16 Weeks

Here's Evie at 16 weeks old. I think she was shopping with me in Target when this photo was taken.

LSU-Alabama

Kyle was psyched that LSU made it to the national championshop game, and he made sure that his daughter was fully decked out for the game. (For the record, I think it's hilarious that men feel the need to dress in head to toe team clothing only to sit on their couches. haha) Don't they make a cute picture? If you've followed the news, you know that LSU got completely embarassed by Alabama, but time heals all wounds.

Renford's 25th Birthday

We decided to go out to lunch for Renford's 25th birthday. He'd always wanted to try Mahony's, which is a famous poboy shop on Magazine Street. It was really yummy, although there was quite a wait for the food due to the tourist overload with the Alabama-LSU game. We had a great time, although I was sad that Kyle had to work. Sophia came with Brian and Sarah, which was a nice surprise. Hanging out with Sophia while I was still pregnant with Evie made me get really excited about having a little girl.

SHOCKING!

Obviously, Evie found the flash shocking!

My Fashionista

Every girl has to have a great pair of jeans, and it just so happens that Evie looks great in skinny jeans. She's also sporting her favorite character on her shirt. That's right - Mommy has decided that Evie is going to love Minnie Mouse.

The Cutest Zebra Ever!

Isn't she the cutest zebra you've ever seen?! This outfit was hiding in the back of her closet, and I'm so glad I found it.

Happy 2012!

New Year's Day 2012 fell on a Sunday, but rather than dress Evie in a dress (as is typical for church), I decked her out in a onesie that I'd bought before Thanksgiving. Check it out! She had a great time in nursery. It seemed like she and Cate finally realized that they each existed. Watching their faces was so funny.

I am so happy to be starting a new year with my family. 2011 was obviously good because I got Evie, but it was also very painful. I truly feel like 2012 brings fresh opportunities for my family. Happy New Year!

Erin and Marc's Wedding (& a Little New Year's Eve)

New Year's Eve was a day for the history books. The plan was to have a relaxing morning at home, then we were supposed to have a small game night with friends. Once Evie was down for the night, I was supposed to sneak off to see my dear friend Erin get married. Needless to say, the day didn't quite go according to plan. Our morning was semi relaxing, until shortly after 10 am. All of the sudden, we heard a crash and we lost our electricity. It turns out that a car smashed into a large light pole at the end of our block, and it took out the power to our entire neighborhood. Power outages are normally just a mild inconvenience, but things get a little more complicated when you have a young baby. For one thing, an overheated baby isn't a very happy one. However, the biggest issue was my stash of frozen breastmilk. Once breastmilk thaws, it must be used within 24 hours, and if it isn't, it has to be thrown away. I call my breastmilk stash my liquid gold, so there was no way I was taking a chance on losing it. We waiting a bit, then decided to pack it all up in a cooler and bring it over to my mom's house. We ended up being there most of the day because the power didn't get restored until about 4:30 that afternoon. Unfortunately, we missed out New Year's Eve get-together, but I did make it to Erin's wedding. It was the first chance I'd had to get all dolled up since having Evie. I'll admit that my dresses don't fit me quite the way they used to, but I still felt pretty good.

Erin and I used to go to church together when I was younger, but she moved away to pursue a her degree and eventually ended up with a career in Washington, D.C. Erin has a true love for the city of New Orleans, so she made sure to arrange her wedding in our great city. I'm so glad she did so that I could be a part of it. It was held at Rosy's Jazz Hall, and it was one of the coolest weddings I've ever been to. There was actually a balcony setup so that the guests could look down onto the ceremony. Neat, huh? I couldn't stay very late for the reception because I needed to get home to Evie and Kyle, but I still had a great time. I really hope that Erin and Marc will be able to start a life in New Orleans soon.

More Tummy Time

Evie is getting better and better at raising her head and shoulders when she's on her tummy. Tummy time still isn't her favorite thing, but she'll usually tolerate it for a few minutes, especially if we're right in front of her and entertaining her.

Neglect-O-Matic 3000

Yes, my blog title is a joke.

Evie got a zoo jumperoo from her Papa for Christmas, and we tested it out. She's still a but small for it, but she seemed intrigued by the lights and sounds. I can't wait until she can actually appreciate the toys. Notice that her hair looks extra fun in these pictures. :)

Who's Guilty?

Isn't this a cute picture?! It's one of my favorites. It actually happened during a bedtime game that we play with Evie called "Who's Guilty?" We basically take turns playing with different stuffed animals and asking them detective questions. I guess it sounds a little silly, but being silly makes for a great parenting experience, if you ask me.

Christmas at Nana's House

After church on Christmas morning, we brought Evie over to her Nana's house. She was absolutely showered with gifts, mostly cute clothes. (There's a funny picture of Evie and Shelby modelling their footie pajamas.) We had a great lunch, then I brought her over across the street so that she could visit with David, Sarah, and Brian. They even had a surprise gift for her (a book.) As you can see, the day was jam-packed, but it was also pretty amazing. Merry Christmas!

Christmas Morning at Church

Christmas fell on a Sunday morning this year, so we went to our church for a candlelight service. This service is traditionally held on Christmas Eve every year, but it was moved because of the date. Evie was an angel during the service. She took her bottle and happily (read: quietly) looked around to whole time. Whew! After the service was over, we spent some time with one of our favorite families, the DuTreils. We also took a few family photos by the church's tree.

Baby's 1st Christmas!

I'm about a month late, but MERRY CHRISTMAS! Waking up to my beautiful daughter on Christmas morning was one of the best feelings I've ever had. I quickly got out of bed, then went to set up the gifts and stuff. Kyle brought Evie out when I was done, and the first thing she found was a note from Santa, along with the cookie crumbs and leftover milk from his visit. (The cookies and milk is a tradition I look forward to continuing.) Opening gifts was really fun. I'd started shopping for Christmas so long ago that I was even surprised by some of the gifts. One of my favorite gifts to her was a rolling Minnie Mouse luggage. I bought it with her trip to Disney World in mind. I also loved my gift to Kyle - it's a special fleur de lis ring with Nile's name and DOB engraved.

Prepping for Santa!

After spending Christmas Eve with my parents, Kyle and I brought Evie home for some family time. Auntie Angie stopped by with an unexpected, but wonderful gift for Evie. She brought the Elf on the Shelf, which is a new fad that helps kids "behave" for Santa. It goes something like this: an elf doll magically comes to the house and gets named by the child. There's a special story that gets read, and it gives instructions on what Santa expects. Each night, the parents move the elf to a new spot. When the child wakes up, they see that the elf has moved, which proves that he/she reported back to Santa during the night. This helps the kids stay off the naughty list because they don't want to upset Santa. Great idea, right? Obviously, it will probably be a bit longer before Evie understand this, but I'm eager to try it out in a few years. I really appreciate the gift.
Anyway, after Angie's visit, we got Evie in her special Christmas pajamas and read her The Cajun Night Before Christmas. Kyle used to read that to Nile, so it was a bittersweet time. (Have I ever mentioned that Kyle does GREAT accents? I love to hear him read to Evie.)
After she went to bed, Kyle and I had some much needed cuddle time. I'll admit that I was somewhat nervous to go to bed. I've always felt that Christmas was a special milestone, and I was nervous that my chance to celebrate Christmas with Evie would be stolen from me during the night. Praise God - everything went well!

Christmas Eve with Gran and Grandpa

Balancing families during the holiday season is never easy, and it gets even harder when children enter the picture. Because of this, Kyle and I brought Evie over to my Mom and Dad's house to celebrate on the evening of Christmas Eve. We started fairly early in the evening because I wanted to make sure that Evie still got to bed on time. We started with Christmas dinner, which was yummy - turkey and all the fixins! After that, I followed our family tradition and read from Luke 2. It's a wonderful way to keep Christmas in perspective. I plan to continue this tradition with my little family too. Opening presents was fun, although I admit that it would have been better if Evie were old enough to actively participate. That's something that I look forward to sooooo much! Check out the pictures of her gifts and stocking stuffers. I'd say she made out pretty well, huh? What they say about grandparents spoiling their grandkids? Every word of it has proven true.

Baby's 1st Illness

One quick little blurb about our holiday hiccup-

A few days before Christmas Eve, Evie started getting congested. As the days went by, I could see that she was getting really snotty and miserable. She was sleeping a lot, and I got really worried. We took her to our pediatrician, and it turned out that she had a cold. It took her about 2 weeks to totally get better, and I think the whole experience was a lot harder on me than on her. The experience made me so thankful for Nile's health. I didn't realize how lucky I was that he'd gone his full 9 months without ever being sick.

Evie's 1st Trip to the Zoo

One of my favorite memories with Nile was his trip to the zoo. He went when he was about 7.5 months, so he was interactive, and he seemed to enjoy all the sights and sounds. Of course, he didn't know what exactly he was looking at, but it was still fun to see his face light up. His favorite display was the sea lions. He literally whipped his head around so that he could keep up with them while they swam in circles in front of the glass.

Because we had such a great time with him, I couldn't wait to bring Evie, so we decided to go on the morning of Christmas Eve. I figured that there would be minimal crowds, and I was right. We had a fairly quick visit and we didn't get to see everything because it was actually quite cold and I didn't feel like we should keep her out in the weather.

You'll notice a picture of her leaning over to see a red river hog that isn't fully shown. She actually dropped a huge drool bomb on him. Haha! The animals really seemed to like her because quite a few of them came directly to her when we came to the display. I can't wait to go back when the weather is nicer and she's a bit older.

Mr. Allan's Birthday

On December 23, a few of us went out to dinner with our We the People teacher from high school, Mr. Allan. After dinner, we went back to his house for cupcakes. He hung out with Evie some, and I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Mr. Allan is REALLY good with babies. Now I have a back-up babysitter. ;)

My 25th Birthday

On December 22, 2011, I celebrated my 25th birthday. Kyle surprised me by getting me some amazing chocolate covered strawberries. My hubby certainly knows what I like! After my strawberry appetizer, Kyle picked up Italian takeout. YUM!!! Evie entertained us after her bath that night, and I just had to get this cute shot. She's modelling her hooded UCLA towel and her new Winnie the Pooh stuffed animal (both given to her by her Papa.)

Meeting her Papa!

Kyle's father (Randy) came into town from 12/21-12/23, so we took every advantage to see him and let him hang out with Evie. Randy never got to meet Nile, and I know it's something that eats at him. He absolutely adored her! It took a little while for her to warm up to him, but she eventually did. She even slept in his arms at IHOP while Kyle finished his breakfast.