The Accidental Boilermaker

Evelyn's friend Addison from church turned one today and we were all invited to her birthday party. Addison wasn't really interested in her smash cake, but her brother and sister were happy to help her blow out the candle. Big sister and brother (and cousins) also were very happy to help Addison open her presents. Addison's pink chair was a big hit with Evelyn.

At Evelyn's 9 month check-up the doctor said to keep having fun with foods and what could be more fun than donuts. Thanks Aunt Meredith for the treat!

Evelyn loves laundry.  One day I will teach her how to fold the laundry and then all the fun will end. Until then however, a basket full of laundry is better than any toy in the room. She crawled in the basket all by herself this morning.  A much better position for throwing clothes on the floor. Later in the afternoon it was decided that the laundry belonged under the coffee table. Clothes everywhere!  At this point I decided it was probably best to start folding the laundry. Even an empty laundry basket can be fun.

Today we decided that all four of us needed to get out of the house and have some fun.  We started by going to the Taubman Museum of Art because it has free admission and interesting exhibits. They also have a kid's center with lots of fun art activities so Evelyn and I might go back one day soon. After the museum we went to The Candy Shop and picked up some gummies.  Poor Evelyn, she only got to look. Finally we met up with Ashley and Harper at the Parkway Brewery. There was a Thai food truck and a really good band, so we enjoyed a drink, dinner, and music before heading back home.  

We survived the week!  Monday was a normal day. Tuesday afternoon Nate left for Boston so it was just us girls at home.  Evelyn and I went for a run and in general had a good day. Wednesday it snowed.  Not a whole lot but enough that some roads were icy and schools were cancelled.  I had signed up to help out in rehab in Roanoke which worked well since I also had to drop off and pick up Evelyn from daycare.  This being my first time dropping her off, I was a little worried but there were no tears. Thursday night I had a surprise baby shower at Olive Garden for a friend from church.  Nate wasn't supposed to get home till late so Meredith had agreed to babysit.  Unfortunately, she got sick Wednesday night.  My mom convinced me that it would be okay to be bring Evelyn along and she did awesome.  I couldn't have asked her to be better behaved.  The daddy-to-be is the band director at one of the local high schools so I couldn't resi...

Evelyn is allergic to penicillin.  She was on amoxicillin for an ear infection and previously had taken the antibiotic for a sinus infection over Christmas with no problems until yesterday.  Daycare called to let me know Evelyn had developed a rash on her legs, arms, and torso and needed to be picked up in case she was contagious.  Thankfully, Nate was able to leave work and bring her to the doctor's office. At this point the rash wasn't that bad and the doctor diagnosed it as a viral reaction and said not to worry, she wasn't contagious, she could go back to daycare.  Her ears looked good too so he said she could stop taking the amoxicillin (another praise in retrospect).  Everything seemed fine until Evelyn woke up at 11:30pm and we realized that her whole face was swollen with hives and the rash was much worse all over her body.  Since she wasn't in any respiratory distress (more praises), the doctor's office said it wasn't an emergency even though...

Meredith is here!  She will be staying with us while she does a 12 week internship at the Salem VAMC for her OT degree.  Everyone is very excited except maybe Penny and Puddles who aren't yet 100% sure about each other.

Evelyn is 11 months old!  I can't believe that in one month she will be one year old.  No standing on her own or walking yet, but she finally cut one of her top teeth. Sleeping was going great for while but here lately we have definitely taken a step (or two or three) backwards.  I don't know if it is the cold or all the travel we did, but I miss her sleeping through the night. Eating solids has also been a challenge.  Again she was doing great and suddenly it changed (cold, teething, who knows?).  Pretty much all she wants to eat is cheerios and puffs (but not always), yogurt, and cheese.  Pears, apples, and oatmeal, once good stables, are now unacceptable.  If I am sneaky, she will still eat sweet potatoes. Overall though, she is a pretty easy going baby.

Evelyn's first ear infection, that's how we celebrated the end of 2014.  She has been under the weather basically the whole month of December, but with all the travel we did and her top teeth starting to come in, it was hard to know what was the root cause of all her grumpiness (and recurrent fever). Thankfully when her fever came back Wednesday afternoon, Nate was able to leave work early and see the doctor before the office closed for the holiday.  And thankfully it was an ear infection and not the flu. So we didn't really celebrate or did not stay up till midnight.  Today was nice however.  Nate had the day off, I got to run in the morning, and Evelyn seemed to be happier.  And we did have small celebratory drink with dinner tonight.  Here's to a great 2015!