. She gives up before trying and immediately invites them to her tea party.

Now if someone comes on strong, she milks it. She hides her face, pretends to be afraid, stands behind her father. They try harder not wanting this innocent, shy child to think badly of them. She gives them a little hope by flashing a forced smile. They beam and continue to coax and prod and at the point when they are about to completely give up, she grants them what they've been working so hard for...her friendship...

and an invite to her tea party.