Little Nugget is 9 months!

If 8 months was great, then 9 months is divine!  I love my little 9 monther... she is seriously the best thing ever.  I wish baby fever wasn't real, because I already want another one.  If only time and money grew on trees... and sleep.

We've gotten in a pretty good routine around here (for now).  Eva wakes up around 6:30, we change her and feed her a bottle.  Come downstairs and she plays with her toys while we make her breakfast.  Usually her breakfast consists of some sort of fruit and oatmeal mixture.  Sometimes she gets a little scrambled egg yolk or cheese.  After breakfast, we play with her toys on the floor and cruise along the furniture.  Naptime is around 9am, and she usually sleeps 1.5-2 hours.  Once she wakes up, she gets another bottle, and then we have our favorite snack time.  I put on a Disney movie (for myself, since she never watches tv), and we sit on the floor on a blanket and eat snacks.  This usually consists of cheese, avocado, yogurt puffs, bananas, blueberries, etc.  My daughter is seriously the BEST eater... my little ham.  After lunch, we do dishes, laundry, read books, and play peekaboo.  She gets bored quickly, and we usually need to run some errands anyway, so we load up and do our shopping.  If no shopping needs to be done, lately we've been going to the park to swing or taking out the jogger to go for a run with Apollo.  Life is good around here when the weather is nice!  After our outings, She gets a bottle and lays down for her second nap of the day around 1:30.  This nap normally lasts between 1.5-2 hours also... but lately she has been sleeping longer.  I think she is transitioning herself to only 2 naps all by herself! *HALLELUJAH CHORUS*  This seriously will be amazing if she does it mainly on her own! During this nap, I usually get dinner started and I just need to finish it up for when Daddy gets home from work!  As soon as she hears the garage door, she gets so excited.  Her face lights up and she looks towards the door.  I think she's figured out the drill because whenever Apollo goes ballistic, that means daddy's home!  Dinner time is the best because it's the only meal all of us get to eat together.  She pretty much eats whatever we eat, with a few additions.  She always gets a fruit and veggie plus some sort of protein.  There isn't much she won't eat!  We finish the evening up with bath time, gum brushing, and story time.  Life is good.  Being a part time stay at home mom is the best situation I could have asked for.  I love staying home with my baby all day long, and get to witness most if not all of her firsts!  However, sometimes a girls gotta have a break, and it's nice to go to work and interact with adults in a baby free zone.  I couldn't be luckier.

Ever since Eva figured out how to clap last month, she's been doing it all the time!  It's so adorable, and I love it so much.  Whenever we sing to her or do "patty-cake," she claps along.  It melts my heart. Her favorite word is still "da-da," but "poop" is a close second.  I am now referred to as "ra-ra" or "ya-ya."  Whatever happened to her saying "ma?"

Eva got sick again this past week.  That's why I haven't updated lately.  What started off as a little cold turned into an eye infection and a double ear infection.  Poor baby couldn't catch a break!  She is finally on the mend, and we are both looking forward to getting out of the house.  Unfortunately, she has spread her little germs to daddy and me, so we are struggling to feel better as well.  I swear, having kids really takes a toll on your immune system!! I don't know if it's the lack of sleep or extra germs they seem to pick up from random places, but I have gotten sick more times since she's been born than I have since high school.  Could be the fact that I work in a hospital too, and am surrounded by sick and diseased people all day.  Who knows! Hoping to stay healthy the rest of this year though *crosses fingers.*

Looking forward to celebrating Easter this weekend.  I really want to take Eva to see the Easter bunny (more for my sentimental benefit of having a picture), but we will see if time allows.  I don't want to take her when she is still sick because I don't want to be "that mom."  It would tick me off if my kid got sick from someone else's sick kid sitting on the Easter bunny's lap, so I will keep her away until she's better.  She's too young to enjoy an egg hunt, but of course she is going to get her very own Easter basket.  At this age, it's mostly going to consist of things she can use like sunglasses, bath toys, socks, and books... I will also add some cute bunny ears and maybe a springy outfit like this one I found online at gymboree.com  - - - 

Yellow and white romper

Lastly, I will share a few of Eva's favorites as well as some pics!

Favorite foods:  string cheese, avocados, blueberries, and yogurt puffs

Favorite books:  Birds (a picture book with all kinds of birds), Little Bat (a finger puppet book), Tails (a touch and feel book)

Favorite songs:  the alphabet song and Itsy Bitsy Spider

Favorite toys:  My laptop, Apollo's bone, water bottles, and my rubber wine stem flower charms

Favorite stuffed animals:  Seahorse and Henrietta the giraffe (she looooves to give them kisses).  In the middle of the night, sometimes I will hear her wake up in her crib.  She will roll until she finds Seahorse (he's a glow worm), press his belly to turn him on and go back to sleep.  It's precious! Thank you Grandma Jackson for this awesome toy!

8-9 month pictures

Hi, Mom! I'm 9 months now!

Learning to stand with the support of a door behind her

Just practicing pulling up and sitting back down

My big girl sitting in her rocking chair all by herself

Just because ... seriously!? Her legs are deliciously adorable

My very own strawberry!

Post dinner face

A day in the park.  Life is grand!

Chillin at Auntie Kate's!

Her best friend, Apollo

Sometimes I just like to hang out, okay mom?  Seriously, she does this like 50 times a day.

I can drink all by myself... except I never ever do this!

Play time!

Sick baby at her 9 month appointment

Spoiled baby and one of her adorable Easter baskets from Grandma!

Breakfast... need I say more?

Happy Spring!

Happy Spring!!! I've been waiting for this day since the last day of fall.  It's no secret that I hate cold weather.  I think I'm living in the wrong state.  Maybe someday we will move to Arizona where it's always warm and there's little rain :)

All the winter decorations are down, and I put up my springy Easter wreath and table cloth.  I think the next time Andy and I have a day off, I will spread some new grass seed and plant some flowers in our front yard.  I'm so ready for the nasty cold weather to be over and done with!  I love running when it's warm and sunny out.  Bring on the humidity!!

Of course, I will leave you with a picture of my sweet Eva.  She was a little distracted today by Apollo.  She was laughing at him because he kept getting in trouble for sticking his tail in the pictures.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day 2014!! 

In honor of St. Paddy's Day, Andy and I stayed up late last night (11:30pm) and watched an Irish documentary called Knuckle on Netflix.  Somehow, it was oddly entertaining.  This videographer followed these traveling clans for 10 years as they fought amongst themselves.  The various clans would basically send a video to pick a fight with a member of another clan, and then they would go off and fist fight each other with a lot of money at stake.  Those crazy Irish and their tempers!!! I've never seen anything like it... none of the fights were staged or choreographed, so it was funny to watch 2 grown men fight for real.  A lot of biting and dancing was involved.  

On another note, we hit another couple milestones.
Milestone #1:  Eva finally learned to clap!  I've only been trying to teach her since she was 4 months old, but she never wanted to do it herself.  She always liked it when I clapped her hands for her.  But yesterday, she did it by herself... and looked sooo proud.
 Milestone #2:  Eva said her first word.  Of course she says "dada" and the occasional "mama," but she said her first non-baby word.  Apparently, Eva wanted her first word to be POOP.  Seriously?!?! Poop... it's not like it's even that easy to say.  Isn't it supposed to be like "ball" or "baba" for bottle, or "dog?"  Nope... my daughter wants to shout "POOP!" I can see it now, cruising through the grocery store while my daughter yells "poop poop poop" up and down the aisles.  I can't wait... 

I ended up making a pasta tonight with a lot of green veggies.  I thought about dying the sauce green just to be festive, but that didn't happen.  I figured the less artificial, the better.  No green beer for us, since Andy is allergic, but we celebrated in our own gluten free way :)  I hope everyone had a safe and merry St. Patrick's Day!  

Slainte (cheers in Irish Gaelic), from the Ingrassia's!

Not too happy... then I mention bathtime and she cheers right up!

8 is Great!

 

Another month full of adventure and love has passed.  Our Eva-girl is on the move!  She is still army crawling, hasn't quite progressed to full on crawling.  But let me tell you, she is fast!  She scoots from one corner to the next in a matter of seconds.  She has also begun "cruising" along furniture.  She isn't very fast, and she topples a lot, but she is getting the hang of it.  Her favorite is to cruise along the edge of her crib.  She thinks she's hot stuff.  We haven't put any baby gates up yet, but we probably should.  It's not like we leave her in a room by herself, but she's getting pretty quick.  If I even look away for a couple seconds, she could be clear across the room.

Our days are busy and full.  She still wakes up around 6:30-7am, and goes to bed around 9pm.  She takes 3 naps a day, but hopefully we are going to drop a nap next month when she turns 9 months.  Two longer naps would be easier to manage than three!  It makes it really difficult to go anywhere or get anything done when she needs to nap every 2 - 2 1/2 hours.  She is eating 2 meals a day, plus one small snack.  Her favorite food is still colby jack string cheese, but avocados are a close second.  She is such a good eater!

Her favorite things to do are ride horsey back on daddy's shoulders, eat cheese, be outside, and walk around while you hold onto her hands.  She loves reading books with animals in them because I make the animal noises.  She thinks it's the best thing ever!  She enjoys bath time and splashing in the water.  Eva recently started slinking down in the bath tub and trying to drink the water.  It's so gross, but she likes it.  She hates sitting still and refuses to watch even 2 minutes of tv.  I am not complaining though because I'd rather her enjoy doing things than sitting around in front of the tube.

We had a couple of firsts this month.  Eva got her first cold of the year.  It was pitiful.  She had a 102 degree fever and a super runny nose.  I could tell she didn't feel good because she would just cry and cry all day long, when normally she's so happy!  It was really difficult because Andy had drill and was out of town, so I was stuck at home with a sick baby.  I didn't even have any groceries!  Luckily, my sister came over and brought me lunch and groceries.  She is an angel.  Another first we had was Eva pooping in the bathtub! I was fortunate enough to be at work, so it was on daddy's watch, but he definitely captured it on video.  So gross but too funny!  

Speaking of awesome family members, I am so fortunate to have such an amazing family support group.  My mom watches Eva one day a week while I work, and Andy's mom watches her 2 days a week while I work.  It's so nice because Eva gets to spend time with her cousins when Andy's mom watches her.  Eva loves the interaction with my nieces, and I think it's good for her to learn to be around other kids.  Also, I think it will benefit her to learn how to share toys and time (aka not being the center of attention 24/7) for when we decide to have more kids.

Lastly, I am so happy the weather has been nice the past couple days!! We are taking advantage of it and spending every minute soaking up the sun.  We went to the park to swing and I ran with Apollo while pushing the stroller.  This is my kind of weather.  I can't get enough of it! Plus, Eva loves swinging and the way she kicks her feet in excitement is just too cute!  Here are some pictures from the past month - 

             

February - 7 Months

Another month has passed, and I think I love Eva even more than I did last month.  Is that even possible?  It's hard going to work without her because I miss her like crazy and I am worried that I am going to miss a new milestone, but I am loving my new job.  I think I say this every day, but this is my favorite age so far!  Eva's personality is really starting to show, and she is as sweet as can be.  Each day, she brings me so much joy.  I can't imagine spending a day without her in my life.

 We did end up spending most of the day after Valentines' Day apart, though.  Andy and I needed some much appreciated baby-free time together.  Our wonderful parents watched Eva almost all day for us.  We went and got a massage in the morning, went to our Valentine's Day lunch, and then spent the evening with some friends playing board games.  The day was so wonderful, but I was happy to see a safe and happily sleeping Eva when we got home.




A little late, but here is a picture from Valentine's Day 2014.
Happy Valentines Day, Everyone! (PS I'm so grumpy right now! Stop taking my picture!)

This past month, she has grown so much, mentally and physically.  Her hand eye coordination is getting better each day.  She is getting so good at self feeding, and loves gnawing on anything I put in front of her.  Eva is seriously the BEST eater!  She likes almost everything.  The only thing she hasn't really liked is broccoli (ironically my favorite food when I was a baby) but she eats it anyway.  She cries every time I slip a bite in her mouth, but she dutifully swallows it.  It's definitely the most endearing and pitiful thing ever.

This past month, Eva learned to army crawl.  She isn't quite crawling on her hands and knees yet, but she scoots around like a pro just as quickly!  She has also started pulling herself up by holding onto furniture.  The kiddo is trying to give me a heart attack.  She is big enough to sit in the grocery cart all by herself now, and loves to hold onto the handles and look at all the people we pass.  

She pretty much eats whatever we eat now.  She still gets a bowl of oats mixed with some sort of fruit for breakfast, and then a few bites of whatever we are eating for dinner along with pureed veggies. Her favorite food, hands down, is cheese.  She eats it every day during snack time, which just happens to be BOTH of our favorite time of the day.  I spread out a blanket, and we eat snacks off the ground like a picnic.  She loves picking up the pieces of string cheese I put on the ground.  She now sorts through all of the other snacks until she finds the cheese!  She's such a little stinker!  She is also a pro at drinking out of a sippy cup now.  I think she prefers when I hold it for her to drink from, but when I set it down she will pick it right back up and start drinking from it again.  It's soooooo cute :)

Also, I should mention how AMAZING our dog Apollo is with Eva.  While he's pretty much an ass every other minute of the day, he's soooo gentle with her.  She will crawl up to him and steal the bone right out of his mouth, and he will let her!  She loves it too.  He's like her best friend.  She lights up every time she sees him, and loves to pull on his fur and ears.  He's such a trooper!

Lastly, I will share a few pictures from this past month. 

Hi, mom! Can you believe I'm 7 months!?

Happy Half Birthday!

Our little nugget is officially 6 months old.  I could talk about how depressing it is that she's getting so big, or how I can't believe how fast time flies, but that would be cliche' and hardly interesting at all.  While those things may be true, I want to talk about how I am excited for the future.  It seems like every week now, she surprises us by learning how to do something new.  I am excited for those things.  I am excited to take her to the zoo or to the park to swing.  I am excited for finger painting and swimming lessons and letting her try new foods.  Eva is becoming more independent, less dependent, more interactive, and more curious.  She brings Andy and I so much joy in our already blessed lives.  Marrying Andy was one of the best decisions I have ever made.  He is my rock, my best friend, my supporter, my counselor, and he makes me laugh ... when he's not trying to make a silly joke.  Before Eva, being with him felt like our life was complete.  I couldn't imagine loving more or having room for more love in our life.  However, Eva has expanded our "love bubbles."  I never realized how much you could love someone so small and dependent on you.  And I thought I loved my dog .... Man, was I dumb!

At 6 months, Eva Charlotte weighs in at 14 lbs 9 oz.  She is 25 1/2 inches long and is still rockin a big head at 17".  She can now sit up unassisted without needing her hands propped in front of her.  She is getting better each day at jumping in her Jumparoo, and can pull herself up while holding onto my thumbs now.  The pediatrician gave her the okay to start more solids, including finger foods.  I went out this past weekend and bought her some puffs.  She loves them!  It's endearing watching her concentrate so hard and get frustrated as she tries to pick them up with her little uncoordinated pinching fingers.  Luckily, Apollo is always nearby to catch any stray puffs that she drops.  

Our days are so full and hectic and busy, from the time she wakes up at 6:30 am until the time she goes to bed at 9:30 pm.  But they are so so so much richer.  There is a complete shift in the focus of your life when you have kids.  Everything centers around their needs and their schedule.  I always knew that having kids would change your lives and how much time they were going to require.  I never realized how little I would care about my own petty desires.  I can definitely see how people can neglect their own needs or wants in order to give their kids everything that they need.  Lately, I haven't been able to get my workouts in until around 9:30 or 10pm after Eva is in bed.  While it's extra hard to drag myself to the gym at that hour, I am always glad I go.  It's my alone time, my healthy time, and my time to regroup my thoughts.  I need to make a list of priorities for myself and for our family, so I don't neglect my own mental and physical health.  I want Eva to have everything she wants, but I don't want her to be spoiled either.  Saying "no" to her sweet face is going to be hard!  I think I need to start practicing now.

Lastly, I will share some pictures from the past couple weeks.  We've been busy, but there's always time to capture a smile on that cute chubberz of a face!!

Napping on Grandma's couch.  Bumbo time while gnawing on a cucumber :)

Eva sleeping all wonky in her carseat. Eva indoor sledding on our day off!

My little otter during bathtime! Eva at her 6 month check up!

Giggling away on the mommy and daddy's bed. Eva watching the Bronco's game!