More cousins!

Sarah and the girls went up to visit the Evans side of the family last week, and in addition to lots of attention from Granmommy and Papaw and Uncle Chris (one of them), the girls got to play with even more cousins. Rebekah and James played on the slides while Annabelle and Lily...well, pretty much just stared at each other. Rebekah got an early birthday cake and a new bicycle with training wheels. We have big birthday plans for next week, too, so she's going to think her birthday is supposed to last for weeks!

house progress

We all visited the house- in-progress a couple of weeks ago, and it's looking good. Shannon stopped by again this week, and the paint and tile are in now. We should be moving at the end of the month.

Edited: Sorry if you missed the picture. It occured to me that it might not be a good idea to publish our house number for the whole internet to see. Maybe I'll put up another one later with our house numbers edited out.

Boo

My rocking chair broke :(

Annabelle's stats

Annabelle had her two-month check-up today. She is 23 inches long and weighs 12 lbs. 8 oz. She got four shots and an oral vaccine and is not pleased. She needs extra snuggles today. Turns out she has mild torticollis, like Rebekah had. Torticollis is a (not painful) condition in which the neck muscles on one side are short, so the baby's head is cocked and she turns her head only to one side. We just have to do some easy exercises to stretch her muscles back out, and it should be gone in a few weeks. It's very mild--you can't even see it in her pictures. Rebekah's was more severe and took longer to diagnose, but since we knew what to look for, I was able to tell the doctor about what I'd noticed and we don't have to go to any other doctors (Rebekah's caused some drama with several trips out of town to see a specialist). Even though it's not hereditary, both girls were born with it. It was likely caused either by neck injury during delivery or by a tight fit in the womb that caused their necks to be scrunched up. They were the same size at birth, so it's not too surprising that they had the same condition. She also got her first prescription for antibiotics today because she's had some serious sniffles for three weeks. I took her to the doctor for it twice and it just looks like a cold, but since it has hung on so long, we're hoping that the medicine will kick it out. In related news, Shannon and I are still sick even though we have finished our medicine. We either have new colds or particularly persistent infections that need even more antibiotics. We've all been sick for a month! It's June--we're not supposed to feel so bad in the middle of the summer! The good news is that Annabelle does not have an ear infection, which is a miracle since her nose has been stuffy for so long. So that's it for now--hopefully I can soon report that our various ailments are cured.

Faces of Rebekah

Not to be outdone, the diva demands attention of the camera.

Faces of Annabelle

Happy Father's Day

Rebekah helped with Daddy's cupcakes.

Camping trip

We had such a great time on our camping trip. It was a huge family reunion, and tons of people were there. We spent time with aunts, uncles, and cousins we hadn't seen in years, and some I had never met before. All of Shannon's immediate family stayed in a 3-bedroom mobile home at Lake Ouachita for the weekend, which turned out to be a tight fit. Everyone managed to clear their schedules to be there at the last minute, so we had 21 people in the mobile home, which included ten children and eleven adults! It's not very often that everyone is together like that. The first night we met up with the rest of the family for a cook-out and then everyone stayed up late goofing off and singing--everyone except for Annabelle and me--we went to bed! Rachel (aka Roo-Roo) is in cosmetology school, and she practiced giving pedicures to Mikka, Randi, and Vicki.

The next day we all went to the beach. I forgot to put sunblock on my legs and I sat on the beach with my arms draped across them. The result was a crazy sunburn that will leave stripes on my legs for the rest of the summer! (You'll just have to take my word for that! I won't be posting pictures of my legs for the whole world)
Here are Rebekah and Kade playing at the beach:

And here are Juran, Chris, Shannon, and Derek acting like little boys:

That night we had a fish fry, and Rebekah and Shannon went fishing. Her line had a small plastic fish on the end instead of a hook, so she got to practice casting and we didn't have to worry about losing an eye! At the campsite she was playing with her pole around a little Yorkie, and it ran and caught her fish. She was traumatized! We got the fish away from the dog and calmed her back down. So Rebekah didn't catch any fish, but she did manage to catch a puppy--not everyone can say that. By the way, Mom, I know what you're thinking--Rebekah is not wearing a life jacket because the boat is tied to the bank and not actually out on the water.

The next morning we got up for a big pancake breakfast with the whole family. Kyle and Chris played their guitars, we sang hymns, and Derek gave a message that had everyone in tears. As you can imagine, wrangling all ten kids is not easy, so we didn't manage a picture of all of them, but we did get one of all of them who could stand up (we're missing the three baby girls: Kyra, Grace, and Annabelle). Of course, they weren't the only kids there, but I felt accomplished just getting the first cousins together. In this picture, left to right, are: Rebekah, Gracie, Drake, Wyatt, Tyler, and Siera; Kade is in the front. The picture is cloudy because it was so hot that the lens kept fogging up.

So where is Annabelle during all of this? Well, after the first night when she smiled and cooed and just charmed everyone there, she was worn out and slept for the next two days!

Great-grandparents

Annabelle met her great-grandparents for the first time this weekend. We stopped on the way up to visit Grandma Cox and on the way home to see G. G. and Papaw Evans.

Rebekah's take on the trip

We're back from our camping trip, and we have a lot to report and pictures to post. For now, though, click here for Rebekah's report on the weekend.

big weekend

This weekend we found a place to live! Shannon's new job starts at the end of June, and we'll be moving very close to Houston. We're buying a brand new house--so new it's not even a house yet, just a slab. There are a lot of plans and preparations still to make, so we'll keep everybody updated.

Mom and Dad came out to visit this weekend and we had a great visit. We showed them where our new house will be and where Shannon will work, and the girls loved having all the attention. Bekah was so happy to play with Granmommy and Papaw, and of course to get the presents they brought her. She got a great art kit and has played with it every day. The first thing she wants in the morning is her new art box. She is also learning how to use scissors and is obsessed with it. Even Annabelle was full of smiles when her grandparents held her. Annabelle smiles a lot now, and she lights up when she sees her big sister. These girls already have a strong connection, and I am so proud when I see how much they love each other. Rebekah says that she is the best big sister of all. Dad also bought me a cake decorating kit, so I can make cakes for Rebekah's and Shannon's birthdays this summer.

Annabelle update

Annabelle is doing great. She had her first cold already, but she is over it and happy as she can be. She has started smiling, especially when you kiss her. Rebekah helps out a lot by covering Annabelle with her blanket or giving her a pacifier--even if she doesn't need one! Annabelle likes her big sister and will often stop crying when Bekah talks to her. As you can see from her round little cheeks, she is growing well.

social butterfly

Bekah had not one but two birthday parties last Saturday. Her time is in high demand. One of the parties was at a children's gymnastics studio and they let the kids play on the gym equipment and other toys. She had a great time with her first experience on a trampoline.

flower update

Rebekah's first gardening venture has been quite successful.

Rebekah's preschool program

Rebekah sang in her preschool's spring program on Friday and she was great! Some of the kids were shy and cried or just stared frozen at the audience, but Rebekah was happy to perform and loved the fact that everyone was looking at her. I'm having some issues uploading from my video tape, so this video is not from the program. I was able to upload a video I recorded yesterday on a memory card, so here is an encore performance at home. She doesn't finish the song because she is too distracted by the camera and watching herself--you'll see her run off in the middle of the song saying, "Let me see!"

My girls

toddler terminology

Rebekah calls tears "eye drops." And when she knocks something over, instead of saying, "it fell," she says "I felled it."

first trip to church

Today we made our first trip to church since our baby shower four weeks ago, and I had to take pictures of the girls in their pretty dresses. Rebekah has a new dress from her great-grandmother, but Annabelle couldn't wear the one that matches it yet because it's still too big. In fact, all of Annabelle's clothes are still too big, even the newborn sized clothes. Rebekah also got to feed Annabelle a bottle today. When I nursed Annabelle later, Rebekah kept insisting that the baby likes the bottle better because she wanted to feed her again. She also wanted to give her a bath again even though she just had one last night. I've let Rebekah help take care of the baby as much as possible, and now she wants to take over!

flower update

The flower that Rebekah "made" bloomed yesterday.

Bekah's flower

Rebekah planted a pansy several weeks ago, and yesterday she was delighted to find a bud. She has been diligent in caring for it, and she is so proud. We'll share another photo when the bloom opens.

Growing baby

Annabelle had her two week check-up this week, and she is growing well. She weighed 8lbs. 14 oz--well over her birth weight and a full pound larger than her discharge weight taken at the hospital--and she is 21 and a half inches long. Her length is between the 90th and 95th percentile and her weight is around the 75th percentile. She's tall like her sister, and I'm sure her weight will shoot up to the 95th percentile in the coming months, too. Her umbilical stump finally fell off yesterday, and she has an outie belly button. It's cute :) It will probably go in eventually. When I have to take her with me to take Rebekah to school, Rebekah stands between Annabelle and the other kids protecting her baby sister. We won't let the other kids touch the baby, of course, but today one of them got the idea that if he washed his hands he could touch the baby. That led to a chain reaction, and all the little children were lining up to wash their hands, only to be told that they still couldn't touch the baby. Rebekah is a rock star now at school because she has a baby and she's the only one allowed to touch it.

Burrito Baby

The happiest baby on the block ;)

Lots of news

Last week was certainly eventful. Of course, Annabelle's birth was the most important, but I also got some good news from school. I received a $300 teaching award from my department and a $10,000 national scholarship to help with finishing my dissertation. I also found out last month that one of my essays is going to be published in a book next year. I still have some changes to make on that piece, so now that we're getting settled in with the girls I'm getting right back to work (while Annabelle naps, of course). It's a little overwhelming for all of these things to happen at once, but it is great news and I wanted to share it with you.

Baby face

Annabelle's pictures

Click here for Annabelle's pictures from the hospital.

More baby pics

Here's a few more pics of Rebekah and our little Annabelle.

Baby Annabelle is here!!!

Well, its been a busy couple of days for Sarah, so I decided to attempt this post so that she could rest. Annabelle arrived at 4:51pm on Easter Sunday. She weighed 8lbs. 4 1/2oz. and is 21 inches long. Mom is doing well and ready to go home tomorrow. I'm going to try to upload a couple of pictures for everyone. I hope it works. We will have more soon. Rebekah has been great about being a big sister. She is so excited about bringing her home.

Still hanging in

We're still waiting on Annabelle. This week after church our Sunday School class gave us a baby shower, and Rebekah opened all the presents with me. She wasn't jealous that the baby got all the presents--she just had fun opening them. My corsage was made of ruffled baby socks--I will definitely have to take it apart and see how it's made so I can recreate it.
I have another doctors appointment today and after that I am taking Rebekah for a special sibling tour of the hospital. She's been there a few times in the past several months to visit friends who had babies, so I hope that it will be fun and exciting and not scary for her. She already tells everyone that she has a baby sister, but she also says that she is a big brother. We've been reading "The Berenstain Bears' New Baby" and in that story, the brother bear gets a baby sister--so Rebekah is a big brother!

baby update

I felt a lot of changes early in the week, but nothing new in the past few days. So no real update here--she could be born tonight or she could hang around for two more weeks. So now I'll just complain for a moment. Annabelle has been pressing on my sciatic nerve for a month, and since she has dropped it has gotten worse instead of better. It doesn't really hurt, but my leg will just fall asleep at random times and I have to catch myself so I don't fall. It's a weird feeling and it happens several times a day now. Ugh. To balance out my whining, my wrist is better and I can breathe more easily now because I don't have as much pressure on my lungs. I'm at that stage that every woman who has had a baby knows--just trying to make it through the last few weeks. I need to post another picture. I'm seriously gigantic.

Rebekah speaks Spanish

I've taught Rebekah a few words in Spanish from the time she started talking, but she would only say them when we specifically asked her to, which wasn't very often. She also has a talking doll that we switch over to Spanish mode from time to time. We haven't spent time deliberately trying to teach her Spanish or doing specific activities and drills--I think she is too young for that kind of learning and I prefer to incorporate learning into play, like songs and games and educational toys. But she never really showed interest in Spanish and I didn't push her.

Now she has started watching Dora and Diego cartoons--and she LOVES them--and her friend at school lives in a bilingual household, so she is hearing Spanish used in context in several different places. In the past two weeks, she has started spontaneously speaking Spanish! She has been counting in Spanish, and when she plays with her friend Clarissa she uses Spanish words sometimes. I'm glad I know Spanish so I can understand the words she is using. Shannon has been talking about learning Spanish ever since we moved to Texas, and now he says he better get on it or Rebekah is going to learn it before he is. It also makes me want to brush up on my conversational skills to continue encouraging Rebekah. Language skills will help her in so many other areas of learning, so it's great that she's on her way to being at least somewhat bilingual at an early age--it's easier for her little sponge of a brain to learn it than it is for us!

more baby updates

At my appointment today things were much the same as last week, but the baby has moved down. I tested positive for group B strep, which means I'll have to get antibiotics during labor and we might have to stay an extra day in the hospital. Nothing to worry about. We've scheduled an induction for April 12, but hopefully Annabelle will make her entrance on her own before that. I managed to injure my wrist yesterday, so I hope that she'll wait at least a couple more days and let me heal. Speaking of which, I should stop typing now.

baby update

I'll have a lot of posts with this title as we count down the days. Last night I had a lot of painful contractions, but I learned with Rebekah that that doesn't necessarily mean that the baby is coming. I'm a lot more patient this time because I learned that labor symptoms can go on for weeks, and it's terrible frustrating to keep thinking the baby could arrive "any minute now." For those who weren't keeping up back then, even my doctor thought Rebekah was coming several weeks early and gave me medication to stop contractions. But she hung on and was only one week early. So here we are again, but much more realistic this time. I think I brought the contractions on myself last night because I overdid it yesterday, running around all over the place working and buying groceries and playing in the flowers and probably not drinking enough water. I'm going to have to take it easier the next couple of weeks, which I realized when I tried to paint the crib this weekend. Guess what--there is no way I can get on my hands and knees and paint a crib with this giant belly! I should have done that task at least three months ago. Our next doctor's appt is on Tuesday, and we'll probably schedule an induction. We are not planning to induce early, but if Annabelle makes it to her due date, we'll induce then.

Last month at my doctor's appt, a medical student working with my OB told me that a recent study showed that expectant mothers can predict the weight of their baby more accurately than doctors. My doc hasn't predicted Annabelle's size, but I will. She's big. My belly is pretty full now and she doesn't have much room to move around. I think that at this point she's about seven pounds. Next week, she'll be up to eight pounds. And if she is born on or after her due date, she will be close to nine pounds. We'll see if I'm right. Anyone else want to make a prediction?

Texas wildflowers

baby update

Annabelle is getting ready to arrive. I am dilated 1 cm. We'll just have to wait and see.

Sewing for the girls (not just mine!)

Yesterday I took a couple of hours (really, it only took a couple of hours--I'm getting better at this!) to make some things for Rebekah and Annabelle. I found some great fabric for super easy sundresses, and I got carried away. I started these on Saturday, and spent a lot more time trying to get the sizes right--not easy to convince a two-year-old to stand still for a fitting! But once I had a prototype, the rest went smoothly. I actually made SEVEN--three for Rebekah, two for Gracie and Siera so that all three girls can match when we get together this summer, and a top for me so Rebekah and I can match. I also bought some pink gingham for Annabelle, but I won't be making her dress until I see how big she is. I know it's cheesy, but I couldn't resist the mother/daughters ensemble. I'm hoping that I can wear my top before and after the baby is born--it will be a good transition piece until I can wear my regular clothes again.

I also made Annabelle a lovie blanket to play with. I think she will like the high contrast of the white background and bright dots. I hope she'll get attached to it as a security object because I have enough of that fabric to make another one just like it. And I made her a bright red swaddling blanket. I found this fabric around Valentine's Day and loved it--how often do you see a red baby blanket?

Daddy's first ponytail

Soon-to-be-Daddy of two girls, Shannon decided it was time to learn how to do little girls' hair. Here's his first attempt. Not bad, considering his big fingers and her thin hair. His second one was much better, and we actually took her out in public with it :) I think he'll do just fine.

baby name

In case I haven't told you yet, the baby's name will definitely be Annabelle Shannon. Of course, that is assuming she's a girl--a friend from church had a baby last week and they had predicted the wrong sex. You never really know until the baby is in your arms!

Bekah and Granmommy

Moving along

Annabelle is growing, growing, growing. All the measurements are where they should be and everything seems to be going fine. I had a wonderful baby shower a couple of weeks ago and got some things I wanted and never bought when Rebekah was a baby. We also got lots of adorable baby clothes and bibs, and there seemed to be a theme of yellow giraffes! The best part about it was celebrating with my friends. I've been so busy and I'm not taking any time off work, so it was nice to stop and just do baby things for a while.

Valentine's Day

We celebrated Valentine's Day (a little early) with a special cake that I came up with. I attempted to make a Twix cake because that is Shannon's favorite candy bar. I used my Betty Crocker Bake 'n' Fill pan set and baked a chocolate cake in the dome pan and the filler pan. I put caramel and chopped Twix bars between the layers and topped it with Cool Whip and more chopped Twix. It was muy tasty, and as you can see from the picture, Rebekah was quite pleased.

There were just a couple of elements that I hadn't thought through. I thought of several different kinds of caramel to use and settled on melting caramel candies to make the filling. It was very gooey but it didn't leak out of the cake. But topping it with Cool Whip meant that I had to store it in the refrigerator. The first slices of cake were fine, but the next day, the caramel was really tough to
eat. Next time I'll use a different kind of caramel--and there will be a next time. This cake is yummy!

Rebekah thinks that Valentine's Day is the best thing ever because she had a party at church, cake at home, and a party at school. She has been going through all of her valentines and wishing everyone Happy Valentine's Day all week long. But she also thinks that she got a birthday cake for Valentine's Day. Anything with icing is a birthday cake to her!

Shannon gave me some daisies in a pot (I always like plants rather than cut flowers) and some Hershey's extra dark chocolate. There is a ton of chocolate in our house right now, but I haven't come close to being tired of it yet (especially since Annabelle is helping me eat it!).

Annabelle update

I had a doctor's appointment on Monday and everything looks great. I gained a little more weight and a lot more belly, but all the measurements are right on target. We have made some progress in the middle name department--she might just be named Annabelle Shannon. But don't go monogramming anything just yet. We're definitely set on Annabelle, but the middle name still might change. Rebekah doesn't like Annabelle Shannon. She thinks her sister should be named Annabelle Girl, and she has started telling everyone that. I bought Rebekah an Easter dress this week, but I don't think we'll save it for Easter. I fully intend Annabelle to be here by Easter, so we probably won't be at church. And if you do see me at church on Easter Sunday, I'll probably be a very grouchy pregnant lady.

Our little terror...uh, I mean sweetheart

Wow! Has Rebekah been a handful lately! I don't know what's going on, but I hope she snaps out of it quick. Here are some high points of the past week:

• We went to a friend's church to see her baby baptized, and Rebekah threw a massive fit--make that three massive fits. She has pretty much outgrown the temper tantrums, but they have made a resurgence lately. The problem was that she really wanted to be in the sanctuary with everyone else, but she is just not old enough to sit still for that long. So when she started making noise and crawling down the aisles, I took her out. Which prompted the screaming fit. And my total embarrassment because we were in the front row with our friends because of the baptism, and I had to walk past the whole congregation with the screaming child. We pretty much missed the baptism.
  
• She wants to be fed like a baby. She refused to eat lunch at school one day because she wanted her teacher to feed her.
• She has not had a potty accident in weeks, until yesterday. I had to pick her up early from school because she had TWO accidents in one hour and had no more clothes to change into. Later that night she peed all over the living room floor. And I mean all over. She literally ran in a circle around the room while she peed.
• Same night, she was taking a bath and filled up her bath cup and dumped water all over me outside the tub. She has never done that before.
• Tuesday morning she woke me up, and I got out of bed and walked past her to the bathroom, thinking she would follow me. She stayed in my room and cried. I went back to check on her and she wouldn't tell me what was wrong or let me hold her. Finally she said, "I thought you didn't want me." How sad! Usually I follow her to the bathroom, and she got all upset when I left first. She told me that she wanted me to get back in bed, and I thought she wanted to lie down together. No. After I got in bed, she "woke me up" again so that we could start our morning routine the right way--we just had to start over from the beginning. And everything was okay after that.
• She has been waking up crying three or four times at night. Last night there was a monster in her room, and I had to say, "Yar!" and scare it away. ("Yar" is her version of a roar, and it is effective for scaring away any number of unpleasant imaginary visitors. And she has a lot of imaginary visitors.)

That's enough for now--you get the point. Something is troubling our little girl this week, but we haven't figured out what. I've been trying to balance discipline with extra hugs and kisses so hopefully she will feel better but also realize that she can't just misbehave and throw fits because she feels like it. Not easy, but that's life with a toddler (and probably a preview of her teen years!).

Speaking of babies

(and aren't I always speaking of babies?)

Our new baby niece, Kyra Lynn, was born last week to Shannon's sister Mikka and her husband Chris. And, of course, big brother Kade. Yea! But we won't get to see her or Juran and Randi's little Grace for awhile, since I'm very much pregnant and an eight hour drive away. That's why we love digital cameras.

Baby crafts

There are more and more babies all the time! Last year, among my friends and family, there were five new babies, and this year there will be at least five more, not even counting Annabelle. So this week I have been sewing after Rebekah goes to bed at night. It's nice to have a sewing machine now--I can make crafty gifts much more quickly than some of my other hobbies. I actually started crocheting a pair of booties for Annabelle while I was sitting at the hospital waiting on Dad's surgery. I hope I finish them by April, but I can't make any promises. Those little buggers take a long time.

Here's what I've made:

I'm of the opinion that you can't buy a decent baby blanket--they're all too small or too heavy--so I like to give homemade baby blankets as gifts. That also lets me pick out fun patterns and colors. So there are four blankets for four babies coming between now and May. I've already made one for Annabelle, but she'll probably get another one. I don't think that Rebekah is willing to share hers.

I also made this, which came out of my own imagination:

It's a lovey. It's a square of about 11 inches, with bunny ears on one corner and two tails on the another. It doesn't really look like anything, but I think a baby would like it because it is easy to hold in tiny fingers, and it has the fun little pieces on the corners to chew on. And it's safe for a baby to sleep with. And you can throw it in the washing machine. It's a good way to use some scrap fabric. I didn't make one of these for Annabelle, but I probably will later.

Bekah also got a valance in the yellow Care Bear print to go on one of her windows. It doesn't match the valance on the other window, which is a blue Care Bear print, but she picked it out herself. At least we're consistent with the Care Bears. Which is why Annabelle needs new crib bedding. I think big sister's Care Bears are off limits for the new baby.