February Phone Dump

Jeepers this took forever!  Not only did I take a lot of iPhone pics in February, my computer was having fits every time I tried to download them off my phone.  Took numerous tries over the last two weeks and countless computer restarts just to get things in place.  Hope March goes a little more smoothly.  Love having these little snapshots of our daily life, though, so it's still worth it.  Enjoy!

little dolly | tummy time | waiting for Brother to get home | sad face | binkie and bow | cheeks

fussy day, pretty girl | laughing at brother | doing the twist | showing her tummy

changing table | watching the Super Bowl | snoozing with Pops | snuggling with Gram | watching Ladybug

laying on her quilt at the park | shopping at Aldi | watching the boys play at the playground

first bottle | Granny Nell | at the park with Mommy

Willowbend with Great Grandma | watching Mommy cook | Uncle Randy's mini-me

playing puzzles with Daddy and Vic | birthday crown from Ms. H. | Goodnight Moon shirt | lotta sprinkles | Daddy and Sissy | birthday bowling with Daddy | Happy 4th Birthday Sam!

soccer and playground with Daddy

keepin' it real - bottom three pics are Sam's room

before

we cleaned, top is after, and a rare sight...

Granny Nell and Aunt Dell come to visit.  I didn't make them clean this time!

Let's just caption this little collection "future blackmail"

Sam said, "Look Mom, we're cheek-to-cheek!"

Evelyn's Valentine present | Daddy's present (chocolate!) | my Valentine presents

Sam signing Mickey Mouse Valentine cards for his class | Sam strumming his neck-roll like a guitar to a Jason Mraz song | notes from Mom and Dad in the mailbox, heart waffles in the toaster!

reading at the library | kindly spreading weeds throughout the neighborhood | scrubbing potatoes with Gram

our very own Buster Bluth | doing dishes for Gram | having fun at Hobby Lobby

stretchy Evie | Ev bored at the library | Mommy and Evie at the park on a chilly day

napping while Brother was at school | kisses from Brother

Mommy and Evie by the duck pond | Evie chillin' at Market Street | Sam kicking the ball

pretty sky at the park | wearing her new shirt and headband

smiley girl | snuggles with Daddy | trying to wake you up for the day

Sam ♥ Evie | visiting Gram | scrubbing potatoes

Evie at Three Months



Evelyn Mae,you are three months today!  I think we have settled into life as a family of four and it's hard to imagine what life was like before you came along!  We've been trying to guess what you will be like as you get older (we're thinking you'll be pretty laid-back), but we know for sure you are the sweetest baby girl there ever was.

Big Brother seems more and more in love with you each day.  We continually have to remind him to back up and give you space.  Over the last week or so he's started giving you kisses - something he seemed afraid to do up until this point.  Now we can't stop him!  Your forehead, cheeks, toes - he smooches them all!  The first photo is from when he came in your room and asked to give you a kiss mid-way through our photo shoot.  I didn't want him to distract you, but how could I say no? 

When he's not kissing you, he's dancing around trying to make you laugh, and you almost always do.  You gave us your first belly laugh this month.  Sam was doing The Robot dance and you thought that was pretty funny.  Then we started bouncing around which really made you laugh.  We can't wait to hear more of those hearty laughs.


I love this image of you because it shows how you smile with your shoulders.  You give us big grins, then scrunch up your shoulders.  You are still the smiliest baby I've ever known.  I get a big smile from you in the morning when I come to get you out of your crib, then you end the day by smiling at me while I swaddle you up after your last feeding.  Everyday is the same!  We love that you're so happy and content. 


People comment on your eyes now more than your cheeks.  They are always wide open, taking in all the details of the world around you.  You still look just like your daddy.  I don't see a bit of me in you which is funny because Brother and I look so much alike.  We also see a lot of Papa Emil in certain expressions you make.  You're a Straka for sure!



You've discovered you can chew on your hands and fingers.  You also like to play in your "jungle gym" and grab on to the ladybug and ring rattles.  You're getting a little better at tummy time, but we still have a long way to go when it comes to your neck strength while you're laying down.  You hold your head up really well when we're holding you, though.  It seems you're still happiest being held and bounced while we walk around the house with you.  Sam and I have taken you to the park several times in your baby carrier and you always fall asleep - you get really snug and warm in there!  


Measurements - 

weight - 14 lb, 5 oz 

length- not sure, but you're too long for your 0-3 months pants and sleepers!
head - ___ in -- your 3-6 month hat doesn't fit, silly girl!

Clothes - You are definitely in 3-6 month clothing now, with a little room to grow in most of your outfits, which is great.  I have to say it's been fun dressing you up everyday!  You wear a sleeper or a onesie and pants to bed at night.

Diapers - You're in a size 2, and hopefully we'll be there for a while.

Feedings - You're a very predictable eater now.  You eat five to six times a day, your first feeding is between 8 and 9, your last between 11 and 12.  You're still a fast eater and an easy burper.  You've got this eating thing down.  You had your first bottle this week.  I was worried you wouldn't like it or know how to take it, but you snarfed it down like a little piggy.  Gram and Pops fed you a bottle last weekend and you ate it right up!  Such a good eater you are!

Sleeping - You've been sleeping through the night (a good 8-10 hours) every night for the last four weeks.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!




official three month chair photo


Look at you GROW!

These Two

Gram and Pops are going to babysit Evelyn for us while we take Sam out for his birthday this weekend.  She'll likely need a bottle while we're gone, so we decided to test it out a couple of times this week since she's never had a bottle before.  She didn't have any problems when I first gave it to her, so I asked Sam if he'd like to feed her.  They had a great time snuggling, and there was no prompting for any of these photos, not even the kissy ones.  In fact, I had to ask him to give her some space while she ate.  These two!

Sleepyhead

Evelyn is a fantastic sleeper.  She's been sleeping 8-10 hours a night for the last month.  I still can't believe it!  Sometimes she wakes me up in the morning, sometimes I have to wake her.  On this particular morning I wanted to wake her up but she had different plans.  I started out by opening her doors, then opened her blinds.  No luck, but it was a gray, rainy morning, so opening the blinds didn't do too much.  Sam and I continued on with making our breakfasts, laughing at Evie, watching her sleep through all our commotion.  We finally decided to turn on all her lights, but she just kept on snoozing.  So I grabbed my camera and started snapping.  She looked so cute in her crib, even though this is not how I lay her down at night.  Every night I start her with her head up by heartbeat bear and she somehow scooches her way down the crib and turns at least 90 degrees, sometimes more.  As long as she's swaddled nice and snug she's happy.  And that makes Mama's happy, too!

The Beach at Fairview

We had another spring-like day forecasted in North Texas last week, so our Lens Baby group scheduled a last-minute playdate at one of our favorite places to meet up, The Beach (and fountains) at Fairview.  Even though it was cloudy and really windy, the unseasonably warm temperatures made for a great afternoon of running, running, running!  We started out on the beach side of the park and then migrated over to the fountains.  I didn't think they'd be turned on in January, so I didn't dress Sam in swim trunks.  He was a little unsure about running through the fountain, especially in his clothes, but once he saw a friend run through, he decided to give it a try.  As you can see, he ended up completely soaked.  When it was time to go home, I stripped him down to his undies, had him sit on his coat in his car seat, and I cranked up the heat!  He had a great time, and so did little Evie, at her very first playdate!  It won't be long before she's out running around the fountains with Brother!

I've blogged about these fountains before - click

here

to see Sam's first trip to the fountains and the "blue wall" in August of 2010, and

here

to see our first trip to the beach side in March of 2011.  How is it I don't remember him ever being that little...

Holding Evelyn

This sweet iPhone photo couldn't wait for the next January phone dump, it needed to be blogged right away! Sam asked me earlier this week if he could hold Evelyn.  This was the first time he'd ever asked and probably only the third time he'd ever held her.  He's always been good to her and enjoyed being around her and talking to her, but was very insistent (up until now) that he had no desire to hold her.  So when he asked on this particular morning, I jumped at the chance and grabbed my phone for some photos and video.  And no, despite what Sam says in the video, there are no plans to have yet another baby...

A Visit From Granny

Granny came over for a visit last week.  We had lunch and she played with the kids.  Before she left we decided to get a photo of her with Sam.  I took several shots, waiting for a normal smile from Sam.  Granny Nell looked exactly the same in all the shots.  She just smiled and froze, waiting patiently, looking great.  This was the best I got from Sam; a little goofy, but that pretty much sums him up on this particular day.  Thanks for a fun visit, Granny.

December 2012 Phone Dump

It's amazing to me how far cameras have come, especially when it comes to the cameras on our phones.  When Sam was born I didn't have an iPhone, which was probably good because I could spend all my free time learning my DSLR.  I upgraded to one when he was around two and as much as I loved it, it was a used 3GS and didn't take the best pictures, although part of that was user-error, I'm sure.  Upgrading again a few months ago, this time to the 4S, was pretty exciting and I'm enjoying taking pictures and learning "iPhonogaphy" as it's come to be known.  People poke fun at iPhone photography (have you seen the filthy yet hilarious Instagram parody on YouTube?), but it's also insanely popular and definitely not going anywhere.  While I am trying to learn how to take better pictures with it, I love how using my iPhone allows me to worry less about the technical stuff I have to pay attention to when shooting with my big camera and just have fun capturing the moment.  I can worry about just light and composition (or neither of those and just snap for fun, as is often the case) and not have to be fiddling with a bunch of settings to get the perfect shot.  I can add a funky filter and not obsess about too much grain.  It's a nice thing to have when "Mark" and I need a break.

As is the case with my big camera, too, I need to make a conscious effort to get those photos off the camera(phone) and onto the blog.  Before sitting down to make some collage templates on Photoshop this week (which I'm not very good at), I decided to do a quick search for some ready-made templates.  I was surprised and super excited to find

this set of eight templates

on Etsy for only $2.50.  What a steal!  I'd like to do a "phone dump", as they're called, at least once a month if not more often, but with a preschooler and an infant I can't make any promises!  I decided to start with some of our best from December and then post regularly from here on out. 

So, let's get these pictures off my phone, shall we?  Here is a gratuitous amount of iPhone photos of my children, which according to the Instagram parody, I take because I'm a thirty-something! :)

Enjoy our December collage!

Christmas shopping with Evie | making this year's gingerbread house | Chrismas morning | antlers from Ms. Heather | baby burrito | Christmas morning | cake from Joyce and Don | sleeping through our icy drive home

Evie's Christmas loot | just finished a parking lot-meal | another baby burrito | full tummy | making headbands

naptime profile | tummy time | editing on the bed with Mommy | Sam took our picture!

stretchy | making Spritz cookies | watching TV | carseat | snoozing with Daddy on the couch

A Rare Sight

Sam hasn't napped regularly in almost two years.  He's a good nighttime sleeper, he just dropped his nap pretty early on.  As soon as I found out I was pregnant with Evie, we reinstated naptime, but renamed it "rest time". I had the typical first trimester (and third trimester) fatigue and needed some time to lay down and take a nap, and it's still a part of our daily routine. The only rest time rule is Sam has to stay in his room.  Every day I remind him he can play, read, or sleep, and every day he informs me, "I will not sleep during rest time".  And he doesn't.

But yesterday was different.  He told me he was going to lay down on his bed and he did.  He pulled the covers over his head and fell asleep.  I got nervous with him being asleep under a heavy duvet, so I went in and pulled the covers back.  He was drenched in sweat.  He looked at me, then closed his eyes and went back to sleep.  It was awesome.

While he slept, I laid Evie on our bed and organized my drawers and closet (woo-hoo! exciting!).  The light was pretty enough at one point that I decided to stop cleaning for a little photo shoot with my baby girl.  Not long after we started I got up from the window seat to change lenses and caught this view of her in my dresser mirror.  I decided, for some reason, that this was the image of her I wanted.  I think I just liked how tiny she looked in our room and on our bed.  It was kind of fun trying to capture an image within a reflection.  So much for that whole "sleep when the kids sleep" idea - I was busy during naptime!

As for Sam's nap - he woke up two hours later refreshed and in a great mood, but I paid for all that peace and quiet later, as his head didn't hit the pillow again until 10:00 that night.  Arghh.