Crawling!

Eva declared her independence this fourth of July by learning to crawl!

7 Months

Finally summer! Eva has enjoyed getting out into the world! We've been all over in our stroller on walks, and now we got a jogging stroller so we can go for runs too! She is such a great sitter. She can sit forever and just play. Now that she can sit so well she HATES to be on her back. It's either sitting or standing (with help on the standing of course!)
She eats both lunch and dinner now. Loves her some veggies and rice and that Yo-Baby yogurt. She's tried birthday cake at her cousin Brian's birthday and had ice cream too! She still doesn't want anything more solid though. I tried scrambled egg and she thought that was way yucko.
We tried to go into a little kiddie pool this weekend, but I think the water was too cold, because she didn't like it much. I think I'll try in my mom's big pool when the weather gets warmer.
My mom is watching Eva for me all summer, so that will be fun for all of us! My parents are also moving nearer to us within the year, so that's exciting too!
I love to watch all of Eva's little victories; her sitting and eating and getting so much better with her hands. She is trying to rock herself into a crawling position all the time, so I think she'll be crawling before the summer is over. She really has given me a different perspective of and a deeper appreciation for the gift that is our life.

6 months

Finally Spring!
We have loved getting outside. This is the nicest weather Eva's been out of the belly for!! We've spent some time outside in the yard and walking in our stroller. We also went to the zoo for the first time! She really like the big fish and the leopard that was pacing close to the glass. There as also this rope thing you walked through that was her favorite! I put a pic of it above.
Evalyn can sit on her own now for minutes at a time. She is rolling over all the time too. Sometimes when I go to her when she wakes up in her crib she'll be all the way on the other side of the crib and on her tummy!
She is eating baby foods very well now too. She loves sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, yogurt and peas. She tried the chicken last night, but she hated it. We'll try meat again in a month or so, but maybe she just won't like meat like her mama.
She's finally getting more hair, but its still thin. And her little ears still stick out like crazy, but I love them! I got her ears pierced for her 6 month bday. She was very good for it and barely cried. She has totally left them alone since then, so that's good!

5.5 Months

Lots of milestones! Eva can now turn over and stands and sits while supported. She loves to bounce and jump. She eats 'real' food once a day now. She loves yogurt and has also tried peas and sweet potatoes and apple sauce. She also loves oranges! I'm not sure I'm supposed to give them to her, but she sucks on orange slices and loves them! She sucked on a grape once too, but I don't think she ate any. She is finally sleeping better. She goes to bed at around 830 and typically sleeps until 4 or 5. Sometimes she still wakes up around 2, but rarely. She is very vocal and does a lot of yelling and high pitched screams. I think she is starting to reach up to be picked up too, which is sooo cute.
She met her Great Grandma and Grandpa Weber last week (pictured above) and we were so happy they got to see her. She is one of the few girls in that boy dominated side of the family, so they had fun seeing all her girly things. Her Grandma Babb also bought her a new swim suit with an awesome tutu which is pictured above. How ridiculously cute is that?!?

Almost Easter!

Eva's first Easter is so much fun. Grandma Maggie bought her a beautiful new outfit to wear to Easter visiting, which is a huge help to us since we would not have been able to afford that this year. We've already gone visiting at Grandma Babbs' and Grandpa Webers' house, but she still has to wait to find out what the bunny left her at Grandma and Grandpa Niewolny's.
I had her first professional pictures taken at Sears and I think they turned out sooo good. I wished I could have gotten every pose they did, but I did get a few which I've posted above. Eva will be 5 months old in just a few days...how the time is flying. A good friend of ours just had a baby boy yesterday and we got to see him today.....was Eva ever that small?!?!? I guess she was, but it doesn't seem like it!!
Enjoy the pics and have a happy Easter!

Almost 4 Months

I can't believe that Eva's almost 17 weeks old. I remember at 20 weeks of my pregnancy we found out she was a girl. That seems like so early in my pregnancy but she was technically older than than she is now! Crazy.
She's doing so well. She is getting much better at holding her head up and being on her tummy. She still can't completely support herself with her arms, but I'm sure that's coming. She's had a few nights now where she has gone down for her long sleep without the hour or so or crying. I really hope that it's a sign she might be growing out of that. It's not a big deal, but it would be nice to put her down with out it. She still wakes up most nights once, but usually just to eat and then goes back down. We tried cereal twice, but I don't think she was ready for it. I might try again in a week or so. She loves her Johnny Jump Up. It hangs from a door frame and supports her weight while she bounces on her feet (thanks boucha Niewolny for the awesome find!) She can grasp and bring toys to her mouth now and she ALWAYS has her hands in her mouth. She is a drool queen. Not sure if it's the beginning of teething or if she's just a drooly girl. She's rolling side to side, but not over yet.
Despite the awful economic times and financial hardships, I am so blessed to be able to spend more time at home with her, blessed just to have her and with her the sence of peace and fullfillment she brings me.

Baptism

Eva was baptized February 15, 2009 at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Milwaukee. She wore a dress that was made from my grandmas, her great grandmas, wedding dress. My dad, my sisters and me and my sisters children have all wore the dress to be baptized.
We decided to do an immersion baptism so she was dunked into the water with no clothes on, but got to put on her dress right after. She was a very good girl! The water in the font was heated so I think that helped. I was so nervous she was going to have an accident without her diaper on, but we got lucky!
There were a number of odd coincidences we found about later. I had been church shopping since we moved to Greenfield but hadn't found a church I felt was really 'me' until my sister Kari suggested I try St. John the Evangelist. Something about it right away let me know this was the one so we joined there. After my aunt heard about the baptism and where it took place she told us that St. John the Evangelist was the church my grandma Himmelspach attended as a young woman before she was married. So Eva was baptized in her Great Grandma Niewolny's wedding gown at her Great Grandma Himmelspachs church! AND the little girl she was baptized along side was named Lucille, which was her great great grandmas name! Weird or what?!