Christmas Is Coming!

And with this Christmas, I get one of my long time wishes...

Photo Christmas cards with my li'l one! Thank you, shutterfly!

They are on the way!!

Our first Hallow-Evie

Oh, Evie. Sweet Evie. She is such a happy baby.

We have really enjoyed watching Evie "grow up" into a 3 month old. Every time she does something cute or superbly amazing for a 3 month old to do, we ask ourselves, "What did we ever do before she could do THAT?"

The best part is that she keeps doing cute and superbly amazing things.





One of those cute and superbly amazing things was her Halloween debut. I know you're all waiting on pictures, so I will go ahead and share and THEN tell the story.

Sunday night, Evie made her costume debut as a hot dog! Brad had a youth Halloween costume party, so Evie thought she would grill the rest of the kids with her costume.  My teacher friends Mimi and Lynne bought this costume for Evie because of a long school-related hot dog story (it has to do with Shakespeare and integrating quotations... but that's not what this blog is about!), but Evie relished this costume like it was her dinner. She was so cute... it was hard for the rest of the kids to ketchup. She was so content in the costume. I thought she would fuss, but as soon as I got her dressed, she was happy as a sweet little bun!
(ok, puns stop now.)

On Halloween Monday night, we celebrated at our church's Trunk or Treat. Prepare yourself for more cute cleverness...
Brad and I dressed up as Bakers and Evie was a cupcake!! I have to admit-- I thought that was pretty cute. She was the cutest dern cupcake known to man.

(I know this picture isn't great, but we are working on getting a better one.)

As part of the evening, Evie entered the cake walk with one of her Athens-grandmas, Janice. She won a delicious red velvet cake!
Trunk or Treat lasted about a half an hour after Evie's normal bed time, but she did so great. She didn't put up a fuss at all, and when she was tired, she laid down in the back of the car and took a little rest.


We gave the rest of our candy to little princesses, ghosts, and UGA cheerleaders, buckled Evie in, and called it a night. It was a great first Halloween.

Our pumpkin, carved for St. James

The weekend before Halloween, Dad and Sharon came to Athens to visit us and meet Evie. We had a great time, just introducing them to the routine, doting on Evie, catching up on what's happening with adoption/work/church/friends/life and spending a beautiful weekend in our favorite city.

Dad says 'goodnight' to Goodnight Moon and Evie

At Bear Hollow seeing the animals

Evie mesmerized at the Halloween decor above

It was a great weekend and first Halloween!

Brad and I are so incredibly blessed to have Evie. She is such an easy baby to love.

An Evie-ning Update

These last few weeks in Evie's life have been exciting. She has begun smiling and 'talking' all the time and we are learning a lot about her little personality. We have come to one conclusion about Evie: she is a passionate child. She is a happy baby, cooing and smiling, looking and snuggling... until she's not. When Evie isn't happy, she screams. Like full gut, breathing from the diaphragm, wide mouthed shouting and screaming. That little lip pooches out, it trembles a little, and then the cry is unleashed. 

Brad and I can't hear what each other is saying if she's screaming. Now, she only screams if something is wrong-- she's hungry, needs changing, tired, whatever. That isn't very often at all, but when she's not happy and the bottom lip begins to pooch, watch out. Brace yourself. Keep her moving.

But Evie really is a happy baby. See?

A couple weeks ago, she had her 2 month check up, and she is a very healthy little lady! She measured 23 5/8 inches (she's grown over 4 inches!) and weighed 11 pounds. That placed her in the 88th percentile for length and the 50th percentile for weight. She's in the 100th percentile for cuteness. This child is so stinkin' cute.

Over the last few weeks, we have fallen into a regular schedule with Evie. On Mondays and Wednesdays, Evie stays with adopted grandparents from church Mary, Janie, Vivian, or Janice; on Tuesdays, she stays with adopted Aunt 'Apple' April, and on Thursdays and Fridays, she stays with daddy. It's our hope to keep her out of day care for as long as possible. We absolutely appreciate how many people show Evie love during the week and all the time. She is such a blessing to us, and lots of people are happy to share in the blessing with us! After all, Evie can say that 

She is a pretty big deal.

We love that big deal.

A Few of My Favorite Things

As Evie continues to grow up, she is starting to develop a little personality with her particular likes and dislikes. I don't think she remembers clothes, toys, or even people besides Brad or me yet, but there are things that she always smiles at and coos for. Some of her favorites include

A full bottle,

The stuffed musical butterfly with the light up cheeks and wings,

Walks in the stroller,

and the magical teal paci.

There aren't many things that Evie does not like, but one of them is loud barking from

The crazy Jackson.

Nobody's happy when his barking wakes Evie up from a nap. Nobody. She also hates sunshine in her eyes.

Evie doesn't really cry or fuss unless she is hungry or tired (much like me, actually), but there is one thing that Evie always loves, even if she's fussy. This miracle always gets a smile, a calm attitude, and a soothed baby:

A bath!

Evie loves a bath. From her very first days, she has always loved them.

She is always very interested in the good lookin' baby in the mirror. She 'laughs' at herself and delights in seeing Brad or me in the mirror. We could spend an hour a night in the bath. She loves them.

After her bath, Evie does 'Baby Spa' time complete with music, Aveeno lotion, baby hair brushing, books, prayers, and time with the special teal paci. She loves the evening routine.

In celebration, Evie thought she would share a musical number with you. Enjoy!

***

Evie's Musical Debut, Her 'Sound of Music' 

to be sung to "A Few of My Favorite Things"

Evenings with bath time and full yummy bottles, 

Splashing and laughing and playing in water. 

Plush butterflies with the lights in its wings... 

These are a few of my favorite things! 

Having my spa with Aveeno lotion, 

Walks in my stroller and soft rocking motion, 

Reading some books and the songs that we sing... 

These are a few of my favorite things!

When the dog barks,

When it's sunny,

When I'm fussy and mad, 

I simply remember my favorite things, and then I don't feel so bad!

Times, They Are a Changin

In the past few weeks, Evie has grown so much! She has definitely moved out of the 'newborn' phase and into the baby phase. Take a look:

Evie as newborn, 4 days old

compared to this:

Evie as a baby!, 7 weeks old

What a difference! She has started looking around all the time, making eye contact, smiling at people and sounds, and cooing. One of the first times she cooed, she was taken back by it. She shook her head in surprise and looked around for that strange creature that made the sound. I cooed back at her and she did it again, smiling at her most recent accomplishment.

Evie is also sleeping much better. Though she hasn't slept through the night yet, she is getting close. (Wahoo!) Several nights, she has slept from 9pm- 4am solid. The first time she did that, Brad and I assumed that the other had been up for a 1am meal, but we were delighted to find that the Baby Champ had indeed slept that long. Regardless, we were all surprised! 

I slept HOW long??

Last weekend, we went down to Columbus for a shower with Brad's family and Columbus friends. Peyton, Brad's sister, and our friends Jeannie and Ashley really know how to throw a party! It was a beautiful spread with a great mix of people and a gorgeous day. 

Yumyums made with love by Peyton and Jeannie

My dear friends Katherine and Christina were able to come (I hadn't seen them at the same time since our wedding 3 years ago!). Katherine made the trek from Boston and Christina came from outside Montgomery, a recent move for she and her husband from the SF Bay Area. The three of us, all from GA and AL, met while working in the Bay Area for California Theatre Center. (I famously renamed Christina 'Tumps' because she is from Wetumpka, AL.) They were excited to meet Evie, and we loved having time to spend together.

Tumps, Sally, and Katherine

It was a great day overall. Both of our families have been very supportive of our adoption of Evie, and friends and care deeply for her. And us. We are blessed to be loved by so many.

Katherine and Tumps with Evie

Finally, I had a special treat this weekend. My sweet friend Ashley decided to come to Athens this weekend to treat me to a UGA game! Ashley, a friend from high school and a college roommate, has been an incredible friend through my pregnancy, stroke, and recovery, and she was excited to come to Athens to root on the Dawgs! Evie celebrated by wearing a UGA dress, custom made by Suzy Revell, a high school friend's mom. We hope it's the first of many days Evie celebrates a win in Athens!

With Evie, 9/17

With Ashley at the game

(Oh! And I got my hair cut.)

Tomorrow starts a new week. According to my baby books, this week, Evie's stomach will be big enough to hold enough food to sleep through the night. We'll keep our drowsy fingers crossed. Until then, goodnight!

A Beautiful Distraction

Following Labor Day this week, I returned to work at Oconee County High School. It's a great school and I love my job, but it's been a tough week. Though I teach British Literature, 9th grade Literature and Composition, and Yearbook, all I could think about was this:

Wednesday at church, I lasted only about 10 minutes in the adult class before going to the nursery to retrieve Evie and hold her for the rest of class. I know hundreds-- thousands-- millions of women have returned to work post-baby, but the week was tougher than I thought it would be.
All I could think about was this:

In other news, Evie turned 6 WEEKS OLD this week! Friends and family often comment about how little she is, but we think she's just the opposite. Watching her grow and develop from a brand newborn to now is incredible. She follows people with her eyes, reacts to sounds, has a growing collection of facial expressions, and watches ceiling fans with fascination. Evie is also very strong. She lifts her head, kicks hard, can scoot a little on her tummy, and has rolled from her back to tummy at least twice. Really? Can little ones like Evie do that?

We like to think she is so smart/strong/advanced because she has been living in the Baker house. I'm sure her genes have a lot to do with it, too. We have known Lauren to be pretty smart/strong/advanced too. At least Evie's living up to her nature and nurture!

Also this week, our great friends at St. Mary's put together a celebration and shower for Evie. Therapists, nurses, nurse techs, and doctors who have known and worked with us for the last sixteen months came to meet Evie and share in the very happy end to a painful story. Who knew that two of Athens' most successful neurologists would spend their Thursday evening ooh-ing and ahh-ing over little Evie! I will include pictures soon.

This coming weekend, we wrap up our Shower Season with one last party given by Brad's sister Peyton and our great friends Jeannie and Ashley. Look for pictures and the play-by-play coming soon!

Until then, so that you won't be distracted from work, play, and life, here's a little something for you to think about as I have all week:

Happy weekend!

You Outta Be In Pictures!

For the last couple of days, we have been working on getting Evie on an established schedule. This has resulted in an unhappy Evie at times, so instead of posting unhappy Evie pictures, I thought I would share some different pictures.

One of our good friends, Melanie Jenkins, offered to take some pictures of the little one over the next several months. She gave us the photos this week, and here they are! 

Drum roll pleeeeeaaaaaassssseee.....

Isn't she beautiful? Striking? Absolutely stunning? We think so, too! 

Love Near and Far

** This just in! This morning while changing Evie's diaper, I got my first smile! We had seen the "gassy" smiles before, but this one was different. She was still, looking straight at me, and smiled! It's amazing what a smile can do.**

Now back to our originally scheduled programming...

Evie's life is a celebration, to be sure. With her one month birthday this weekend, we realized how many people have already invested in Evie's life in very real and loving ways. This little one has quite a growing family. People have (and will) come far and wide to see-kiss-love-rejoice in Evie's little perfect life. Those that can't travel continuously send messages, cards, gifts, and calls to check on her and us. We have been overwhelmed with the amount and depth of care for us and for Evie. It's amazing.

This weekend, my sister Amy drove all the way from outside New Orleans to come see us. Amy has been such an encourager and sounding board through my pregnancy, losing Caleb, the adoption process, and Evie's arrival. She offers a big sister's guidance and careful direction, but also lots of very practical advice about all things baby: you need a diaper pail, but get the Diaper Champ because it takes a regular trash bag and not expensive refills; you need a car seat, but don't fall for the super expensive ones because really, they are no more safe or protective; don't worry about letting her sleep in the car seat-swing-without a swaddle every now and then-- sleep is important, no matter how you get there. I am so thankful for my relationship with Amy. She and her husband, Brian, and their kids Carly and Will mean so much to us.

Papa, JJ, Amy, Brian, Carly, and Will Nixon

Amy with Evie

Brad's family was enamored with Evie a few weeks ago, and now Amy joins the ranks. But Evie's admirers don't stop there.

Last week, Evie met her OCHS family. That crazy, brilliant, hard working, sensitive, dedicated Warrior family.

 Melissa and Katie- great friends!

Lynne, our fearless leader

A happy mom and dad

The crazy C-hall English teachin' ladies

This weekend, Evie officially met our church youth family. That silly, goofy, loving, accommodating, anticipating family.
(pictures to come)

Evie also met her 3rd set of grandparents, my sister's in-laws, Papa and JJ Nixon. Those sweet, giving, listening, incredible grandparents. How wonderful it was to see them!

With Amy and JJ

As I said, Evie has a huge family. She still has family to meet. We are overwhelmed with kindness and the outpouring of love. She is much to be celebrated, to be sure.

But for now, Evie needs a nap.

For those of you providing love near or far, thank you. We feel it in Athens, Georgia.