Four months older and wiser too...

So on April 3rd Evie Mae turned 4 months.
It was definitely a day to remember for her...

Evangeline woke up with a cough and stuffy nose. Poor girl had the worst night sleep the night before too. So that day...oh that day for her was rough. We literally waltzed around our front room to Brahms' Waltz in A flat to help her get her mind off her troubles. She loves dancing and it worked like a charm. We worked on our counting, "1,2,3 1, 2,3" and our opposites "Down, Up, Up," but my favorite memory of that day is just being cheek to cheek with my baby girl and knowing that just for a moment I was helping her. It was pretty magical and it's one of those moments I hope I dream about later. Do you ever have fond memories that you dream about again? I love it when that happens. I hope this memory comes back to me again in a dream. So sweet.



Before the sickness really hit, the day hadn't started off so bad and I thought Evangeline could handle a picture shoot. She did fine, but I realized it was a little too early (bad lighting as you can see).

But it was a good thing I snapped a few because by the time we had perfect lighting, we did not have a perfectly happy baby.

The rest of the day consisted of Evangeline having a hard time napping (20 minutes at most), which resulted in me finally deciding to hold her while she napped. She was able to sleep for 2 hours while I held her. Poor baby.

Here was take two from the next day when she felt better...
p.s. - I'd done laundry so don't worry she's not wearing a dirty shirt :) It's just such a cute shirt from Grammy!

This month Evangeline has...

been grabbing EVERYTHING!

And look at her tongue in the picture below...
She still is licking everything!

She's grabs my plates and pulls them towards her, my hair, my face (this is her favorite right now - she reaches up and touches my mouth), strings on her hats or other people's sweatshirts, and toys.

Evangeline figured out how to pull the handle on her bouncer and is delighted to hear that music plays when she pulls it. We'd been showing her at the beginning of the month how she could grab it, but Evie had never done it on her own. It scared us the first time she did it because all of a sudden the music started playing while Jeff and I were talking, ha ha. It was so fun to realize that she'd figured it out on her own.

And on the day she turned four months, she decided she was a big girl. She even grabbed my big hospital water mug by its handle and held the other side with her other hand. It was precious. She'd seen me drink out it and noticed the straw going to my mouth, so I handed it to her and she totally took it :) She sure thinks she's a big girl now!

Evangeline loves...

- her lion toy that Aunt Hannah gave her and it still is the must have in the car for car rides (she can even fall asleep in the car when someone shakes it for a while)
- her Sweet Pea baby in a pea pod Natalie gave her...she doesn't care for the pod (which surprised me because I thought it'd be a hit since it's lime green) but loves holding onto the baby
- still loves her doggie rattle from Grandma Rainy
- found a knew love for her animal blankies this month, especially her caterpillar one from Grammy's friend. The day after she'd turned 3 months that caterpillar was her best friend
- doesn't mind tummy time if she can stare at the warning label in her pack and play
- loves touching her Mama's face when she looks at her upside down in the crib :)
- LOVES being rocked to sleep as her mama is singing to her (and she even sings along...it is so precious and sounds sooo sooo sweet
- LOVES talking to herself when she is "alone" (in her car seat when I'm driving, in her crib, in her swing, or when she is laying in the middle of our bed)
- still LOVES Kindermusik lessons with her mama
- loves when you hold her above your head and smile at her - it makes her belly laugh and giggle and giggle
- LOVES looking in the mirror at herself when you are holding her and will just smile and smile
- is still bashful when people smile at her and she'll smile and turn her head away - it is sooo cute!
- LOVES, LOVES, LOVES (I can't say it enough) this Kindermusik song called "This is my dance." I can just say the chorus that starts off saying "Boom pa pa Boom pa pa Tango cha cha..." and it can calm her down almost instantly in car rides, at home...seriously, she loves it. Now Dad on the other hand...let's just say it's probably his least favorite song ever. And what a lucky guy, he gets to hear it ALL the time.
- she kicks up her legs and swings them side to side when I lift her high in the air as we dance to "This is my dance"...so cute!
- has gotten really good at sitting in her Bumbo for longer periods of time (instead of slumping to suck and lick the sides), but within the last couple weeks has started getting a little crazy in the Bumbo. She basically tries to jump out. It's wild...
- also has gotten wild in her bouncer and tries to roll out of it (even though she's strapped in) within the last week too
- she is pretty good at recognizing her name when Mommy or Daddy call her and will look up at us
- LOVES playing with her bestie, Eden, who comes to our house to see Evie each week now.
- started wearing her Fuzzibuns this month (non-disposable diapers)
- now only has 1 poopy diaper a day and sometimes only has one every other day
- naps only about four maybe five times a day for 30-40 mins (usually on 30)
- has started wearing bibs a lot at home (like her cousin Kaden) because she's been a "happy spitter" lately and has been drooling a lot more.
- has lost almost all of her hair this month :(
- has a pretty good concept of turn taking in conversations with Mama and Daddy
- LOVES when we kiss her belly or blow raspberries on it
- LOVES when we kiss her feet
- LOVES cuddly and will nuzzle and rub her face on Mama when she's tired
- she LOVES her toys on her Little Einstein exersaucer and finally figured out that she can touch the bottom (for a while she'd just try to hang - silly girl). This is brand new and happened a day or two before she turned four months.
- graduated from her bear bassinet to the next level in her crib/pack n' play the first week of March
- she ROLLED over! I had been working on rolling over with her for a while. At tummy time in her crib and on our bed, I'd show her how her body could roll. In the middle of March, I was showing her and when I put her on her tummy she rolled right onto her back almost immediately. I was so excited, but I could never get her to do it again when Jeff was there. Because it was such an isolated event, I decided maybe it didn't count. But then conference weekend, I'd put her on her tummy in her crib and went to grab something. I heard her make a noise and I walked back in to see what happened, and she was on her back! I got so excited I flipped her over and after a few seconds she rolled right back over onto her back. The next day at tummy time, she did it again. Twice in a row! She was a rollin' machine :)

She really is such a special, sweet little baby.
And this month we learned that even more.

I was really sick for four days this month. It was bad...really bad. I got way too dehydrated (even though I was drinking 70 oz of water a day)...it was so crazy. I got so scared my milk was drying up and poor Evangeline would just start getting frustrated when she ate because the usual amount (if anything) just wasn't flowing. Thank goodness for IVs! We all hope we don't have to relive that experience. But because of that experience, we learned how sweet our Evie really is :) Jeff has been studying for the boards, so when it was his spring break and I got sick, he still had to study. Evangeline is used to being with me all day, so she'd get sick of Jeff holding her while he looked at flash cards. Jeff would bring her to me and Evangeline would just lay in bed with me for hours and talk to me and look at me, which she would NEVER be willing to do normally. She'd get way too bored. This sweet girl was so willing to just lay with me so we could be together. What a cutie!

Happy four months baby girl!
We love having you in our family and you make our lives better every day you are here.

Three months older and wiser too...

On March 3rd Evie Mae had her three month birthday!

As you can see, she was pretty shocked when I told her how old she was...

Her third month has been a month of hand playing for Evangeline.
She always sucked on her hands, but she really discovered what they can do this month as she started holding things.

It's been a month of laughs that got really, really cute the last week of February.
Daddy could make her belly laugh by just looking at her saying he he he or making funny faces.

During this third month Evangeline...

- still thinks "I love to see the temple" is her favorite song
- also still loves "I'm the sweetest baby in the country-o," "This is my Father's World," and "Mary's Lullaby" especially when she's upset or wants to go to sleep
- was nicknamed "Princess and the Pea" by her Aunt Carly once she realized how sensitive Evangeline is to everything (even a bulge in her sweater when in her car seat can cause a problem ha ha)
- was called a kitty cat by her Aunt Natalie since she likes to lick under my neck as she falls asleep and likes to lick her hands.
- LOVES doing a Kindermusik lesson with her mama each day (Rurru is her favorite lullaby in it and she would coo along with me and just grin and grin. Her whole body would go limp, even if she was fussy before, she'd relax completely, and even drop and hang her limp arms by her side. Oh and her eyes during it - they are priceless. So full of love. It's adorable.)
- also loves a good infant massage here and there especially while Mama is singing "Tell Me Why" (she smiles the whole time)
- loves a good exercise to the rhyme "1-2 tie my shoe"
- started talking a little less when we had all the visitors, but once everyone was gone she went back to her cooing, happy dialogues
- loves reading books with Mama like "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?" and "Moo, Baa, La La La" and even looks at the left page first and then the right page - so precious :)
- started at the beginning of the month with Mom putting her hands around her soft doggie rattle Grandma Rainy gave her, and then by the last week and a half, she could do it all on her own.
- could be calmed in the car by making motorboat sounds
- has the BEST looking eyes when she smiles and when she just is listening to what you're saying, but thinking about how much she loves you.
- had a change in her amount of diapers by the last week of February - thank goodness! Instead of 4-6 poopy diapers a day, it changed to 3 a day. This change also brought some new cries about new tummy pains she was obviously not used to feeling...
- changed her bedtime to 8 pm on her own and then decided to get up at 7 am or 6:40am depending on when the daylight starting coming into our bedroom to wake her up.
- still wakes up several times in the night, but never opens her eyes, and either eats or just gets held until she goes back to sleep, which doesn't take more than 5-10 minutes.
- loves hiking with Mom and Dad each day on the trials around our home
- LOVES snuggles, especially with Daddy on Sunday mornings :)
- occasionally gets hiccups still, but doesn't get as bothered by them
- loved talking (cooing/gurgling) at anything that had dots on it. Blankets, car seats, whatever...
- became a standing machine
- loves seeing everything and is still very alert
- rubs her eyes when she is tired and nursing
- still yawns when she's tired and her eyes turn red
- still had tummy time broken up in 2 minute increments after diaper changes until it added up to 10 minutes for the day. She doesn't love it after those 2 minutes...

And she still has the saddest bumper lip ever...

She's done it like that since the day she was born...it's so pitiful!

Happy three months of life baby girl!
You make our life better every day.

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...