Evie the Flirt

Memorial Day

Memorial Day was really nice this year. There was a lot less fighting than last year! Haha and yes, we spent it with the same people! Spencer's brother Mike decided to host a barbeque at his house, so we all went over there. I made sure Evie was covered up from the sun, and she was very patriotic!

she sneers like Elvis

I actually had a really good time. I was able to stay calm for the most part (with help) and enjoy being there instead of letting every little thing get under my skin and freak me out. It took some doing but I kept my head on straight and enjoyed myself. Evie had a great time! She had fun seeing her grandparents-especially her grandpa. She had lots to say to him!

Today Evie is officially four months old. She's still so small though. She's 10 pounds 15 ounces; about the size of the average 7-week-old. The time has absolutely flown by. I knew it would. Everyone told me it would. But I'm still kind of surprised. Every morning I wake up thinking "How am I going to do this?" and every night when I go to bed it's "Wow, somehow I did it." Every day I manage surprises me, and yet in many ways it's a lot easier than I thought it would be. Evie is such an easy baby. She's so good. She goes to sleep in her crib, eats well, doesn't spit up. We haven't even had a diaper blowout yet (fingers crossed). She's just everything I wanted in a baby. The tricky part is, I don't want any more kids. Just the one. But I want to be pregnant again. I LOVED being pregnant. So how do I make that work? Maybe I'll become a surrogate. Hey, if there's anyone out there who wants kids but doesn't want to get pregnant, I'll carry 'em for ya! Now you think I'm joking, but honestly it's something I'm considering for down the road. I am absolutely obsessed with being pregnant. Unfortunately, I'm obsessed to the point where I'm actually talking to a therapist about it because it interferes with my life. If it were up to me I'd be pregnant again right now. But I don't want any more children. How do I make that work? Anyway, the point is, I'm doing everything I can to do well. And I think I am. It's one day at a time, but let's face it, two or three days at a time isn't an option. I just keep putting one foot in front of the other and somehow I just keep making it through.

Sleeping Soundly

Evelyn is such a good baby. She sleeps through the night most nights now. And about half of the time we make her sleep in her crib, though we're making it more frequent all the time. Even when she wakes up in the middle of the night to eat, she's so good about going back to sleep in the crib after. But no matter what, she's always up at 5:30. It's the funniest thing. Doesn't matter when she's eaten last, 5:30 is when she wants to get up and start her day. Which means that's when I get to get up and start my day. Which is fine with me I guess. I get up and take my meds and eat breakfast and have my coffee. Get started on the housework by 7. Finished with everything by noon. Have the whole afternoon to do whatever I please. It's nice. It makes being a housewife feel like a part-time job instead of a full-time job. Since I got home from the hospital I've been working really hard to get my life back on track. Trying to keep myself sane, and trying to find a balance between responsibility and allowance. I know there are things that need to be done, but I know there are also certain things that I need to give myself. I'm working on replacing negative thoughts with positive ones to help alleviate some of this depression. Some of it from my pregnancy obsession, some of it from the fiasco at work. But hopefully soon my head will be screwed back on straight.

Evie's Dedication

Last Sunday, May 20th, we had Evelyn's dedication at our church. It was the day we dedicated Evie's life to the Lord and vowed to raise her in a way pleasing to God. It was a beautiful service and we were so grateful to be surrounded by the friends and family that came to share it with us.

The family

The dedication

us with Auntie M

and Aunt Kasey

Evie before we got ready. She makes such hammy little faces.

After the service we all went out for a celebratory lunch to Buca di Beppo-one of my favorite restaurants ever! We had such a good time spending the afternoon together.

On wednesday we had an appointment to get Evie's pictures taken at Kiddie Kandids (we have them done every month) and we decided to capture her in her christening dress that she wore for her dedication. We got some really beautiful shots...

and some really funny ones!

It was great to get so many awesome photos. What great memories!

My First Mother's Day

As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem. You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice; your bodies shall flourish like the grass." Isaiah 66:13-14 Sunday was an absolutely lovely day. One, it was beautiful outside. God gave us a glorious day. Two, I was able to spend it with my family and I truly felt loved and appreciated. But I realized something wonderful: I felt no more loved and appreciated than I do any other day, and that felt great. Because my family lets me know every day that I am loved and that everything I do is noticed and they are thankful for it. It made me feel wonderful. Spencer made a picnic and he, Evie and I went to Sugarhouse park. We spent a couple hours alone in the shade on a blanket, just spending time together. Evie played with us for awhile and then fell asleep. Such a little angel.

After the picnic we picked up my mom and went to Spencer's parents' house for dessert. It was a nice visit. His mom, Lana, gave me a book called A Mother's Daily Prayer Book. Something I really appreciate is that she went out of her way to get a book for me that was not an LDS publication, since I'm not Mormon and don't read LDS books. Usually she doesn't do that, so I really appreciated the thought she put into that. It's a book of daily guided prayers about being a mother, some asking for guidance, others offering praise. I started reading it this morning and I like it so far. On the way home, Evie got a little sick, so we gave her a nice warm bath when we got home. Afterward we decided to wrap her up in a little bathrobe we have, and she just loved it! She was all warm and dry and fuzzy!

She had such a busy day that she was so exhausted, we put her in her crib and she didn't cry, and slept all the way through the night! She's such an amazing blessing and a wonderfully-behaved baby. It's decided, I can't have any more children, I've been completely spoiled by this one! Thank you God for making me the mother of the most beautiful, wonderful child I have ever known.

Playing

My friend Amanda's mom Vanessa has no grandchildren, and has, for the time being, adopted my Evie. Before Evie was born, she knitted a lovely, soft green baby blanket for her. Evie LOVES that blanket. It goes with her everywhere, which, is mainly my doing, but Evie loves to play with it. She likes to pull it over her head and hide, and then chew on it. I got some pictures of her being absolutely adorable!

My Hero

So, true to form in being from a horribly advanced family, Evie has started teething at 3 months. This freaks me out, as I'm still in the "newborn/tiny" stage and am not ready to move on to the "infant/normal baby" stage. She's 10 pounds now; the size of a normal 1-2 month-old. Still pretty small. Anyway, I wasn't sure what to do about the sudden onset of obvious discomfort and irritability. Frozen pacifiers worked for about 5 minutes. Infant Tylenol worked for about an hour, but took about as long to kick in. Plus the bottle was empty in about a week, and getting her to take it was a chore. The flavored baby Oragel seemed to work for a couple hours, and she seems to like it. When we put it on she paws at her mouth and laughs. But I can't always get it on her gums. About half the time she just swallows it or gets it on her tongue and it doesn't end up helping. Well I was in Babies R Us the other day buying more Tylenol and I saw that Oragel makes a homeopathic remedy: quick-disolving teething tablets. I'm a reasonable believer in homeopathic remedies (I understand that because of differences in body chemistry, they don't work for everyone) so I decided to give it a try.

OH MY GOSH THESE ARE THE BEST INVENTION EVER!!!! One in each cheek, she laughs, they dissolve. Ten minutes later she stops fussing. She's sleeping again. I'M sleeping again. They seem to work for about 4 hours. It's 5 dollars a bottle and at 4 hours between doses it's roughly a months supply. And because of the type of remedy and the amount of the dose, there really is no limit on the number of doses I can give at that specific rate. And yes, I checked. Oh my gosh I am so happy I found these! Next time I go to the store I'm stocking up!

A Walk In The Park

Last week we decided to go to Murray park to take some pictures of our little family. My parents came along, so we were able to get some multi-generational pictures too.

We also got some seperate pictures of just Evie. If we prop her up, she can kind of sit up.

But not quite!