Thankful for summer

We are so glad school is out for the summer. Well at least it sort of is. Greg and I wrapped up our classes and I'm ready to spend time on research and my independent study for the summer. I'm also excited to have a lot of time with Evangeline. She's so sweet, but so busy now-a-days. We've spent the sunny days at several parks around Columbia. She loves being outside and spending time in the back yard. We also have been playing Legos and puzzles in the basement on rainy days.

We have replaced Sammy the frog after Evangeline hid her in the house somewhere and we were not able to relocate her.

Evangeline on the butterfly rocker.

My little coffee Barista (left), going down the slide.

Swimming and snacks in the back yard with Claire.

Cookies from the Farmer's Market. To be fair she also likes broccoli and asparagus.

When it rains we have been playing Legos in the basement.

On the playground at church.

Hanging with my cute girl at the park on the inch worm.

Sweet goofy girl.

Eating more cookies.

Cuddle time with books and her new Sammy the frog.

More time with Claire at the park.

On the "big girl" swings. Hold on tight girls.

First Ice Cream cone of the summer. Split with mommy of course.

Lake Buchannan Trip

I've been going to Lake Buchanan for almost my entire life. It was great to introduce the family vacation spot at Chism Lodges to Evangeline. Although the lake was down and we did not catch any fish, except for on the trot line, it was great to spend time with the family.

Meeting My ZTA Fair Godmother/Aunt Katie

Tasting corks at the Fall Creek Winery

Wiggins Grandparents (Will and Carri) at the Mother's Day Luncheon

Sarah and Jon

In the hammock with Aunt Catelyn and Mr. Daniel

Lake sunsets are the best

Sarah, Jon and Grandpa Will check the trot line

Walking with Grandma Carri

Grandma Carri and Grandpa Will let me ride in their wagon

In the Hammock with Daddy

Trying out the walker, Savannah lent me

In the hammock with Grandma Carri

Evan's First Trip to Texas

We just got back from Evangeline's first trip to Texas.

With my Infant Boarding Pass in Houston during the layover to Texas

I was Evangeline's second plane trip (her first was to Boulder in January). She handled the flight well and even enjoyed playing in the airport.

Playing in the airport terminal in San Antonio.

Drinking my bottle on the plane.

We were in Texas for a week and visited family and friends. We saw her Wiggins Grandparents, Aunts, Zeta Fair Godmother (Katie) and the Wacker Family. She even made it to Lake Buchanan (I'll post another post with these photos), Bear Moon Bakery and Wednesday night dinner at FBC Boerne.

At Bear Moon Bakery in Boerne

 The Wacker Family was so glad to meet Evan. The girls and Paula were especially excited to see Evangeline and spend some time with her. We also got to see Thomas and Jonathan who I used to babysit for. Thomas is now a senior in High School (omg!). It is so encouraging to see these kids grow up.

Evangeline and Grace Wacker

Evangeline and Ruth Wacker

Paula and Evangeline

After visiting the Wackers we headed to FBC Boerne for Wednesday night dinner and to meet the Women in my mom's women's Choir. Evan loved the attention, and we loved seeing people's faces light up when they met her. I introduced her to my middle school English teacher and choir teacher. Both made comments on how it was just yesterday I was in in their classes. I know it will be like that when Evan is in middle school, but I'm definitely not ready for that. My baby girl has grown up so much in the past three weeks it's getting hard to handle. We also took her to see my dad at his Awana Celebration day.

With Grandpa Will at FBC Boerne

It was a great vacation for all of us. We needed a break after all the work of the semester.

Three Weeks and Thriving

Evangeline had a great third week. It was marked by sleeping six hours most nights and rolling over (see the video below).

She loves story time with daddy which consists of the books Goodnight Moon and Daddy Kisses most nights. She still hates bathtime and getting her diaper changed (what baby does not).

This week Auntie Edge visited and made Evan two super cute hats. She also brought Evan her own Moosler stuffed animal. She and her boyfriend Chad also made Evan a toy box for her toys when she gets older.

At her two week pediatric appointment Friday Evan weighed 8 lbs and 7 oz. She is now almost 22 inches long (one more inch since the hospital). She is tracking things great and loves contrasting colors. Especially stripes and "happy round objects" like the eyes on her owl toy and the round yellow snail on her vibro chair.

We took our first trips out in public this week. We went to Orange Leaf twice, Sophia's for Auntie Edge's birthday, Babbo's Spaghetti House, downtown Columbia's shops (pictured above), church and Target. Next week family come to town on Wednesday for Thanksgiving! We are so blessed to have my parents, sisters, our friend Mike from Washington, DC and Greg's aunt, uncle and cousin joining us. We'll be sure to share photos.

Sorry this is so short but Mama has a lot going on this week. Good news is I will be teaching at Mizzou in the spring. I'm also working on Ph D applications and taking the GRE the week of Thanksgiving.

One more thing: some people wanted to know why we have password protected our blog. We just feel that Evangeline deserves a little privacy and as university professors we need to secure this site to provide her with that. That said, we would love to share this with friends and family so if you know someone who wants to read the blog just shoot us an email at theperreaultfamily@gmail.com and we'll grant them permission to read our posts.

A Terriffic Two Weeks

Evangeline is enjoying life. She is sleeping five to six hours a night. We have a bath time routine which includes bath time and story time with daddy.


She is eating well and has gained almost a pound since her first pediatric appointment. The cute purple hat she got at the hospital barely fits. We have our two week appointment on Friday.

She is still wearing newborn clothes and has pretty good head control. She still enjoys sucking on everything. She loves her bouncy chair and tummy time with her play gym and biddy belly. Tomorrow week Aunt Edge is heading to town (she celebrated her 23rd birthday yesterday). She's driving all the way from Birmingham, AL.

Why Evangeline?

Evangeline of the Acadie

Mimi and I have been asked by quite a few people why we chose the name Evangeline. Is it a family name? Are you just big LOST fans? Do you just like long obnoxious names?

Ish. Mimi and I had been talking about names for years. YEARS. The positive thing is that Mimi and I are pretty agreeable people, so finding names we could agree on wasn't overly hard. Evangeline had been in our head originally after watching season 1 of LOST, in which we liked the character played by Evangeline Lily (then, of course, we watched seasons 2 through 6....). So we began researching the name a bit. We liked what we found. Then overtime we grew bored with it. Then we liked it again. Then we got bored with it again.

When my grandfather passed summer before last, I learned a great deal about my heritage. I'd always thought it was weird that the French spoken by my grandfather in New Brunswick was so different from the French in other parts of Canada. What I discovered was that I was a direct line Acadian--Acadians being the French who intermarried with the Native Americans in eastern edge of Canada (Side note: the discovery made me realize that I'm an ethnic minority--but not the kind that receives government assistance for anything). If you look at any Seven Years' War maps of the Americas, you'll find a country called "Acadia" distinct from Canada and the U.S. Acadia occupies what is now modern day Maine, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. In 1710, the British invaded and wiped out/relocated the Acadians. Some submitted to British rule while others were relocated to Louisiana (and became known as the Cajuns).

The story of the ethnic cleansing and relocation of the Acadians was immortalized by Henry Longfellow in an epic poem called "Evangeline." I believe it's based originally on a folk legend from the Acadian people. Mimi and I fell in love with the story--although the story is a bit tragic.

After being fairly decided on the name, we also discovered that Evangeline means "Good News"--which is fitting because Mimi and I are both journalists. We had also watched the movie Nanny McPhee and loved the character Evangeline in the story.

So that's why in short. People have been asking for a nickname. Mimi calls her Evan sometimes. I call her "Evan-Monster," "Evang-linguini" and the "Evan-burrito" when properly swaddled. Mostly I just call her Evangeline.

In the beginning...

Here's a few photos from the hospital and Evan's Birth : )

Super hero daddy and Evan at an two hours old.

Getting footprints done. Granddad holding Evan's hand.

Post womb bath.

All clean and ready to go.

Evan and Mommy in the recovery room.

All wrapped up like a package from heaven.

Week one of Evangeline (or as I am calling her Evan)'s life was pretty normal for a baby. It consisted of a lot of eating, sleeping, crying and changing clothing and diapers. Greg is still planning on posting something about why we chose her name, but he is really busy catching up on school and work from the week he took off.

Mom, Dad and Evan in front of the Women and Children's Hospital on Thursday

Coming home from the hospital was hard, but with my parents in town it was a lot easier than it could have been.

Home in my bouncy chair.

We came home Thursday. It was hard not having all the nurses and hospital staff to remind me of feedings and checking the color of Evan's diapers. It was also hard to keep track of my own pain medication. Several things about the hospital reminded me of a spa. I got a sinus massage one night and the hospital even hosted a congratulatory meal for us our last night there.
Evan went to her first pediatric appointment on Friday. She had gained 6 ounces since leaving the hospital. The doctor also said she was developing very quickly. He commented on how good her head control was. Evan even made a dirty diaper for the doctor.

All dressed and ready to go home.

During the week she spent a lot of time with her Grandad (my dad) and Grandma (my mom). Spoke to all three of her aunts, Nana, Grand-nana, great aunts, second cousins, friends, Greg's former students from the Washington Journalism Center and many others on Skype.

My dad and Greg managed to get the radiator for the Mustang dropped off and fixed, but mainly we just played with Evan and got settled back at home.

We had great friends provide meals for us beginning on Thursday and continuing for the next week and a half. Flower and gifts arriving daily. Neighbors stopping by to say hi and ask if there was anything we needed.

Granddad and Grandma and Evan

Birth Class Buddies, James and Evan

My dad went home Sunday. And our friends Brenda and Kyle and their baby James, who was born the Friday before Evan, came over. Brenda and I met in birth class and were walking buddies during our third trimesters. It was so special to finally lay our babies side by side.


Greg went back to school and work on Monday.
Mom and I went to the grocery store on Tuesday (my first trip out of the house since the pediatrician), she had been to the grocery store earlier in the week and spoke with a large number of the staff there so several of them congratulated me on Evan's birth.

Evan and her Grandma

Mom hung out a few extra days and went home Tuesday. It was so helpful to have her around. I'm grateful that she cleaned house and helped me keep sane in the first few days home from the hospital.