Mothers Day

What a wonderful Mothers Day. It started with accidentally sleeping in. I've had a noisy box fan running in our room so I could start sleeping through the night. I determined that Evan didn't need a 4am feeding anymore when he started wetting through his overnight diaper and pj's. I tested it out one night and when I got up at 7:30am not being able to hear Evan at all during the night and he was still asleep until 8 AND woke up in a good mood and not ravenous, I felt good about my decision. Well on Sunday morning Jack and I overslept until 9am! We woke up to the doorbell with my parents stopping in. Their power had gone out and they tried to call to see if they could kill time and finish getting ready at our house before church. I'm not sure how long Evan slept or just sang contently in his crib during the morning. There's a chance he did actually sleep that long since he stayed up late playing with Aunt Beth and his cousins the night before while Jack and I went on a date!

The wonderful day continued as we went to church and had Evan dedicated. They do a child dedication every year on Mothers Day and there's always one kid... ...one kid that would rather not be held up in the air by Pastor Bruce. Well Evan was that kid! Fortunately he didn't cry, but he made a few discontented peeps in his superman pose. I was thrilled to be standing next to my sister Beth while her daughter Tiffany was dedicated. And also thrilled to have my parents and my sister Jeannine and her gang all there for it. My mom even sang a song she wrote with the worship team for the occasion.

We came home and had the whole family over to celebrate Mothers Day. Matt & Ryan's girlfriends even joined us for the occasion. I was kinda banking on it being a nice weather day and enjoying the deck that Jack and I powerwashed, and continuing on to the park. But alas, it was only 46 degrees so it was an indoor party. We "snuggled" around the dining room table for our indoor bbq. Mom brought an old VHS from 1987 of their 25th wedding anniversary party. It was a scream to watch. We all gathered around and mocked the hair and fashion of the day. Of course no one mocked my cute 4-year old self.

I was so ready for a nap when everyone left.... yes even though I had slept in until 9! We attempted a family nap in our king sized bed, but Evan wasn't digging that idea. I didn't really feel like falling asleep at 5pm either, but it was nice to relax and snuggle all together.

Jack cleaned up everything from the party and then we skyped with Jack's family to wish his mother a happy day! Evan fell asleep in my arms mid-skype at 6:50pm! Poor kid. I roused him at the end of the convo to change him into pj's and the kid got a second wind and ended up staying up until 9! Oh well, he was very cute and then quite snuggly so I didn't mind at all. Jack ordered Papa John's pizza for dinner at my request (I'll take it any chance I can get since they just returned to the area after about 8 years... plus our stove is busted so we can't cook much!). Evan played in his jumper seat while we ate and watched "The Invention of Lying".

It was a wonderful day, lots of family time, and lots of snuggling with my boys. :)

6 month appointment

Evan had his 6 month appointment this afternoon. He weighed in at 19 lbs, 3 oz (75th percentile), and is up to 28 inches (90th percentile). He was such a brave boy for his shots. Lots of tears with the needle, but stopped immediately when I picked him up.

We've been doing rice cereal for about a month now and he has become a champ at eating! We started applesauce last week and bananas a few days ago. I'm so excited to introduce Evan to so many different foods! I wish he were hungrier! I might be a bit over-ambitious but I want to try to make baby food. I ordered the book "Feed Me I'm Yours" by Vicki Lansky which was recommended by the pediatrician. I already have an immersion blender which I've used to make soups and mashed potatoes. Seems easy enough... we'll see!

We had a great visit over the weekend with my in-laws. Regan's fiance Strom is back from Afghanistan for some R&R so it was great to see him for the first time since July! We're looking forward to their wedding this August!



It was a gorgeous weekend so we spent a lot of time outside. Evan went for a ride in Joseph's old wagon and played in the grass for the first time!

6 months!

Evan is 6 months old today! It has flown by, but it also feels like forever ago that we were in the hospital waiting and waiting while he took his precious time. Probably because he's grown and developed in leaps and bounds in such a short amount of time. He's gone from totally helpless to this little person with a will of his own who likes to sit up, play with toys, clap, giggle, gives out lots of smiles, and eat (semi)solid foods!

So what have I learned about Baby sleep, or Evan sleep in particular in the last 6 months? NOTHING. Every time I think I've got a piece of it figured out he changes things up on me. 98% of his naps are still 45 minutes tops. Some days he takes 2 naps, and others he'll take 4. Bedtime is anywhere between 7 and 8 now. Wakeup time is anywhere between 6 and 8. Sometime he'll last 1 hour between naps, and other times almost 4 hours or more. Nighttime sleep is slightly more predictable, although the last week he's woken up crying a few times before his late night snack. That kid sure keeps me on my toes. I've learned to work around it for the most part.

No teeth yet, and it seems like no teething pain for the time being. Hasn't stopped the drool from pouring forth and hasn't stopped everything he can get his hands on (including his hands) from going into the mouth!

It's exhausting work keeping up with him sometimes, but completely worthwhile. I have loved learning every little thing about him, and then relearning when he decides to change things up.



After his bath last night I brushed his hair backwards and looks like the mohawk is back!

Happy (Belated) Easter!

I just realized I never blogged about Easter last weekend! It all started an hour too early. I heard Evan start singing, which is usually my alarm clock now. I was shocked to read the clock saying 8:45! He never sleeps that late! We got our morning started, all 3 of us getting showered/bathed/breakfast. We were scrambling to get out the door by 10 to leave us plenty of time to get seats on the most crowded Sunday of the year! I was about to grab Evan to put him in his carrier, looked up to see the clock on the wall saying 9:00am. What?! Surely I hadn't gotten up just 15 minutes ago... Oh right! Our bedroom clock is hard coded to the old daylight savings dates and automatically does the reset. Must be that day! Well we had a leisurely hour before church! Aaaand Evan hadn't slept in after all.

It was another gorgeous day. We had a great service at church. The worship team leader wrote a drama for the service which took the place of the sermon and it really blew everyone away. It was a series of monologues by different people who knew Jesus, like Mary Magdalene, Judas, Peter... including an amazing solo of Amazing Grace acapella. Gave me goosebumps!


Family Easter Photo


We went home and enjoyed a restful afternoon, opening our package from Gram! Ok, ok we actually opened it the day before! We got some candy, an Ireland DVD, & The Blind Side. Evan got his own little baseball basket with a ducky, bunny and 2 cute summer outfits.



We were so grateful and honored to be invited to the Groh's house for Easter dinner... the day before nonetheless! They are such incredible people, opening up their home on a special holiday to family, friends and anyone else! We had fun mingling with everyone, and Evan had fun with the LeVake boys again! Dinner was delicious, and it was great to continue the fellowship.

We wrapped up around 7... when all the kids started to crash, and headed to Sam & Christie's for a movie while Evan crashed in their pack & play.

What a day! So wonderful!

Fun at the Park

The weather was absolutely gorgeous last weekend. We jumped at the opportunity to join the LeVakes & their neighbors, Lederers, Grohs, & Lovelaces for a picnic at Shenentaha Park. We tried out Evan in the baby swing there. He liked it for about 10 seconds and then burst out crying. Fortunately we got some good shots before the waterworks began! He also had fun playing with buddy Charlie!

Milestone!

Before I forget, I just wanted to record that Evan rolled over back to belly for the first time today!

Here he is in action. He's wimpering a little because he was frustrated with all the takes it took me to get this video! I finally had to bribe him with the remote control!

Rolly Polly - Part 2 from Jennifer McDade on Vimeo.

Look what I can do!

Check out what Evan learned recently

Look what I can do! from Jennifer McDade on Vimeo.

And now add rice cereal:

Look what I can do + Rice cereal = Uh oh from Jennifer McDade on Vimeo.