Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Our Greatest Desire

...is that Evelyn will grow to know and love Jesus with all of her heart, soul, mind, and strength.  On Sunday, we stood before our church body to demonstrate our covenant with God to raise her to know Him.  Covenants are funny things...there's a certain heaviness about cutting covenant with the Father.  The weight of the reality that God has entrusted Evelyn to our care, and that in the short time we have with her, we are charged with teaching her about Him.  It makes you think about how loudly (or softly) you are living your own life for Christ.  Will she see Him through me, through my filthy rags?  Yet, ultimately when we are in covenant with Him, we are perfectly partnering with Him.  If we yield to the Holy Spirit, He will shine vibrantly through our lives and actions.  Sure, there is much that we can do - but trusting Him to do His part in wooing her to Himself may be the best thing that we can do (and perhaps the hardest).  We don't take our responsibility as parents lightly.  My heart aches knowing that ultimately the decision to follow Jesus is hers alone.  I pray that somehow in these few years we have with her, that she will see Him magnified and want to know Him more.  I pray that she will trust Him in ways that I have been to afraid to.  I pray that she will love Him deeply, and that she will genuinely rest in that love - trusting Him...in ways that I have failed to.  I want more for her.  Oh that she will know Him and make Him known!!  And so, we stood before our fellowship of believers and publicly accepted our responsibility to raise her in a godly home, that somehow she will know Him as her own.
Here she is in her pretty dress...which she loved!
Pictures from her baby dedication...
It was great to have my parents there to stand alongside us!  I love the lineage of FAITH that they have passed onto each of their daughters!
Thank you to everyone who prayed with us - and who continue to pray with us!
Some pictures after the worship service...
I really wanted to get a picture of all five of us, as well as one with Evelyn, my Mom, and me...but she was in meltdown mode at this point.  Sunday mornings are tough - with church being smack in the middle of nap time!

Monday, February 27, 2012

Balloon Fun!

My Mom and Dad have been in town visiting this past week!  It has been so great to have them here and watch Evelyn interact with them.  I'll post some more pictures soon...but here's a video from last night at dinner.  Evelyn got her first balloon and LOVED it!

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Leapin' Lizards!

Or...something like that.  This is really a post about two things that are completely unrelated to each other.

First...this poor guy didn't stand a chance against the garage door.  Dan noticed him when he took out the trash tonight.
Me = 1   Little Lizard = 0
And second..here's our little jumper...
She loves her jumparoo - Daddy loves her working on her hops!

Monday, February 20, 2012

Her World is Expanding

Now that Evelyn is more mobile, she's really started exploring.  Up to this point, she's pretty much stayed in her little play space in our living room.  Over the weekend, she found the tile floor for the first time, but it was like an invisible fence - she wouldn't cross it - until today.  She rolled over onto it once, then froze...it was precious.  She wouldn't move at all, she just stared at us.  After doing that a few times, she decided to take the plunge...
First, I'm just going to see if I can get my feet back there...
OK...now, let me try my hands...
 
 
OK...not quite ready - but did you see what I did?!
 
She never did quite let herself get over...but she was so proud of her self for trying - squealing and smiling!  I'm guessing in the next day or two, we'll be fencing her in!  Good thing Grammie and Grandad will be here on Wednesday to help with the corralling!

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Maiden Voyage of the Burley

Dan and I got a Burley for Christmas this year...we saw my sister and brother-in-law's about a year ago, but had to wait to get a bike for Dan.  I got him that for Valentine's Day, so we were finally able to take it out!  Evelyn loved it!
Thanks for the recommendation, Mike & Aug!  Now maybe we can move closer so we can go on Burley rides together! :-)

Game Face(s)

Evelyn enjoys shooting hoops with Daddy...and Mommy uses it as practice time after she had her one-on-one Mamarazzi session (i.e., Evelyn's Christmas present to me - a class our photographer gives to teach you how to use your cameras in manual mode).  Some of these are a little fuzzy, because I'm still learning :-), but you can see her "game face" - which is the funny part, anyway!
 
 

Saturday, February 18, 2012

It Seemed Like a Good Idea

I've been wanting to steam clean our carpets since Christmas, but haven't gotten around to it as quickly as I would have liked.  Today seemed like a good day to finally do the living room...
 

Friday, February 17, 2012

Big, Scary Pot!

I was cleaning the kitchen this evening and Evelyn was not too thrilled to be in her exersaucer, so I pulled out some tupperware, pots, and spoons to entertain her while I finished.  She loves banging on them (what kid doesn't?) and now that she's more mobile, she likes scooting them across the floor as well.  Tonight, I put out my big stock pot so she'd have something new to play with (in the hopes it will keep her entertained longer!).
She thought it was pretty sweet...
 Until...
 
 (Yes...I'm that Mom that sees the scary thing happening, but keeps the camera ready to catch it all!)

Nine Month Appointment

Evelyn had her nine month appointment today. She has rebounded really well from the crazy month that January was. She dropped some weight through her infection, but has steadily gained since then. She's still small, but on the charts (barely!).  

Her 9 month statistics: Weight: 15 pounds, 12 ounces (1 pound, 8 ounces since 6 months) - 6th percentile 
Length: 25 inches (1 inch since 6 months) - 1st percentile 
Head Circumference: 44 cm (1.5 cm since 6 months - 51st percentile

 I crack up watching friends whose babies are months younger than Evelyn, but have already outgrown her! She may be little, but she apparently has some brains! :-) Her doctor is still watching her growth, but said she has gained well since the loss she had after being in the hospital. We went through a couple of weeks of poor eating after that...but have since figured out she is just done with puréed baby food. She wants to feed herself, and she wants it chunky! We've gradually started feeding her whatever we are eating if it's appropriate. She's also a big fan of steamed veggies, fruits, whole wheat waffles/bread, cheese, avocados, sweet potatoes, and crackers. She's been eating so much better since we switched her diet. I feel like we were barely in the baby food stage!

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

9 Sweet Months

I still can not believe how quickly nine months has flown by.  I thought that the nine months of pregnancy were fast, but these nine months seem to have gone even faster.  This month has been a roller coaster of sorts for you (and not always a fun one).  You came down with a fever on an early Monday morning, the highest fever you have ever had (101 degrees).  On Monday morning, you were shivering as you tried to break it.  We thought that it might be teething, but called Dr. Perez anyway.  She said to watch it and if it went over 102 degrees or if it was still around on Wednesday, to bring you in.  We would break it for short periods of time with Tylenol/Motrin and baths, but it never quite went away.  So I took you in on Wednesday.  We found out that you had a urinary tract infection, so Dr. Perez put you on antibiotics with instructions to come in on Friday if the fever still persisted.  You weren't a huge fan of the oral antibiotics, you threw them up the first time I gave them to you, and the fever actually got worse, so we ended up in her office again on Friday.  That visit turned into a trip to Driscoll Children's Hospital where you were admitted to be tested for meningitis.  This was the scariest 8 hours of my (and your Dad's) lives.  You had to have some really painful and yucky tests, some that they wouldn't even let Mommy and Daddy be in the room with you for.  But you were a trooper!  The antibiotics they gave you in the hospital started working over Friday night, and your fever broke, so you were a little more yourself on Saturday.  They gave you one more round of antibiotics before they discharged you on Saturday - we were there just a little over 24 hours - but it seemed like weeks.  You had to have some follow-up tests a few weeks later that revealed that you have a reflux in your urinary tract where urine is splashing up into your kidneys from your bladder.  We will go see a specialist about this next month, but for now we just have to watch you to make sure you don't develop another urinary tract infection.  That was the yucky thing that happened to you this month...but you had so many wonderful things happen, too!  You have gotten very good at drinking from a sippy cup, and you drink 4-5 oz of water every day from one.  Mommy and Daddy are thrilled that you like water so much, the few times we have offered you juice you refused it, so we have just stuck with water.  You still do not nurse from Mommy, and we have had to start supplementing your milk intake with formula.  Fortunately since we have been fortifying your bottles with formula since December, so it wasn't a difficult transition.  You have also become much more coordinated with your self-feeding.  You can pick up just about anything with your pincher grasp, but like to use your thumb to shovel it into your mouth.  Speaking of your mouth, EVERYTHING goes into your mouth these days!  You are especially fascinated with cords (even those that are hidden away, you remember that they are there!).  You still do not have any teeth, maybe next month!  You have started a new way of locomoting - the scoot, lunge, and roll technique.  Often, you will add in a few crawls, but you aren't quite at the full-on crawling stage yet.  I think it's going to be any day because you will get up on all fours and rock back and forth 6-7 times, try a half crawl, then decide to roll.  Once you figure it out, you are so curious, I am guessing Mommy and Daddy (and Amber!) are going to be pretty busy.  We just finished child-proofing the house, so we're ready for you!  You also figure out how to get yourself from your stomach up to a sitting position.  You've only done it a few times, though, so you're still perfecting that skill.  You have really started to mimic behaviors - from putting your hands up with Daddy when he says, "hooray" for eating your food, to trying to figure out clapping (you are so close!).  Your language has really developed this month as well.  You now say a lot of one-two syllable babbles (still no "mama" - but you melt your Daddy's heart when you say "dada").  You also bring such joy to Daddy when you shoot baskets with him.  Mommy got you and Daddy a basketball goal for Christmas and you are finally old enough to use it.  You love shooting hoops with Daddy, and have figured out if you press the little green button - the toy will make the sounds without you even shooting a basket.  You have a pretty mean dunk, though!  You have had a pretty busy month, and every day you make us smile and thank the Lord for bringing you into our lives.  We are so blessed to be your Mommy and Daddy!!

Friday, February 10, 2012

Hooray!!!

Tonight Dan was feeding Evelyn and trying to encourage her when she was able to feed herself.  He started throwing his hands up and saying, "Hooray!" when she did it...and she caught onto it and started doing the same.  Ultra-cute.
Here's a video of Dan trying to get her to do it again...only at this point she was all about the hooray, and not so much about the eating!

Monday, February 6, 2012

Scoot, Lunge, and Roll

Evelyn is officially on the path to crawling...this mama isn't quite sure how she feels about it! :-)


Reasons to be happy:
...she's so cute doing it
...it's a great developmental milestone
...she's gaining independence
...it means she's getting big


Reasons to want to cry:
...life as we know it is gonna get crazier
...it means she's getting big

Here's a video of her first real movement in a lateral direction:

As you can see...she's got the scoot, lunge, and roll move down - a move that I fear will resemble more coordinated crawling in the coming days!

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Not Quite Big Enough

We've had a high chair since before Evelyn was born...and it has sat neatly in our dining room corner for about as long.  We put her in it the first couple of times she ate solids, but she's so tiny that she could barely see over the tray.  We since have used our "travel" high chair (one of the convertible high chair/booster seats) strapped to one of our kitchen chairs.  Had we known this would be the plan, I'm sure we would have saved the money we spent on a high chair!  Today I wanted to see if she was tall enough for the normal high chair yet...

You can be the judge...


Friday, February 3, 2012

Daddy Love

I keep trying for "mama"...but this is all I get...
At least she's cute...

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Longer on the Outside

I realized this morning that Evelyn has officially spent more days on the outside than inside of Mommy.  

According to my calculations in the shower, she spent 257 days in utero...this was at 30 weeks...

And she's at 261 days outside now...
So Saturday was the big day that pushed her over the edge! :-)  And yes, that is a shield from my breast pump she is chewing on.  It's broken, but she loves to chew on it, so it's become a toy.  Mom of the Year.

And another cute one...she's finally eating better!

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Update on Evelyn

I have been prolonging posting an update about Evelyn until we had something concrete to report...but we're still waiting for that, so I figured I'd let you know what we do know.  She started acting much more like herself last week around Wednesday, and the antibiotics seemed to be doing their job.  She's gotten much better about taking her oral meds, which has probably helped a lot!

On Monday, we had the two follow-up labs to determine if she had anything anatomically that could be causing the UTI she had.  The first lab was an ultrasound.  In this they look for a couple of things...first, to see if there is any blockage in the urinary system and second, to see if there is any swelling in the kidneys indicating infection.  She did really good with this procedure and was talking and smiling at the ultrasound tech - at least until she turned her over onto her tummy...she wasn't a huge fan of that!  According to her pediatrician, her right kidney was a little swollen (which could be the remains of the infection she had) but her left kidney and the rest of the urinary system looked fine.


Getting ready for her ultrasound...being naked and her feet are two of her favorite things!

The second lab is called a Voiding Cystourethrogram (VCUG or dye test).  This lab essentially is a radiology lab that examines if there is reflux in the urinary system and/or problems with the bladder completing voiding urine.  This one wasn't so fun.  To do the lab, they catheterize the patient, then inject a dye into the urinary system that can be seen in contrast via a series of X-rays.  And of course, it's our job to keep her still while the procedure is performed so they can get good images.  She (naturally) hated this from start to finish.  I felt like the procedure took 10 minutes longer than it needed to...they cathed her, then sat waiting for what seemed like an hour (Dan was watching from behind a window, and said it was about 10 minutes) for the radiologist to actually come in and perform the test.  It seems like they could cath a patient as the radiologist is coming in and save the agony of the poor baby screaming for 10 minutes!  Evelyn wasn't happy at all (which, I can't blame her!).  The nurse asked if she could dip her pluggie in glucose water, so I told her sure.  Evelyn quieted a little, so the nurse put a nipple on the bottle and tried to give it to her.  Evelyn HATES anything that is cold, and is pretty picky about the kind of nipple she will drink from...so when the nurse shoved the bottle in her mouth, poor Evelyn was gagging because it's cold and not what she likes!  After about 30 seconds of her continuing to try to offer her a bottle, I told her it clearly wasn't working.  (I applaud the effort, but really - when the baby is gagging, don't keep shoving it in her mouth!)  Evelyn is screaming at this point and we're still waiting on the radiologist.  When she finally came in, she tried making small talk and tried to "entertain" Evelyn.  For real....if she's screaming with her Mom, I'm going to guess there is nothing you are going to be able to do to make her happy in the cold, scary room!  I finally said, "she's going to be upset until we get this done, so the faster we can do it, the better."  Finally, they got moving and finished the X-rays in about 3 minutes.  So what should have taken about 7 minutes start to finish, took about 20.  Poor baby!!  No wonder her Dad keeps promising her ponies!  (For those of you not on Facebook...I posted on Monday morning that Evelyn has a whole stable-full of ponies waiting for her for all the times her Dad has told her, "I'll buy you a pony after this test!")  The radiologist immediately indicated that she did have some reflux in the left kidney, and said that our pediatrician would follow up.  I was able to talk to her today, and she said that Evelyn has a grade 1 reflux in the right kidney and a grade 3 reflux in the left kidney.  It sounds like they don't really do anything to treat grade 1, so it's the left kidney they are concerned about.  From what we understand, they will treat her with a low dose of antibiotic daily until she outgrows this (which typically happens).  She is referring us to a pediatric urologist for treatment, so we'll know a lot more once we meet with him/her.  I'm not sure when that appointment will be, their office is supposed to be contacting me for the appointment.

I'll be sure to update you as we know more...but for now you can be praying for Evelyn's urinary system to heal completely and swiftly, that her body will be on earth as it is in Heaven - perfect, whole, and healthy!