T'was the night before [and morning of] EB

T'was the night before EB and all was quiet at St. V's.

We were there for an early morning induction, and I was hooked up to IVs.

No one got any shut eye the entire night,

because of visions of labor, delivery and a baby girl that would come with dawn's light.

At 6 a.m. the doc came in and my water they broke.

Those contractions came fast and were indeed no joke.

However, with 12 little pushes,

we were out of the bushes....

Evelyn Virginia was born at 9:37 and healthy as a horse.

And at that moment, our new little family of 3 started on its course.

We had so much company, the nurses were a tad annoyed,

How could we care, we were simply overjoyed!

We are thankful for the gifts the Lord does bestow.

Now we must train her up in the way she should go.

Happy [almost] FIRST birthday, EB!!!! You are every bit of a sweet, precious treasure that we didn't deserve, but thank or sweet Lord that you are ours EVERY single day.

Talkin' turkey

So, did you know that 1. the largest [recorded] turkey ever grown was 86lbs. (REALLY? How many people can that feed?) 2. The average person consumes 4,500 calories on Thanksgiving Day. (I could eat that much in pecan pie ALONE!) 3. Americans feast on 535 million pounds of turkey on Thanksgiving? (thanks Google for the turkey facts)

Speaking of turkey….Here’s mine decked out in her turkey shirt for school. I’d eat 535 million pounds of her WHOLE!

It’s starting to look…

A lot like Christmas!! With a Christmas party at my house looming, it was in our best interest to start slowly pulling out the boxes. My curious crawler had NOTHING to do with getting things out early so she could get accustomed to the Christmas festival spread here, there and everywhere.
We’ll have some ‘splaining to do with this one…… It isn’t all about Santa, EB, but he does come down the chimney. It's a little early for that just yet...
These were a hand-me-down (I LOVE these types of hand-me-downs) that we’ve added to every year. I figured I’d display them this year…do you KNOW how long it took me to get this set up? I’ll refrain from disclosing that info. I really should go to “Domestication class 101.” I’m not even showing the big pic for fear I did it wrong and will get talked about- that’s how bad I am.
Maybe it's a tad too early for a Christmas post?!?! I have a feeling it will FLY by! I know some of YOU are laughing because this is so typical of me. Until next time...we'll keep perfecting our bruises walking! Geez!

Weeeeeee!

Something is brewing DEEP in my system that makes me hate Mondays more than I used to (now it’s Tuesday and they are MUCH better. ha). However, as EB and I sing EVERY morning on the way in, “this IS the day that the Lord has made…” over and over and over again. She laughs- maybe she understands the Lord’s sense of humor a little better than I do.

This gal LOVES her mamma and that is perfectly fine with me.

On another note, we are LOVING this weather we are having in the south these days. Some days I forget I have a 1 child + dog because she’ll sit with Gus by the door and just wait to be “let out.” So, when the weather is like this, we get to take FULL advantage of our outdoor activities.

Sheer exhilaration!!!

Yes, that would be her yummy tummy you see!

Puppy lovin'

Well, ol' Ida is here, JB has been conferencing on the west coast and the babe and I have been having lots of quality time exploring and re-exploring things like shutters, outlet plugs, door stops, door knobs (that she can now reach) remote controls, BlackBerries, stairs, Gus’s tail, bark, grass and all sorts of INTERESTING things.

Gus doesn’t get a lot of face time on here, but we do love him (a little too much because he’s ridiculously spoiled). He is a tad quirky due to his days pre-adoption, but he has slowly come into his own. He is so sweet and has always been great with the neighborhood kiddies- he’s served as a horse, snack eater, chaser, ball snatcher, running companion, wrestling partner and play pal . So, I wasn’t TOO terribly worried about how he would respond to a wee one in the house……. It’s all fun and games!

Let's discuss something... My dog is 75 lbs (he's on a diet). He is incredibly gentle and LOVES Evie. If she "comes up missing" (i.e. spending time with her grands) he goes nuts looking for her. SO, while it may appear that he is being rough with her, I was sitting 2 feet from her and can assure you they were INDEED playing. He isn't biting her, just nudging and rough housing. It's ok...they were closely monitored.

Got tubes?

WE DO! WE DO! What an easy, quick surgery. AND…. JB was pleasantly surprised that I held it together when they carted the babe off. I didn’t tell him that there was a lump the size of Texas in my throat… I was strong.

While it was a wee-hour of the morning wake up call with nothing to eat or drink, the babe did wonderfully on an empty belly. If you know my child, you understand why I was a little nervous about that.

Warning: These pics will be hideous. Sorry. I forgot my camera.

They gave her some medicine to help with anxiety and to ease her nerves (did she even know to be nervous????)…. UM...this was nothing short of her first drunken moment. We laughed until we cried. She was on Mars somewhere. Maybe they give that to the babies to help ease the parent’s nerves?!!?! It was HIGHLY entertaining.

I really wish you could see the tears.... we were laughing so hard.

All in all she did incredibly well. Our post surgery conversation with the doctor was great confirmation that we made the right decision. He couldn’t believe once he got in that she has been on so many antibiotics because they had not made a dent in her ears. I’ll spare you the details, but they were incredibly “nasty” (was the word he used) and they had to be drained prior to inserting the tubes. So, while I wasn’t looking, really, for confirmation, that was comforting to hear.

The patient in her gown...singing silly songs.

We got to go back and watch her in recovery… I expected to see a sweet, dazed baby. UM…Not at all! She was sitting up in her little bed keeping her sweet nurses HIGHLY entertained. See, they had given her a magic potion that the world calls “juice.” She doesn’t get this at home, so she was living the dream. She doesn’t need any sugar in her already wired little system.

JUICE in tow...chariot ride to mom and dad. Sorry...HORRIBLE picture. Look, that's my neighbor in the green scrubs in the background. HOW GREAT IS THAT?! He was a big comfort for us.

Thanks for all of the phone calls, e-mails and prayers. We appreciate them! While I know this isn’t a “major” surgery, I was nervous for her and I appreciate your cares and concerns.

Saturday

Whew. It was a busy day with a child that didn’t feel like a jolly ol’ elephant, to say the least. More on the day’s details later in another post.

As stated, EB was an elephant. I had EVERY intention of making her into “Big Allie.” Get it? Big Al/Big Allie (that's UA's mascot incase you don't have SEC football running through your veins, people!)?! Anyway, my plans fell short with the looming ear infection along with her feeling crummy. So, I just said to heck (probably not what I really said, but oh well) with it all. So, she was just your average ol’ run of the mill, cute as a button (in my humble opinion), wanted to eat her alive, gray elephant. I’m sorry, but those cheeks were edible in that head garb and I loved her all the more for it.

We’ll start with her class party. I was by far more excited than she was- I do bear the title of “parent rep” a.k.a “room mom,” after all. So, I went bee-bopping in all to find her totally lethargic and them getting ready to call me. BUMMER. So, we stuck it out for a few pics and she was done. It was sad and I was bummed she didn’t enjoy it and felt so puny. Here are the LOVELY pics from that glorious occasion. I’m FULLY aware she’s pitiful, ok?!

It was a jungle in there, I tell ya! How cute are these kiddos!

Bless her bones and those rotten ears!

Can you believe they are so well behaved sitting at their little table?! Those teachers are NOTHING short of AMAZING!

On the REAL Halloween we went to a birthday party (that’s the more to follow part) and then went to my parent’s… it was oddly similar to when the circus rolls into town and they do the parade and elephants march by. Well, that’s how I felt anyway.
My g'dad is doing well. I think he looks great.

Here we go. Here’s some of that good ol’ attitude she’s been working on. What we have here is a THROW YOURSELF BACK-HAD ENOUGH-GET THIS OFF temper tantrum for all of you people who have perfect, passive children. She may be perfect, but she SURE ain’t passive!
Look at those big ol’ ears…the little ears underneath are getting tubes tomorrow. I’m a wee bit nervous about the “being put to sleep” part, but we trust that the Lord will guide those sweet doctors and nurses and all will be well.

Tootle loo!!

The last one…

Well, here we are…. the last “month” birthday before EB can add a “1” to her age. EEEK! I should insert a picture of myself from this time last year…NAH!

Yes, I do realize Halloween was this past weekend, but we’ll get to that…. I have our glorious chair pics ready instead. Evie is tired of a camera always being in her face and she no longer thinks renditions of “Bringing home a Baby Bumblebee” or “Itsy Bitsy Spider” are worth even cracking a smile over like she used to. No, she isn’t 13, but sometimes I check her birth certificate to make sure. While I thought we’d be walking soon, I think I’m gonna call a “false alarm” on that. She loves to walk holding your hand, but she isn’t interested in sashaying by herself just yet, which is MORE than fine with me. In the past month, we have retired all bottles. In fact, I made myself pack them all up yesterday. I only got teary once…ok, maybe a lot.

She has seven chompers and uses them to chomp EVERYTHING. Up until now she used to wave “hi” and “bye” with one arm, sometimes two, failing wildly, but we have condensed that to the typical baby wave…sometimes backwards.

We are slowly becoming proficient on our sign language. We have really only been working on “more” and “all done.” Now I see why people are so proud when their child accomplishes something. If you don’t know, I used to interpret for our deaf ministry at church and went on to interpret for some of our hearing impaired patients when I worked for a doctor’s office. While I never get to sign, it’s been fun trying to teach EB a few things. Who am I kidding? I haven’t taught her a thing (but I will one day), it’s ALLLLL her wonderful teacher’s handy (no pun intended) work!
Last but not least…. in her tiny 11 months, she has developed a MAJOR attitude. It was KINDA funny for awhile, but it has gotten a little more serious lately. We are in full out discipline mode these days- another sure sign our baby is growing up. His mercies are new every morning, I tell ya! BUT…She sure is sweet when she wants to be. That little toothy smile melts our hearts…..and tries to get her out of trouble.
You're getting mighty big, Miss Priss. We love you and praise our God for you EVERY.SINGLE.MOMENT.OF.EVERY.SINGLE.DAY! You bring SO much joy to us ALL of the time.