Crocheting Fun!

One of the ladies at our church has started a fun new activity called Sit 'N Stitch.  The idea is to get women together to just hang out, drink coffee, and stitch (knit, crochet, sew...).  Some of the women are seasoned pros, while others of us (ah hem, Leah and I) are newbies who thought it would be fun to make fools out of ourselves and learn to crochet.  Little did we know that we'd actually enjoy it!

A few days before our first lesson, Evelyn and I headed to Hobby Lobby to get some yarn and crochet hooks.  Who knew there were 3 AISLES of yarn and about 20 different crochet hooks to choose from. I wish Leah would have been with me, because the two of us would have had some good laughs.  I enjoyed watching Evelyn, though.  She was mesmerized by all of the colors of yarn!

Here's Leah making her first stitch!

While we were crocheting at the coffee shop, I learned that I crochet very tightly.  Apparently that's my Type A personality showing through.  I had taken crochet with 4-H when I was little, but hated it.  I remember making a pot holder (I think my Mom still has it!).  I was pretty darn impressed with myself though.  However, the tight stitching apparently makes it difficult for a baby blanket to lay flat on the ground.  It was more so that I loosened up when I realized how hard it was to double crochet into a tight stitch!  So instead of getting 29 inches through a blanket that won't lay flat, I tied the first attempt off and started fresh.  But now Evelyn has a little scarf! :-)

Here's the current product - I doubled the length so that the blanket would be longer.  I've been averaging about a row a night after Evelyn goes down!

Hodge Podge of Pictures

It's been a little bit crazy the last few weeks in the Gaines household, so I have been neglecting blogging.  Here's a collection of pictures over the last couple of weeks to catch you up on us!

This picture was taken a on a morning when Evelyn woke up - wide awake to the world - at 6am.  She usually gets up for good between 8-9am.  I had to get ready for work, so I put her in her bouncy seat in our bathroom and turned on the closet light.  I was hoping that the darker room would help her to go back to sleep.  Instead, she just glared at the closet light.  Stinker!

 Dan took this at church.  She went through this phase where she always wanted an arm behind her head.  I was holding her during worship, and this is how she was hanging out.  She stayed this way through the entire worship set (about 20 minutes).

 "Hi, I'm Evelyn.  I'm cute!"

 Sleepy girl

 Another sleepy girl...only this time she had a hold of my finger and wouldn't let go!

 Somebody found their feet!  These are the coolest toys in the world!

 You can't see it, but she's watching football in this picture.  Just chillin'!

 Gearing up for some Purdue football!  Go Boilers!

 More fun with my feet!  Dan was trying to get her dressed in her jammies, but she didn't want to let go of her feet!

 Lazy Sunday nap with Daddy...

Go Hogs Go!

We took Evelyn out to A&M-Kingsville for her first live football game.  Although now that I'm writing this, I'm realizing she watched her cousin Ben's game live a couple of week's back! (Go Ben!)  We were trying to get a picture of the 3 of us at the game, but she wouldn't look at the camera!  She was completely engrossed with the game.

This girl loves her football! :-)  Here's a video we took, she was doing this for most of the game!

Visiting Grandma Uni

We took a quick trip to Colorado last weekend and were able to visit with my Grandma Uni.  She is my Dad's mother.  Her health has slowly been deteriorating, so I am incredibly thankful that we were able to spend this time with her.  Here are some pictures we took while we were visiting with her.

Me, Evelyn, and Grandma Uni 

 Our little family

 All of the Tim Wisdom grandkids and great-grandkids

Nathan, Grandma Uni, Stacey, Evelyn, Dan, Gavin, Heidi, Mike, Angie, Katie

Grant, Lisa, Gage, Ben

 All of the great-grandkids with Grandma Uni

 Grandma Uni with her granddaughters

 Granddaughters and spouses with Grandma Uni

4 Months Appointment

Evelyn had her 4 months appointment today - it was a couple of weeks late...between her pediatrician being gone and me having a Board meeting for one of the professional organizations I am in, we were a little late in getting this one scheduled.  Her pediatrician said everything looks great - Evelyn was in a great mood, so Dr. Perez kept commenting on how happy she was.  I told her we call Evelyn 0-60 because she can go from being completely content, happy, and smiling to screaming in about .25 seconds.  Fortunately, she can also go the reverse in about the same amount of time! :-)

Her 4 month statistics:

Weight: 12 pounds, 9 ounces (2 pounds, 8 ounces since 2 months) - 20th percentile

Length: 23 inches (2 inches since 2 months) - 7th percentile

Head Circumference: 41.25 cm (2.25cm since 2 months) - 50th percentile

She's still tiny...but Dr. Perez thinks she is gaining steadily, so she is probably just going to be more petite.  I've been breast feeding exclusively to this point, but I think my milk is starting to not keep up with her.  I'm praying for it to start producing more, but we may have to start supplementing formula with the breast milk if things don't change.  (Something I really really don't want to do...so you can join us in praying that my body will do what it's designed to do!)

She also sat up by herself for the first time tonight!

And this is what happens when Mommy and Daddy leave me by myself for too long...

It's all fun and games until some one does a face plant!

(apparently I've learned from my - Stacey's - Dad to shoot pictures when your kid face plants instead of helping out...)

Tired Girl...

(Yes...she's still on nursing strike.  She'll nurse just fine at night when she's been sleeping - but all day, she only wants the bottle - even if it's me giving it to her!)

Packing Tape is Funny

(apologies for the shaky camera work...I was trying to entertain and film at the same time!)

I wish I would have gotten this the first 7-8 times I pulled the tape...she was really cracking up!  And just to prove that children really do change every day - when Dan and I tried it today, nothing...

Just Getting Comfortable Here

Lately, Evelyn has started sticking her hands behind her head whenever she's on her back.  When she's playing...when she's sleeping...when she's in her car seat...even in the bathtub!  It's so cute!

She may be getting it from her Grandad...

(seen here teaching it to her cousin, Ben)

3 Months Photo Shoot

I can't believe it's taken me this long to post these - but here are Evelyn's 3 months pictures (now that she's 4 months old...).  We just LOVE the photographer (Cat Herndon Photography) who has done her shots!  Can't wait to see what she does in November for her 6 months pictures!

Our Cute Little Cheerleader

It's a good thing she's cute...

...because so far this game sure isn't.

Hoping the second half is better...I'll be dreaming that it is and watching it tomorrow.  If only I had a boss who would believe it if I called in sick tomorrow!  Evelyn really is fighting off her first major cold...we aren't sure if it's a cold, allergies, or from the smoky-haze we have coming down from the central Texas fires.  Regardless, having a little congested one is no fun for anyone!  We finally figured out that sleeping in the swing helped, so everyone could get some sleep! :-)