Sleeping Through the Night

Ally is a terrible sleeper.  TERRIBLE.  She has been since day one.  Fast forward 3 1/2 years and she still gets up once a night.  Seriously.  And she wakes up very distraught which makes it worse.  Drives me crazy.  Evelyn sleeps way better.  I blame it on the fact that we had to move Ally out of the crib so quickly when Evelyn was born.  We moved her out right when she was 2.  We've also moved quite a bit in her little life which I'm sure hasn't had a positive effect on her sleeping habits.  She's currently sleeping in the same room as Spencer in the bottom bunk bed and since we've only been in our new place a couple months I haven't put new curtains up in their room.  And it's summer.  Which means their room is really bright late into the night and fairly early.  Kyle had the genius idea to "tent" her bed since she's on the bottom bunk a couple nights ago.  The first night she got up once, but ONLY once.  And last night she slept all the way through the night.  It was glorious!  Fingers and toes double crossed she does it again.

Summer Lovin'

School's out and I'm feeling a little overwhelmed already.  We don't have too much planned for this summer.  Not a huge vacation.  No summer camps because they're too expensive and we're trying to pay off some debt.  I'm trying to be positive and plan some fun things for the kiddos. I'm going to start recording some of our days to remember for the future and just because, sometimes I need to feel like a good mom, and seeing it in print makes it look better.  Right?  Haha!  Okay, anyway, here's what we did yesterday and today:

Tuesday:
Language Arts review
Library and park (the park is right across the street from the library, very convenient)
Play-doh
Computer & TV time

Wednesday:
Story writing (Scholastic.com's writing program was a major score!)
Park
Water color painting
Firecracker craft
Wii Just Dance

1-Year-Old

 

12 months!  Happy birthday sweet Evelyn Grace!  She is such a sweetheart.  She's very easy going, rarely cries unless she's hungry or Ally is tackling her, loves her momma and is one happy kiddo!  It doesn't take a lot to get a smile out of her.  I love it.  There's nothing like a happy baby!  She is by far my best eater.  Ever.  She pretty much eats anything I give her.  She doesn't love sweet things (weird) and will eat cheese or beans over a cookie any day.  She is the easiest kid to put down for naps and bedtime.  She practically dives into her bed when she sees it coming.  She loves to be around her big sisters and brother (unless, as mentioned earlier, Ally is tackling/being a bully).  She also loves to give hugs.  She'll walk over to you at any part of the day and wrap her chubby little arms around your legs, give you a tight squeeze and then run off to other things.  It's pretty sweet.  At her 1-year checkup she weighed 23 pounds (70th percentile) and was 30 inches long (95th percentile).  Long and lean, just like her sisters...although she still sports some rockin' chunky thighs which everyone loves to squeeze.  We're all in agreement that she's the cutest baby around.

She loved eating her cupcake for her birthday and did it in a rather matter-of-fact manner.  Like it was nothing new.  Just going with the flow.  Which is exactly her personality.  We had a big birthday bash at my parents house and she got some new clothes, a coveted sippy cup (like one another baby her age at church has), and a toy cell phone - which turned out to be a hit.

Sweet Gracie Lou, we sure love you!  Happy birthday sweetheart!

Flu.

On Saturday, the very last day of the month of June, I tested positive for the flu.  The flu.  In the middle of the summer.  Who gets the flu in June?  Apparently I do.  Fortunately I was extremely blessed that Kyle already had taken the first half of the week off, so he was able to take care of me and the kids.  Poor guy, though.  His first vacation days since Christmas (where we were also all sick) and he gets to play Mr. Mom. Ahhh.  Such is life.

I think this is the sickest I have been in my entire life (minus being pregnant).  You name it, I've had it with this flu.  Throat on fire, congestion, fever, coughing, chills, sinus pressure, achey back, headache, vomiting, yep, that about sums it up.  But thanks to Kyle, I've been able to stay in bed and sleep and rest, it's been SO nice.  And my sweet parents took the kids after church yesterday and all day today so that they could keep their distance from me and hopefully not get sick.  I'm so lucky to have such amazing people in my life.  And how did my body know to get sick when Kyle had already planned to be home?  What a huge blessing!!  So, despite how not fun it has been being this sick, I have to say how incredibly grateful I am for everything that has pulled through for me.  Divine intervention?  I think so.  :)

Dear Blog,

For the record: I do not believe in about 75% of chiropractic practices, I very much believe in modern medicine, I do not regret circumcising my son one teeny tiny bit, and I believe that immunizations are extremely effective. That is all. The end.

11 Months

Wow.  She's almost one.  How did she go from this:

To this?

In just 11 short months???

Can't be. lieve. it.  We all love her so much!  I'm not going to lie, she's totally my favorite sometimes.  A lot of times.  :)

11-Month Happenings:

• Thanks to her daddy, she has tried (and loves) french fries and root beer.
• She has surpassed 12-month size clothes and has moved onto 18-month size clothes.  I'm almost to the point where I don't even have to put away Ally's clothes to store them.  They almost can go directly to Evelyn.  Crazy how fast she's growing!
• She's insanely squirmy.  Changing diapers and putting clothes on her has become quite the challenge.  
• She can take pull herself from sitting to standing without holding on to anything.  And can take about 3-4 steps at a time.  She gets really excited about it and ends up trying to run (and falls).  But she's super proud of herself and tries walking all over the place even though she's still pretty wobbly.  
• She has got the cutest grin ever.  It can melt your heart in a second...just ask Kyle, he knows.  :)
• She has a ton of hair.  I really need to trim her bangs or something because she won't keep a headband in and she just pulls ponytails out and eats the rubberbands.  Who knew ponytails could be hazardous? 
• She is still very much a Momma's girl.  Although she does have a soft spot in her heart for her daddy.  She gets so excited when he walks through the door and crawls right up to him, climbs up his leg and begs for him to pick her up.  It's pretty stinkin' cute.  She also really loves her Uncle Daniel.  When we're at my parents' house where they are living right now, if I'm busy, she finds Uncle Daniel who always picks her up and spoils her.
• Her favorite snacks are graham crackers and shredded cheese.
• I stopped breastfeeding her this month.  It was kind of sad since she's my last baby and is clearly growing up, but it was time.  I was only nursing her at night anyway and she just wasn't too interested anymore.  Can't wait until she can drink regular milk, formula is too expensive!

That's about it.  We're all smitten with her.  Love you Evelyn Grace!

10 Months

10 Month Highlights:

• Played at her first sprinkler park.  LOVED IT.  Charged into the sprinklers head on!
• Tried quesadillas, watermelon, chicken, veggie chips and whip cream this month.  She loved them all!  She really loves to try new foods.  No picky eater here.  Yay!
• Loves to swim in the pool.
• Loves bath time (are we noticing a love of water theme here?).
• Is one speedy crawler. 
• Got her first black eye by pulling a barstool on top of her.  :(
• Loves it when Daddy comes home.
• Can stand for a few seconds all by herself.

9-Month Stats

20 lbs. - 70th percentile

29.5 inches - 95th percentile

She now officially says "Mama."  And she totally knows who she's talking about when she says it (as we discovered on Saturday when I was taking a shower and she wandered all over the house saying "Mamamamama.")  Love.  :)

Stop growing so fast Evie Grace!

9 Months

*Sniff*  My baby is 9 months.  She's pretty much the cutest 9-month-old in the whole entire world.  She's seriously the most easy going baby I've ever had.  She mostly just goes with the flow.  As long as she's not hungry or tired, she's so happy.  Love her! 

9-Month-Goings-On:

• Is on a pretty good eating schedule:  Wakes up in the morning and nurses, naps, wakes up and eats oatmeal with bananas or a cereal bar, has a bottle for lunch, has another bottle after second naptime, eats a vegetable (usually sweet potatoes, squash, peas or green beans) around 4:00pm and drinks a little milk (bottle), then nurses again at bedtime.  I really wanted to breastfeed her exclusively until she was one, but I've had too many extremely painful breastfeeding issues this time around and those darn sharp little teeth have limited me to just morning and evenings.  Oh well.  She also LOVES to snack on Cheerios throughout the day.  She gets extremely excited when I pull them out.  :)
• Sleeps from about 7pm until 7am.  Yay!!!
• Is one crazy rugrat.  Now that she can crawl, she crawls EVERYWHERE.  And gets where she's going at top speed.  
• She figured out the stairs.  (Dangit!)  She can go up, but she most certainly cannot go down yet.  
• She loves to be around her siblings (well...with limited exposure to Ally who likes to tackle her).
• She puts every single teeny tiny microscopic thing in her mouth.  Needless to say, she's the perfect motivator to keep my floors vacuumed, swept and mopped.
• She loves to stick wash cloths in her mouth and chew on headbands and her socks.  ???
• Has 8 teeth.  4 on top and 4 on bottom.
• She learned how to clap.  Pretty much the cutest thing ever.  :)
• When things get noisy around here, Evelyn is sure to let you know she's part of the crowd by raising her voice to match the volume of noise going on around her. 
• Favorite things to say:  "Dadadadada"  and "Abababababa."
• Loves to blow raspberries.
• Totally lights up when she sees her Daddy, but she's still a major Momma's girl.
• Likes to pull out the dirty silverware in the dishwasher while I'm loading it.

Happy 9 months Baby Girl!  I love you!

Evelyn at 8 months

Oh my gosh. 8 months? EIGHT? Where on earth does the time keep going? Can I hit pause for just a little while?

This was a big month for Evelyn Grace. She can now officially sit up, crawl, AND (drum roll please) pull up to standing along couches, her crib. If there's something to pull up to, she'll do it. Two days ago she crawled over to the bottom of the stairs, looked up and pulled herself up to the first step. That's as far as she could get, but I'm sure it won't be long before I have to start barricading them.

She has a mouth full of teeth now. Four on the top and four on the bottom. She's a pretty good eater as long as she's in the mood for it. If she's even the slightest bit tired though she won't do anything but nurse or take a bottle.

She's become extremely opinionated and LOUD lately. If the kids are being noisy, she'll pitch right in squealing and screaming or babbling. She likes to say, "Dadadadadada," and "Abababa." No "Momma" sounds yet no matter how much I've been trying. It's okay. She is 100% a momma's girl, so I can't complain.

Some of her favorite activities include: finding the tv/playstation cords, knocking down DVDs, chewing on paper, being tossed up in the air, bath time (which is SO much easier now that she can sit up!), eating (slobbering on) those baby biter biscuit cookies, and squirming in mommy's arms.

She does not like: being tackled by Ally, oatmeal, being put down on the floor when she's tired, or staying still to get her diaper changed. Other than that, she's a very happy and fairly easygoing baby. She's makes my life so happy and I love her to pieces!!