Evey's Birthday Party!

Yaaay! Evey's party was awesome, thanks to all of our friends and family who came, and also to those who couldn't make it! It was a ton of work, I don't know if we'll ever do something low key ever again (I blame my big sister, all her fault;), but it was all worth it! This post is picture heavy, just to warn you!

Chris made the ones in the flower bed spin!

Her monthly photos with the corresponding outfits

Add caption

Cute little birthday girl! She kept that crown on the entire time

Grandma and Grandpa came to join in on the fun!

Bubble time with the cousins!

Uncle Rusty! She was held by a lot of people, whether she wanted to be or not;)

I have to mention that Brady, our oldest nephew, was behind the camera for many of these, that's why there aren't too many photos of him. He's such a good photographer, thanks Brady!

Bubble blowing master.

Evey's awesome birthday cake made by Aunt Pepper!

And her super cute smash cake!

She dug right in!

Our wonderful friends and family...

more of them...

and more...

and more!

I've included way too many smash cake photos

Calm down everyone, I've got this

Mmm, feeding mommy, and getting it all over her face!

Look at that cakey smirk...

Not too shabby

That face

There's Brady! And he's holding a baby!

There were babies everywhere!

And wonderful sisters and brother-in-laws who work their butts off for our parties;)

And super awesome neices

And nephews who leave behind creepy chalk drawings at your house...

See! Tons of cute babies!

They're everywhere!

Best buds, I can't wait to bust put this picture when they're older:)

Yah, the sun was really bright!

The kid and the loot; we didn't even open gifts til the next day, we were a bit overwhelmed (in a wonderful way!)

And last but not least, this gem

Evey is ONE!

 I'm exhausted right now, but I really wanted to post on her birthday, I just didn't anticipate that the ice cream she ingested at dinner would cause such a crazy sugar high that her bedtime was pushed back an hour! 

But I digress...I wanted to reflect on the fact that my baby is not much of a baby anymore, which is both sad and awesome. I feel like I was "in the moment" for a lot of Evey moments this year, but then I also regret waiting for her to get older so she'd be able to interact more or to get over whatever fussy period she was in. 

But I think that's perfectly normal, I'm not a fan of the "enjoy every moment" saying, that's pure crap. How can anybody enjoy every moment of anything? I can't say I enjoyed my baby screaming bloody murder in her car seat, or feeling helpless as she fought a double ear infection; nope, no enjoyment there. I think better advice is to be as present as you can. I know I tuned out some things when I needed a mental break (thank you "Baby Signing Time" and my iPhone), and I don't regret doing that because I needed that time so I could be a better mom. 

But, I do have a regret that I feel terrible about and still can't seem to shake. I've compared Evey's developmental status to other babies', which is natural, but you have to make sure you don't let it upset you, or depress you, or worry you, if your baby is not up to speed. I've had this problem because Evey seems to have taken longer to do most everything, and the cute girl is still not independently mobile, although she loves to walk while holding our hands, holding onto her walker, and, just recently, while cruising along the couch. I need to get over this, but it's hard because I feel like it's my fault, like I hindered her some way (me, not Chris, because I'm home with her three days a week, ridiculous), but I know all babies develop at their own pace and I need to chill and not worry so much about it. 

So that's my regret, and it sucks, but that's ok. I don't regret holding Evey for hours for naps because she would wake up the instant I put her down. I got a lot of reading done and I got to snuggle with my kid. I don't regret nursing her this last year, even when we were cluster feeding for what felt like forever and, more recently, when she started to bite me (we've moved past this, but that sucked, it felt like nursing a newborn again!). 

Anyway, this year has had its ups and downs, but I would do it all over again. Happy 1st Birthday to my wonderful baby/toddler girl; you are so ridiculously loved! 

Birthday party and one year pics to come!

Eleven Months

Holy crap, in less than a month Evey's going to be a year old! How did the time fly by so fast/creep by so slowly?

Easter and Illness

Poor Evey has an ear infection and a viral rash! We took her to the pediatrician Wednesday because she had a high fever and were told about the double ear infection! Bring on the amoxicillin, that she hates, and purses her lips super tight against, and that we have to hold her head in order to give it to her (twice a day)! It's all good, we're on day six, only four more days to go...

Chris stayed home Wednesday through Friday last week, which was incredibly helpful. Our Wednesday consisted of a lot of Friends and baby sleeping on us.

She was getting better, and then Sunday she developed a rash on her forehead. A visit to the on call pediatrician on Easter told us she had a viral rash and would be contagious for 24 hours, so no daycare Monday. But she wasn't feeling super crummy, just fussy. She got her Easter basket at home and then got another one when we went to the McLaughlin's! Lucky girl;)

 

At the pediatrician's in the colorful No room

Celebrating at the McLaughlin's. Gerry and Bruce made such an amazing meal!

We also went to Home Depot the Friday before Easter and saw the Easter Bunny there! He was a bit creepy, but whatever.

And on Saturday the VanKirks came by and Ardella and I turned our cute babes into fluffy bunnies!

This was Ardella's idea, I'm lazy and typically leave the art up to daycare right now;)

So we are now on day 8 of her amoxicillin treatment and about three days ago she stopped fighting us! Yay! She's actually willingly opening her mouth! Thank god, because holding her down and forcing meds down her throat like she was a psyche patient made me feel kinda bad.

Anyway, I hope everyone had a great holiday!