Since I didn't make the time to blog last week, I have many updates to share about Miss Eva.  She is growing strong and well and soon approaching 2 months!  We had her weighed last week, coming in at 9 lbs 7oz.  So, she is growing wonderfully.  She will see her doctor this Thursday to get another weight, height, and health check up, along with her first immunizations. 

Eva has been making her way through my friends, meeting everyone and showing off her cuteness.  A couple weeks ago, my friend, Carrie, and her son, Cole, came by to meet her.

Cole was actually born last Thanksgiving, so we missed out on his birthday party this year due to our own delivery...so, we gave him his gift when he stopped over.  Just like every 1 year old boy, he liked his toy, but also liked everything else that he could grab on to.  I think he was just showing me all the areas that needed some child proofing.  Thank you for helping me out, Cole :)  The cutest thing, though, was his gentle touch to Eva.  He gently pet her on the head when Carrie was holding her.  It was the cutest thing ever!  I'm pretty sure he was just letting her know that he can't wait for her to grow up a little so he could be her boyfriend ( I wish I could've got a picture of that, wasn't quick with the camera)  ;)

In other Eva news, she is starting to smile quite a bit.  Whenever I look at her while changing her diaper, I say "Eva, Eva, Eva" and most of the time, I can get a little smile out of her. The most guaranteed time to see the smiles is when daddy approaches.  It is the cutest thing ever.  I can almost promise you that he will be the first to make her giggle, too.  There is nothing like daddy with his daughter.  They already have such a special relationship.  In fact, we were out at a birthday party last weekend (I will blog about it next) and one of the women there saw Dana holding Eva and said "Wow, he seems pretty comfortable with her already".  I said, "Of course!  He is the best daddy ever.  He even changed all of her diapers for the first 3 days.  He is amazing with her."  

Here is what one of those smiles looks like:

And, here is when she is really excited:

We've also been having fun with Eva...like playing airplane.

And, trying out a piggy back ride, holding on to Daddy's hair while he works hard.

Entering the New Year are new accomplishments for our little Eva.  She's been able to hold her head up when laying on our chest for a while, but now we've got her doing it when laying on her belly on the floor.  I was lucky enough to capture it yesterday.  Look at our strong little girl :)

She also went thru a growth spurt in the last week, which meant she was a very hungry and fussy little girl.  We spent many hours together throughout the night trying to adjust to the changes...

It is amazing what a few days of fussiness and hunger can do...but, she really did grow alot.  Out of nowhere, she was no longer able to fit into newborn things with footsies, nor can she fit into her newborn onesies correctly because she is just too long.  We have upgraded her into her 0-3month clothing.  And, boy does she have a lot to pick from.  You may notice that width-wise, her new size clothing is pretty baggy, but she sure is long!  It's been fun to see her in her new clothes, here are some so far:

Pajamas from Granny

Daddy calls this one her jailbird outfit (from the Foys)

Cuddly Bear Outerwear from Grandpa John and Grandma Tonya

And last, but certainly not least, probably the cutest onesie she will ever own
"My brother is a Chihuahua" (Thanks, Elizabeth and Sam!!)

In other news, we experience one of the dreaded "firsts" last week.  Aunt Kelly asked Dana a while back "Have you had a blow-out yet?".  He wasn't sure what it was, so she explained to him about the poopy diaper that gets everywhere.  He thought the term was so funny and really didnt' quite understand just how messy it could get, so he tried calling almost every poopy diaper after that "a blow-out".  I said, "No no, you just wait.  You haven't seen nothing yet".  Well, one day we were talking while I was holding Eva in my arms.  She became really fussy and then let out some gas, only the gas was not gas, it was poop and lots of it...as I looked down, I watched it seep through her diaper and clothes and all over my shirt.  It came from every direction.  I said "Now, this is a blow out".  Of course, we could've gotten grossed out, but how can you not laugh?  You know this won't be the last time this happens.  For a minute, I thought this was telling me she needed bigger diapers, but when I put a size 1 on her, she was drowning in it, no upgrades in diapers yet.

Another funny thing I was able to capture happened last night.  Eva is always doing funny things with her arms when she sleeps.  I'm pretty sure when I was pregnant with her, her hands were up as if to be covering her ears because she always wants them up along side her cheeks.  So, when she sleeps, she will somewhat get back to the position, only she is too sleepy to get them all the way up.  As she slept last night, she was startled by a noise and her arms jerked up, but only halfway...and they stayed that way for about 5 minutes.  It was just too funny.  Yes, she really is sleeping--out cold.

What a wonderful week of holiday celebration.  Grandma and Grandpa Nevins flew in from Michigan to spend Christmas with us this year.  Regardless of the lack of snow in California during this time of year, we were able to really put our minds in the holiday spirit just by sharing these special days with them.  This blog might be long, but it is hard to condense all the things we had going on in the last week with our visitors.  While they were here, we had a helping hand in all of our daily life obstacles.  Grandma immediately took over the kitchen, stocking up our fridge and making sure we were always well fed with her best dishes, including all of Dana's favorites.

And while Grandma was in the kitchen, Grandpa was keeping the little ones happy.  He had a special way with Rocky and the perfect touch to calm Eva if she was fussy.  In fact, he introduced her to her first pacifier and with a little time was able to get her to suck on it and find a little enjoyment out of it (pacifier not pictured).

Eva has really loved having Grandma and Grandpa around, as you can see, they know exactly how to make her feel loved and happy.

And, to make sure they don't forget these special times with her, Eva gave them both coffee mugs with pictures of her on it.  I think they really liked them :)

For Christmas, we had dinner at our house.  We had Aunt Lorie and Aunt Bugg over with Aunt Bugg's mom, as well.  Grandma and Aunt Lori worked hard in the kitchen, while we all enjoyed the aftermath...really yummy food.  And, Lorie was given very strict instructions by the family back home to make sure and hold Eva as long as she possibly could.  She made sure to follow through, giving her lots of hugs and admiring all her silly faces.

Luckily, Dana and I were able to sneak in a little time with our little girl to get a family picture.

When my hands were free of Eva, I had to continue mommy duty with poor little Rocky, whose paw got stung by a bee right before dinner.  Whenever he is in any pain or sick, he wants to be in my arms to be nursed back to health.  The poor guy was really in a lot of pain, and I did all that I could to make him feel comfortable.  I'm happy to report that by the next day he was back to his normal self, although, he is still licking his wound quite a bit.

Sunday was a fun football day at our house, although, getting the whole family together in Chargers gear didn't seem to pay off much.  It was fun to show our San Diego spirit.

And, now we are wrapping up our time with Dana's parents.  They are leaving tomorrow morning.  The week has flown by and we are sad to see them go.  We are so grateful to have had all this time to share with them and for everything they did for our family while they stayed here.  Thank you so much for everything!!!  We love you, Mom and Dad (Grandpa and Grandma).

Side Note:

So, I was talking to my Uncle on Christmas Eve and he brought up a good point that i wanted to share.  He said "Wow, Eva is really an alert little baby!", and it got me thinking.  I realize I only share pictures of her when her eyes are open.  The truth is, she sleeps all day long.  I think I get so excited when her eyes are open so that is when I grab the camera to capture moments.  When she is sleeping, it is either while I am nursing her or I try to take advantage by getting things done around the house.  So, for anyone who knows newborns, she isn't unusually alert.  I will try to capture more of the sleeping moments that she does frequently.  :)

Second, Eva got a super cute little piggy bank in the mail and I am assuming it was for Christmas.  Only problem is, there was no packing slip included and I already threw out the box so I couldn't track it down.  We have no idea where it came from.  So, I have no idea who to thank.  If you know who it is, please let us know.  I feel bad putting it in her room to be used when I have no idea where it came from.

The days are flying by and our little girl is growing like a weed.  Eva has turned one month old!  We just love watching her change and grow, we literally can't keep our eyes off her--ever!  She is our little cutie pie :)

Hope you enjoy her cuteness as much as we enjoy sharing her :)

Now I understand what people mean when they say the time goes by so fast when you have a baby.  I thought I understood, but Whoa!  I had no idea time could really go be THIS fast.  Eva is already 3 weeks old and quickly approaching one month.  As we look at her today we notice so many changes in her behavior, appearance, and even the way she cries. She has become much more alert in this last week and will spend an hour here and an hour there fully alert without crying, where in the past we were use to her just waking up to cry to be fed, then as soon as she got what she wanted, she would quickly fall back asleep.  We are taking this "alert time" as an opportunity to introduce her to some of her toys.  She has an entertainment system that we have been laying her on to give her some tummy time to make her neck stronger...and when she doesn't want that, we just flip her over to see the lights above.  As you can see, daddy really likes the toy, too.

Another thing we have introduced to her in the last week is a bottle.  I was excited about this because it gave daddy an opportunity to feed her and gave me a little time to do whatever I wanted--usually allowing me the simple things like time to shower or eat.  It was a bit of an adjustment for her, but between Dana and herself, I think they have the whole process figured out.  Of course, there was concern on my part that she would have nipple confusion problems, but I am happy to report that she seems to be just fine with both nursing and bottle feeding. 

Since Eva has been born, we have been trying to figure out how we would fit in our date night.  We figured, for the most part, we could just take her with us and go while she is sleeping.  But, the more we were aware of her schedule the more we realized that it would be much more realistic for us to have a "date lunch", for she sleeps much better in the afternoons.  This last weekend, however, we got a little daring and decided to take on a night adventure.  We made a trip to Ikea to get shelving for Eva's room and the trip went so well we thought we would continue on to dinner (we were both way too tired to go home and cook), but there was a 15 min. wait before we got our table and then we finally sat.  We ordered our food and started getting excited about eating and still she slept through the whole process.  Our salads were served, I took one bite, then "Whaaaa!", she awoke with a wet diaper and hungry!  While we were a bit disappointed, we knew we really pushed it by attempting dinner in the first place and looked at the challenge as a way to see if we were prepared (because you know this won't be the last time something like this happens).  I grabbed the diaper bag, headed to the bathroom and changed her diaper all with one hand, for I had to hold her with the other...then I had to whip out the Hooter Hider (thanks, Liz) and feed her, holding her with one hand and eating with the other.  I have to say, I think it was handled really well, but I think we agree that one location per outing is all she can handle, at least for now.

Just to give you an idea of how cute Eva is, even when she is crying, I had to share this picture...Dana says this is what I look like when I'm sad, too.  I'm not going to argue that.  If she looks cute when she's sad, maybe I do too ;)

And, finally a cute picture of her and I.  Its been tough getting pictures of us together because my top is usually off when I have her in my arms, which doesn't make for a very suitable picture to be sharing with all our followers.  ;)  And, now that I think of it, we don't have any pictures of all of us together except our Christmas picture.  We'll have to work on that...

Stay tuned for next week's blog.  Christmas will be here and Grandma and Grandpa Nevins will be visiting.  We are all so excited for them to come meet Eva and see our new house!  This will be our best Christmas to date!  Happy Holidays to everyone.  If you are, by chance, in San Diego you are welcome to join us for Christmas dinner at our house, our door is open...we just might require you to bring a dish :)

Today, Eva is 20 days old, where have the days gone, really?  She is still a tiny little peanut, but mommy and daddy are already noticing subtle changes and development.  She is more alert and recognizes our faces and our touch when we are close by and is starting to hold her head up for quite a while when on her belly.  Like I mentioned last week, she lost her umbilical cord, and so she got her first bath in her bathtub.  As you can imagine, she wasn't very pleased...

but, she came out squeaky clean and happy to be wrapped in a towel with daddy

Another first for Eva was her doctor's visit today.  We were able to see how well she is progressing and find ways to keep her development up and on schedule.  She is still pretty tiny, but falls in the "normal" range for babies her age.  Here she is on the doctor's table, getting undressed for her weight and length measurements.

Cheers to a healthy baby!

Most of you already know that for the last 10 days my mom came to visit and help us care for Eva.  The days went by fast, but the memories we created will be here for a lifetime.  From the first moment Granny walked through the door, she couldn't take her eyes off her beautiful little granddaughter, and as you can see, Eva couldn't take her eyes off Granny either.

While Granny was here, she assisted in everything from changing diapers to coming along for doctor's appointments, to shopping for the family and buying us Christmas decorations to celebrate our first Christmas in our new house.  We all went out one day to shop for our first real Christmas tree:

Granny decorated most of the tree, and I followed up with a few ornaments we've accumulated over the years.  I love it.  Ever since we bought this house, I couldn't wait to put a real tree in our front window, and now the day has come!

Some other adventures we went on while Granny was here is taking Eva in her first stroller ride to the park so Rocky could get some excersize.

Watched the Chargers lose (Boo!)

Had a lazy day

And, Welcomed Aunt Rhonda for a day to show off Eva, who was in Anaheim for work

Here we are, the 3 generations :)

There is so much more that we did together, but I would be here forever sharing pictures and moments, so this is as good as I could do to sum it up.  My mom taught me so much about patience, motherhood, and best of all, to trust my own instincts and know that I am the best mom for my baby.  Needless to say, it was hard to say good-bye for all of us.  Mom (Granny), thank you for the visit and for sharing so much with us.  You are an amazing grandmother and Eva is so lucky to have you in her life, as am I.  We love you sooooo much!

In other Eva news, we are happy to announce that she lost her umbilical cord this morning and she has an innie :)  Last time we checked her weight, she was just an ounce shy of her birth weight, which I am sure she has surpassed by today.  She has her first pediatrics appointment on Tuesday so we will find out how much she has grown since birth, which I am pretty sure she has grown a bit because she already seems so different than those first few days.  She loves being soothed by her daddy, but only cries when she's hungry (which seems to be a bit more lately).  She has slept through the night a few times, but we aren't expecting it to happen often, at least for a few more weeks.

You can check out more pictures taken while my mom visited here.  If you have already looked through the album, I did just add a few more pictures for the last few days that she was here.  Enjoy!

As for now, my blogs are probably going to be a lot less wordy and include more pictures.  One, my hands are full and barely ever get a second to escape.  And, two, we have been taking so many pictures of Eva that it is hard to decide which are better than others. 

Anyway, home life with Eva is wonderful.  No, I'm not sleeping at night, but I'll take it all, good and bad, just to have her here with us and in my arms.  Rocky has been a great help and is adjusting very well to having her around.  He is dying for a walk, but I think he understands how tough it is for me to even get something to eat, let alone leave the house.  He has jealous moments, but I am really proud of him for how well he is understanding the situation.  He has been very curious about her and her baby stuff (especially the bouncy chair).

And, I don't think he minds sharing mommy and daddy either

(Notice pic below, this is one of Dana's most favorite moments.  He could not wait for Eva to be born so that he could lay with her on the couch and watch football together.  This was their first Charger game as Father and Daughter.  How cute!)

Since Eva has been home, we have had many visitors who were dying to meet her.  And, we were dying to introduce her to everyone.  First, Jen and Carlos stopped by:

Then, Collin and Liz:

Our wonderful neighbors, Frank and Vera:

Elizabeth and Sam:

And, Eva's Auntie Lori and Aunt Steph (yes, Lori is Dana's cousin, but I think her and Steph will be great Aunties to Eva)

Anyone else who hasn't got a chance to make it over yet, you are more than welcome to stop over, we would love to see you.  Just be sure you aren't sick and you wash your hands :)  Gotta keep our baby girl healthy and strong.

We will have more visitors traveling from the midwest in the next months to come.  My mom, aka "Granny" is on her way here right now and will be visiting for 10 days.  She is going to be a great help, I can't wait for her arrival!

Oh, and to prepare for her arrival, we thought Eva would enjoy a nice little bath so she could be fresh and clean for her Granny.  Dana took on the role of bathing her and he did a wonderful job.  Not sure she enjoyed it much, but she is as clean as a whistle.

As most of you already know, Dana and I didn't eat a Thanksgiving dinner this year.  Instead, I gave birth to our beautiful baby girl, Eva Veronica Nevins.  Obvious contractions started at 8:30pm on Wednesday night, by Thursday morning at 8am we were headed to the hospital.  We arrived to find that I had already dilated 4 cm and this baby was definitely on her way.  At 7:07pm, baby Eva was born, weighing in at 7 lbs 1.2 ounces and was 20 1/4" long.  We heard her first cry just seconds after she was out, I held her on my chest immediately, and of course, proud daddy, Dana, cut the cord.

The joy that came over us in those first moments with her are indescribable.  I have never in my life felt so happy, proud, or astonished at this miracle of life that Dana and I created. 

As for the labor and delivery, we had no major complications and the baby was healthy, so we opted for a short 24 hr stay at the hospital.  Our stay in the hospital went well, and we soon figured out our roles in parenting.  While my main concern was feeding our baby, daddy took on all other duties.  He is an expert at changing diapers, swaddling, and doing whatever he can to make things a little easier for me.  Dana and I have been together for 6 years and I really thought I knew him inside and out.  But, what his daughter has done to him completely amazes me!  He is more amazing than my wildest dreams could have ever imagined.  I always thought I married the world's best man, but now I know FOR SURE that I did :)

Now, a little bit about our baby's name.  Her name is Eva Veronica Nevins.  It is pronounced "Eeeeeva".  We found the name on a baby name website months ago and just hadn't been able to shake it.  We knew right away that it was fitting and that we both loved it.  We tried considering other names, but we always came back to Eva.  Of course, we wanted to meet her first, to be sure that is just what she looked like, which we knew just seconds after seeing her.  The middle name Veronica is a family name.  It has been somewhat of an unspoken tradition in my family to carry on a family name.  My middle name is after my grandma and I wanted to do the same with Eva.  I chose to use my mother's middle name (also after her grandma), which is Veronica, rather than her first because it flowed well with Eva.  And, of course, she is also a little Nevins baby who will proudly carry her family name for at least the next 30 years ;)

(in the hospital, preparing for Eva's first pictures)

Of course, no picture does baby's any justice, for she doesn't usually have this scrunched up face and isn't nearly as big as the camera makes her look.  Regardless, she is still as beautiful as ever. 

To see more pictures from her first week, so far, click here, or on any of the pictures above.

We made it through the weekend with no baby appearance.  But, its not that we weren't trying :)  We decided to test out all the wivestales that came our way and see if they work.  As you can see, they haven't!  But, we did have a fun weekend together trying it all out.  :)  We went out to dinner Friday night at a fabulous Italian restaurant, where I ordered eggplant parmigiana.  On Saturday, we went and got foot massages where I was hoping the masseuse would really dig into that pressure point I needed him to hit, but of course I got the opposite.  I'm sure they don't want to be liable for causing contractions.  On Sunday, we ate Mexican food, but all the spicy food did was give me horrible heartburn!

Along with the wivestales that we have read about or heard from other people, we have also developed one of our own.  We turned Rocky into a chicken.  Thats right, he has been laying on top of my belly day and night and every opportunity he can get.  We are hoping that if he can warm up this baby long enough, she will finally hatch!  :)  I wish I could get a picture to show you just how great it is, but every time I get the camera out, he moves.  I don't think he wants people to know his secret moves.

I know I'm a little too impatient here, for we technically have one more week until my official due date.  But, I'm still crossing my fingers for a Turkey Day baby, and it would be great if you all crossed your fingers, too.  And, feel free to send more ideas how to get our baby girl to want to come soon.  I'll try just about anything at this point.