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!