My Sweet 5 Month Old

It's that time again. . . this sweet girl is another month older, so hard to believe!  I've been taking weekly pictures and when I looked back through them yesterday I was blown away by how fast this is all going.  I want to hit the "slow motion" button.  

Bowling Green finally got a "real" snow a few weeks ago. . . to the point that schools were out all week, including Joey's.  So we got some things accomplished around the house and got to take Evelyn outside to experience her first real snow.  She loved just walking around the yard and being outside, she was so cozy in her snowsuit she even fell asleep while we walked her around the yard, ha!

My mom made this dress and bonnet about 37 years ago from one of her dresses.  There are pictures of my sister and I both wearing it at about this age.

Mom threw us a baby shower/welcome Evelyn party and it was so wonderful getting to re-connect with friends whom I've not seen in ages!  Here are three mommas who know personally what a miracle adoption is.

Mammaw enjoying her two babies.

Special friends and their sweet kiddos.

Evelyn with her Grandma and Mammaw.

On our way back home we went through Lexington and made a quick stop to have lunch with Grandma Frankie and Aunt Margaret.  Unfortunately we had to rush the visit because there was a sleet/winter storm warning that we were trying to avoid.  It was great getting to see them again, and I know they loved getting to see their sweet Evelyn.

How is it possible that Evelyn is able to hold her own bottle (well, the ones with handles that is)???

Wasn't it just yesterday that we met this tiny 6lbs 2oz baby girl?!?! 

 Our precious, joyful little girl!  I'm reminded on a daily basis just how lucky we are to call her our daughter.  When Evelyn looks at us with her big smile, or squeals in delight, it makes my heart just melt.  I find that when I'm getting things done around the house, wasting time on-line, or watching TV, if Evelyn is awake I feel so guilty for not spending that time with her, so I stop what I'm doing to spend that time with her.  I don't want to miss ANYTHING! I fear she has me wrapped around ALL her fingers:)!!!!!

4 Months old. . . Laughter. . . Sickness

Oh my, I'm ashamed it's taken me a month to update this blog!  Oh well, I'm spending my days staying busy with my girl rather than on the computer:)!!!!!  Evelyn is continuing to grow like a weed and changes everyday!  She has given us a good belly laugh twice now and it's so precious to hear.  I can't wait until it just rolls out all the time!

She has been introduced to some solid foods now, she liked sweet potatoes and zucchini, but not so much a fan of the pears. . . too gritty for her taste, I think.  I've been making her food myself rather than buying it because, frankly, it's just too expensive and homemade is so much healthier for her!  I feel better about feeding it to her.  It's super easy, I just steam. . . puree. . . poor into ice cube trays and voila, easy as pie!

Evelyn came down with her first cold last week.  She's been so pitiful, I just felt awful for her!  She had the hardest time breathing and of course trying to sleep and eat wasn't a walk in the park with a stuffy nose.  But she was a trooper through it all and kept a smile on her face most days.  She had her 4 month check up and got her shots last Wednesday.  She weighed in at 13lbs 14oz, and 23.5 inches long.  She has a long torso and short legs, so stockings are still so big on her!

Her favorite book to read is, "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" which we read several times a day, as well as singing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and reciting "Hey Diddle Diddle" several times a day.  I have so much fun just getting to be so silly with this precious girl.  Evelyn is such a happy baby, she loves going for walks, listening to her singing/talking bear, and "talking" with her momma and daddy.  Everything she can pick up goes straight to her mouth and is covered in slobber, ha!  She licks EVERYTHING!!!!!  If you hold her upright, guaranteed your shoulder will be soaked quickly, lol!

Evelyn still has no interest in laying on her belly, so I've had to get very creative with making it more interesting.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it's a flop!  She does great sitting (with assistance) and has great head/neck control.  She really loves for you to stand her up and let her "walk" around the room.  She'll walk around for a few minutes if you let her!

Her night sleeping has been fabulous (except while she's been sick), she's out by 7:30p.m., wakes once to eat, and up at 6:15a.m.!  I have no complaints about that schedule!  It's when she wakes up 3+ times a night that I have a hard time handling:(  We're still working on a nap routine, but we're starting to get one established (now that I'm figuring out her cues:), I'm a little slow figuring things out sometimes:)!!!!!!

Evelyn has had lots of skin issues with eczema.  I'm really hoping it doesn't stick around as she gets older.  It makes me a little sad that my girl can't smell like lavender:(  Instead, she stays greased up like a pig with Vaseline.  But if it helps her skin to feel better and not itch, it's worth it!

Here's my happy girl!  You can see in the last few pictures her rosy cheeks. . . thanks to a combination of her cold and eczema!

3 Months Old

When I try to think back to the early days with Evelyn, it seems like a lifetime ago.  I bought a journal before she was born, but have yet to pick it up and write in it, problem is. . . I'm already beginning to forget some of the things I thought I would always remember. . . not good!  I have been so blessed and fortunate to stay at home with Evelyn and have a front row seat watching her grow and change everyday.  And that she does!  It is a little intimidating though thinking about the responsibility I have to help her grow and develop!  Hopefully I won't rub off on her too much:)

Evelyn turned 3 months on January 26th.  She loves "singing" and "talking", her favorite fun songs are "Itsy-Bitsy Spider" and "Patty Cake", her favorite lullabies are "My Old Kentucky Home" and "You are My Sunshine".  She loves listening to her Dr. Suess books and still loves to kick around on her activity mat.  Once upon a time she liked to lay on her belly, but not so much anymore.  So, we are working really hard on enjoying that again, especially since she's gotten a flat spot from laying on her back too much:(  We have started feeding her a little bit of rice cereal with a spoon.  She's still trying to grasp the concept of the spoon, but we're getting there.  Thankfully she doesn't really care what we feed her at this point, as long as we feed her.  She is passionate about her food, hmmm, wonder who she gets that from :)  She weighs around 13 lbs now and we've had to move her up to size 3-6 months in most of her clothes.  It's her length where I can really see a difference, a whopping 24 inches!  I'm still waiting to hear a true laugh, but she's getting really close.  Evelyn loves to "stand" with only a little assistance, I think she's really going to like her jumper when she's able to sit a little better.  I leave you with pictures. . .

Holidays

Oh the Holidays!  We never cease to have a dull Christmas/New Years' when there is a Britton or Finley involved, ha!  This year we headed up to Indiana to stay with my family for Christmas.  We planned and packed for about 4 days of festivities in that area then we were going to Western KY to spend the New Years holiday with Joey's family.  Well, so much for planning!  Our new (to us) car that we just bought in October started acting funny on Christmas Eve, we just figured it was the cold(er) weather so we didn't think anymore about it until the night before we were leaving it really started acting up on us.  So, we took it to the dealership and another mechanic for a 2nd opinion and they both agreed it was electrical.  Great!  At least that was going to be the cheapest of the fixes, problem was it was going to take a while due to the holidays to get the part in.  So, we just extended our vacation and hung out in Indiana for 12 days until we HAD to come back for work.  Mom was coming to our house anyway to stay with Evelyn while I worked my first and last week at Daymar since Evelyn was born (more about that later), so we just hitched a ride with mom.  We had hoped our car would be fixed by the time she left so we could just ride back with her to pick up our car.  No such luck :(  They finally got the new electrical system in, but that didn't fix the problem (or at least it did, but then it didn't?  Go figure!).  So, here we are, thankfully we still have my old '94 Ford Taurus from back in the high school days in case of emergencies. . . that thing is a tank!!!!!!  Anyhow!  We had a great Christmas and enjoyed extra time with friends and family that we didn't think we'd get to have.  We just missed getting to spend time with Joey's family for New Years and his dad's birthday.

Christmas with a new baby was, well, different.  I have found that my priorities have totally done a 180 now and what used to be important to me no longer is.  People kept asking me what I wanted, well, I didn't want anything!  I just wanted to watch the kids enjoy themselves (my niece and nephew of course b/c Evelyn's still to young to know what is going on:), and to spend time with my family like the old days. . . and that we did thanks to a dead car.

So more about the job thing. . . my dream job was always to be able to stay home and take care of my family.  However, financially that's not really a reality for us.  BUT, staying at my current job full time also wasn't a good thing either.  So, I have quit my current job and will be in the market for a part time job.  For now I am thoroughly LOVING staying home with my precious baby girl!  I am keeping some friends' kids a few days a week, so I'm looking forward to that social time for Evelyn and it will also help pay a few bills here and there.

Evelyn turned 2 months the day after Christmas and she is growing like crazy!  She changes EVERYDAY, it's nuts!  We got a little behind on her doctor visit and shots because of being stuck in Indiana, so I was finally able to get her there earlier this week.  She weighed in at 11 lbs 14 oz and 22.5 inches long.  Her percentiles are:  weight -37% /height -20%/ head cir. -4%.  I had to laugh when the doctor excitedly announced that Evelyn's head is now out of the "Less then 1% group"!!!!!!  I know her head was little, but so was the rest of her, she was just really petite, but evenly proportioned, ha!  She had all her shots, I did really good, but bless her poor heart!  She turned the color of a beet and I wasn't sure if she'd remember to breathe again!  She survived though and got a lot of extra TLC from her momma for the next few days:)

Okay, so I think I've pretty much summed up everything I've missed over the past month. . . now on to the best part, the PICTURES!!!!!

Our Christmas dress photo shoot before Christmas

Christmas Eve with all her Milburn cousins

The only girls, they'd better team up!

Christmas morning with Grandma and Grandpa

Christmas morning with Great Grandma Frankie

A rose among the thorns boys:) Madeline with her Superhero brothers

Taking it all in

Here he comes to save the day. . . or to pull the Christmas tree over (with his 

superhero strength). . . twice!

Mom and her girls

This big girl is 2 months old now, look at that beautiful smile:)

Evelyn with ALL of her cousins. . . on both sides of the family. . . ALL at the mall together!  Bless their mothers' hearts (and grandma's too), ha!  What a fun day though:)

 We enjoyed 6 inches of snow to play in!  Something Bowling Green has probably never seen!

This little boy LOVES, LOVES his cousin!  He couldn't get enough of her and apparently is still asking about her.  Thankfully she thinks he's pretty cool too:)

Having some Grandpa time.  We sure are glad Grandpa got over his cold while we were still there so he could love on this girl some more!

Back at home on her very much missed activity mat.  She has so much fun with this!  Note to self. . . pack this the next time we go somewhere!