August 26 - 21 weeks old

In lieu of moving, packing and overall chaos on our end.....I missed our 20 week post!! So technically she's not quite 5 months until the 31st.......BUT.......20 weeks still seemed like a little milestone that I missed......and what a BUSY time these last few weeks have been!! Here are a few pictures from our "5 month" photo shoot that Mommy and Eve did this week showcasing "Evelina Ballerina" (as her loving Aunt Minda and cousins would call her......I think it might stick)!

There has been quite a bit of excitement in Maryland over the last few weeks since I posted. We experienced our first earthquake here, which is something I never would have expected to feel in my lifetime! Evelina was at home playing with Mie-Mie when it happened and I doubt she noticed anything different but her grandmother sure did! Even though they say it only last about 20 seconds.....the ground was really rocking around here haha!

We will see if she notices anything different about the storm of Hurricane Irene that they are predicting for us tonight, it sounds like it may be ugly! We were out in Baltimore tonight and there are sandbags lining people's doorways, some with boards over their windows just preparing for this storm. I guess Mommy and Daddy were a little late in "stocking up" for the storm as there were bare shelves where the gallons of water and bottled water used to be in addition to most other parts of the grocery stores! Hopefully we dont lose power because it will probably be our first night in OUR NEW HOUSE!!(she is pretty much done with my photo shoot above, haha)

Speaking of new house......we should be moving some things in starting tomorrow. The furniture we ordered will be delivered in the morning and then we will be moving over essentials to get us through until the moving company delivers the rest next Tuesday! To say that I'm over-joyed, elated, ecstatic, relieved (I could go on and on with adjectives...) would be an understatement! We have been so ready for this house for a while and it will feel good to get settled in as a little family!


In other news......Evelina welcomed her new cousin and soon-to-be best friend, Aubriel Jean Benson, into the world this week! She is only a fraction of the size of our little angel but is absolutely precious!! I actually think that Evelina has gotten more hangout time with Aubriel this week than I have while spending some extra time with Mie-Mie and Aunt Kissy (Misty). I've really been itching to snuggle a newborn again so I'm going to need to sneak some QT in!

I am so excited to see all these little cousins grow up together as her older cousins are not far off in age either! Here are a few photos of the cousins giving Aubriel "some love" the day before she made her debut this week!! Haha, look at those tiny Lily hands poking up from below!!! So cute!



Well........wish us luck in faring this storm tonight and for moving over the next few days! Then it's off to a whirl-wind Midwest trip next week!! We will leave Wednesday and fly into Wisconsin where Evelina will meet her great grandmother Hirsbrunner along with some great aunts and cousins.......then we drive to Iowa to meet her other great grandparents for the first time......then to Chicago for my BFF's wedding (Laura Fisher)..........can wait to see everyone this week and to celebrate this special weekend with Laura!!

August 14 - 19 weeks old

Here we are one week away from our precious girl turning five months old! Where is time going?? Life has certainly gotten busy for our little family and hopefully in a few short weeks we will finally be in our new house. I'm sure we will look back at this month and wonder how we even managed to do all this with such a little girl.......believe me, I am feel like I'm going nuts half the time while our clothes are in boxes/suitcases and our kitchen is all packed up.......but we couldn't be more excited to settle into our new digs!!

In big news for our little cookie this past week she had her 4 month appointment ( a little late!) So, as we undressed her for the big weigh-in, the nurse guessed her at 18 lbs! Haha I was just hoping she was still in the 16 lb range although I had been noticing this past week that her 6 month clothes were starting to fit a little more snug! So her official stats were 16 lb 10 oz and measuring 25 1/4". She is definitely a solid girl but got glowing reviews from the pediatrician so we couldn't be happier with our healthy, happy little girl! I have to say though that the vaccinations hurt me just as much as her! Mike had to hug both of us after the shots were over! I just soooo hated seeing that happy little face break into a squealing cry that I've only heard a handful of times.

With the conclusion of her 4 month appointment we also got the green light to start some rice cereal and stage 1 foods. This may take some work but we've only been doing it for a few nights......haha the faces are priceless and each night seems to go a little smoother! I'm sure when we finally have a kitchen all set up for her, the feedings will probably be going a little better!

August 7, 2011 - 18 weeks old

Over the last few weeks I have come to realize that this may be my favorite age with Evelina so far (if you would have asked me at each point though I probably would've said the same thing about the newborn and one month, etc). It is just so amazing to get so much interaction with her, to see her play with toys and to see that she has obviously started learning how to get some extra attention with her perfected "sad cry". She has "Sophie the Giraffe" with her almost constantly just gnawing on her nose or hooves (if you have a new baby, I would highly recommend this teether......it is so easy for them to chew on for the early teething stages). I am nervous for what teething will bring as far as her mood but for now she is truly the happiest baby! Full of smiles, giggles and plenty of drool and spit-up. Speaking of spit-up......I am soooo ready for her to out-grow that stage! Although I have to admit that the days I go to work with a blotted out spot of spit up on my shirt has me feeling the closest to her because I have her scent with me all day long haha! I really dont have many pictures for this week however I did post one of our biggest challenges over the next few weeks and it is our NEW HOUSE! I cannot explain how absolutely positively ready we are to settle into our new digs! As you can see the outside is shaping up nicely and I will post some more pictures soon of the inside! We have all of the bathrooms tiled and walls painted. They are working on the hardwood this week and after that will be mainly the kitchen and some small jobs leftover! I went over twice this past weekend with Eve and she even seems more giggly once we step in the door! I think she just feels at home in another "pinked-out" room!

In addition to this house.......we tackled another obstacle by purchasing a vacation home in Sebastian, Florida. Mike and his brother-in law Jim went down to do some painting and sprucing this past weekend although I think it turned into more of a vacation weekend for them instead! Hopefully we will have some photos to post of that house soon too!!

This week is the belated 4 month appointment with the pediatrician so we will have some fun Evelina updates after Wednesday..........I am scared to see what the baby scale will read, haha she is chunky little cookie!

July 31 - 17 weeks old

Hanging with my favorite girl! Look at what a drool machine she has become! Haha, oh my!
Hanging with Daddy.....she is always so talkative when she is spending time with him!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's becoming a little harder to find time to blog lately so I may just do a catch up of some photos from the week! It's been so tough coming home from working all day! All that I want to do is spend some quality time quickly with her! She is getting earlier and earlier in her bedtimes though so I feel like each day I'm hurrying to get in as many cuddles and giggles before her bath and bedtime stories.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Eve has started playing in her entertainment saucer.....I caught her staring down one of the shiny toys! Haha what a silly girl!

Hanging out with Uncle Derik......looking so serious!
Struggling through tummy time......she is slowly but surely starting to stand it!

Getting a ride from Pop-Pop!

Playing in the entertainment saucer......she actually cries when you try to pull her out of it too soon!