"POTTY TIME!!!"

Attention Everything Evelyn followers!!! BIG NEWS!!! Our little pumpkin has gone potty....on the POTTY!!!!! Yay!!! While it's not like she 'asked' to use the potty, it was the morning and i thought 'why not' let's put her on it. (she has been sitting on it here and there (usually w/clothes still on) but I'm not sure if she understood what it was for?) So this past Monday morning (4/11/2011) our little girl grew up even more (tear)... Although, I think Mommy got a little too excited and ended up scaring her b/c there she was...sitting naked on her little toilet - peeing and crying! AWWWWWW. Mommy is sorry pumpkin pies! We tried again this morning...and once again, when she started to go...she started crying! (Mommy did not jump up and down and scream this time though) So, I think she might be a little afraid of the whole process. Jay and I are just going to work on being reassuring and not rush or push anything. But...if I do say so myself, Kathy (Evelyn's daycare provider) told me that she has 3-year olds that are not even there yet.....GO Pumpkin GO! Mommy and Daddy are proud of you!!! Hugs, Kisses and Well Potty Wishes (yeah, I made that up...haha!)

Spring has Sprung!

OK OK OK! I know....it's been 'forever and a day' since my last blog update but with the new house, work and my family things are BUSIER then ever these days! I can't believe my last post was in mid-January! I have almost 3 months to catch you up on and A LOT has been going on - so get comfy.

The House

Let's start with the biggest event for the Tylec family - we moved! As of Saturday, February 19, 2011 we have resided on Locust Street in North Tonawanda in our 'dream' home!' Moving was definitely a process! Jay and I couldn't believe how much 'stuff' we had! We cannot thank our family and friends enough for taking an entire weekend to help us into our new home - whether it was watching the pumpkin or physically moving 8 years worth of stuff, we are truly grateful for the constant support we received. We officially closed on both properties on March 4th (we were granted early occupancy since no one has lived in the house!) We are still not 100% unpacked because we still have a storage unit to deal with, which we filled up when we put the Dahlgreen house on the market back in August 2010! But, I would say we are 90% settled in the new house, which is a 3-bedroom, 2.5 bath home. We have a cozy living room with a fireplace, a family room with another fireplace, a beautiful kitchen with a 'sun-room' that overlooks our resort-like backyard! The backyard has an in-ground pool with connecting hot tub. Stamped concrete throughout most of the backyard will make for great entertaining with tables and a fire pit...and not to mention our very own outdoor bar!! Tylec's Tiki Hut is officially open for business! Evelyn has transitioned just great to her new home. We have a lot of 'little' steps that lead from room to room to room, and Evelyn has done a great job learning to go down on her 'bum bum'...although she has already mastered walking up them without going up on her knees. She even likes to reach up and hold the railings. Evelyn's room is the only room we have actually done something to since moving in - which was paint it!! Finally - my little girl has a girly room!! The walls are colored little princess purple and she has fun number decals on the walls and multi-colored 'fun' window curtains! I'm not done with her room yet...but things take time (and not to mention money!) and eventually I will have nails where I need nails (hello Jay) and 'fun' things all over her walls! The rest of the house will be a 'project' for some time I'm sure. There is a TON of 'interesting' wall paper in many of the rooms and all I can say - it's coming down! The previous owners left some curtains for us as well that are ...well....let's just say they are not my taste! But again...time and money! We did however purchase a sectional sofa for the family room which looks and fits great! And we picked out a formal dining room table that seats 6 (w/o the leaf) and it is just gorgeous. Jay picked them both out himself so - good job hunny!

Everything Evelyn

Anyway - onto what this blog is about - Everything Evelyn!!! Evelyn is now 22 months and her second birthday is a little more than a month away! We cannot believe how fast this has gone or just how much we love being parents! Evelyn weighs just a little more than 25lbs now and is still taller then your average pumpkin!

Poopy Pumpkin

Evelyn had a rough couple weeks in March...my poor pumpkins caught something that would not let up! But first, it all started with an earring. Evelyn and I were hanging out on a typical Saturday as we often do while Jay works OT. I noticed her earring looked a little 'off,' and upon further investigation, I realized the entire back of her earring (clasp and all) was inside her the skin of her ear...all the way in the earring hole. HOLY MOLY! I tried to pull on it a little to see if it would 'pop' out (literally getting the chills just writing about this). Well, you can say my attempts did NOT go over well AT ALL! Pumpkin pie was not having it. I did my best to remain calm but I was SO nervous b/c I have never even heard of that happening!! We headed to Kidz Express and, while I was relieved that the nurse told me this is actually quite common, I was panicking because I knew what was about to happen to my pumpkin. They put some iodine on her ear and between myself, another helper and the doctor it was on. I held her arms and the helper held her legs while the doctor held her head to one side and used tweezers to coax it out (and I'm using coax as a nice term). I cannot even tell you how horrible this was for me as a Mom. Evelyn was so upset and scared...she was just screaming and sobbing. It took everything I had not to break down with her but I didn't want to scare her more! The whole thing took about 1 minute..but any Mom who has to watch her child in pain will agree that 1 minute feels more like an hour! Within a few minutes after the earring was out, Evelyn was calmed down and even got a sucker and sticker for her bravery. I am serious when I say its a good thing she can't really talk yet because I would have given her anything - pony, buckets of ice cream....car?! You name it! LOL. I still haven't put her earrings back in though. I guess there are types I can purchase that will not allow that to happen again, but at the same time, I'm on the fence about waiting until she is older to understand what earrings are for and how to 'respect' them, etc. (Not to mention, it would make changing them a whole lot easier too!) About a week after the earring incident, Evelyn wasn't acting like herself. There was a lot more whining then normal, she wasn't really eating and she just wasn't her happy go-lucky pumpkin-self. I made a doctor app after I got 'the call' from daycare that I had to come pick her up b/c she was just constantly crying. Come to find out - Evelyn had a pretty bad ear infection. I feel awful for not knowing, but also happy that at least it was something! So, antibiotics it was! And even though Evelyn is allergic to amoxicillin, she doesn't have the same reaction to some other 'cillin' drugs so they put her on a 5-day treatment. Towards the end of those 5 days...Evelyn started getting 'worse.' She started waking up in the middle of the night crying, which she rarely does (knock on wood!). Let's just say...Ev was a little more than stinky on a few of these occasions...and not to mention during one middle of the night trip where she puked all over me and the floor --- greeeeeeaaaaattt! Our baby was now flu-sick...bottom line. I got 'the call' from daycare that I had to come pick her up once again b/c it was coming out of both ends with no stopping in sight! I called the doctor and they confirmed they were seeing several cases such as this and the best thing to do was rest and hydration - so that's what we did...with a lot of snuggling and hugs. On top of Evelyn being sick -- it seemed everyone else we knew was also catching a bug! My family, his family, the daycare families! Somehow, Jay and I both avoided getting sick! (knock on wood again!)

Spring Time!

It finally seems that everyone is recovered and just in time as we get ready for spring!! The weather is finally warming up...even if it is raining, I don't mind because I bought Evelyn the cutest rain gear including matching coat, boots and umbrella! She is a stylin' mermaid! We finally had a sunny/warm weekend this past one and we were out using our backyard for what its for - pumpkin playtime! Evelyn was riding her 4-wheeler around, playing in her tent and just running all over the place. The pool is still covered but Jay and I will be investing in a safety fence to make sure we have maximum pumpkin protection. We just celebrated Papa Jerry's bday with an outdoor cookout over the Tylecs and Evelyn was just a busy little bee running all over the backyard! Both nights, the fresh air did the pumpkin good...bath, bottle and bed all by 7:30 (out like a light!) It was an enjoyable weekend to get out the house with her and play in our own secluded backyard. I have never been more sure that this move was the right decision then after this past weekend. It is only going to get better! Next up - Easter! Jay and I are hosting our first ever family holiday dinner! Both families will be coming over along with kids in tow so we are looking at 14 adults and 4 little ones! I'm excited! I love entertaining and who better to do it for then your family?!?! (famous last words, right?) My grandma is even going to come! Super special b/c of her limitations she wasn't able to get into the house on Dahlgreen, so I'm really happy she is going to see where her great-granddaughter will grow up! I'm planning your typical Easter menu of ham, sausage and sides (don't want to get to crazy with my fist big dinner party!) We're going to have an egg hunt in the backyard for the babies...and I just happened to find Easter DVD's when unpacking the other day so the kids can enjoy that while the rest of us watch the Buffalo Sabres in the playoffs during the afternoon! Here's to hoping it's a great day! This summer is going to be jam packed! Evelyn will turn 2 and then 3 babies will celebrate their 1st birthdays including Evelyn's cousin Austin (along with Isabelle and Cole!) Cousin's Brianna (turning 4) and AJ (2) will have a joint bday party b/c the Price family has some big things happening for them too...they too have a new house!! But instead of moving...they just knocked down their old one and built an entire new house!! It's still being finished by they should be able to move in within hopefully the next month or so? And in case your wondering - they are staying with my parents...dun, dun, dun...LOL.

Happy Spring and Have a 'Hoppy Easter' everyone!

Mea Culpa!

I am LONG overdue for an update post!!! I promise to buckle down and get you up to speed about the past couple months and our new house!!!!

A very Merry Xmas & an even better New Year!

Well Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Tylec family!!
So many things have happened and/or are happening...this is just going to be the best and the busiest year for us! Let's back it up a little bit before we get onto our exciting New Year's news...
Evelyn had her 18-month check up on December 15th and she is doing just perfect!! She weighed 24 lbs (not even a quarter-pounder yet) and is 34.5 inches tall and well...her head is still big.... so much so...they came back in to measure her head and her height 3 times! Of course, this was starting to make me nervous but in the end I was assured that her growth is fine. she is just REALLY tall for her age!!! Nothing is disproportionate so everything, hands, legs, arms, head, are all growing at a great rate together. Jay thinks we need to fatten her up though b/c of course after I relayed all the stats to him, he hit the Internet trying to compare sizes....apparently Evelyn is the average size of a 3 year old at 19 months!! (all except for the weight). But that is just fine with us!! Our future supermodel is just perfect! (Or, if Jay has his way...our future tennis star.) She did get 2 shots at this visit, which were obviously both her and mine least favorite moment. You just feel so helpless!! Luckily, as long as she stays in good health then she doesn't have to go back until her 2nd birthday in May!!
There are hardly any words to describe how awesome Christmas was this year. As we have done in the past, my Mom, sister and her kids, Bri Bri and AJ all met at the Boulevard Mall for our annual Trip to see the Claus. Last year, Evelyn was just a doll...smiling and looking ever so porcelin prefect on Santa's lap. This year, ...ummm...not so much?! I think it took less then 2 seconds after I put Evelyn on Santa's lap for the lip to quiver, the water to start tearing up and then they much anticipated 'waaaahhhhhhh!' LOL! I know I shouldn't laugh, but this was funny. Of course I just had them snap the picture -- tears and all. It turned out to be the perfect picture though as we made it our Xmas card this year...but included last year's picture perfect shot next to it with the heading - What A Difference A Year Makes! LOL. It was a big hit among all the family and friends! I'm sure Evelyn will get a kick out of it as well when she is older (However, the pictures I'm getting of her putting her finger up her nose because she figures 'hey...there's a hole there'...hmmm...not sure she will appreciate those as much! hahaha!)

Christmas Eve we spent at the Tylecs house, and Aunt Jenn, Uncle Larry and baby Austin came over too so we could celebrate Austin's 1st Xmas together. Jay's brother, Jeremy and his wife Jamie and her son, Anthony, were also there so this was the first time the entire Tylec family has been together for Xmas in quite some time! We enjoyed a great dinner, followed by a special surprise visitor for the kids - Santa. Or wait....more like a special surprise nightmare for Evelyn. The man with the scary beard and red suit was back!! Evelyn lasted about 5 seconds on Santa's lap and Austin didn't last much longer as well!
I figure that once these kids figure out 'this' is who brings you the toys and presents...then they'll be sure to warm up to him! Evelyn has on her Xmas Eve pj's which read 'Staying Up for Santa" but clearly that was the last person she wanted to see!! We opened presents from Aunt Jenn and Uncle Larry....although Evelyn got more enjoyment out of playing with Austin's toys then she did her own! Well, except for the vacuum she got!! If only these things actually vacuumed!! Christmas morning we woke up at the Tylecs (well, Evelyn woke us up...) and we went into the living room where, Surprise! Santa stopped by in the middle of the night (much to Evelyn's pleasure...don't need to see ya big man, just leave the presents and go...lol)
As it was last year, Evelyn has apparently been the best little girl b/c wow...did Santa hook her up! Evelyn is now riding around the house on her own Barbie 4-Wheeler and crawling and hiding out in her very own tent which comes with long fun tube that hooks up to it! (The cats are also enjoying this tent and tube...pretty sure they think its their new hang out...until Evelyn comes in - who then thinks its a game of chase in and out and around the tent and tube! It's too cute!)
In the later morning, it was time to head home and much to Evelyn's continued delight...Santa had also stopped by there too!! But...to much fun playing in the tent/tube and 4-Wheeler riding over Nana & Poppa's wore her out...so before she got to dive into Santa's drop-off at our house...it was time for a much needed family nap!
When she (and we) finally woke up - My, My was Santa good to Evelyn yet again!! She got her first Radio Flyer Red Wagon, a giant spring horse (which much to our 'excitement' sings the exact same songs as her little horse!! NOT...lol)
Evelyn also got her own inflatable Disney Princess ball pit...although Mommy has to write a letter to Santa and ask - where are the balls that come to fill up the ball pit?!?! 30 is not nearly enough!! Even Bear Bear made out this Christmas with a set of toys just perfect for Ev and Bear Bear time including a mini stroller, pack & play, chair...etc. Evelyn gets a kick out of putting Bear-Bear night night in the pack and play and pushing Bear-Bear around the house in the stroller. (Can't wait till spring/summer and she can take Bear-Bear on walks outside!)
After an afternoon of playing with all these new toys, it was off to my parents house - aka Grandma and Grandpa - for Xmas dinner and even more gifts!!
Dinner was fantastic at my parents!! Great job on the prime rib Dad!! Evelyn enjoyed a piece of sausage and some other goodies...although none compare to when she gets chocolate milk instead of regular milk at dinner! Boy, can my baby girl chug (hmmm...insight of things to come?! lol) Because Santa seemed to overload at my parents house we started presents before dinner where Evelyn got her very first kitchen set! It's a 'grow with me set' so as she gets bigger (which seems to be by the day in her case!) we can adjust the kitchen set to match her size.
After dinner, we attacked the rest of the moutain of wrapping paper and bows. Evelyn got lots of new clothes, slippers and boots and even a dancing and singing Mickey Mouse from Aunt Jenn and Uncle Tim. Dance Party with Mickey has now become part of our daily evening routine - shake your tail now!!
In all, Christmas was just wonderful! We are so lucky to have such a generous and loving family to make Evelyn's day so special and fun! It was just amazing to watch her actually open gifts this year as opposed to just eating the paper like she did last year. She still doesn't quite get it yet, but she's coming around!
The best Christmas present though - Jay, Evelyn and myself were off the entire week following Xmas together (well, Jay worked 1 day). It was so nice to spend the days at home with her...opening and playing with all her toys from Xmas. Watching movies like Toy Story 3 and Beauty & The Beast. She may not sit for the entire movie, but my little girl does love to snuggle with her Mama for a little bit :) It was the best way to spend the holidays and I'm looking forward to taking that week off again at the end of 2011!!!
Speaking of the New Year...the Tylecs have quite an exciting venture coming up....we are MOVING!!!! That's right! We sold the house!! After about 5 months on the market, we finally sold our house! Meaning, we can move into the home we have been eye-balling for almost two years!!! We are SUPER excited and we cannot WAIT to start our lives over on Locust Street in NT (only about 5 or so minutes away from where we currently are!) Closings on both properties is set for Feb. 25th....so as I write this we have exactly 40 days until we are completely moved into our new home!!! Of course there is a slight sadness to walk away from Dahlgreen as this was Jay's Nana's and family's house for sometime. Not to mention its the house where Jay proposed to me, where we came home too as man and wife, and where we first brought our little Evelyn home too. We have many great memories to carry in our hearts from this home.
But...we have to look to the future...which means bigger and better! I'll post pics and describe the new house in the coming weeks! Since the house is vacant, we are pretty sure that we can start moving in and making it 'our own' in just a few short weeks!! Such an exciting time for us! We can't wait to show Evelyn her new home! How's that for a New Year!




Evelyn - 1st Xmas 2009 vs 2nd Xmas 2010!

Introducing....Bear Bear

It's my pleasure to introduce you to the newest member of the Tylec Family.

Say Hello to Bear Bear...or Be-Be as Evelyn calls him.

Bear Bear is Evelyn's own 'baby'....and she just loves him!

She feeds him her bottles, shares her food with him (yes, all types of food), she tries to put diapers on him, she puts socks on his feeties when they are cold and she will even tell you when Bear Bear has 'stinky toes.'

Bear Bear likes to go everywhere that Evelyn does....and when he can't...such as daycare b/c we are afraid of other children 'borrowing' Bear Bear...well then, Miss Evelyn is none to happy over that!! It's so heart breaking to hear her cry, sob, point and say 'mama...be-be....be-be...." So congrats Party City....you have just gotten some of the Tylec family fund as we are stocking up on Bear Bears!! One for daycare, one for back-ups...might even need a bear-bear for each of our cars!!

A Happy Halloween

Well it's almost Thanksgiving and I'm finally recapping Halloween for you!! Needless to say, we've been busy in the household as our little pumpkin is into anything and everything these days! She really is doing just great!! She's such a sponge who soaks up all this information and tries to mimic her Mommy and Daddy!! We just love it! We all had a very nice Halloween which began on Friday when Evelyn's daycare had a dress-up party and Evelyn wore her pink Kitty Kat costume...so cute!!
The following evening, Jay and I invited over friends and family so we could see our nieces and nephews in their Halloween customes and everyone was just sooo cute! Evelyn wore costume #2...what else...the pumpkin was a PUMPKIN!
And, I even set up a little picture area where we could 'pose' the kids with some of my Halloween Decorations (one of which is a 6-foot tall Butler who we call Giles...at first Evelyn wouldn't even come near him - his eyes light up and he talks...LOL...but eventually she warmed up and by Halloween he was her BFF and she always wanted him to talk in his dark, scary voice!!)
Anyway...so I set up this little picture area for all...yeah, right...good luck getting a 1-year old to sit still for anything these days (something i would learn once again a few weeks after this when we tried Tylec Family Photo day at Jay's parents house!) We got as many good photos as we could of our pumpkin and her friends and spent the rest of the evening enjoying time with everyone!
The following day, which was Halloween, Jay and I were excited to take Evelyn on her first trick-or-treating adventure. So we suited her back up in her pumpkin costumer and we were off! It was really fun (and not to mention so cute)! Personally, I think Evelyn was just enjoying being able to run around the neighborhood! After a few houses, I think she kind of understood what we were doing. She was very happy to see poeple putting candy in her little ghost bag! Of course, many of our neighbors had nothing but great compliments to say about our pumpkin and we couldn't disagree...she is just the cutest!!
Evelyn was in bed early that night...and of course her father and I did what every parent is supposed to do post-trick-or-treating...we raided her stash!! LOL :)


Things have been moving along smoothly with Evelyn's development. She is a talker...if only we could actually understand her half the time!! She just loves her bath time...loves to splash and kick and even understands to 'wash the head' and to 'wash the belly.'. She is 100% on regular foods now and eats pretty much anything...although when she has had enough she lets you know! Not by turning her head or pushing the spoon away...no, no..she'll take the bite...let it sit there and then spit it out all over the place all mushed up!!

Evelyn has even been showing us a few temper tantrums these past couple weeks. From what I've read about these, it's just her way of expressing herself because we cannot communicate on a 'normal basis' quite yet. Hmmmm, well let me tell you does she know how to express herself! Yes, she does the typical tantrum stuff like throw her entire body on the floor and kick and scream...but in addition she also throws down "in anger" anything lying around (like a book or a toy) and even better...her last big one, she came up and tried to push me! I swear! The little bugger...crying, snotty face and all, walks over and pushes me in the leg....I don't think so little lady. Thus, Evelyn has been experiencing her first 'time outs.' The only place I can think to put her is in the crib, so that's where she goes. Usually this is much to her pleasure! She'll spend her 2-3 minutes in there jumping on her bed and saying "do, do, do, di, di, di"...OMG! It's hard not to laugh, but we are trying to be firm as well to avoid any bad habits for the future...we'll see how good that works, right Moms out there?! LOL
The Holidays are basically here! Thanksgiving is next weekend and we are looking forward to spending time with both of our families!! And we cannot wait until Christmas!! I am looking foward to getting up the decoration and especially the tree...I can't wait to see her reaction!! Also, all the Christmas movies that are on! She is learnign to sit and enjoy a movie with us from time to time...just recently she watched about 80% of Toy Story 3 while cuddling with her Mommy and Daddy! So looking forward to snuggle time and The Muppets Christmas Carol!! Tis the Season All!
Oh...one last thing...as an extra speical suprise for my pumpkin on Halloween (and not to mention my husband and our families) Mommy joined in on the fun and dressed up as the Mommy Pumpkin!! Hopefully, it's more sweet than corny...either way, I don't care...It's all for her now!

Mommy Pumpkin & Pumpkin Pumpkin - Halloween 2010

Fall Fun!

Well, here we are already into the cool, crisp air that fall time brings! I know it has been a while but we have just been overwhelming busy in the Tylec household! I told you that Evelyn is now walking...and I mean she is on the go!! The little lady hauls her butt all over the house...she even loves holding your hand and walking to the park that is down the street from our house! (although, one morning I made the mistake of letting her walk to the car with me so I could take her to daycare before work...yeah, she thought we were off to the park...boy did this ensue some tears and pointing towards the swings!) She has been walking for a little over a month now and it was just like everyone had predicted - one day, she just started taking steps. First, it was just walking back and forth between Jay and myself but eventually she got the courage to just go off by herself! She still has that 'drunk' wobble walk every now and then but she gets around
just fine! We are so proud of her, but it really is going to fast!!
She recently went for her 15-month check up and she is growing just beautifully...as if you didn't know just by looking at her pictures. She weighs 23 lbs and is 32.5 inches long. Her pumpkin head is measuring in the 75ht percentile now so its finally starting to even out with the rest of her body...she's just perfect! While we were with the doctor we reviewed a cough Evelyn has had for quite some time. Not sure if its allergies, a cold, a combination of both...the doctor decided to take action and put Evelyn on an inhaler with steriods to try and knock the cough out of her (she doesn't weeze or gasp for breath, she can just sound very chest congested and doesn't know how to clear her throat quite yet...but it doesn't bother her in the least) So, with the inhaler came a small tube and mask we were to use to administer 2 puffs in the morning and 2 puffs in the evening....yeah, this was more like torture to both pumpkin and us then anything. Of course she was scared of it, she had no idea what we were doing and no amount of reassurance from us was helping. We more or less had to hold her down and as quickly as possible get the 2 puffs out...to be honest, I don't even know how much we were getting into her because she woudl move so much and we didn't want to be to forceful! So this went on for about 2 weeks and then we started noticing some behaviorial changes in her...she became very whiny, lost her appetite,wanted to sleep all day and would still sleep all night. I would go to pick her up from daycare and my daycare provider, Kathy, would be at her wits end because Evelyn would just cry and whine if she wasn't sleeping all day long...not something that I would imagine is that easy to handle when you have a house full of kids! So, we decided to stop teh inhaler to see if that would help these mood swings and wouldn't you know it, within 2 days she was back to normal and we haven't had a problem since. She goes back to the doctor next Monday for a follow-up (the cough is still there) and the doctor is aware we stopped the inhaler so we will see what they say next?!

But onto more fun, exciting things!!!
It was a great summer and we did many thigns as a family! Evelyn had her first trip to Darien Lake and Fantasy Island! She was able to go on some rides like the Merry-Go-Round and the rides in the kiddie parks! We went to birthday parties for her fellow 1-year olds Sophia and
Nevaeh. We took many trips to the parks, bike rides down at the river, dinners outside...its just been great!

We kicked off fall right by taking our pumpkin - where else but the Great Pumpkin Farm! We had such a good time going on some of the rides they had like the giant slide and tasted some great BBQ...and of course lil' Miss Evelyn got her favorite - corn-on-the-cob! However, when it was time to roam around the pumpkins, I don't know what happened but it turns out
our pumpkin has a slight fear of...go figure...pumpkins!!! Check out these pictures!

We are looking forward to the coming holidays! Halloween, then Thanskgiving and of course Christmas!!

I'm still debating on her Halloween costume. I picked up a pink kitty cat outfit that she is super cute in...but...she was a black kitty cat last year? Plus, there are so many super cute outfits out there for babies!! Ohh...decisions, decisions. They should have Halloween week for babies 5 and under...just so the parents could dress them up everyday!!

i know...

I know it's been over a month since my last post but my computer has been on the fritz!! It's all better now and I'll be able to update the blog soon enough with all the new updates about our Pumpkin and there is lots to update you on! She had her first trip to Fantasy Island and the Zoo...went to birthday parties....and yes, she is finally WALKING!!!! She is just the best!

Evelyn's 1st Birthday Photos

Summer fun (minus a few rash road bumps...)

Well...our little pumpkin isn't so little anymore! She's almost 14 months!!
Her 1-year old check-up went well...she weighed in at 21lbs flat and measured 29.5 inches tall...she is still in the 50th percentile for her weight, 95th for her height and the doc said she is now somewhere between the 70th and 90th percentile for her head size...how they came to that conclusion is beyond me...maybe pumpkin's head-size adjusts daily...lol.
During her doctor visit, the doctor noticed an ear infection...in both ears! (Which is odd...because when I was just a baby myself...I also had a double ear infection by the time of my first bday!) So the doctor prescribed her amoxocillin to battle the infection. It went so-so in the first days or so...until I picked her up from daycare and her daycare lady, Kathy, had tears in her eyes because Pumpkin got the worst diaper rash. It was so heartbreaking, I had her back at the doctors the next day. The doctor assured us, that while it looked pretty bad it wasn't the worst they have scene (if that is true, I don't even want to imagine what the 'worse' looks like!) The doctor gave us some tricks and tips to help battle the diaper rash which worked well (although I think she is just so sensitive she is going to be prone to this until I get her out of diapers!)

Anyway...so that following weekend, I, along with my friend Gina from college, left town for the night to visit my very good friends Kelly and Cliff Corbin in Toronto (Hi Cliff!) While I had a great time, the next morning I awoke to a text from Jay letting me know that Evelyn had developed some sort of rash...of course I went straight into Mom mode wanting to know every detail about this so-called rash. Jay...being Jay...wasn't too descriptive other than to tell me they were red...gee, thanks...lol. So, when I got home from Toronto, Evelyn was just waking up from her nap, and oh my...trying to remain calm...I approached the 'spot.' Evelyn was covered...and I mean covered...in red little dots and bumps all over. I was totally freaked out but tried to hide my fears from my face because spot..I mean pumpkin...is pretty good at reading when something is wrong. I immediately got on the computer and started googling everything from chicken pox to heat rash to 'this is what happens when you leave Daddy in charge for ONE night!' hahaha..just kidding, Jay! I ruled out chicken pox because there was no puss and it didn't seem to bother her in the least. I ended up settling on heat rash because the weather had been so warm and humid the past couple of days. But, there was one thing that bothered me...the fact that this rash had taken over her entire body from heat-to-toe, except from where her diaper sat. The Internet description said heat rash is common on the body where clothes and diapers sit...so I couldn't understand why it would be on her hands, feet, head, ears, face, back, front...it was everywhere! To treat heat rash you are just supposed to keep the child cool and comfortable, which is what we did for the next few days and the rash seemed to lighten up. But, by the weekend, it was back in full force and I couldn't take it anymore. I took her to Kidz Xpress, which is an off-hours (heaven sent) doctor's office that you can take your children to when doctors offices' are typically closed. We met with the doctor who was even taken back by the extend of the rash and said it was not heat rash but instead appeared to be a reaction to something because it was so spread across her body. So, we started going through what she eats, wears for sunscreen, etc...and then the doctors asks "Is she on any medication" I reply, "Yeah, amoxocillin for an ear infection." And the light bulb goes off. Ding, ding, ding...we have a winner!
The doctor explained that when children are allergic to antibiotics such as amoxocillin then the reaction typically does not appear until the end of the treatment and Evelyn was on her last two days of doses, so this made perfect sense! And, I'm so happy we decided to take her to Kidz Xpress, because in 2 days she would have been finished with her meds, cleared up in a few days and if she ever needed antibiotics again, they would have put her on amoxocillin, or penicillin...or any "cillin" for that the reaction could have been more severe. So, for all my blog readers - Evelyn is ALLERGIC to the 'cillins' and will have to be placed on sulfur-based drugs for any future treatments. Of course we immediately stopped the amoxocillin (oh, and while we were at Kidz Xpress they checked her ears and the infection was totally gone!). Her regular peditircian was made aware of the visit and the suggested outcome of Evelyn's allergies. So all is well that ends well, right? Wrong...about 2 weeks later, Evelyn broke out in another rash...this time only covering her arms and legs!! Seriously? Back to the doctors we went! This time, Evelyn saw her own pediatrician and while they couldn't determine exactly what was causing this rash - rashes are apparently tricky to pinpoint in nature unless its the obvious like pox, measles or poison ivy. The Doc determined that Evelyn was probably getting over a viral infection and this was her body's way of letting the virus out. Since her two rashes came so close together, the Doctor still said they are going to consider and treat her in the future as if she is allergic to the 'cillins' so there is no chance of a secondary, much more severe, reaction....case closed. (for now..) So basically, the month of June felt like one big trip to the doctors. The weather has definitely been on our side so we have been enjoying many days outside as a family on the front porch
or taking Evelyn for walks in the stroller or in her new learning tricycle that Grandma and Grandpa got her! She still is not walking on her own...but that's ok...my little girl will do things when she is fine and ready. Although, I do wish it was sooner then later, because pumpkin sure ain't the lightweight she used to be! If I dare say, she is a terrific sleeper...I can't even count on one hand the number of times I hear her awake in the night. And, if she does wake up then its just to talk to herself and her toys and then boom, she's out like a light. A few times here and there, Jay and I are the ones waking her up! Another present Evelyn got for her birthday was her big girl chair from Aunt Jenn and Uncle Tim...she is just the cutest when she actually sits in it and watches tv for a whole minute...but she mostly enjoys making it rock!

We recently had a family staycation during the first week of July! Both Jay and I were off and it is the one week of the year that daycare is closed. It was a nice, but fast vacation. We
spent time with family and friends celebrating the 4th of July with cookouts and what not. Evelyn looked so cute in her little 4th of July dress thanks to Aunt Jenn T!
We spent time over Aunt Jenn and Uncle Tim's pool where Evelyn wasn't the biggest fan of the water but she would warm up after a little bit...but never taking her death grip from my neck!
We spent a few days at camp where she fell in love with her baby pool! She LOVES to splash and scream in her baby pool pool...something that has translated over during bath time --- yeah, that's not so fun for Mommy! Hahah! Oh, and Evelyn has found herself a new favorite food too...corn on the cob!!
The summer is half way over and we are looking forward to just spending more time with pumpkin outside, taking walks, going to the river and spending time with friends and family! We have Daddy's birthday coming up and Pumpkin is trying to cook-up a super gift to surprise him with!! Any ideas?!?!
Evelyn isn't scheduled to go back to the doctor's until early September...although we'll see if that works out as planned...you never know with kids!! Hopefully the next time I update this it will be with the big 'W' news!! (aka...walking!)