Monthly Archives: May 2007

Camping Newbie

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Over Memorial Day weekend, Simeon and I took Ana on her very first camping trip. We decided to go to Ft. Stevens because if anything went wrong we could always toss the baby in the car and drive the ten minutes to my mother’s house. We figured this would be a nice “trial run” to see how we would fair camping with an infant.



As we were driving to our campsite it started to sprinkle but only really rained once–just as we started to prepare the mandatory camping dinner of hot dogs and s’mores. My mother, always worried that babies will freeze to death, found some child size gloves in her car and put them on Ana. While she looked ridiculous, they were good for several laughs and kept Ana entertained for the longest time. She just stared, mesmerized by her hands, occasionally wiggling her fingers. It was so funny.



All of the camping Simeon and I have done in recent years has been in Eastern Oregon and lets just say the climate over there is much, MUCH warmer than the Oregon Coast. Always the over-packer in the baby department, we had several layers and blankets on Ana so she was delightfully warm and bundled at every moment. Her parents? Not so much.



When camping, we sleep on an air mattress, so I packed sheets, a heavy quilt and a fluffy comforter. I was thinking Sim could have one and I the other so we wouldn’t be fighting over blankets (how quickly one gets use to their king size bed at home). After literally freezing my butt off for hours I finally woke up Sim to see how we could make things better. We ended up putting the comforter under us and huddling under the quilt. I am not normally a cuddly sleeper, but you better believe I was clinging to my heater of a husband to stay warm. Next time we know to pack a wool blanket to put under our sheet.



But aside from the little bit of rain and cold sleeping conditions, we really had a great time. Ana was a trooper and just soaked up the whole experience like a sponge. And now that we know we can camp at the coast, I am totally ready for desert camping. Bring it on, baby!
You can see all the pictures from our trip here. Enjoy.

Socks That Rock

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Can I just say that having a little girl is wonderful if for no other reason than I have someone to pass along my obsession for socks?



That’s right, Ana’s sock collection contains such classics as ballet slippers, Mary Janes, Strawberry Shortcake, Care Bears, Minnie Mouse, and a couple funky John Deere stripes. Who knew John Deere made socks? And such cute ones to boot!

The Cousins Finally Meet

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Yesterday was the annual Evers family reunion. For those of you who don’t know, my family is huge. I personally have three siblings (eight if you include step-siblings), while my father is one of 12 and my grandfather is one of 14. Yeah. So you can imagine the multitude of aunts, uncles, and cousins that would create. When we all gather in one place it gets a little daunting.



The hightlight of this particular reunion was that Ana got to finally meet her cousin Lucia (my step-sister, Mandy’s nine-month old daughter). Ana was excited that there was a little girl so close to her same size. As a result, she was very happy to “play” with Lucia…



…until she realized that Lucia would “play” right back! When Lucia reached up and pulled on Ana’s headband, Ana gave me a look that clearly said, “Mama, why didn’t you warn me she could do that? Aren’t you doing to DO something?”



You can see all the pictures from the reunion here. Enjoy.

Tag!

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Ok, so here are the rules of the game:
1. Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves.
2. People who are tagged, write a blog post about their own 7 random things, and post these rules.
3. At the end of your post you need to tag 7 people and include their names.
4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment and tell them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Here are my Seven Random Facts:

1. I am addicted to Chapstick. I have some stashed all around my house (as well as in my purse and my car). You know, in case of emergency.

2. I hate talking on the phone. Send me an email or a text and I will reply within the hour. Leave me a voicemail and I will still most likely reply via email.

3. I didn’t like red meat until I was pregnant. Now I love it. My fridge is currently stocked with ribs, steak, and hamburgers. What? It’s BBQ weather.

4. I have become obsessed with baby shoes. I know Ana doesn’t technically need them yet, but I still can’t stop buying them. They are just TOO CUTE.

5. I don’t like receiving flowers or plants. Don’t get me wrong, I love them outside and think they beautiful, but I tend to kill them. And those that I don’t kill are eaten by my cats…and then vomited all around my house.

6. I freak out about fingernail/toenail clippings. I trim my nails (as well as Simeon’s and Ana’s) over a napkin and instantly throw them away. I do not understand people who just let ’em fly all over the place. Ewwwwww.

7. My hair has started falling out in the last couple weeks. Don’t worry, it is just postpartum hair loss and totally normal. I thought it would start happening soon after I delivered, but mine started five months later. Go figure. Oh and the hair that isn’t falling out on its own is being pulled out in tiny fistfuls by my daughter.

I am tagging: Simeon,
Nick, Chelle, Megan, Rachael, Erin and Carmel. TAG! You’re it!

Rollin’ Rollin’ Rollin’

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That’s right! Ana rolled over for the very first time today. For the longest time she was perfectly content to just lay wherever I put her. The closest she got to trying to move at all was to slowly rotate in a circle. I would set her down and after awhile she would be 180 degrees from where she started, yet some how I never noticed her moving. Until now. Ana rolled over several times today (so it wasn’t just a fluke) and I managed to catch one of them on video…just ignore the enthusiastic mama talking throughout the clip. What can I say, I was excited!

A Letter: Five Months

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Dear Ana,
In the relative scheme of things, five months doesn’t seem like much, but the things you have learned or done in the five short months of your existence amazes me each and every day. Your hand-eye coordination has improved drastically this last month. So much in fact, that you can put your binky in your mouth. All. By. Yourself. I now have to accept the fact that you no longer need me. On the plus side, this new skill now keeps you busy for several minutes. I no longer pop the binky in when you are upset, rather I hand you the binky and you put it in yourself. Occasionally you even put it in the right way.


But this months most entertaining accomplishments involve 1) your feet and 2) your tongue. You finally discovered your feet a couple weeks ago. I have been showing them to you (slightly by accident) each and every time I changed your diaper, but only recently did you realize they were actually connected to you and not another toy your mama busted out to distract you. But in the last few days you realized your feet could reach your mouth. Now there has been no stopping you from chomping on those tiny toes like I have been doing since the day you were born.



As for your tongue, you mostly use it to blow raspberries, make tiny spit bubbles, or allow it to slowly sneak out of your mouth like a curious snake (the cutest thing ever, by the way). But while we were in Minnesota, walking through the Mall of America, you started making the strangest noise. I even stopped pushing the stroller to make sure you weren’t choking on something. You had discovered that you could use your tongue to draw in your top lip and make the strangest sucking, slurping sound. I thought maybe you didn’t realize your pacifier was out and slipped it in for you. You promptly spit it out and went back to sucking on your own face. Good times.



We all know how much your father loves soccer, and without wanting to push you into anything, he wants to share this love with you. Even your “baby exercises” involve drills like quick feet and high knees. When you guys hang out he often has a soccer game on in the background and you just love it (I am sure the bright colors in HiDef have something to do with it, but don’t tell your father). Imagine his excitement when this month you actually went to your very first game! We took you to watch your cousin Emily play. Daddy can’t wait to take you to a Timbers game, but I told him he has to wait until there is a game that starts before your bedtime. Don’t worry, that time will come before you know it.



Another great thing about this past month is that we have really nailed down a bedtime routine for you. We start with a bath, followed by a baby lotion massage, then we get you into your jammies and read you a bedtime story before one last feeding. You love reading books with Daddy. He does great voices and sometimes even lets you chew on the pages. Just the way you like it. But the best part is just before you start getting fussy and super tired (about the time we start the feeding) there is this tiny window where you are the happiest baby ever. I mean deliriously happy. The other day your Auntie Megs was over during this window and each time you looked at her you burst out in uncontrollable laughter. You giggled nonstop for about five minutes straight, and I can honestly say that was one of the happiest moments of my life.


Oh and have I mentioned just how much you love chewing on your foot? Specifically your right foot?


All my love,
Mama

Mini Soda

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Well, Ana and I survived our first
cf.Objective conference. And it was actually quite entertaining. At first I was a little scared to be surrounded by such a vast concentration of geeks, but they were surprisingly well adjusted and highly entertaining group. I finally got a chance to meet a lot of Simeon’s good friends, as well as catch up with ones I already knew.



Ana did great staying in yet another hotel. She didn’t even mind the “cage” the hotel gave us to use as a crib. Typically (I say that like we do it so often) the hotels provide a Pack n Play, or something similar. But this hotel gave us a tiny metal crib. Ana wasn’t use to the bars because we have bumpers on our crib at home, so she kept grabbing on to them or accidentally hitting them when she stretched out her arms.



On Friday Ana and I decided to take a break from the conference and be tourists. We headed over to the Mall of America. It was so huge. The place has four floors, three food courts, an underwater aquarium, a museum, a racetrack AND an amusement park right in the middle of the 520 or so stores. Can you even imagine? Ana and I wandered through the amusement park and around 2.5 floors before we had to call it a day. I was even sore afterwards. From a freakin’ shopping mall. But it was so worth it!



I would have to say the only downside of the trip was our flight home. After a leaking engine, two gate changes, and four hours we were finally able to leave the damn airport. You could say Ana was less than thrilled by this. Even so she was a trooper and only cried on the plane when she pulled on her headband and it smacked her directly in the eye. But don’t worry, Simeon took care of that “mean” headband by accidentally throwing it away when the flight attendant cleared our garbage. Take that headband!!



You can see all the pictures Simeon and I took on our trip here. Enjoy.