The First Noel

As my friends and I get married, have babies, live far from home, we struggle with where to spend the holidays.  Which family?  Do we travel to both?  Jason and I have traveled for every Christmas except one since we've been married.  It's exhausting and I've been saying, "once we have kids, we are staying home and making grandparents travel to us"

Well, we have 1 kiddo and we still traveled...

But next year we will stay at home and make our own traditions.  Everyone hold me accountable :)

We started our Christmas vacation on Thursday, making the trek north with baby and dog. It was amazing to spend 5 days straight as a family.  Jason and Evie had some quality bonding time without that silly thing called work to interrupt their time.  Evie transitioned beautifully sleeping through the night (between 10-12 hours) every night.  Parker was in dog heaven with extra loving hands to pet him and leather furniture.

Most of our stay involved food- it is the holidays after all.  We snarfed up 3 courses of homemade fondue on Friday night.  Great idea by Poppop after discovering the fondue pot in the basement. Even Evie was a chow hound during the holidays.  She stopped sucking her thumb as much while eating, allowing the spoon in my easily.  

We ate Christmas Eve dinner with the Stefany clan- my Aunt and Uncle from NH, Nana, and us.  It was nice to bring Evie to Nana's retirement home to meet all the lovely people that have been praying for her health for months.

Christmas Day was spent at G and Poppop's with the Stefany clan again. As you will see in the pictures, Evie was curious of the ribbon and wrapped gifts.  She put most gifts into her mouth. Even though it was her first Christmas, I didn't see the need to go overboard with gifts.  She doesn't understand the meaning of Christmas nor gifts.  She received a nice assortment of clothes, books, and toys. 

There is something special about going home.  I have lost myself during this difficult time and being back at my parents' house surrounded by the things that made me me, really rejuvenated me.  It was nice to walk Evie and Parker in a big neighborhood with sidewalks and walk past my elementary school.  Sitting down and playing the piano brought back so many funny memories of being silly with my sister and my mom yelling at me to "play it right!".  Playing music was such a big part of my life and I haven't played either instrument since I left college.  Darn you American Pie for making fun of banders and making me slightly ashamed of my past.  And even seeing my puzzles in the basement closet made me smile.  Spending 2 nights with my longest standing friend confirmed that it is possible to stay connected with friends for 20 plus years WITHOUT Facebook.

All 4 of us left Lancaster with renewed spirits for 2012.

And sadly no Lady Gaga sightings in Lancaster.  She is dating someone that graduated from a Lancaster high school.  She bought a house about 5 miles north of my parents.  She has been seen in local pubs and grocery stories.  Bummer.  I need to do my research on what she looks like without her costumes.  First one of the Bachelors was from my old high school, now Gaga.  Lancaster is the happening place to live!

Happy 2012 everyone!

Christmas 2011 - Lancaster

Twas the Days Before Christmas

Evie's first holiday season has been filled with just enough events to give her a taste of holiday spirit, but not too much to overwhelm.  We dressed her up and had some fun photo shoots with her cousins.  Since Aunt Jen is due Dec 26th, Grandmom will be in NC for Christmas this year. 

We celebrated Christmas with Grandmom early.  As expected, Evie found the boxes and wrapping paper to be very fun and interesting.  Parker loved the gifts as well.  Evie got lots of good loot from her Grandmom.  We didn't get a ton of toys for her baby showers, so it was nice to get some new stuff to explore.  Now we need to train Parker to leave her giraffe mat alone.  He seems to think every toy is for him to chew.

We will be in Lancaster for Christmas this year.  It will be nice to be home for the holidays!

Pre-Christmas

New Viewing Audience

I'm guessing by the jump in viewing activity, we have some new blog readers!  Welcome!!  I'm glad you found the back of our Christmas card :)

Let us know you are reading and possibly enjoying my commentary on Evie's life by leaving us comments.  We like to know who is reading.  No pressure- everyone reads them.

I try to post as much as I can.  Stop back periodically.  Happy reading!

There's a New Boss in Town

Just look at her, there is no messing with her.

Our daughter clearly tells us that she is T.H.E. BOSS.

If she doesn't feel like eating who hash or purees, she will firmly seal her lips.
If she doesn't want to drink her bottle, she will bat it away 20 times if needed.
If she is mad, she will scream at the top of her lungs.
If you are changing her diaper and she decides it's time to practice rolling, she WILL roll.
If she has gas, watch out!  (She gets this gene from her daddy)

She has been calling the shots for a long time.  It makes us laugh that our little 14 pounder is the biggest boss out there.  We felt it was time to change the blog to show her true colors. 

Step aside Parker, there is a new boss in town!

First Word!

Evie clearly said "Ma ma" today! She looked into my eyes and said it lovingly. She obviously knew she was saying my name.

Yeah right. I wish.

She DID say "ma ma" today while I was holding her. My heart melted.

She's been sucking in her lower lip recently, sounding like an old man with no teeth. Today she got going with this action and then made some new sounds. Ma ma being one of them! She looked confused when I reacted with excitement. She babbled throughout the day, always started with sucking in her lower lip to get her mouth moving to form words.

My baby is growing up so fast!

What are you Smokin?

Over the weekend I commented to Jason that it smelled like pot in our kitchen. As many of you know, we loathe our direct neighbors and it wouldn't surprise me if they were puffing away on the back deck. I opened the door to find no Dave Matthews Band concert aroma. Hmm

A few minutes later Jason smelled it again, this time in the front of the house. Double hmm

Never figured it out.

Until yesterday.

I was over at Sam and Laura's and smelled it again! I was starting to wonder if I was smoking in my hotness or what.

While holding Cole, Sam said how funky Cole's breath was.

Like POT?!?!

YESS! Ding, ding. I found the answer-

Puree bananas make your baby's breath smell like they are smokin' some weed.

Nice.

6 Month Check-up

Evie turned 6 months old on Thanksgiving! As usual, we had her check-up a few days late.

6 month stats:

Weight: 13 lbs, 15 oz (10-25%)
Height: 25 1/2 in. (25-50%)
Head Circumference: 43 cm (25-50%)

What is Evie doing at this age?

Sitting. Evie took to sitting very quickly. At first, she needed the boppy then strengthened those core muscles to sit unsupported. She will sit on the floor for 15 minutes by herself.

Making a circle on her belly. She likes her belly more than her back. She is moving her legs and torso in a way that allows her to turn while on her belly. She's made two complete circles this month.

Raking. Evie wiggles her little fingers over everything. She touches different objects interested in the texture. She touches the soft fur in her touch and feel books, furniture, faces, Parker, tableclothes, you name it, she touches it.

Exploring. As I said in my Thanksgiving pictures, she grabs at everything. See the same list as Raking above. Most things go in her mouth. She loves to look at the pictures (of her) on my cell phone. She grabs our plates on the table. I have toys in a box for her and she will pick them all out and throw them. Not loving her throwing toys, but I'm sure it's part of being a baby

Observing. Evie is curious about most things. She is mesmerized by the sound of the hair dryer and vacuum. She stares at the water as I fill my glass from the refrigerator or the faucet. Her head is constantly moving from side to side like she is watching a tennis match. She doesn't want to miss one thing. She enjoys watching and listening to her cousin Hannah.

6 months is so much fun. I like that Evie is starting to interact with us. Can't wait to see what she does in her 7 month of life!

6 Months