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.

Another day in the neighborhood

So a typical day in the VanScoy/Sellick household goes something like this:
6 am- I wake up, take a shower, eat breakfast, start the coffee and tea, make Evie's bottle and finish making our lunches;
6:30 Brian gets out of bed and attempts to wake Evie up by dressing and feeding her (she usually spends the time stretching, smiling and being unbelievably adorable);
7:15 Evie and I head out to daycare while Brian finishes getting ready for work;
7:30 Drop Evie off and make it to work before 8- where I sit all day wondering what Evie is doing (is she crying, eating, pooping, sleeping or being cute and cuddly).
4:00 to 4:30 I make a mad dash out of the office and drive 80 mphs to pick Evie up from daycare- I ask Marissa a billion questions to make sure Evie isn't driving her insane yet:)
5:00 Evie and I lay on the floor making faces at each other, giggling and pretending mommy is exercising
5:30 Brian or I attempt to make and eat dinner while Evie freaks out for our attention
7:00 I give Evie her bath and nightly massage, dress her in jammies and feed her a bottle.
8:00 Brian attempts to get Evie to fall asleep on his chest, while I get our lunches started, get the coffee and tea ready, do dishes, laundry, prepare Evie's bottles, pick out mine and Evie's outfit for the following day, and any other task I can think of.
9:30 force feed Evie another bottle
10:00 Evie's asleep in her crib, while Brian and I are blissfully asleep in our bed.

First week of work!

I went back to work last Monday and actually enjoyed my time out of the house. I enjoyed having a schedule again, someplace I had to be everyday, to get out of elastic waisted pants and into professional clothes, and I enjoyed learning about my new position. I missed Evie terribly and still wish I could work part time but that is not an option at this time so I have to suck it up and make the best of the situation. I do appreciate my time with Evie more after work and try to make the most out of every moment and this weekend it was very hard to put her down - I wanted to play and cuddle with her every second. We finally solved the daycare issue with the perfect solution - Marissa, a friend and stay at home Mom, will be watching Evie in her house while she takes care of her 7 month old, Carly. I am sure Evie and Carly will soon be best friends and I know Marissa will love and take care of Evie as she would want someone to take care of Carly. This was the answer I had been searching for and I look forward to dropping Evie off there tomorrow morning.

Who does Evie look like?

Evie 12 weeks old
Brian around 6 months

So Brian and I have had several conversations as to who Evie looks like. I assumed she looks like me because she is so freakin cute:) Everyone has weighed in and I have been told that Evie looks like her Grandma, Grandpa, Great Grandpa, the milkman, Brian and myself. I have decided that Evie looks like Evie - she has a mixture of features from both of our families and is so beautiful that it doesn't matter who she looks like.

11 Weeks and more cuteness

I discovered this week that Evie does not like hats!! I put this adorable owl hat on her head and she started out with a disgusted look on her face that progressed quickly to out right screaming and ended with the cutest pouty pic ever (the black and white one above). I am really not sure if it was the hat or if it was because I had taken 117 pictures of her throughout the day and she was tired of posing for crazy mommy:)

I am about to embark on a new adventure next Monday - I am going back to work after the best 12 weeks of my life (admittedly I didn't enjoy a couple of weeks in the middle when Evie was truly a little monster). I am starting a new position, Commercial loan closer, in a new location, Cobleskill, and I am a nervous wreck. I keep joking that they don't make enough Zoloft to get me through this but I am pretty sure this is going to be the hardest thing I have ever done at this point in my life - I do not want to leave my Evie for 9 hours a day, 5 days a week! The only consolation is the Grandmas are going to watch her the first week so I know she will be well cared for, spoiled rotten and loved a lot. Daycare has caused me more stress and headaches then it should - My original choice Closed and did not tell me until last week (even though we found out the week before after some investigation). I have not found another daycare yet and Brian has been in Boston the past week so he has been able to help me research it and I am starting to panic slightly. Part of the problem is that I don't want Evie in daycare - I want to work but I want it to only be part time when family members or Brian can watch her. I am not sure how this will end but I will keep everyone posted.

10 Weeks

The day before I gave birth to Evie.

10 Weeks postpartum- only 5 more pounds to go:)

Evie is wearing presents from Grandmas;

The sweater is from Grandma Maryann and the boots are from Grammie Chris and Grandpa.

10 weeks ago I gave birth to the cutest baby ever and each day I fall more in love with her! She has grown and changed so much, she went from a smooshed face, crying devil baby to a smiling, giggling, beautiful angel. Evie is trying very hard to hold her own head up all of the time and does a pretty good job. She also enjoys standing and bouncing with the support of a willing parent. Evie smiles and laughs when Brian or I talk to her and make funny faces and she learned how to cluck her tongue. There is so much more that I want to talk about but she is crying and Daddy is getting tired.

9 Weeks

Evie and Uncle Jay

Evie went for her 2nd Dr.'s appt today:

Weight= 12.14oz; 90 percentile

Height= 23.5 inches; 75 percentile

Head= 90 percentile

She is a very happy, healthy and obviously well fed baby! She received three vaccination shots and one oral vaccination. Luckily, my Mother-in-Law came with me and helped me deal with Evie's reaction to these shots- she screamed and I cried:( Evie got over the pain quickly, came home, ate lunch and fell asleep- I am still sitting here upset that my baby felt avoidable pain.

On another note - we are having our first garage sale this weekend. Ever since Evie was born all I want to do is clean and clear out our house so I am getting rid of everything we don't use. I love the amount of space I have gained from this and it makes me feel more organized and prepared to return to work. I will be returnign to work on Sept 20th but we are having a daycare issue - we found a very nice woman that runs a daycare down the road from us several months before Evie was born. I have been trying to contact her for two weeks and no one answers the phone, her email no longer works, her phone also makes the fax machine noise and the sign was removed from the front of her house. I am extremely upset about this because it was a really hard decision to begin with, I don't have much time to find a new, responsible daycare, and I don't really want to go back to work full time and leave my little one in some stranger's care. If anyone has any suggestions on this issue please let me know!