Sicky Icky

Maybe Evelyn wanting me all the time isn't as wonderful as I thought. Not being able to put your baby down doesn't leave you much time to get things done. This neediness is due to her wide variety of illnesses she has contracted this past week including pink eye in both eyes, a double ear infection, barking cough, runny nose, diarrhea which caused a yeast infection and a temperature. The pink eye is relatively gone (although I'm still washing laundry, hands and disinfecting our entire house 30 times a day) but we are still dealing with teething and the ear infection pain-not wanting to nap, spurts of crying and wanting mommy. I guess it's a little chaotic to me considering how wonderfully behaved she has always been. One good thing about these illnesses is she's wanting to nurse earlier in the night. Company or not she subtly hints by smashing her face into my chest, pulling my shirt collar down and blowing raspberries on my chest. It's not embarrassing at all!! But this earlier nurse lets us play a little, watch a quick half of The Wonder Pets and Evelyn now puts herself to sleep in crib with a paci, her lovey and her mobile. Hopefully this part keeps up, the aggressive nursing demands not so much.

Walking In A Winter Wonderland

Evelyn has grown increasingly attached to me...and I love it. It's like she only wants me most of the time, and let me tell you, it's a great feeling. So last night Jared was holding her on the couch to look out the window when she looked down and saw me sitting on the floor. She wanted to come to me but we decided she had to do it on her own. So Jared held her about 3feet away from me and she took THREE steps to me!!! I got a little teary-eyed. I can't believe my baby girl is ready to walk! We repeated the process over and over and she continued to take a few steps. She's only 9months, this is crazy!

**

I hope everyone had a great Christmas. We had our best yet. Between staying up late on Christmas Eve waiting for Santa Clause to show (which he did at 11pm!) and opening presents for 3hours on Christmas morning, we were pretty exhausted. But it was worth it. Ev got to meet Santa and hysterically cry on his lap, she got tons of presents and most importantly we got to spend relaxing time with our family. It's only going to get better as the years go on. I'm enjoying being a parent more than I ever could have imagined at this young, ripe age of 21. I'm glad things happened how they did. I love my little family.

PS My cameras USB cord is broken and I just ordered one last night so I'll have to have an update blog with pics and videos of the past few weeks. I have some really good pics and some priceless videos.

Yowzuh!!

Ouch. Evelyn's a biter! She understands no, this I'm sure of, but she just can't put two and two together sometimes. She definitely understands no. For instance, if I walk in on her sitting dangerously close to the television, drooling up at The Backyardigans I will say 'No!' and she almost jumps through the ceiling. It is too funny. She knows she's doing something wrong. But when she bites and you say no she thinks it's hilarious. Partly because when I tell her no she begins to pout and her big, sad lip just cracks me up. I guess laughing while saying no isn't the most effective way to scold her. But we're working on it.

Another thing Evelyn understands is the coming and going of company. When someone goes to leave she pathetically gazes up at them trying to convince them to stay. Then we sit on the couch to look out the window and wave bye-bye until they're out of sight. At this point Evey bends forward to look back and forth in case they're just pulling her leg. This is SUCH a fun stage.

Cheap Thrills

Due to FOUR new teeth coming in at once and a smidgen of a cold Evelyn had quite a time last night (waking every 2hours and finally falling asleep 1hour before I had to wake up for work!). We've been sending Oberweis Dairy Christmas cards to all of Jared's customers and Evelyn has grown increasingly determined to get her hands on one. So last night out of pity I let her have one. It instantly turned her frown upside down. The next half hour went like this-Evelyn handed the card to Jared, Jared handed the card to me, I handed the card to Evelyn, we would all laugh. Who knew that was the answer to our problems the past few nights!

We've also used the Christmas cards to encourage her to walk. She has begun standing on her own at only 8months and has even taken a few steps a time or two. It's amazing!

Between her new fake laughs, standing/walking and her great sense of humor we've been having a blast these past few months. I never thought I could have so much fun with a baby!

We're In Trouble

This last video is priceless.

Cutest giggle ever.




Notice in this video that Evelyn is using her back to scale the wall of her crib attempting to touch her mobile. Lately if she wants to move from one toy to the other she thinks, "Ya know, I'll just walk over there" and begins to move her feet. She CAN walk around her play table while holding herself up. She's gonna be a handful!

Bedtime Humor

Bedtime is now a game in this house. Our night time nurse is full of giggles and rolling over, slapping at my face and babbling uncontrollably. But I have to admit, it's pretty hilarious.

This pictures summarizes our bedtime routine lately.

That's hysterical laughter, not crying you see in this picture.

Last night during our bedtime nurse Evelyn whipped herself up on her knees and was leaning over me slapping my thigh. It made a loud smacking sound through my thin pajama pants and Evelyn apparently found it very amusing. She was bouncing up and down, slapping and laughing. We couldn't help but crack up ourselves. We were crying we laughed so hard.

She has been too much fun. Watching the progress she makes daily is amazing. In just a few short days she's able to balance for a few seconds while standing on her own.

She's great at pulling herself up to stand at a table or couch or pull at my pant legs in despair wanting to be held.

She's so close to crawling I can taste it. For now she army crawls at full speed to follow me around the house and get to her toys. Nothing stops this girl. She can get through any obstacle in her path.

Army Crawling Movie Star

My neighbor always refers to Evelyn as a walking movie star. I like to correct him by saying she is an army crawling movie star. And man does she get around! My parents were amazed by her speed as she drug herself around the room tonight. She's made such progress since the few days they saw her last. Time just flies!

We've been enjoying the beautiful weather of the last few days but today was by far the warmest. Here are a few pics of us frolicking in the sun.







All tuckered out after watching the Bears lose :(



And here's a little baby butt.

Any Day Now

Remember the play table I mentioned earlier? She loves it. Can you tell?



Guess who's crawling! My neighbors nephew who's 3weeks younger than Evelyn. She made a little progress tonight by moving one hand forward while on her hands and knees. It should be any day now. Any day. No more whining when I go in the other room-she can just follow!

Speaking of whining, a certain someone loves the bathtub and used her whines to subtly hint she would enjoy a bath tonight. We played with our new squirting animal toys from Grandma Jill. You'll notice in one of the pictures that her right leg is forever sticking straight up. She's such a ham.

On The Move

We're almost there-Evelyn is ALMOST crawling! She rocks on her hands and knees and has now realized how to lay on her belly and use her arms to pull herself forward. She also does this while sitting, similar to a dog. Her tiny little body looks so funny moving about.

As I've previously mentioned she can also pull herself into a standing position which she has attempted to do in her crib. So scary! We're lowering the mattress tonight! Her crib is right next to her bedroom window which she loves to look out of while whispering to the outdoors. I heard her stirring after an afternoon nap and walked in to find her on her belly pulling the crib bumper down to gaze out her window. Usually when I walk in after a nap I find two little smiling eyes peeking through the crib slats to greet me, like I did this morning.





She just kills me. She has such a personality.

Her new favorite toy is a rocking chair she received from her late great-grandmother, Ester Kern. Before she passed she wrote a list of things she wanted distributed to her grandchildren. Somehow she knew Jared would be giving her family their first grandchild and we inherited a beautiful, hand-carved child's rocking chair-Evelyn's new favorite toy. She uses her new dance moves to rock back in forth in the little chair and has already learned how to climb right out of it to use it as a support to stand. I'm telling you, this girl's gonna be a handful!

Update!

I LOVE my job. So many interesting things happen each day and I love the residents at my home. Unfortunately due to confidentiality I cannot share any stories. :( Sorry.

It's nice to get off work at 2pm and still have pretty much the whole day to do your own thing. I usually wake up around 4am to begin my morning routine and return home to shower before picking her up from daycare-don't want to spread any germs from the nursing home! Our daycare provider prefers I pick her up at 3:30pm since they take their 2nd nap at 2pm which works out nice for me so I can shower and get a few things done at home. Besides her teething fussiness we've had a pretty smooth operation going. It's nice to still spend the day with her.

She is cutting 2 new teeth and our lives have been hell because of it! She has been fussy, fussy, fussy. We took her to the hospital Wednesday with symptoms of the Swine Flu-high fever, refusing to drink/nurse, increased fussiness(perhaps due to body aches?) and a rash. The rash started on her forehead and soon spread over her entire body. We found out it was all due to teeth. We were informed to use Motrin vs Tylenol and it has worked SO much better! I noticed such a big change the first night. Hopefully those babies pop in soon so I can continue sleeping through the night-we now have a 2am nurse when the Motrin wears off.

In other Evelyn news, she has learned to pull herself up into a standing position, can stand at a play table for minutes at a time, almost has the hang of waving bye-bye and can get up on her hands and knees to rock back and forth. She thinks, "Maybe if I rock back and forth here for a while I'll shoot forward!" No luck yet, but I have a feeling it'll be soon!!

Whine Flu

Today Evelyn awoke at 5am to nurse then fell back asleep (in bed with me) til 8am. I couldn't have been happier to sleep in!! I really needed it.

After breakfast I noticed she felt very warm so following the changing of her second poopy diaper of the morning I took her temperature-100.7. I was scared!! I quickly called my mom who was unavailable due to my Aunt Bud's funeral. I continued down the list and called my cousin Sarah. She explained it was nothing to be alarmed about just make sure she has enough wet diapers and is drinking enough. She ate regularly all day, drank a bottle of juice and didn't act sick-besides whining all day. Around 11am she had a bm for the fourth time and continued with the whining. After a 3hour nap she awoke with a smile but quickly became upset again. I dosed her with Ibuprofen at 11am and 5pm, which didn't seem to help. Although she was very whiney all afternoon she was pretty laid back at times-I actually held her while she was still to watch tv for a half hour. I haven't cuddled her like that in months! It was great.

My remedy for today was a little TLC and she is happily asleep since 6pm. I'm sure we'll have a midnight nurse and then hopefully sleep til our regular time. Cross your fingers!

I hope her condition doesn't worsen. My guess is it's a little cold or more teeth. Hopefully her condition doesn't worsen over night.

Almost A Terrible Night

My first day was a success! I made it out the door exactly on time and the girl training me said I did great for my first day. I'm pretty confident in my abilities yet I was a tad overwhelmed today. So much to memorize in only two weeks-who gets what care, what time, etc. But I'm sure I'll get it down.

I woke Evelyn at 5:30am to take her to Grandma Jill's. She arose with a scowl but when I lifted her from her crib she gave a little grin then laid her head on my shoulder to rub her eyes. Heaven. She went back to sleep at Grandma's for another hour and a half and arrived at daycare around 9am. She ate well-I pumped exactly the amount she ate-BUT she only took a one hour nap. She was relieved to see me when I picked her up and sadly her eyes were red from crying. She had just woken up, hungry I'm sure.

Once we were home she enjoyed herself on the living room floor playing with an assortment of toys and books while Grandma Nancy and I watched. My mom holds up this mirror Karen gave us and Evelyn can see her at an angle. She'll look in the mirror to see her, then look over at her and smile. It's adorable. As soon as Grandma left she began to fuss. She played in her high chair and ate O's while I made dinner but unexpectedly took a turn for the worse when we sat down to eat. She was crying so hard all of a sudden. I took her out to give her a bath, her favorite, and she splashed around for a while and again began to cry-through the washing in the tub, her diaper, her pajamas-until we turned on Dora. She quickly was sick of this as well and began crying again. I thought the worst-teething! I was scared of the thought of Jared working tonight and me being home alone with her crying through the night in pain. Ahhh!

Thank goodness it was such a beautiful night. We grabbed a hat and a ton of blankets and went for a stroll. After 3minutes she was asleep. And what a scenic walk we had. It was beautiful, all the leaves and the weather. She awoke once we returned home but fortunately dozed back off (by 7:30). Phew! Thank you, Lord. This momma needs some sleep after today!! My feet are killin' me!

Wish Me Luck

We had a relaxing Sunday. We got a lot done-vacuumed the whole house, dust/windex, bathroom cleaned, lots of laundry, Jared made french toast for breakfast and painted the trim in Evelyn's room. All of this before Evelyn's morning nap.

When she awoke we joined some friends of ours and their 2-month-old son, Dawson, for a Vikings game and lunch. After the game we had a short visit with Jared's Grandma Rainbow who showed us pictures of her trip to the East coast. We didn't quite stay home like we planned, but we had a fun, relaxing day-tomorrow morning will be the opposite!

I have the diaper bag packed, scrubs laid out, lunch made and my pump plugged in and ready to go first thing in the morning. I can't wait to snuggle up in our King sized down comforter we busted out for winter (already!). Evelyn fell asleep at 7:30 giving me time to prepare my things and still have a 1/2 hour to watch tv. Hopefully she'll continue this early bedtime, which has lasted the past 2nights. I'm worried it will be crunch time when I pick her up from daycare-nurse, unpack diaper bag, dinner, get ready for bed and the next day-and won't have much time to spend with her. I'll still have 2 days off a week but we will most likely be busy those days with family, dr appts and I will probably be exhausted. I hope I still get time with my Bug. I'm gonna miss her.

Wish me luck-hopefully everything goes smoothly in the morning

Evelyn The Entertainer

Hooray! My cold is gone! I went to bed early at 9pm with some VapoRub and cough drops, Jared woke me up at 6am to nurse Evelyn and I slept in again til 9. I felt a little sore this morning but regained my strength by the afternoon.

We met Jared's step-sister, Jamie, for lunch at her grandparents where Evelyn was the main attraction. We all sat around watching her play. Isn't it funny how entertaining a baby can be? We set one of her toys just outside her reach and she would semi-crawl to get it. She's definitely getting the hang of it. I'm dying to see her first crawl but I have a feeling it will be bittersweet-she's already a handful! It is officially impossible to change her diaper and dress her. She's constantly rolling away. But how could you get mad at a cute little monkey like her?

She also is learning how to wave goodbye-we demonstrate while she tries to copy. Sometimes she gets the right hand working, other times she's watching one hand but the other is moving. None the less, she is completely aware of what she is doing. At first we thought her motions were a coincidence but I'm positive she is learning to wave. When you first wave to her she stops whatever she's doing to concentrate on her motions. So smart.

Man, Do Guys Have It Easy

I hope I don't get terribly sick. Today I awoke again with a sore throat and a lazy feeling...which may have worked to my benefit this evening. After breakfast with Jared's family this morning and a million dollar grocery trip we returned home to cook dinner and begin our nighttime routine. Because of my ill condition Jared cooked dinner, did the dishes and completed Evelyn's bedtime routine while I sat on the couch, wrapped up in a blanket watching TV. Man do guys have it easy.

After dinner Jared was in charge of cleaning off the table and high chair, cleaning the kitchen, retrieving the laundry from the dryer, giving Evelyn a bath and cleaning up the living room. After her bath I noticed him become a little frustrated with Evelyn who was squirming right out of her pajamas-every time he would get one of her limbs in her pajamas, another would pop right back out. During this he asked me to put another load of laundry in and I simply explained it was just too cold in the breezeway for my cold symptoms-a similar excuse I would receive from him if asked. I think he felt a little overwhelmed. Hopefully this experience will help him to understand the toll that housework and going to school and/or working has on a nursing mother and teach him to appreciate my efforts. Although, unfortunately, I doubt this will happen. Men!

I'm happy to report Jared is off with some friends and I am once again lathering on the Vicks vaporub and hitting the sack early. Good riddance you nasty old cold!

PS I'm not upset with Jared although it does sound this way in my blog. I just wish he showed a great appreciation for my cleanliness and organization. The dream of all housewives.

Oh, Grandpa

After my orientation today we loaded up the car and headed to my Grandma Jo's. She made us a delicious home-cooked meal of ham, creamed peas and mashed potatoes with, of course, homemade cookies for dessert. She swears she 'can't cook anymore' but deep down she knows she's still got it. She loved watching Evelyn enjoy her first self-fed meal of mashed taters and peas. She had them down her sleeves, on her little legs, everywhere. But I was glad she enjoyed it. Jared and Ev watch TV as Grandma and I did the dishes together, something I miss doing. Something I also miss is eating dinner with my Grandpa Eli. When I was setting the table I asked Grandma who should sit where-I sat in my normal spot, Jared in Grandmas and Grandma sat in Grandpas seat. I didn't feel comfortable with anyone else in his chair-it brought tears to my eyes remembering him in his chair with his cup of coffee after dinner. I'm just not comfortable with it yet. I don't think I've ever really come to terms with the passing of my grandfather. I'm easily upset with thoughts of my Grandpa, something that hasn't happened until now. When I stayed at my cousin Sarahs overnight I came across a picture of her and Grandpa dancing. I looked at it remembering every inch of that face that I will never forget. I took a silent moment to myself to cry. I never realized how much I miss him. I wish Evelyn could have known the Grandpa I admire so much.

Oh, Grandpa, I miss you.

Schedule Malfunction

Do you love my new blog or what? My friend Kelly introduced me to a supercute website with lots of backgrounds to choose from. thecutestblogontheblock.com Love it!
**

My mom called me with a great proposition this morning-she wanted to spend some time with her darling granddaughter and offered to babysit while I took Jared out to lunch for his birthday. Sold! We went to a new bar in Peru about 20minutes away called Cabin Fever. We had a few drinks, ate some good food and really enjoyed ourselves. The bartender was great, she was fun and in a great mood and the food and drinks were very reasonably priced-we'll definitely be going back. It was nice to spend some time alone together and we had a really good time.

Evelyn woke up right before we left and was excited to see Grandma. When we got home she was worn out from singing and dancing and was ready for a nap. She drank a little bottle and fell right asleep. Earlier at her morning naptime, around 9am, I could tell she was tired. After refusing to nurse I slipped her her paci, laid her in her crib and she rolled over and put herself to sleep. So tonight I thought it would be a breeze to get her in bed. This proved to be untrue-she was changed, nursed, rocked and still was unhappy. After finally winding down a bit she wanted to nurse a little more. I laid on her new carpet with her and she drank a few swallows and rolled onto her side which usually means goodnight! But she wasn't ready just yet. I began rubbing her back and the instant I stopped she would rollover to see if I was still there. This wasn't working out, my hand was beginning to tire, so we went back to the rocking chair. She was falling asleep but had to know for sure I was still there. She loves glasses and touching faces and began doing so while I was rocking her. She finally fell asleep with her little hand tightly grasping my nose. It took all I could not to laugh and wake her up. She's such a firecracker, I love her so.

I've been stressing out and getting frustrated about her getting off her schedule. Some days are good, some days are bad. The past few nights haven't been so bad-bed on time last night, regular naps today-but tonight was a late bedtime-an hour behind schedule. I'm not going to stress though. She's gotten offtrack before but once she began attending daycare she resumed her normal schedule. I find comfort in the thought of her attending next week. Hopefully it will all fall into place again. I'll be waking up at 4:30am-no room for error.

Oh! And I almost forgot. Evelyn got up on her knees today. She'll be crawling in no time! Watch out world.

Life In HD

My glasses finally came today. Hooray! I can see again! I can read the guide on DirecTV! But it's a little overwhelming. My vision is almost too clear, I feel like I'm getting a headache. My eye Dr. said to just keep wearing them, I may feel like they're too strong because I'm not used to them. Hopefully it all works out. It's nice to not have to squint all day. I can't tell you how many people I see driving, in the store, at school that wave to me and I have to glare to see them. They all probably think I'm mean :(

Last night my fussy baby was not falling asleep so I gave her a teeny bottle of juice-1/2 oz of juice, 1 1/2 oz water. Now don't worry, I am definantly NOT going to make this a habit. It scares me to start giving her juice knowing it calms her down. My cousin explained to me she gave her kids juice kind of early and they drink alot now. Not that it's unhealthy, just at this age I feel she should be drinking strictly breastmilk (or if you bottle feed, formula) for nutrients. Anyways, last night I gave her a tiny bottle and it was leaking out of her mouth so I took it away and she instantly started crying. Once I gave it back she was fine. This also happened the other day-she was using the safe feeder to eat a slice of cantaloupe and cried when I took the feeder to refill it. It's kind of funny. She is getting so smart! My little monkey.

One more thing, today was Jared's 28th birthday. I planned on not buying him a present or card to let him know how disappointing and heartbreaking it is to not receive anything from your significant other as he did to me on every birthday EVER and on my first Mother's Day-well Mother's Day I got a card at least. Since we've been together I've always made his birthday a special day and you all know my great idea from Father's Day. It really hurts my feelings to not be appreciated on these special days. So tonight we had plans to go to a local bar & grill for dinner. I told him Happy Birthday this morning and that was the end of it. By the time we went for dinner I couldn't hold out. About an hour before leaving I had to run to the dollar store so I stopped by the restaurant we were going to to plan a surprise dessert. A bartender that I am acquainted with explained she would be running to the grocery store and offered to pick out a cake. When we were through with dinner we were enjoying some conversation when they came out with cake and candles and the whole bar sang Happy Birthday to him. He was so surprised! Evelyn totally wanted those candles, too. I let him know how upsetting it was to never have received a surprise like this. I think my next birthday will be good.

Slumber Party!!

Last night Evelyn and I had a slumber party with my cousin, Sarah, and her two children, Riley and Renee. They loooved the baby, a little too much at times, and between Renee fetching her toys and Riley causing her hysterical laughter, they made her feel right at home. We had lunch with Karen, Will and Cole, enjoyed a short visit from Aunt Martha and Uncle Jim and spent the rest of the evening laying around playing-after a short visit to Target.* My favorite part of the night would have to be when the babes went to sleep and Sarah and I enjoyed a glass of wine and a movie (Bride Wars-too cute!). It was great to spend some time relaxing together. I wish I lived closer. I enjoyed seeing everyone and wished Evelyn had the chance to spend more time with all of her cousins. Here are some pics of the kiddos in the morning.

*DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT!
This portable baby food dispensing spoon looked like a dream when Sarah and I found it in Target. Scam! Once you fill the handle with baby food a million air bubbles are created causing the food to squirt out whenever you squeeze the handle to dispense the food. Sweet potatoes were spraying all over the table, diaper bag, Evelyn and me-who happened to be wearing a white shirt, of course! Also, the spoon was so deep that once you dispensed an overflowing spoonful of food she barely got any. Between the buildup in the spoon and the spraying baby food about 1/4 of the jar was wasted. Don't waste your money, just bring along the jar of food and a spoon. Way more convenient.

***

One more thing, Karen gave us a ducky baby bath that is totally adorable! Although it is terribly cute I think Evelyn may still be a tad too small-she was kind of sliding forward and almost took a nose dive a few times which could have led to inhalation of water, scary!! We will definantly be hanging on to it for further use because she clearly loved the elbow room.

Missing Videos!

Evelyn in her bouncy seat.

Evelyn dancing! Love it.

Missing Pictures (Ahh..Mommy Time)

Evelyn's first time eating O's...

Using the pincer grasp to pick up an O...

...Initial taste of an O...

...chewing the O....

..and patiently waiting for another with pursed lips :)

Splish Splash

Evelyn sat in a high chair for the first time tonight! It was so exciting. She giggled and rocked the whole time we ate. It's great that she can feed herself those O's now, it's nice to keep her occupied at the table while I eat my dinner. She fed herself some O's and ate some babyfood between my bites. It was nice.

She has also grown accustomed to the safe feeder. After some advice from my Aunt Levonne and cousin Sarah I found a way to make the feeder more appealing to Evelyn-packing it to keep it's shape and wetting the net before feeding. It is now the highlight of her meals. Last night there was cantalope juice all over her face, clothes and high chair and her hair was hard and sticking to her scalp. She had a blast and was ready for a bath.

She loooves her bath now. She has finally grasped the concept of splashing and has so much fun in the tub. She splishes and splashes and does this new fake giggle. It's so funny. She may have just realized how to laugh but she tries so hard it sounds totally fake. Still funny though. She is so much fun! I LOVE this stage she is in.

She has so much fun playing, smiles and laughs at us-Jareds fave, is eating more solid foods with us at mealtime and is on a pretty predictable schedule. She went to bed right on time again tonight leaving time for mommy to pump a little and give herself a pedicure in her new Espresso Brown fall nailpolish. And FYI, I swear by the PedEgg. Genius!

Ahhhh...Mommy Time

Checklist from this morning:

• Nurse Evey Bug & feed cereal
• Dust/Vacuum
• Do morning dishes/clean new pump pieces
• Put 6month pictures in a million greeting cards for family & friends while Evelyn whines
• Put Evelyn down for morning nap at regular time (Yess!)
• Make deposit
• Grocery shop
• 4 loads of laundry
• Re-organize linen closet
• Transition Evelyn's closet from Summer/Fall to just Fall
• Teach Evelyn to feed herself O's

That's right, Evelyn can feed herself these apple o's that dissolve in your mouth. I got the cuuutest pictures of her grabbing them and feeding herself but of course my camera's USB cord is MIA. I also got a good video of Evelyn dancing when I turned the radio on and one of her laughing in her new Jumparoo.

Today was a good, productivce day. Job interview tomorrow afternoon but for now I'm relaxing on the sofa with a glass of wine, watching TV...ALONE!!! This never happens! I'm living the high life tonight.

Rain Rain Go Away

After about 2hours of Rock-A-Bye Baby I wish I could just record my voice to play for Evelyn at night. Is anybody with me? Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy putting her to sleep and singing to her. But sometimes it's just like, man! Go to sleep! I know you're tired little babe. That's what I was thinking this afternoon as Evelyn refused her afternoon nap. Skipping this nap led to an unfortunate evening for my friend, Chelsea.

Tonight was my brother Garretts Homecoming football game I promised to attend. The weather was terrible and I was kind of tired but really wanted to go. My friend, Chelsea, agreed to babysit from 4pm til around 9. Evelyn was fussy here and there but was fast asleep when we returned home at quarter after 8. She said she enjoyed the baby but I still feel bad she was fussy. It's just because she missed the nap. Chelsea explained that's what friends are for :)

The Amboy Clippers went into the game with a 5-0 record. The weather was terrible and the team went into the game with a negative attitude. As we sat in the cold, windy rain in our earmuffs, wool socks, turtle necks, sweatshirts, scarfts, winter jackets, hats and rain ponchos, we realized they were giving up in only the 2nd quarter. They weren't playing as a team. Unfortunately, in the 3rd quarter my baby bro was injured and was sent to the hospital. He has a contusion to the bone and a sprained elbow and will be unable to attend PE or football for one week. At least nothing was broken. Poor baby bro.

Forever Young

I got an A on my Exam giving me an overall A in my CNA course. Yay!

Tonight during bathtime I noticed Evelyn slow down in the middle of her splashing and just sit for a minute. Thinking nothing of it I let her play a little more and was ready to wash her up. Dipping the washcloth in the water I noticed a spot on her arm. I went to pick it off thinking it must be some kind of lawn clipping from Gary showering before her but when I touched it, it smeared. Around the same time I noticed a foul odor coming from the water. After a little deep sea diving the water began to cloud and I finally found the culprit-a little baby turd! Ewwww. I scooped Evey outta her tub, wrapped her in a towel and had to call in the reinfocements (Gary) to contain her while I cleaned up the mess-I didn't want her sitting on the bathroom floor with a draft from the heat vent or tipping over onto the tile floor. After a little scrubbing and a refill of the baby bath we finally finished bathing and were ready for our ni-ni nurse.

We began the bedtime process with our usual side-lying nurse in my bed when I realized from Evelyn's flailing limbs that she wasn't going down without a fight. Not tonight. I took her to her room to rock her and nurse a little more but she was still too fidgety. We again layed down on the bed and began a little more nursing. She started rolling about and I let her go freely to wind herself down. She ended up on her side at a 90 degree angle to me with our heads together and I gently began rubbing her back in a figure 8 from her shoulders to her little diaper butt while singing a little lullabye. She instantly relaxed and let her body go limp. At about the 37th round of Rock-A-Bye Baby I decided to end the singing but remain rubbing her back. Her head instantly shot up. I resumed the singing and it dropped back down to the mattress. Too freakin cute! After a few more attempts of ending the singing I got the same result and then she finally fell asleep. Laying there singing and rubbing her back was such a peaceful moment. I will never forget how angelic she looked suckling her paci, her arms crossed in front of her and her big diapered butt. I am thorougly enjoying this stage. If they could only stay young...

Cantelope Disaster

Evelyn is so over baby food. She wants to eat like a big girl. Today we shared a lunch of ham, potatoes and carrots. Afterwards we decided to have cantelope to refresh our palate. A few nights ago I gave her a big ol' chunk of watermelon (after I inspected is to make sure it was free of seeds) and she nawed on it with her two little bottom teeth, occasionaly scraping a small shaving into her mouth. We have a handle thing with a net for things like this but I tried giving it to her once before and she was not a fan. My cousin, Sarah, informed me to pack it completely full to keep the shape and it may regain her interest. Anyways, since I didn't have it on hand I just gave her a big piece she couldn't possibly get in her mouth. After sucking the first piece completely dry I threw it away and gave her a second. A few seconds into it she began to choke and started crying her cry of sudden pain. I freaked out! I was so scared. I ripped the cantalope out of her hand patted her on the back hoping to get it down, or up, and it still didn't help. Thankfully I took my CPR class because I learned how to save a choking infant. I held her belly down at a downward angle and slapped her on the back. The piece of cantalope came shooting out. I felt terrible! She was so scared. I think we'll have to use the net from now on. Looking back that was a pretty stupid idea.

My Little Socialite

Woo hoo!! I got a 100% on my Exam today giving me a 97% overall in my class. Thursday is my Final, piece of cake. Even if I get a D, which I definantly won't, I'll still pass. Yay!

So Evelyn totally loves the kids at her daycare. This morning she was sad to see me go. After some kisses and a big hug I sat her on the floor to play and she definantly wasn't into it. I went in the playroom and the instant she saw Garrett and Griffin she was ecstatic. She didn't even notice me leaving. It's so neat that she loves to be with other kids. My little socialite.

That front tooth is still causing some problems-a little fussing here and there. Tonight to ease the pain, we went for a looong walk. I had Evelyn in a one-piece sweatsuit, a fleece jacket with the hood up, a hat, a receiving blanket, a thick snuggly blanket AND a thick fleecey kind of blanket from the couch. Her teeny little face was exposed but due to the blankets tucked in from her toes to her cheeks it was warm the entire time. She took a little snooze and happily went to bed on time. After watching Dancing With The Stars, of course. She refused her night-night nurse to watch the finale with Grandpa.

Daddy's Girl

Due to a terrifying story my Aunt Martha told me I have removed the nakey pic of Evelyn and replaced it with a modified version. Take a look, it's still beautiful.


This weekend Nanc, Gar and I came down with a little bug. I was totally lazy today and felt terrible-pounding headache, a cough that made my head throb, a runny nose and sore throat. Thankfully it was my last day in clinical and this thought alone helped me through the day!! My mom was feeling lazy too. She held Evelyn basically the entire time she babysat leaving her quite needy when I came home to take over. Because she only napped 45minutes all afternoon I was hoping she would nurse and fall asleep when I got home so I could sleep, too. Think again. She was fussy until she ate some turkey & sweet potatoes, fussy again, loved her bath, fussy again, had some entertaining visitors, fussy again, LOVED looking out the window at the trees blowing in the wind* and finally daddy came to the rescue. At 7:15pm he began rocking her, at 7:20 she was fast asleep. Thank God for Daddy's :) This momma's tired and has her last exam tomorrow, final Thursday.

**Grandma Nancy recently showed Evelyn that you can enjoy the outdoors without really being outside. She holds her so she can see out of the back door and Evelyn squeals in delight. She gets so excited. She jumps and rocks and talks, then settles down and whispers to the outdoors. She loves being outside. Hopefully looking out the window will get us through fall and winter!

Nakey Baby

Update! Evelyn slept through the night again and had a good nap this morning, in bed at the regular time tonight. Phew! Two nights in a row. I'm totally going to bed after this. I have a paper to finish in the morning.

On the family note, Jared babysat Evey Bug this morning while I worked a busy busy morning at Sears. Afterwards, I went home to wash the lotion out of my hair and we got ready for pictures. That's right, I said lotion. I mistakenly bought lotion instead of conditioner..the two products were the same brand in all most the exact same bottle. Biolage should really look into changing this confusing similarity.

Anywho, Evelyn did amazing at her pictures! We even got a really good one of all 3 of us. We did Evelyn in 2 different outfits, a few nakey shots and her Halloween costume. They turned out great! Next week my parents, brothers, Jared, Evelyn and I are meeting at Sears for a family portrait. It should be interesting.

Here's a sneak preview..my mom is not a fan. She thinks nakey pics are inappropriate but I think they're adorable-we do them all the time at Sears. Plus I only posted them on here because only my family and close friends read this. I'll be posting the rest tomorrow and you guys can e-mail me which ones you would like-I ordered a million wallets.

Hooray For Garage Sales!

Look who's sitting all on their own!!

She has sat up for the past few weeks by leaning between her legs but while Gary has been babysitting he has placed the Boppy around her for support and all of a sudden she's out on her own. I loooove when she rocks back and forth. Too cute.

Evelyn has been sooo off track since we've been staying at my moms-fussy, not going to bed on time. During a bath last night we realized she has her two front teeth coming in! After some Tylenol and a teething strip before bed the past few nights she has been much better. I thought it was due to new surroundings, letting the poor girl suffer through the pain! I'm sure it's a mixture of both. Anyways, the good news is last night she went to bed at 8pm, a half hour early, awoke at 2am to nurse and slept til 7am. Nice. Mommy needed some rest. Today she took her regular naps and was in bed right on time. Hopefully we're back on track.

Tomorrow are our family pictures and townwide garage sales so we need our beauty sleep. On a walk today we spotted a few garage sales that had already set up shop-both had ALL baby stuff. We scored 4pairs of pants, a few tops and two cozy one-piece outfits (all Old Navy, my fav), a pair of baby flip flops, high tops and little pink Nikes, all for next summer, and a few toys for only $15. At another sale we found a baby Jumparoo for 15 bucks!! I looked online and it was worth $80. Score!!

My mom also found Evelyn a rocking chair.

And here she is with her new roomy/BFF.

A Day of Firsts

The moment you've all been waiting for. The reveal of my Brand! New! Bathroom!!!

BEFORE

And AFTER

In worse news, as a result of a poor decision Jared has made, Evelyn and I will be staying with my mother for a while. It has been a rough adjustment for all of us. Evelyn's schedule is officially destroyed, I had to change daycares after we finally just got a routine down, all of our baby gear AND my things are packed into one small bedroom and it is VERY hard to do homework while handling a baby on your own. Taking care of a baby on your own is very hard work, especially when teething. She has had such a hard time going to bed the past few nights. I am SO frustrated. And with no time to study I am just a mess. Hopefully we will be home soon. I miss my little house. Especially since I have spent so much time and effort making it look so nice. This is Jared and Evelyn's longest stay apart and they are both taking it pretty bad. Hope things shape up.

Anyways..today Evelyn had a few interesting firsts. After eating a large dinner of Apples&Chicken, a little Ham AND some Banana/Pear/Granola (yum!), she was still unsatisfied. I was eating some watermelon and decided to rip her off a chunk. She nawed on a medium sized square and used her bottom teeth to get a few shavings into her mouth. She really enjoyed the juice and the feeling on her hands and teeth. And earlier in the day my mother made some butternut squash. I had never had this before and thought it was amazing! Evelyn was eyeing it, of course, so I fed her a few bites. She ate it very well and was definantly a fan. It's fun sharing food with her.

We also went to the park for the very first time today and to my surprise, she LOVED the swing!! A little small, but she hung in like a champ. We will definantly try this again before it gets too cold out.

Wanted: A Nap

First of all, I'd like to apologize to Karen for totally ripping off your signature 'Wanted' title.

I am my mothers daughter. In 1 1/2 hours I primed and painted 2 coats of paint in my bathroom. I feel wonderful. The walls are half tile, but none the less this was good time. I can't wait to get everything situated tomorrow morning. It's going to look fabulous. I'll post pictures tomorrow night for all of you that are dying to see it!

On account of school, painting and a Healthy Living seminar I attended tonight for extra credit, I have probably spent 3hours or less with Evelyn today and it's killing me. Although she accompanied me to the seminar, it wasn't really time spent with her. I am TOTALLY looking forward to spending a lazy morning with my monkey and plan to put the finishing touches on my bathroom during her nap...as well as clean the bathroom, mop the floor, vacuum and wash her bottles from today. After that, I'll be 'chillin out maxin at relaxin all cool' as Will Smith would say. Ooooh monkey! I can't wait to spend the day together!

Also, tonight I realized I can put my hair in a small, low pony. All in all today was a good day.

Bath Time=Bed Time

Ok, so Evelyn was a completely different baby last night. After napping for a total of 5hours yesterday, her eyes became heavy around 6pm. After a short walk around the neighborhood and a long, splashfilled bath, we settled in on the couch for a quiet nurse. Sometimes at night I nurse her in the living room with the tv on but tonight we made the house completely silent. At 7:15 she was finished eating, suckling like a pacifier-I knew she was out for good. I popped her paci in her mouth, rocked for a minute and layed her in her crib. She rolled over on her side, grabbed her lovey and was asleep by 7:30. Phew! I have a test this morning and really needed the study time and 8hours of sleep I got.

So this morning at 5am she woke up for a diaper change and her breakfast. I nursed her in bed for about 20minutes where she fell asleep. I placed her back in her crib and slept for another 45minutes-she is STILL in bed (at 7:35) and I plan on waking her when we leave at 8.

I hope she keeps up with this behavior because I can't handle another night like my last post. I really think the bath before bed is a great idea. It really seemed to relax her. My mom claims that was the key to putting Rachel and me to sleep. I'm glad I found a cure!

Oh, and Evelyn learned to walk.

Help! I Need Somebody

Because of her new bottom teeth Evelyn has awaken between midnight and 3am the past few nights wanting comfort. I gave her teething rings, let her watch Noggin and nursed her for as long as she would tolerate it. Needing sleep myself I was desperate for a cure and regretfully let her sleep in bed with us two nights in a row.

Yesterday and today she was wonderful at daycare-there was no fuss and no teething problems. Though she has been chewing on anything in sight, nothing out of the ordinary for this girl, I haven't seen hinting of teething pain the past 2days at home.

So tonight at 7:30 after a nice, long walk she showed signs of sleepiness. After a nurse I put her to bed where she immediately began crying. When I leaned in to re-tuck her in or give her her lovey she would instantly stop. Unfortunately I decided my only option was to let her cry herself to sleep. In the beginning I would sneak in every few minutes to check on her. I knew this was a mistake while doing so but I had to make sure she wasn't on her belly which would just create further problems. The crying would stop, then begin, then die down, then start even harder. After 15minutes I decided to check again thinking maybe her teeth did hurt or she had gas, something that hasn't happened in months, and realized there were no tears. I knew I had to be strong and just let her cry it out. After another 10-15minutes she was hysterical. After a desperate phone call to my mom (to give my cousins a break) I decided to give her a bath to relax her, where she laughed the second her toes hit the water. We then sat on the patio with a little bottle. Still awake, I brought her inside and layed her in bed where she put herself to sleep in about 10minutes (at 9pm).

I knew nothing was wrong with her, that she just wanted to be held, but was I wrong to let her cry like that? She smiled and laughed in the bathtub so I'm sure she's not in pain. It's the hardest thing I've ever done, listening to her cry. How do I handle these nights? I can't spend 2 1/2hours every night putting her to bed when I wake up at 5am for school. So stressed! Advice anyone??

Our First Sandwich Fair

And what a great day for it! It was warm and sunny with a perfect breeze!

After napping on the ride there, Evelyn enjoyed the stroller ride through the fair and only nursed once while we were there due to her brand new bottom teeth. She was loving the fresh air and ready to hit the fair festivities.

First stop-Grandma Nancy's quilt which received a purple ribbon, the highest placement. It was beautiful. The woman working commented it was 'alot of people's favorite'. My mom was more than pleased to hear that. (On the way back home we stopped at Walgreens to print out this picture of my moms quilt and frame it for her. She was very pleased to find it waiting for her when she returned home.)After a nice nurse on a secluded bench we met up with Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Gary. Now, in the past I have totally looked down on people who take their children to loud events, but this afternoon Evelyn attended her first demolition derby. That's right, we're white trash-right Karen?
There were 4heats in the event and during the second, two cars crashed so loudly it caused Evelyn to jump in fright and spit out her paci. This is where I drew the line. I immediately took her out of the venue and we found a perfect little spot in a shady area and settled in for a little cuddling. After a few verses of Rock A-Bye Baby she was sound asleep, sleeping through the end of the derby and the whole way home.

Unfortunately, last night she was up from midnight to 3am whining and crying in pain. After several unsuccessful attempts to feed and comfort her, she finally gave in to the Noggin network and fell asleep. Tonight, after a disolvable teething relief strip, she fell asleep at 6pm and will probably be waking up sometime soon so I'm going to try and get some sleep!

Oh Evelyn!

You are just too terribly cute. This morning after breakfast and some bouncy bouncy play time, we settled in for a cozy little nurse wrapped up in the covers of mommy and daddy's bed. Evelyn likes to sleep with her lovey, or sometimes her burp rag as a replacement. She holds on to it and rubs it on her cute little face and cuddles it-it's just the sweetest thing. So when she's getting tired I let her cuddle it while she's nursing herself to sleep. And this is how she ended up. My sweetie.

And yes that's a burprag under her head. I just don't trust her on my bed and don't feel like sleeping in spit-up.

Our First Playdate

I got another A on Exam #3!!!

A friend of mine, Stephanie, had a baby boy 2months before Evelyn was born, weighing in at 8lbs 2oz. She moved to North Carolina shortly after to live on base with her husband, James. They have been in town for a few weeks to visit family and finally stopped by tonight. Their son, Logan, is a chubby little monster! He is much larger than Evelyn. It was so fun to compare the similarities and differences in them. It was great to catch up and talk babies. We ordered some pizza, let the kids play. It was adorable!! Look at the difference in size.

Guess What!!

After a fabulous day of school I finally had an eye appointment and ordered my first pair of glasses in 7years! I forgot what it was like to see clearly. It will be like watching my life in HD!

After waiting in the dr office for an hour and a half I picked up Evelyn an hour later than usual. This worked out because I didn't have to wake her from a 3hour nap she was taking!! We were playing around on the floor as we usually do when I arrive and I was tickling her chubby little neck. Evelyn grabbed my finger to start sucking away when I felt something sharp in her mouth. I opened it up and to my surprise saw two little bottom teeth! I couldn't believe it! I was so excited! I rushed home to put it in the baby book. No wonder she's been having some issues the past few days. Poor monkey. But I have to say, all in all it hasn't been bad! She hasn't been too too fussy. A little here and there but it's usually curable by something to suck on or a little nurse. She is a strong baby..must get it from her dad.

Here's a picture from some afternoon play. If you look closely you can see one of the little toothers under her tongue (although Jared disagrees). I LOVE this picture!!

A few more pics from today and last night.

Lazy Labor Day Weekend

What a great weekend!

• Saturday I worked from 10am-2pm fulfilling the Kodak dreams of parents all across the Illinois Valley. I did awesome for my first time photographing in 4months!
  
• Sunday we attended a casual Labor Day dinner at my moms house. Guestlist-Mom, Gary, Jared, Evelyn, me, Garrett. We spent the entire afternoon in a circle on the living room floor watching Evelyn talk and play on a quilt. Heaven!


• Monday we successfully stayed in our pajamas until about noon. Evelyn went down for a nap and mommy rushed to the mall to find some fall clothes for Evelyn and a fall jacket for herself. (She also ended up finding an amazing Guess pea coat for friggin $15!!!! Amazing!) I also picked up an Adidas track suit for Evelyn. She's been workin out.

(Monday cont'd) I returned home right on time for Ev to wake up from a nap, then we hit the carnival in town for some livestock and corndogs. Evelyn pet her first cow...but was more interested in watching the fans.

Tonight Grandpa Gary, Evelyn and I attended an Amboy Clippers football game vs the Mendota Trojans. My step-brother, Garrett, is the star of the Amboy football team! I swear, every tackle his name was announced. He was great! They won 32 to 12. Gooooo Clippers!! We took Evelyn in her Snuggli so she didn't have to be held the entire time and we didn't have to lug any kind of seat into the bleachers. She loved it! It was an hour long game and she held up through the whole thing, fussing once when she dropped her teething ring through the bleachers-thankfully we had 2more in the bag ;) Supermom!!

And one last thing-Evelyn tried cantalope recently and clearly was not a fan.

Hooray For Hand Coordination!

[Sigh of relief]. Friday!! No school until Tuesday meaning 4days with Bug!! I thoroughly enjoyed spending the morning alone with Ev. We had a super-long wake up nurse, ate some cereal and bananas and lazily spent the rest of the morning lying in bed playing/watching Blue's Clues. A while into the program Evelyn began giving signs of an approaching nap-rubbing her tired eyes, whining between smiles and flailing her arms and legs. Another sign of nap time is yanking her paci out and then popping it back in her mouth. She can totally do this like 30times a minute now. She hasn't quite mastered the correct placement, but it's good enough for her. And me-I can't tell you how relieved I am to not have to get up every 5seconds to put that sucker back in her whining little mouth.



After a little more fuss and another quick nurse she was sound asleep. This was her first nap of the day for a total of 3 1/2 hours of napping. She has regularly been naping 3-4 hours at daycare. Finally!


Other highlights of the day:

• After a 30minute wait at the car dealership we received news that my car is A-okay!
• A short visit with Grandpa Gar and Grandma Nanc.
• Evelyn felt for the first time, and loved, grass.
• We spent a few hours with Grandma Jo including a quick visit from Sarah.
• And Evelyn successfully sat up on her own-with her hands between her legs for support.

All in all it was a great day!! Now work tomorrow and Sunday and Monday will be spent in our pajamas not leaving the house. Yay!

School, Jobs and Sweet Potatoes

I successfully made it through the day accident free! Yay! And no, Lavonne, Evelyn was not involved in either accident-she was in daycare already :) Thank God!!

Now I know this blog was meant for Evelyn, but since I don't talk to most of you everyday I feel the need to update on myself as well :)

I took my second Exam and I unfortunately scored an 86%B. My overall grade is still a 93%A but I really wanted to score all A's on my Exams. Oh well. I'm still doing good.

During school I recieved a phone call from my former employer, Sears Portrait Studio, offering me a position to take photos through the Christmas season. I explained that I am a new mother going to school and frankly, do not have time.. But I do miss my 75% picture discount! So I agreed to work Saturdays ONLY from 10am-2pm until I am through with school. Four hours is not so bad-I won't have to pump and Evelyn will probably be napping most of the time. And on top of that I will still be in the system as an employee and can get Evelyn's 6-month pictures dirt cheap. Plus, I really miss this job. It was terrible when I was pregnant, all the moving around and trying to get kids to sit still. But now that I am a mother I feel a greater confidence in getting the children to laugh and am finally able to move!

Moving on...Jared took Evelyn to daycare this morning where she would not take her eys off of Caroline long enough to say goodbye to him. She reported Evelyn took a morning nap for around and hour and an afternoon nap from noon-3pm. We're back on track and I couldn't be happier. She was very playful when we got home and enjoyed her exersaucer while I ate some quick dinner. We spent the rest of the evening with Jared's step-grandmother, Dorothy, who is such a joy to talk to. We discussed my schooling and she shared her experiences as a CNA. We also looked at my blog together-she is 78-years-old and knows how to e-mail and surf the internet. I was highly impressed. Here is a picture of our trip to her house..before Evelyn ate an entire jar of sweet potatoes and turkey. Piggy piggy. (Keep in mind it was taken on my phone and e-mailed to myself. Not the best quality.)

Impressively sitting in a booster on her own!

Are my posts too long? Lately they've been a little out of control. Tell the truth!

Miss Piggy

Another great morning took a turn for the worse! My car must have a bulls-eye on it because this morning on my way to school, it suffered through ANOTHER accident-as I came to the peak of a hill an older woman pulled out in front of me causing me to swerve around her straight into the guard rail. What a great start to the day! No tickets were issued and we went our seperate ways. The only problem is I never got her information! Duh! I've never been in an accident before and was kind of in shock. Fortunately, only the front bumper is scuffed and the front license plate is bent. Not much damage, but still frustrating.

After another terrible day of school I picked Evelyn up from day care. Finally, relief! She greeted me with a big ol' smile and we came home to relax. We had our afternoon nurse, played on the floor a little, spent some time in the exersaucer and decided to have some dinner. Here is a Evelyn patiently waiting for her din din.



And yes. She is sitting up all on her own....well, with a little help from the high chair, but impressive none the less.

Now with the stage1 vegetables, she usually only ate about a tablespoon. Last night I fed her apples and chicken (stage2) for the first time and she ate about 1/3 of the jar-I started with a tablespoon..then another...and then another! Tonight I warmed up another 1/3 of the jar and she ate it faster than the speed of light. I could barely get the bites to her mouth fast enough. And every time I tried scraping the excess off her chin she would follow the spoon, making it very difficult, but hilarious. She had alligator tears between every bite and before I knew it, I was warming up the last 1/3 and shoveling it into her very hungry mouth. After this she was still unsatisfied and I ended up feeding her about 1/3 of a jar of squash. What an oink! But she never spit up aferwards, and after a walk and a nighty night nurse she is sound asleep. Thank goodness! Mommy has a quiz in the morning.

Good pics from today :)