6 Months!!

Evie is 6 months today- OMG!!! She had her Dr. appt this morning and weighed in at 19.45 lbs (90th %), 28.25 inches (off the charts) and 90th % head size. Once again, Brian and I are amazed at how big and healthy our little monster is:) The Dr gave Evie the go ahead to eat anything we eat (except eggs, honey, shell fish, and peanut products). I will begin making Evie's food and substitute jar food when I don't have time. She received more shots today and has had a grumpy afternoon but that could also be teething. She still doesn't have any teeth but is experiencing the symptoms of it - I really want her to cut the first tooth so it won't be so bad for her.

Xmas Photos

Uncle Chris and Evie

Evie, Remi and I taking a nap after all the present opening.

Mollie the Monkey - my present to Evie

Twilight Sea Turle - Brian's gift to Evie

She LOVES the turtle and it's pretty lights!

Amazing Holiday!

The Christmas festivities started December 18th and continued until the 26th and each day was amazing! Our first Holiday season with Evie was everything I could have hoped for and more - she enjoyed all of the lights, sounds, wrapping paper, time with family and of course her presents. My Mom and I took Evie to Rotterdam Square Mall to get her pic taken with Santa on Wednesday. I wasn't going to do this because of how much they charge - $16.00 for 1 5x7 (ridiculous) but I just didn't want to regret not having that moment so I sucked it up and let my Mom pay for it:) Brian and I stuck to our two present rule, which amazes me because I wanted Evie to have everything I saw but the family did spoil her rotten. She has an amazing new wardrobe for a couple of months, a zoo of stuffed animals, books to add to her library and a few other odds & ends. She wasn't able to open her own presents but did enjoy chewing on the paper until it was so soggy it fell off the item. The present Brian bought her is awesome- last night Evie became very cranky due to a teething issue and I pulled out the turtle, which projects stars onto the ceiling, turned off all the lights and enjoyed an hour of quiet time. Evie sat for a while smacking the turtle shell to see if she could find where the lights were coming from and then laid on her back watching the stars on the ceiling. It was a great moment as a family!
Evie has her 6 month Dr appt Tuesday morning along with her 6 month birthday! I can't wait to see how much she has grown but I really don't want to go through another set of shots and seeing my baby in pain. Luckily, Brian is home all this week so he will be spending the day with Evie on the couch, trying to keep her as comfortable as possible.
I believe we will be spending New Year's eve on the couch instead of at the bars and I am so looking forward to skipping the New Year day hangover. I am also looking forward to spending time with Brian and Evie.

X-mas photos

Remi enjoying my wrappings
Grammie and Evie

Grandpa and Evie

Our first family X-mas photo

Merry Christmas 2010

Merry Christmas! Christmas started in the Vanscoy/Sellick family this weekend beginning with a trip to Johnstown to see my Mom, Step Dad, and sister on Saturday. We spent the day eating way too much and opening a few presents- Evie received a Baby Alive doll that bounces and laughs (needless to say that toy is staying at Grandma's because we are creeped out by dolls:) I received a cookbook on how to make organic baby food, which I am very excited to start doing after the holidays and Brian received the book "Children make terrible pets"- so cute!!
The festivities continued on Sunday when my Dad, Stepmom and Grandpa came over for lunch. Once again, we ate way too much and opened up more gifts (yup, we are spoiled rotten). One tradition my Dad and Stepmom started with Evie is to give her own stocking - in my 31 years I have always gotten a stocking stuffed with cool items and now Evie is getting it too. Brian and I are not very good at the whole stocking stuffing so I am happy Grandpa and Grammie have come to the rescue. Evie also got the Dino ride and stride, a Giraffe slide to stuff balls into, socks, a hilarious stuffed turtle that laughs like a kid and a lot of other cool toys. I had so much fun opening the presents for Evie, showing her what it is, and then playing with them. I think next year a new rule is going into effect though- all toys come put together and ready to play with - I spent an hour putting the toys together while everyone sat around and laughed at me.
Christmas will continue for us next weekend with a trip to Brian's uncle's on Friday night, Brian's Mom, Brother and girlfriend Christmas morning; My Mom, Stepdad, grandparents and brother in the afternoon at our house. We will be extremely busy but it will be so much fun. This will be my first Christmas since childhood that I get to stay home the entire day and I get to be the hostess so I am really excited. It is also our first Christmas with Evie so it will be extra special!!

Teething or Fussiness?

We believe Evie is teething but there are no teeth to prove us right. At times over the past month Evie has been fussy, in pain, drooling, chomping on anything she can find (including my chin), gluttonously hungry and then not hungry at all. We have tried wet wash clothes, dry shop towels, frozen/unfrozen teething rings, frozen fruit in a mesh pacifier, a teething pacifier and baby ora jel. The only thing that will definitely work is Tylenol - it takes away her pain for several hours and gives Brian or I or Marissa a break from the crying/whining and overwhelming feeling of guilt because we can't take her pain away! The pain is so random that we can not predict when she will need the Tylenol and I don't want to dope Evie up for no reason so I wait until I know nothing else will work and she is in full blown screaming mode, which is heartbreaking.
I did find one activity that will keep her amused and her mind off the pain - her bouncer. She has two bouncers- one that looks like a walker and has a bouncy platform for her feet and one that is free floating with a metal frame and she uses the floor to bounce off of. She is in love with the 2nd one, which happened to be a "hand me up" from her cousins. I believe she will love the 1st one, a gift from Grammie and Grandpa, in a month or so - she just needs a little more control of her balance:) She will sit for 30 to 45 minutes, bouncing like crazy, smiling like a fool, and screaming/screeching her head off. It is probably the cutest thing ever and a life saver - Brian and I can have dinner together, do the housework or a project without feeling guilty or rushed.
Evie's other favorite past time is laying on Daddy's chest and talking to him. She will tell him hour long stories and they are adorable. She just quietly ohs and ahs at Brian all while sucking on her hand. They do this almost every night before bed time and I love to watch them. We just bought a camcorder so we will soon be able to share these amazing moments through video.
We are all decorated and ready for Christmas (just a couple more presents to go). We decided to only buy Evie one present from each of us- I picked a Scentsy, Mollie the Monkey and she smells like Lavender to help Evie relax at night time, and Brian picked a turtle night light the projects the constellations onto Evie's ceiling. I have wrapped them up, put them under the tree and explained that they are her presents but she doesn't seem to care - next year the presents part of Christmas will be more fun but this year we are just focusing on spending time with each other and loving Evie so much that she can't stand it!

Happy Thanksgiving:)

Our first Thanksgiving as a family!
Evie with her cousin, Erin.

My little piggy!

Happy 30th B-day Baby!!

Surprise:)

Happy Thanksgiving - A little late:)
We have been so busy lately that I have not found time to update this blog. We had to get ready for Thanksgiving - I only had to bake four pies but that is a lot of work with a 5 month old! We went to my Dad and Chris' house in the morning to visit - of course Dad was out hunting and Evie slept through the entire visit but it was nice to spend some time with Chris and talk about our Black Friday strategies. We then went to my in-laws for dinner and it was wonderful. Evie was able to sit in between Brian and I as we ate dinner and the family loved passing her around. She was a little cranky but overall had a great first Thanksgiving day!
I had to work on Friday but I did wake early and went to Walmart at 6am. I was able to get a wireless printer that we have wanted for a long time at a very good price, I bought Evie two new toys and this great Monkey sleeping bag (we are using it as a playmat for now) and a few other small items. Brian went shopping in Albany and got some great deals on tools and a new, fake X-mas tree for us. I have decided that cleaning tree needles out of Evie's diaper was not for me so we are using a fake tree until we are done having children and they know not to eat tree droppings!
I also had to prepare for Brian's "surprise" 30th birthday party, which was really hard because I couldn't ask him for help because I didn't want to give it away. Of course, he figured it out 3 weeks prior to the party and never said anything to me! I did take the easy route when it came to the food, I ordered subs from Boltons (our favorite sub shop), I did cheese and crackers, chips and salsa and bread with dip. I did make Brian's favorite cake, "the Nick cake", which is a chocolate cake with powdered sugar instead of frosting. We had a lot of very good friends show up and enjoy the evening with us. I drank a bit too much and had to suffer through a hangover with Evie the next morning (have I mentioned she has learned how to scream and screech at the top of her lungs) but Brian was awesome and took over for most of the day. We had a great night and I am so glad we were all able to celebrate Brian's b-day together.
Evie is doing great! She has had a small cold where the snot actually leaked out of her eye (GROSS) but the dr assured me she was OK and that she would feel better soon. She is loving eating solids- she has tried carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, peas, pears, apples and prunes. She has loved everything except the carrots and tolerated them well enough. I am not very good about waiting 3 days to introduce a new food but have stuck to a color scheme, which makes no sense at all but it works for us. I only fed her orange food for a week and we are now moving onto green food:) I have not made my own food yet but plan on doing it after the holidays when she has more options to eat. Evie loves her walker but has not been fond of her jumper. She is still not rolling but is soo freakin close - I sometimes push her over so she knows what it feels like. She enjoys sitting with Brian and I as we watch TV at night- we try to limit the amount she watches but honestly Brian and I grew up glued to the TV and we are OK - so I am sure Evie will be too. I am seriously winging this whole parenting thing and find that to be the easiest and most enjoyable option. I think it is great that some parents are able to research and put the theories into practice but that is just not for Brian and I - we prefer going with our gut, making mistakes and learning from them.

Sooo Cute!

5 Months!

My little munchkin is growing up so quickly; she is eating solids like a champ, trying to sit up on her own, attempting to roll (she is so close and sometimes I just push her over so she knows she can do it), she is grabbing at toys and has figured out how to put everything into her mouth. I love feeding her a new food once a week to see her reaction to the new taste. She has had pears, apples, prunes and squash and has eaten all of it with gusto. I have not made baby food yet because I just don’t have the time so Evie is getting organic jarred food once or twice a day along with some very nasty rice cereal (I mix a fruit in it cause it taste so bad). Brian and I have tried everything she has eaten to make sure it tastes OK – I seem to like most of it but Brian makes a face and I have to remind him to smile and say yummy in front of Evie). We did have a little issue when we began Evie on solids – she got constipated and did not go to the bathroom for 4 days- I found out later that Rice cereal and apples can do that to a baby so I gave her some baby prunes and stopped the cereal for a day and poor Marissa got stuck with 3 very gross diapers in a day.
Evie is also making the cutest sounds and giggles! She will push a toy off her walker and laugh at me; she has some very serious conversations with me before bed time and loves to screech as loudly as possible while changing her diaper. She loves to look at pictures of herself – she will smile and coo at the pic and we believe she thinks it is Carly or another baby. She has realized she has feet and has control of her legs – she loves to lift them up and look at them and she is trying very hard to stand on her own (If she had better balance I think she could stand while supported by the couch or a toy). She loves bath time because she gets to splash mommy and play with her ducky. Every day brings a new adventure and is wonderful because of Evie.
One thing I have noticed about myself after giving birth is I have ADHD- I cannot sit still for more than five minutes. I come up with projects and go buy the stuff for them and then realize I can’t do them by myself. I broke Brian’s power drill last weekend while attempting to hang curtain rods. Brian dreads it when I say “So, I’ve been thinking” because it means another project for him but he puts up with my craziness as best he can. I did complete a project this weekend – I painted and cleaned our pantry way, which is really the stair case to our basement, and it looks Great. I am so excited that I was able to do this project on my own and complete it! I am even having trouble reading books, which seems completely wrong to me – I have always been able to rip through a book in a day or so and now I can’t even sit for five minutes to get through a couple of pages. Evie gives us plenty of time to relax during her naps and after she goes to bed but I can’t seem to sit still. If I do relax I just fall asleep and then I feel like I did not get anything accomplished. This is a problem I am trying to resolve but so far it has not been easy.

Fussy Weekend!!!

Evie really lived up to her nickname this weekend - she was a complete little monster from the time I picked her up on Friday at 3:30 until 5 minutes ago (after her 7th bottle today). Generally, Evie is happy and very content during the weekends and it kills me to start another week and drop her off at daycare but I am actually looking forward to tomorrow morning when I can escape to my office for 8 hours of quiet. Don't get me wrong - I will still miss her terribly but sometimes a Mom needs a break. We think she maybe teething or having tummy troubles because of the adjustment to solid foods. We only feed her once a day, she gets a bowl of rice cereal mixed with apples (because rice cereal taste disgusting) and then she drinks a 4 oz bottle. It seems the solid food has caused her to be more hungry, which doesn't seem possible. Evie drinks between 30 to 40 oz of formula per day- no wonder she is in the 90th to 95th percentile in size.

First solid food

Evie's first taste of solid food:)

Evie helping me cook breakfast!

Friday night we started Evie on "solid" food:) It really was a gruel mixture of organic baby rice cereal. It started out pretty good - she was confused but happy and quickly turned into a messy frustrated baby. Saturday night was pretty much the same - me attempting to shove food into her mouth while she just got more frustrated because it wouldn't get in there fast enough. We are going to keep with a schedule of feeding her at dinner time for the first week or two and then try it twice a day. I am looking forward to introducing flavor soon because I know she loves apples - I have let her lick the core a couple of times and she gives me the biggest smile.

4 Month Check up

Evie went for her 4 month Doctor appt and it went great. We have a very big, happy, healthy baby.

Weight= 16.45 (90th %)

Height= 26.75 (95th %)

Head size = 90th %

Evie is already growing out of 6 month clothing and is wearing 9 month outfits. I am so glad she is so healthy but a little sad that she is growing up so quickly. She will begin to eat solids today (some very gross rice cereal) and then each week we will add a fruit or veggie. I would like to make some of her food but we do have organic jarred food for emergencies. She did get a couple of shots, which seemed to be more traumatic to me than for her. She cried for a few minutes and then sucked a bottle down and has been asleep most of the afternoon. Luckily, Grammie has her tomorrow so if she is too cranky she will be a few minutes down the road from my job.

Happy Halloween

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays - I don't really like getting dressed up but I love watching everyone else morph into someone new, I absolutely love the spooky decorations, and the free candy is pretty awesome. Halloween started Friday night when I dressed Evie up for some photos, continued into Saturday - Evie had her first overnight with Grammie and Grandpa and we went out with our very crazy friends, and ended Sunday with an all day horror movie event. Evie's first overnight went really well - we dropped her off at 4:00 on Saturday, she stayed awake and played with Grammie and Grandpa for hours and promptly fell asleep at 8:45pm. I only called to check in at 9:30, which I am pretty impressed with because we were out with 3 other new Moms and they called several times (one even left by 7 to go home to her baby cause he had shots the day before that caused a severe case of the crankies). Evie slept the entire night in her play yard located in the living room, while Grammie slept on the couch next to her. She woke at 5:30am, ate, played and slept some more. The Grandparents dropped Evie off around 11:30 and I had a very hard time putting her down the rest of the day. I missed her terribly but it was so much fun to go out with our friends. I would like to point out that our Halloween costumes went with our friends theme, not our daughter's, because it would be a little weird that I was a hunter and Brian was a safari hunter and apes were our target! Our friends dressed up in these wonderful Gorilla costume and we spent the night shooting them with nerf guns (yes, we are great role models!). It was a wonderful 1st Halloween as a family and I look forward to many more.

Happy birthday to me:)

Remi enjoying Evie's blanket and play area

Today I turn 31 - OMG that is old!!
Last year I found out we were going to have a baby (we actually found out during my 30th B-day party) and I thought that was the best day of my life. Well, I was slightly wrong because the best day of my life has been everyday since then. Each day I fall more in love with my little family and everyday is filled with joy and happiness. I know I sound way too happy - I make myself sick with my gushiness. I joke all the time that it is the Zoloft but it really is my adorable baby girl and wonderful husband.
Evie is doing great - she is such a happy baby. She only fusses when she is gassy or hungry- other than that she is smiling and giggling. Evie started using her walker this week and loves it- she is not strong enough to walk in it but she likes pushing off the floor, pushing her toys off the tray and having mommy push her around the house. Brian was able to illicit a real laugh from Evie this week - it was the greatest sound ever! She has been giggling for a while but that only consists of an intake of breath and a snort (just like mommy). I think we are going to start rice cereal in a week or two and I am very excited about that - I am sure it will be a whole new mess but I can't wait to see the look on Evie's face. I let her lick an apple, gave her a very small taste of pudding, and a fingertip of ketchup and she has loved the different flavors. Evie is doing great at Marissa and Carly's house for daycare. All I have to do is mention Marissa or Carly's name and Evie perks right up and smiles. I dropped her off this morning and she just smiled and cuddled into Marissa's chest. I am a bit jealous that Marissa gets to hold her, play with her and love her all day but I am so glad that I can go to work and not worry all day. I love knowing that my baby is having fun with Carly and is being cared for by another Mom.
Evie is going to spend her first night without us next weekend! She is going to spend the night with Grandma and Grandpa in Johnstown so we can go out for Halloween. I wasn't looking forward to leaving her for the longest time and I am deathly afraid of dealing with her on Sunday with a hang over but I am sure family will be over to see her in the Halloween costume we bought. We also figured out the perfect costumes for us, which makes the whole night much more fun. I will post pics of the whole fiasco.

16 Weeks

Our little Evie is 16 weeks old!! I really can not believe that she has been here for that long, that the time has passed so quickly and that she has so easily become the most important part of our lives. I am so in love with Evie and every day gets more amazing. Her smile brightens every morning of my life and her cuddling relaxes me ever night. So far Evie smiles, giggles (more like a deep intake of breath and then a snort), grabs at objects, loves musical toys, kicks, does push ups and attempts to get her legs under her so she can scoot around. She is not eating cereal yet but I think that will happen after her next Dr. appt on November 1. She avidly watches us eat and tries to grab at food. I let her lick an apple yesterday and she gave me a huge smile so I think she is ready for that milestone. She loves to be outside and to look at the trees blowing in the wind. My sister and I took Evie for a hike yesterday at Buck Mt., located in Lake George- it is a 3.3 mile hike straight up a mountain - needless to say we did not make it all of the way. We were at 2.5 miles and my back, feet, and whole body could not take anymore so we turned around and made our way back down. Evie loved every minute of it- when she was awake she just looked up and smiled at the leaves- when she got tired she feel peacefully asleep. I carried her in a harness on my chest the entire way - I can barely move today but it was sooo worth it! We went to lunch at the Log Jam, one of my favorite restaurants and Evie sat on my lap and was absolutely adorable. It was a great Columbus day and I am so happy we could spend it with my sis. Brian and I were also busy this weekend staining our deck and pathway, finding Halloween costumes, and spending time with Evie. Brian took Evie to the Mall and attempted to pick up chicks but it didn't go so well - only middle aged or old ladies stopped to admire our baby:)
Daycare is going great - Evie loves spending time with Marissa and Carly and I love my job. I can't believe I was so worried over this transition - it has gone so smoothly. Marissa has a great schedule set up for them;
Evie arrives at 7:30 while Carly is at work with her Dad
Evie eats and then takes a nap and Carly comes home from work
They take a walk if it is nice, eat lunch and then another nap
In the afternoon they have story time and play time
Evie eats again around 4 and then I pick her up at 4:30
Carly cries for a couple minutes after we leave because she misses her BFF- Evie doesn't understand yet but I am sure the tears will flow when she finally realizes we left her BFF behind!
This schedule works out great for all of us and I couldn't be more happy with the situation.

If you are a mother with a baby that does not sleep well - please don't read the next section- nothing is worse than a mom bragging about how great her baby sleeps but I really can't help it:)
Brian and I are so lucky and we are very thankful that Evie sleeps so well. For the last two months she has been going to sleep around 8 pm - we wake and force feed her at 9:30 and put her in her crib (in her room) and she sleeps until we wake her at 6:30 during the week or 7:30 during the weekend. I keep waiting for the rug to be pulled out from underneath us - every night I wonder if this will be the night that our baby turns into a sleepless monster. I am not sure what we did to deserve this beautiful, wonderful baby but I am so grateful.