Church Directory 2012

Here's a glimpse of our church directory photo for this year. I would love to know what Evie's thinking in this picture.

Weight Watchers Week 1

I recently joined Weight Watchers, along with Kyle, so that I could lose the 10 lbs. of baby weight that I just can't seem to shake on my own. After week one, I am down 8 lbs. I'd love to lose about 17 more lbs to get to my dream weight. The plan was rough the first few days, but I quickly adjusted my portion sizes. Seeing the truth about my previous diet was very eye opening. I'm learning lots of great lifestyle changes that I hope to make a permanant part of my life. Please pray for both Kyle and me as we go on this weight loss journey together. I feel much happier about myself now that I'm seeing results.

5.5 Months Old

Yay! I'm officially caught up on my blog! Hopefully, I can now keep up with it the way I intended, which was with weekly posts.

Here's a picture of how Evie is developing right now:
-still no sign of teeth, but I'm hoping for some soon. Gummy smiles are adorable, but I thought Nile was adorable when he had a toothy grin.
-She ate her first WHOLE jar of babyfood yesterday. The only 2 basics we haven't tried yet are greenbeans and peaches. After that, I plan to start on the mixed ingredients.
-She likes to "talk" while eating. She will be perfectly quiet, but if you put the spoon in her mouth, she jabbers.
-She's tripoding a bit, so I'm hoping she'll learn to sit up soon.
-Her hair is getting lighter everyday. I'm guessing she'll have a dark blonde soon.
-We love to read her Disney stories while she's in the bathtub. Kyle is so great at the character voices.
-She does really well with her bedtime routine. She usually bathes, reads her story, puts her pjs on, then "goodnight" nurses, and is down by 6:30. She's typically sleeping till about 12-1, nursing, then goes back down until 5ish. If we're lucky, she'll go back to sleep again until 6:30ish.
-She now sleeps on her side a lot, which I don't care for, but at least she isn't sleeping on her tummy. I don't think I'm ready to handle that additional SIDS risk factor.
-Her apnea monitor has been really finicky lately. We're getting lots of successive loose connection alarms, which has made sleeping really hard. I'm hoping to get to the bottom of it soon.

Mastitis

The evening of the balloon release, I started feeling a little blah, but I figured it was just because of being stuck out in the cold for so long, so I didn't pay much attention to it. I felt worse when I woke up on Sunday morning. I had flu symptoms and tenderness in my breasts. (I don't mind sharing because if you know me, you know I'm a big breastfeeding proponant.) It got worse as the day progressed, and I started suspecting that I had mastitis, which is a breast infection that usually starts out as a clogged milk duct. It made perfect sense because I'd recently made the decision to start weaning Evie. If you'd asked about the possibility of weaning before a year old a few months ago, I would have told you absolutely not. However, Evie started rejecting nursing from me almost as soon as I went back to work full time. I think that she's gotten used to eating from a bottle, and she isn't patient enough to wait for the letdown anymore. At any rate, I guess I was weaning a bit too quickly, so that was the cause. I confirmed the diagnosis with a lactation consultant at Ochsner, and started treating the symptoms. I'm happy to report that I'm doing a lot better. I've also started nursing only once per night, which is the perfect balance for me.

This whole experience has been very eye opening. The Teresa I was before Evie's rejection started was always somewhat judgmental of women who chose not to breastfeed. I secretly felt that they were making a selfish choice. Now I am much more open minded. Breastfeeding is EXTREMELY difficult, which I learned quickly with Nile. When the baby fights you, as Evie does, it gets even worse. I was at a point when I was completely stressed out, which wasn't good for anyone. A happy mama makes for a happier baby. Lesson learned.

Nile's 2nd Annual Birthday Balloon Release

Nile's balloon release last year was a big hit, and I think it brought a sense of peace to many people, so Kyle and I decided to make it an annual thing. It's amazing to look back at pictures of last year and see how broken, yet hopeful we looked. I'd lost everything, but I knew that I was going to have another chance at motherhood. I didn't need the reminder, but it was still great to look back and realize how far we've come.

I'd been sooooo worried about the potential rain forecast, but there was only a slightly overcast sky. The only downside was that there was a really cold wind that I don't think anyone was expecting.

We dressed Evie in her "I'm the Little Sister" shirt and headed out to meet some of our dear friends at Oakdale Park, just like last year. We had hot dogs, chips, drinks, cookies, and cupcakes (thanks Maria!) The plan was to let people come and go as they could during the 3 hours, but pretty much everyone stayed together, so we released the balloons as a group again. It was moving, as always. I'm so thankful for everyone who came out and supported us. It truly means the world.

Nile's 2nd Birthday

Nile's 2nd birthday crept up on us this year, and I wanted to continue the pattern I'd started of replacing sad thoughts with happy memories. I decided to take Evie and my mom to the aquarium to visit, which was really nice. Evie did really well. Again, she enjoyed the people watching most of all. After the aquarium visit, we briefly went shopping for last minute items for Nile's annual balloon release, which was scheduled for the next day. All in all, it was a happy day, and I'm so thrilled to be able to say that. I wasn't overwhelmed with sadness, and I'm hoping that this means that I'm on a great path to healing.

Tripoding

Evie has recently started tripoding when we set her legs up, although she can only do it briefly. It's the first step to sitting up unassisted, so I'm so excited. I think that babies enjoy themselves so much more once they can sit up and play with their toys. I also think it makes a parent's job a bit easier too.

Mommy's Cutie

Isn't she cute? Thanks for the hair accessories, Kim!

February 2012 Zoo Visit

Kyle and I wanted to take advantage of a free Saturday to bring Evie to another zoo visit. Our Christmas Eve visit was so cold that it wasn't as fun as it could have been. I'd also been super upset that Evie didn't get to see the sea lions, which were Nile's favorites. Well, it ended up being chilly this time too, but it was still much better. We were able to see the whole zoo. She even went in the petting zoo section! It turns out that she's much more interested in people watching than animal watching. Still, she melted my heart when she watched the sea lions swim in the tank. It was a moment when I really felt a connection between Evie and Nile. It was a great day!

A Semi Giggle

Kyle was able to get a teeny tiny giggle from Evie recently while pretending to eat/tickle her belly. She's still not really laughing out loud. There's a small part of me that's worried, but I mostly just think she's a serious little girl

Michael & Tim Visit NOLA!

After my brother got finished with his deployment, he wanted to come to NOLA to visit us. It was extra special because he'd be meeting Evie for the first time. My oldest brother got to come along too, which was awesome. The 3 of us haven't been together since my son's funeral, so it was nice to have a happy time together. They came in on a Friday evening, and Kyle stayed behind with Evie so that my mom, brothers, and I could go out for seafood. On Saturday, we met for steaks at Texas Roadhouse, and Evie tagged along. She did pretty well in the restaurant, which I was nervous about. After eating, everyone came back to my house and we watched Taken while we waiting on a bad storm to pass. Because Evie does well on her bedtime routine, I decided to stick to that while my brothers met some friends for the Endymion parade. I'm glad they got to experience Mardi Gras! On Sunday, I stayed home with Evie while Kyle and my brothers went to a laser tag/arcade/mini golf place. I was worried that they would think it was too immature, but they had a great time. Silly me - thinking men would find anything immature! haha. On Monday, my mom took my brothers to breakfast, then everyone came back to my house for jambalaya before going to the airport. It was tough to say goodbye, as expected. I hope we can all meet up again soon.

Increased Dexterity

I posted this picture to show that at around 4.5 months, Evie started getting pretty precise with her hands. She was able to easily grab things and do what she wanted with them. She can remove and replace her pacifier on her own now, which is both a blessing and a curse because she ends up playing with it when she should be sleeping.

Oatmeal Is Okay, I Guess

Evie finally learned to tolerate oatmeal cereal, although she never really loved it. We ended up barely using the box before we had to throw it out because of the expiration date being passed. Isn't that a super cute oatmeal face?