Over the weekend, Dana, Eva, and myself had 2 one-year birthday parties to attend.  We started with a party in the park with Mia Lee...

There was a fun playground to play on...

Great food, fun decorations, and wonderful entertainment.  They had a guy come with his guitar and play kids music while the kids all played with their own instruments.  Everyone was having so much fun!

But, we had to cut that party short to make it to the next one.  We made it just in time to sing Happy Birthday and watch Aiden tackle his dinosaur cake...

He didn't quite know what to make of it, but by the end, he managed to have frosting all over his face :)

Eva had alot of fun with everything going on.  They had a jumpy house, dogs running around, and of course, Aiden got a ton of toys that Eva helped herself to.  Luckily, Aiden was very willing to share.  And Before we left, I managed to get a quick shot of mommys with our little people:

While we're out and about, Eva is having a ton of fun exploring her new world on two feet.  She is no longer crawling at all, only walking, running, or falling.  So far, she has managed to catch her falls quite well.  We only have one fat lip to speak of, and she only cried for about 30 seconds for that one.  She has just been loving her little legs and everywhere that they can take her :)

Some other fun new things we've been noticing more of is how much love she has.  She really loves hugging and kissing her dolls.  She now has to sleep with a baby under her arms every night.  It is just too cute to watch.  She got a handmade doll that came with pillows and a blanket for the doll for her birthday (Thanks, Linders!).  I layed the doll on the pillows with blanket on our book shelf, and caught Eva trying to get under the blanket to lay with the baby.  I helped her out a little, and she layed there for a good 5 minutes...

Her dolls aren't the only ones getting the love either.  She now puckers up to give mommy and daddy kisses, too.  Its cute because we tend to want more than what she has to give, so after giving us several kisses (back and forth), she will finally push our faces away from her like "Enough Already!"  We just can't help it, though.  She is too darn adorable!

I think Rocky is starting to want in on some of the action, too.  Eva has conquered his name now and calls for him all day long.  It sounds a little more like "Ya-yee", but it is very obvious that she is saying his name.  If she can't see him walking in front of our stroller on walks, she will yell for him, or if she wakes up from a nap sometimes she will yell for him.  Or, if we are gone for the day, as soon as we walk into the house, she will yell for him.  And, when she is done eating what's on her tray and is ready to share, she looks around yelling "Ya-yee".  He's realizing if he wants any food other than dog food, he must learn to like his sister.

One of Eva's new things is putting things on her head.  Ever since her cousin, Taylor, was wearing a headband while visiting here, she has tried to put new things on her head.  Here are Daddy's sunglasses...

She also wants to sit on everything.  If she spots a blanket, or anything comfy on the ground, she will turn around and back up onto it and plop her butt down.  She also LOVES chairs.  She loves the challenge of trying to get onto it, then turning around and sitting.  Its just as cute to watch it the 20th time as it was the first.

And, lastly...she is getting very smart and understanding how to pick something up and put it into something else.  She has a couple buckets and a bowl that she will put other small toys in and carry it around, then stop, sit, take the small toy out, put it on the ground, then back into the bucket, then walk around with the bucket, and repeat. 

As you can tell, Eva is just too much fun to be around.  She really is always happy and goofy (unless she's tired--then watch out, she's just like her mommy...hahaha).  I just love watching her do everything she does.  She is a smart little girl who knows how to have a good time, and best yet, always knows how to make everyone around her smile.  If you are ever having a bad day, come visit Eva, she has the key to happiness and isn't afraid to share it with everyone around her.  :)

She is weighing in at 22 lbs 1.2oz (75%)

Measuring 29.5" (75%)

Tooth Total: 4

After getting her 1 year check up, her doctor posed for a quick picture with her...

I cannot believe the time has come, our baby girl has reached her 1 year mark.  A year ago, it was hard to imagine this point, but now that it's here I just love these moments and looking back to see everything that Eva has accomplished in such a short amount of time. 

As you may have read in the past blogs, Eva started walking a few weeks ago.  She is now walking about 75% of time, crawling just a little bit, and now even attempting to run.  She's still pretty wobbley, but she sure can move quick. 

Eva is also picking up on quite a bit.  She can understand a great deal of what I'm saying to her and has her own way of communicating with me to let me know she understands.  She definitely knows who her daddy is and loves to yell for him.  She says "Daddy" very clearly.  She says "Puppy", and tries to say "Rocky", she can ask for a "Book", she says "Thank you" when I say it to her, she says "Baby" when referring to herself, her dolls, or pictures of other babies.  She has a stuffed monkey and when I ask her where it is, she starts saying "Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!" to make the monkey noise, then goes over and sits on his lap. She says "Uh Oh" and "Nanana" for banana.

Eva is constantly pushing her limits and purposely does things to get in trouble.  She is always laughing or smiling or being goofy, she is so much fun to be around.  She has given up on eating most fruits and vegetables and isn't too big on sweets...her soft spot is for meat and cheese.  If she catches a glimpse of shredded cheese or cottage cheese and doesn't get any, be prepared for high pitched screaming until she gets some.  There are so many things that I'm sure she does, but I would be here forever if I thought of it all.  Bottom line, this baby girl is happy, smart, determined, and very much loved by Dana and myself.

We celebrated her birthday with a party at our house last Saturday.  It turned out to be a beautiful day, so we hung outside with close friends and family.  We sang happy birthday and presented Eva with her own mini cake (compliments of Granny) and candle.  She didn't quite understand the blowing out part, so I helped her a little...

She immediately stuck her finger in the frosting, but once she got to that point she didn't know what to do. 

After cake we opened gifts.  I think Eva had a fun time with all of it.  I know they say at this age that they like the box and paper more than the gift...but this girl was spoiled and I think she LOVES everything she got...she had fun looking at everything.

At her party, she had a few friends her age that came to see her, so she had a little time to spend with them.  They weren't sure what they made of each other, but it was cute to see them together...below we have Mia, Oliver, and Eva

But most of the time, Eva spent walking around and checking everything out.

It turned out to be the perfect day for Eva.  She was happy and very receptive to everything happening around her...but once 3 o'clock hit, she was out.  She couldn't even keep her eyes open long enough for me to get her into her crib.  I think our mission was accomplished.

Thank you to everyone who made it to celebrate Eva's 1st Birthday.  She is very appreciative, as are we, to have such wonderful friends and family in San Diego.

While we were in Wisconsin, we enjoyed a nice visit with everyone.  Eva got to spend time with lots of her second cousins. Maxwell and Lorelei (my cousin, Ashley's kids) were the first to greet her as soon as we got off the plane.  We slept at their house the first night where they played with toys, took over the living room, ate dinner, then they took a bath together...

This picture was so meaningful to get because I have one from when we were children doing the same thing!

(From left to right: Derek, Andrea, Ashley, me)

Eva got lots of attentions from all the family, but of course I didn't have my camera out the whole time because I was having too much fun with my family, too.  I did manage, however, to get one picture of Eva all bundled up with her fleece winter jacket and boots because she endured her first snow fall!

She was really fascinated with the huge snowflakes falling out of the sky.

When all the visiting was done and the snowfall was over it was time to head back home.  Traveling is never much fun, but with Eva it is so much more of a challenge.  Lucky for us, we had an empty seat on the plane both to and from Wisconsin, which gave us a whole row to ourselves.  That definitely helped keep Eva entertained and happy.  I managed to get a pic of her reading one of her books and super fascinated :)

Now we are all home safe and sound and getting ready to host our first Thanksgiving dinner at the house. And, just one day later...Eva will be 1 year old!!!

Eva and I have had a busy, but very fun week.  On Tuesday, we met up with Melinda and Aiden to take a walk through the Zoo.  It had been a while since we got together, so we were excited to catch up and see how much our little babies have grown.  It was so much fun to see Aiden and Eva together.  They loved watching each other, smiling and giggling along side each other as we pushed their stroller.  They are also old enough now that they were becoming quite fascinated with the animals.  Here we are with the giraffes...

On Thursday and Friday, we met up with Heather, Rowan, Kierce, and Merrick for some fun in the sand.  Eva hasn't seen sand in a while, so Rowan showed her all the fun things she could do with it.  They climbed a big sand hill...

And when they reached the top, they threw sand all over.  Eva LOVED it.

Heather also snapped a pic of Eva taking a ride on Rowan's skateboard while eating popcorn (my little multi-tasker)...

After the beach, we took Rowan for the night so she could redeem her birthday sleep over.  We made dinner together, entertained Eva, then tucked in for an early night.  We went to the park the next morning where Rowan helped Eva climb to the top and go down the twisty slide together...

But, that just wasn't enough of a challenge for Miss Eva.  We also taught her how to climb the steps to the mini-playset, turn her butt around, and then go down the slide by herself.  It only took about 3 attempts before she was doing it all herself.  I managed to get it on video, but no pictures of it :(  You just have to believe that my smart little girl figured it all out herself.  Rowan and I were very proud.

But, that just wasn't enough for Eva.  She surprised us with a few more firsts over the weekend.  On Sunday, she started calling Daddy just that, "Daddy".  She knows exactly who he is and as soon as she gets a look of him, she immediately, happily and proudly, says "Daddy!"  She has made the noises before, but now it is so obvious that she says it only to Dana.  It is so cute.  You can see how much she just loves him and loves to call for him :)

And, just hours after that, as Daddy was in the shower, Eva and I were playing in the living room.  As she was standing next to the couch, I called for her and rather than crawling to me, she decided it was time to just walk on over.  She took about 10 steps.  I couldn't believe it and thought maybe it was a fluke, but she, too, was excited about the new moves and got up and kept doing it over and over and over.  Our little girl is going to be taking over our house really soon.  Yikes!

Last week, Eva and I spent the entire week alone.  Daddy was out of town for business, so Eva, Rocky and I entertained each other until he got back.  We managed really well, staying very mellow.  In fact, I didn't use my car even once the entire week.  We had fun at our house, going for walks, and spending time at the local park.  Lately, Eva has been pretty easy to entertain and has really developed her own goofy personality.  She seems to have caught on to the idea of a camera capturing moments, for now when she notices me taking a picture, she starts making really goofy faces...

She has also conquered climbing down stairs.  She loves turning around and going down the stairs so much so that even if she notices a slight decline in the ground, she turns her butt around and starts reaching with her foot to look for the step.  Its pretty funny to watch, yet makes me so proud to see that she recognizes how to safely go down.  With the stair climbing also comes the shelf climbing.  She is constantly looking for something to climb into like a bookshelf, kitchen cabinet, and this table...

Eva is constantly testing her limits and feeling very proud when she believes she got away with something.  Her favorite is to put something from the floor into her mouth.  If I don't notice it, she will come over to me, give me this mouth-closed grin and wait for me to say something.  As soon as I say "What's in your mouth?" She turns around and crawls as fast as she can away from me.  She laughs the whole time, trying her best to not let me get whatever it is that she has.  Whenever it is that I "catch" her doing something wrong, I always get the same mischievious face...here I caught her pulling all the books off her shelf

There is no doubt that this little girl keeps me on my toes, but I have to say it's alot of fun to watch her become so smart and quick.  I know someday this will become my biggest challenge, but in the meantime, I'm going to enjoy every moment.

Being that Eva isn't walking or allowed to eat candy, we decided to keep Halloween simple.  What was she?

A Flower...

We didn't dress up her up on day of, but instead celebrated last weekend at our neighborhood Boo Parade and Carnival.  Heather, Ryan, and the kids joined us in the celebration...

On Thursday, Dana and I had a pizza/pumpkin carving party in our kitchen.  Eva helped--by eating the pumpkin

And here's Dana with his infamous pumpkin carving face...

Our Pumpkins after they were carved (unfortunately, Rocky's didn't get lit for I only had 3 candles...but it was shaped in a dog bone, compliments of Dad)

Last night, our friend Liz joined us in passing out candy.  Eva and I wore festive pink spider shirts and greeted everyone with a "Happy Halloween!"

Eva in her "1st Halloween" Bib being goofy...

Lastly, Eva helping herself to the candy bowl...Hubba Hubba Bubble Gum

Eva has turned eleven months and has accomplished so much this month.  She is weighing in at 20 lbs and measuring 29 1/2".  She is getting more and more smart as the days go by and we are sure to embrace each new milestone. 

*She has started to point.  This is a great milestone, for now I am teaching her how to "point to baby's nose, eyes, etc." with one of her dolls.

*She is really starting to enjoy music.  As soon as she hears any music, she will start to 'fist pump' her arm in the air.  And, if she's standing, she will start shaking her booty.

*She is attempting her first steps.  One day while my mom was here, she took 3 steps from me to her before grabbing on.  I notice whenever she gets tired she will take a step here and there.  I think she still has some work on her balance before she'll really be walking, but she is excited for that day to come.

*Lastly, Eva has been helping herself to more and more finger foods. She still only has her 4 teeth (and I don't see any new ones on their way yet), but she puts them to good use.  As I was holding her as she sat on the kitchen counter the other day, she turned right around and grabbed an apple from the fruit basket.  I was curious too see what she would do with it and was really impressed when I found this on the ground a little while later...

I can hardly believe it, but I am now starting to think about her 1 year birthday party.  Oh my gosh, the time is just coming way too quickly.  Our little baby girl is almost a toddler!

Over the last week my mom and brother took to spend time with us, but mainly to see Eva.  It has been almost 6 months since we've all been together, so it was about time to get some quality time again.  They only had 4 full days here, so we had to cram as much time as possible.  On Tuesday, while Dana was hard at work, the rest of us put on our Web Design Solutions Tshirts and paid Dana a visit to have lunch together...

On Wednesday, I took full advantage of having Granny to babysit, for Derek and I spent the day together at the beach, then Dana and I ended the night with a date downtown.  I had so much fun doing both, bonding with my bro and my husband, while Granny and Eva bonded at home.  It was so nice :)

On Thursday, Dana took the day off to spend with all of us, so we spent the day at the zoo.  I think we all agree that it was the best trip to the zoo that any of us has been on and for many different reasons.  First, the weather was perfect, it was cool with the sun just slightly peaking, which meant all the animals were out to play.  Second, summer is gone and it was a week day so there weren't many other people there (you could get up close to animal).  And third, Eva LOVED seeing all the animals, and even got to pet a few herself...

She enjoyed standing next to the glass and getting a really good look at everything...

All in all, it was the perfect day for all of us.

When we weren't out and about, we spent alot of time at home entertaining Eva (or letting Eva entertain us).  Uncle Derek and Granny spent every waking minute that they could keeping that little girl happy.  She absolutely loved the added attention.

Before we had to say our good-byes, Dana arranged a Happy Hour with the Web Design Solutions team and extended the invitations to friends and family.  We all got together for some appetizers and a few drinks.  It was the perfect end to the work week for the team and nice to have all the spouses meet one another...here is some of the group:

And one of my brother and I:

Early Saturday morning it was time for Granny and Uncle Derek to leave.  When we woke up, they were gone and the house was empty.  It was hard to feel their absence, but I will just cherish the wonderful time we all had together and look forward to next time. 

We had a nice and relaxing weekend catching up with house chores and hanging at the house...On Saturday, we walked to our local park, layed a blanket out, and relaxed under a shade tree with the kids.  While we were laying there, Eva kept standing up on her own, and then would fall seconds later.  But she kept doing it over and over and over again, each time gaining more standing time.  Then, she even attempted a step forward, and I kid you not, Dana got a picture of the action!

This baby girl is going to be walking very soon!

Another thing Eva's been doing alot of is climbing.  She wants to climb on anything and everything!  It was a good thing we took her to the park because there was plenty for her to climb there.  Daddy took her over to the little slide and rather than try to slide down, she kept insisting on climbing up instead.  I was very impressed with how well she did.  Daddy only kept his hands near to catch her if she fell, but she made it up all by herself!

Seperate from our weekend, I have a couple other pictures that I thought were too cute to not share.  This one is Eva resting with her favorite pillow.  She loves this thing.  She lays her head on it when she gets tired, she sits on it on my lap while I read to her, she wrestles with it, and tries to throw it to Rocky to play (that doesn't go over very well).  She just loves her Bumble Bee Pillow.  Grandma knew what she was doing when she got it for Eva..

And here's another picture of her clapping proudly on her knees...

Until next time...

Eva turned 10 months old this last Sunday.  I can barely believe it, but it's true.  She is weighing in at about 20 lbs and 29".  She is so much fun these days and really lights up our home.  She is constantly on the move, making us laugh, and making Rocky growl.  She continues to make more sounds and tries forming words.  If I listen well enough, I can notice her copying alot of the words that I say, or at least trying to form the sounds and put it together to make a word. 

She continues to get closer and closer to walking.  She will now pull her hands away when in a standing position and manage to stand for a few seconds before falling on her butt (but she now falls very gracefully).  She also balances on her knees quite a bit and can do it for a long time...

Knowing she'll be walking soon and since Fall is here, I wanted to get her some shoes that would keep her feet warm and have a rubber sole to walk on.  I couldn't resist these adorable baby Sauconys, for I too wear this brand.  We thought it would be fun to try them out, even if they are a little big on her...

Along with gearing up to walk, Eva has also learned how to climb stairs.  She actually mastered this skill about a month ago, but now we really have to keep our eye on her when we are outside because we have concrete stairs in both the front and the back of our house and she will bolt right to them and climb them as fast as possible if we can't get to her in time.  If she does get away with it, we are focusing on trying to show her how to get down the stairs safely.  Until she understands that, stairs will be off limits.

For fun, Eva is really enjoying things that we can do together.  She LOVES balls. We have one small ball at the house and we roll it back and forth to each other.  Its lots of fun...she hasn't quite mastered the rolling part yet, for she doesn't understand letting go of the ball, but somehow it always manages to roll back to me.  And, with all the her energy, if the ball doesn't make it to me, she loves chasing it, so less work for me!

Lastly, since the Chargers lost last weekend, Eva decided to change it up and rock out some GB Packer gear this last Sunday...have to share the pic of her Wisconsin pride

And it worked because both Green Bay and San Diego won!!

Dana, Eva, Rocky, and myself had a nice weekend at home.  We took a couple walks, caught up on chores, and welcomed a few visitors.  On Saturday, Dalina came to catch up, tell me about her honeymoon and give Eva some adorable new clothes...

Sunday, it was time for Eva to put on her Chargers dress and cheer on her favorite football team with Paulette, Bo, and Kyle, who joined us in watching the game...(Yes, she is grabbing for that Heineken--she is a quarter Gazdik, you know)

But, better than what we did for the weekend, Eva would like to share with you that she got her 3rd tooth!  Yes indeed, that little bugger finally came through.  Its been bugging her since we were visiting in Michigan and it finally made its appearance last Thursday...And, I even managed to get a pic (Maybe not the most picture worthy face, but at least you can see her teeth)!

Now-a-days, Eva's favorite toy is not a rattle, or the monkey that does tricks, or books that make noises, or the jumperoo, or the entertainment set, or her puzzles, no, no, its the tupperware cabinet...

She will scurry away to this cabinet as fast as she can at every chance she can get.  She loves opening the door, checking out what's inside, then pulling it all out and scattering it all over the floor.  I debated for a quick minute about whether I would set boundaries and not let her do this, but this cabinet gives me soooo much time to do other things.  And, not to mention that it is very cheap entertainment for Eva.

Along with playing with the tupperware, she is also really starting to understand me and communicating with me.  It amazes me!  She definetly understands the word "no", and depending on her mood, she'll either laugh at me and do it anyway, or calmly stop what she's doing and move on to something else.  She is also spending much more time watching my facial expressions and copying sounds that I make.  She'll watch my mouth as I make a sound, then start doing it herself.  We have lots of fun doing this together.  As I mentioned last week, she will clap whenever I ask her to clap, and now it seems that she is listening to every word I say in hopes that I say "Clap".  She just loves clapping those hands and looks for every reason to do so.

Playing with Rocky has progressed a little.  She gets very excited to go say hi to him when he is laying on the couch.  He still doesn't like it, but she still doesn't care that he doesn't like it.  She laughs so hard when he growls at her.  You know the saying "Kill him with kindness"?  Well, I'm pretty sure that is her approach with him.  He's got to give in some day! (Pic below says it all, haha)

  Anyway, she is trying very hard to interact with him and play with his toys.  She will take his toy and reach out to him in hopes that he will play tug of war.

Every once in a while he'll give in and play, and when he does, It is just so cute to watch!

And, while we are busy playing in our house, Dana's bees have been busy in theirs as well.  I'm sure you've been wondering how things are going, and here is the answer...

Fresh honey and honeycomb is on its way :)

This last weekend was by far one of the most relaxing weekends that we have spent as a family.  Since we just got back from our trip to Michigan, we decided that we just needed to hang low and do whatever we wanted at our own pace.  It was just what we all needed.  On Saturday, Felipe called to let us know he was in town for the week, and he stopped by to catch up and see how much Eva has grown and changed since the last time.  Eva was a little shy at first, but it didn't take her long to warm up to Felipe.

On Sunday, Dana spent much of the early day out in the yard.  Of course he has a million and one different projects going on back there, and I stopped wondering what they were long ago.  But, when I saw him put on this suit (pic below), I had to wonder what was going on...

Yes, my friends, thats what you call a Bee Suit.  Why, you might ask?  Well, its because Dana found it very necessary to become a Bee Keeper.  He ordered a nest a few weeks back, and just recently put it together.  He looks like a pretty big goofball, if you ask me.

And, while he was playing with bees, Eva, Rocky, and myself were playing in our patio area.  We just got some foam flooring to lay out for Eva, and they had alphabet cutouts, so we had a little fun with them...

And, we certainly didn't forget Rocky

On Monday morning, we went for a walk and got breakfast.  On our way home we heard some thunder (in San Diego?  I know!!) and by the time we got home, it started pouring out.  It was crazy because rain in the summer is a rarity here.  And, best yet, it was still really warm out.  So, we went outside and sat on the swing on our patio and watched as the rain came down.  While Dana and I tried not to get wet, Eva couldn't wait to check it out.  She was so interested in the rain dropping down, she just couldn't resist touching it.  She was crawling to every puddle and drip she could find.  She was clapping so hard and for so long with the biggest smile on her face.

And, speaking of clapping, she just started clapping a few hours before this picture.  Now that she's figured it out, she just doesn't want to stop.  I just love watching her clapping and smiling and so, so happy.

Clapping wasn't the only thing she was witnessed doing for the first time.  Monday night, she started sharing with me.  She had a pacifier in her mouth and I took it from her and put it in my mouth.  She thought it was so funny, she came over to me, grabbed it from my mouth and then put it in her mouth.  Then, she took it out of her mouth and put it back in my mouth and started laughing.  She kept doing it a few more times, it was so fun.  She sure is getting smart fast.  I mean, I always knew she was a smart girl, but to see the things she catches on to all amazes me.

Until next weekend, enjoy!

Dana, Eva, and myself were finally able to make a trip to Michigan so Eva could meet more of her family.  The last time we saw everyone was at our wedding, so we were really excited for the visit, and really excited to introduce everyone to our new addition.  Since we were there for a week, there were many people to visit with and much time to relax with the ones we love.

Right when we got to town, we settled in to Mom and Dad's house and got to see the addition to their house.  As soon as we were settled, Eva got to meet her Aunt Kelly and Uncle Chris for the very first time...

And, along with Aunt Kelly and Uncle Chris came four cousins that she hadn't seen.  They were so excited to get their hands on Eva, and she just loved the attention.

Trinity and Eva (below)

Reese and Eva (below)

Brett and Aunt Kelly showing Eva how to play with the Sesame Street toy

Brynn helping in whatever way she could (feeding, changing diapers, changing Eva's clothes--whatever she could do, she did it!)

A very important visit we had was with Grandma Rose.  Dana was very excited to introduce her to her 43rd Great-Grandchild.  She just loved Eva and they even happened to be matching!

A very special moment for Dana and myself was to introduce Cliff to our baby girl, for if you remember, he was the one who married us two short years ago.  So, showing him how much our life has grown since that very special day meant alot to both of us.

Aside from family, we also had a few friends that we were anxious to see.  Darik has been working for Dana for the past couple years, still living in the midwest, but they have so many phone conversations that they have become great friends.  Darik and wife Robyn have four kids and always share their parenthood experiences with us, so we couldn't wait to get together and introduce our children to one another.  Here is our group shot:

One night, Dad got our his 1959 Corvette to take for a spin...and then he gave Dana the honors to drive it himself and take me for a ride around town.  They watched Eva as Dana and I took a tour of his homeland and enjoyed the beautiful weather.

One of my favorite shots was Eva and Buddy.  Eva just LOVED Buddy.  She would start flapping her arms, jumping up and down, and squealing every time she would see him.  He, on the other hand, didn't want to have anything to do with her.  Everytime she would crawl towards him, he would get up and move...but when it came to watching outside, he just stood next to her while the two of them watched the passersby outside.

Our last time to see Chris, Kelly, and the kids was an outing at their local ice cream shop.  I set the camera up and managed to get a pretty good group shot...if only Eva was looking

We had a great time in Michigan, got to spend some much needed quality time with family, Mom and Dad threw us a "meet the baby" party so all the extended family and friends got to meet Eva, we had beautiful weather, a few nights out to dinner, time in the hot tub, rest and relaxation, ate tons of good food, and just had so much fun overall.  It was a much needed visit, and we are so happy that we made it happen.  Thank you to all who came out to meet Eva, we love you and miss you already!

I don't think this blog post requires any description...

Time is moving pretty quickly, and as you can see below, Eva is no longer the delicate little baby she once was,  she is just steps away from entering the toddler world.  During Eva's 9 month birthday, we were visiting Dana's family in Michigan...so I thought, how cute would it be to use Dana's old baby blanket and have Eva sitting in a chair that Dana once sat in when he was young.  I loved the idea and think it turned out perfectly.

At 9 months old, Eva is weighing in at 19 1/2 lbs and measures about 29".  I can see a tremendous growth spurt in her last couple weeks because she went from fitting her 9 month clothing comfortably to all of a sudden being too long.  That means more new cute clothes for her to wear :)

Eva has many new things happening lately, and most of them were noticed when we were in Michigan, so others were able to witness them as well.  First, she has been going through a growling phase, which consists of using her lowest voice possible to growl at everyone around her.  I'm not sure, but we're thinking she got it from her brother, Rocky.  Its been pretty funny to listen to her when she is in "growl" mode. 

We've also been trying to work with her to learn how to wave bye-bye.  She's starting to get the hang of it, for you can see her fingers start moving whenever we wave.  And, she even raised her hand and started waving right at Daddy once.  It was so cute.  She was sitting so straight and smiling so big while she looked across the table at Dana with her hand in the air and fingers moving.

Grandma taught her how to play peek-a-boo, which she absolutely loves.  They played it almost every day that they had together, it was the cutest thing to watch.  Grandma would really get her going, and she would giggle so much.  It was the perfect bonding experience for both of them.

Eva has started spinning  around in a cirlce.  When her Aunt Kelly noticed her doing it on Grandma's kitchen floor, she told us that Reese (Eva's cousin) also use to do it at that age, so they nicknamed him Taz.  Now Eva is taking over the Taz moves.

She has been daring enough to try and stand on her own.  We have witnessed her stand while holding something and then just let go a few times now.  Its scary for us, feeling like we need to jump in and grab her, but we know this is just part of her process in moving forward with walking and standing on her own. 

She has begun eating finger foods, which she seems to really enjoy, but boy does it make a mess for mommy.  I am now sweeping and mopping 3x a day, and eating a meal has become much much longer.  Her favorites have been Cherrios and banana.

Lastly, Eva is now starting to become a bit bashful and not as easy for anyone to grab her.  She needs a little warming up before she is comfortable in a strangers arms and has now started crying for mommy if she is unsure of who she is with.  But, rest assured, it is still extremely easy to get a smile out of her.  Eva is always smiling and laughing and happy-go-lucky. 

I love spending my days with Eva, she is just so much fun and happy to be around.  She loves to get me to chase her around the house, likes to walk while I hold her hands (boy is my back getting a work out), and tries to play with Rocky whenever she gets close to him...she is just a joy, I can't get enough of her.

I can hardly believe it, but yes, our little Eva is 8 months old today.  She has grown a considerable amount, and as you can tell by the picture, she isn't looking so "baby" anymore.  She has become more and more entertaining for Daddy, Rocky, and myself.  We are all having so much fun together.  Now that she is crawling, Eva is getting into just about everything and exploring new things.  She is also constantly scoping out places where she can pull herself up to stand...

Rocky and her have been working on their "love/hate" relationship also.  Now that she is eating rice puffs, she gets excited about her treat as Rocky does...

When Rocky runs out to go potty, Eva waits by the door for Rocky's return (and Rocky waits outside the door until Eva can't be seen, lol)...

Rocky is finally starting to learn how to play with his toys with Eva, and Eva is starting to learn how to hold on...

Our little Eva is making us proud every day...I love to watch her determination, her smiles, and her little body crawling all over to explore the world around her.  Cheers to 8 happy and healthy months!

Saying that Eva would be walking by this week wasn't too far from the truth.  She wants it BAD...which means, yes, she is already pulling up and trying to stand.  The other day I watched her try so hard to get around her chair and work her way into getting up to the plants...because they just looked oh so tasty.

Since she has discovered pulling up and standing, she is constantly looking for the next challenge.

On her down time, when she's actually satisfied with "just" crawling, she is having a ton of fun with Rocky.  She chases him all over the house, laughing the whole time.  Rocky?  Not so much.  He isn't running for fun.  He wants to get far far away from her.  Little does he know that jumping through the doggy door to get outside probably isn't going to work for much longer.

And, when Eva has finally given up on Rocky, she now helps herself to her toy box...

Our baby girl isn't so baby anymore.  It seems like just yesterday she was still in my belly.

And speaking of Eva in my belly, as you may remember, Dana and I took Lamaze classes to prepare for the birth.  In our class, we hit it off with another couple, Melinda and Andy, who were expecting a boy just a few days after us.  Thanks to text messaging and Facebook we have been able to stay in touch with them and finally managed a meetup over the weekend. Here is the adorable family...

We met up for Brunch at Karl Strauss (one of our all-time faves) and had a great time together...

Aiden and Eva loved each other!  We agreed that next time we have to get them together somewhere where they can roll around together and play.  Being that they are both super smiley babies, they are just going to have a blast together....

I think it's every first time mom's hopes to meet someone in their birthing class that they can meet and stay in touch with, so I've been really excited that not only were we able to get together, but that we got along so well that we are hoping to make it a much more frequent thing.  The mom's got along, the dad's have began their bromance, and the babies, well, the picture above speaks for itself.  We can't wait for next time!!

The day we've been waiting for has finally arrived?  Well, a couple different things we've all been waiting for has finally arrived.  One, on July 2nd, Eva started crawling.  Eva was across the room from me and saw the toy I had in my hand.  She started to crawl as she had been doing alot, but where where she would usually stop and sit up for a breather, she hesitated and just kept coming at me until she reached the toy.  Yay, Eva!  She didn't even seem too impressed with her own accomplishment, but mommy was!  Here she is in action:

Funny thing is, now that she showed me she can crawl, she wants to walk!  She keeps trying to stand up (and without even holding on to anything) and once she realizes she can't stand yet she thinks "Fine!  I'll just crawl then...boring!", haha.  Thats my girl, determined as ever.  Luckily, she isn't the only one eager to have her walking.  Her cousins are as determined as she is to make it happen.  Here is Kierce, showing her how to take steps.

That other exciting thing we've been waiting for?  Teeth!  Yes, Eva's two lower front teeth have cut through the gums and made an appearance.  July 5th was the first I noticed of her first tooth, and today I noticed the 2nd one.  Yay for teeth, not Yay for teething.  Thank goodness for Aunt Heather and finding a great homeopathic remedy that has been helping. Before then, the family was not sleeping very well.  As soon as I can get a good picture, I'll be sure to share.  In the meantime, here's a cute picture of Eva putting those teeth to some use :)

And, lastly, over the weekend our friend, Elisa gave Eva her first taste of watermelon and she loved it!  In fact, she loved it so much that if you dared to take it away from her she was very vocal about getting back into her mouth. 

Be on the lookout for next weeks blog when I start talking about molars and Eva's first steps...haha, I hope not!

Dana, Eva, and myself have had a fun and busy weekend out and about.  One of Dana's programmers, Kyle and his girlfriend, Vanessa, flew into San Diego on their way back to Florida from Hawaii.  He has been working for Dana for quite some time now and they had yet to ever meet in person.  The visit was great because Kyle got to work a day in the office and we also got to hang out on a double date to get to know each other on a personal level.  We had lunch, including a pitcher of Sangria, at The Prado in Balboa Park.  It was great company and so nice to have two extra set of hands to hold Eva...

Here we are as a group:

After lunch, we walked around the park for a little bit and even managed to get a family picture :)

It ended up being a beautiful day with the sun shining, so after leaving the park, we all met up with some of our family down at the beach.  Cousin Lorie's nephew, Kyle, was visiting from Michigan, so a big group of us hung at the beach.  Right when we got there, Aunt Lorie grabbed Eva right out of our arms and started playing with her in the sand.  It's hard to tell who was having more fun, they just loved playing together...

Tyler also took his turn meeting Eva and holding her for a bit.  To try and figure out the relationship is a bit of a challenge.  Tyler's mom is Dana's cousin, so what would that make Eva and Tyler?  3rd cousins? Hmmm....regardless, he was so good with her and she loved having the extra attention on her.

While down by the water, I got a happy family picture...

And, then it was time to go.  We had a long day, but got to spend it with so many special people....and tonight?  Headed to Phil's BBQ with the Janis family and the Palladinos....Yum, yum!!

Time is flying by and little Eva is growing into quite the little girl.  She is weighing in at about 16.5 lbs and measuring in at 28.25"

She has accomplished many firsts and just keeps on going.  In the last week, we went to Target and tried out sitting in the shopping cart.  She seemed to enjoy it for a while, especially once she got hold of Elmo bandaids...but as soon as she started getting tired, she had enough.  I did, however, manage to catch a pic while she was still happy.

And, since that went so well, we also decided to try her out in a high chair while we were out to eat.  That, too, went about the same.  She loved it right up until she felt like she needed a nap.

We had to keep going with all these new things for her to try, so we went to the beach and let her play in the sand.  Now this she absolutely loved.  She just couldn't stop running the sand through her hands while smiling and laughing with Aunt Lorie. 

Daddy also took her to touch her toes in the ocean water for the very first time.  She didn't even same phased by how cold it was.  I wonder if we have a mermaid on the way?  Hmm.

And, lastly, a new first accomplishment!  While I have been waiting everyday to see if it will be "The Day" that Eva will finally figure out how to crawl forward, she decided to throw Mommy and Daddy for a loop and try something different.  I've noticed in the last few days that she kept getting into the crawl position and then lift one arm and wave it around.  Then, last night, she took her arm and her leg from the same side and kept trying to flip it over.  Finally, this morning as I started writing this post, she whipped her arm and leg around and shifted herself up into the sitting position.  I even managed to get a quick picture :)

Eva impresses us so much everyday with all of her strength and might.  She is a very determind little girl...what will this next month bring?

We have had so many new and exciting things going on, I can't wait to share it all with you.  To start, Father's Day was last Sunday and it was Dana's very first.  Eva, Rocky, and I wanted him to feel very special so we did everything we could to make his day enjoyable for him.  It started in the morning when we gave Daddy a couple thoughtful gifts...then, we got ready and headed out for Breakfast at Prepkitchen in Del Mar.  We continued our journey back up to the Botanical Gardens that we went to last weekend, for we still had some area that we hadn't covered.  We took our time, just enjoying time with Daddy.

We were even lucky enough to get a family picture :)

On Monday, Eva had her very first swim lessons.  I have been so excited about the lessons because she loves splashing during bathtime, so I thought being in a big pool would give her more room to splash.  And, I found her an adorable little bathing suit so I just couldn't wait to see her in it.  Daddy watched from the sidelines to take pictures and Eva and I took our first dip together.  The second I hit the water with her, her legs started kicking so fast.  I think she really liked it.  We learned how to blow bubbles, kick our feet, chase the rubber ducky, and go underwater.  Eva is one of the youngest in the group, and the lessons are geared more towards the older toddlers, but she really did well and we had a ton of fun together.

Here's Daddy and Eva before we started:

And, Eva and I right after she went underwater:

After swim lessons on Monday, we came home and showered in just enough time to welcome the Janis family to San Diego.  Most of you know already, but Dana's sister, Heather, her husband, Ryan, and three kids, Rowan, Kierce, and Merrick moved to San Diego.  It's been alot of planning and prepping for the last few months and now they have finally arrived!  It was an emotional moment when I first greeted them, and once things calmed down a bit, we all came into our house so everyone could see each other and the kids got to meet their cousin, Eva, for the very first time. 

Merrick and Eva playing:

Rowan and Eva the next morning.  Rowan wanted to hold her the second she woke up :)  If that isn't cousin love, I don't know what is:

And, Kierce did a great job making sure Rocky didn't feel left out.  You can tell he really liked the attention, he was so happy resting in her lap:

I have a few cute pictures of Eva from this last week that I just have to share...

This picture is something I've been waiting for to capture because she is doing it all the time.  Thats right folks, Mom has her trained to do pushups.  Ten every day...no surprise, right?  ;)  In reality, Eva still isn't crawling, but she really really wants to SOOO bad and she manages to get all the way on her fingertips and toes, but just can't seem to figure out how to move forward.  Every day I wonder, will today be the day?

Eva got to swing at the park for the first time this last Monday.  While the Janis family was at their new apartment unloading everything, I got to keep Merrick with me so I could have some extra hands with Eva.  We put her in the swing, and Merrick pushed his baby cousin very gently...Unforunately, she didn't seem to enjoy it very much.  But, I think once she spends enough time with Merrick she will start to get the hang of it.

Lastly, Eva will kill me when she's older for posting this picture, but I just have to...So, I hear that some babies get very runny poop when they are teething.  There's no scientific evidence to back it up, but I think this picture will.  As I was feeding Eva, everything that went in was coming out the backend.  This was already the 4th time in the last hour or two, but this was the most unbelievable.  She had it coming out of every seam of her diaper...And, seemed completely unphased by it.  She just kept on eatin'. 

I'm not sure how long it will take before her teeth appear, but her gums are really swollen and she is ready for those things to cut through.  Poor girl :(

Dana and I were looking forward to this last weekend because we planned to get out of the house and try something new.  I found the perfect idea, so on Sunday, we headed to the Quail Botanic Gardens in Encinitas, California.  We walked around for a few hours, checking out all the neat plants, trees, and flowers.  It was beautiful out and the day was very enjoyable.
And Of course, I could see a checklist formulating in Dana's head as to what trees he still wants to get. 

We conquered a big chunk of the gardens, but still had quite a bit left to see and we were getting hungry and tired, so we vowed to go back and finish our adventures...but before that happened, we got to see some really cool bamboo

And a couple really pretty little waterfalls...

There were so many photographic moments and I tried my best to capture them all, you can view all our pictures from the day by clicking here.

Now I can talk to you about little Miss Eva Pie.  Boy is this little girl making changes!  First of all, her hair is starting to get a big longer...I even managed to put it up in a ponytail.  Haha.  I can't wait until the day I get to do her hair.

She is getting big enough and strong enough that we finally upgraded her to a big girl stroller.  We use to put her in the car seat that latched onto the top of the stroller, but now she's in the stroller all by herself, and loves it!  She kicks her feet the whole time (which means she's happy) and looks at all her surroundings.  She would live in that stroller if she could :)

Over the weekend, I also moved the coffee table from our living room off to the side and threw a big blanket on the floor to see what Eva would do.  Well, that girl is a movin' these days!  It took her about 2 minutes total to get from the center of the blanket to wedged between our front stand and speaker...and, how, you may ask?  Well, its because she is crawling backwards!  I'm telling you, this girl wants to crawl and she wants it bad.  She could care less about sitting up or anything else, she just wants to crawl!

And, she wants to be heard!  "Yayayayaya!  Dadadadadada! Mamamamama!" Its non-stop all day long.  Talkin', talkin', talkin'.  It is so cute to listen to her.  Music to my ears :)

This is a quick blog only to share some cute pictures from the weekend.  Eva's highchair arrived on Friday and I couldn't wait to put it to use...

Eva seemed to like it and get use to the idea of it pretty quickly.  As for the green beans, well, I can't say the same.  She didn't like them and dreaded every spoonful.  She sure had fun spitting it out of her mouth...

Today, Eva got to wear one of her new outfits...and sunglasses to match (thanks, Natalie and Norah for the sunglasses).  This is just too cute

She soon took them off because she couldn't wait to start sunbathing with her brother...I love this picture :)

We hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend...Now let the sun keep shining and the hot summer weather finally arrive :)

It has been half a year since my baby girl was born, SIX short months, I just can't believe it!

She shows more and more personality everyday, and brings joy to Dana and I at every moment in time.  She has grown to 25 3/4" ,and weighing about 14ish lbs (we'll find out for sure next week at the doc).  We started introducing solids a couple weeks ago.  She is not responding well to rice cereal, but she absolutely loves squash and is starting to like apples and bananas.  When we sit her up, she can stay in the sitting position for quite a while (as long as she isn't distracted)

And, she just doesn't like laying still.  She wants to move!  She is getting closer and closer to crawling.  She is also starting to grow out of her 3-6 month clothes and entering into a whole new wardrobe of cute clothes.  Happy Six Month Birthday to you, my baby girl.  Mommy and Daddy love you so much!

Over the last week, Heather and Ryan flew out to stay with us so they could begin the process of moving their family out here in the next month.  They were on a mission to find the best school for the kiddos and start apartment shopping in the neighborhood they wanted to live in.  The most exciting part of their stay was that Eva got to meet her Aunt Heather and Uncle Ryan for the first time. (Look at how well Ryan is multi-tasking...Nice work, Ryno!)

By day 3 of their stay, Heather had found the perfect school for the kids to attend and the apartment they wanted in Ocean Beach.  What a relief!  The next few days was getting everything together and ready to make their move as easy as possibly....and, when there was a little down time, Aunt Heather wanted Eva-Bear in her arms as much as possible.  Those two sure did create quite the bond.  :)

While us girls were holding down the fort, the guys were hard at work at WDS.  As soon as they walked through the door after work, though, they couldn't wait to unwind for the day...

This visit to SD was giving us a glimpse of what things will be like when they are finally living so close to us.  Only, when they return, they will have three cousins for Eva to play with and I will have two nieces and one nephew to cuddle, play with, and enjoy.  I can't wait! 

Now that we are back home, we've been quick to get back in to the swing of things.  Since we were away for Mother's Day, Dana wanted to treat me to a night out to dinner once we were back in San Diego.  We chose Joe's Crab Shack, as it's one of our favorite restaurants and very accomodating to small children/babies.  Even though it was a casual dinner, I still wanted to get Eva a little dressed up just for fun.  How cute is she?

And, one with me for my special day :)

This last Saturday, we went to our friends, Dalina and Brad's new place for a BBQ.  To our surprise, we were not the only people there with a baby, in fact, we were the only parents there with only one!  It was a fun time for we got to hang out with other parents, eat really yummy food and, and just relax.  Eva did so good the whole day.  Everyone commented on how smiley and happy she was.  She just loved being held by mom and dad and checking out all the action.

Here is the cute couple getting things ready in the kitchen

And, here is Dalina with our precious little girl

Thank you so much for the delicious food and great party, Brad and Dalina!

It's been a while since I've updated you all on Eva news.  She is getting stronger than ever.  She is very alert and completely aware of all her surroundings.  She wants to see everything and touch anything in her reach.  She grabs whatever she can as quick as possible.  She is throwing toys over her shoulder.  She has started putting her arms out when she wants to be held, and will also show some shyness if she doesn't want you to hold her.  She is very aware of her name and always looks when called (unless she just doesn't want to).  She is not crawling yet, but manages to move around quite a bit.  She rolls over very quickly and I often times find her on her belly when she goes down for her naps.  She smiles and laughs all day long, which brings joy to everyone around her.  I mean, hello, who doesn't feel warm and fuzzy inside when they can make a baby smile?  She is our pride and joy, I love you Eva Veronica!

The days are flying by and Eva is growing fast.  She has turned 5 months old today!

She is weighing in at about 14 lbs and measuring 25 1/2" long.  She is gaining personality and is often complimented on how easy it is to get a smile out of her.  She loves playing in her jumperoo, petting her brother Rocky, exploring outside, and rolling over and attempting to crawl.  She laughs at her goofy Mommy and Daddy, uses her voice to yell and squeal, and blows bubbles with her spit.  She is our pride and joy, she couldn't make us any happier.

Here's to another month with our beautiful daughter, Eva Veronica.  We love you, baby girl!

Hoppy Hoppy Easter, Everyone!  While it was just the four of us for Easter this year, we still knew how to celebrate...with lots and lots of chocolate! We started off our morning taking a few pictures with Eva and all her Easter baskets.  Granny sent her a butterfly basket filled with goodies, Grandma and Grandpa sent a basket of plants, Frank and Vera (our neighbors) gave her a little bunny basket, and what did mom and dad do?  We gave her a basket full of chocolate...then helped her by eating it all ;)

I think Eva had more fun grabbing at the colored grass in the baskets then anything else.  Oh, and did you notice her outfit?  Thanks to Granny, she had a special Easter outfit to wear, looking as adorable as ever.  Look at that little butt :)

We managed to get out of the house for a bit, getting brunch at Terra Restaurant,which just opened a few blocks from our house.  We had a great experience and even had a good chat with the owner/chef who said he would love to use our produce for his menu and could treat us to dinner in return.  Talk about a good deal!!  For those who ever plan to visit us, be sure to have us take you here for a wonderful, affordable, delicious experience.

Anyway, on Saturday, Daddy treated Eva to another one-on-one Home Depot trip.  Eva put on her overalls and couldn't wait to get out the door.  They came home with beautiful flowers, which Daddy said Eva picked out all by her self. Here she is showing me just how she picked the flowers. I think she really has a thing for purple...

And, the last picture to share...a picture of Eva with Daddy right when he is done with work.  He just can't wait to get his hands on his little girl as soon as he walks through the door...

While friends and family back home were experiencing Springtime snow, we were given a blazin' hot Saturday.  Temperatures were hitting the low 90's, it would've been a shame to avoid it.  Dana had yard work he wanted to get done, so the rest of the family joined him outside to enjoy the sun.  Eva spent the day in a diaper, me in a bathing suit, and Rocky decided to keep his winter coat on ;)  We listened to the radio, played with toys on the patio, and took naptime on the swing (well, Rocky and Eva did--I had to stay awake and supervise so nobody fell off while they were snoozin')

While playing on the patio I had to snap a pic of these cute little monkey toes.  And, when I say monkey toes, I mean Monkey Toes!  This girl doesn't even need her hands, her toes do all the grabbing for her. 

When dusk approached, we spread a blanket out and enjoyed laying in the grass because the weather was still warm and we knew the sun wasn't out to get us...I love this picture, me with my babies.

In other Eva news, she has also taken on the rolling over move quite a bit in this last week.  I can't lay her on her back for more than five minutes without her rolling over.  She is getting very desperate and determined to start crawling.  You can see the frusteration in her face when she just can't move!!  I better start baby proofing :)

Lastly, here is a picture of Eva taking it easy, kicking back, watching a little Sesame Street.  I think we are going to have a little Elmo lover on our hands :)

Over this last weekend, Eva and I hosted a baby shower for my good friend, Elizabeth at our house.  Elizabeth and her husband, Sam, are expecting their first child (a baby boy) this June.  Elizabeth had thrown my baby shower for Eva last year, so I couldn't wait to return the favor when she became pregnant.  Me, along with two other close friends and her sister-in-law coordinated the shower on Sunday, which turned out to be a perfectly beautiful day and well planned overall.  Here is the coordinating group, along with the mommy-to-be (me, Kristen, Elizabeth, Bertha, and Jaime):

The day was lots of fun.  It's always nice getting together with a group of girls to have some fun.  And, it gave Dana the opportunity to get out and have a little guy fun (don't ask me what that entails, all I know is he was out being a guy, doing what guys like to do together).  Anyway, we had a great spread of food, played some fun games, and watched Elizabeth open a great variety of gifts from everyone.  Some of us even got to feel Baby Agia move!  I have to admit, it kind of made me miss pregnancy (don't get any crazy ideas).  Nothing like feeling your baby moving around inside (I know, Ashley, no need to reply, I already know what you're thinking (wink,wink)). Here we are, getting some baby action:

Baby Agia was kind enough to share some of his attention with Eva during the party.  Being that she was the only baby girl there, people couldn't wait to get their hands on her, including Grandma Agia, who is welcoming her first grandchild...she was so good with Eva.  And, she made a prediction that our next baby will be a boy...Hmm

Eva couldn't wait to get into Elizabeth's arms, for she got all dressed up just for her...you can tell she was so happy to be held next to her future friend.

And, of course, a picture of me and my baby girl.

Eva updates for the week:  She has been an extremely happy baby, who has been given several compliments on her calm, happy, smiley demenour.  She is becoming very active and moving around in any way that she can.  She is really focusing on things to grab, and show interest in just about anything that she can get into her mouth, including her feet:

(Despite what the pic may look like, Dana is not helping her by shoving her foot into her mouth, she really is doing all the work.  Quite flexible, I would say)

She is also moving around alot in her crib.  She ends up in the funniest places sometimes, but at the same time, seems to be able to entertain herself more while hanging out in there when waking up from her naps.  Here is a pic of how I found her the other day.  When I set her down, she was perpendicular to what you see here and in the middle of the crib.  How she got to where she is is beyond me.

Well, back to being a mom.  I hear Eva letting me know she is ready for some cuddlin' :)

We had a fun week, starting Wednesday, when my great friend Brooke came to visit from Colorado.  She was here for a wedding, but gave me the pleasure of staying a night at our house.  We were very excited to see her, not only because it had been since October, but also because she got to meet Eva for the first time!  As soon as Brooke got the opportunity, she grabbed Eva and gave her some love, and as you can see, Eva accepted :)

While Brooke was here, she managed to share her love with everyone, including...yup, you guessed it, Mr. Rocky.  He showed no restraint in cuddling with her in the morning.

Not only was she giving out love, but Brooke also used her magic powers to get Eva to do another first!!  Ladies and Gentlemen, Eva rolled over!!  Can you believe it?  She tried for so long and was getting so frusterated, and finally she flipped her leg over and gave all her might and finally rolled from her back to her belly.  It was so amazing to watch her accomplish her goal.  The next morning, Brooke sat with her and she did it again!  The sad thing is, I have yet to see her do it again, now that Brooke is gone.  Brooke must be the "baby whisperer".  Ha!  I'm sure she'll be back at it in no time.

Aside from Brooke, Eva also got to meet my friend and old Typhoon manager, Bryant.  Bryant and his wife, Faa, have a daughter, 3, so we have been sharing daughter moments with each other...And now, Bryant and Faa are also expecting twin boys in a few shorts weeks. (Eva was sleeping and opened her eyes right when I took the pic, otherwise Bryant would've been holding her)

On Friday, we took Eva in for her doctor's check up.  We got lots of good news.  One, she is starting to grow very fast lengthwise.  There was no surprise there, but happy to hear she is growing.  Two, she is teething!  Yup, the doctor pointed out that Eva's bottom teeth are starting to grow in.  I haven't seen anything pop up yet, but it would explain why she likes to bite down on everything.  She even leaves marks on my hands when she bites down.

I see so many changes in her demenour every day, I love it all.  She is becoming more of a cuddle-bug, where she use to only want to be held facing out.  She is starting to use her voice for more than crying.  But, one thing has never changed, she still gets the biggest smile on her face every time she sees or hears her daddy.

This last weekend was quite the adventure for Daddy and Eva.  They spent the entire weekend together, getting much needed one-on-one time.  Last week's trip to Target with the Baby Bjorn was just practice for this last weekend.  It was time for Daddy to take Eva out of the house on his own....where did they go?  Home Depot, of course!!  As they pulled out of the driveway, I was so proud and excited that they were able to have their time together, but nervous and out of my element, I had no idea what to do without baby.  I thought it was a perfect opportunity for Rocky and I to get some alone time at the park, and I even got a little work done.  Right as I started to grow impatient, in walks Daddy and Eva--all in one piece, Whew!  I wish I had a picture to share, but since I wasn't there, you will have to use your imagination. 

After Eva ate and woke from her nap, they went for round two, spending time out in the garden, planting the trees they bought together.  Here is Daddy teaching Eva how to tell if an orange is ready to be picked...

On Sunday, we went as a family to the Rolando Street Fair, which is right in our neighborhood.  We checked things out, ate naughty food, listened to some music and networked with a few of our neighbors...this is as good of a pic as I could get...and, I know, where's Rocky?  He was probably eating someone's food that fell to the ground.

What a fun weekend!  Dana: You are the best father in the world!  Eva had such a great time with you, and just to show you how much she loves you, she wore her WDS onesie with pride, just for you!

And, in other Eva news, she has found her thumb!!  She has shown so much interest in her hands in the last week or so, and now she will carefully examine them, only to always pick out that thumb and stick it in her mouth.  This is the closest picture I could get of her...

I guess we'll have a thumb sucker on our hands :)

Oh, and she is also ready to roll over so soon I can taste it.  She keeps grabbing her leg and rolling to a side, but just not quite interested enough to finish the job.  Hmm, I wonder how long it will be?

Eva Veronica Nevins!! 

Thats right readers, our little girl is 4 months old.  She is weighing in around 13.5 lbs and measuring 24.5" long.  Its unbelievable to see just how much she is changing, we can barely keep up with her transformation.  She is grabbing toys, becoming curious about her brother, Rocky, and making us smile more and more every day.  She is growing very strong, holding her head up very firmly, pushing with her legs at every opportunity, and using all her strength in any way that she can.

Since she has become so "grabby" and wants so bad to use those little legs, we decided to get yet another baby toy which will help with just that (she's still too small for the Johnny Jumpup).  I think she loves the new entertainment gym.  She takes her play time very seriously, analyzing the lights, listening to the music, grabbing at the toys, and bouncing with her legs (no, her legs don't reach yet, as you can see, but we put a pillow under her and away she goes).

She's also starting to fit into her 3-6 month clothing, so she has much more clothes to choose from.  One of my favorites are these overalls.  I think she likes them...(yes, they have pockets and she is using them :)  )

And here is Daddy's favorite.  He treated Eva to a shirt he picked out on his very own.  The shirt definitely speaks the truth.  Eva sure does love her daddy.

Although I don't normally blog about our work-life, I find it a bit necessary to let you know about our last week.  While I dove back in to the fashion world last Thursday and collaborated with a few fashion peeps to do a photo shoot, Dana had big things happening for WDS as well.  And, Eva got to be a part of it all.  During the photoshoot I took part in, I thought it would be the perfect time to start getting out with Eva and see how we would do out on the town without daddy to help.  I was hoping for a bubbly smiling little girl who couldn't help but entertain while we were working, but unfortunately she just wasn't having it.  It was nice to get out with her and luckily be working with a team of girls who love babies and didn't mind that she was crying for most of the time.  In fact, my friend, Jennafer even got a quick pic of her before she started to unfold.

After attempting to work for an hour, I finally threw in the towel and listened to Eva.  It was time to go.  But, it wasn't time to head home just yet.  In another part of town, Dana had almost his entire Web Design Solutions team in his office to meet, have lunch, and get some major work done.  Eva and I popped in on the scene so the WDS girls could all get their hands on the little girl that Dana has been talking so much about.

She first got to meet Emily and Kyle, who have just announced that they are expecting.  We got to talk babies, pregnancy, and everything in between.  They both loved on Eva and you could see in their eyes just how excited they were to be parents soon.  (Congrats, Em and Kyle...we are SOOO happy for you guys)

We then continued down the hall to Normandy, who is the newest addition to the team and also a friend of mine who last saw me when I was 7 1/2 months pregnant.

Lastly, but certainly not least, the first woman to make the WDS team, Paulette, got some quality time with Eva.

On Saturday I had a photographer come to the house to attempt to get a few shots of Eva.  The photographer, Ariana Drehsler, was so ambitious and ready for whatever Eva would allow.  She even bought Eva some cute little headbands (she wore one for the shoot).  It was a tough day for Eva, for she was wrapped in tulle and placed in the most uncomfortable positions, but Ariana did manage to get a couple good shots. The plan was to try and capture shots where Ariana could really emphasize just how beautiful Eva's eyes are.  And, well, I think that was accomplished.  I look at this picture of her and just can't believe it is really our baby girl! 

I also got a quick one of her not so happy, but still oh so cute:

On Sunday, I got to see a really good friend of mine, Megan, who was just in San Diego for a few hours.  I was lucky enough to be able to spend a couple of those hours with her.  We grabbed some lunch and spent a little time at our house before she had to take off on the train to LA.  It was so nice to get that little bit of time with her because she also got to meet Eva for the first time.  Here we are hanging out on our back patio:

Lastly, I would like to share a picture of Eva in her latest "new thing".  She has been sucking on her bottom lip like crazy along with making little razzing sounds accompanied with lots of drool.  Here she is in action:

Until next week....Enjoy and have a great day!

You read it right, folks, little Eva is 3 months old! 

She weighs in at 12 1/2 lbs and 23 3/4" long.  She is growing so fast and is showing more and more personality every day.  She is starting to make more noises and trying to talk to us all the time.  She is doing very well with tummy time and is able to left her head 90 degrees for a few minutes.  She has grown very interested in lights and now really loves her entertainment system, where there are strobe lights as she looks up.  She is kicking her feet quite a bit and loves standing (with our help, of course).  She  never wants to sit, always standing.  Today, we witnessed another new and exciting advancement.  We put a rattle in front of her and she kept grabbing at it and keeping her eye on it.  Soon enough, she'll be picking it up and playing with it :) 

She sure is a delight to have around.  Our little Eva makes us so proud. 

Happy Valentine's Day to all our family and friends. 

Kisses and Hugs,

Eva

We don't have any major changes to report about Eva, but she still shows tremendous strength more and more everyday, smiles so much all day long, and makes each day even more of a blessing than the day before. 

We have found a new love for the Baby Bjorn, as long as she is faced outward.  She loves looking around and bouncing from here to there.  And, sometimes she will even fall asleep, how cute is she here?

And, here we are cooking:

We've been reading a book every morning.  Not sure Eva is catching on yet, but we like our mornings together on the rocker.

Who doesn't like looking at a smiley baby?

And, it isn't just mommy and Eva.  She gets her time in with the boys, too.

She dresses like daddy sometimes, too

Boy oh boy, I just can't enough of this little girl.  :)

Thats right, folks, time is flying by fast...Miss Eva is two months old!! 

She went to the doctor last week for her 2 month check up where we found that she is ranking at 50% in all measurements, so she is right on track!  She now weighs 10 lbs 5 oz and is 22" long.  The doctor was very impressed with her strength and alertness, making mommy and daddy very proud.  She also got her immunizations, which might've been the hardest thing I've had to do with her to date.  I know every mom says it rips your heart out, but I didn't really think it would be anything...until I heard her cry.  It instantly brought tears to my eyes.  :(  But, she survived and is back to being a happy baby.

We had our last visit with the lactation consultant, Rose.  We have settled on a routine that will work best for all of us, which is a tremendous relief.  Nursing had been quite a challenge and took up much of our time, but now that we have found our routine, we have much more time in the day for walks and playtime.  Here is Rose, sending off Eva for her last visit.

Aside from the doctor's visits, we've also been much more comfortable getting out and about.  We now spend more time outside on walks which is probably my favorite thing because I love walking, and now that I know she loves it I can walk all day.  And, of course, it makes Rocky a very happy little boy, too.  I've also started reading to Eva.  In the mornings, after she's done eating, we sit in the rocking chair and read.  I'm not sure she fully understands what's going on yet, but she'll be following along in no time :)

Last week, we had a visitor come over to spend some time with us.  Unfortunetly, Eva slept the whole time, but it was great to catch up with my friend, Elisa. She was actually the very first person to meet Eva, so it was nice to show her just how much Eva has grown since she was born.  :)

Our days don't just consist of walks and visitors, though, for Dana has been really busy with work.  In order to help out, we thought about it long and hard and decided it was time to show Eva the ropes.  She is now the newest Sales Representative who is added to Web Design Solutions team.  If you are interested in any web development or design, she is the new "go to" girl.  

And, last but certainly not least...GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO PACKERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Sorry, Jennifer...da Bears lose...Booyah!)

While we have left the house with Eva a little bit here and there, we hadn't yet brought her to a gathering with other people.  Last weekend, we had our trial run.  Our neighbors, Pedro and Cynthia, threw a surprise birthday party for another neighbor, ET.  We were eager to go so that we could get to know our neighbors and test a night out with Eva.  It actually went quite well.  We dressed Eva up in a cute little dress (finally a reason to dress her up in more than a onesie!), thank you Miranda, she looked adorable!

She got tons of attention from everyone and even met a potential babysitter.  Phaedra is the granddaughter of ET and she just couldn't get her eyes off Eva.  She immediately told me that she is certified in everything and loves babysitting.  I felt bad because I could tell she really wanted to hold her, but Eva was like a ticking time bomb, it took a lot of work to keep her from fussing too much and I just knew once I handed her over, the party would've been over for us.

ET (he says it stands for Even Tempered) was very surprised and excited to meet and all the neighbors and hang out for the night.  I think the party was a great turn out.  We, too, got to meet many neighbors with whom I am hoping we can get to know better.  Our neighborhood is so close knit and amazing, we are so happy to live here. 

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.