A month of firsts...

February was busy for little Miss Evie Mae...

She got all dolled up for her big day...

and had a beautiful blessing day.

But she did decide to let everyone know when she was done with all the picture taking.

Evangeline met Michael...

And bonded obviously...

She also met Papa Tan Tan...
And loved snoozing with him.

She even got better at sitting up straight in the funny positions Daddy put her in since she was getting stronger every day!

Evie went to the Chinese New Year Parade in San Francisco...

And when the drummers and the fireworks went off, she decided she'd at least take a peek and check things out.
After all, we had traveled on the Muni and everything just to get there :)

She was also constantly reminded that she was born in the year of the Rabbit...
Can it get cuter than that for Evangeline? The year of the rabbit - adorable!

Evangeline went to her first party that just so happened to be a cute Valentine's Day party.
She enjoyed going because it was her first Valentine's Day celebration! Evie was also lucky enough to receive a ton of valentines from all her new friends.
And everyone loved her stylish pink outfit handknit by Grammy :)

Mommy helped her make her first valentines to pass out to her new friends...

We were hoping the babies would be entertained by the light (with adult supervision of course :))

And she even brought treats for the other babies...

Banana, cinnamon, and ground up oats...mmmm...gotta love baby super foods :)

She was so happy to receive lots of valentines in the mail from her cousins Avery, Aidan, and Lucy...
And then she got soo excited she decided to kick, kick, kick...

And well...let's just say those valentines went flyin'!

She loved getting a card from Grandma Rainy and Papa Tan Tan and read their card very carefully...

Then she enjoyed meeting two of her aunts, Natalie and Carly...

And she was the nicest baby to take them around and show them her beautiful city of San Francisco...

Sometimes it was a little too much for a baby to handle though...

And she'd sneak in a cat nap here and there...

She also decided she'd become a killer stander...

And Evangeline pretty much would be happy if she could just stand almost all the time...

She also got to start using the Bumbo...

And she loves to lounge and relax in it like a "big."

She also was sporting some cute shoes during this month...
That she could finally fit into...

And she became even more snuggly than ever...

Evangeline totally squirmed her way next to her daddy. No need to move her closer because she'll move herself. Not even her SwaddleMe can stop this girl from snuggling...

She's become even more playful...

And smiley...

And she loves to play with Mama after her baths...

She also got to try her first oyster at the Ferry Building farmers' market...

Via Mom's milk of course :)

And she decided she'd really start grabbing everything...

But this lion toy, from her Aunt Hannah, is one of her favorites and we never leave home without it...

She's just been a rockin' and rollin' this whole month...
And as fabulous as February has been...

She was very happy to turn 3 months :)

The Blessing Day

On February 5th Evangeline was blessed in Modesto (Jeff's hometown).

We were extremely blessed to have so much family able to come see the blessing.

My parents came from NC...

Her Uncle Mike was able to make it from Alabama...

Her Aunt Melissa came from Utah, and Aunt Hannah and Uncle Travis came too :)

She had a gorgeous blessing gown that was made by Grandma Sally, who wanted to be there, but due to an unexpected illness, she was still recovering. She was dearly missed.

Evangeline's gown looked better on her than it did on Jeffrey.

She tried her hardest to be a good sport for all the picture taking...

And even let her mom take a picture of the booties I knit (thanks to Grammy).

We enjoyed a wonderful family filled weekend with yummy food provided by Grammy and even a special Superbowl feast later on that day.

Jeffrey was able to give the blessing in the bishop's office and it was a special experience for all of us. The blessing was perfect - everything a parent would ever hope for. Evangeline knew it was special too as she listened, watched, and cooed at her Daddy during the blessing. The Spirit was undeniably strong and it seemed to fill that small little room. I am so grateful for the Holy Ghost and that we are able to have these unforgettable events in our lives. I love having these little moments that feel like a little piece of heaven on earth.

It was a special day for Evangeline that she may not remember, but everyone who was there will :)

The Month of Giggles...

This month has been full of baby giggles from beginning to end.
But...
By the end the giggles lasted a LOT longer.

I was proud to get her to giggle first, but I kept getting disappointed that I'd get her to laugh while Jeff was always at school. She laughed for me when I would play this Kindermusik game my mom taught me called "Giddy Up Horsey." Jeff finally saw her giggle for me while doing that game, but I was quickly upstaged by Jeff. He realized all he had to do to get a quick giggle was say, "He he he he." Then he realized he could give Evangeline raspberries and she'd laugh. After that, he could just look at Evie and she'd laugh.

Below are some videos where he got her to laugh for a really long time.
After you watch them, it's obvious that he's won the laughing game.
Whether I want to admit it or not, I think we all know that kids always think that dads are the funny ones...

The Bread Saga

So Jeff has been baking bread like a mad man...

Apparently he wants to become a sourdough guru.

Here are his latest products.

Aren't they beautiful?
They're delicious too - just in case you were wondering.

And he loves making sandwiches with the yummy bread...


Jeff is pretty proud of his newfound baking abilities.
And here is his secret...

Two months older and wiser too...

At two months Evie Mae weighed 11 lbs 15.7 oz (75th percentile), was 23.5 inches (85th percentile), was 40 cm in head size (77th percentile). She's still pretty symmetrical :)

She didn't want to get her picture taken though...

During the second month Evangeline...

- started really smiling! It happened right when we got home from Modesto and the smiles just kept getting bigger and bigger!
- would calm down a lot faster when upset
- would stay in the bouncer while Mommy showered in the mornings (sometimes she'd even fall asleep) and loved gazing at a big black and white picture in our bathroom. We got on a lot more normal schedule, which Mommy really liked!
- LOVED following Mommy and Daddy with her eyes and just watching us... (my mom and dad Skyped with us and and the whole time she'd never look at the computer - just me! So cute...)
- decided she wouldn't take bottles or a pacifier, which was awesome for us :( Unfortunately the Nuk nipples didn't even work...
- spent her days playing and talking with Mommy
- would still get the hiccups often
- kept her horrible gag reflex (she'd gag on all pacifiers)
- liked to suck on her fist to soothe herself or on Mommy's upper neck/chest
- loved to be rocked to sleep anytime EXCEPT bedtime
- had her peak of fussiness during 4-6 weeks. During the peak she'd start screaming on the dot at 11:30pm and scream until 1am unless we held her in the football hold (on her stomach) and let her suck on our finger or did what Dr . Karp calls the "milkshake" and let her suck on our finger while we jiggled her doing that hold. Let me just tell you...it was so exhausting doing that for and hour and a half but way better than listening to her screaming. And after six weeks we really didn't have to do it anymore...
- liked to stretch when she woke up and was un-swaddled - so cute!
- kept kissing Mommy and Daddy
- LOVED playing a game with Mommy where I'd sing "I love you a bushel and a peck" and when I'd say peck I'd kiss her on her cheek and she'd kiss me at the same time on my cheek! It was precious...
- loves having long coo-ing coversations with Mom
- had her first round of shots and screamed bloody murder. It was so horrible. She moaned and cried for the next couple of days...
- would make a coo after you asked her a question (most of the time)
- she become very alert and people would always comment on that in the grocery stores
- decided she liked hikes in forests beside our home
- started peaking out of her Moby wrap
- went Crabbing with Mommy and Daddy and didn't watch but heard a lot of 49er games dressed in her 49ers outfit Grammy gave her for Christmas.
- started going more places like grocery shopping just she and Mommy but it usually wasn't a good car ride experience since she still was not enjoying the car
- moved up to the next level in her car seat!
- LOVED listening to classical music and dancing with Mommy
- had several different favorite songs like "This is My Father's World" and "I am a Child of God" and still "I Love to See the Temple."
- still decided that she'd make a lot of dirty diapers for Mommy and Daddy (4-6 poopy ones a day). We were disappointed that the pediatricians prediction of a poop once a week didn't happen.
- became very efficient at nursing and begin doing 5 mins a side and sometimes only one breast.
- started cooing and talking to us once we got home from Modesto
- could imitate us when we'd make "Oh" sounds and "Ah" sounds (it would usually take a day before she could mimic it though)
- LOVED looking out our windows at all the trees that surround our building (especially when she'd wake up in the morning)
- LOVED reading "Goodnight Moon" with Daddy at bedtime

Tummy time has been a success! After we'd change her diaper, she'd be happy and give us a couple minutes of happy tummy time. We'd have to do it a lot throughout the day but it made the whole experience a lot more enjoyable for both of us. And during her second month she was able to lift her head straight up and look us in the eyes. We never could get a good picture of it. This is what it looked like when she was a little more tired.

After week six we had an awesome change!
Evangeline decided her bedtime was going to be between 9:30 and 10:30pm.
All we had to do was get her ready for bed like normal - swaddle her, turn down the lights (we'd leave a lamp on for a little bit b/c she'd get a little scared of the dark if it happened right away), stop talking to her, lay her down on our bed, and nurse her.
If she didn't fall asleep nursing, I could just close my eyes and snuggle her and she'd closed her eyes and fall asleep too!
The crazy part is it worked even if she'd just napped.
Daddy was one happy dude since he doesn't handle little sleep very well.
She still would wake up to eat a couple times in the night, but she could sleep for 4.5-5 hours before she'd need to eat.
And she decided to wake up daily between 7 and 8am

How I love my pretty baby...
And the snuggles are the best!