Evie Kate's 6 Month Pictures . . . at 7.5 Months

Yes, I'm a little behind on the six month photo shoot. But here she is at 7.5 months. She is sitting up on her own, has two teeth and is becoming a little more interested in solid foods. She's still the happiest baby around! I love this sweet blessing from the Lord!

Look who has joined us at the table . . .

And despite the look on her face in the above picture,

Evie Kate IS happy about it!

Evie Kate at Six Months

Evie Kate Kate (that's what we often call her and I don't know why) is now six and a half months old. This picture was taken a couple of weeks ago with my phone. I have been absolutely, positively horrible about taking pictures. This must change!

At six months:

- She is still toothless regardless of how many times I've thought she's teething.

- She wears size 3 diapers.

- She weighs 17 pounds 8 ounces and is 26.5 inches long putting her in the 75th percentile for both weight and height.

- She is breastfeeding almost exclusively. We've tried solids. She's not that interested.

- She loves to grab my face and neck with her little hands and squeeze with all her might while she rubs her face into mine. I think this is her way of snuggling and kissing, but it can be painful. She often leaves scratches on my neck no matter how short her nails are.

- She continues to be the happiest and most contented baby around.

- She almost immediately rolls to her belly when placed on her back.

- She loves to jump in her johnny jump up.

- She adores her older siblings. Owen can make her laugh the hardest.

- She takes two naps a day that are each a few hours long. She's sleeping 12 hours at night.

- She has great hair. :)

Tummy Time

This is what tummy time looks like for Evie Kate.

Start Solids? Check.

Evelyn has reached another milestone. *sigh*Evelyn had cereal for the first time today. I put it off as long as I could. With my first born I was excited to start solids right at 4 months. By child number three, I was excited to put it off as long as possible. My baby girl is getting so big! She turned five months old one week ago.

I have no idea what my goofy girl, Aubrey, is doing in this picture.

She loves her thumb and I love seeing her suck it. She often rolls over on to her back in the morning, grabs her blanket and pulls it up to her cheek while sucking her thumb. PRECIOUS.

Little Lady in Red

She makes me smile. She is such a happy baby! She hardly ever cries. She's a great sleeper, a good eater and is so easy to please. I could snuggle and kiss her all day long!

She Rolls

A couple weeks ago Evelyn started rolling from her belly to her back. She hasn't quite figured out how to get back to her belly so she yells out in the middle of the night if she needs us to come flip her. I love this baby!

Pick a toy, any toy

Owen thought Evelyn would like some toys to play with.

Happy Girl at 4 Months

My baby girl is 4 months old! Evie Kate is pure joy. She is quite possibly the sweetest little baby I have ever known. She is so happy, full of smiles and giggles. And I just adore her laugh. I can't really describe it but it's often a silent, breathy chuckle.

At 4 months old:

She has rolled over twice.

She wears size 2 diapers.

She laughs and smiles all the time. Just look at her and she will give you a big gummy grin.

She still has lots of dark hair.

She sleeps 12 hours a night and takes 2 naps a day (each about 2-3 hours long).

She is eats breast milk only and I don't plan to start solids for a while.

She wears 6 month clothes but is moving into size 9 month footy pajamas.

She weighs an even 15 pounds (75th percentile) and is 26 inches long (90-95th percentile).

Daddy loves his girl(s)!

Sweet Smile

Even with dried snot on her nose she is absolutely precious!

Comparing Hotdogs

Owen - Halloween 2007

Evie Kate - Halloween 2011

New Pajamas

Thanks, Great Aunt Judy for the new jammies!

I'm glad you bought the six month size. They fit my not-yet-3 month old perfectly, for now!

Lean On Me

Baby Wrap

I love this baby wrap! My friend, Kelly, makes and sells them and my sister bought one for me as a baby gift when I had Evelyn. I have tried several different baby carriers and this is the only one that doesn't hurt my shoulders or back. I wear it everywhere. It is particularly useful at the grocery store when I have all three kids and when I'm somewhere that doesn't allow for a smooth stroller ride (like at the orchard). I wore this last Saturday in a parade which was great because my hands were free to pass out invitations to our church.

If you're looking for a baby gift, check it out!

My Kiddos

My sister-in-law, Sarah, gave the girls these adorable matching jumpers. Since she is currently in Africa on a missions trip I decided to take a picture of the girls in their dresses to show her upon her return. Here's what happened: Owen wanted to be in the picture too. I decided he could be in the first couple of pictures since I wouldn't mind a picture of all three kids together anyway. Once we got that picture done, I figured I'd snap a quick one of just Aubrey and Evelyn together. Well, as you can see, Evelyn wasn't too excited to get a picture taken.

Owen and Aubrey tried kissing her to "make it all better." It didn't help.

Ahhh . . . that's better. Evie Kate is still crying, but at least you can't really tell. She may not be smiling but at least she's not screaming either. We'll take it.

Evelyn had enough, but Owen and Aubrey asked me to take a picture of just the two of them. They're adorable so of course I agree to snap a photo.



Now where's that picture of my girls I intended to take? Maybe next time.

2 Month Check Up

Evie Kate had her two month well baby visit this last week. Did you catch that? TWO MONTHS?! I can't believe my baby is already two months old. We had a nurse we've never had before. She looked at all three of my children and then said to me, "I don't know who your middle child looks like, but your son and your baby look exactly alike!" She certainly wasn't the first person to tell me that Evelyn looks like her brother. I can see it a little bit too.
Here she is! All 12 pounds 2 ounces of her. She's also 23 inches long. She's in the 75th percentile for both height and weight. She has gained 4 pounds 5 ounces and grown 3 inches in the last 8 weeks.
She is consistently sleeping about 12 hours every.single.night. Bless her! She's on a pretty regular schedule of three naps a day. Her morning nap is a few hours long giving me a perfect opportunity to do school with Owen. She has a nice afternoon nap and then usually a short cat nap in the evening. She's down for the night around 8:30. Near as I can tell she drinks about 5 ounces at each feeding. She is such a good baby!!!

There's that big slobbery smile that warms my heart!

YES - that is a clip in her hair!

Sibling Love

No sibling rivalry here . . . at least none that involves Evie Kate. They both wanted to lay next to Evie and hold her hand
I thought my first two children got a lot of kisses. But Evie gets lots more. Not only does she have Mama and Daddy kissing on her, but a brother and sister too!

I'm so thankful that my older two children adore their baby sister! Any time Evelyn cries I hear Aubrey say, "What's the matter? Shhh. It's okay." She mothers her little sister, to be sure.

Name Clarification

When it comes to naming our children we don't have a lot of stipulations. It doesn't have to be a Bible name. It doesn't have to be a family name. We don't even worry about the meaning of the name. The name we choose is significant to us because we like it. That's it. And the name will eventually have significance and meaning if our children live a life of service ministering to others and glorifying God.

We basically have two rules that we follow when we name our children. #1). The name cannot be trendy. I do realize that Owen is now a popular name but I can honestly say that we did not know anyone with that name or anyone who planned to use that name when we chose it. And rule #2). It has to be easy to pronounce when read on paper. After five years of teaching I quickly learned to feel sorry for the student who was constantly correcting people who mispronounced his name. I have spent my entire life clarifying for others how to pronounce my last name. If you think I have an unusual last name now then you must not know my maiden name! While I can't choose my child's last name I can at least spare him future trouble by giving him a first name that is straightforward and easy.

Well . . . .it appears that in naming Miss Evelyn Kate I have broken rule #2. Everyone knows how to say Evelyn. But we usually call her Evie Kate. As people are meeting her for the first time after seeing her name on my blog or facebook I'm noticing that many are pronouncing her name with a hard e. She has been called "Ee-vie Kate" many, many times. I'm not offended, so if you're someone who has called her this don't worry about it. I just think it's funny that I have managed to name my child something that is easily mispronounced! Perhaps it's the way we are spelling it. Either way, let me clarify. It's pronounced "Ev-ee" a soft e sound in the beginning, you know, like Evelyn. Soft e, then the hard e. So for everyone who told me that you loved her name, I'm now wondering if it's really her name you love. Ha!

Evelyn at 8 Weeks

Evie Kate is 8 weeks old today! I don't know how much she weighs or how tall she is, but here's what I do know:

- She's a snuggler!

- She's sleeping on average about 10 hours a night.

- She started intentionally smiling on August 28 (the day Ben was voted in as pastor of Springview Community Church).

- She's wearing size one diapers (barely) and no longer fits into 0-3 month clothes.

- While she still has a nice head of hair, she has lost some.

- She's taken a bottle twice now.

- She's only had one blow out diaper!

- Just like my other two children, she doesn't care for the pacifier.

- She's a wonderful bundle of sweetness! We love her so much!

The Gift of Sleep

I have learned since becoming a mother that people define “sleeping through the night” in many different ways. The textbook definition is sleeping five consecutive hours without a feeding. Some mommies say their baby is sleeping through the night when they go back to sleep quickly and easily after a middle of the night feeding. There’s nothing wrong with these definitions except that neither one is my idea of a restful night of sleep! If I have to get up to feed the baby, we’re not sleeping! And five hours is not my idea of a full night of rest. I’m a sleepyhead. Therefore, I am not quick to announce that my baby is sleeping through the night until baby is sleeping at least 8 hours without me having to get up at all.
Here’s where the drum roll comes in. Can you hear it?!?

Evelyn celebrated her 5 week birthday by sleeping through the night! She has done it the last two nights and I'm hoping that in spite of our traveling schedule the next few days she'll keep at it. Last night I put her to bed at 10 pm and she slept until 6:30 this morning. I know they say that it's a gift to your children when you train them to sleep through the night. But let me tell ya, it feels like a gift to Mommy too!

Chunky Monkey

Evelyn is really starting to fill out. She makes big cheeks and a double chin look adorable! At her two week check up she weighed an even 9 pounds and was 21 inches long putting her in the 75th percentile for both weight and height. She appears to have gained quite a bit since that appointment!