Adventures in Baby Food

It's hard to believe that it is already time to start giving food to Evelyn. She has been doing so well eating rice cereal, so I went to Bed Bath and Beyond and bought the bullet...the Baby Bullet! I really wanted to make my own baby food for Evelyn for many reasons - less packaging waste, no preservatives and fillers, I can make it from organic items, it's always fresh, and for the cost savings! At first, I was a little overwhelmed, but it turns out to be such a quick and easy thing to do.

The first food I made for her were bananas. And she loves them. So now I've moved on to apples. She loves those too! Up next, sweet potatoes and then squash. 

She's still learning that she must open her mouth and not stick out her tongue, and she's getting better and better every day. She even begs for more bites when I'm not fast enough!

In other things, she is getting more and more mobile. She rolls all over the place and is able to scoot herself to where she wants to go. She even sneaks up on our golden retriever and grabs her ears and hair. 

And she has started to do this...

No, not crawling, but she's getting ready! She gets up on her hands and knees and rocks back and forth. Soon I think she'll figure it out and then I will really be busy!

Those two little bottom teeth finally broke through the other day. I can feel just the tops. She's done really well with teething - a few fussy moments, but it's never been bad enough to medicate. She just drools...and drools...and drools. And chews on everything. :) 

I'll leave you with a great verse from Romans, which was given to me yesterday and today, by two separate sources. I love it when God speaks, confirms, and moves like that!

What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He did not even spare His own Son, but offered Him up for us all; how will He not also with Him graciously give us everything? 

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day.

I received that greeting several times over the weekend. 

Those three words hold such precious meaning for me. 

Because for previous years, that day was a painful one for me. I knew I was called to be a mommy, but it just wasn't happening. 

But this year, this year, I woke up to the sweetest miracle handing me a beautiful card, with a drooly, gummy smile. 

So this Mother's Day, I thank God for allowing me to be a mommy. I thank Him for the little girl that makes me want to be a better person. I thank God for the high calling and purpose that He has given me as a mommy. I rejoice. And I pray for those of you who experience pain on Mother's Day, for whatever reason - infertility, loss, broken relationships... You are not forgotten, you are near and dear to my heart. 

He is faithful, He is good.
He still works miracles, many times in ways we would have never thought or guessed...

Happy Mother's Day to me, a happy day indeed.

Happy Six Months!

My dear Evelyn is six months old. 

I know it is SO cliche, but...

Where did the time go?

How did we go from this...

to this???

Evelyn has been doing very well! She went in for her six month check up, and now is 27 inches long and weighs 15 pounds - she finally doubled her birth weight.

She's been drooling like crazy, and has all the signs of teething. No teeth yet, but they are slowly coming. Getting teeth is such a huge milestone. I should be excited, but it seems bittersweet. I am going to miss those gummy smiles. 

After those several weeks of short, infrequent naps, we've finally seen improvement. She naps after her morning and afternoon feedings, for about an hour at a time - HUGE improvement!!! As soon as she's asleep, I scramble to get as much done around the house as I can in an hour, because I know that is all I will get! 

She's got lots of new tricks. She loves grabbing her feet, and even chews on her toes. She even tries to sit up by clenching those stomach muscles and lifting her head and feet off the floor - she's such a strong child. While she's nursing, she does this thing with her hand where she anchors her thumb on my chest and then sways her hand back and forth. I'm not sure why she does it, but it's one of those cute little things! 

She's been developing that beautiful voice of hers with lots of new sounds, and she's discovered that she can make sound while gasping air in and breathing out. It scared me the first time she did it! She's quite the chatterbox, and loves to "talk" when she wakes up in her crib. 

She's so strong. Her doctor even said so, and thought that she will be an early crawler and walker. 

Uh oh. 

It's been so fun to see her little personality come out, too! She's definitely got a lot of sass and spunk, and still doesn't want to miss anything, just like her daddy. She wants to be on the go all the time. I think she has a great balance of sassiness and sweetness. 

One of my favorite times of the day is when we snuggle. Michael has never been a snuggler, and I definitely am, so I wanted to make sure that Evelyn is a snuggler. I soak up the quiet moments together where we just sit...

We brought her to the zoo for the first time, and she actually seemed to enjoy it. It was interesting to see how animals are more curious about babies than they are adults. All of the petting zoo animals just wanted to sniff her and be by her. We had a lot of fun there!

We went to build-a-bear to make her first bear! She "picked" out this one, which we've affectionately named "Pink Bear"

And here's big news...she is now eating rice cereal once a day! Today was the third day doing it, and I'm not really sure how she feels about it....

Happy Weekend, everyone!!!

Be blessed.