Thanksgiving 2013

Happy Thanksgiving from our littlest turkey! Will isn't still long enough to be in pictures.

This was a busy holiday for us this year! We managed to see 3 out of 4 families in 1 day. We ate a lot and traveled some.

On Wednesday we went to Gram and Gramps house because some family would be there that had not yet met Evie. We had dinner with Gram, Gramps, Mama, Poppa, Aunt Cricket, Uncle Jimmy, Brandon, Monica, Kyle, and Leslie. Aunt Cricket had Evie almost laughing. Evie loved being held by Monica and Leslie. Will decided Poppa was his new playmate and we heard Will yelling "Watch Poppa!" for about 2 hours straight.

Thursday morning we started the day early with NeeNee and Jon at our house for breakfast. NeeNee then went to Aunt Julia's, so Jon tagged along with us for the big lunch at Gram's.

Gram's house had a crowd as usual.

Evie was passed around and loved on by so many people. Her favorite was sweet Hannah. Will was extremely social! I don't think there was anyone there that avoided interaction with him. He played football, ran around outside, and showed off his counting skills. I enjoyed my time in the kitchen teaching my "sisters" how to make Mama's rolls.

Leslie, Monica, and I make a great team!

After a big lunch and yummy desserts, it was time to head to Chattanooga. Evie and Will both slept the entire ride to Pop's house. Jon met us there and we got to see the whole crew. Evie met her aunts and uncles for the first time. This was our first meeting with Savannah. Big announcement - Traci Jo and Jimmy are having a baby! Yay for another cousin! This family has grown a lot just this past year and we are so excited that it is continuing to grow.

We stayed at Pop's for the weekend. Kristen brought Tripp and Savannah over on Friday. Will and Tripp played together a little bit. They liked chasing each other. Nonna had a cute idea for the kiddos for Christmas, so we made Santa ornaments from all of their hand prints. Evie was the easiest because she was asleep and didn't have any idea what we were doing. Will took longer and lots of convincing to create 5 hand prints. We had to tell him silly things like "this is for Dixie" and "show Woof Woof how to make a hand print". We got it done though and they turned out so cute! Will spent a lot of Friday hanging out with Pops, Jon, and JT. They were out in the yard cutting bushes and trees, and Will wanted to "help". He stayed out with them for a while and had a blast!

After all of that work, Uncle Jon and Pops had some quality time with Evie.

A rare pic of Jon because he is usually the one taking the pictures.

Pops and Evie

We are so thankful for all of our family and all of our many blessings!

Sleeping Beauty

What can I say...my babies are good sleepers! They may not look like me, but they take after me when it comes to sleeping!

Evie slept through the night the day after she was 2 months old. She had seemed capable of it for a while, but her startle reflex would wake her up more than it should have. I tried the SwaddleMe wraps (looks like a straight jacket), but she would scream like she was in pain. She wanted her hands free. I put her in a sleep sack thinking that might help keep her warm, but her hands were free so she would wake up a few times. Finally I decided that we were going to use the SwaddleMe wrap again. She wasn't happy about it at first, but she slept through the night. She has been put in it at night ever since. Sleeping baby = happy household!

I play music and dance/rock her to sleep at night. Her pediatrician told me that by 4 months she should be able to fall asleep on her own. So we are going to work on putting her down drowsy but not sleeping. I am enjoying our little night time routine right now, so maybe I'll start working on this a little to closer to when I have to go back to work.

Evie - 2 months

Happy 2 Months Old Evie!

Stats:
Height - 23 inches
Weight - 11 pounds  **I bet at least 1 pound of this is in those cheeks!**

Evie has become more alert this past month, but still sleeps a lot. When she is awake, she looks around and seems to take in every detail of the world. She isn't very content alone for very long and still wants to be held all of the time. Don't get me wrong, I am loving the cuddle time, but it would be nice to be able to put her down so I can get some stuff done around the house.

She loves noise! My best ways to calm her down are to turn on my hair dryer or vacuum cleaner. I've even walked past the washing machine when it was on and she instantly fell asleep. Maggie's barking and Will's running around don't seem to phase her at all. A car ride is another way to calm her down. The car must be moving though - red lights and traffic are not on my side!

We still haven't gotten on a true schedule, but we are working on it. She gets up once or twice at night and usually is really sleepy until around noon. I take advantage of this and run errands in the morning so she sleeps through it all. She sleeps 5-6 hour stretches at night. She really is a good sleeper, but it is hard to get her in her crib at night. She usually falls asleep with me holding her or after she eats. As soon as she feels me put her down in the crib, her eyes pop wide open and we have to start the process all over again.

She is losing her hair. It is dark in the back and on sides but lighter on the top. Hope and I think we see some strawberry blonde in there.

This has been a big month for her. She went on vacation to the beach. She also got to do some fun fall activities - Lucky Ladd Farms, Fall Festival at Mother's Day Out, and Halloween.

This is my favorite picture from this month. I kept trying to get her to smile for me, but she wouldn't. Will walked up to her chair and her face just lit up. It looks like they have been having a fun conversation.

We love you so much sweet girl!