Texas Ex-Pats

Christmas in February?

2012-02-09T12:02:00.000-08:00

I am so far behind on the blog! Ahhh! I'm going to try to catch up slowly but surely, starting with some Christmas pics. This year Edie, Grandad, and Gigi (my mom's mom) shared Christmas with us here in Clovis. Enjoy the pictures!

Prepping the dessert spread with Mom

Christmas morning with Edie

Breakfast with Grandad

A little overwhelmed by all the presents!

4 generations

Hall family pic!

Evie Turns 1!!!

2011-12-15T12:29:00.000-08:00

I know we've been missing for a while, and I have so much to catch up on, but what better place to start than with Evie's first birthday? We celebrated December 2-4 with family and friends in Clovis. Edie, Grandad, Grammy, Pops, Papaw, and Aunt Andrea all came out for the festivities! Evie had a joint birthday party with her BFF Sophia, who is two days older than she is. I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking!

Having some fun with Edie on her birthday morning. What a chunk!

Where is Grandad's nose?

The fabulous cake! Made by a fellow USAF wife.

Mommy and the birthday girl are ready to par-tay!

A quick pre-party snuggle with Grammy, Pops, and Aunt Andrea

She loves her Daddy!

Sliding with Edie on her present from Mom and Dad

It's my party (and my bedtime) and I'll be pooped if I want to!

Smash cake

Mom and BG again post cake

Loving some Edie Sunday morning (Gifts had to be pushed until Sunday due to a total post-party meltdown).

I could get used to this!

Fun times with new toys!

What do you get a baby Baylor Bear? Not a rocking horse, but a rocking BEAR, of course!

More posts to come from Baylor Homecoming and beyond, but I hope this will tide you over.

Happy Halloween

2011-11-01T06:31:00.000-07:00

Evie had a great time trick-or-treating last night! We just went to a few of our friends' houses, but Evie loved it! She especially enjoyed seeing the other kiddos in costume and all the decorations.

Here's our little bumblebee all ready for action!

We let her walk a lot of the way, which she loved.

Love seeing her so happy!

Snow Day Fun!

2011-10-29T17:06:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, October 27th we had a snow day! Evie mostly had fun looking at the snow through the windows all day, but Dad came home early from work to build a snow man with her. As you can see, they had a blast!

Fin loved jumping up for a snow "ball"

No, E doesn't have snow boots yet so yes, we covered her feet with ziplocs.

Whoa, what's this big white thing?

Not so sure about the snowman.

More playtime with Fin and Dad.

Now she's happy!

Really happy

Fin and Dad with the finished product

Believe it or not, Mr. Snowman's bottom third is still intact, in the backyard, today.

Spouse Flight/Fall Festival

2011-10-26T12:55:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning I got to participate in the spouse flights here on base! I got to go up in a C-130, and even got to be in the cockpit while we landed. They also had a static display of some of our planes for families to tour.

Ready to go!

Our plane

Unusual point of entry

Family Pred shot

Evie and Dad going into the Osprey

Evie loved the exposed wires!

Dog Walker

2011-10-08T14:30:00.001-07:00

Today Evie insisted on holding Finlay's leash for our entire walk. She actually did a great job!

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A Philippians 4:8 Kind of Day

2011-10-06T14:59:00.000-07:00

**Disclaimer: This post is really self-indulgent, and more of a vent than anything else. It has almost nothing to do with my cute baby girl so feel free to skip it!

Today was one of those days that really make my hate living in Clovis. Normally, it is a daily struggle to find the positives about living here, but I can often do it. I do try HARD to have a good attitude. Some days my efforts are more effective than others. Here's how today went.

I woke up this morning to nice temperatures. Sweet! Decided that E and I should take a walk around the neighborhood. This wasn't too bad until the sustained winds of 25+ mph (not unusual here) blowing in Evie's face made her cry. Walk fail.

This afternoon, following lunch and naptime I decided to go to the family room at the base gym and learn how to use the weight machine in there. When I got there there were 4 other moms and their 5 kids already in there. One mom stood in front of the weight machine, blocking access to it, talking to another mom for about 10 minutes so I decided to do a quick warm-up on the eliptical. No big deal. I put Evie into the big enclosed play area with the other kids, ages 1-5ish, and went about my business. Evie was having a good time until a 4 year old little girl started yelling at her not to take her toy (which she wasn't even trying to do). That little girl's mom calmly said to her daughter, "don't yell at the baby," and went back to working out.

I considered packing it in right then, but the kids started playing nicely again so I decided to wait it out, thinking that surely the weight machine would open up soon. Well, I was WRONG! The mom who had been standing in front of the weight machine talking started to actually use the machine. Ugh. About that time, as my frustration was beginning to peak, the 4 year old girl started to push Evie, who was just crawling around close to that girl and another 4 years old. I called out to her, "play nicely with the baby, please!" The girl's mother did nothing.

The chatty mom finished with the weight machine, and I was about to start using it when she pulled over an exercise ball, again blocking access to the machine, and started doing crunches on it! I decided to wait 5 more minutes to see if she would finish. At that point, a 5 year old little boy started sitting on another big exercise ball, and rolled it into Evie, who was sitting nearby. I said loudly, "look out for the baby!" The boy looked at me, and kept doing it while his mom yet again observed but did nothing.

At that point I went over, grabbed Evie and said to her, "let's go ahead and get you out of here. It's just a little too hazardous for you in here with these big kids!" I will have you know that the mother of the two troublemakers did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!

Watching your two kids, who are absolutely old enough to know better and to be disciplined, be mean and play roughly with my 10 month old and doing nothing about it is absolutely not okay. However, this mother was clearly young (probably 8-10 years younger than I am) and I just didn't feel like I could say anything to her without seeming really condescending. So I just left. Steaming.

I headed on over to Albertsons because I needed some almond butter for a recipe tonight. On the way there my car was battling winds that are now gusting at 45 mph, and dodging, I kid you not, huge tumbleweeds. It looked like a scene from an old western movie. And wouldn't you know, they didn't even have almond butter at Albertsons. I had to go to the health food store to buy it. Typical Clovis.

As we got in the car to head home, I found myself yelling, ranting, to no one, about how much I hate it here, and then Evie started to cry. I about lost it. And then I remembered my Bible study lesson from yesterday - Philippians 4:8. I found myself chanting "Finally, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things."

This verse has a special meaning to me aside from being from a recent Bible study, and I love that I have it memorized. While I may not have been able to stick to its imperative today 100%, I'm glad that it was there, in the back of my mind, to remind me of the way I'm called to act as a Christian mom.

So I promise to try even harder to have a good attitude tomorrow.

Evie: 10 Months

2011-10-05T19:14:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's already time for another monthly post. Time continues to fly by! Here's the info on Evie at 10 months.

Sleeping: Evie sleeps 12 hours at night and still wakes up once to eat, usually between 3 and 5am. I am ready for this to end! She is still following the same nap schedule, with 2 naps of about 30 minutes each during the day. She goes down for her naps fine, and wakes up happy and smiling, wide awake, 30 minutes later. Ugh.

Eating: Evie eats 3 meals and 1-2 snacks each day. She can feed herself Cheerios, but still mostly eats purees. She keeps adding new foods, and will pretty much eat anything. Any vegetables that she won't eat, we just mix in with some cheese, and she loves them! Evie also still nurses 4-5 times each day.

Words: Evie says "mama" for me and, less frequently, "da" or "dada" for her dad. She was saying dada more until Nick left for about a week and a half this month. She also says "bye bye" and sometimes will say "hi" if we say it first. She loves to wave when she does this! She uses bye bye for anytime she wants to end something like eating a meal, being in her playpen or exersaucer, etc. It's like her version of "okay, I'm done with that." She has also started handing us things and saying, with a sincere and focused expression, "bow." I don't know what she's getting at, but she means something! Evie says "uh-oh" when she drops something on the floor, like Cheerios or her water cup.

**After I had written this post this afternoon, but before I published it, Evie said to Nicholas "Hi Dada" when he came home from work. In case we doubted what she meant, she said it again about 30 seconds later, waving and smiling at her Daddy. I guess that was her first sentence?!

The big news this month is that Evie started walking! She took her first two steps on Sunday, September 25th while cruising between the couch and the ottoman, holding onto a little yellow chick toy. As of today, she is up to taking 5 or 6 consecutive steps before falling down. She is really loving being more mobile! (She is also able to stand up well on her own).

Evie's favorite toys these days are push-toys. She also loves board books, but is more interested in eating them than reading them. Evie likes to play the uh-oh game, wherein she drops a toy or her water cup, and says "uh-oh" and waits for us to pick it up. She especially like to do this while we are eating dinner and she is in her high chair, and while she and I are out at the grocery store.

She loves to be out and about! She is much happier when we are running errands or on a walk than just sitting at home. When we are in public places she loves to flirt with the other people around us by smiling, laughing, and jabbering baby gibberish with them. She has adjusted well to going to a babysitter during my weekly bible study, which is a huge blessing! My small group is for nursing mothers so she is always welcome with us, but it is so nice for me to have a little break while knowing she is happy and well cared-for. She is also able to play in a little children's area in the "family exercise room" at the base gym. This is a great set-up because I can watch her while I run on the treadmill or use the eliptical. She really enjoys it so I don't have to feel too guilty about getting back into an exercise routine. Finally!

One negative is that Evie has really started throwing tantrums. When something doesn't go her way, her whole body stiffens up, and she starts to cry - hard - with real tears. It is so sad! But I know that giving in to her tantrums now will mean big trouble later on so I try to stick to my guns, especially on the important things, like not playing with outlets.
She is still in size 3 diapers, and wears either 9 or 12 month size clothes.

Labor Day at the park

Walking practice with Dad

This face melts my heart

So jealous of those lush lashes!

Daddy adores her. The feeling is mutual.

Contemplating her next move

Fun times with Dad - chasing Funlay around the park

Edie came to visit!

Typical Evie pic - always moving.

Loving her new red wagon from Edie and Grandad

Standing by herself!

Laughing Girl

2011-10-05T13:03:00.001-07:00

Evie loves to play with her monitor, and when Daddy gets in on the act it's even more fun!

YouTube Video

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Bye-Bye

2011-09-19T08:27:00.001-07:00

Evie now says "bye-bye" and waves. This totally caught me off-guard the other day! She now likes to do it all the time and waves much bigger than she does here. What a silly kid!

YouTube Video

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

9 Month Update

2011-09-06T11:32:00.000-07:00

Here are a few updates on Evie at 9 months. We had her check-up this morning, and here are her stats:

Height: 27 inches (20%)
Weight: 19 1/4 lbs (50%)
Head circumference: 44 cm

Her small stature means that I have to wait to wean her at night, but her doctor thinks that she is actually meant to be a bit shorter, and her height is just normalizing back to the percentile that she was in for her first 4 or 5 months. The height/weight differential explains her chubby tummy too!

One thing I forgot to put in her 9 month post is that Evie is signing! She signs for "eat" and she signs for "milk." This way when she is hungry a) we know and b) we know if she wants food or to nurse. It's pretty handy I must say!

9 Months Old

2011-09-04T13:05:00.000-07:00

Busy, busy, busy! That describes Evie at 9 months perfectly. Here's the rundown on her current routine.

Eating: she continues to add to her diet with new foods every 3 to 4 days. She loves fruit, yogurt, any orange vegetable, and peas. She is not crazy about broccoli, cauliflower, meat, or potatoes. We're now trying to work on feeding herself with finger foods like puffs, cheerios, mushy pieces of fruit or avocado, and most recently pieces of cheese.

Sleeping: some days are better than others. She's still not a big napper...about once or twice each week she will have a days where she will nap a total of 1-2 hours, but most of the time it is a grand total of 1 hour or less from two combined naps. Ugh. She wakes once in the wee hours to nurse, unless her teething is really painful. Then she wakes twice in the night.

Teeth: still just the two on the bottom, but she's working on the top right one.

Hair: She's up to a total of 4 haircuts, and she needs another for her bangs. I'm thinking about letting it grow out a bit, though, as I don't really want her to have the chunky baby bangs she is currently sporting. Who'd have thought her hair would be such an issue?

Play, etc: Evie loves to cruise around and explore. She likes to take things off shelves and out of baskets. She will pull up on anything, and barely needs help to stand and balance. She can walk well holding onto fingers and sort of well with her push toy. If I move out of her sight, she will immediately come find me, and is very pleased with herself when she does. She gets a real kick out of doing things that are off-limits like touching (safety plugged) outlets or pieces of furniture she's not supposed to. She will look back and smile as she does it because she loves to see us say no and make a serious face. Fun times to come, I'm sure. She can play catch with Nick and her big ball. He will roll it to her, she will catch it, and then drop it hard enough on the ground so that it rolls back to him. I can now take her to the gym with me, put her in the pack n play or the little gated baby area, and get in 30 minutes on the eliptical. Hallelujah!

As far as verbal stuff, she sometimes uses mama and dada descriminately, but she generally loves to babble, and does so emphatically. It is hilarious!

During the day she does NOT want to stop moving and playing. She does not like to sit and cuddle or read books, and she could not care less about the TV. She gets quickly frustrated when confined to her play yard or exersaucer. As you can imagine, this makes getting pictures of her a challenge. Here are a few that I've taken over the past few days, doing some of her typical activities. Enjoy!

Pulling up on the ottoman, always a good time.

This is so typical. Mom wants to cuddle and take a picture. Evie is not having it!

We call this look "serious baby." She makes it a lot.

She also makes this face all the time.

Seriously, Mom, get this camera out of my face!

Some early morning cruising around the living room.

Loves playing with her new megaphone.

What's he saying?

Spends lots of time looking out the back door.

Pulling books off the hall bookshelf. Is she trying to tell me something?

Water bottles - all time favorite toy.

Cruising along the entertainment center to her next destination.

Time for a diaper change (Dad is doing this one while Mom documents). She rebels against these at all costs!

A little happier holding her hairbrush.

Loves Finlay.

They are so sweet to each other.

What can I pull up on now? Maybe this laundry basket.

I'm coming to get you!

By the way, the temps here are in the 60's today, hence our long sleeves. Yeah, be jealous.

Happy 9 months big girl! I can't wait to see what the next month brings!

Sip'n'See

2011-09-04T09:14:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday sweet family friends Carolyn and Rose hosted a sip'n'see for Evie Claire. I absolutely loved getting to see so many Waco friends and introducing them to miss Evie. Usually at these things everyone looks forward to holding the baby. Evie was NOT having that, though, and spent the whole time crawling and playing on the floor. Here's a shot of us with our fabulous hostesses.

Evie doing her thing on the floor

Guess who else got to spend lots of time on the ground? That's right, Mommy.

My lifelong friend Beth was kind enough to join us down there for a chat. She's back in Waco after several years in Austin, and I look forward to seeing more of her when we're in town!

Evie with her Gigi. Note that this is the end of the party, and her cute little bow is long gone!

We had so much fun with our Waco friends, and look forward to seeing many of them again in November when we'll be attending the Baylor Homecoming festivities!

8 Months

2011-08-05T09:17:00.000-07:00

Evie is now 8 months old. Wow! Here is what she has been up to this month:

E did not want to have her picture taken today! This is the best one I captured. Doesn't she look sweet, though?

For size reference, here she is with a few of her favorite toys.

Eating: Evie has had a pretty major shift this month in her eating habits. She now eats 3 good solid meals every day. She nurses about 5 times a day - the first morning feeding, bedtime feeding, and 3-5am feeding are good feedings. She also snacks 2 other times during the day, but doesn't really nurse for long during those times- sometimes for less than 5 minutes. She's eating plenty, though, as her weight is up to 18.5 pounds!

Sleeping: We were traveling from July 14-27, and it really messed up Evie's sleep schedule. She started waking up twice at night all over again, but just in the past few days she is back to waking up only once, in the very early morning. Her naps really regulated this month. She now naps for 30 minutes to 1 hour twice a day, one hour after she wakes up in the morning, and then about 3 hours after the first nap. Sometimes she also naps for about 30 minutes in the late afternoon between 3 and 4. While this isn't a lot of daytime sleep, it's better than she'd been doing, and I am grateful!

Teeth: Evie cut her two bottom teeth at the end of July. It didn't seem to bother her much. Hallelujah!

Play: Evie continues to grow by leaps and bounds in this department. She loves to crawl around the house, pulling up on everything in sight. She is starting to cruise a little bit, but we are not pushing this! She also likes to walk holding onto our hands, but again, we are not pushing it. This child is determined to do all this as fast as she can, but I'm not quite ready for it! I'm already missing a lot of the cuddle time we used to have since she is so much more interested in moving around than in hanging out with mama.

Something really sweet that has started with Evie's increased mobility is a little game that Finlay plays with her. As I've mentioned before, she really likes his toys, and he has picked up on that. He will now walk up to her while she is playing on the floor, with a favorite toy in his mouth, and wait for her to make a move for it. He then slowly backs away, keeping the toy just out of reach, creating a little game of chase. You can tell he is soooo proud of himself for coming up with the game, and Evie LOVES it. So precious.

Evie has also started waving. She, of course, won't do it on demand or all the time, but she definitely waves hi and bye when she wants to. It's so cute to see her little arm flapping up and down and the big smile on her face! Evie is giving kisses now too. Sometimes after being prompted and sometimes without warning, she will lean in and kiss you anywhere on the face - mouth, cheeks, nose, chin, whatever she can reach. It is too too too sweet!

One of Evie's favorite types of toys is "texture books," those that have all the different kinds of fur for animals, etc. She has always loved to turn pages, but now she feels the pages of just about every book, whether it has textures or not.

A new, less pleasant thing we have started with Evie is a little discipline. Since she has been exploring, we have had to start using "no." She doesn't really get it yet, but hopefully she will soon! We always try to explain, like " I know Evie wants to play with her sleep sounds machine because it has fun buttons, but she can't yank out the power cord because that might hurt her. No playing with the sleep machine. It might hurt Evie." Clearly I know that she doesn't understand all this yet, but I want us to be in the habit of giving her effective discipline so that once she does start to get it, we'll already be doing it the right way. Evie has also started to throw temper tantrums when she doesn't get what she wants. It is so hard to ignore her screaming and try to calmly explain to her what is happening and why she isn't getting what she wants, but again, I know starting these good practices early will pay off in the long run.

Sizes: Evie is now wearing size 3 diapers and 6-9 month clothes. I did expect her to thin out a bit more now that she is mobile, but she is still a little chunk!

That's it for the 8 month report. Hope you enjoyed it!

2011-08-01T13:10:00.000-07:00

On July 16th Nick's cousin Amy was married in The Woodlands. (I sadly don't have any wedding weekend pictures, but if I get any I'll post them later). We took the opportunity to enjoy some beachtime in Galveston afterwards with Grammy, Pops, and Aunt Manda.

Evie's first-ever taste of the beach! Of course we had to go down right away, before we were even in swimsuits!

Trying to figure out the whole "wave" thing.

Safely back in Daddy's arms

The excitement was just too much - passed out in her Baby Bjorn at the dinner table.

Hanging out with Dad at the Moody Gardens aquarium - her favorite thing about the whole trip!

Fascinated by the sealife in the tunnel

Watching a shark swim by above her. She arched back like this for a long time, following different fish around.

Up close and personal with Dad's favorite animal - penguins

With Dad and Pops by the penguins

Hanging out beneath the SportBrella

"Focus Face"

After Galveston I met up with Katie, Lauren, and Leslie, 3 of my best college girlfriends for a weekend of fun in Austin. We had so much fun I hardly took any pictures. Boo! Here's the only one I have, of Katie and me at Hula Hut. Yummm! Also, a big thanks to Edie and Grandad for coming to Austin to take care of Evie so I could enjoy time with my friends.

7 Months

2011-07-26T10:07:00.000-07:00

I know, I know. I'm late with another monthly post! Evie turned 7 months old on July 3. Here's what she's been up to this month.

Eating: She is doing much better about eating 3 meals a day, although she is not the biggest fan of lunch. She tried Yo-Baby yogurt this month, and loves it! She now gets yogurt or yogurt and fruit for breakfast, a veggie and cereal for lunch, and a meat and fruit or veggie for dinner. So far, the only meat she's tried is turkey. I continue to make a lot of her food, but she does get jarred food as well. This has been a good balance for us, and I hope to keep it up! She still nurses the same - 4am, 7-8am, 12pm, 4pm, and 7pm before bed. I know that she will give up that 4am feeding when she's ready so I am trying to wait patiently for it to happen!

Sleeping: Evie sleeps from 7pm-7 or 8am, waking once to eat. Naps are still a struggle, although she is napping more on schedule than she was. She sleeps for about 30 minutes about 1 hour after she wakes up in the morning, and then again for 30 minutes either right before or right after her noon nursing. Sometimes she goes down again in the late afternoon, but that is very inconsistent.

Milestones:

Evie started crawling on June 28th! Now she is all over the place! As soon as she could crawl, she was wanting to pull up on everything too. Now she is working on pulling up and/or balancing with just one hand holding on and taking steps holding my hands. This child is determined to be as mobile as possible as quickly as possible! Our babyproofing efforts have kicked into high gear, and our days are now much more entertaining. The only problem so far is that she seems to prefer Finlay's toys to her own. If she sees one she motors across the room as fast as she can to get it! Poor Finlay is a good sport about it, and of course I don't let her play with them. So far she is just as happy with my quick substitutions - thank goodness!

In that same vein, we dropped Evie's crib mattress on June 29th, and now she is always standing up in her crib when I go in to get her in the morning or after naps. This makes it easier on my back to get her out!

Since Evie is now mobile, I have ordered a big stationary playyard for her. I can move it from room to room, but it is big enough for her to really move and play in, and it is sturdy enough that she can pull up on it. I have just set it up, and I am excited to *hopefully* get more housework done during the day utilizing this new tool.

Evie still babbles lots! The only word she seems to say intentionally is mama. Sweet, right? Well, kind of. She only uses it when she is really sad. Like when she wakes up from sleeping and is upset, she will yell out "Maaama!" for me to come get her. Or when she falls down or bangs into something while cruising around, "Maaama!" So I guess this means I am associated with comfort - great! But it also means I only hear her say my name when she is sad - not so great.

No teeth yet! I can feel the bottom ones pushing up through her gums, but she doesn't seem to be bothered by it like she was a few months ago.

Back to eating, she is able to self-feed a little bit. She can definitely get her spoon to her mouth with 100% success. I have also been breaking up Puffs for her during mealtime, and about 25% of the time those make it into her mouth. She has a great pincer grasp, and if I left them whole she'd do better, but the choking risk freaks me out.

Evie and I took My Smart Hands baby signing classes in June. Her instructor said that babies usually can't start making signs themselves until 9 or 10 months so of course Evie is not doing that yet, but she does seem to understand a few of my signs, and gets happy when I guess correctly about what she wants. For example, if she is getting ready to nurse, I will make the sign for milk, and her face will light up in a big smile. Also, when she is done eating a solids meal, she is OVER IT. If she starts to fuss then, and I make the sign for "all done" she will immediately stop fussing and smile at me! We are mainly working on food and drink signs right now, like eat, more, drink, water, milk, yogurt, cereal, vegetables, fruit, meat, and finished. I feel like these are the most important for her to be able to communicate. Once she starts to recognize and/or use more of these we'll start working on other like "change me," playing signs, etc.

This month Evie moved up to size 3 diapers, and is fitting into her 6-9 month clothes very well.

That's it for the 7 month report!

Summer Fun!

2011-07-03T08:07:00.000-07:00

Evie and Dad having fun in her baby pool

Fun with pool toys

Lounging in front of the new landscaping

Just chillin' on the blanket with her bff, Finlay

Oooh, that sunshine feels nice! (No worries - it was after 6pm so no sunburn risk here).

About to crawl away! Evie is now crawling up a storm. We are having fun babyproofing the house!

Texas Trip

2011-06-14T10:49:00.000-07:00

This one's not from Texas, but doesn't Evie look cute?!

With Aunt Manda and Aunt Andrea at Manda's shower.

Meeting Uncle Drew

With Great Grandma

Great Aunt Shelli and cousin Liana

Helping Aunt Manda open gifts

All the girls

Just hanging out

More fun pooltime with Edie

Fun in the pool with Mom and Aunt Lauren

Cuddle time with Uncle Mark

We had a great time in Texas, and can't wait to go back next month!

Evie's First Pooltime!

2011-06-14T10:34:00.000-07:00

All ready!

Not sure about these sunglasses, Dad.

Hey! Those are mine! Give 'em back!

About to take her first dip.

Hmmm, not sure what to think.

Whoa! This is one big bathtub!

Evie had a great time on her first pool visit! It looks like we have a little fish on our hands.

6 Month Pics

2011-06-14T10:22:00.000-07:00

Finally! Here are a few pictures of Evie at 6 months. The vibrant background is provided by a quilt that Evie's Aunt Lauren made for her. Isn't it precious?! And it looks just perfect in her room.

Evie at 6 Months

2011-06-06T14:00:00.000-07:00

*Disclaimer - Blogger is not letting me upload photos right now. I'll post them in a separate post when I can get them to go through. For posterity's sake, though, here is Evie's 6 month report.

My oh my! How time has flown yet again! I cannot believe that our precious little girl is now 6 months old! We continue to be blessed in so many ways by Evie. I absolutely adore her and feel so fortunate to be able to hang out with her all day every day. I feel like she makes my job so easy, yet I do feel rewarded when people comment about how happy and content she seems and how "tuned-in" she is to the world. Evie is definitely a joyful baby, and is having so much fun discovering the world around her as well as all of the cool things that she can do in it. Here's an update on Evie at 6 months. We are so proud of her!

First, the stats:
Length: 25.59 in. (59%)
Weight: 15.76 lbs. (59%)
Hed Circumference: 69%

Eating - Evie nurses 5 times a day right now - (4 or 5 am, 8am, 12pm, 4pm, and 7pm before bed). She is increasingly streching that morning feeding closer to her waking time so I think that soon she will drop it and go down to 4 feedings, which her pediatrician says is fine. She is also really enjoying solid foods. We do a combination of homemade and jarred foods. Right now she has tried oatmeal, rice cereal, bananas, avocados, sweet peas, squash, zucchini, sweet potatoes, pears, apples, and peaches. We are continuing to add to her repertoire every 4-7 days. She has been eating 1-2 meals a day depending on her mood and schedule, but her pediatrician recommends giving her 3 meals a day now - with snacks too! She has also started taking water froma sippy cup, but has yet to really master it.

Sleeping - Evie usually sleeps from around 7pm to between 6 and 7am, waking once in the early morning to eat. She takes 2-3 catnaps each day, ranging form 20-40 minutes each. I have tried everything, including letting her cry for 1 hour/nap to get her to nap longer, but she won't do it! Her pediatrician says that this is fine and that she's really getting the 12 hours she needs at nighttime. Ugh. I think this means that Evie will be getting to do a little more "independent play" in her exersaucer and pack 'n' play because Mommy HAS to start getting more housework done, and naptime is just not cutting it! At any rate, Evie seems happy all day and does not show signs of being overtired so I guess we'll just run with this for now.
.
Playtime - Evie is doing a great job of advancing physically. Here's a rundown of her achievements:

spends lots of time babbling using ba, ma, da, ka, ga, etc. She is also really excited about squealing lately.
Still loves to stand, and can now do it while she holds onto something stable. She just doesn't know yet that she has to keep holding on!
Sits very well on her own, and pretty much only falls when she wants to get down on her tummy.
She loves to play with little blocks and cups and can use her pincer grasp with them as well as pass them back and forth between hands.
Sticks everything in her mouth! She can almost always replace her pacifier when it falls out, even if it takes a few tried.
She doesn't really mind tummy time now. She's figuring out how to get her knees up underneath her to crawl, but isn't quite there yet. She does scoot around sideways and in circles to get to toys that she wants. She also pretty much sleeps on her stomach now. We've tried turning her, but she always ends up back on her tummy. We still always put her to sleep on her back, though.
Sometimes in the car, I swear she tries to sing along to the music with me. I am a HUGE car singer, and often when I'm singing really loudly she'll start squealing and babbling loudly too. Maybe this is coincidence, though?
Evie loves Finlay. There is no other person or thing on this earth that makes her as happy as he does. She laughs at him and makes these big grunting happy sounds when he comes into her view. She is learning how to pet him gently, quite a task since previously she thought that petting = hair pulling.

Happy Birthday Nick!

2011-06-01T12:22:00.000-07:00

Nick turned 29 on May 26th! He's such an old man. I really love giving him a hard time for the whole 5 1/2 months he is a "year" older than I. I made him dark chocolate cupcakes with dark chocolate icing from scratch to take to his office on the big day! I also made little "N's" out of white chocolate and sprinkles to put on top so that everyone would know they were for HIS birthday since I knew he wouldn't actually tell anyone what they were for.

Unfortunately, one of the guys he works with thought that they were "Z's." What? For Zorro? Anyway, they were NOT sweet enough for my taste, but were exactly what Nick wanted so I guess I'm happy.

A Few Waco Pics

2011-05-31T13:13:00.000-07:00

Evie and I just finished spending some time in Waco. There are some really precious pictures of Evie in Mom and Dad's pool, but Mom still has those. However, here are a few that I do have.

We arrived with a rat tail! This would not do for her professional portraits so...

With Grandma Edie's help...

We got rid of it.

We planned a whole day down at Baylor to take pictures of Evie around campus. Unfortunately, that day was full of thunderstorms. This is the only picture we got. It's at the Bear Pit, which you might not know if I didn't tell you because both bears were asleep out of sight. Ugh...

Here are Grandma Edie and Evie before a walk around the neighborhood.

And here's a shot of Nick and me before our 6th anniversary date. We saw Bridesmaids and ate at Diamondbacks while Evie stayed with Uncle Mark and Aunt Lauren. We had a great time. Thanks, guys!

First Mother's Day!

2011-05-09T08:21:00.000-07:00

Okay, this one's not from Mother's Day, but I thought it was cute! We were taking bathtime pictures of Evie, and she had had enough. I think she looks like a celebrity shooing away the paprazzi!

My Mother's Day gift came in this little blue box. Yes, that kind of little blue box. What can I say, Nick is amazing!

But the best gift of all was hanging out with these two all day! Please forgive the drool soaked onesie, teething means that she is ALWAYS drooling, but her bibs get in the way of using her arms and hands so she doesn't always wear one.

I really enjoyed my first mother's day. I've always had a little sadness on this day since my miscarriage in 2006 so in some ways, this felt like it was a long time coming. Yesterday, though, there was only joy as I got to spend the day with my precious baby daughter. I had a special oatmeal breakfast, enjoyed church with E and Nick (yes, we've finally found a church), and spent the rest of the day hanging out. Nick grilled some yummy burgers for dinner to complete our celebration. I'm so grateful for my loving husband and sweet baby. Now I just have to find a way to outdo him for Father's Day!

5 Months

2011-05-04T08:30:00.000-07:00

Lots has happened this week, but nothing more exciting than Evie turning 5 months old! Here's what she's been up to this month.

She rolled over from her back to her tummy just after her 4 month birthday. She did it several times while playing, then once in her sleep. She totally freaked out then and has not done it since! Go figure.
She has been sitting up by herself since 4 1/2 months. She can shift her weight around and play with toys while sitting up, and she can do it for a long time, but every now and then she'll just take a nosedive to the back, front, or side. This bothered her at first, but now it doesn't really seem to, and she's figuring out how to pull her arms up in front once she falls, which I guess is one step closer to crawling.
She still only naps for about 30-40 minutes, which she still does 3-4 times daily. One day last week she napped for 1 1/2 hours so I am hopeful that the days of longer, regular naps are coming.
She sleeps about 11 hours at night, usually from a little after 7 to a little after 6.
Her normal daily schedule is wake around 6:30, nurse, go back to sleep for 10 or so minutes, wake up and play, and then go back down for a nap around 8 or 8:30. She'll then wake up and nurse again, then eat a vegetable or fruit ("eat" may be a little generous, maybe "taste" would be more appropriate), and play until her next nap around 11 or 12. Once she wakes up from that nap and nurses we may got for a walk or run errands, or play some more until her next nap, usually around 3 or 3:30. Once she wakes up from that nap and nurses she has her rice cereal/oatmeal combo and plays with Daddy for a while before her bathtime at 6:30. She's usually down for the night around 7:15 or 7:30 and sleeps until 6 or 7, waking once to eat.
She's doing great on solids. She has tried rice cereal, oatmeal, zucchini, avocado, and bananas. So far I have made her fruits and veggies myself, and it's been really easy. I bought the book Super Baby Food and have enjoyed reading more about how to feed Evie in ways that will build good lifelong habits. She hasn't cut back any on nursing, just also eats her two little meals each day. She is also taking an ounce or so of nursery water from a sippy cup at her meals.
She reaches for everything she wants now! She is especially interested in water bottles, the TV remote, and my iPhone. At church on Sunday she reached out and swatted the chalice of communion wine. Uh oh!
She is really chatty sometimes and will just babble for several minutes. I really wonder what she is trying to communicate!
She can stand supported, holding herself up on things, but doesn't really pull up yet unless she is holding our hands.
She still hates tummy time so I am hoping that crawling and scooting are still a ways off!

Here are a few 5 month pics. First, the good ones.

Smiling down at Finlay, of course.

Big girl!

Only interested in Fin, not the camera.

Super awkward face!

Surprised? Scared? Who knows?

Easter

2011-04-25T07:03:00.000-07:00

The Easter Bunny visited Evie! P.S. Yes, she is sitting up by herself, which she has pretty much mastered. She's also teething in earnest - I guess she'll be like her momma, who cut her first tooth before 6 months. Slow down Evie!

Whoa! Presents for me?!

Reading her new book. I wanted something Easter-y, but I guess the crucifixion/resurrection is a little heavy for infants? There were no "Easter Story" books at Hastings, anyway.

Mommy and Evie are all ready for church.

Not so sure about the egg hunt.

More interested in eating the ribbon on her bucket.

Evie and her friend Kyla. Kyla is almost 7 months. They were super interested in each other!

Fighting over Kyla's spoon.

We had a great Easter, but truthfully we really missed all of our South Carolina friends yesterday. It just wasn't the same without the wonderful Trenholm Road worship service or Easter lunch at the Wilsons' house. We love and miss you guys so much!

Happy Easter everyone!

Big Sunday

2011-04-19T19:46:00.000-07:00

Here are Evie and Dad all dressed up for Palm Sunday at church.

Trying hard to stand up in the grass

Evie tried rice cereal on Sunday because she was ALWAYS hungry, taking forever to eat, and waking to eat every 3 hours at night (and then really eating for 30 minutes +). Here she is all ready to get started! She's still a little small for her high chair so she ate in her bouncy.

Really not sure at first.

Wait, now I could probably get used to this stuff!

Finlay really wanted Evie to share the love.

After a while Evie was grabbing the spoon and guiding it into her mouth.

She also had fun playing with her spoon afterward. All in all, her first foray into solids was a success! Last night she slept from 8-4am, ate and then slept again until 7:30. Hallelujah!

Here's one last shot of Finlay loving on Evie. We really do scold him for doing this, but it's also so sweet to see them love each other!

4 Month Pictures

2011-04-12T11:14:00.000-07:00

Here's Evie at 4 months - all smiles!

Telling me all about how excited she was to be outside

Staring contest - of course Finlay had to get in on the action!

4 Months

2011-04-07T09:46:00.000-07:00

Wow! Evie is already 4 months old! Time is flying. The poor baby celebrated her actual 4 month birthday with an 8 hour car trip from Waco to Clovis - no fun, but she slept almost the whole time. She is growing and changing every day! Here are her 4 months stats:

Height: 24.2 inches (34%)
Weight: 13.56 lbs. (35%)
Head Circumference: 41cm (39%)

Her little body is finally catching up with her head! She's still on the small side of things, but much closer to average now. She actually looks like quite a little chunk! I'll post pictures in a separate post. (I've got to take some official 4 month pics today!)

Here are some things she is doing/has done in the last month:

Sleeps in her own room for 10-12 hours each night
Naps 3-4 times a day, usually for only 30-45 minutes per nap in her crib, but for longer if she's in her Boppy pillow on the couch
Nurses every 2 1/2-3 1/2 hours during the day and anywhere from 0-2 times at night, usually just once
Has established a bedtime routine of bath, book, nurse, sleep starting at 7:30 each night
Likes going for walks much more since she has moved out of her bassinet and into the regular part of her stroller. We walk 3-5 times per week.
Still doesn't love her Bumbo, but has begun to sit unassisted for short periods in the "tripod" stance
Loves to stand supported. She will fuss to do this if we don't let her. Most of the time she just needs to hold onto our hands for balance.
Is getting much better at grasping items. She especially loves her Nugget, crunchy book, Taggies ball, and alphabet loops right now.
Loves laughing at Finlay when he walks away and then comes back into her line of sight. This will entertain her for over 10 minutes at a time.
She can use her entertainer table if we put something under her feet since her legs don't reach the ground yet.
She's still too small for her high chair, but she enjoys watching us eat at mealtimes from her bouncy seat. She still won't start solids until closer to 6 months.
She is getting very close to rolling over back to tummy. She can get her lower half all the way over, but can't figure out the upper half.
Tolerates tummy time more but still doesn't love it
Likes to chatter to her mobile and toys on her playmat
Loves having raspberries blown on her tummy during diaper changes
Loves splashing around in her bath

Her normal daily routine is still pretty fluid, but typically she will:
Wake around 8-8:30am and nurse immediately. Play for about 45 minutes-1 hour then get fussy and sleepy. We put her in her sleep sack and read a book until she is super drowsy, then she naps in her crib for 30-45 minutes. She repeats that cycle, normally eating around 11-11:30 and 2:00-2:30 and repeating the eat, play, sleep cycle and then staying awake for the rest of the evening after her 5-5:30 feeding. She then starts her bedtime routine at 7:30, eats around 8:00 and is usually asleep by 8:30.

I am really trying to savor every moment that she is still in this small baby stage, but selfishly I am looking forward to the time that she can sit up on her own, allowing us to enjoy more activities together. I know those days are coming quickly, though, and I wouldn't really trade a moment of these first 4 months. Our sweet Evie continues to be a complete joy!

Evie Laughing

2011-04-05T06:36:00.000-07:00

This is probably one of those posts that's only interesting to our parents, but for them, here is a video of Evie laughing at a little bug on her entertainer. She loves it!

Ferber

2011-03-26T13:36:00.000-07:00

As I type this post, my child is sleeping soundly, unswaddled, in her crib. It is 2 p.m. This is the same child who, last week, wouldn't nap outside of my lap, had spent only 1 night in her crib, and had begun waking 3+ times each night out of the clear blue sky! How is this possible? Dr. Ferber.
I know that his methods are controversial, and I am positive that just because this worked for us does not mean that it would work for everyone. I, however, was Ferberized in 1 night (according to my mom anyway) and so I naturally considered this method when researching ways to help Evie sleep better. Although I have done many things with Evie that swing more toward the "attachment parenting" side of things like breastfeeding her on-demand, wearing her when possible and practical, and having her sleep in our room at night and on me during the day, my natural parenting style, I confess, is not really so "earth-mother, nurturing" as all that. I am really fine with allowing Evie to experience a little discomfort for a lifetime of benefits, as is the case, I think, in helping her develop good sleep habits.
Evie has been sleeping through the night from about 7 weeks so Ferberizing her was not really about getting her to sleep longer. It was really about getting her to go to sleep at a more reasonable time, like between 8 and 9 as opposed to 11ish when she was in our room, and getting her to sleep in the crib in her room and then go back to sleeping through the night. I'm pretty sure that Nick's and my nighttime trips to the bathroom, coughing, sneezing, shifting in bed, etc. were beginning to disturb her, thus causing her to wake and cry several times a night, all of a sudden. It was suddenly absolutely imperative that she move to her room, something I was not ready for a month ago.
In preparation for the "Ferberization" I set up shop in our guest bedroom, ready to wait out the night, going into Evie's room every 10 minutes. I packed in water, 2, count them, 2 monitors (1 video and 1 sound only placed in the crib), magazines, books, my phone, my Nook, and my computer. I was ready for anything!
Imagine my surprise (and dare I say slight disappointment) when that first night she was asleep within 30 minutes. The next night she went right to sleep, woke around 1:30 and was back asleep around 2, and then last night she slept all the way through from 9pm until 6:30 this morning, then went back down after nursing until 8! We are still working on naps in the crib. Right now they max out at 30 minutes, but I know that this too will improve. I can't believe how non-traumatic this has been for both Evie and me!
I am so happy to have a little time to get chores done during the day and a few minutes to spend with Nick at night before we go to bed. I am crossing my fingers that this continues to work! I am so glad that we tried Ferber. I was scared at first of the "cry it out" approach, but once I realized that I didn't need to let Evie cry long before intervening I was better able to embrace it. It has really worked for us! Wahoo!

2011-03-20T19:48:00.000-07:00

Shamrocks for St. Pat's!

Loves looking out the windows to the backyard

Fun snuggletime on the couch!

Evie and Daddy helped with some chores yesterday!

She was a big help with dusting!

Precious

Beautiful Day!

2011-03-16T16:58:00.000-07:00

Today was a beautiful day! Evie, Finlay, and I spent some time in the backyard. I laid out a blanket in the shade (no worries - no direct sunlight for the baby) and then put Evie's playmat down on that. I did some lunges, crunches, etc. while Evie got to play outside for the first time! We weren't out there for long, but it felt great and I look forward to doing it again tomorrow. Maybe being outside again will help entice me to work hard and lost those last several pregnancy pounds...hope springs eternal!

2011-03-16T12:36:00.000-07:00

Isn't this precious? I only wish there was MORE napping going on during the day. I have ordered Ferber, the Sleep Lady, and Healthy Sleep Habits from Amazon and plan to do my research and begin trying to help Evie organize her sleep better ASAP.

Here are Evie and Daddy out to dinner at Leal's with Grammy and Pops during their visit last weekend. Sorry for E's weird face - I promise it was the best shot of the two of them.

Trying to knaw on her tutu during dinner. She's starting to get really into putting things into her mouth.

Here are Grammy, Evie, and Finlay taking a morning rest.

Fin's trying to steal a kiss! We are working hard on educating him on where to kiss and where NOT to kiss. Ugh.

Sweet sibling snuggle

New Computer

2011-03-13T17:51:00.000-07:00

My computer crashed for good last week - boo! So today I got a new one- yea!! This is the model that I chose: a Toshiba Protege R705, and I already LOVE it! It is small and very light (3 lbs.) which make it a good compromise instead of a netbook. I'm busy loading software, etc. onto it tonight, but I'll try to post some new Evie pics ASAP!

Happy Baby

2011-03-05T10:18:00.000-08:00

One day last week I walked into Evie's room to find this. Precious.

Some more good tummy time

Having a good laugh in the Bumbo

Still laughing!

Very happy baby

Really loves her dad. The feeling is mutual.

12 Weeks Old!

2011-02-25T20:48:00.000-08:00

Still not sure about the standard weekly pose so we tried some other options

A little happier on my soft pink puppy mat.

Thinking about getting happier...

Looking around, if I could only find my buddy Finlay!

Oh, there he is! He can always cheer me up.

Maybe we should try a little time in the Bumbo. Still not my favorite, but tolerable for a few minutes.

Mom wants to know how it is that I FINALLY smiled for the camera during tummy time. I HATE tummy time!

This is my pensive face. I'm thinking really hard about rolling over onto my back!

Wow! I can't believe we're already at 12 weeks! From this point forward I'll likely just do monthly posts about Evie's development although I'll of course post more often than that. Not a lot has changed with E. She still hates tummy time, with the exception of rolling over. She is, however, getting better at sitting in her Bumbo so we are still working on her neck strength and head control. The big thing from the last few weeks is that she is having several good periods of "chatting" with me every day. She likes to say "ah-goo" "mamama" "oioi" and lots of other vowel-ish sounds. She just looks at me smiles, and babbles. It is precious! She's still not laughing tons, but today she spent several minutes cracking up, looking at me tossing around a colorful "taggies" ball. She is sleeping great at night, still 7-8 hours, but naps are a different story! A few days this week she didn't nap at all!!! She usually sleeps at least 4 or 5 hours during the day, all combined, but there is no rhyme or reason to when this happens. The consistent thing is that she likes to sleep on or near me, which is sweet but prevents me from getting ANYTHING done around the house. This month we are going to transition Evie from the pack'n'play in our room to the crib in her room *tear* and I am hoping that once we finalize that transition she will nap in her crib as well. Any suggestions on this process are appreciated (except that we are definitely NOT starting "cry it out" yet or doing any kind of hard and fast scheduling at this point)! I am looking forward to the day when we will have dependable naps, and yes I do know that this will mean enforcing some kind of schedule, but my own schedule has been changing monthly which has made it impossible to give E one.
Which brings me to my next point - we are finally getting some schedule stability! Without getting into any specifics, Nick's work duties are changing, which means that for the next few months (at least) he will work a more regular schedule. His official hours are the regular Air Force 7:30-4:30 although he will be putting in a ton of "overtime." He'll also have a normal M-F schedule. In short, he's totally off of the flying shift schedule and onto a normal office schedule. The new work duties are also exciting for him, as he will be in more of a leadership role. Hooray! I know many of you have been praying hard for some positive changes in this area, and it's working!

11 Weeks

2011-02-18T13:16:00.000-08:00

So I tried for the traditional weekly photo shoot today. Evie wasn't too into it from the get-go. This was the best I got in the traditional pose. E was fussy so I thought it wouldn't be the end of the world if I let her have her paci...

She was a little happier with the paci for a moment...

And then everything totally devolved into this...

And as I type this both Evie and Finlay are enjoying a much-needed nap. As you can see, Evie's "big brother" loves her bunches.

This week has had its share of ups and downs for Evie. Her two-month shots put her out of sorts for a few days, but she's pretty much back to normal now. Just this week she has started to roll over both ways from her tummy to her back. She hates tummy time so much, and I guess she sees rolling over as an escape! This morning she also laughed for the first time - at Finlay. How precious is that?! She also is sleeping through the night dependably, even after her shots. I usually put her to sleep at around 10:30 or 11:00, and she normally sleeps until at least 6:00 if not a little longer. I have been putting her back down for a few hours after her early-morning meal, but I think I may have to stop doing that. She's usually pretty restless during those few hours, and this morning she spent them awake with Nick. He said that she had some really good playtime then so I'm thinking that she probably prefers to be awake at that time. Oh, well...I am just grateful that she is sleeping through the night!
I am also trying to organize her day a little more, although I will not be putting her on a strict schedule - she's an on-demand baby. She does a pretty good job of making her own schedule, though. She eats every 2 or 3 hours during the day and has been taking one or two short naps during the morning/early afternoon and then a longer nap in the evening. Speaking of, she is waking up from her nap now so that's all for the 11 week report!

Waco Pics

2011-02-15T18:11:00.000-08:00

With Uncle Mark

Loving time in the big chair with Grandad

She really has started to love her playmat

With Grandma - she got to meet all 3 of her great-grandmothers, but I only have a picture with Grandma

With Aunt Lauren

Aunt Lauren helped Uncle Mark figure out how to hold her

Rocking with Grandma Edie in a rocking chair that is 5 or 6 generations old (we couldn't quite figure it out)

Fascinated by the snow

Fin loved the snow too!

He ran figure-8's all around the yard and the pool. Fun times.

2 Month Stats

2011-02-15T17:55:00.000-08:00

The message on Evie's bib pretty much sums up our trip to Waco. More pictures to come from the trip, but first her two month stats:
Height - 22 inches (19th percentile)
Weight - 10 lbs 7 ounces (28th percentile)
Head circumference - 39 cm (39th percentile)
She's still a shorty, but she's starting to fill out!

2 Months!

2011-02-03T14:48:00.000-08:00

Evie is two months old today! Wow! Of course when I got out the Rebel to take her 2 month picture this is what I got - NOT in the mood for a photo shoot. So, below there are some pictures from the past week that were taken with my iPhone. The quality leaves something to be desired, but I think the model is cute enough to make up for the iPhone camera's shortcomings, don't you?

Glamour shot

All bundled up to visit Carolyn yesterday!

Big smile! (Complete with spit-up remnant - yummy)

Evie's last few weeks have been pretty crazy, but she's been a fabulous sport. Two weeks ago we arrived in Waco and my grandfather died the next day. For anyone interested, you can see his obituary here - especially interesting to those of you musical friends out there. His funeral wasn't until last Saturday so Evie spent a week being transported back and forth to my grandmother's house, meeting various family members and friends. She was a perfect angel the whole time! She almost never cried or fussed and slept through a lot of the activity. However, her schedule got really off and she didn't have much time for developmental playtime. We've spent this week enjoying some rest and trying to catch her up on her two month old tasks.
I don't know height, weight, etc. since we have to wait until we're back in New Mexico to see her pediatrician. Evie's Aunt Lauren is doing her nursing clinical in pediatrics right now and performed the Denver II test on her this week. Here are some things she is doing now:
Smiling when she's happy! This happens a lot in the morning and on her changing pad in Grandma Edie and Grandad's room.
Following items with her eyes. Yesterday she was "talking" to my dad, and when he walked away she searched for him.
She responds to sounds and likes to make her own. She now has pretty discernible cries for being uncomfortable, frustrated, hungry, etc. She also grunts and lot. Not exactly the sweet "coo's" I imagined.
When she is on her playmat she enjoys hitting items over and over and touching them with her hands. She has also begun to reach out to touch my face when I am close to her.
She HATES tummy time! She is getting better at doing it, but she whimpers all the way through it. It's so sad, but I know she has to do it. Ugh.
She now loves her bath, just not getting out of it. She smiles and splashes around in the water the entire time.
She sleeps at least 6 hours most nights and then goes back to sleep for another 2-3 after eating. Many nights she sleeps 7-8 hours solid. Hallelujah!
She is eating every 2-2 1/2 hours now. I'm trying to break her habit of eating every two hours since I know she can go longer, but I hate it when she gets angry about waiting!
Her hair is not falling out, just coming in thicker and a little lighter. Her eyes are getting bluer every day - we think that's how they'll stay.
Sorry that was long - more for my memory than anything!

7 Weeks

2011-01-24T08:20:00.000-08:00

My sweet angel baby lived up to the meaning of her name, Evangeline - one who brings good news - on her 7 week birthday. It was, of course, sad news for my family, but ultimately good news for my grandfather that he was able to pass on to his glorious reward on Friday.
He had suffered from metastatic prostate cancer for months, and from the moment he knew that his time with us was drawing to a close one of his final wishes was to meet Evie, his third great-granddaughter. I'd had a trip to Waco planned for several weeks, and I was originally going to arrive on January 28th. However, on Wednesday night my mom let me know that he would certainly not make it until then. This time Nick's crazy work schedule worked to our advantage, as he was able to drive me home on Thursday and fly back on Friday without having to take off any time.
We drove through the night on Thursday after Nick finished work, arriving in Waco shortly after 4am. Evie did fabulously in the car - what a blessing! We woke up as early as possible on Friday and headed to my grandparents' house. Although he couldn't open his eyes or communicate with us, we brought Evie in to meet my granddad. Mom helped him touch her precious little feet, and we made her cry so that he could hear her (this sweet baby is not a big crier so it was actually quite a task). Mark, Nick, and I all got to speak to him, and then about an hour and a half later he peacefully passed away. At the very end he was surrounded by 4 generations of Colvin women who loved him - my grandmother, mother, myself, and Evie were all there in the room when he left us.
We all believe that he was just waiting to meet Evie before he let go. When Mom told him on Thursday that we were on our way he miraculously moved an arm and a leg. He'd stopped taking fluids on Tuesday so making it to Friday was a miracle in itself. We all miss him terribly, but are so glad that his suffering is over. Our sweet Evie angel baby released him.

6 Weeks

2011-01-16T09:31:00.000-08:00

On Friday Evie turned 6 weeks old. In case we might have forgotten her age, we've been constantly reminded of it since her 6 week growth spurt has been in full swing the past several days! She has been eating every 2 hours on the dot during the daytime but stuck to her four hour schedule during every night except Saturday when she slept really reslessly and woke up every 3 hours to eat. Frankly, she's been pretty cranky this week, which means we haven't had much playtime. Since she's spent most of her awake time fussing and crying, we have spent it trying to help her calm down and get comfortable. And don't even get me started on the spit-up! Yesterday she spit up 7 times before she was even dressed for the day!!! I think that her hungry, growing tummy has just been demanding more than it can actually process, thus the spit up problems.
Last night, when I had really reached my breaking point (Nick was at work from 2am-midnight) everything re-set to normal! Phew! Evie went right to sleep after I fed her at midnight and slept soundly until I woke her at 4am. I let her sleep as long as she wanted after that, and she went until almost 9am!!! Thank you Evie! This morning she has been very happy, smiling and cooing and playing with her rattle.
Still, I don't have a great 6 week picture because, as you can imagine, capturing one this week was a challenge.
Here's hoping that we have a happier baby this week!

5 Weeks

2011-01-08T11:53:00.000-08:00

Yea! We made it to 5 weeks!

Trying really hard to smile. She finally did it this morning, but of course I didn't have the camera handy.

We are battling a case of baby acne. I guess Evie is embarassed and trying to cover it up!

As far as Evie's routine goes, not much has changed since last week. She is awake a lot during the day and sleeps great at night. My iPhone alarm didn't work one night this week, and she made it 5 hours without a peep between feedings. I can't wait until we get the okay from the doctor to let her go completely on-demand at night! She is starting to grasp a lot - reaching out for Finlay's fur, grabbing my shirt while she's eating, and trying to hold onto toys while we're having play time. She can also hold her head up on her own really well if you just sit her up. I packed away all her newborn clothes a few days ago. They still fit circumference-wise, but were too short in the legs and sleeves. Some of the 0-3 months clothes still swallow her, but they are much easier to get on and off, and at least she can stretch her legs out in them.

This week we had a few more firsts. Evie made her first trip to the grocery store. She hung out in her Moby wrap and helped me with a quick shopping trip. I talked to her the whole time we were in the store, and we got a few crazy looks! My mom did the constant narration thing with me, and she attributes my prodigious childhood vocabulary to it so bring on those crazy looks! Evie also had her first playdate. A friend here, Danielle, arranged it at her house. Evie got to hang out with Danielle's daughter, Sophia, who was born 2 days before Evie in the exact same LDR room. I'm hosting the playdate Monday at our house. Of course it's more for the moms at this point, but I hope that as the kids grow they'll become good friends.

4 Weeks and a little something extra

2010-12-31T16:10:00.000-08:00

Don't miss the post about Christmas below this one!

Evie is 4 weeks old today! Not much has changed - she is still very small, wearing newborn size clothes and diapers. However, you can see that she has plenty of baby fat to keep her warm! She is starting to get her schedule more organized and is beginning to wake more during the day. She eats every 2-3 hours during the daytime and stretches is out to every 4 hours at night. That black hair isn't going anywhere, and it's even growing in thicker. Her eyes are still very dark, but more specifically they are deep blue around the outsides and hazel around the pupil. I'm interested to see where they end up! Below the official picture you'll see some others that I took today. I got a little snap happy, but I thought at least the grandparents would enjoy these!

Official 4 week pic

Loves looking out the window in her room

Not sure what she's thinking here!

Sometimes she is so serious! I wonder where she gets that? (Hint - not from Mom)

We call this the "smile before the storm." Anyime you see it, a screaming crying fit is imminent.

Christmas/3 Weeks

2010-12-31T15:57:00.000-08:00

Here's a peek at our Christmas

3 weeks on Dececmber 24 - this was the best picture I got. Not a fan of the tutu, Evie?

The Christmas set-up. No chimney so the stockings were hung on the bookshelf with care...

Fin couldn't wait to see what St. Nick brought him!

Dad, daughter, and her stocking. Following family tradition I made Evie's stocking, and she'll get a new decorative patch on it each year. My Mom and her siblings, Mark and I, and now Evie all do this.

Evie's Christmas haul. Can you find the baby?

Family pic

Evie and Daddy

Evie and Mom - a little close-up for my taste...

Best Buddies

2010-12-22T11:50:00.000-08:00

These two are best buddies already!

Finlay did this on his own - no prompting from us!

Evie 2 Weeks

2010-12-17T15:34:00.000-08:00

Evie is 2 weeks old today! I can't believe how quickly time is flying. We had her 2 week check-up with the base pediatrician today, and everything looks great! It seems like she is going to potentially take after her maternal grandmother, sizewise, as she is perfectly healthy but tiny. Her stats are:
Height: 19 1/2 inches, 17th percentile
Weight: 7 pounds, 12th percentile
Head Circumference: (they didn't give me the actual measurement) 15th percentile
She is eating great - every 3 hours during the day and every 4 at night - and she has to be woken up to eat at night to boot! The doctor says that after 6 or 8 weeks we can let her go as long as she wants to at night. I can't wait, but still feel fortunate to have such a great sleeper right now. She also already has great head control, and is able to lift her head and turn it to one side, then all the way around to the other shoulder and then back again before setting it down during tummy time. We are amazed by our sweet, tiny little girl!

Thanks, Honey!

2010-12-16T19:58:00.000-08:00

I have to give major credit to Nicholas for everything he's been doing around here this week. He was super-helpful while my mom was here, but since she's been gone he has really been stepping up to take care of Evie and me. He has changed 90% of the diapers, volunteered for countless extra late-night, post-feeding soothing sessions, and waited on me hand and foot, making and bringing me food, making sure I get my shower and getting-ready time, etc. And he does it all cheerfully, like there's nothing he'd rather be doing! Since I'm breastfeeding exclusively, I thought that I might feel like the one doing all the work, but these past several days I've really felt like the lazy one. I'm going to be so sad to send Nick back to work on the 21st, but until then I feel so fortunate to have such a loving, helpful, and attentive husband at home with me. Thanks, honey!

Nursery Pics

2010-12-14T10:45:00.000-08:00

Entering from the hall

Behind the door

Pretty much the whole set-up. The room is tiny!

Hard to see, but I made these canvases with her monogram.

Dresser and closet door

By popular demand, here are pictures of Evie's nursery. We pretty much use it for diaper and clothing changes right now, as she sleeps in our room at night. Of course, once she starts sleeping in the crib the precious blanket, pillows, and bunny will come out. I'm totally paranoid, hence the absence of bumpers, per the AAP guideline...Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

More Evie!

2010-12-10T14:39:00.000-08:00

I'm totally stealing this concept from my friend Anna - 1 week old!

After a nice bath - Evie actually hated it, but calmed down when she was being held by Dad.

Ready for her close-up!

Please don't make me wake up!

Evie Week One

2010-12-09T14:52:00.000-08:00

In the hospital, ready to go home

With Grammy and Edie

With Grandad and Edie

A little hungry

With Grandad

Big brother loves her!

Getting ready for our first doctor's appointment

With Mom and Dad

First walk around the neighborhood

So tiny in my bassinet

Finally caught her eyes open

Big brother is a great watchdog!

Welcome Evie!

2010-12-08T16:37:00.000-08:00

Nick and I welcomed our precious daughter Evangeline Claire to the world on Friday, December 3rd at 7:40 p.m. We are already in love with little Evie! (Pronounced E.V. - not eh-vee) She came a little early, and the way she arrived was a pretty big surprise. I'll post more pictures in another post so if that's what you want to see, you can stop reading. However, I'd like to document the labor/delivery process so I'm going to write about it here. If you keep reading from here, kudos to you!

Nick and I went to my regular doctor's appointment on Thursday, and that's where the fun started! During a regular internal exam, I started to bleed pretty heavily. Then I passed a big blood clot and started bleeding even more heavily. Needless to say, Nick and I were pretty terrified at that point. My doctor remained calm, but left the room to consult with the hospital and another doctor, and they decided pretty quickly to send me straight to the hospital to begin an induction. The doctor thinks that I had an infection in my cervix (tmi - so sorry) that caused all the bleeding, and that the bleeding wasn't going to stop anytime soon.

I was really disappointed to be induced, as I had hoped to have a completely natural birth experience, but I was also very anxious due to all the bleeding. Nick and I went across the street to the hospital, and I had started my induction with Cytotech by 5:30pm. We alerted our parents to head on out to Clovis, and hunkered down for a long night of labor. This whole process happened so quickly that we didn't really have time to let anyone else know what was going on, and because I was bleeding so profusely I didn't have the energy to be talking on my phone or even texting so I apologize to those of you who felt out of the loop! Nick was a huge help, and incredibly supportive every step of the way. He dealt with all of the doctors and nurses, and asked questions when they wanted to do something that wasn't in-line with our birth plan. I can't imagine having to go through such a scary experience without him.

From the time I was induced, I labored 19 hours before I broke down and got the epidural. I was really disappointed to cave, but after all the bleeding and the energy required for 19 hours of labor I needed some relief to make it through the rest of the process! We had 7 more hours of labor with the epidural (that's 26 hours of labor if you're counting), and then Evie finally arrived after only 20 minutes of pushing at 7:40. My parents and Nick's mom were able to be there, and the moms were a big help during the delivery (thanks, guys!) Overall, it was an exhausting but ultimately joyful experience,

Evie was 6 pounds, 13 ounces and 19 3/4 inches long. Her apgar was 8/9 so she was great, even after all the bleeding and super-long labor. So far, here's what we can tell about her looks. She has a ton of dark hair, Nick's eyes and nose, my mouth and chin, Nick's long, skinny arms and legs, and my long feet. She started nursing like a champ right away and has continued to do so ever since! I was really nervous about this so I'm so glad it wasn't a big struggle. So far, Evie has a great temperament, and pretty much only cries during baths or when we have to wake her up to eat. We are very lucky parents!

More pictures to come tomorrow, I promise.

Pictures!

2010-11-27T20:11:00.000-08:00

My computer is all well and back from the doctor - thank goodness! Here are the pictures I wanted to share this morning. There are a few from Thanksgiving and one of the nursery. Enjoy!

Here are Nick, Baby H, and me on Turkey Day

Finlay was so tired by the end of the day that he turned his back to us while we watched football.

This is the entry to Baby H's nursery, with her little bookshelf all stocked with books! This is the only nursery picture I can show you since all the others show her name or initials - sorry.

Thanksgiving

2010-11-27T09:27:00.000-08:00

We are still here, and Baby H is still happily happily hanging out in my belly. We had a great Thanksgiving this year, and I have a few pictures from the big day. Unfortunately, my computer got sick and is at the computer doctor, and I'm unable to upload my pictures to Nick's computer. So sorry! My parents sent us a Greenberg smoked turkey, and Nick's dad visited and made all of the sides and dessert so I got to just hang out on the couch and rest, which was soooo nice.
We finished the nursery and decorated for Christmas yesterday so we're ready for baby girl whenever she decides to make her grand entrance. After a few weeks of feeling lots of energy, I am definitely exhausted pretty much all the time now. I'm also in a decent level of discomfort all the time, which is to be expected. However, Nick's right arm is still pretty much useless so we're happy for her to stay put as long as she wants to. I'll try to post some pictures once my computer comes home all better. Until then, happy rivalry day, and Gooo Cocks!

Full Term?!?!?!

2010-11-15T12:12:00.000-08:00

Since my doctor's office is using December 6th as my official due date (from 12.5 week ultrasound), I am officially full-term today! I can't believe that this journey is coming to a close, albeit hopefully not anytime too soon. Our bags are packed for the hospital, and the nursery is just about finished, but I'm still not in any hurry to be done with this pregnancy. Please continue to pray that our little cupcake cotinues to bake until Nick can at least use his right arm again, which will be sometime around Thanksgiving or a little after.

36 Weeks

2010-11-12T14:43:00.000-08:00

Excuse my hair! This morning's wet weather was not kind to it.

Here I am at 36 weeks. I'm having to make hodge-podge outfits because I refuse to buy winter maternity clothes. It just seems silly when baby girl will be here so soon! This made today especially difficult, though, because it's so cold that it snowed here last night! At least I can still wear my North Face coat with only the top part zipped and my bump poking out. Does it look silly? Yes. Does it keep me warm? Absolutely.

We didn't learn much at our 36 week appointment. I've now learned that the doctor's office here won't check patients until 40 weeks or later. I guess the timing of little girl's arrival will just remain that much more mysterious! The midwife estimated her size right now at about 6 pounds and says that she should be 7 or 7.5 at birth. I guess we'll see how accurate that guess is soon enough! She is still head down, with her head very low. I've had some "real" contractions (i.e. painful in front and back) sprinkled here and there, but otherwise there doesn't seem to be much progress toward the big day. The other night I actually had a tetanic contraction that lasted 8 minutes. It was not fun, but I'm happy with anything that helps bring her closer to actually being here.

That's all for the 36 week report!

35 Weeks

2010-11-06T18:13:00.000-07:00

Not the best picture, but I had to take this with the self-timer while Nick was asleep.

Wow! I haven't done a weekly post since 29 weeks! It's been a pretty crazy 6 weeks, as you know, but Baby H and I are still doing great. People have started to ask me if I'm incredibly ready to have the pregnancy over and done with, and the answer is, well, maybe...sometimes! I'm really still feeling good and haven't yet felt a strong compulsion to just have it all over with. I know we'll be elated when she gets here, but right now I'm still feeling pretty patient.
We start weekly check-ups on Wedesday, and I guess that's when they'll start "checking" things to see if anything is happening yet. I'm NOT looking forward to that process, but it will be nice to know if anything is changing (definitely don't think so). At our last check-up on Wednesday everything looked great. She's measuring right on, and my blood pressure has been better the last two office visits. (It hadn't been bad, just slowly creeping higher). She's also head-down and low, with her head resting right on top of my bladder - fun times all around! Because of how she's resting I've been having a good amount of pressure and some dull pain in my pelvic area, along with a little crampiness. My midwife assures me that all of this is normal, and doesn't mean anything.
I've been working hard on nursery things the past few days. There's still more work to do, but I've been pretty crafty! Unfortunately, since my craft projects involve things like baby girl's name and monogram I can't show you until after she gets here!
As far as an update on Nick, he's doing okay following his shoulder surgery. He is in a lot of pain and is having a really hard time sleeping. The fact that he's now working nights has made it that much worse. Please pray that he will be able to be comfortable and get some sleep!

2010-11-06T10:47:00.000-07:00

Something tells me that after my dog spends all morning at the groomer, I shouldn't immediately be able to brush out this much fur...At least Finlay should be more comfortable now, and my house should collect a little less of his hair!

Weekend Happenings

2010-11-01T07:28:00.000-07:00

Mom and Dad visited Clovis this weekend! They brought with them all of the big items from my Waco shower that I couldn't bring back on the plane in September. It was so fun getting to see all those cute things all over again! They also helped with some things that Nick and I, in our compromised states, haven't been able to do, like installing the carseat, rearranging nursery furniture, and other various projects around the house. I don't know what we would have done without them!

We also got to go out to the Fall Festival on-base, where they had a static display of the various aircraft that are based at Cannon. Below is a picture of us with the Predator, which is the aircraft (RPA - remotely piloted aircraft) Nick works with. I actually got a chance to "fly" the Pred in a training simulator on Friday, during the basewide spouse flights day. Now I have a much better idea of what Nick does at work all day.

This year we finally live in a place where we get trick-or-treaters at our house on Halloween! It's been since 2006, when we lived on- base at Shaw, that we've had trick-or-treaters because people in Columbia apparently just don't do it. We decided yesterday at about 3pm to actually dress up so our costumes are remnants from college functions. Nick and Finlay were escaped prisoners from Alcatraz, a costume resurrected from Pi Phi pledge dance circa 2002. I was a football player in Nick's Baylor Line jersey. One of our trick-or-treaters asked me if Baylor won on Saturday, and I was elated to say yes!

We have a big week this week - today we go back to Amarillo for Nick's surgery follow-up, and on Wednesday we have Baby H's next Dr. appointment. I'm at 35 weeks, one week off from how they usually schedule these things, so I don't quite know what to expect. We'll be sure to keep you up to date, though!

Two New Posts

2010-10-27T13:30:00.000-07:00

Sorry I've been so delinquent in updating the blog. We've had a few other things going on around here! Check out the two new posts below to read a little about it.

Nick's Surgery

Santa Fe Babymoon

Nick's Surgery

2010-10-27T10:08:00.000-07:00

Does this shot look familiar? Didn't I just post a picture like this last month? Yes, for the second time in 5 weeks, Nick went under the knife (figuratively speaking) last Thursday. He had surgery to repair multiple tears to the muscles and ligaments in his rotator cuff and to remove a massive bone spur on his collar bone, which was in the process of severing a ligament itself. He's always had trouble with his joints, and having to wear the extremely heavy body armor around all last year in Afghanistan really exacerbated some existing issues and created new problems.
We've been working toward this surgery since he got home in March, but because of the move and the ridiculous referral process, which required us to see a total of 6 different doctors before landing at the actual orthopaedic surgeon's office in Amarillo, this was literally the soonest that we could have it done.
The good news is that the doctor thinks Nick will be completely back to normal once he is fully recovered. He'll be able to lift weights and throw a football again, things he hasn't been able to do for a long, long time. The bad news is that he literally can't move his right arm for at least 4 weeks, and is in for a grueling 3-6 month recovery process following that. Dr. Parker does think that if things go well Nick will be able to hold Baby H once she is born, as long as she stays in there the full 40 weeks. Should she decide to arrive early, all bets are off because my "full-term" date coincides with the tail end of Nick's 4 weeks, no movement rule. So pray that we have an on-time or a late baby!
Nick is recovering well, and in good spirits, although he hates that I have to help him do so much, like washing his hair, driving him everywhere, etc. It's admittedly tough having an 8-months-preggo and someone recovering from surgery in one house with no other help. (For a good laugh, try to imagine us getting Baby H's glider into her room from the front porch where the delivery guys left it this morning. Loads of fun). We're both uncomfortable, tired, and cranky, but I know that in the end we will be glad that we went ahead and did the surgery now so that Nick can really enjoy his little girl during her first year. Prayers for Nick's quick recovery and my patience are, however, appreciated!

Santa Fe Babymoon

2010-10-27T09:45:00.000-07:00

Many people think that the last several week of pregnancy are a time when mom-to-be is exhausted and "nesting" and as such she should be pampered and cared for by her husband and family. Well, I have been feeling extra-tired, and I have definitely felt the nesting urge and have been working around the house like crazy. However, the last several weeks of this pregnancy will not be filled with foot rubs and Nick doing the laundry and vacuuming as I dreamily decorate the nursery. Why? Because on Thursday Nick had major surgery on his right shoulder and he can't move it or lift anything for 4 weeks (followed by 3-6 months of intense physical therapy before he's back to normal)! But more on that in another post.

Before you start thinking I'm being all sour about a situation Nick can't control and is frankly making him much more miserable than it is me, let me say that I only point out those things to tell you why he whisked me away to Santa Fe last weekend for a babymoon!
He made all the arrangements for us to stay in a great hotel about a block from the Plaza, planned out our daytime excursions, and treated me to several tasty meals out!
We stayed in the Hotel St. Francis. It's in a historic building, and has been completely renovated to reflect a sort of minimalist/historic mission feel, almost like a spa. It was very romantic and perfect for a couples trip, although due to the size of the rooms (remember, it's a historic building) I wouldn't recommend it for a family excursion. Here's a picture of Nick in the gorgeous lobby - at night it was completely lit by candles and gas lights.

The first day there we arrived in the early afternoon. We had a delicious lunch at Cafe Pasqual, whose chef was nominated for a James Beard Award. We definitely will be returning to this restaurant! Here I am outside the door with the James Beard certificates in the window. (Please try to ignore my huge-ness in all of these pictures - I certainly do!)

While walking around the Plaza downtown, we saw this church, the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis. St. Francis is everywhere in Santa Fe! I know he is the patron saint of the diocese, but beyond that I have no idea why he is so popular.

For our first night out we started with drinks at a bar called Atomic Grill. We were able to sit out on the deck and people-watch while we sipped tasty drinks - Nick tried the Arrogant Bastard Ale, while I enjoyed a hazelnut italian soda.

We finished up the night with dinner at India Palace, which was recommended by friends. Since we can't get any kind of ethnic food (unless you count Mexican, and I don't think you can when you live in New Mexico) in Clovis, we really wanted to have something a little different while we were in Santa Fe. We were not disappointed! This place was great! (Sorry - no pictures).

The next day we woke up, and following a visit to Starbucks for breakfast, (Don't judge! We can't get Starbucks in Clovis either, so this was a special treat) we drove a bit out of town and headed up the mountain to check out the Santa Fe ski area. We were excited to see that the mountain looks pretty decent, with lots of blue and black runs, and it will only take us about 4 hours to get to the actual ski area from our front door. We are super-excited to try this out as soon as possible. We may even take Baby H up there in her little bunting in February or March so that Nick can try it out. Our main mission of the morning was to see the ski area, but we were pleasantly surprised by how beautiful the trees were! I've included several pictures, especially for my South Carolina friends who have asked (seriously) whether or not there are trees in New Mexico.

View looking up the mountain

Beautiful vantage point

Nick on a hiking trail amid all the golden Aspen trees.

Something I haven't mentioned yet, but that is worth saying, is that Santa Fe is a very dog-friendly place! We saw so many dogs there with their owners, and many of the hotels, shops, and restaurants (with outdoor seating) welcome furry friends. Dogs are even allowed to hike with you off-leash on the mountain. We will definitely be bringing Finlay with us the next time we visit!

We spent the rest of the day walking and shopping around the Plaza. If you haven't ever been, there is a plaza downtown surrounding a monument, and surrounding it are all kinds of shops and art galleries. It's a really interesting place with an eclectic mix of both things to buy and people buying them. It's almost just as fun to watch the other shoppers as it is to shop yourself. If you were ever lucky enough to visit my parents' old house, with the Southwestern themed family room, you may be interested to know that all of the Southwestern decor items, including Kaibab the Coyote, hail from these Plaza area shops and were purchased during a family vacation.

Here I am lounging on the Plaza.

After our shopping, we stopped into a rooftop bar before heading in to get ready for dinner. It looked out onto the Plaza, great for more people-watching!

That night we had dinner at Santacafe, which was recommended by my lifelong friend Beth, who visited Santa Fe this summer. It was definitely a splurge, but also absolutely splurge-worthy! If you go to Santa Fe, I can't recommend it highly enough. It's a mix of continental and Southwestern food - everything we had was delicious! They also have an in-house pastry chef so be sure to order dessert. You'll want to do two things if you eat here, though, bring slightly dressier clothes (lots of the guys were in suits although they're not required) and make reservations. Even on a Monday night this place was absolutely packed, but we were able to make a reservation as late as that afternoon.

This trip was a great way for Nick and me to spend some time together and for me to feel totally pampered going into the next several weeks. I'm so grateful that my thoughful husband planned this getaway and did all the work to make it happen. Thanks, honey!

Joys of Homeownership

2010-10-11T16:16:00.000-07:00

You may remember from a previous post that Nick and I have an issue with weeds in the alley behind our house. As an interesting aside, these are actually tumbleweeds! Previously, we had to clear a path to be able to access the alley dumpster. We were perplexed by this because, to our understanding, the land outside where our fence was allowed to go is not technically ours - it belongs to the city. However, we did it out of necessity.

Fast-forward to this week, when we received notice from the city that our alleyway was a "public nuisance" and needed to be cleaned up within 5 business days! So, in reasoning this out, there are two possibilities here. Option A is that we do own the land behind our fence, but we are not allowed to improve on it in any way, i.e. extend our fence, landscape, add a storage area, etc. Bogus! Option B is that although the city owns the land in our alleyway, we are still solely responsible for keeping it cleaned up. Also bogus!

Since we don't have the time or energy to fight with the city about this, though, we went ahead and spent today cleaning up all the weeds. We take comfort in the fact that over half the houses in our neighborhood have this same issue, so they should have received the same notification. therefore many of our neighbors are in the same boat. To clean up, we used a chainsaw, weedeater, lawn mower, rake, and industrial gloves (all of these weeds have MAJOR stickers attached and they are SHARP!

One side of the yard before. These weeds are taller than our privacy fence!

Another view of the mega-weeds

Nick and chainsaw in action - he did all the hard work!

Now it's all nice and clear!

My boys, so proud of a job well-done

Aside from the weed clean-up we've had a lot else going on in the past few weeks. Nick is scheduled to have shoulder surgery next Thursday, and he will have to spend about 3 weeks with his right arm totally immobilized. His shoulder was really messed up by the heavy body armor he wore every day in Afghanistan and has been bothering him a ton since he came home so we are very glad that he's finally getting the surgery!

However, once his initial recovery period is over I will be at full-term so we have been busy finalizing things for Baby H. Although I'll have time (and hopefully energy) to work on many things over the next 6-9 weeks, I won't have much help with the big things, like putting up furniture, etc. after October 21st. Our goal is to have all the necessities completely ready to go by October 31st, following a weekend visit from my parents, who can help with anything that doesn't get done pre-surgery.

I'm sorry that I don't have any new cute belly pictures - Nick's moved to swing shifts, which means that when we're home together I'm usually in my pj's and not ready to be photographed. I'll try to get one soon, though, because my belly is exploding!

DIY Success!

2010-09-30T15:15:00.000-07:00

I am rounding the corner of my 7th month of pregnancy - yikes! My nesting instinct has kicked in this week in a major way. One thing I have been wanting to do for a while is to make a window cornice for baby girl's nursery. Her nursery is very understated and traditional palette-wise, and almost every window treatment I've seen has been too bright or bold for her room. This weekend Nick helped me make this:

The material is taffeta, not satin like it looks in these pictures, so in real-life it is more pearly -shimmery than shiny. Thank goodness. Here's a closer look:

Here's the best part: it only cost about $40 to make, including the sheer curtains and curtainrod. We used a plan from the DIY network online, and it just took about an hour to put together. I'm so happy with how it turned out! What do you think?

29 Weeks and Waco Shower

2010-09-25T10:39:00.000-07:00

I've held off for a few days before posting pictures about my trip to Waco because I wanted to give the South Carolina post some breathing room. There's a lot to post about from the past few weeks! I've also just been busy decompressing from all my travels and trying to rest.
I guess, given my whirlwind adventures of September 10-20 it's no surprise that when I went to the doctor on Tuesday my blood pressure was up a bit and my weight gain was minimal. Baby girl is still doing great, but the rest of my body is worn out! Following Nick's release from the hospital on Tuesday, we flew home on Wednesday. We got into Lubbock at 4pm, and drove the hour and a half home to Clovis. I unpacked quickly, started some laundry, and then went off to the grocery store to stock Nick up on groceries for my Waco trip since his OxyContin prevented him from being able to drive. I came home, made dinner, packed for Waco, went to sleep, and woke up in time to drive Nick to 7:30 sick call on base. After he was checked out I dropped him at home and then headed to Lubbock to catch my flight to Waco, eventually arriving there at about 7pm. All this after pulling 2 all-nighters in the hospital on Sunday and Monday nights! It was NICE to get home and relax for a few days.
Clearly the highlight of the Waco trip was Baby H's shower! She received so many precious gifts, and I'm having fun putting them all up in her nursery. Thanks to all of our hostesses and to everyone who was able to come or sent a gift!

With some of my sweet hostesses

3 of the fab five - we missed you LC! These 3 traveled from the Big D and even Colorado Springs to celebrate Baby H - love y'all!

Edie and Grammy

Sweet sister took notes on all the gifts - thanks And!

Three favorites - Bec flew in from Baltimore for the big day!

Fabulous gift from the hostesses, her carseat. We are now legal to leave the hospital!

Not from the shower, but these two never take pictures so I had to put it up. Loved getting to see you during my trip!

I loved getting to see so many friends and family, but I think I may need the last 10 weeks of this pregnancy to rest up for L&D! I've made the decision not to come back for Homecoming next month because I don't know that my preggo body can do that kind of travel again! It was so strange to leave town knowing that the next time I come back it will be with Baby H. Crazy!

I hope you all have a great weekend, and I promise the next post will not be quite so long. Sic 'em Bears and Gooo Cocks!

Columbia: One City, Two Tales

2010-09-21T14:43:00.000-07:00

The weekend of September 11 Nick and I enjoyed a trip back to Columbia. We arrived on Friday night and were scheduled to leave on Monday morning (more on that below). I know you all don't want to read a novel about our trip so I'll keep it short. I do want to include a HUGE thanks to our friends who made the weekend so fabulous. Thanks so Rex and Paula for providing such comfy accommodations - that became even more important later on - and for chauffering us around town. Thanks to Kelly and Michael for arranging all the details of an amazing weekend. You guys really went all out to make sure that we enjoyed ourselves! Thanks to Tom and B for sharing your tailgate fun with us, and to Christian and Angela for hanging out with us at the game and hosting us in your home on Saturday night. Thank you to Laura, Lauren, and Kelly for putting on the most precious baby shower for Baby H and me! Finally, thank you to all our friends who welcomed us back to Cola and helped us celebrate our Columbia visit and the impending arrival of Baby H. We loved seeing all of you and already miss you sooo much!

Here I am with Laura, Kelly, and Lauren, the shower hostesses.

The TRUMC crew.

FFF ladies with the bump.

Anna and Melissa

Outside Williams Brice Stadium

With Angela and Kelly at the tailgate

Nick with Carter, Michael, and Christian at the tailgate

At the game. So thankful our seats were in the shade!

Now, for our second tale. On Sunday night Nick got really sick - vomitting and in excruciating pain. I called my mom, a former GI (gastrointerological) nurse, who told me how to do the "rebound test" for appendicitis. Since Nick freaked out so much when I did the test, it was apparent that he had it. We headed over to the Providence emergency room (in Columbia - not Waco, obviously). To make a long story short, the ER staff was great, and after a few hours, lots of Morphine and Zofran, bloodwork, X-rays, and a CT scan, Nick was admitted and prepped for an appendectomy on Monday morning. He had the surgery around noon, spent the night in the hospital, and was released Tuesday after lunch. We stated Tuesday night in Columbia, and flew home on Wednesday.

Again, HUGE thanks are due to our friends who helped us through this crisis! An anonymous fairy godmother kept us in our hotel for the extra nights we had to spend in town. Kelly rallied all our church friends to pray for us while Nick was in surgery and recovering. Mollie, Kelly, and Laura all came to the hospital to visit, each bringing food and goodies, and Mollie who is also our pastor prayed with us before Nick went under. And sweet Michael lent us his car for the duration of Nick's stay so that I could freely go back to the hotel as needed, we could leave the hospital promptly after Nick was released, and I was able to run necessary errands, like picking up Nick's prescriptions. I can't imagine how different this experience would have been without all your help.

We Hail Thee Carolina...

2010-09-09T15:07:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow Nick and I are headed back to South Carolina to see sweet friends, cheer on the Gamecocks against UGA, and celebrate Baby H. We can't wait to get there! Some of our best friends, the Wilsons and the Halls are hosting us, and we are so excited about our big reunion. The two biggest highlights of the weekend will be the football game/tailgate on Saturday and Baby H's baby shower on Sunday afternoon (given by my friends Kelly, Lauren, and Laura). Of course there will be lots of other fun times during the weekend, but you don't need me to list them all here!

I've been super busy all week getting ready this weekend so I haven't taken any new pictures! You can look forward to lots of SC pictures coming up, but here's a picture of the last time Nick and I were at a game together in Williams Brice Stadium.

The biggest challenge in preparing for this trip was dealing with Finlay's boarding issues. Not only did we have to find a place to board him, but I also had to get his Hydroxizine prescription refilled. (That's the anxiety medicine that keeps him from having gastrointestinal fireworks). Without this miracle pill, Finlay will be a very sick boy, and will end up at the vet's office as soon as they open on Tuesday. However, getting it ended up being pretty complicated! I had to have his old vet in SC fax information about the prescription to his new vet here. The new vet here has apparently been swamped with "very sick animals" for the last two days and unable to approve the prescription, despite my calling every 2 hours for two days straight. Finally, at 2:30 today, I took myself and Finlay up to the vet's in-person, and lo and behold the medicine was there waiting for us. I guess my perseverance finally paid off! The nurse who dispensed the meds did tell me that the vet was confused because I requested the medicine "to prevent nervous diarhea," but, and I'm quoting her here, "this medicine treats anxiety, not diarhea." Ummmmm......what am I missing here? At any rate, we got the medicine, got a good recommendation for a boarding place, and now Finlay is at Waggin' Tails, playing with other dogs, in his "happy place" thanks to the happy pills we were finally able to secure.

I hope everyone has a great weekend, and for all my SC friends, I can't wait to see you so so so soon!

And He's Off!

2010-09-02T05:56:00.000-07:00

Nick is finally all set with his new motorcycle. He spent all last weekend in a class that was kind of like driver's ed for motorcycles, and on Monday we got everything registered and licensed. Look out Clovis, he's on the road now! All kidding aside, this is something that Nick has wanted for several years. I've had lots of surprised responses that I "let:" Nick get this bike. My response is that A) I would never tell Nick that he couldn't do anything! I trust him to make good decisions, and B) He spent a year on a remote deployment, not only doing without lots of things he wanted, but also earning lots of extra money. It's his hard-earned money, and after so much deprivation I think he deserved a really nice reward, don't you?

Here he is, about to take off on his first spin around the neighborhood.

There he goes!

Here's Baby H's 26 week shot. My belly is supposed to be about the size of a soccer ball now. Sounds about right, I guess. There's not much new going on this week. I did have to ask Nick to fasten my shoes for me for the first time last night - boo. I'm glad that we're moving into fall shoes season since most of my fall shoes are slip-ons! Oh, and last night I had a hard time getting my rings back on after my shower. Good thing I have the $8 fake wedding band I bought for our trip to Mexico in May! I'm really hoping that it was end-of-day swelling and that my rings will hang on through my baby showers. After that, I know I'll have to swap out for the fake bling until January. Boo!

In other news, Nick has changed back to days- wahoo! He had Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday off so we have finally been able to hang out for the first time in a month! This will only last until October, but I'll take what I can get. He's now working from about 5am until about 3pm. Not your ideal schedule? Well, it's a lot closer to normal and waaaay better than the 10pm-8am schedule he had in August.

Finally, for my SC friends, I can't tell you how excited we are for the beginning of college football season! Tonight, the Gamecocks have their season opener, and we'll be watching at home while noshing on shrimp and grits and pimento cheese fries in honor of our Gamecocks. Go cocks! Can't wait to see them play in-person next weekend against Georgia!!!

25 Weeks

2010-08-24T10:08:00.000-07:00

Yep, she's growing!

As I type this, I'd like to just let you know that it's currently 63 degrees outside. Very. Nice. Off-topic I know, but I just had to rub it in a little!

Baby H and I had our 25 week doctor's visit today along with my glucose test - blech. Everything is going great with her - she's measuring right on schedule for an early-mid December arrival, and she is still super-active. Every time we go to the doctor (except of course for the gender scan - go figure) they comment about how extremely active she is! Today, when the doctor was trying to get her hearbeat on the doppler, she'd kick the sensor every time it got over her! At least there was no need to stress out over her well-being since it was clear, both from the inside and looking at the outside of my stomach, what was going on. She finally settled down and her heartbeat was great, but the doctor said "I think you're going to have a very active and stubborn baby on your hands!" Wonderful............Just kidding! Of course Nick and I are thrilled that she's doing great, and although her activity level can be tiresome at times for me (some days she kicks, punches, and stomps almost constantly, and let's not even get into what she does at night), I'm always grateful to know that she's happy in her little home.

On my end, let's just say that based on the scale baby girl ought to be growing VERY well. I'm still where I'm "supposed" to be weight-wise, but I stand amazed at how a person can gain so much weight in just 4 weeks! We'll leave that there, and we'll remember that a healthy baby is the most important thing. I was actually instructed by the doctor this week to dial back my exercise. I'd been having some pretty bad lower-abdominal pain after my walks, and today she suggested that I limit myself to 1 mile several times a week instead of the 2-3 I'd been trying for. Yoga is still recommended so that made me happy! I loooove my prenatal yoga.

Aside from blimping up, I've continued to feel pretty good this month (I say month since I haven't given you an update in 3 weeks). My appetite has increased in a major way (no kidding, right?) I'm also starting to feel tired more easily, and getting up and down and moving around is getting a little tougher. I've noticed myself starting to do the waddle, which I'm fighting as hard as I can. It's so weird how your hips just kind of open up on their own and make you sway side to side when you walk!

I can't believe that I'm almost through my second trimester. Time is flying by! I know she'll be here before we know it, and I'm just trying to relish every minute of anticipation and preparation.

Projects

2010-08-19T12:49:00.000-07:00

Today I finally finished this project for Nick. I've been working on it for over a month, and it's finally up on the wall! Of course, the bigger accomplishment is what's represented inside this box. As a rule, I hate "brag blogging," but I think you'll all appreciate knowing what the items in this shadow box are and what they mean. Okay, starting with the top row: the bronze items with straps are spurs. Nick was given the right to wear them as an honor from the cavalry unit with whom he worked in Afghanistan. Especially since he's not in the Army this is a huge tip of the hat to him. In the middle of the top row is Nick's biggest Afghanistan honor: his Bronze Star. This is the military's third-highest honor for meritorious acts or service, ranking just beneath a silver star. It is a very distinguished honor for Nicholas, and one that was very hard-earned. Directly beneath it is his Combat Action Badge. This means what it sounds like - he actually saw combat action, i.e. took fire/was attacked by enemy forces. Thank goodness for body armor! On the left of the middle row is the Army Achievement Medal. This is from the Army - since Nick was working with and for them, they decided to give him this award because of the amazing job he did on the deployment. The next medal to the right is the NATO-ISAF medal which signifies that he was in Afghanistan as a part of the ISAF mission. The far right medal is the Afghanistan Campaign medal, which is self-explanatory. At the bottom are the badges from the cavalry unit, the army brigade (4 ID), and ISAF that Nick wore on his uniform every day. I'm so happy to have this up in our house so that all of Nick's achievements are proudly displayed for our visitors. I also can't wait to someday use it to explain to Baby H what a war hero her daddy is! He certainly worked hard enough to earn them; he deserves a pat on the back every now and then too!
Today Nick completed another household project - much less exciting, but so much more necessary!

Recently the city of Clovis opted to discontinue the polycart trashcan program that it had been trying out for several months. Apparently, many of the area's citizens found it too difficult to get their carts to the curb on trash days, and other residents were frustrated that the carts would sometimes blow away in high winds. Personally, my message to these people would be to suck it up and deal with it because now that the polycarts have been confiscated by the city, all residents must take all their trash to dumpsters located about every 200 feet in alleyways behind our houses. I ask you, which is easier, placing trash in a trash can, taking it to the curb for pick up, and then bringing the trash can back in or hauling bags full or trash and other household waste to a dumpster located several houses down from yours?!
My objections to the discontinuation of the polycart program aside, we are now relegated to dumpster use, which brings with it an entirely different set of issues. You see, although the area between our fence and the alleyway is not technically a part of our property, the city will not maintain it, i.e. get rid of the tree-sized weeds that grow up along all of the backs of fences in the alley. Since people haven't had to utilize these alleys for months, most of us have let the weeds get out of control, as you can see from this view of my street's alleyway. Now, though, Nick and I need to get out of our back fence and into the alley to get to the dumpster, and these ridiculous weeds have made the task almost impossible. Here's what ours looked like today.

My brilliant and hardworking husband had a plan, though, for dealing with these ferocious weeds, and he executed it today, even after working all night last night. He cleared away the trees, whoops, I mean weeds, with a machete, a weed wacker, and a shovel. Then he put down weed killer, then sand, then these concrete blocks. Now we have a permanently clear passage to the alleyway, and hence to the dumpster. Look at what a great job he did!

While I'm still not happy about this dumpster situation, I am very very grateful to Nicholas for making it much easier and more pleasant to get to the dumpster. Great job, honey!

Ready, Set, Go!

2010-08-14T16:26:00.001-07:00

Last weekend started baby fever at my house! I traveled to Dallas and Waco to register for baby showers, to shop for Baby H, and to spend some good quality time with my family. We've just got the beginnings of baby girl's nursery up, but I thought I'd give you a peek at what's in there now. I'm sorry I don't have any belly pictures, but those are hard to come by when I'm in my pajamas anytime Nick is awake since he's on nights right now. Okay, so here we go.

The crib! I know it looks old fashioned, and that's the point. My favorite aspect is all of the turned detailing. It's all over the bars...
And even the feet are turned! So sweet.

Here's the changer. I liked this one for several reasons, but went with it because it's small enough to fit in this spot, unlike almost all the others. The baskets are lined in pink and green, which are the nursery colors. No theme, just colors.

On the other side of the window are her dresser and closet. This dresser was in my room when I was a little girl, and even traveled to college with me. Nicholas has the exciting job of repainting it. Lucky him! It will still be white, just needs to be cleaned up.

Here are a few other little things I've picked up. Udder Covers (purple thing) was giving away free nursing covers during National Breastfeeding Awareness Week. I snagged one! The shoe-socks are a gift from "Aunt Rebecca", the Beatric Potter box set is a gift from Grammy (Nick's mom), and the little golden books are three of my favorites from my little girl years.

I never thought I'd find myself saying this, but I love my new diaper bag! It's got all the bells and whistles and it's super-cute. It was a bit of a splurge, but I think that if I've got to give up cute purses for a while, I might as well get a cute diaper bag instead!

Baby girl had her first Northpark shopping spree last weekend. This is a tradition my mom and I have always shared a few times a year, and now she gets to join in the fun. Lucky for her, Neiman's was having Last Call so she got some super-cute spring/summer clothes to grow into as well as a few sweet things for the first few months. Her "Homecoming Outfit" is in there, but you'll have to wait until December to see that!

If I had to pick the most precious thing in her closet right now, it would be this baby bunting. I honestly didn't know that those really existed outside of nursery rhymes! Hers is a super soft, barely pink, bundle of fluff. Apparently, she wears this instead of a coat in the winter. Since it actually does get really cold in New Mexico, this was a must!

Finlay watched, with some level of perturbation, as I took all these photos, and then walked into the middle of the room and started posing for the camera. I said, "Oh, Fin, do you want me to take your picture?" He immediately struck this pose, held it while I snapped, and then pranced happily out of the room. We are really in for it once this baby actually gets here with this little attention hog running around!

Thanks for indulging me by looking at all these pictures! I hope everyone has a great weekend. We're finally trying out our first Clovis church tomorrow so I'll be sure to report on that experience ASAP.

Pop Goes the Tummy!

2010-08-03T09:12:00.001-07:00

At 22 weeks pregnant, I've finally popped! No more walking around with the "beer gut" look. I'm finally, actually looking like a momma to be. Baby H is moving all the time now. If I'm not actively doing something else - cleaning the house, going for a walk, etc. - I can pretty much always feel her kicking, punching, and rolling around in there. This is cute now, but I wonder how painful it will become a few months from now?! At any rate, though, I'm very grateful for the constant reminder that all is well with her. My popping tummy coincided with a major uptick in my appetite for a few days this week. I guess she was just going through a growth spurt because things have gone back to normal now.

Something new and lingering is serious round ligament pain in the lower middle of my abdomen. I'd had it on the sides for a while, but now I can feel some serious stretching going on right in the middle. It's pretty uncomfortable at times, but another great reminder that baby girl is growing! For about the last month I've had a lot of days where I felt like my whole stomach was stretched to the limit, and one thing I've done a lot that's seemed to help is prenatal yoga. I can't recommend it highly enough! Although I still get these stretching pains, they feel so much better after some gentle yoga stretching, especially the cat/cow pose (for my yogi friends out there).

We're gradually getting the house ready for baby - I ordered a crib and a changing table this week! I can't wait for them to get here. My mom and I are also making a shopping trip to Dallas and Waco this weekend to register and pick up some other baby items. Does that seem a little excessive to you? Well, you obviously haven't tried to baby shop in Clovis or Lubbock! I'm hoping to find a Babies R Us with a good selection of items in Dallas, and then I'll also hit up the Waco Target. We also get to do some fun shopping around in the children's wing at Northpark! I don't know who's more excited about that part of the trip - Edie or me.

Be thinking about Nick this week as he moves to the night shift (starting tonight) and has to handle Finlay and the household stuff all by himself from Friday through Tuesday while I'm gone. I figure that if I could do it for a year, he can do it for a few days, though.

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Manchester United Game

2010-07-30T20:12:00.001-07:00

On Wednesday Nick flew down to Houston to watch the Manchester United vs MLS All Stars game with my brother Mark. These two share an obsession with Man U (an English soccer team), and Mark got tickets to this game for his birthday. He was really sweet and shared them with Nicholas as his birthday present so they both got to see their favorite team play in-person. All reports are that these two had a great time, even if Mark did have to drive back to Waco after the game to be at work by 6am the next day. That's what I call dedication! Here are the two boys in their seats before the game, both wearing their Man U jerseys.

Nick got to the stadium early and hit up a few tailgates. This crew of guys is trying to bring a pro soccer team to San Antonio. They gave Nick grilled stuffed jalapenos and beer so they are now his friends for life!

In other news, we've started accumulating a few things for Baby H, and it's completely throwing Finlay off. So far we have her stroller with bassinett, some socks, a little stuffed animal, and a precious Polo onesie I got in the mail today from Carolyn, my second mom. We've put it all in the nursery, but there's no furniture in there yet so I've put the other items on top of the bassinett cover. Before I've put each item up, I've let Finlay sniff it so that it's familiar to him. Well, now he can't figure out why they're not his toys, and he just goes into the nursery, lays down on the floor and stares up at everything with his ears pricked. I ordered the crib and changer today so I'm interested to see how he reacts when we really start moving stuff in there!

Happy weekend everyone!

It's a GIRL!!!

2010-07-27T20:33:00.001-07:00

Here I am at 21 weeks after an absolutely exhausting but exciting day. Much to our surprise, (we've really thought we were having a boy this whole time) we learned that Baby H is a baby girl. We almost didn't get a definitive answer because little girl was being so modest this morning in our ultrasound. At first she wouldn't open her legs, and the cord was in the way of our viewing. Then, about 30 minutes later, when she finally did open her legs, after much poking by the ultrasound tech and rolling side to side on my part, she then covered the area with her hand! Finally, we got a good view of the three little lines that meant we'll be welcoming a sweet baby girl sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Here's baby girl's 2D profile: (wondering where her legs are? she's folded completely in half right here so they're floating above her head)
My doctor's office automatically does 3D/4D ultrasound each time. I think they images come out kind of creepy, but here's the best view we got of her:

Since the big gender reveal, people have been asking about names. Yes, we have a short list, but no we won't be telling until she's actually here. That's all the news for now. Check back this weekend for pictures from Nick and Mark's big trip to Houston for the Manchester United vs. MLS All Stars game tomorrow!

Prayers Please

2010-07-26T13:19:00.000-07:00

I'm forgoing my 20-week post (hey, I really don't look that different this week anyway) and instead ask that you take a moment to pray for my lifelong friend, Emily. She lost identical twin boys yesterday at almost 34 weeks. Obviously, this is devastating news for Emily and her husband, for their families, and for all their friends. I can't imagine what they are experiencing, but ask that you pray for peace and for healing for this sweet family.

19 Weeks and Happy Birthday/Anniversary/Christmas Nick!

2010-07-21T13:17:00.001-07:00

Do I look exhausted in this picture? It was taken around midnight on Sunday, after we'd had two guys with whom Nick served in Afghanistan over for dinner, along with their families. It was fun, but a lot of work! This weekend was the first time experienced foot/ankle swelling and tingling because I was on my feet so much! I'm still feeling pretty good - no major issues to report. I am feeling Baby H kick and move around all the time, which is pretty cool. I can't wait until Tuesday, when we find out the gender. I'm also still waiting to finally, really, look pregnant. At this point, you have to see it in the right clothes at the right angle. I'm more than halfway through this pregnancy, and it would be nice to look like it!

In more exciting news, Nick bought a motorcycle this weekend. Yes, you read that correctly. You can see the proof below. This counts as his gift for all of last year's holidays as well as his gift for his time in Afghanistan. It's a Honda 919, for anyone who knows about this kind of thing - I personally do not. Now all he has to do is learn how to ride it and get a license, and he'll be riding this baby to and from work, having fun and saving us big bucks on gas. This is pretty much the only aspect of motorcycle ownership that excites me...For the moms, etc. who are reading this in fear, know that the USAF tightly regulates all safety aspects of riding motorcycles, and Nick has to go through a squadron motorcycle liaison in order to be approved to ride it. Nick will have to wear a helmet, safety gear, and reflective clothing whenever he is riding it, and of course in inclement weather he will have his car.

Flight Suit

2010-07-16T18:54:00.000-07:00

My handsome hubby is wearing a new uniform to work these days - a flight suit! These are usually reserved for the guys going up in the planes, but since Nick is technically flying, albeit remotely, in his new job here he gets to wear one too. I think he looks so cute! Don't you?

Zippy!

2010-07-15T11:31:00.000-07:00

So, lately my nesting instinct has begun to kick in. I have become absolutely OBSESSED with baby stuff. If you are taking the time to read this blog, I'll assume that you know me well enough to appreciate the ridiculousness of this obsession since heretofore I have been pretty lukewarm on babies in general. Don't get me wrong, I love babies. I just don't have the natural skills and instincts to easily care for them, and in fact refused to hold a newborn until last year for fear of hurting the baby. Because I haven't spent much time around babies I'm clueless about all of this baby "gear" that I apparently must have before Baby H gets here in 4 1/2 months.
My solution? Research, research, research. I've joined Consumer Reports online, I've trawled message boards on baby sites, and I've googled reviews for every baby product imaginable. This baby will NOT be a posh baby, but I do want to get good, durable products that will serve us well now, and will hopefully still work for Baby H #2 in a few years.
One particular obsession of mine has been the stroller. I decided on the carseat I wanted right away because a) it is the #1 rated carseat on Consumer Reports and b) my friend Anna used the same one for her son, seemed to like it, and I trust her judgement. (I bet you didn't think I was paying that much attention, did you?) So, Baby H will be riding around in the Chicco Keyfit 30.
The decision I really struggled with was the stroller. I plan on doing a lot of walking and traveling with this baby. Even when we lived in South Carolina I averaged one trip, by plane or car, about every 6-8 weeks. I take walks almost every day and need something that will work well for that, but is also easy to travel with since I anticipate making lots of trips back to Texas while we live here (woo hoo)!
I didn't rule out anything right away. I looked at everything from the coordinating stroller for my carseat to the Bugaboos. I eventually ruled out most of the really high end ones because a) they're really expensive and b) for their astronomical price tags they didn't meet all my needs. I went back and forth, back and forth, until I finally found the Inglesina Zippy! It has everything that I wanted, and even has a super-precious bassinet for while Baby H is really tiny. It can also accommodate my carseat, which is convenient.
I was already super-excited about the stroller and bassinet, but imagine my joy this morning when my parents (Edie and Grandad) called to say that they want to give the Zippy to Baby H as their baby gift. I can't wait to get it and set it up, although it will be alone in the nursery for now since we haven't bought anything else for the baby yet. Thanks, guys! This is a fabulous gift!
Here's a picture of the Zippy with the bassinet attached, and below that is a picture of the Zippy as it will be used for Baby H once we no longer need the bassinet:

Rain?!?

2010-07-12T10:39:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time Nick, Finlay, and I moved to the desert, to a place called Clovis, reputed to have 350 sunny days a year. I'm not sure what happened to those 350 sunny days, but I'm guessing they're all ahead of us because it has rained, heavily, just about every other day since we've moved here! While it's been really nice for our new grass and the temperature has been cooler, Finlay has not so much been a fan. Here's a picture of him huddled up in our bed last night as the rain came down. He HATES these storms!One thing we enjoyed about the rain last night was that it kept the bugs away so we could open up our french doors to the patio while Nick grilled some steaks!

18 Weeks

2010-07-11T11:26:00.001-07:00

I'm getting a little self-conscious about only posting pictures of myself on the blog lately so I tried to get Nick to pose for a picture with Finlay. He, however, was too engrossed in the World Cup final game (and still in his pajamas) and declined my photo op. So, sorry, you've just got me again this time! As you can see, Baby H is really starting to pop out! I'm mostly wearing maternity clothes now even though the tops are still a little big. My normal tops are just too short! At the rate my belly has been growing, I think I'll fully fit into those tops in a few weeks. I've really been feeling great this week, just a few short bouts of nausea or tiredness. I think it's partially because I've been exercising more. At my last doctor's appointment I'd gained a bit more than the projected range for the previous 4 weeks (although I didn't gain any weight in my first trimester due to my extreme nausea and stress level) and I kind of freaked out! I am still eating PLENTY because I am always hungry, but I am also walking with Finlay for 2-3 miles 4-6 times a week and doing prenatal yoga 3-5 days a week. My new routine doesn't compare to my pre-preggo Bodypump/running regimen, but I do think it's helping me feel much better and hopefully keeping my weight gain more in the acceptable range.
This week I'd like to give a shout out to Nick, who continues to be so kind, understanding, accommodating, and protective. I think as my tummy gets bigger, the pregnancy is becoming more real to him. He's really interested in what's happening with Baby H and is taking such good care of me! He's always making sure I'm comfortable and have what I need. I've also been banned from cleaning the bathroom (hallelujah!) and being around during his hairspray routine (??? he thinks the chemicals are harmful). He has listened to me talk constantly about baby stuff and labor over decisions about carseats, strollers, etc. Although he doesn't have much of an opinion about this stuff, he listens patiently and agrees with whatever I say (always the right answer when you're dealing with a preggo woman).
I've been feeling Baby H move a lot during the past week. For some reason, Baby H always wakes up when Nick gets home from work around midnight, and Nick has been able to feel BH kick a few times. He's so excited when he can feel it, and it's so precious!
I'll try to post some pictures of Nick and Finlay later on, when they'll let me photograph them. Until then, happy weekend everyone!

17 Weeks

2010-07-01T15:26:00.001-07:00

Baby H is finally starting to show a little bit! I still look more fat than pregnant unless you catch it at the right angle, but I'm hoping that will change in a few weeks. I bought some maternity clothes this past weekend. The pants are already coming in very handy, but I don't quite need the tops yet. I went ahead and bought several things, though, since I have to go all the way to Lubbock to buy them in-person. Yes, that's right - they don't actually sell maternity clothes in Clovis.
I haven't noticed many changes this week in terms of how I feel - just about the same as last week. We went to the doctor again yesterday, and he says that things are going great. We get to find out if Baby H is a baby boy or a baby girl on July 27th, and we're really excited about that! That's all the news from week 17. Happy 4th of July to everyone. We hope you enjoy the holiday weekend!

Thanks, Dad!

2010-06-29T21:13:00.000-07:00

Tonight I cheered my Gamecocks on to victory as they won the College World Series. It was so exciting to see my team win, even if the game felt like it went on forever. Way to go Cocks!
What really got me thinking, though, was how the announcers kept talking about the fact that this could likely be (and in reality was) the final CWS game played in Rosenblatt Stadium. As I listened to them talk about this stadium that has become such an icon in the college sports world, I couldn't help but feel grateful that I was one of the lucky 7.5 million or so people who got to share in the Rosenblatt experience over the years.
So, thanks Dad, for giving Nick and me the opportunity to experience one of the most revered pilgrimages in college sports. I know that when I insisted on tagging along, that probably wasn't exactly what you had in mind. After all, it was less than a month after our wedding. I'm well aware that we likely butted in on what should have been a father-son bonding trip. The 12 hour car ride was more crowded, with more pit stops along the way thanks to me. You and Mark had to share hotel rooms (with 2 double beds) with two extra people, and you had to make special arrangements for game tickets since you only had access to a few of the team tickets. But hey, we got to do some pretty cool stuff since you did let us tag along. I'll never forget the insane ticket lottery process or the wicked sunburn I got waiting in line to get into the ballpark, and of course I'm glad to still be alive after that one restaurant excursion (you know which one I mean). And the most priceless memory of all, cheering on my Baylor Bears in-person at the College World Series in Omaha. It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience, one that is now extinct. So, for all that I just wanted to say thanks!

Hidden Treasure and 16 Weeks

2010-06-25T12:57:00.000-07:00

I'm fortunate enough to have inherited a few family heirloom pieces of furniture. One such piece is a piano that my grandmother used when she was a little girl. It actually came from my great-grandmother's house to my house when I was a little girl, and it's the one on which I learned to play. Well, okay, if I'm honest it's the one I sort of tried to learn to play when I was very young. Once Nick and I were married it came to live with us, and it's moved around with us for the past five years.

The piano bench is a storage bench, and as far as I knew it only held my little practice books, etc. when I was younger. I'd never really done much digging in it since, as I've mentioned, I'm not too proficient at piano. However, the top of the bench is broken so our movers took out all the contents of the bench in order to move it to New Mexico. That meant that I had to unpack the little box of music, etc. once we began to unpack. Sadly, we are STILL unpacking, and this week I got around to the piano bench. In it, I found some really cool stuff!

I found this program from Baylor's conferral of an honorary degree on Harry Truman in 1947.This is a picture of my grandmother in the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra program from the 1957-58 season. She sang with the symphony that season. Cute that is says "Mrs. Herbert Colvin" - so old school!This is the program from my grandmother's junior voice recital at Baylor in 1947. You can see that my grandfather accompanied her. How cute!And this is the oldest dated piece of music that I found in the bench. According to the text in the upper right hand corner, it was sung by my great-grandmother in the spring of 1921. This piece of music is almost 90 years old!

And here's my 16-week picture. Please forgive my appearance - Finlay and I had just come in from a walk around the neighborhood! There's not much change in the tummy this week from last - big surprise! Well, at least there hasn't been much change from the outside. On the inside, nausea has returned - boo!!! I am sick for about 2 hours in the morning and then 2 hours around lunchtime. I've tried to head off my hunger, etc., all the things I did in my first trimester. I think I may just be stuck with this symptom for the duration. Ick! Otherwise, not much has changed. I go back to the doctor on Wednesday so maybe I'll have more to report then. Happy weekend everyone!

15 Weeks

2010-06-18T10:04:00.001-07:00

There's not much new to report from 15 weeks. As you can see, my tummy is growing a little bit, still waiting to really pop out! I'm still feeling pretty good, the only thing that seems to be lingering from the first trimester is lack of energy. It's not as bad as it was a few months ago, but I'm definitely not my old self either.
In other news, Nick is moving to days next week! Woo hoo! This schedule of him leaving the house at 10pm and getting home anywhere from 3-8am has been really tough on both of us, and I'm pretty sure that it's been contributing to my fatigue issues. He'll be on days for a few weeks and then move to the swing shift in July, which will be from about 4-11pm.
Also, the "Go Green" initiative that Nick helped start up in Afghanistan got some more press recently. You can check it out here:
http://www.cjtf82.com/regional-command-east-news-mainmenu-401/2888-green-program-rewards-cooperation.html. I continue to be incredibly proud of him and the work he did over there.
Finally, I attended my first social night with the 3rd SOS Spouses' Club last night. There were about 13 or 14 women there, and they all seemed really nice. One that I met actually graduated from Baylor in '02 and was a cheerleader her senior year there. Since I'm going to be staying at home with Baby H it's important for me to make some good girlfriends here, especially those with kids, and I think there are definitely some women in this group who could fill the bill. We'll see how that goes, it's always tough getting a new start in a new place, but I'm hopeful that I'll begin to make some good friends here soon.
Happy weekend everyone!

Hail and BBQ

2010-06-13T21:00:00.001-07:00

Last night Finlay thought there was a herd of elephants trampling on our house! He hid in the guest bathroom all night... Turns out, it was just a massive hailstorm! When we finally opened the door to see outside, it looked like the middle of winter - very icy. This was the view from our garage. See how it all piled up against the door?

And this was the view out our front door.

Fortunately, Nick's new toy was spared from the hail thanks to its cover and our covered back porch! As a housewarming gift, my mom and dad gave us (read Nick) a Weber Genesis E320 grill. It's an awesome grill, and Nick proved his grilling prowess tonight when he made some BBQ beer can chicken. We looooove beer can chicken and are so excited to be able to make it on our new grill!
Nice work, honey, it was really tasty! Here's Nick with the finished product.

And here's Nick, hard at work getting the grill ready.

14 Weeks

2010-06-10T10:23:00.000-07:00

The 14 week mark has brought some welcome changes! I don't think I really realized how exhausted I was until I finally took some time to slow down and relax, which I have done this past week. Here are some changes I've noticed as I enter my second trimester:

* My nausea is almost completely gone. I still have to eat lots of little meals because I can't eat much at a time, and I still have some major aversions (no cravings yet). Examples are: garlic, meat, and tomatoes. Don't come near me with any of these (but not to worry, I have, of course been eating lots of protein for Baby H)!

* My tummy is still not popping out very much at all. Sometimes I am happy about this and sometimes I am irritated by it. I'm in that in-between stage with my clothes, too big for regular pants and too small for maternity stuff, but I still just look a little bloated. Thank goodness for Bella Bands! But seriously, I'm ready for my cute pregnant tummy.

* I am MUCH less nervous and am able to enjoy and get excited about this pregnancy. I haven't bought any baby items yet, but I'm sure that day is coming very soon.

* As I mentioned before, I do have more energy. Whether this is because my life is finally settling down or whether it's because I truly have an energy boost I have no idea, but I'll take it either way!

In other news this week, Finlay got to meet his Clovis vet on Tuesday. He did need his annual shots, but we actually ended up going in because he got a giant carpenter ant stuck up his nose! Nick and I tried really hard to get it out ourselves, but that wasn't going to happen so we went ahead and took him in. Hey, at least he got the shots while we were there, and as a bonus we made an appointment to have him groomed next week (looooong overdue).

We're also on a really weird schedule right now because Nick has been working nights. He's been going to work at 6 or so at night and coming home around 2 or 3 in the morning. He'll be on shift like this for at least the next year, but the shifts will rotate between daytime, evening, and night so we'll only be on this kind of schedule once every few months or so, thank goodness!

Baby Hall!

2010-06-02T08:21:00.000-07:00

Announcing Baby H!

(This picture was taken today at 13ish weeks - just a little tiny bit of a bump) Okay, okay, I've been keeping a big secret lately. It's actually one of the reasons that I haven't been posting much lately since it seems like every aspect of my life has been consumed by being pregnant! Yes that's right. In case you thought that I hadn't been busy enough since March with Nick coming home from Afghanistan, quitting my job, buying a house, moving cross-country, being in two weddings, starting Nick's new job, and taking a two week trip to Texas and Mexico, don't worry! I've also been pregnant the whole time!

Kind of like with a honeymoon baby, I feel compelled to tell you that I know with absolute certainty that we got lucky the very night that Nick came home. So when you start counting backward, you can be reassured by that. It was not an immaculate conception.

Baby Hall is due on December 6, which makes me about 13 weeks. We waited until after our doctor's appointment and second ultrasound today to tell you because, after our miscarriage a few years ago, we wanted to be absolutely sure before going public. After the ultrasound, there was no doubt that all is well with Baby H! He (or she) wouldn't stop moving long enough to take pictures. It's kind of crazy that the baby can be moving around so much right now, but I'm totally oblivious to it.

From this point forward, you can expect many more pregnancy updates. I'm so happy to finally be able to share the news! We had hoped to start our family as soon as possible after Nick came home, but we never imagined that the timing would work out quite like this!

So far, Baby H hasn't been too unkind to me. I've had the all-day sickness feeling, but haven't been actually getting sick, and of course I've been exhausted! I think the hardest time was during our recent trip to Mexico, where I had to be paranoid about EVERYTHING. I was pretty much on a bread, (bottled) water, and bananas diet the whole time we were there. Baby H is well worth it, though, and I feel so blessed by the awesome privilege of becoming a mommy that none of the negatives could possibly overshadow my excitement. Here's hoping, though, that this week I get the much-lauded second trimester boost of energy and my yucky tummy feeling goes away for good!

Celebrating Mandy and Phillip

2010-06-02T08:08:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Nick and I headed back to the Lone Star State to celebrate the wedding of his baby sister. The celebrating began in New Braunfels and ended in Mexico and spanned 11 days. We had so much fun getting to spend time with this side of our family!

The trip started off with a bang, or rather a pop, when we got a flat tire between Hamilton and Gatesville on Hwy. 36. Doesn't sound familiar? That's because it's in the middle of nowhere. I, in a blond moment, forgot that my car has a spare tire and majorly panicked, knowing that it would take AAA 5 or 6 hours to get out there and fix it. My sweet, calm husband, however, dragged out the spare and had it changed in no time. He's so handy! Here we are on Grandma and John's back porch at Mandy and Phillip's wedding party. You've seen pictures of this before, but I never get over how gorgeous their view is.
Here are a lot of the siblings and cousins. Lauri (Nick's mom) has 5 siblings and they all have multiple kids (and a few grandkids) so getting everyone in one picture is almost impossible.

Here we are at The Grist Mill on Sunday after the wedding party in New Braunfels. Apparently I forgot to wear make-up, but this is the only picture I have with both Lauri and Dwight in it.

Wedding Vacation

2010-06-02T07:58:00.001-07:00

Last week we ventured down to Mexico for Mandy and Phillip's wedding. We stayed at the Zoetry Paraiso de la Bonita resort on the Riviera Maya, which was a fabulous resort! The rooms were incredible and the resort was small, only 90 rooms, so it wasn't loud or crowded, which we loved. We got to hang out on Wednesday through Friday before the wedding, and it was great to relax and enjoy the beach!

We arrived on Nick's birthday. Here he is preparing to do a celebratory shot of tequila on the balcony of our room. Here's the birthday boy with the groom-to-be.
This is half of the family at dinner on our first night there.

Here are Andrea, Drew, Nick, Jay, and me at dinner on Thursday night. I hear the food was really tasty! Unfortunately, I didn't get to enjoy much of it...

Here are all the brothers and sisters at the post-rehearsal cocktail party.

The Wedding

2010-06-02T07:44:00.000-07:00

Mandy and Phillip's wedding was absolutely gorgeous! The ceremony took place on the pier at our resort and was followed by a cocktail hour and seated dinner at the beach. Mandy was a lovely bride, and I can't imagine how the wedding could have been more perfect!

Here's the pier where the wedding took place.Here's Drew (Andrea's husband) immediately after the ceremony.
And here he is a few minutes later after a quick dip in the ocean. He had to go in to save an heirloom handkerchief that had blown into the water! Fortunately, he succeeded in his mission.

Sisters with the bride!

All the siblings: Drew, Andrea, Phillip, Mandy, me and Nick

Family Day Picnic

2010-05-19T19:55:00.001-07:00

Today Nick, Finlay, and I went to a family day picnic hosted by Nick's new squadron. It was fun getting to meet some of the guys Nick will be working with and their cute wives. This is a pretty big squadron so there will be lots more people to meet, but today was a good start! Finlay was the star of the show today. He sat sweetly while TONS of kids, of all ages, came up to him and petted him. All I heard all day was "what a good dog" and "he's so well-behaved!" We were proud dog parents.
In other news, we're leaving tomorrow for Mandy's wedding extravaganza. We'll be spending several days in New Braunfels and then flying to Mexico for the big day. We're super excited about the time with family and the relaxing time we'll have at our fabulous resort. We won't be back until after Memorial Day so don't expect any more posts until then!

3 New Posts!

2010-05-15T19:29:00.001-07:00

It has been brought to my attention multiple times over the last two weeks that I have been neglecting the blog. Suffice it to say that I have had more than a few irons in the fire that have left me exhausted! I will try to do a better job of keeping you up to date now that I have internet access again.
We drove to Clovis (our new home in New Mexico) from Waco on Sunday, the day after Bec's wedding (see post below). We're loving our brand new house, but don't have any pictures worth posting yet. We're in the process of ordering a ton of new furniture and decorating the house so I probably won't have any great pictures to post for a while. Sorry!
Our yard was sodded on Tuesday (which explains its appearance in the pictures below), and we have been running our sprinklers a lot. That is until Friday, when we had a massive flooding thunderstorm. We even got hail! That's all the white stuff in the picture below. Clovis has about 350 sunny days each year so it just figures that within days of us moving here, we'd have a torrential downpour.

In other news, Finlay is adjusting to his new yard. He's not quite sure what to do with it, and since we have new sod we can't play much in it with him right now. We're really hoping he figures it out soon.

Mrs. Rebecca Smith

2010-05-15T19:17:00.000-07:00

Last weekend my best friend got married! She was an absolutely gorgeous bride and every aspect of the wedding was perfect. Well done, Bec! I can't believe it took you and Michael almost 20 years to figure it out, but I'm glad you finally did.

Here I am with some of my best girl friends from high school, Adrienne, Bec, Christine (who is having a little boy September 1st), and Allison. Aren't they beautiful?! Here's a whole group of Midway Panthers. None of the pictures I got were good of everyone so sorry to those who aren't looking at the camera! It was so good to see so many of my lifelong friends.

Here I am with my favorite dance partner at the reception. Bec's parents hosted it in their "backyard" i.e. many acres of pastoral landscape filled with tents, candles, lanterns, and gorgeous flowers. It was a dream wedding!And here I am with the blushing bride herself. Love you, Bec!

Leaving South Carolina

2010-05-15T19:00:00.001-07:00

We left Columbia two weeks ago, and we really miss it! The biggest things we miss, of course, are our friends and our church. There are other things too, though, like restaurant selection and shopping options! We really tried to soak up our favorite things about Cola before we left - here are a few pictures.

Okay, the apartment wasn't one of our favorite parts of Columbia, but I love this picture of Finlay looking confused in our apartment on Friday night before we left on Saturday. Our friends Michael and Kelly brought us over some road goodies - thanks guys! We really enjoyed them, especially our favorite cookies from The Fresh Market. Here are Michael and Nick...
And me with Kelly!

For our last meal, Nick chose Rockaway's, home of the famous pimiento cheese fries and pimiento cheese burger. This place is so good that when "W" visited a while back, here ate here. It can be hard to find because there's no sign! It's definitely a local favorite. Here I am with Melissa, my friend and co-worker at USC. This picture was taken right before my sweet going away party at work.

Unfortunately I don't have pictures with ALL of my favorite people and places, but at least now you have a sample! To all our friends in Cola, we miss you so much!!! It's not too early to start planning your ski trips to Red River, Angel Fire, or Taos...