Let’s be honest here…

I’m still here, just haven’t been blogging much lately.  Monday morning we celebrated the birth of my beautiful niece, Andrea Macie, and since then everything has been crazy.  The baby has had to be in the NICU due to fluid in her lungs, and my sister-in-law also had to be transferred to the ICU today because of issues with her heartrate and blood pressure.  Unfortunately, mom and baby have been separated almost since birth, so it’s been a hard thing for my sister-in-law and everyone else.

We’ve been spending a lot of time at the hospital, and let’s just say once and for all that a hospital is NOT the most fun place for a toddler with a lot of energy!  Thankfully, Evelyne has her cousin to play with (the cousin whose picture she carries with her all day long, kissing and rocking it), but still, two toddlers with nothing to do and nowhere to do it isn’t the easiest thing.  Ev has made a lot of friends since she says “hey!!!” to every SINGLE person we pass when we walk down the hall of the hospital!  She’s been so funny and outgoing lately, it’s hilarious.  

Tonight we took her out to dinner with a bunch of my extended family and she spent most of the time running around the table, dancing for the restaurant employees, and squealing at a high decibel out of sheer excitement to be alive.  It was cute.  

On another funny note, I keep forgetting I’m pregnant.  I mean, I’m aware of it in that I limit my caffeine intake and my stomach feels weird and hungry a lot of the time.  But other than that, it’s been a GREAT first trimester, I haven’t been sick, and I keep forgetting I’m even pregnant.  Unfortunately, this means that there are lots of close friends and family that we forget to even tell that we’re pregnant because we keep forgetting ourselves!  I can’t tell you how many conversations we’ve had lately where I say, “You do know I’m pregnant, right?”  They say, “NO!  What?!  You’re pregnant?!”  And I’m all, “Oh, yeah, I guess we forgot to tell everyone!  Sorry! Don’t take it personally!”  The other day someone congratulated me, and I stood there looking at her for the longest time before she said, “You are pregnant, right?”  Then I was like, “Oh YEAH!  I didn’t know why you were congratulating me!”   

I did get an ultrasound last weekend, and it was SO great to see my little kumquat squirming around. (Supposedly, at 10 weeks, the baby is the size of a kumquat, whatever that is.)  The first ultrasound I had was just a month ago and it was just a blob with a heartbeat.  Now it has arms and legs and fingers and other than a slightly alien-like head, it looks like a baby—in just four weeks!   

Anyway, so that’s me right now.  Pray for my sister-in-law and my niece…  They’ll both be fine, it’s nothing desperately serious, it’s just a difficult situation that wasn’t expected and she’s dying to hold her little girl.  

Playing at the sprinkler park

Evelyne is officially watching Elmo on Sesame Street for the first time right now.  She’s laughing and pointing to the screen and saying  ”Ah-bo” like she can’t believe that it’s really him!  Amazingly, this is the most she’s ever interacted with the tv, it’s hilarious!

Until we move out of our THIRD-freaking-FLOOR apartment!  Sigh.  

We’ve lived here for four years.  It’s been a great four years, we’ve loved almost everything about it.  Except for the hike it takes to get from the car up to our place.  It wasn’t any big deal before we had Evelyne, they were just a few stairs. Then when I was pregnant, it got a little more difficult.  I would be totally out of breath by the time I unlocked our door, but again, I just counted it as a little needed exercise.  

Then we had Evelyne.  Now for those of you who don’t have kids, let me tell you that you spend most of the first year hauling them around in carseats since they easily go from house to car and back.  Our carseat weighs around maybe 10 pounds without a child in it, give or take a few.  Then you put a baby in it and it gets heavy real fast.  Now imagine carrying that, along with a big diaper bag, awkwardly down two flights of stairs.  (oh yeah, and then squeezing it in the backseat of a two-door car.)  When Ev was about 9 months old she started getting heavy enough that it was stupid to carry the carseat up and down the stairs, the convenience was gone, so we just got her out and carried her.  Again, for awhile it wasn’t a big deal because she’s a pretty light kid.  Until recently.

Now she weighs 20-something pounds.  I’m not sure how many, but I would guess 22-23 or so.  (which is still pretty small for her age!)  And now that I’m pregnant and get tired even more quickly, this is about to push me over the edge.  Usually it’s not THAT horrible until it gets to grocery day.  Heavens to betsy.  

I try to get everything out of my trunk that has to go in the freezer/fridge immediately and leave the rest for Clay when he gets home from work.  Still, that usually ends-up being two gallons of milk and several more bags, plus a diaper bag, plus Evelyne.  Up to the third floor.  I almost die every time.  (Oh, and I’m totally leaving-out the part where I crawl in the backseat of my two-door car to get her out of her carseat and awkwardly squeeze both of us out…oh, and the heat.  But that’s another story for another day…)  Then we get upstairs and she gets mad because she doesn’t want to go inside since she loves “going bye-bye,” and I wrestle her and the groceries in the door before I collapse on the floor.  No, wait… collapsing is what I wanted to do, making her lunch while she pitched a fit on the kitchen floor was what actually happened.  Yeah. That’s right.  Sigh.  

So Clay and I were talking the other night.  We had taken Evelyne outside to run around on the tennis courts just behind our apartment, and were watching her wander around doing her “I’m trying to run but my legs are too short and I’m not quite coordinated enough yet so I’ll just walk fast” thing.  I told him that I’ve really noticed in the past few months that she’s totally turned into such a sweetheart.  Not that she wasn’t a sweetheart before…. but it seems like her temperament has changed.  Or at least the way she expresses it.

Evelyne wasn’t really an easy baby.  She was colicky, and not necessarily the kind that screams all the time (thank GOD), but the kind where you have to be constantly doing something to prevent her from crying or fussing.  So you’re always jiggling and bouncing and nursing because she didn’t know how to sit in one place that wasn’t in my arms and be content for more than five seconds.  And often she didn’t know how to be content in my arms while I was sitting still… I had to be standing-up and rocking or bouncing.  There wasn’t much relaxed lounging on her part.  And she never slept.  

But even when she wasn’t such a newborn anymore, she was still draining.  She got major separation anxiety at about six months and cried if I left the room.  Even if she could see me in the other room, it was distressing that I wasn’t next to her.  So I schlepped her from room to room, even when I had to pee.  I remember spending afternoons with her sitting in between my legs playing because she couldn’t be next to me…she had to be touching me.  And when she learned to stand-up when I was holding her and bang-on her little piano… I would spend HOURS holding her in an upright position because that’s the only thing that kept her happy.  She wasn’t an unhappy baby…. just always on the verge of it if we made one wrong move. 

So we were watching Ev run around on the tennis court, amusing herself with nothing but her freedom, and it struck me that she is probably a pretty easy toddler so far.  At 17 months, her colic is a thing of the past.  She knows how to stand by herself, and while she still sometimes gets uncomfortable if I leave her in a weird situation, she just follows me from room to room instead of me having to drag her everywhere I go.  She’ll play for hours by herself (always with me sitting near) and be amused by the most boring inantimate object.  (blocks and links are still her favorite!)  She hasn’t really gotten into the tantrum stage yet… she’s just recently started screaming when she doesn’t get something she wants, but it never lasts more than about 10 seconds and then she’s easily distracted and over it.  She has a great sense of humor!  It’s strange to me that she’s not even one and a half yet and she already is so fun to be around.  She makes me laugh all the time, and she’s very quick to laugh when I do something silly to her.  I mean, I really have fun hanging out with her, we’re kinda starting to be buddies, the girl is hilarious!  She’ll still have off days, and she still doesn’t sleep as long as I wish she did (although most of the time she does great), but overall, there’s nothing that is really hard about her personality right now.

Maybe we’re in a golden period and she’ll snap out of it in a couple of months.  I have heard that 18 months is a pivotal age for that.  Maybe we’re finally just getting a break after being so stressed throughout her infancy.  Clay and I agreed that part of us still thinks of her now in the same way we thought of her then: that she’s difficult, demanding, touchy, hard to please….  And then we sat back and realized that those words don’t characterize her at all anymore!  She’s fun, she’s hilarious, she’s sweet, and she’s generally pretty easygoing.  So for now we’re really enjoying this stage of her life.  I loved baby Evelyne, but I’m really loving toddler Evelyne even more! 

Evelyne decided that for Mother’s Day she would give me the gift of her presence.  All day long.  As in NO NAP.  We tried several, several times.  But oh well.  We had a great lunch with my family and dinner with Clay’s family.  We love our moms and are so thankful for everything they are in our lives and we’re definitely going to miss them like crazy when we move!!!!!  (I think they’ll miss Evelyne more than us!)  Ev got to play with both of her cousins today, and the adults were completely entertained watching them talk jibberish to each other and run around just being totally adorable together. 

It’s kinda weird to think that this Mother’s Day I’m celebrating being a mom to TWO little lives!  When did I get to this point?! 

I haven’t had any real grand ideas about things to blog about, so I thought I’d just give a few snippets of what’s up with us.

*Evelyne’s gone to bed later than normal a LOT lately due to special occasions, so she thought it’d be a good idea to start waking-up earlier than normal as well.  This morning was 6:15, so I’m just praying she won’t keep pushing it earlier and earlier.  (She woke-up at 5:30 every morning for months, so I’ve done my early morning duty with this child!  At least it’s not dark now like it used to be when I woke-up!)

*Her favorite thing is to dance.  And I do mean dance.  That girl can really shake it!  I don’t know where she picked this up, I certainly didn’t teach her, but all it takes it a little, “Go, Evy, go Evy!” and she starts droppin’ it like it’s hot.  (actually I haven’t taught her that yet, but it’s next.)  She also likes to spin in circles, get dizzy and fall-down, get-up and keep spinning.  It’s hilarious. 

*Her other favorite thing is to sit on my lap, facing me, and blow raspberries in my face until I’m covered in her spit.

*Clay’s on his second-to-last week at his last rotation and will graduate physical therapy school at the end of this month!  Hooray!!!  In three months we will actually receive a paycheck!

*I’m starting to notice more and more humidity in the air every day, and I’m growing increasingly resentful about it.  I HATE Southern summers.  Hate them. 

*Evelyne’s starting to get really heavy, and carrying her down two flights of stairs and across a parking lot every time I want to leave my apartment is getting really OLD.  And climbing in the backseat of my two-door car to strap her in the carseat really isn’t so fun either.

*I’m contemplating if I want to go pale and subtle or bold and vibrant for my first application of summer toenail polish.  Decisions, decisions. 

*I’m loving the new episodes of Desperate Housewives, Lost, The Office, and Grey’s Anatomy.  Thank goodness good tv is back!!!!

*I’m a little more tired lately.  I’ve been napping when Ev does in the afternoons, had a great long nap today.  I’m pregnant!   

So here’s my not-quite-weekly recap of American Idol.

David Cook- His first song was good.  His second song was much better.  I liked it, but why was it so short?  It felt like it cut-off just when it should’ve started building.  He’s already such a professional.

Syesha- I loved the first performance, she did a good Tina.  She was pitchy at times, but I loved the personality and dancing!  The second song was fantastic.  I LOVED the dress!!!

Jason- During the first song I had to close my eyes to see if I could actually like his voice without watching his dreadlocks bouncing around.  The jury is still out.  The second song was yuck.  GO HOME.

David Archuletta- Both performances were awesome.  I still can’t get excited about him.  His eyes, though not entirely closed, need to stay more open…and I’m getting a little tired of his blushing incredulity everytime he receives a compliment.  You’re good.  Get used to it. 

Final words: Jason needs to go home…badly. Syesha will probably be next, and let’s pray David Cook wins the final competition or we’ll all be subjected to David A.’s closed eyes as he sings…uh…what in the world would he sing if he won?  He’s good, but I don’t want to hear him on my radio.  Give Disney a call, David A., Miley Cyrus is having some publicity problems, maybe you can scoot-in behind her.

Just wanted to say real quick that I’m back, it was a great weekend, and I’m glad to be back home with Ev.  A lot of women were shown acceptance and love in a way they had never experienced before…they were invited out of their isolation and anger and welcomed into a family of understanding and grace.  It was beautiful. 

I missed Evelyne like crazy, though, so I’m glad to be back….even though she’s tired and fussy and whiney… Oh well.  That’s my girl!