Evan is 6 months old!

happy half birthday little one! i can't believe how big you are. you are sitting up (almost completely on your own). you are laughing and smiling all the time, all the while sticking out your tongue. you make your daddy and me laugh and smile countless times a day. you love to eat your fruits and vegetables and you love your dog myer. you're learning how to wave and you are babbling up a storm (lucky for me saying mamamamama).

you're first 9 days of life seems like nothing but a bad dream now. no one would be able to guess that you had such a rough beginning.

now you are so healthy and strong. i will never tire of thanking God for choosing me to be your mother. what a blessing it is to be able to call you my child.

i love watching the wonderment in your eyes as you so seriously examine your surroundings. you study everything so carefully like you just can't wait to know everything there is to know about it. i'm so excited that i get to continue to watch you grow each and every day. i love you evan!

that's an awfully nice beard you have santa...

can i have it?

evan got to meet santa (aka...our preacher dale) last sunday at our churches christmas party. there were no tears, no screaming, just a lot of tugging. evan loves hair and santa's beard is no exception. you could quietly hear dale saying "evan, evan, let go." luckily, the beard stayed on and evan didn't ruin things for the rest of the kids standing in line. i'm sure next year there might be a fair amount of tears and screaming.

only 6 shopping days left! merry christmas!

Evan is 5 months old!

another wonderful month has passed, but much to quickly. evan is still growing like a weed, weighing in at 17lbs 3oz and measuring 27 1/4 inches long. adding rice cereal has really helped him to plump up a bit. he has also started to enjoy peas. i hope he takes to the other veggies as well as he has to the peas.

the good thing about living in central florida is beautiful weather this time of year. it's been in the the 60's lately with lots of sunshine. i just had to take evan outside for a bit of fresh air. i was a good mommy and bundled him up in his warmest outfit (thanks aunt dess) and we weren't out there for too long. he really seemed to enjoy it and it made for some cute pictures. myer enjoyed it too!

evan has been trying very hard to sit up lately. he can balance for a little bit before he takes a tumble. most of the time he props himself up with one hand. he seems to have decided that it is no fun to play while lying down because he'll start to fuss after lying down for just a few minutes. once i sit him up, he's grins and giggles again. i'm sure he'll have it down pat very soon.

we've had a lot of fun taking pictures this month. evan has really started to notice the camera and starts to smile once i take it out. this has given us some really great pictures. i hope he keeps it up.

i hope everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving today. we stuffed ourselves full of food, family, and friends. our family certainly had a lot to be thankful for this year. in many ways, i don't know if i've ever felt truly as thankful as i do this year. evan got off to a rocky start but has done so amazingly well since we came home from the NICU, it's like nothing was ever wrong at all. i'm so thankful to have a child, but to have a healthy child...there really aren't words to explain just how thankful i am. God has been so good to us! happy thanksgiving from our blessed family to yours!

Little jumping bean

where has this thing been the last 4 months! seriously! i have finally found something that works. unlike many babies, evan is not a big fan of the swing, vibrating bouncy seat, floor activity gym thing, etc. he would usually tolerate these contraptions for a few minutes and then beg (i.e. scream) to get out. his usual favorite past time is to "stand" on your lap. this is not only tiresome but inconvenient for long periods of time. lately, he started "jumping" while standing on your lap. we decided it was time to invest in a jumparoo. this was money well spent. he LOVES it! it's the only thing that keeps him content when mommy needs to get something done or it's time for dinner.

he even falls asleep it it! as he's dozing off, he'll still jump now and then. it's pretty cute to watch. if only i could get the video's from my camera to play on my computer, you could see how much he loves this thing. so for all you mom's with little jumping beans of your own, get a jumparoo, you won't regret it!

Evan and the Tractor

our church has an annual hoe-down and chili cook-off. during last years event, it first slipped out that i was pregnant. i was asked to participate in the tug-of-war. i hadn't even gone to the doctor yet so i wasn't about to take any chances. this year i managed to get out of it again because i was feeding evan. maybe i can share my strength next year. anyway, the best part about the night was when our minister was playing with evan and decided to take him on the tractor (don't worry, it was stationary).

evan also got to spend some time with a sweet friend named chester. chester made evan the cutest little wooden potty chair. he tried to feed evan but it seemed to be a mommy only kind of day. still, it made for a really cute picture!

Mmmm, cereal!

evan had his 4 month check up and all is well. he weighed in at a svelte 14lbs 11oz and a long 27 inches. he's been running in the 50th percentile for his weight and he is off the charts for his height. long and thin like his papaw. no complaints here. i pray he doesn't have my food issues! our doctor did say he needs to double his birth weight by 6 months. so to help that more then 4lb weight gain along, we started evan on rice cereal.

i was really expecting the typical, counter productive type of feeding where everything that goes in, comes right back out. but this was not the case. he loved it. he was just like a little bird, opening his mouth for another bite. of course a little got pushed out in the swallowing process but for the most part, he did really good. i've learned we have to feed him fast. if you wait too long, he hands go right into his messy mouth, furthering the mess. i realize i'll get to a point eventually where i'll give up on keeping him clean while he eats because there will be food every regardless of what i do. but for now, i'm trying to keep him as clean as possible. we're going to keep on with the cereal for a month, then start adding in veggies after that. although it's exciting to see evan growing, this does make me miss the simplicity of just breastfeeding. it was so easy! i didn't have to do anything but pull up my shirt! those were the days :)

Is there a doctor in the house?

now i realize that by typical blog standards, i'm way late with this one but considering i typically blog once a month, this is a big deal for me. it's more of a way to share cute pictures of precious evan.

halloween for an infant is really kind of silly. it's totally for us parents! it's not like you can take the baby trick-or-treating. they would know the candy is for you (now we did have a pregnant woman and a lady by herself with two bags saying they were for her kids so i guess nowadays, trick-or-treating is a free for all). so basically for the sake of cuteness, you dress up the baby to show everyone just how cute they are. we of course were no exception. todd's grandmother had given us a set of baby scrubs before he was born. the plan was to have a picture taken of him in the scrubs, being held by the doctor. but since things didn't exactly go as planned when he was born, the scrubs were shoved in a bag and forgotten about.

as halloween neared, i eyed all of the cute little bunting outfits and feared my child would melt in the 80 degree nights we have in october here in central florida. though a sweating baby chili pepper would have been cute. while going through some forgotten things in evan's closet, i found the baby scrubs. perfect! light weight, comfortable, and free! we even had the stethoscope and baby crocs to complete the look. who knows, this could help to pave the way to a future career. besides, i'd rather have a son who's a doctor then a chili pepper!

Evan is 4 months old!

four months old never seemed much to me before i had a child but now, i can't believe how old that is. evan seems so big to me now. his personality is really starting to show. he's smiling all the time and beginning to laugh and giggle a bit. when you stand him up, which is still his favorite thing to do, he pushes himself up with his legs. he might be one of those kids that skips crawling and goes straight to walking. he is "talking" up a storm. he is really having fun learning about the sounds he can make. he prefers to talk when his fingers are in his mouth. this seems to allow him to talk louder and drool more. i feel that teething is just around the corner.

evan got to meet his cousin austin, who is three weeks younger. we had a fun day playing at nana and papaw's house with cousins austin and savanna.

my parents, better know to evan as pops and mamere, came to visit this past weekend. they had not seen evan in 6 weeks. they couldn't believe how much he had grown and changed. i hate that they are not able to see him more often but so far, they've seen him once a month since he was born. i hope that can continue. we took them to downtown mount dora to walk around. it's full of cute little shops and restaurants and a boardwalk that goes around lake dora. i can't help but feel proud when someone smiles at evan or comments when we pass. i'm certainly the proud mama.

after downtown mount dora, we went to a pumpkin patch at a local church. this was definitely more for us then for evan but he tolerated us well. i'm sure, sooner then i'd like, he'll be running off to find the pumpkin of his choice. for now, we chose one for him. a little one this year, then they'll grow as he does.

in this last month i've started to work some, part-time. i was laid off at the end of last school year and have yet to find a full time teaching position. it's a really bad time to be a teacher in central florida. there is just very little available. i've been subbing at mount dora bible, where todd's parents work. i'd love to work there as well and feel certain they would hire me if something opened up. i do know that one of the teachers is pregnant and due in january so maybe i could take over for her for a while. todd and i decided that i could hold out for a teaching position until the end of the year but come january, if i haven't found anything, i'll have to go back to marketing/pr. i'd love to keep teaching so please be praying something will come up. we have had to dip in to our retirement funds to help ends meet (the extra, unexpected medical bills were to blame) but, God is in control and he is taking care of everything. for the last four months he has been answering my first prayer of being able to stay home with evan so for that i am truly thankful. we are really working on praising God in ALL things. we've learned that it is much harder to do when things are tough. if it weren't for evan, the last 7 months would have been so much harder. praise God for choosing us to raise this precious little gift. i've taken on a theme song that has also helped me to remember that we are not alone in all this. "you're not alone" by meredith andrews http://www.meredithandrews.com/ if you don't know is song you must listen. i always seem to hear it when i need it the most...hmmm...i wonder why that happens :) until next time, i praise God for friends that care enough to read and for strangers too. love to all!

Evan is 2 months old...wait...now he's 3 months old!

all i can say is, thanks fay! as in tropical storm fay. she dished out quite a lot of water, some of which managed to make it's way into our bedroom, right where the computer is so, computer unplugged, carpet pulled up, etc, etc. we are just now getting things back to normal so i'm way behind on updating you on my precious little one.

evan is growing and changing so much. i feel so blessed that i get to witness it all. he loves to stand up and pull himself up. we of course are helping with this but he loves to test out those growing muscles. if you try to sit him down when he'd rather be standing, he'll let you know. same with when you try to lay him down and he'd rather sit up. he tries his hardest to sit up on his own but, he just manages to lift his head and roll to one side.

he's been sleeping in his crib for the last month (once again, thanks to fay). he's done really well. he even began to sleep through the night for about 2 weeks but apparently, he didn't really like that idea so he decided to start waking up again. good thing i'm not working yet.

he has already been on 3 long road trips (twice to see my family in pc and once to montgomery for a wedding). i can't say that he loves to travel just yet. i feel certain that once he no longer requires a car seat he will love traveling but while strapped down where he can't move, not so much. poor little guy, he really did quite well but, the last hour or so he just screams. i can't say that i blame him. i didn't like being strapped down for my c-section. i'd imagine it is a similar feeling.

well, i realize this is a bit short, after such a long break from updates, but i figure a picture is worth a thousand words. besides he's much cuter to look at then to read about :) hope you are all doing well and i promise, i'll do my best not to be such a slacker in the future!

Evan is 1 month old!

we've made it through month one and all is well. we are adjusting to life with a newborn quite nicely. i'm amazed at how talented i've become when it comes to multi tasking. currently i'm typing this and nursing at the same time. i'm typing this one handed so it will take me twice as long but it's worth it to the 4 of you that read this i'm sure!

considering what we went through when evan was born, we should get a free pas on all things medical for the first year. but sadly, things don't work that way. currently, evan has a rash over half of his body because of something that i ate. it doesn't seem to bother him but talk about feeling guilty! not to mention that the only way to figure out what caused the rash is to write down everything i ate and see if it gets worse/happens again. we also learned today that evan has a blocked tear duct in his left eye. this causes his eye to get very gunky and crusty. basically it looks like pink eye without the pink contagious part. there's not much you can do about the tear duct ( i'm supposed to massage it and put drops in to prevent infection). if it hasn't cleared up once he's a YEAR old they'll flush it out. so possibly for the next 11 months, he gets to go around looking like he has a highly contagious eye infection. it's going to be fun trying to find a playgroup!

other then the rash and gunk, evan is thriving! he's gaining weight (10 lbs 3.5 ozs) and his breathing continues to no longer even be an issue. we really are truly blessed!

**thanks emily for the monthly picture idea. i'm completely stealing it from you!

Evan's first real bath

having tummy time

hospital feet

home feet

We're Home!!

After one week, almost to the hour, we left the NICU and were finally able to bring Evan home yesterday. Today has certainly been a great one. Despite the lack of sleep and the difficulty of trying to get Evan to stay awake long enough to eat, it has been so good to be home. We are settling in nicely to life with a newborn. We just can't stop looking at him. Thanks for the prayers and thoughtful words. I look forward to posting many happy events to come!

June 22, 2008

Evan Todd has made his grand arrival into this world. He chose to come 8 days early and facing sideways, resulting in 18 hours of labor and then a C-section. He weighed in at 9lbs 12 1/2 ounces and was 21 3/4 inches long (this added to the need for the C-section). He also chose to come with some extra fluid in his lungs resulting in a problem called transient tachypnea of the newborn (TTN). This basically means there was too much fluid in his lungs (wet lungs) and it caused a rapid respratory rate and a low oxygen saturation rate. The hospital where Evan was born only has a level 1 nursery so they did everything they could for the first two days but he had to be transfered to the NICU at Florida Children's Hospital in Orlando Tuesday night. It is now almost a week later and we're still here. He is doing great and there is a strong possibility he will go home tomorrow. He has gone from being under an oxyhood, to having a nasal canula (the thing in the nose), to now no additional oxygen...he's had an IV in both hands, then in his arm, then two in his head, then just one in his head, to now no IV's...he's had a tube down his throat into his belly for feedings and now is breast/bottle feeding. We are now just waiting for him to eat a bit better and he can go home. This is by far the condensed version of what has been going on. It would take me hours to go into the detail needed for everyone to understand what we've been going through. Never in a million years did I ever think I'd be going through something like this. I had a picture perfect pregnancy, I thought my delivery would be the same way. None the less, my preciouse son is here and he is just wonderful! I am already amazed at how strong he is and what a trooper he can be. He doesn't even cry when his foot gets pricked everyday to check his sugar levels. We are 45 mins to an hour away from home right now so that has only made this experience even more difficult. We are staying at the Ronald McDonald House which is a charity that I will fully support for the rest of my life! (Save your soda can pop tops and donate them to a Ronald McDonald House near you!!) Just please pray that he continues to improve and that we will be home in a day or so. In the mean time, take a look at our precious little boy!!