She Walks

Evangeline is walking and Greg and I could not be more proud of her. She walked a few steps on Tuesday and then walk about five feet on Wednesday. Now she is walking all over the place. This totally changes the parenting dynamic as she is--and I repeat--all over the place.

Eight Great Months of Evangeline

Yesterday Evangeline turned eight months old. This past month was really exciting with a trip to the zoo, a lot of walks, her baptism and first Vacation Bible School, adventures with mommy and daddy, playdates with Arlen, Penny, Claire and James.

My favorite Evangeline face. She now has enough hair to put a clip in.

 She is going through a little separation anxiety and teething which means she is fussy a lot. I just try remember that things will be a lot worse when she is 13--and tell myself to be patient.

She says dadaddada, and mamamama. She also will wave and says something that resembles like "hi" or "bye." She still loves books, and the library--chewing on them, turning their pages and listening to mommy and daddy read (even if it is only a few pages of a book).

Shot of Evan and Mommy. She's been a little clingy this month.

She loves music and even attacks Greg's guitars. She loves when Greg plays music for her on the piano or guitar. Greg and Evan also play the piano together sometimes.

She loves the church nursery especially the "big kid" toys like the Cozy coup car. However, her favorite toys are my flip flops and the dog water bowl.

And yes, she already learned to drive...

She loves people, and thrives in social places like church and the library. She smiles at strangers, dogs, kids, and gets upset when they will not give her their attention. She tries to talk with whomever she hears talk. We're in for some challenges. 

Wylie is still not a fan of her, but she's getting faster and is fascinated by him. She'll catch him someday soon. We were worried about that, but she stole his toy the other day--Wylie only grunted in annoyance and left.

It is hard to get her to stay still. She is toddling around (holding onto things) and constantly bobbing her head back and forth to rhythms or music.

Evangeline also learned to standup alone unsupported (for a minute) and recently (the scariest new accomplishment) climb stairs. She loves to dance to music.

She still does not like baby food. Her favorite foods are zucchini bread, animal crackers and pork chops.

Despite all the challenges, we cannot imagine life without her. She is growing and learning so much and we look forward to what each day will bring for her.

Lucky Seven

Yesterday Evangeline turned seven months old. She is making so much progress.

This past month we started solid foods. She does not like baby food, but prefers to nibble on what Greg and I are eating instead. She really likes to pick up her own food.  She has tried a variety of foods, but her favorites appear to be meat and potatoes. She also likes beets and bread.

She's 27.5 inches tall (which I can finally say now that she's standing), and weighs 17 lbs and 10 ounces. Evangeline can move across the room in seconds, and baby proofing/constant attention is a must when you put her down. She can pull herself up and walk along a wall while supporting herself with one hand. She also enjoys walking around the oval table in the living room.

 

Pulling herself up on the couches in the living room

She's still got brown hair (with a few blonde highlights) and blue eyes. We are excited the blue eyes might stay. She is starting to wave and even says da, da, da, ga, ya, and wa.

Standing with the help of the chairs and trying to wave

New car seat thanks to Nana Candy

This month also marked Evan's first trip to Texas (see earlier blogs). She loved seeing her family there and will miss seeing them dearly.

Trip to Texas and Lake Buchanan

Learning to walk from daddy

Evangeline is happy most of the time, but recently she started getting her two bottom front teeth. After a few extra hours of sleep she is right as rain. We love our little girl and we are so proud of her accomplishments so far. Now all we have to do is keep up with her.

Eating breakfast with Mommy and Daddy

A Week Over Due Makes You Strong

Committing to natural birth is hard when you are a week overdue.  But we have to stand strong because we love her enough to give her that opportunity.

I really want to wait as long as possible for any interventions into Miss P's birth. It was hard, but today I expressed this to my doctor, who said she was on board for waiting another week. This was an improvement from last week when she said she rarely waits more than a week past the due date to induce.

People have asked me if I am miserable. At first I was really mentally bogged down about her not coming early, or on time. But I'm at peace with waiting now.

I'm feeling great. I've been walking at least a mile a day--most days three or four miles. This weekend that walking added up to close to 20 miles with one long stent with my friend Brenda walking around my neighborhood for almost four hours. We walked to garage sales, the library, the school where Brenda works. Then we walked around a park in her neighborhood the next day.

That said its really hard when you were prepared so far in advance and you are still waiting. I want every pain I feel to be a contraction. I wish my little girl was here already. He closet is full of clothes. The weather is turning colder, I had to take out the few cold weather maternity clothing I have today as the temp is supposed to drop below freezing tonight. People keep asking why she is not here yet.

Honestly I do not know, it's like asking when Jesus is coming back again.

The good news is she is healthy and I am healthy. And there is the constant reminder: babies are not like cartons of milk they do not expire.

That said....
We'll officially go one week past our due date tomorrow. Right now we have one more week till scheduled induction date of October 25th. I can change my mind if I still need more time, but after that, the doctor said she would be really concerned for the baby's health (and my sanity).
No one ever talks about what happens to your morale when you are two weeks late (most babies don't last that long).

I know you are all as anxious as Greg and I are. You want to see what she looks like, know her name, see what she does.... However, Miss P is still taking her sweet time, and that is fine. I need to learn patience. I'm learning that babies come when God wants them to. This is only the beginning. Parenting takes patience and conviction. That said Greg and I still need your support.

Please pray for a safe delivery whenever she comes if that is tomorrow or Tuesday night.
We'll be having an ultra-sound on Friday to confirm that she's still doing ok living in my belly (if she has not arrived yet). I'm hoping we don't have to go and that she comes before then : )
Thanks for all your encouragement.