I love Daddy!

(From Evie)

I love my Daddy so much! He gives me sweet kisses. Sometimes I turn my face away because he gives me such big kisses and that hairy stuff on his chin tickles. But other times his kisses make me smile. Last week he had to go away to another state for his work. Mommy & I missed him very much. You can see from the picture how happy he was to see me again when he got back. Daddy is a good jostler. He jostles me harder than Mommy does, so when he does that I grab onto his shirt really hard! I like it though! Mommy likes it too because it helps me get quiet after I've been especially fussy and sometimes it even puts me to sleep. I think I have the best daddy in the world!

Smiles & Shots (not related!)

Since I posted an earlier picture with a small smile, I wanted to post another picture of a full-out smile. Oh my goodness, I love looking at our little girl's smile!! It's crooked and shows off her cute dimples and she kind of squints one eye in a little wink. Love it, love it!! :o)

On a non-smiley note...Today was Evie's 2-month check up so she got 3 shots and one oral vaccine. She was already kind of fussy in the office, so getting 3 shots in the thighs wasn't helping any, let me tell you! BTW...thighs!? Who knew? I assumed she'd get them in the rear. Of course, her cute little bo-hiny (sp??) doesn't have much fat to speak of so maybe thighs are better anyway.

She really bled a lot for one of the shots, which I wasn't expecting. I think we did okay though. Richard went with me and he said he didn't cry (Are you sure, Hubsley?). ;o) I was holding Evie's little arms and kissing her and doing Dr. Harvey Karp's "SSShhhh" trick to try to help calm her. When I saw the blood I couldn't help but tear up. She's been pretty sleepy since then and as soon as she wakes she's fussy. Poor li'l girl!

Newborn Shots

As photographers, I expected to take lots of "studio" type shots of Evie, but we've been so busy that it hasn't really happened. :o( Here's a sampling off shots I took one day though...probably about a month ago.

Babies & Rummikub

If my friends are right about babies (and of course they are!) then it seems to me that raising kids is a lot like playing Rummikub (Have you ever played it? If not, you need to! Here's a link: http://www.amazon.com/Pressman-Toys-0400-06-Rummikub/dp/B00000IZJB/sr=8-1/qid=1172262552/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-1987997-9436151?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games). I remember when I first played Rummikub, I would get this great move ready to go in my head, but inevitably, the person right before me would do something to foil my plan and I would get so frustrated (I keep trying to tell Richard that, no, I'm NOT competitive--ha ha!). With experience I learned to plan my next move, but not get too attached to it, because more than likely something would change and I'd have to choose a different move when my turn came. How is this like raising kids, you ask... Well, my friends often comment that as soon as they have a schedule down pat with their child, something changes developmentally (on to solid food, teething, etc) and they are back to square one figuring out a new schedule. I can see I'm going to have a lot of growing to do. Richard recently compared me to Will Farrell's character in the movie "Stranger than Fiction." His character is very tied to time and can't make it without a watch. I can relate, as I try to figure out the best time to go to the store for groceries, or even check email or add an entry to my already way behind Blog...Will Evie be asleep long enough for me to finish cooking that dish? call that friend? ... Oh well. Obviously, God is going to be using this little girl to shape my character and help me to hold things more loosely--even time!

A Glorious Day!

Today I decided to pack Evie into the Baby Bjorn that Laura let me try out (it's absolutely fabulous!!!). It is a gorgeous Spring-like day and I just had to get out in it and get some much-needed exercise. So, we headed to our neighborhood pond to see the swans and ducks. The swans greeted us by sticking their rear-ends straight into the air as, I assume, they rummaged for good grub below. Pretty funny looking! :o) Evie and I spotted robins, squirrels, doves, and my current favorite bird: the cedar wax-wing. After that we decided (Evie was absolutely insistent--ha!) to walk to our park...since Richard and I enjoy the pond so much (it's amazing how much wildlife you can spot right in the city!), we rarely visit the park that sits in the middle of our neighborhood. I got to look at it through "Mommy Eyes" and saw that it has several swings that Evie can potentially use before too terribly long. One is an actual baby swing that she could use in a few months. I also noticed that the pool has what looks to be a section only inches deep that I could take Evie to splash in. Fun, fun! I can hardly wait until summer!

Aside from the fact that Richard was out of town on business and couldn't join us, it was a perfect excursion. Well, I better go...the Bjorn is great when I'm on the move, but once I'm stationary, it loses its luster with Miss Evangeline. She's ready to be free! Who can blame her?

First Outing

Here's a picture of Evie in her carseat just before we stepped out for our first outing: to a neighborhood Bible study. Doesn't it look like she's thinking, "My Mommy really doesn't know what she's doing at all!" :o)

Evie's First Smile

I finally got a picture of Evie smiling (although I was holding the big 'ol Konica Minolta with a flash mounted on, so it's not super well focused since I was shooting one-handed). It's now a game we play where, after I've gotten her dirty diaper off and she is happier (She hates diaper changes) I say, "I'm gonna get Evie!" and lean over and give her a big kiss or a zerbert on the cheek. My reward for this silly Mommy behavior is to get a big crooked grin from my sweet girl. The smiles have gotten bigger and more frequent since, but here are some of the first shots. So fun!!!