Life after 30

The big 3-0 had some awesome moments (Evie joining our family) and some horrible, horrible times (not to be mentioned).  I am really glad to put 30 and 2011 behind me.  

31 wasn't looking so hot on January 27th.  I was in bed early with the chills and a terrible sore throat.  I was sick all weekend, which I blame on Jerry and Kristen.  I swear, every time we get together, I come down with something nasty.  Unfortunately Jerry was sick too, so our dear friends didn't make the trip from PA to go out for a nice dinner.  Boo.  Erin made a quick appearance for some Papa John pizza instead.

All birthday party/yummy food treat was restored on my actual birthday by my sister and brother-in-law.  I requested my favorite meal- macaroni n cheese, corn flake chicken, and ice cream cake.  Laura's mac was creamy goodness and Sam made a fabulous french-silk ice cream pie. Even though I felt like crap, the food was comfort food to the max.

My French Silk ice cream pie with the number 3 on it. 

I had Hannah blow out my candle so I didn't infect the rest of
the dinner party.  Nice pretending, eh?

Evie snuggles at my birthday dinner.  

Now that I'm officially in my 30's, let the "30s are the new 20s" good times start to happen!

8 Months

"They say it's your birthday!"

I sang that song to Evie all morning.  Our little one turned 8 months old today.  Her unofficial weight is 15 lbs, 13 oz.  While she is still skinny (like her parents), she is the cutest thing (like her parents).

Evie keeps her slim figure by being active all waking hours.  She has mastered the art of sitting from a belly position.  She has also perfected many yoga positions such as downward facing dog and cobra.  She is so close to crawling.  She decided to save that milestone for the next page in her baby book.

She is eating purees at 3 meals a day- fruit and cereal at breakfast, veggies at lunch, and cereal at dinner.  She takes 5 bottles a day, 4 oz each.  We are trying to figure out the right combination of food to minimize gas and help her sleep through the night.  She knows how to sleep through the night, but likes to snuggle every few nights between the hours of 1 and 4 to make sure we don't get too accustomed to a full night of sleep.  

Evie loves her teether Sophie, cousin Hannah, and dog Parker.  Sophie satisfies her teething needs.  No teeth yet!  Hannah makes her squeal with delight.  Hannah's voice will calm Evie during a crying fit in no time.  She looks for Parker first thing in the morning.  Parker knows how to make her smile.  He has been so patient with her as she grabs his fur.

Our little social butterfly is becoming attached to her mama.  While I'm flattered, sitting one or two bottle feeds out would make me happy.   Her Daddy knows how to make her laugh, but she would rather have Mommy give her milk.  Everything is a phase!

8 Months

Purple Potato People Eaters

I sent Jason to the grocery store the other day to pick up a few items for us.  I requested sweet potatoes to puree for Evie.

A few days later I asked Jason to cut up the sweet potatoes for me.  A beautiful shade of purple stared back at us as Jason cut into the first one.  What the?

We looked at the bag and promptly googled Okinawan Sweet Potato.

There are such things as purple potatoes!  After being a little creeped out by the color, I decided to puree them up for Evski.

First boil like normal potatoes (the water turns purple),
 cool, then throw in food processor

But beware, your hands will be stained (thanks Paula for taking one of the team)

Upon further reading, purple sweet potatoes can help control glucose levels.  SCORE!  And they are yummy!  The color is very pretty, but how many naturally purple foods do you eat?? It's a little strange to eat a creamy purple substance.

Evie uses her sippy cup as a defense mechanism

Evidence of purple potato eating.   She didn't love them,
but didn't hate them either

Colorful baby food!  Anyone curious what book/magazine ad
is next to the ice cube tray??   Me too

Why did Jason buy Okinawan Sweet Potatoes?

He didn't know yams were the same thing as orange sweet potatoes.  He searched high and low for a bag of something labeled sweet potatoes.  Poor guy.  Good find.

Little bit of Housekeeping

I've noticed a decrease in comments recently.  I know Aubrey is busy moving to England, so that is main reason for the sharp decline.  I know a lot of you like to read and not comment on the blog, BUT if you want to put something there, we changed our blog settings.  You do not have to log into our blog to view it anymore.  That allows more people to stalk follow our lives.  However, that means if you want to leave a comment you MUST sign into your account for the comment to post.  Just be more observant when you try to publish your comment.  You may need to do an extra step.  

Thumper

Our little girl likes to move. all. the. time.

She likes to be rocked to sleep and will snuggle with you then, but otherwise she wants to move.  Her favorite appendage to move is her legs.  She will kick her little legs non stop while she is on her belly.  We say that Evie is playing a base drum.  If Sophie is positioned correctly, she will squeak her with her foot for some added sound.  She is destined to play a musical instrument- she has her own internal metronome!  She does have some professional trumpet player blood in her (My Poppop, not Jason :) )

Those blurry things are her feet moving

High chair- she will kick the tray.  If no tray, then she pounds her foot on the middle thingie.  I swear she is going to bruise her feet from smacking them into hard surfaces all day.


Pulling off her sock and hitting
 the center part of the high chair



Evie will spend all day on her belly if I let her.  She is working hard on perfecting her crawling.  She is getting up on all fours now, wondering how to move forward. She has been slithering on the floor for weeks.  It's funny to see such a tiny little thing moving on the floor.  Most babies are motivated to crawl by toys or parents, our child likes to find any speck of lint or dirt on our carpet.  She will find every dropped artificial Christmas tree pine needle that my "never lose suction" Dyson didn't pick up.  I don't know whether to be embarrassed she is calling out my dirty floors or excited that she has amazing hand eye coordination.  At least I know she can see!

Another new milestone just witnessed tonight- she worked her way from belly to sitting!  Before PJs she likes to show us new tricks.  There is something about being sans clothes.  Hmmm, I better keep an eye on this one.  

The Start of 2012 Visitors

The beginning of a new year brings a fresh start, a chance to make resolutions.  While I haven't made any resolutions, I feel like the air is a little lighter now that the calendar says 2012.  One of the things I seem to think about this time of year is catching up with friends/family we haven't seen in a while, which this year, is about everyone.  Pops and Paula helped us start off this new year pseudo-resolution. 

Pops and Paula haven't had some quality Evie time since Father's Day.  Pops visited Evie at Shore Memorial, JHH, and KKI, but as her hospital visitors know, those were not ideal settings for Evie snuggles.  

Evie took to Pops and Paula immediately giving them smiles, laughs, and stealing their camera case.  She has changed so much since they saw her last.  It's fun to watch her explore her world now that she is moving, alert, and will tell you in baby language about it.  They even got to see her feed herself with a spoon (with help from Daddy), a new trick just started that morning.  We had a short visit with them, but hopefully they got enough Evie love to last them until the next visit. 

Showing off her church clothes

Play clothes on and ready to put toys in mouth and demonstrate her pre-crawling skills