life lately [according to my phone]

yeah, still trying to take everything in

here is a glimpse of my days lately

so besides this face, that I cannot get enough of

I'm mentally juggling writing a rationale for a masters class

and knowing I have only two more classes until I'm done 

isn't really helping it get done any faster, but that's ok

if you look closely, you may see moving boxes

yes, we are moving, which will get it's own post here soon

so excited for space, but leaving our beloved midtown life is bittersweet

and the biggest thing weighing on my mind...work

oh yeah, that whole career of mine will be coming my way soon

too soon

and no, I'm not ready

but I'm sure I'll have lots to say about it here soon

I think I might be doing some "writing therapy" 

because, go figure, stay at home mom actually suites me pretty well

but that is not in the cards, so blah

so, I now wish to revert your attention back to the cute baby faces above

because this post got a little too real, a little too fast

oh hey, I'm 16 weeks old

no complaints this week

we have had many windy days lately

which the people around me seem to not love

but I think they are pretty awesome

I breathe in each gust with a smile or sigh

and sometimes I even stick my tongue out to really get into the moment

mom just kept telling me to hold onto my hat,

but thankfully she helped me out with this one

other big news includes me finding my feet

which happened while I began working on sitting up all on my own

sometimes I get a little too into it

and go flying forward

but thankfully I've landed on some cushioned surfaces

or been caught by some helping hands

 and as you can see

the drool is still real

mom still likes talking to me in crazy voices

and pretending to eat my ears and toes

or just about any part of me

I like sitting on my dad's shoulders

and talking to anyone who will listen

-Everly Mae

real life just got real

been taking a few days to wrap my head around my real life

let's just say some real things are happening around here right now

and I decided to put the computer away for a bit while I try to sort

these things out

I'll share much of the new, exciting, and overwhelming 

events that have and will be occurring over the next few weeks

but for now, life is still looking a bit like this right now

and I'm good with that

oh hey, I'm 15 weeks old

this week got serious people

a few big things happened

well, two very little ones actually

pain is real, and teething is here, and yes, my parents now realize

that I can cry, the jury was still out on that one

I hear that these teeth are going to come in handy soon

but for right now, I don't get their purpose

all I get is they are painful

like my face was red and puffy for most of today

but I know I will get through it, because apparently

I'm not the first baby to do this

so while we wait for these little teeth to officially break through

I'm still loving my tummy

and my mornings in my crib

while mom eats a little breakfast without me in her hands

speaking of my crib, I actually slept in it for a period of time the other day

go figure, using it for more than just holding my 

stuffed animals and hohos

or my fur sister Luna who thinks the crib actually belongs to her

and finally, as you can see above, I still have not

lost that newborn hair

people keep telling my mom that it will fall out

but right now, it just stands horizontally sometimes

and now it is time to go tend to the gallons of drool that I have these days

work on eating that bib that is now always around my neck

and possibly finish the night off with a good hand chewing session

and no, it doesn't matter who the hand belongs to

oh, and I'm thankful for my Sophie

-Everly Mae

new.

a couple weeks ago I got a new to me camera

so right now I am trying to make the big girl step of shooting on a D40

to a D200

and I had just gotten my itty bitty DSLR figured out

so bear with me

Everly Mae and Grandpa Frank

you know it's a good day when...

you already have a jam packed weekend with friends and family planned

and you find out someone else will be joining in on the fun...

that's right

auntie meg is coming to town tomorrow and we are

smiles about it

lovely things

being the day of love

[at least according to the card companies]

I feel like I should list some of my most lovely things

I love waking up with Everly snuggled as close to me as she can get

and I love the mornings we all get to sleep in together

I love that after her eyes open, a smile is soon to follow

I love that her baby feet never stop moving

and if they have, her hands have taken their place

I love how she makes eyes for her dad

and snuggles into him much differently than she does me

I love when E pretends to be shy and hide her head in the bend of my arm

only to flash her smile once again to whoever may be catching her attention

at that moment

I love how she holds my hand when nursing

or plays with my shirt

I love that moment when I look down only to see her smiling up at me

and I love that even though it has been our biggest challenge

we didn't stop nursing somewhere along the way

I love that after being together for seven years

the mr. and I can spend today just loving our family

I love that we ate leftover Stouffers lasagna for dinner

and that we had six valentines days just the two of us

and one with all three

oh hey, I'm 14 weeks old

this week I enjoyed another trip to see auntie meg

survived my mom being in class for 16 hours this past weekend

and I officially weigh over 11 pounds

11 pounds 4 ounces to be exact

which brings me to my next big news

drumroll please...

I am now rockin' size one diapers

now, with that being said

the parentals were pretty nervous that first day

because let's face it, these diapers are barely fitting my legs

but so far so good

 other highlights this week included singing some coldplay with mom

while she changed my diaper

dancing to augustana while helping mom with the dishes

playing peek-a-boo while folding laundry

and taking lots of walks in what has been a fairly warm february

 I'm still loving my baby bjorn because my legs are free to kick about

sometimes I even stand up on my moms hands while we walk

it gives me an even better view out 

and while taking a look about I like using all my senses

so lately, I walk with my tongue out, like really out

who says you can't taste air?

-Everly Mae

ten on ten [february 2013]

today I spent 8 hours in class

so I did my best to catch a little beauty

1. mommy & E ready for an early morning trip to class  2. being cute while staying clean  

3. chopsticks with a cute audience  4. Bethany staying positive after many hours of class this weekend, and yes, it was a dance class  5. gourmet water anyone?  6. garden angel 

 7. love banner  8. umm...everly  9. luna loving E's things  10. tummy time champion

happy ten on ten everyone

baby vernacular [in our family at least]

it is pretty funny how quickly you come up with

an alternate language once becoming a parent

now I'm not necessarily talking about so called "baby talk"

I think the mr. and I try to keep too much of that to a minimum

but instead, as a family you come up with more nicknames than you know

what to do with, whether they be for Everly herself, or something she may be doing

now I am very aware that this post probably has little interest for my readers

so sorry for that

but I guess I could file it under "electronic baby book"

because let's be honest, I haven't written a single thing in her actual baby book

so I'm glad I will have these little details for me somewhere, until I can actually

get out a pen, and write 

but for now, I guess I'll finish this post for myself

but I will include a cute picture, so you are welcome for that

so what do we call our Everly? well, just about everything

love bug [quickly ended because the mr. said it was too close to our nickname for Luna, our fur baby, so it was a done deal before we left the hospital]

sweets

pumpkin

pumpkin butt

little lady

baby girl

booby monster

E

drool baby

the heater

squirt

just a few favorites from the first three months

now there are two other things that babies do pretty regularly 

and, well, we have names for that too

doing business

doing serious business

and booby snacks

I know the older she gets, the more vernacular we will add to this list

and I love having our own little language for Everly

Photo by Delissa [@ledharmabum]

everly mae is three months old

our everly mae is changing more and more everyday

for example, yesterday she laughed for the very first time

and today, she rolled over "officially" for the first time

in fact, all the photos below of her on her back were taken after said event

I had put her on her belly for a few pictures

and turns out she wanted to be on her back

and so she got there, so fast I pretty much missed it

I'll be on the lookout for a repeat performance

as we move into February little things are starting to go away

for example, E's "scared face" is starting to be less scared

apparently the sensation of gravity is less scary these days

and when she sneezes, she no longer makes an adorable sigh after each one

again, I guess she is getting used to that sensation

and we are seeing way less sad faces these days

that lip curl was just too much to handle

I love watching Everly take everything in with such a happy stride

even choking on all that spit that constantly overwhelms her

makes our little E laugh instead of cry

and even though some of her "brand new to the world" tendencies are starting to leave

even more fun things are beginning 

so I will stay focussed on those

happy three months everly mae

I do love you more everyday

if that was at all possible 

let it be noted...

that today, February 6th

Everly Mae laughed for the very first time

like went through all the motions, and sound actually came out this time

good ol' daddies

they are magical sometimes

because he was the one who got this milestone to happen

we were just hanging out on the sofa

and the mr. was bouncing her about, and she laughed

and my heart melted

that's it

and no, this picture has nothing to do with this post

but I really don't care

because it is cute, and so was tonight's laugh

there, connection made.

everly mae visits the zoo

last week the mr. and I had the chance to take miss everly

to the zoo for the very first time

now, before I had everly, the zoo would not have been my first place

to hang out on a day off with the mr.

let's just say I have a very sensitive nose

but I couldn't wait to go there now that I'm a mom

funny how quickly things change

highlights included the newly redesigned giraffe home and viewing area

and the perfectly pink flamingos of course

everly was pretty into checking things out as usual

until we realized that it was 1:00 in the afternoon

and E hadn't slept at all that morning, so she got pretty tired pretty fast

but who doesn't love getting to stop and nurse in the middle of the zoo

so we had a slight timing mom fail on that one, but we recovered

and we cannot forget when our little lady had a bit of a "diaper incident"

as we will refer to it

while visiting the reptile house

I'll just let you know that we had our daughter completely naked

in the middle of the zoo [geez, again]

as we pretty much gave her a baby wipe bath

[followed by a real bath as soon as we got home!]

with that being said, I would still deem our first trip to the zoo

a success

and we can now check the zoo off the list of firsts