Sunday, May 27, 2012

Summertime!

We celebrated the unofficial start of summer by getting Evelyn a backyard pool to play in.
She LOVES it!
 
Look at that belly!  How can we think she's not gaining enough weight???! :-)

She was also too cool for school at church this morning...or Mommy and Daddy were trying everything in the diaper bag to keep her entertained! :-)
Shout out to David in the background there...he's a good friend of ours, and he's a Navy pilot.  Let us not forget those who serve our country so selflessly as we celebrate this weekend!  May the Lord bless your sacrifice and keep you abundantly covered by His grace!

Friday, May 25, 2012

My Hero!

Dan be-headed a snake for me today. Notice his Green Lantern shirt...he says he has super powers. I know the snake a) is not big, and b) looks like a stick in this picture, but it's a snake - and I hate them.

Fly-Over States

 It's no secret that I grew up in Colorado.  When most people hear of someone who grew up in Colorado, they think of something like this...
But I actually grew up with surroundings like this...
 
 
 
 
 
My little hometown - Wray - is just inside the tri-corner area where Colorado, Kansas, and Nebraska meet.
We were really more a part of the Midwest than the mountains.  I loved the years I spent in Greeley because it was so close to the mountains - you could be in them in an hour.  I used to love driving in the mountains - stopping for a few hours to hike, or just sit and read, or spending some time with the Father.  But as I get older, I find myself missing the simplicity of Northeastern Colorado - where the nearest WalMart is 90 miles away.

I think that is why I love this song by Jason Aldean - Fly Over States - so much.


It reminds me of home - of people who work hard and don't feel like they are entitled to anything.  Of a place where there are seasons.  Indiana was the same way.  Most of my time there, I hated it.  I called it the butthole of America.  But now that I've been away, I'm realizing it was the pressure of graduate school that I hated, Indiana wasn't so bad after all.  

I miss them both.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Sneak Peek

Our photographer always posts sneak peeks of pictures on Facebook - it's such a tease because it makes me want to see them all!  Once again, she is amazing.  Evelyn has had a rough week, she's been super fussy all week and yesterday when I got home from work (I just went in yesterday to finish moving offices before we leave for Hawaii next Saturday!).  Anyway, when I got home from work, she was super clingy and wouldn't let me put her down for anything - except the 1 hour nap she took.  She's got one of her top teeth coming in - it looks to be making it's appearance not fast enough, but any day.  She also had her 1 year shots the day before.  Usually, she's a little off the day of the shots - but this round has her in all sorts of a good mood.  On the way to the pictures I was just praying that she would find some happy for just 30 minutes.  It was also crazy windy (more than normal) yesterday - so I was not hopeful we would get anything good.
Enter Cat.  
The amazing photographer who creates beautiful out of crabby.
I just love this picture - it's her "I'm a stinker and I know it" (to be sung to the tune of "I'm sexy and I know it") face.  I'll post some more after we get the full session in a few weeks...if you are on Facebook, check out Cat Herndon Photography (or she usually tags me in the pictures).

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

One Year Check-Up

Evelyn had her one year well-check today.  She's still tiny.  Here are here statistics:

Weight: 16 pounds, 8 ounces (12 ounces since 9 months) - 1st percentile 
Length: 26 inches (1 inch since 9 months) - not on the chart anymore
Head Circumference: 45 cm (1 cm since 9 months) - 47th percentile
 
Her pediatrician is concerned about how small she is.  I haven't thought much of it, until I just typed the change from 9 months above.  Her doctor wants us to start giving her 2-3 cans of Pediasure each day to add about 500 extra calories to her diet each day.  I'm also trying to think of higher calorie snacks/meals to feed her...that are still relatively healthy!  We go back in a month for a weight check, and if she hasn't gained well, they are going to run labs to rule out any underlying issues.  Trying to remind myself that truth is not what I see, but what God says!

Monday, May 21, 2012

My New Toys!

Evelyn loves her new toys!  I am now in the market to find some sort of storage for our living room.  When we bought our house, we always kind of thought that our upstairs loft would be a perfect office/play room.  But we didn't think through the fact that we pretty much live downstairs and sleep upstairs, so our living room is pretty much Evelyn's play room. 
She loves her Disney princess couch - she pretty much drags every toy onto or around it.
This seemed like the best way to climb over...
I also love these blocks Daddy picked out for me!
And the puppy that says my name in the background from David, Leah, and Isaiah!
And this cool tunnel from Nicole, Todd, Tyler, and Shay
Nicole...she climbed in it for about 10 minutes, then got stuck because she tried to climb sideways and it ended up rolling like a hamster wheel.  She's not so sure of it now.  But she loves the door and peeking in for now!
Her nanny, Amber, also made her a really cool book called Evelyn's ABCs.  She took tons of pictures of Evelyn with different objects, then put the pictures in the book with each page as a letter.  A is for apple (Evelyn holding an apple), avocado (Evelyn holding an avocado), Amber (Evelyn and Amber)....all the way to Z.  She did such a great job of including things that Evelyn loves, as well as pictures of her extended family that she pulled off our blog.  A very neat present that Evelyn will really love as she gets older!

Thank you to everyone who brought or sent her gifts!  She is very blessed and is loving all of it!  You'll probably see them in pictures over the coming months! :-)

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Grammie & Grandad's Visit

We got home from Indiana on Wednesday, and Grammie & Grandad flew in on Thursday.  Their trip was a little more rushed and stressful than I planned it to be because we were running around trying to finish up everything for her party on Saturday.  Despite the running around, Evelyn had a blast playing with them.
Hello? Is Heidi there?
Eating banana bread with Grandad
Grandad lets me eat the crumbs
Helping Grandad put my play place together
I want to climb this slide
She immediately tried to bear walk up this...fortunately Grandad was close by to help!
Crawling around with Grandad
My footie pajamas get in the way of playing - so Grandad helped me tie them up
We always eat well (and way too much!) when my Mom and Dad are here.  We took them to a yummy seafood place down on the bay in Corpus - but had a bit of a wait being Friday night and the night before a major race here.  We ended up feeding Evelyn outside while we were waiting - which meant Grammie held her (mandarin orange juice on the arms, green beans in her lap, it's all good!).  I found these wonderful "cookies" - that sort of taste like chocolate (especially if you don't know what you are missing out on), but are actually not too terrible for her.  She loves them.
My Dad was like a kid in a candy shop at this restaurant.  Being in Colorado, they don't have much fresh seafood, so he loved this!  We had some shrimp something, sushi, salads, fresh grilled fish, and spinach artichoke dip and steak for Mom!
It was also my first oyster experience - tasty!
On their last morning here, Mom and I had waffles with strawberries and whipped cream for breakfast.  Evelyn begged and got her way with Grammie.
Crawling to find Grammie
Grammie, I thought that bite was mine!
Mom and Dad - one of these days we're going to do NOTHING when you come!  :-)  Thanks for everything...helping me shop, decorate, set up, put in new motion sensor lights, watch Evelyn, love on Evelyn, and love on us.  90210 - I learned it from you.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

A Ladybug's First Birthday Party

We had Evelyn's first birthday scheduled before we went to Indiana - fortunately we were able to still hold it as scheduled.  It was a ladybug theme - and of course, I went a little overboard.  It's her first birthday, I can.   For those of you who weren't able to come from Indiana and Colorado (or California...) - here are some decoration pictures for you:
The invitation
Food and gift tables
I had an idea to make a banner of pictures from each month...but the trip to Indiana cut my time short, so I ended up just taping them along the house.  Not quite what I envisioned, but here it is...
Signs leading the guests to the back yard
Tables
Evelyn's chair
The cake!
We just had the party in our backyard, and the weather cooperated for the most part.  It was south Texas, so it was hot, but it wasn't nearly as hot as it could have been.  We were spoiled the week before in Indiana. 
Mommy and her birthday girl fashionista
Knighting Amber with her ladybug wand
I told you I went a little over the top...
Baby Isaiah's first birthday outing
3 weeks old today!
Evelyn loves baby Isaiah!
Wesley talking with my Dad - love this kid!
Daddy and his birthday girl!
A family picture before the cake festivities!
Cake twice in one week - this is the life!
Digging in!
Mmmmm...
She did some damage to this one...Grandad helped a little!
She was not a huge fan of ice cream, however...crazy kid
We had a wardrobe change before the present opening (see above picture - and imagine the mess that was on the plate on her shirt, shorts, chair, grass...  I ran her inside and just rinsed her off in the tub instead of dealing with wiping frosting off with a wet paper towel.  She was fussy and hacked off at the world while I was doing it, but as soon as we walked outside and she saw everyone was still there and watching her, she was instant happy and showing off.  Oh boy.
Telling everyone thank you by clapping
I just want to get that cup with my name on it...
It was a great party!  I am so thankful for my husband and parents who helped me pull off all the little things I wanted to do, but didn't have the whole week to do since we were in Indiana.