Merry Christmas!!!!!

So, apparently Evelyn, with her 7 short (but sweet) months on earth has proven to be the best little baby EVER because between Santa and her Grandparents -- my little girl was spoiled to the bone on her first Christmas! Oh my goodness did the pumpkin get everything she could have ever wanted...and she doesn't even know what she wants!!! So let's take us through the entire Christmas weekend.....(sit back, this is going to be a long one.....)

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve started off at Evelyn's Nana and Poppa's house (aka - Jay's parents) where we had a great family feast complete with Evelyn's Aunt Jennifer (who's going to be a new mom herself in 2010!!! yay...I say boy.....lol) and Uncle Larry (of course Nana, Poppa, Mommy and Daddy were there too....and let us not forget Cocoa Bean...) While us adults dined on homemade pierogies, ham, etc...we gave the pumpkin little pieces of homemade mac-n-cheese to try along with some canned green beans (up until now Evelyn has pretty much only had the canned mushed stuff)...well, the pumpkin gave it her best effort, but unfortunately after dinner was over and while we all thought she did good with her first table finger foods...when we unhooked her tray we found most of it had fallen into her lap! O'well, practice makes perfect...cheerios here we come!

After dinner we all kind of lounged around and Evelyn and I even took a quick nap together upstairs by the Christmas tree. (it's our little snuggle naps that truly make me tear up b/c I just cherish them so much...she's so precious when she sleeps and snuggles into me....I just love it!) So, when we woke up, we were a little rushed b/c we were running late for our trip over to Grandma and Grandpa's (aka my parents) for their Christmas Eve get-together...plus Evelyn had a play-date with her cousins, Bri-Brin and AJ (who was also celebrating his 1st xmas). So with a quick change into her "special Xmas jammies and Santa's hat we were off!

When we got to Grandma's much to everyone's surprise...'oh my, Evelyn and AJ are wearing the same pj's...they're twins...how cute, how precious...." o'yeah...just the reaction my sister and I were looking for when we planned this out a week ago! LOL :) All the kiddies looked so comfy and cute in their pj's....and little Brianna was just SO excited for presents!!! "Presents for ME!!!!!!" We had a nice time hanging out with the family! Evelyn and AJ spent a lot of time playing on the floor...drooling all over the place...eating and sucking anything they could get their chubby little hands on! At one point, AJ had enough of sucking on his own foot, that he found Evelyn's and thought 'why not!' LOL...they are just too cute!!

Around Evelyn's bedtime it was time to head back to Nana and Papa's b/c that's where we were spending the night. The pumpkin was pretty beat by the time we got there, so after kisses and good-nights from the family it was off to dreamland for our little girl........

Christmas Day

Christmas Day started off a little earlier then I was hoping....'bout 7-7:30 a.m. Evelyn was up and at em'....and hungry! Luckily, I was able to convince Daddy it was 'his turn' so Mommy got to enjoy a few more hours sleep! (A few years down the line and this won't be the case as she's jumping on the bed yelling at us to get up!!) When we all did make our way to the living room, we got some presents in-front of Evelyn and she tore into them like a 5-year old.....ummm.....yeah, right...more like she picked one up and sucked on the corner until the paper was no longer there!! It was too precious. She was all excited though and in good spirits...probably because we were all smiling like fools just watching her eat paper (who knew it could be so entertaining!) Evelyn's first round of gifts included toys that light up and make sounds -- much to her pleasure...and required assembly -- much to daddy's displeasure! She got clothes and even her big girl car seat! After we finished opening up gifts at Nana and Poppa's we relaxed and just enjoyed the rest of the morning/afternoon.

Around 1 or so we headed home where much to Evelyn's surprise...Santa had also stopped there!! But since we had to head to my parents house, the presents had to wait! We quickly unpacked all of Evelyn's 'carry-on' only to re-pack it to head to my moms. Once we got ourselves ready we were back and the sleigh and off to grandma's house!!

Once we arrived, we found out Evelyn's cousin, Brianna, who was so excited for 'presents for me!!!'...well, it wasn't the crazy about presents for her and the tear-open crazy-fest we thought it might be at the Price household that morning didn't happen....No, Bri-Bri would open 5 presents or so then get bored...want to play with her gifts as she opened....wanted to play with her brothers gifts too...needless to say when my sister arrived at my parents, they too still had presents at home that had to be opened! The point of me telling you this...well, usually at my parents house we have dinner first, then open gifts. Well, we thought it best if we went ahead and started opening up some stuff while the final preparations were being made for our yummy prime rib dinner (nice job Dad!). Of course we had to take some pics of the kids in-front of the tree with all the presents!! Mom went way over-board as she always does!!!

So, we opened some gifts....had dinner...then back to gifts...and well, that was enough for pumpkin....next thing I know she passed out in the chair with daddy! too cute :)

By the time we made it through the massive pile of wrapping paper and bows, I swear Evelyn has every toy she could want and an entire new wardrobe...not to mention a whole new line of bath toys thanks to Uncle Tim and Aunt Jenni!
I can't believe how much stuff she has!! (and where am i going to put all of it!!)

Believe it or not...we weren't done yet Remember, we still had to have our own Christmas with pumpkin at our house! But, by the time we got home on Christmas night, Evelyn was done like dinner...so it was off to bed with gifts still wrapped under the tree just waiting for her!

The Day After
The next morning, Jay had to work so I had my own little Christmas with Evelyn that morning (Jay didn't mind...the thought of sitting through pumpkin eating her way through the paper was enticing I'm sure, but he assured me we could go on without him).

So pumpkin and I had our day-after-Christmas morning present-fest and much to her delight...more paper and more bows to suck on and eat were at her finger-tips! We spent the rest of the day going through her now mountain of new toys..making sure to hold everyone...put it in the mouth..then as always, look for mommy's cell phone b/c that is her favorite "toy" to drool all over!

Later on that evening, it was off to Jay's Grandpa's house so Evelyn could see her great grandparents and enjoy a holiday dinner with them! Ok, well we enjoyed dinner...pumpkin enjoyed the few pieces of grape that would make their way into her mouth. (that 'sour' face is priceless!...maybe a little mean....but priceless!) Evelyn got even more clothes which means her wardrobe now exceeds mine...actually i think that happened the day she was born and a flood of pink came into our home...lol.

Sunday
Finally, Sunday rolls around...a day of rest...ha! yeah, right! Sunday was Christmas with Jay's oldest sister, Karen and her family (Hubby Luca, Luca Jr. Lina and Lilianna) along with our nephews Brandon and Cammy (Jay's brother Jeremy's children). Ages in the household ranged from pre-teen to pre-crawl and what a crazy madhouse it was!! Yelling, laughing, playing!! Then came present time....all the kids got their presents lined up in-front of them and it was like ready, set, go and paper went flying!!! As you can see by the picture...even with gifts right in front of her, pumpkin would still rather eat Mommy's cell phone!! lol. It was a great day with family! We had so much fun and Evelyn looked absolutely adorable in her little Bills Cheerleader outfit (although it didn't help them..they lost that day!)

Overall, it was a great first Christmas for Evelyn and for Jay and I with our pumpkin!! We can't thank everyone enough for making it so special! We are very much looking forward to the New Year as Evelyn will celebrate her 1st birthday!! It's unreal that she will be one-whole year in just 5 short months!!! Where did the time go! We are blessed to have such great family and friends and to have our healthy, happy pumpkin in our life!

Happy New Year everyone!!!

Evelyn Rose - Chirstmas 2009 - The Best Gift Ever

All I want for Christmas is........

"All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!" And guess what's making their debut this Christmas week!!! One top "toofer" is already visible right through her gum and the other one is one its way!!! By the end of 2009, my pumpkin will have 4 whole chompers!!!

Christmas is almost here!! We can't wait to see what Santa brings the pumpkin!!!

Shots and Sniffles....

Well pumpkin had her 6-month check up on December 11th and boy was it a 'big' event. First off, we noticed she was a little under-the-weather a day or two before we went to the docs...sniffles, cough and down-right not a happy pumpkin-head. Needless to say I was glad we were going to the doctors.

So we arrived at the office and went through the routine questions with the nurse...is she eating? 'yes,' does she move objects from one hand to the other? 'yes,' does she know her name...'ummm...depends...you mean Pumpkin or Evelyn?' lol! How about is she generally a content, happy baby? Of course when I got into my huge proud mommy ramble of how happy our little girl is, how she is always smiling and giggling....of course, she starts balling her eyes out right there in front of the doctor! Great....

The doctor did her routine exam and I'm proud to report Evelyn weighs
16lbs 14 oz (gain of almost 2lbs since the last visit) and she measured in at 28.15 inches (gain of almost 2 inches!) She continues to be in the 50th percentile for her weight, the 90th percentile for her head size (lol) and she has moved up into the 95th percentile for her height....our baby is going to be tall!!!

She checked her reflexes (whatever she really has right now...lol) and listened to her breathing which the doctor noted the congestion due to her cold and looked in her ears and reported noticing fluid building up behind them. Ok, scare mom why don't you...what the h*ll does that mean?? (immediately I'm thinking like water in the ear from her bath...aka I did this to her...that's what your trying to say isn't Mrs. doctor smarter pants...) Well, before my blood pressure and nervousness broke me into a pure panic, the doctor explained that the fluid behind the ears is normal when a baby has a cold (as it is with all people) but we just had to keep an eye out to make sure it didn't lead to an infection....(ok, back to panic mode.) Honestly, why couldn't they just have given us the antibiotics right then and been proactive about the whole thing instead of telling me to wait and see if she gets sicker...let her get some infection which will only put her in pain and make her miserable?! I just don't understand, but I didn't go to med school, so I guess I'm not the expert on this one. But the doctor assured me it would more than likely clear up and drain on its own with her current cold....so OK, I guess.

Well, then it was more "good" news...Evelyn was due for more shots! This time 5!! Yes! Five whole shots my little pumpkin took in one beating. She had her 3 routine shots and in addition the regular flu shot and H1N1 shot, which Jay and I agreed we should get for her since she is in daycare 5 days of the week with a ton of kids who are in school all day where many germs are spread...can't take any chances! So, needless to say, Evelyn was less then thrilled about these 5 shots...in fact, because she was sick, she was an even more sad mess with all her little beat red, snotty face just crying out for help. Afterwards, her little chunky thighs looked like they had to been to hell and back with all the band-aids. My poor baby. I felt awful. Unfortunately, work still called and after the doctors I dropped her off with Miss Kathy at daycare and it turned out Evelyn slept the entire day, only waking once to eat around noon!!

It was later that evening I noticed myself coming down with something so I declared the weekend a mommy-daughter sniffle snuggle fest and after I got home from work on Friday I locked the doors and the pumpkin and I stayed in all weekend just hanging out with our runny noses, cuddling during movies and even getting in a little play time when we both had a little energy to muster!

We are on are way to a full-recover and each day the pumpkin, not to mention myself, are feeling that much better. She turns the big 7 months on Sunday, 12-20-09!!! And we CANNOT wait until Christmas. My daughter is a pure-pro when it comes to posing with Santa as you can see below!

Evelyn meets 'the Claus' 12/7/2009 @ The Boulevard Mall

Happy Holidays!

Evelyn's Holiday Photos! Isn't she just the cutest!!

Turkey Day!

Evelyn's first Thanksgiving has come and gone, but what a busy day it was! We started with Thanksgiving morning at Nana and Poppa's where the pumpkin saw her first parade (on TV) -- the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. We watched the floats go by, the singers, the dancers, etc....and then as we waited for the guy in the big red suit to come...well, pumpkin had enough and passed out in my arms....o'well.

Later on, Poppa and Daddy decided Evelyn just needed to have a ride on a deer (a front lawn xmas ornament at their house)...lol...so along with her first thanksgiving, came her first fake deer ride -- because what 6-month could live without one, right?! Heaven help us when she is big enough for 4-wheelers and motorcycles!

While we all enjoyed our Thanksgiving lunch, the pumpkin slept the afternoon away, to which Mommy and Daddy took full advantage of by taking a post meal nap ourselves....

Then it was off to my parents...aka Grandma and Grandpa. When we got to their house, it was already hustling and bustling with the sounds of little feet and baby talk as Evelyn's cousins - Brianna and AJ, were there. Thinking it would be fun for Evelyn and AJ to get in some quality carpet time, my sister and I laid them face to face...to which we then put a toy in between them....hmmmm, not the best idea. Both babies had their little hands on the toy...each kind of pulling while staring at the other...and then it happened...the little lips started quiver, eyes started to water and Evelyn and AJ were in their first sandbox fight over a toy...lol...it was honestly a precious moment. (we actually think Evelyn might have been doing her 'sympathy' cry for AJ who started with the whimpers first...Evelyn has a tendency of tearing up when she hears other babies crying...lol)

During dinner, Evelyn sat in her highchair and enjoyed some sweet potatoes while we all feasted. And I decided it was time for her to try her first meats. I took some turkey and gravy and blended it up (although it was hard to blend b/c i wasn't using that much) and then I let the pumpkin test it out.....not a fan.....or at least I think. The "I'm totally disgusted" face was in effect. My dad however, brine's the turkey over night so it was a bit on the salty side and perhaps this is what threw the pumpkin off. Either way, we couldn't let her thanksgiving experience rest on that, so we gave her some cranberries too, and those proved to be a true pumpkin delight!

All in all it was a great day and we have so very much to be thankful for!

Great Grandma Karcher and Evelyn (11/26/09)

6 Months!!!!

Dear Evelyn (aka Pumpkin)

Today you are 6 months!!! Half way to the big 1!!! Your daddy and I enjoy each day ....each minute...more then the one before. It's unbelievable that 6 months ago you came into our world and changed our lives for the better...and we couldn't love you more. Every milestone....every little new thing you do..rolling over...teeth....'screeching'....is so amazing to us. We can't wait to see what the future holds......pretty sure crawling and maybe even walking are just a few short months away. Hopefully you quickly learn the difference between 'bouncy, bouncy, bouncy' and walking! lol

Happy 6 months our precious pumpkin....your growing too fast. (but if you could decide to sleep again..for more than 3 hours...mommy and daddy would be so grateful!)

We love you,

Mommy and Daddy

Tis' the Season

The holidays are right around the corner and we are so excited for all of Evelyn’s ‘firsts’ that will be coming over the next weeks.
Surprisingly on the ball, Jay and I have already taken the pumpkin for her Christmas photos and let me tell you…my pumpkin could give any model a run for their money. She is so smiley, so happy and just works that camera….my little ham.
Thanks to my mama for getting Evelyn such a beautiful holiday dress and to Jay’s mama for turning the pumpkin into Santa’s Little Helper!!

We order wallet sized photos of a couple different poses so we are going to throw them into a hat and as we make out our Christmas cards this year, we’ll randomly pull different photos/poses to go in our family and friends cards. (If you want to view all the photos we had taken, email me at kipkarch224@yahoo.com and I'll forward you the link...I can't cut and paste it into the blog b/c it doesn't work after a certain period of time......I tried.....)

On the food front…we have conquered all the veggies and as her proud parents, we are very happy to report that Miss Evelyn is a fan of all things veggies. She has taken a liking to all the offerings, but Jay and I still can’t bring ourselves to give them a try…why…I don’t know...they are only mashed up veggies…but still...it’s just plain weird…lol! So now we are onto fruit…so far, Evelyn has had pears and peaches, both of which she is happy to suck up. Looks like we are moving along at a good pace! Not sure when I'm supposed to introduce the meats…but I'm sure it will be soon as the little pumpkin will be turning the big 6 months this Friday, Nov. 20th! How fast it’s gone…only 6 more months and our little baby will be on her way to becoming a little lady with her 1st birthday!!! Maybe in honor of Thanksgiving…Evelyn’s first meats will be some ground up turkey mixed in with some sweet potatoes…and if were lucky…the myths about turkey and sleep will prove true for the pumpkin after dinner on Thanksgiving night!

Pretty soon we’ll be taking Evelyn to meet the man in the big red suit!! Hopefully, she keeps her cool considering she’s his little helper after all!

First Foods!

The time has finally come! Evelyn started her first baby foods this week! First off...isn't she just the cutest (not to mention tiniest) little pumpkin in her highchair. We started our venture into the world of food with some 'tasty' tender tiny peas....yum-o.


Her first bite....hmmm....how to describe....spoon in mouth...expecting the normal cereal and all the sudden...'oh my..this is different'....and then a kind of 'do I like this or not' look came about....and then pumpkin decided 'I like, I like, give me more!' as she excitedly waved her arms up and down and kept her mouth open, tounge out waiting for Mommy to fill up the spoon again! Her daddy is not a fan at all of peas, so it was hard for him to watch his little girl enjoy the mashed up green stuff so much. LOL

So for the next three days, Evelyn ate peas for dinner (the doc told us...only 1 new food per 3-4 days..that way if she is allergic we will know!)....Yesterday, (11/4/09) Evelyn got her first taste of green beans and yet again she was a big fan! (think she liked these more than the peas!..Green Beans are Daddy's favorite so she was back in his good graces...lol)

By this weekend we will be moving onto a new color in the veggie world - orange! Evelyn has sweet potatoes, squash and carrots to look forward too in the coming days and weeks! Once we get her through all the veggies that are out there then we will introduce teh fruits. (After much advice from a number of family/friends, Jay and I agreed it was important to introduce the veggies before the fruit...that way the pumpkin won't only want the sweet stuff!) As we go along and her 'menu' expands she'll start getting veggies/fruits for lunch at daycare. Right now, I still have Miss Kathy giving her cereal...but soon enough she'll start having cereal for breakfast, a fruit for lunch and a veggie for dinner! Can't wait till we introduce the meat group to her! Although, I think we might go ahead and blend up our own meats for this...after taking a look at the canned baby-food meat products, I can't help but question why beef, chicken, pork and ham all have this pink/red tint it....yum, yum yum!!!

So while we are moving up in the food chain...there's one more thing we have to work on....keeping the food in our mouth!!!

Till next time....
Hugs & Kisses

Happy Halloween 2009

Our first family photo shoot and pumpkin is all dressed up in her kitty costume for Halloween! Isn't she just the cutest! Thanks to all our family members who have sent her Halloween Cards marking her 'first." She really enjoys sucking and eating the paper.....lol :)

Happy Halloween Everyone!

Love, The Tylec Family

They're Heeeeeerrrrrreeeeeee

MAY-JUH (aka - major...lol) development this past weekend....the pumpkin has not 1 but 2 teeth!!! That's right..the two bottom ones have finally "popped" through! I thought I was feeling a little something when I'm giving Evelyn her cereal...she seems to be chomping on the spoon and you can just hear this noise...so after a quick hand wash I did the gum feel (which, even though I love my pumpkin to death...it just grosses me out to feel gums...yuck)...anyway, I manned-up and sure enough you can feel these little sharp pointy things! After some persuasion to get her to move her tongue out the way I could even see the little white marks!!!
Evelyn is noticeably fussier then normal...very whiny, wants to be held an awful lot and you can tell her gums are sensitive right now. We've packed the fridge with all the teething arsenal we have...but I think I might go get her a couple more just in case.
Evelyn's appetite is also increasing so we are moving her up to two cereal servings per day...one at daycare and one at home with mommy and daddy. I'm going to do this for about another week or so and then we are going to start with the vegetables! Cannot wait to see her reaction to some of this stuff!!! I'll keep you posted!

Cinco Months!

Well, the pumpkin is 5 months old! We can’t believe how fast it’s going or how much sweeter our little girl gets with each passing day.
So, there is lots to update you on!! We are still a drool machine and we absolutely love to put anything and everything in our mouth…..just about have the toes in there, but she usually ends up letting go and hitting herself in the face (and at the same time surprising herself with the ‘klunk’ to the nose…lol)
Evelyn had her big “4-month check up” on Oct. 12th…a little late for ‘4-months’ but what can you do. She is a healthy 14 lbs. 14 oz (isn’t weird how every time she gets weighed the lbs and oz always match!) She is 26.25 inches long and the doctor said she seems to be just perfect…of course something her daddy and I already knew. She is in the 50th percentile for her weight, the 90th percentile for her height and the 90th percentile for her head size….so when you sum this information up…she’s tall and skinny with a big head and we just love it! She also had her 2nd series of shots and thank goodness Daddy came with us this time…after her last check up I didn’t want to do the ‘shots’ alone. She only had 2 this time and with some advice from her Aunt Karen, I gave her a small dose of Tylenol before we went to the doctor, which seemed to help her pain tolerance….help…not erase. After the first poke, it took a few seconds for the ‘oh my god, what are you doing to me’ realization to come…and when it did I glanced at Jay and I swear he was looking at this nurse like “how would like if I stuck that needle in your neck woman….” and then the second poke and the full-fledged crying, purple-faced, can’t-catch-our-breath wailing was on. Jay practically shoved the nurse out of the way so he could pick his pumpkin up and within a minute or two she was back to herself…although she had a few sympathy whimpers here and there to which Daddy made sure to give her extra kisses and make even funnier faces while we strapped her into the car seat! And we we’re off….we don’t have to go back until her 6-month check up in December…..
While we were at the doctors we got some ‘exciting’ news…Evelyn gets to start eating cereal. (Yes, this qualifies for exciting in our lives now…..lol) The doctor said we can start feeding her some of the pasty but ‘oh-so-yummy’ rice cereal, once per day and with a spoon so she can learn how to eat like a little lady….well, little lady is far from it. As you can see by her picture (more to come) most of the cereal ends up on her face, in her hands and on her shirt than it actually does in her mouth. You can tell she has no clue what she is doing, but every time I bring that spoon back up she opens wide….but then sticks her tongue out as I got to get the spoon in there. It’s quite comical, but getting better with each day. Typically we have to hose her down afterwards or if she gets particularly messy….as in she has her hands in the bowl and then she rubs them on her face….then we just go straight into the tub! After she gets the hang of the spoon and we have her on cereal for a few weeks, then we are OK to start giving her fruits and veggies. It’s so weird because while I cannot wait to start giving her these new foods and see her reaction to the new smells and tastes, it’s kind of sad because it just another reminder of how fast she is growing up on us!!!
There still aren’t any teeth poking through her gums yet, but she sure has to be close…that or she has a hole in her lip where endless amounts of drool end up on her, mommy, daddy, the remote, cell phones and poppa’s Ipod…lol …I just hope she handles the teething process with ease…but either way, we’ll be ready for it.
We are soooo looking forward to Halloween. We recently went and her Halloween pictures taken at Olan Mills. She is such the cutie in her little kitty-cat costume (see a pre-photo shoot pic in the column on the right) During her photo session Jay and I joined her for a few family photos as well….unfortunately I could not convince Jay that we should wear kitty ears ourselves to match the pumpkin…o’well, there’s always Christmas Jay….I mean, Santa Claus…..
She hasn’t been doing to much rolling over…either way…but tummy time is getting much better. Her tolerance for being on her stomach grows with each day…about 3 seconds longer then the day before…but I still wouldn’t say she is a fan of it!
She is quite the chatty Kathy and likes to tell us stories when we pick her up from daycare…when were home…before bed…while in bed and when she wakes us up at 4 a.m. with ‘oohh..…ahhhs……and grrrssss…” ---- riveting tales, I tell you…or at least she tells us!!!

Dear Evelyn,
You are taking a little evening nap right now....you are so perfectly beautiful...it amazes both mommy and daddy. We love you so much. Now wake up so we can PLAY!!!!
love,
Mommy and Daddy

4 months!!!

Wow, I cannot believe it has been 4 months since our little pumpkin came into our lives. It was about this time last year ( a little earlier…Sept 13th to be exact) that we found out we are going to have a little bundle of joy! As we are getting into the fall months and cooler weather, little Miss Evelyn is not a fan of ‘bundling up’ She has now found her feet so socks don’t last longer than 5 minutes. She will ‘deal with’ sweaters as long as she can suck on them…or anything else for that matter! Anything that gets in this little girl’s hands goes directly into her mouth! Which, by the way, has turned into a faucet! Drool, drool, drool…..everywhere…all day…all night! It’s ok though b/c we know this is the beginning of another milestone in pumpkin’s life – teeth!! Nothing is breaking through the gums yet, but we are definitely there….she sucks on her bottom lip…puts everything in her mouth, has rosy red cheeks and becomes quite the little fuss muss at times and thank goodness for Baby Orajel!! She may not like the taste but you can tell she is quite fascinated by the effects!
She is now rolling over from back to front and has even learned how move her chubby little arm out of the way….and that’s where the fun stops. She is Ok on her tummy for a few minutes…but then the whines and cries start. We are gong to be spending a lot more time on our tummy though so she can learn how to push up and flip back over…because Evelyn likes to do her little roll over trick about 1 a.m. and then Mommy and Daddy have to get up to roll her back over…LOL J
We are so excited for Halloween! The pumpkin already has her costume…and NO she is not going to be pumpkin…instead she is going to be a little black kitty cat! She looks so cute in her costume! I cannot wait to take her around and she her off J
Next up for Evelyn….learning to read…. I know you are probably like what?...learn to read? She is only 4 months?! Well, Mommy and Daddy are either going to be heroes or suckers as we have invested in the Your Baby Can Read Program….a series of videos and flashcards that are supposed to help infants and toddlers learn to read! Anything we can do to invest in her education, no matter how early, seems worth it to me….so I’ll keep you posted on her progress!

Best Beach Baby EVER!

So....the beach was AWESOME to say the least. Evelyn could not have been a more perfect baby for our week up at the cottage in Long Beach. Joining us, were Ev’s Nana and Poppa, Aunt Jenn and Uncle Larry and a handful of other family friends who headed north of the border to enjoy some fun in the sun!
As the previous posts states, packing was no easy feat….we brought everything but the kitchen sink and it proved to be worth it b/c the little pumpkin was never in need of anything!
To protect our little babes from the harmful UV rays, Jay and I got the cutest little sun dome! It was her own personal cabana on the beach complete with her little vibrating bouncy seat and additional sun-blocking umbrella…only thing she needed was a rum runner and cabana boy….whoa...wait a minute there…that’s what Mommy needed…not my 3-month old pumpkin…she’s becoming a nun as far as her parents are concerned.
Each morning we woke up between 4 and 6 a.m. for our very tasty formula breakfast…while we were there for the week…the little pumpkin let us know it was time to up the feedings a notch so she moved up to 6 oz. per bottle during her little vacation (maybe she figured since everyone else seemed to be drinking in excess, she would too…lol). After breakfast we usually spent the next hour or so looking around…trying to remember where we were…focusing in on all the surrounding (this seemed to happen for Daddy every morning as well…LOL). As the morning hours passed on…Ev would get a sleepy again so it was usually time for the mid-morning nap around 10 or so....perfect timing for the rest of crowd to get their breakfast in!
After breakfast it was time to head down to the beach. Of course a lot more preparation goes into bringing a baby into an area filled with sand….much more then just throw your towel down and crack your beer! Before getting into her swimsuit Evelyn would have the much ‘enjoyed’ pleasure of getting lathered and greased up with Water Babies Sunscreen….a process which I have to say she wasn’t the biggest fan of…not b/c of the oiliness on her…but because Momma chose convenience over comfort and got the ‘scary’ aerosol spray kind….not a fan to say the least. By the end of the week, I was spraying it into my hands and then lathering her up! While Mommy and Evey were getting ready, usually Daddy would set up our spot out on the beach….starting the Cabana in the shade of a nearby tree….which we would move hourly with the sun! Then we would make sure Mommy had a towel for her and one for Ev…extra sunscreen for her and extra for Ev…a book for her and binkie for Ev…a hat to protect her little pumpkin head (Ev’s not mommy’s)…rattles and toys in case of emergency entertainment needs (Ev…not Mommy…maybe Daddy)
Now, it would only take maybe 30 minutes (if that) each day of fresh air that would knock the pumpkin out! It was both awesome and sad at the same time. Awesome b/c we got to enjoy the beach too and do ‘adult’ stuff…but sad b/c this was our time to hang with our pumpkin during the day when normally we’d be at work and her at daycare and she…not by choice, I’m sure…and we know…(whine, whine, whine)..slept pretty much the afternoons away!
After the first day I was convince there was no way she was going to sleep through the night after full day of ZZzzzzz’s, but sure enough…bedtime of 8-9 p.m. (we were on vaca...she got to stay up later sometimes!)…anyway, bedtime came and down she went without a whine or peep and back to dreamland it was! So precious and perfect…Daddy and I will have to remember this when your 16 and driving us nuts!
We hit a very important milestone in Evelyn’s life while we were on vacation too! She rolled over!!! Now, there’s a little discrepancy if she actually ‘rolled over’ because I was on the other side of the bed, and may have inadvertently helped her go from back to belly, but whatever…..as far as I’m concerned she did it! (twice too!!)
During the times that Evelyn was awake…she was an absolute joy. Smiling, laughing and discovering this whole new world around her! Everyone took turns making her laugh and giggle…although none as much as Poppa…we’ve decided she must be laughing AT him….LOL, just kidding Poppa!
The weather was picture perfect all week. We had a great time as a family! The vacation was made complete by a thunder and lightening storm our last night there...right on the water...lights flickering...loud thunderous boom's that shook the cottage slightly...Ev was so intrigued (not scared at all!) I let her stay up a little bit longer that night... well everyone else was, and probably because I knew my full nights and days with my baby were coming to an end….
Friday morning came and we packed up the car and headed back to the states (makes it sound like we’re coming from so far away). When we got home, Evelyn recognized her room as soon as we walked in…the colors, the ‘baby’ smells, the stickers of animals on the walls...and smiles and coo’s ensued…followed by (of course) a nap!
What a great vacation it was! Can’t wait for our next one…6 weeks from now...a "Staycation" at the casa with the pumpkin!!!
BEACH PICTURES COMING VERY SOON!!!

Diva Beach Baby

So...we are getting ready to spend a week up at Long Beach, Canada at Ev's Great Grandpa's Cottage. Heading up with the family and some friends! Little Miss Evelyn is such a diva, I swear!She insists on bringing every outfit she owns b/c she just HAS to have several wardrobe changes to ensure she is the center of 'ohhing' and 'awwing' all week!

It's so hard to pack for the little bebe!! We need onesies - both short and long sleeve, socks in case the feeties get cold, pants incase her tiny little legs get cold, jammies and of course her little bathing suit (Used to be her cousin Brianna's, which oddly enough I bought for Bri-Bri when she was just a little pumpkin herself). Then we need hats, sunscreen, a tent, her boppy, play mats, bouncers, bottles, formula, liners and of course she demanded that Mommy bring her laptop so we can watch the Golden Girls and Finding Nemo while we are there....I tell ya, I would put my foot down, but she's just too cute to say no too..... lol :) Besides I'd rather be over packed, then not have something she may need and/or want! And, let us not forget the approx 200 diapers that are comin with us....just in case!

Pics from the beach to come when we get back!! My baby is taking her first international trip!!

First shots :(

This morning was very difficult for both Ev and I...it was her big 2 month check-up (little late..she actually 3 months now..) Happy to report she is a healthy 11lbs. 11 oz. and 24" long...she is the 75th percentile for her length and the 50th percentile for her weight! The doctor said she is right on schedule! Evelyn was all smiles and coo's while Dr. Amy bent her every which way till Tuesday....and then it was the time...Dr. Amy left (weird how they don't want to be the ones to inflict the pain) and the nurse came in with a tray full of (according to my mommy eyes) needles the size of turkey basters!! Of course, I had to hold Evelyn's tiny hands...she was getting fussy b/c it was time to eat so I had to physically hold her down...she got one shot in her right leg and two in left and oh boy....she was not a fan. The first stick brought on the most heartbreaking face...followed by absolute screams of pain...her face turned so red it looked purple!! Of course, I broke down in tears....the whole thing was over in less then a minute but it felt like 2 freakin' years to get it all done with. Afterwards, we cried together for a minute and when we both calmed down she had her bottle and by the time I had her back in her car seat to leave the doctor's office she was the smiley pumpkin again. We will see how she is for the rest of tonight and the next few days.......Daddy and I will be giving her some extra cuddles and kisses tonight for sure though :)

Tummy Time!!

We did it! We finally had a successful, enjoyable and 95% tear free tummy-time experience. The trick was to prop her up on her boppy pillow! She was a little whiny throughout, but she was looking all over the place while holding her head high (and letting out little whines here and there...lol)

After about 2 minutes, the pumpkin had enough and the bottom lip came out, the eyes started to squint and she let mommy know she had enough!!

But now we do our boppy tummy time each night, and each night she gets a little better and indulges her mommy and daddy - who of course, have their own chins planted to the rug making funny faces and noises at her!.

'i swimmin'

Little Evelyn had her first dip in the pool last week!! My sister, brother-in-law, their babies (Brianna, 2, and AJ 4 weeks)mom, and Ev and I all ventured to the wading at Kohler Pool. Ev wasn't the biggest fan to say the least....if you can tell by the terror/cry face she's got going on in her picture! Perhaps this was because she was half asleep when i decided to dip her into the icy waters of the baby pool.....who knows...lol. She calmed down after a minute and was fixated on watching the other swimmers and staring off into the world. She's so content just watching things...it's amazing...I only can imagine what she was thinking..(probably, Mom get me the h*ll out of this cold water!)

Mommy and Baby Yoga

So yesterday, the pumpkin and I did our first session (in home) of Mommy and Baby Yoga. OMG....it kicked our butts! So much so that Evelyn fell asleep half way through and I'm super sore today! But, we are going to keep at it until we can both make it through the entire 50 minutes without wanting a nap!!!
It's a beautiful day out today and I'm looking forward to taking Ev on a walk this evening...maybe stopping by my sisters so Ev can see her cousins (Brianna, 2 and AJ 3.5 weeks)
Pics coming soon from the XMas in July party!!

Months 1 & 2...and Xmas in July

So....we've been parents now for 10 weeks and what a crazy ride its been. Of course there has been sleep lost, frantic calls to the grandparents for help and indescribable feelings of 'ohhhs' and 'awwws.'

We're guessing Evelyn weighs about 10lbs. now....she was 8lbs. 8oz. at her 1 month checkup and she's filling out nicely!

I returned to work after the 4th of July and the pumpkin (what we call her) was off to daycare (in-home, not a center). She is a hit..the other kids (there are about 10 of them) love to make silly faces at her all day and the enjoy and taking turns being 'the helper' when it comes to to changing/feeding her...they bring the wipes out or bring the burp cloth out...it's great..she's already making friends (break my heart I tell you!)

She's working on rolling over..she can make it on to her side and back but that's about it. She is not, i repeat NOT a fan of tummy time! She just cannot figure out what she's supposed to do and usually ends laying there with her face planted into her mat yelling out for help! She can pick her head up for a few seconds and turn it to one side...working now on getting her to turn it the other way but that's usually when the face plant and tears start!

This past week, I've been putting her down to bed...she's all snuggly in a blaket and in her sleep positioner only to find her in the morning out of her blanket, out of her sleep poistioner and at the other end of the bed! When is she doing all this moving?!?!

We love it when she smiles...which is often!!! And she recently 'found her thumb' as you can tell from the photo above! Although most of the time she ends up sucking on her whole hand!! too precious!

This past weekend we went to my parents Christmas in July party, where Evelyn along with her newest cousin AJ made their debuts to the family. Of course they were a hit and were passed around so everyone 'got their turn!' We had her outside most of the day and I have found that the fresh air tends to knock her out to say the least! She is still sleeping quite a bit, but we get in at least an hour of awake/play time after a feeding..although can't jostle her around too much b/c she tends to spit up.....often...and always when there is no burp cloth insight!!

In a few weeks, she'll be making her first trip to the beach when we go with the family up to Long Beach for a week of fun in the sun! (she'll be slathered in water babies..i don't care if she only be 4 months...no sunburn on my pumpkin!)

Welcome!

Welcome to the Everything Evelyn Blog!! I'm new to this 'bloggin' business, but I wanted to do this not only for my family, but also for my daughter, who someday can read this and get an insight into what her life was like and how she came to be the person she will become (does that sound weird or what!!)
And since, my parents put me through college for writing...I might as well use it, right??
So..where do we begin??
Well, let's start with August 2008.....Jay and I took a little trip to Las Vegas for his birthday and let's just say that everythign that happens in Vegas doesn't always stay there (we argue over if this is when Ev really came about or if it was a few days before..but i like my version better...)
So anyway...a month later..Sept. 13th to be exact....the night of our friend's Rob/Amy's stag/stagetter parties to be exact I was feeling a little 'off.' I knew someting was up and decided, why not...let's give a preg. test a try...not thinking at all that my entire life would change with one trip to the bathroom. (quick sidenote..Jay and I were not planning on doing the 'kid thing.'...so you can imagine the 'extra shock' that accompanied this news.....)
Anways, so I went to my bff's house, Kerry, where we poured Powerade down my throat trying to rouse up some urge to go 'pee-pee.' Well, after one failed attempt...missed the stick...we successfully were able to get the right amount of saturation on that thing and within seconds....one line..then two lines....
quick kerry..what does two lines mean??
two lines??
yes...two lines????
ummm...
HOLY SH*T........
From there things were a blur....I remember crying...then deciding how am I going to tell jay...how am I going to tell anyone? We have a stag/stagette tonight..people will wonder why I'm not drinking...even sick I would man-up and manage to get a few down..but clearly this was not a case of 'oh, I'm sick!"
So, I gave Kerry a hug and said I'm off to tell the father.....
Well, hubby jay had been throwing a few back with his dad all afternoon so let's just say he was a little tipsy when I walked up and pulled 'the stick' out of my purse....never seen somene get sober so fast
'What is that???'
'I'm pregnant...'
Before I could really get a reaction out of my husband..my father-in-law (who oringally thought I was holding a marker) gave me the biggest hug...then I noticed the tears in my husband's eyes...and out walks the mother-in-law...who by this scene must have thought someone died...well she almost did when i dropped the 'i'm pregnant' bomb on her....from there it was a phone-fest...
I wish I could have told my parents to their faces, but I was just so overcome with all these emotions.... I did it over the phone. My Dad thought my sister was pregnant (remember, we didn't want kids and we didn't hide that fact from our families...so it was a 'shock' to EVERYONE to hear that I was the one with child)...my Grandma (who was in the backseat of my parents van at the time...they were taking her out for her bday dinner), well, she was convinced she knew all along I was pregnant...ok..grams..if you say so..LOL..
Needless to say there was a stream of excitiment running through our families and our friends...Jay even made me go out and buy more tests just to be sure.

Now I wont' go into the 9 months it took to bake my little pumpkin...but I will say it sure wasn't easy...going from a do-whatever-I-want-party lifestyle to 'i have to pee again,' 'are you going to finish that' and/or 'you're going out..again?!?' was not easy.....by any means...
But on Wednesday, May 20, 2009 at 3:46 p.m. it all became very much worth it....
Evelyn Rose came into this world at 6lbs., 13 oz and was 20.5 inches long...
We didn't find out the sex and we were pretty sure it was going to be a boy...so no one was more suprised then us when a sweet little girl was 'plopped' on my chest to (finally!) say hi to her mommy and daddy....
And thus began this journey we are now on....a whirlwind change that has turned our lives upside down, backwards and sideways...but all for the better. For two people who didn't want to do the 'kid' thing...we cannot thank God or whoever is up there enough for blessing us with such an amazing opporutnity.....
next blog...month's 1 & 2.....