Happy New Year

We're hoping to be released tonight at midnight or slightly earlier after the 48-hour blood test. It is supposed to be pouring down rain, so J is realllllllllllly looking forward to that!

If you haven't read the previous post, let me repeat that Evan is the Welsh form of John and also means God is gracious.

God, indeed, is gracious. For us, EH is a bit of a miracle baby. Perhaps not in the dire sense that some parents experience, but in enough of a sense for us.

His long-awaited birth was not made the most public of knowledges because in March his mama was diagnosed with an auto-immune disease. Due to this, the doctors had to watch him, his heart specifically, very closely. He had ultrasounds in Maternal-Fetal medicine every three weeks, where, in utero, he was seen by a technician, a mat-fet MD, and a pediatric cardiologist. Yesterday, he was given an EKG which read with no changes to his heart. God is gracious....EH should be ticking for a long time.

God is gracious, in that, after the diagnosis, we were given one year to try for a baby. Most people are good at basic math, so let's leave it at that. Some couples try for years. We are thankful to God for his gift. (Oh, and if you're really good at math, you'll note that he arrived three weeks early...while I happened to be waiting for a nurse to call me with an induction date! God is also merciful!! :)  )

God is gracious and does indeed answer prayer. One hour before the pushing phase, the doctor said the C word because EH's head was not quite in the right position. (These are details I'm not going to write about!) Basically, she attempted to move him and that may have helped...but in addition, we called some prayer warriors and told them to pray. Within 30 minutes, the contractions sped up and at the hour mark, he was free to move. The rest is history.

My hope is to have some pictures up this weekend. Happy New Year....and what a year it will be!

I just realized I have this picture from J's phone:

Siblings

Evan: means "John" in Welsh (so like having a Jr that's not a Jr) and also "God is gracious"

The latter meaning being our thanks to God for his perfect health...more on that, maybe later.

Hunter: John's mom's maiden name


SHE met HIM this afternoon and it was beautiful. "Hello Evan Hunter" She held him right away, held the bottle, said "He's poopin and he's crying" while I changed his diaper...and when she left she said "Night night Evan."

Too cute. I think it will work out nicely. :)

Welcome,,,,

Evan Hunter Mott!
7lbs 2.6 oz
21 1/4 (correct #) inches
11:57pm
Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Pictures in a few days!

A Peek into our Christmas 2010

 Christmas Eve

 The Mantle

 Christmas Morning Descent

 Ripping in...hey, wait that's not yours!

 Taking over...

 Gift from Auntie M.

 Gift from Auntie B.

 New tea set is a hit!

 Sitting in an antique cradle

 Licking the sugar

 Mommy is allowing me unlimited cookies today

New baby doll had to come along for the ride, too

Christmas Dinner

 The best photo of the family shoot

First Christmas Program

Tuesday night (12/14) was her first Christmas program at school. Below are some pictures!

 So excited to see her little friend, EJ....almost looks like they are practicing a bow

 Staring with great intensity at the jingle bell

 Stage right cast...oldest kids on top risers

 She didn't sing a note (??), but played her jingle bell with great enthusiasm. Fortunately, she did not melt-down, wave, or faint either. :)

 With one of her teachers, Miss Judy

With her other teacher, Miss Jann

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus...or is there?

Months ago, or maybe even pre-baby, J and I wondered how we would handle the subject of "Santa Claus." Raised in a bi-cultural environment, I still cringe at the idea of a family friend taking me to sit on Santa's lap at about age 10....I mostly grew up believing that the "Christkind" (Christ Child) was the one who brought the gifts....but, even with that idea, I *knew* it was my mother and grandmother who took *so* long to get "ready" because they were busy wrapping presents!

J grew up in a traditional environment...he was a good little boy who put out cookies and milk and believed in Santa. (Hey, I put out cookies and milk too on occasion) So, we had, or still have, some differences to work through.

I'm not sure we really decided anything....I wanted to alternate Christmases...opening gifts on Dec 24 (as is German custom) and on Dec 25 (as is American custom). J recently said to me, "You can't take Santa Claus from a little kid!" But, I see pictures of my friends' kids on Santa's lap at the mall and just about all of them are screaming in terror or are sorely afraid of that guy in the red suit. It just makes me shake my head. Why put them through all that?

I've been storing the presents in the guest room. SHE has been in and out of there with me numerous times and is fully aware that there is something very interesting in there. We've been letting her watch holiday shows on On Demand and she can successfully identify Santa, as well as angels, cookie-baking, etc and of course, she sings Jingle Bells (while ringing no less than 4 bells at a time) 24-7.

Well, all this previous pratter to tell the following story:

Tonight, she went into the guest room on her own and J found her standing there looking at the presents, saying "Christmas!"

Later, while we were lying in bed, I asked J again, "Well, what about this Santa thing?" And he replied, "Well, any 2 year-old who eats a grapefruit for lunch and says, "Sour, but tasty...."

We just cracked up and decided she'd end up being too smart to believe in a guy in a red suit.

That's this year. We'll see what next year brings!

ABCs...in the "know"

Another first

Today we had our first trip to the dentist! A pediatric dentist, recommended by our pediatrician.
This first visit is primarily to educate the parent(s), which I heartily needed. This is what I learned for any mommies out there who might be interested:

1. Best way to brush baby's teeth: sit on floor with baby's head in your lap; brush at the gum line at a 45 degree angle. Gums should briefly turn white to show you are using the right amount of pressure. Of course, the lap may not be ideal for everyone...not sure how this will change our routine, but it is the best "hands free" way for the parent doing the brushing to manipulate the cheeks and tongue out of the way when necessary.

2. First dental visit is recommended after 1 year old. We waited b/c she didn't have a lot of teeth then. She is still "behind the curve" as far as the number of teeth. But, I think....hey, less teeth exposed to junk!

3. Fluoride toothpaste IS acceptable. The demonstration toothbrush looked like the amount was even LESS than a pea....Dentist said it would still foam up and if swallowed, should not cause a stomachache or anything. Yeah! This rests my concerns since she really isn't into drinking that fluoridated water.

4. Two is a good age to start teaching spitting. Oh boy...

5. As soon as teeth touch each other, begin flossing. The lap method accomodates either "real floss" or the floss sticks. We're currently using the floss sticks. I floss and then she can chew on it. ha ha.

6. Dentist said AGE 9 is when children really first get the ability to brush "well" themselves.
Practice, of course, is encouraged before then. :)







7. Crowded baby teeth and a cross-bite can foreshadow the need for braces. The bite thing is sometimes caused by thumb-sucking or pacifier-use. So far so good!

8. Gummy things....vitamins, candy, etc....are VERY bad!! Our vitamins are Flinstones, so no worries.

9. Two times a day brushing is fine...the first can even be the child as long as the parent does a really good brushing before bedtime.

Since she did so well with the lap visit, in 6 months she'll graduate to the "real cleaning" in the big chair. Oooh. Dentist said she had "nice adjective" teeth...I don't remember...beautiful, wonderful, something like that. I am just pleased to know she inherited her maternal teeth! :) (sorry, daddy)

"I had fun dentist" has now been added to her list of sentences. And of course, choosing a toy from the treasure chest was the highlight. Her choice? A purple silly band....more of a bracelet...it had no particular shape. (Whew, she is all girl...)

Me? I would have chosen the bathtub frog! :) Maybe next time........

Eleven Burnt Cookies

Today was one of those "pretty good mothering" days. The kind where I feel like I did everything (almost) right. As in, there were no disciplinary moments and we both had immense fun. She was so good today. What a great day.

Admittedly, I had a pretty bad screw-up myself, though. Oh, did I.

My pint-size baking assistant and I were busy creating, for a 2nd day, Christmas cookies and lo and behold, I burned a batch. Also, not an uncommon thing in my kitchen. (I bake really well, but cookies are not my forte) I had put two batches in at once and the sugar cookies....well, they were burnt to a crisp. I mean, A CRISP. Black--on top and bottom. And so I repeatedly said "Damn." Oh horrors...Yes, it could have been worse, but then my pint-size echo repeated it. OH BOY DID I FEEL HORRIBLE. I won't share the manner in which I remedied the situation, but I hope, hope, hope the honest approach I took did the trick. It did at the time and she's pretty smart, so I hope she won't repeat it again. Bad mama, I know....*spanking*

My brilliant child can now count to eleven. Yes, 11 ! With only the aid of "S" and "S" for the numbers six and seven. I'm still not sure where she learned 11....

Early morning survival!

The babe and I returned home just before 8am! (Daddy was there, too, but he left for work when we came home) She did great! Really....the anesthesiologist was the most impressed....he said she did not cry at all or let out a peep. (Made his job easy since the mask is the scariest part for most kids) The nurses loved her and thought she was so cute and funny. After the surgery, a nurse came back and asked us if her favorite word was no! She didn't want to take the Tylenol! The releasing nurse told us we were doing a great job with her. (Wow. That's more than I ever got from our first pediatrician!)

The doctor said the ears had thick fluid in them, but were not inflamed, so that means she did not have an infection today (or last week either with that weird fever). We definitely made the right decision to go ahead with this procedure.

She is running around as usual and we have already survived our first dose of ear drops together. Again, she laid down so nicely for me--her choice, on the windowsill!

The senior minister was at the surgery center before we arrived! (In time to pray with us)

I am touched and overwhelmed by the braveness (is there a correct word?) of my child. I could learn a thing or two from her, I know!

My buddy

Daddy and baby girl have this thing. It goes like this:

He: Are you my buddy?
She: NO!
He: tickles her and she laughs uproariously

Repeat. Indefinitely.

Date: yesterday
Scene: Talking bear that recites The Night Before Christmas is sitting on the table

She: Are you my buddy?
She (for the bear): No!
Bear: Twas the night before Christmas...
She: TICKLE, TICKLE!

Repeat. Indefinitely.

And in the words of Mastercard....priceless!

Out of the mouths of babes

Tomorrow our little one is scheduled to have ear tube surgery. (Still won't be sure until we get there if they will do the surgery...the fever is gone, but she has a really bad cough) Everyone says it's a "no big deal" kind of experience, but to a mama EVERYTHING is a big deal when it comes to your child.

So, in an effort to prepare her....tonight in her bath I asked her which animals she wanted to take along with her. She spun around in her tubby, looked at me and smiled and said "Jesus."

(Jesus is her little lamb that sings Jesus Loves Me....she also has a bear with the same name)

I started to cry because I thought "how appropriate" and she doesn't even really know.

Or does she?! :)

Bathtime continued with several renditions of the song....

Birthday Video

The Little Pilgrim's Third Thanksgiving

Due to nature's complications, we opted to stay home this year for Thanksgiving. A quiet, family-oriented day with some pretty good food, might I add. Below some meal excerpts:

 "Cheese"

 When asked what she is thankful for, consistently she replies: "Milk!"

 What I'm thankful for!

 Dinner fare: bananas, noo-noos, and grilled cheese

My serious child

She loves her Playdoh!

What a cute chick!

And here, some pictures from Happy Halloween:

 Two years out of the same costume: woohoo!

 How do I get these feet off?

 Game of chicken, anyone?

Post-trick-or-treat chow (yeah, that was mama's idea...wear her out and she'll eat!)

Happy 2nd Birthday

Well, here it is...the long awaited picture posting. Each night I think I will be more motivated to write, but the exhaustion takes over. The only difference tonight is that, well, it's almost Thanksgiving and there will be more pictures to post!!

The BIG GIRL as she is now called has advanced amazingly in the last 3 weeks since her bday. Only the week prior, everything was "pink." Now, all her colors are in order. And her ABCs....she sings them over and over and over....in the quiet of the car (yeah, right) all of a sudden I'll hear: "There's an H; there's an X; there's a P." Wow. The brain is simply amazing. And now, on to the pictures:

 Her favorite present (from Grandma)

 Opening Mommy and Daddy's card

 Modeling in her dress

 She was very specific about which balloons she wanted. 2 on every chair

 Some of The Spread

 Agreeing to wear the tiara, but only for this picture

 Lunch with her peeps. Round one. 9 kids total. Round two ate after swimming lessons

 For the balloon themed party, I hired a balloon artist. Here they are in rapt attention. She was a hit!

 Riding her horsey (great hand-me-down from Paul)

Well, at least I got a picture before we ate it all. Bakery cake this year.

Feeling sentimental: Martina McBride - In My Daughter's Eyes (LIVE)

A!

I spoke too soon!

Tonight while reading "Pajama Time"....on the very last page in large letters is the word PAJAMA....and all of a sudden I hear this very soft, "A" and a point to the last A....I screeched with delight....I don't know who was more excited....I, by her recognition or she, by my screeching. Woo-hoo! She knows A! :)

Call me sentimental (or yes, other things), but sometimes I get tears in my eyes because I love her so much....tonight was one of those nights....and for (also) the first time she said "Mama crying." So, I explained why and that was good enough because then she pointed and said "eye." :)

Pre-Birthday Sweets

Yesterday afternoon, I baked 48 cupcakes. From scratch. For "school." Yes, I've still got it....2 dozen vanilla and 2 dozen chocolate. It was A LOT of fun. I really get the "I'm a MOMMY feeling...this is what Mommys do" when I bake for her. Of course, not all Mommys do that or have time and that's OK, but it's something I always dreamed about doing....(Now, I did NOT dream of dealing with tantrums and all the other fun stuff...) ha ha. I did decide to buy the cake for her party...the bakery in town is fabulous and it's a good excuse. :) Below some excerpts and of course, the taste-tester in action.

 Got the paper design ideas from a neighbor. They stick to a toothpick.

 Those are 2s, not Zs!

I think that's the look of approval.

Comparison

Thought it would be fun to post a little 2009-2010 comparison! Gotta love that the clothes still fit!