Flying Lessons with Grandpa

Grandma and Grandpa flew in for a quick visit this week. They arrived Sunday evening and left this morning (Wednesday). Dad bought a small airplane back in June and is enjoying flying around visiting family. Mom & Dad were at a family reunion in St Louis so they flew on over since they were in the neighborhood. It only took them a little over an hour (1 hour 9 minutes to be exact) to fly across the whole state. Much better than driving. They flew into a small regional airport that is only about 15 minutes from our house. Very convenient. We went and picked them up Sunday evening when they landed. Evvy got to sit in the "pilot's seat." Grandpa hopes she is bitten with the flying bug! She remembers grandma and grandpa very well. She about jumped out of my arms into Grandpa's arms at the airport. It was very sweet. She enjoyed snuggling up with Grandma too. Grandma had the magic touch putting Evvy to sleep. She slept until 8:30 the first morning they were here and took 2 naps. When Grandpa was in charge the next morning she didn't nap. He didn't want her to be lonely and couldn't just leave her in the room (sigh).

We had a nice visit and were able to go swimming Monday night. Evvy showed Grandpa & Grandma how much she LOVES to swim. She would go under water and pop back up (with help of course) and just laugh and want to go again.

Here are a few pictures that we took at the airport with Grandma and Grandpa. They will be back in 2 weeks to babysit while Evvy's regular babysitter goes on vacation.

Susan

One Year ago....

One year ago today I first saw pictures of my beautiful daughter. It seems just like yesterday. I refer to that day I first saw her picture as the day that she was born into my heart. So much has happened in the past year. I first totally fell in love with the pictures I received of my daughter and hearing all about her from her wonderful foster family. Then I met her in November and truly fell in love with her and felt like I was really her mother. Then the agony of going through the court system just made me love and want her home with me all the more. Then the magical day that she was placed in my arms forever. The last year I have changed in so many ways. I don't focus so much on what I need but what does Evelyn need. I have always dreamed of being a mother and it still seems surreal sometimes that I am indeed Evvy's mother. But every night as we read get our pajamas on, read our night time stories and rock and have a bottle as she totally cuddles into my chest, it feels so right. She is my daughter and I will do all in my power to protect her for the rest of her life. She truly completes me and brings so much happiness and joy into my life.

These pictures are the first pictures I saw of Evelyn. The first one is taken when she was placed with her foster family on June 15, 2006. The second one was taken 1 year ago today at her doctor's appointment and the last one is a picture taken 2 days ago on July 4th.

Love you baby girl!

Happy Independence Day!

Happy 4th of July! Evvy enjoyed her first Independence Day as she grows more and more independent. We got up nice and early as early and met Peggy and her kids at Cracker Barrel for breakfast. It was really nice to just sit and chat and relax with our kids. The kids were really well behaved. Evvy LOVES Cracker Barrel but I think she just really enjoys food. She eats just about anything but she does have her moods just like adults I think. One day she will eat something and the next day refuses to eat it. It is almost like she is saying, "I had that yesterday, give me something new."

Anyway, after naptime (she slept almost 2 hours!) we got up and had lunch and went to the waterpark. I need to remember to bring the camera to the waterpark. She has such joy there. She was more tentative the first few times we went but now she just crawls all over the place in the water and splashes and has a great time. She enjoys just floating around the lazy river in a tube also.

After we had been at the pool for 2 hours, it got really cloudy and apparently there was lightning because they told everyone to get out of the pool. We went ahead and went home and I am so glad that we did. It started pouring rain within 30 minutes. Great napping weather but alas, she didn't really want to nap for long. We hung out at the house and had dinner (ribs & potato salad which she didn't mind having 2 days in a row :) Finally, the rain stopped and it cleared off in time for the fireworks. We went to the local display and sat right near where they were shooting them off. Since they didn't start until 9:30, Evvy was super tired and she fell asleep about 9:15. I layed her in the stroller and she snoozed the rest of the time. She didn't even flinch or jump with all the loud bangs. It was soooo noisy and she slept through it all. I got her home and didn't even change her into jammies. She slept all night and was tired when I got her up for the sitter in the morning.

Here are a few pictures of Miss Evelyn in her 4th of July outfit (from Grandma) & hairbow. First time I got a bow to stay in all day. I had to put in some gel to stiffen it up though.

Susan

I need a Kleenex please!

So this is about how much Kleenex we have gone through the past couple of days. Actually, it might have been a little more than this because we worked through all the crumpled ones pictured here and got down to the few remaining in the box.

I was working on the computer one morning and Evvy, who is much more mobile now, had pulled a box of Kleenex off of the table and was sitting very happily plucking them one at a time out of the box. Luckily she hadn't started shredding them yet because we definitely needed those Kleenexes this week. We have both had very runny noses. But today my girl really was cranky and kept grabbing at her ears. I debated for a bit but finally decided to take her to the doctor's office. I LOVE my doctor's office. They actually have an urgent care clinic open on the weekends. By the time that I decided that she might be sicker than just the runny nose, it was 4:30. The urgent care closes at 5:00. I threw her in the car and luckily remembered how to get there. We were in and out super quick. It takes about 15 minutes to get there and so we arrived at 4:45 and we were out by 5:00. The nurse practioner that saw her, looked in both ears (after cleaning the wax out) and declared that she has a double ear infection. Luckily it looks like we caught it early before it got oozy. Having never experienced the oozing ear infection, I am grateful to not have to at this point. She has a RX for amoxicillan which should clear up the infection.

What did I learn from this experience? Trust your instincts. My girl is so happy most of the time and she wasn't just sitting her screaming non-stop BUT she was waking up screaming from her nap (she usually wakes up happy), would scream when I put her down and just was overall cranky. I could have just chalked this up to the fact that she has a gunky nose and is teething (cut through 2 this week and I think she is working on at least 2 more and maybe some molars too). But at one point, she just grabbed both of her ears at the same time. She has always grabbed at her ears when she is tired or nervous but this was different. Even as I was driving to the doctor, I doubted myself. But then I thought, if she isn't sick that is even better but better to be safe than sorry. It is so hard when they can't talk and tell you what is wrong.

Hopefully she will feel better soon. Luckily, she is still pretty good natured still even being sick, just much more clingy and needy.

Susan

Exploring the great outdoors

Summer is hear and it has been quite warm. There have however been a few nice evenings where it wasn't unbearable. Evvy loves being outside even if it is just to sit on my lap or on the sidewalk. Now that she is more mobile, I think she enjoys it even more. Last evening, I put her big quilt from Grandma out on the grass to let her sit on it. She sat on it for a few seconds and then she was off to explore the grass, flowers, pots, dirt, etc. I got my camera and just took a bunch of pictures trying to figure out all of the features of the camera. It has a lot of fun color swapping/enhancement features that I really just need to read about in the manual. Anyway, here are a few that I like of my girl playing in the grass and mommy's flower garden.

Susan

Watch out Duchess!

I've been a bad blogger lately. Work and baby have kept me very busy and we are pretty tired at night.

But here are a few pictures of Evvy chasing the Duchess (our old cat). She has gotten pretty fast with crawling and enjoy her mobiltiy. She is really enjoying more independence since she can go where she wants now. We are working on boundaries (don't eat the cat food or get in the cat box). I've only had to dig cat food out of her mouth twice so far. She is just so darn fast!

One week down!

Well Evvy and I survived our first week of mommy working and baby going to the sitter. After the first day of being sad and crying she has been fine. She really enjoys the sitter's girls (8, 6, 4) and then her best friend Erica goes on Wednesday mornings.

She greets me each evening with the biggest smile and laugh that it warms my heart. She starts flapping her arms and legs for me to pick her up. Heartwarming but also heartbreaking that I can't be with her all day. The only issue so far is that she isn't napping very well. We think it is because their is so much going on in the house and next week J is going to try to put her to sleep upstairs away from the commotion of the other kids.

Work for me was VERY busy as I figured out all the outstanding issues with the new system integration so that I could test fixes and communicate semi-intelligently about the issues with IT and Business people. Luckily many of the issues seem to be resolved/fixed with only a few more major issues left.

At the end of each day, Evvy and Mommy are very tired. There were several days that she was asleep by 7:00. I have been to bed much earlier also. I have to get up about 45 minutes earlier to make sure I have everything ready for both of us for the day. Luckily Evvy has slept very well and through the night except for one night when she fell asleep after having only taken 1/2 her bottle. I think she was just hungry come 3:00am. She went back to sleep and I had to wake her up to go to the sitters.

Here are a few of the portraits that we had done last week. We go pickup the actual prints on Monday. I was pleased with some of the good shots that were captured.

Susan

First Day Back at Work....First Day at Sitter

Well, I was up bright and early this morning to make sure I was ready before Evvy got up and that everything was in the car and ready to go. I had plenty of time and we ended up being early. Evvy woke up right before I went into her room. I was glad that I didn't have to wake her up.

When we got to the sitter's house, she went happily to Miss J and snuggled right into her while I explained her scheduled, gave her my contact info and showed her the food I brought. She didn't cry or reach for me when I left. It made me a little sad but happy that she didn't feel distressed.

I had a VERY busy day at work. I think they are very glad that I am back. We had a HUGE implementation of new computer system last week and it didn't go too smoothly. Things seemed a little better today but there are still a lot of issues to be worked through. My backup person that handled things (and very well she did) while I was gone came up and bowed down to me and said, "Thank Goodness you are back." I got that a lot today. I guess it made me feel good but I missed my baby all day and thought about her all day. Since I was so busy, the day went pretty quickly.

When I went to pickup Evvy, Miss J said that she had a pretty tough day. She only drank 1 1/2 bottles and not a full bottle at one sitting like she normally does before a nap. She didn't eat much breakfast or lunch. She napped in the car a little while they ran a couple of errands in the morning and then cried and cried in the afternoon when it was time for nap. She didn't want to be held or put down. It broke my heart when she told me (I am crying just thinking about it now). My poor baby thought that I had abandoned her. She just went through separation 2 short months ago and she had to go through it again today. When I came, Miss J said that she had been sitting on the floor playing and just saying "mamamamama." When she brought her to the door when I knocked, my sweet baby's face lit up and she reached out and was so happy to see me. She just kept patting my on the chest and face. I could feel the relief she felt.

I don't know how she will do tomorrow when I drop her off since she knows what is coming. I hope she does OK. I hope that after a couple of days of her seeing that I come back every night, she feels secure and settles down into a routine.

We came home and I just let her sit with me on the floor. She was so happy to play with her toys. I will have to bring a few more to leave at Miss J's tomorrow. Then we ate dinner together tonight. She ate very well and drank about 6 oz of milk out of her sippy cup. Then we went for a walk. She babbled a lot and kept looking back to make sure I was still there. When we came home, we sat and read some books and then went to take a bath. She was soooo tired, she didn't even want to stay in the tub. She cried to get out. She didn't want to read our night time books (I read them but skipped the pages that she flipped past). She really just wanted her bottle and to go to sleep. The poor little thing was just exhausted. She drank her whole bottle and was fast asleep. She hadn't moved when I went in to check on her a little bit ago (blanket still on her).

She is really starting to understand one to one correlations with names and things. She got two balloons for her birthday. In the book we read before bedtime (Goodnight Moon/Buenos Noche Luna) it says "buenos noche globo rojo" (good night red balloon). When I read that the other night, she looked up at her balloon and clapped. She is really grasping words. I like to think that I am helping her language skills by speaking to her in Spanish which builds on the language skills that she has already built during this first year of her life in Guatemala.

Anyway, long day, I am so tired (emotionally and physically).

Thank you to all my friends and families who called and sent me well wishes and checked up on me tonight after our first day back to work/at the sitter.

We will get through this as we learn our new routine together.

Susan

Going back to work tomorrow

Today is my last full day before I go back to work tomorrow. I'm a little sad and reality hasn't hit yet. I am just enjoying sitting her watching my baby girl play and read. She has changed so much in the past 2 months.

Yesterday we went and had her carseat switched to front facing and one of the volunteers offered to hold her while I filled out the paperwork. The volunteer was one who helped install the carseat rear facing before Miss Evelyn came home so she remembered me and the adoption story. She was very sweet. When she went to the lady, Evelyn looked around to make sure I was still there and saw me but she started crying and reached out for me. Can I tell you I have never been so happy to see her cry! It is a definite sign of attachment. Not that I was really worried but it does sho that she will not just go to anyone.

Hopefully she will do well at the sitters tomorrow. I am a little worried but I am sure she will be fine. She has been to Jeanie's house and met the girls and been to the park with them twice. I think it will probably be harder for me. I wish I didn't have to go back to work but obviously it is a necessity if I want to be able to feed and provide for my sweet girl.

Send me lots of good vibes tomorrow! I know moms do this everyday but it is my first time and I haven't been a mom very long.

Susan

Happy Birthday Evvy!

Evelyn May officially turned 1 yesterday. We had a grand day together. We went and got a birthday baloon, went to the toy store where mommy bought her some new toys and the nice lady gave her another balloon. Then last night she had her best friend Erica come over with her mommy, daddy and two brothers Cameron and Parker to have pizza and cupcakes and open presents. She was really cute. Didn't know what to think of opening presents but sure did like what was inside. I didn't really get her too much as she is only 1 and really just got a lot of new stuff when she came home. I did get her a few developmental toys (plastic beads that go together, shape sorting blocks and a Little People mini van with a mommy and baby and then a sprinkler to play with outside. She also got some new books from her friends and a great xylaphone. She had a great time playing with Erica and the boys.

I must say she was very underwhelmed with the cupcakes I made for this party. We had already celebrated her birthday with our family at the reunion last week and I had made a tres leches layer cake. She went to town on that cake and really dug her hands and face in and actually ate (or should I say destroyed) the cake. When I put the cupcake on her tray, she tried to chuck it over the side several times. It landed upside down on the tray. She finally stuck her hands in the frosting and ate some of it. She did manage to get frosting all over her face and the tray. I think she really just wanted to play with the new toys and had had enough of eating.
Evvy had a week of a lot of firsts also. Since Saturday she has really started crawling which means she can go after mommy and the cats. She also went to the waterpark for the first (& 2nd) time. She really likes floating in a tube on the lazy river with mommy. On her birthday she woke up and sat up in her crib. It made her mad because her legs were stuck out of the slats and she couldn't get them out. Not a happy way to wake up. Then at naptime she got so mad that she pulled herself up and when I went in to check on her there she was standing up in her crib. She thinks it is pretty cool but doesn't know how to get back down yet. Needless to say, the crib mattress is now lowered all the way down so that she doesn't take a tumble out of the crib.















Here are some pictures from both of her parties. I have created an album of all the birthday pictures. Put the slide show on fast as there are a lot of them and I just can't choose so I put them all out there!

Susan