Daddy's Girl

Hey.

Last week was a pretty big one for little Miss Evelyn.  She had her first Target shopping trip.  She slept through the whole thing, but I assured her that she'll learn to love it, and we'll have many mother-daughter dates there. 

She also got to go meet all the people her mom works with. (And looked super fashionable while she did it.)



She met her Aunt Katie, and they really hit it off.

She attended church for the first time.

[That is Jered's "why are we taking a picture of this?" face.]

She finished her first painting project! (A girl after her mom's heart!)

Speaking of her dad... he's pretty great.  As much as I want to hog her and hold her all the time, I love watching her with him.  From the moment I saw him lay eyes on her, he's been so proud of his little girl.

Almost without fail, he will take care of changing her diaper and burping her before/during her meals if he's home.

I love to hear him whisper sweet words in her ear.  He tells her how much he loves her, how beautiful she is, and how she will never be "sitting in a tree- k-i-s-s-i-n-g" because she's never going to date.

He spent an hour playing his harmonica and singing to her one afternoon.  She was attentive the whole time.  Yesterday we were telling her all the things she could be when she grows up, and he was really pushing for blues player.

He, who fell asleep in between grabbing me a cup of sherbet and actually giving me said sherbet, hardly misses a chance to snuggle with his girl.  No matter how tired he is.

He's constantly kissing her and giving her Eskimo kisses and nuzzling her softly with his scruff.  He searches her out as soon as he gets home from work.  I've never seen him use his camera so much before... even when there's a fish involved.

 

[Wearing her "I hooked Daddy's heart" onesie which seems exceedingly appropriate considering...]

[her dad caught their biggest fish yet just a couple days after she came home.]

[So far she seems to be in the disinterested to disgusted

range of emotions when it comes to fishing.]

The more I watch him love her, the more I love him.  My heart must be growing like the Grinch's every day because I can hardly take my eyes off of them. 



Well,  I'm trying to finish this letter on my phone, which is a bit tricky,  so I'm going to leave any more that I have to say for later.

Aim

Another Dose of Cuteness

Hi.

So.  Our daughter, Evelyn.  Evie.  Petrie. (She makes a sound that sounds like a pterodactyl.)  Precious.  Cutie patootie.  Sweet girl.  Squeaker.  Little one.  Just a few of the names she has been called already.  We're really going to have to settle on a nickname, lest she become extremely confused about who we're addressing.

I know all parents think they have the cutest kid.  But seriously- we have the cutest kid.  I could literally stare at her all day.  Literally.  Except for the fact that I would probably fall asleep because I always want a nap.  But give me some caffeine every hour or so, and I would stare at her non-stop.

She takes my breath away.

Not only with her stunning good looks, but with the funny expressions she makes.  (Usually when she's working on some business.)



Ok, just prepare yourself for the onslaught of photos coming your way... right now. 

 

[She loves her daddy.]

 

[Outrageous kicks have continued in the outside world.]

 

[She is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.]

 

 

[Our first day at home]

 

 

[Getting loved on by Grandma Kristie and Grandpa Eric]

 

[You are going to get so sick of photos of my sleeping girl.  I can't help it though.]

 

 

[Dad usually takes over burp duty... and we love post milk comas. Ha.]

 

  

[Early morning milk comas and baby toes are some of my favorite things.]

 

[Those lips!]

 

 

 

   

[So nursing is hard.  Sometimes knowing I'm going to see her cuddled up on my

lap like this at the end is the only thing that gets me through her meal.]

 

[Snuggling with Grandma Beth]

 

[Our serious little girl]

 

Hopefully you're enjoying these photos at least half as much as I do.  If I didn't have the real deal right in front of me, I could stare at them all day.  And maybe once I've gotten around to sharing them all with you, I'll have more space in my brain to think out some of what I want to tell you about this sweet little girl.

 

Talk to you later.

 

Aim



Evie's Birthday

Hi.

I used to think I would never share a birth story.  But now... after much debate, I've decided that I don't know how to withhold information.

J's due date was June 4th, and the days leading up to it were making me think that we would not be having a due date baby.  However, the night before, I went to Molly's to watch a flick, and I noticed that my Braxton Hicks contractions were getting stronger and more frequent.  I prepared to head home and she told me she'd pray that we would need to go to the hospital later that night or the next morning.

Let the timeline commence:

11:45 p.m.-12:30 a.m. - I timed the contractions after Jered got home from work and told him they seemed closer together than normal.  We were both in bed and asleep by 12:30. 

1:30 - I woke up with a contraction that was so painful it made me sit up in bed and rock back and forth.  For half an hour I just sat up and grabbed Jered's arm each time one hit. 

2:00 - I asked him if we could get up and watch a movie or something because I had a feeling we needed to time them more carefully.  He continued to try to sleep, and I timed them for another half hour. 

2:30 - I texted my mom and told her we would probably be heading to the hospital within the hour.  Jered and I got up and finished packing.  Jered did a few things around the apartment, like taking out the garbage.  He also came back to wherever I was whenever he heard me start having a contraction, because by this time they were becoming extremely painful, usually bringing me to my knees.

3:30 - Jered took me out to the car, stopped at the gas station to get himself some coffee and donuts, and drove to the hospital, where I had to sit on the curb during a contraction on our way into the building.  We got inside and started checking in, while I silently loathed the night nurse who took her sweet time as I wanted to die on the other side of the counter.

4:00 - A very nice nurse told me that if I said I was feeling "fine," I was going to be sent home.  Jered held my hand through the contractions and as she checked me and assured me that I would most definitely be staying at the hospital and heading to a room very soon.  (And I thanked God and felt validated in my pain because I had stuck it out for so long!)

4:30 - We settled into the delivery room, and they gave me some medicine to dull the pain until the anesthesiologist could get there to give me my blessed epidural.

5:00 - I sang the praises of modern medicine and sent epidural selfies to a few people.  It kicked in almost immediately and I could no longer tell when I was having contractions.  Amazing.  The nurse told us to relax, so we did.  We napped on and off for the next two hours and watched the sun come up. 

7:00 - The epidural had caused my contractions to slow, so my doctor came in and did something to re-speed up the process.  (Again- epidural=awesome because I had no idea anything had happened.)  We continued to relax and wait for Mom and Dad to show up.





8:00-10:00 - Mom and Dad got there and stayed to hang out until things got started.  Molly and the girls stopped by to see us too, until they were all sent to the waiting room.  Our nurse gave me Pitocin and had to up the dosage a few times to get the contractions going strong again.  I started feeling contractions again, and our nurse said we were going to start pushing soon.

10:15 - Pushing began.  For the first hour, I didn't even break a sweat because I couldn't tell I was doing anything.  Jered played classic rock and folk rock music on his phone for us.

11:00-12:04 - Painful contractions came back and started what was quite possibly the hardest hour of my life.  (I am fully aware that I had it much easier than a lot of women, and I have absolutely no idea how anyone could do that naturally.  My hat is off to you ladies.)

12:04 - Jered said, "It's a girl!"  And I cried and cried and cried in disbelief.  I was getting a girl.  A baby girl with hair.



By 12:30, Mom, Dad, and Molly were back in the room celebrating with us, and we took turns staring in awe at our little girl.

They moved us to another room later that day, and we kept up the relaxing business of snuggling in between nurse interruptions.

I think that's plenty of information for now.  More to come later.  Pinky swear.

Aim