Evangeline Turns 3 (part 1): St. Louis, the Zoo and Mizzou Homecoming

Last week we celebrated our first little girl's third birthday. Evangeline is growing so tall she is 31.5 lbs and 36 inches tall. She wears size 8 shoes and 3T clothes. She doesn't eat a lot of diverse foods but she gradually is adding food. She can write her own name and knows all her colors. She also knows about 30 words in French. She loves people, and is very helpful. She loves dinosaurs, princesses and super heroes. But most of all she loves her little sister.

At Chesterfield Central Park with James.

Roger and Margery.

Hide and seek in the sculptures.

Her birthday began with a celebration with our friends the McCommis Family who live in St. Louis. We miss them here in Columbia, but try to see them every other month when we head to St. Louis. First we went to a park in Chesterfield, MO for a play date, and then headed back to the McCommis' house. Evangeline and James blew out candles together.

Brenda and I met in our birth class and James and Evangeline are three days apart in age. We also introduced Margery to James's little brother Roger. Roger was born in February he's 8 months old but was early so he am Margery are pretty close in size. Roger loved this. We had a delicious dinner and cupcakes that Kyle, James's daddy made.

All the kiddos rolling on the ground.

The 3-year-olds and their cupcakes.

Playing with James.

Instant Friends.

The Perreault girls and the McCommis boys.

We picked my parents up at the St. Louis Airport and headed to a Starbucks for a little snack before heading to the St. Louis Zoo. Brenda, James and Roger met us for part of our time there. It was Margery's first zoo trip.

St. Louis Zoo with Grandma and Grandpa Wiggins.

Over the bridge, walking to the zoo.

Trying to look for ducks.

Margery and Grandpa.

Margery and Mama.                                                    Our little River Otter.

 Friday Evangeline had cupcakes at school for her birthday. She insisted on wearing her cupcake dress. Grandma and Grandpa took her to ride the carousel at the mall.

Saturday we got up early and all went the University of Missouri Homecoming Parade. Evangeline hung out with her friends Siri and Eliot. We were also joined by some of her friends from La Petite Ecole. The kids loved the parade, as well as the candy, beads and footballs they collected from the people in the parade.

Waiting for the parade.

Margery's first Parade with her daddy. She thought the drums were a little too loud.

Collecting candy in Elsa bags.

Catch Up Time

I feel like I am always playing catch up.  The month of June was a whirlwind with Greg teaching a Summer Class and me taking my last (required) class ever. We also took a few trips to St. Louis and my sister Sarah came to visit for a week. Our first trip was for a Cardinals/Nationals Game and to visit our friends the McCommis Family. Our second was to go to the St. Louis Science Museum with Aunt Sarah.

Sarah was so helpful helping us to organize and eliminate things from the downstairs area. We also had a lot of fun doing things together. So grateful she came to visit. 

There are a lot of exciting things going on at the Perreault home as we prepare for our little P-Nut to arrive. We also will be welcoming Greg's sister Edgerly to Columbia in July as she took a job here with a local bank branch.

Here's a few photos of our June adventures.

Dinner out with PhD friends at Las Margaritas. E dressed accordingly.

Father's Day weekend at the Cardinals/Nationals Game.

We had a great time, and the Cardinals won. E loves baseball.

Spending time with our friend James after an overnight in St. Louis.

We love our friends James and Brenda. It was great to spend some quality time with them.

Family time at VBS "Wilderness Escape"

Aunt Sarah and E at Little Mate's Cove in Como.

E dancing with a rainstick at VBS.

At the Science Museum in St. Louis with Aunt Sarah.

Learning about how fish turned into Lizards in the Mississippi River.

Saying goodbye after a great week!

Horray its Halloween!

So my Halloween post is also a little late, but I thought I would share what we did for the week after Evangeline's birthday (which included Halloween).

The Tuesday before Halloween we went to trick-or-treat with James and Brenda around Mizzou's Greek Town. Evangeline and James got their first taste of candy. Evangeline wore an Elmo headband and carried her Elmo goody basket Grandma Carri bought her.

Evangeline and James prepare for their trick or treat trip

Getting Candy from one of the Zeta Girls

Evangeline at the ZTA house

On Wednesday, we we hung out with our neighbors Chesney and Arlen. Arlen also brough Evangeline a new cellphone toy for her birthday. They were so cute playing in Evangeline's Cozy Coupe and in the Castle (which we left up from her birthday party).

Evangeline trying to keep Arlen out of the castle.

Squeezing into the Cozy Coupe together. It's too early for my girl to get in a car with a boy.

Opening her birtday gift from Arlen.

Wednesday night Greg pulled her around in the wagon to a few neighbor's houses, we handed out candy to three dozen trick-or-treaters and watched "Its the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" before Evangeline headed to bed. We let her try a Crunch bar while she watched the movie, but only after she ate through the candy bar's wrapper while we were not watching.

Happy Birthday Week Baby! Part 1

Happy Birthday Princess Evangeline!

Although it was a few weeks ago, I wanted to share some photos from Evangeline's birthday week. On the Sunday before her birthday she celebrated with her Best Friend James. James is three days older than Evangeline and she was jealous of his cake...

Evangeline camping out in the Kitchen on her birthday morning.

We shared breakfast of biscuits (Evangeline's favorite) and played in the kitchen for a while. She is really into the refrigerator right now--she loves the magnets and photos on it and loves standing in the door when it is open. She loves the game of taking things out of the fridge while mommy and daddy are busy trying to close the door.

Later that day, Evangeline hung out with her girl friend Claire at a picnic at a park near our house. Claire shared her baby doll, water cup, toys and snacks. Claire has recently become more sure-footed and so she and Evangeline are running around the park like I had never seen before. Evangeline has been walking for more than four months, so it is nice her friends are now able to play with her on that level too.

I love how these girls are running now.

That evening, after several delays, her Aunt Sarah and Grandma Carri were in town. We all went out to Sophia's to celebrate.

Thursday her Aunt Catelyn and Uncle Daniel arrived after flying all over the eastern part of the country to get there. On Thursday, Aunt Sarah also came to Evangeline and my Mommy and Me Yoga class. Sarah also snapped a few photos for the instructor.

Evangeline and I at our Mommy and Me Yoga class.

Nine and all mine

Evangeline is nine months old! We can't believe all she is doing. She's walking, talking and eating finger foods.

We are so blessed.

Her favorites include bath toys, baby dolls and stuffed animals.

She's extremely social, waving hi and bye to everyone. She is singing along with musical toys, dancing to music and laughing at dogs.

She loves food pouches--specifically banana. She's a growing girl. Below are some photos from our adventures this month

James and Evan playing

Our little Laura Ingalls- We have been reading
The Little House on the Prairie

Standing by the St. Louis Arch,
Great way to celebrating being able to walk.

Hanging out with my stuffed animals,
and talking to them

Making Mommy Smile

Give me MO...

This weekend Greg and I went through what I want to call "New Parent Boot Camp." This consisted of Greg's first visit to meet our new doctor at the Women and Children's Hospital, our all day birth class and hospital tour and putting together Miss P's room and crib. Tonight we round it off with our Infant CPR and healthcare class.

After three weeks of organizing, unpacking and painting Greg and I are finally starting to see the end in sight for our house projects. It has been exhausting, but we have loved it. The only room left to paint is our bedroom which Greg will be working on when I head to Texas later this week. This will also be after his presentation at the Journalism Educator's conference (again so proud of him for getting the student paper award). Below are some photos of our living room, two of our bathrooms, and Miss P's room (where I've started on a mural). Three rooms what we worked on during the past two weeks. Greg has done such a great job painting all these rooms and cleaning up after the painting. I am so grateful to have him to share in this journey with.

Living room photo progression...



Bathrooms...



Miss P's Room...

Also for those who remember my sorority sister Kara and her baby James Sikes, this week a baby giraffe was born at the Dallas Zoo and they are petitioning to have her named Jamie after James. The form is available on the Dallas Zoo website or click here.