Korean House

Last night we met friends at a local restaurant that serves authentic Korean food. It was Evelyn's first trip to the restaurant and she seemed to enjoy seeing the other children. Of course, our dear friends, the Paynes, were there along with Jane, her mom, and her son Jared. We also met a new family that is visiting from OK. Kim and her daughter, Kira, and son, Spencer, are in for the holiday weekend. We all plan to meet on Monday and go apple picking at Eckert's Farm. It should be a beautiful day weatherwise and lots of fun!

Look Who's 6 Months Old!

Where has the time gone? Evelyn has been with us for one full month already and is turning 6 mos. old today. While we are still introducing her to new foods, we had to take the carrots away. She developed a rash on her face and it has since disappeared. Since this is a weird food allergy, we may introduce it again later to rule out that it may have been the reaction to any lotions and such. Evelyn is still trying to figure out how to crawl--she digs her face down and scoots to move anywhere, and we are working on sitting up on our own. She gets it for about 2 seconds, then we tumble over. It will come though. In the meantime, she loves her tummy time with her big hairy sister, Mindy, watching over her and playing in the exersaucer. Our little girl is growing up before our very eyes!

Weekend Fun

The weekend began with a fun playdate with our good friends, Owen and Avery. We went to Scott and Leslie's house for some ice cream and good times. It was so good to see Evelyn begin to interact with other children. She was very content on her tummy to watch Avery move all over the place (that girl gets around now that she is crawling!). Of course, Rob thoroughly LOVED getting to spend some time with his buddy, Owen.

On Sunday, we took Evelyn to church for the first time. She did so well! She took about a 30 minute nap during the church service and seemed to enjoy the music. Towards the end, she wanted to talk during prayer time, so Daddy and Mommy had to hush her--it was comical! Then, she went to Sunday School class with us and drank some of her bottle and took another 30 minute nap--the girl loves her sleep! Once home, Evelyn had her first taste of carrots. She wasn't too thrilled about them, but we aren't giving up yet. While most of it was on her bib, about half of it went into her belly. Hopefully, she will quickly acquire a taste for healthy eating!

Visit with Grandma Jill

Grandma Jill arrived on Wednesday afternoon for a very brief visit with Evelyn! We are thankful that Uncle Donnie and Aunt Debbie were able to drive her to St. Louis for an overnight visit with her great granddaughter. It was a hectic evening as we had Tammy, our social worker, come for our first post placement visit. It went well, and after an hour visiting, Tammy left. Then, we all went to eat at Kitaro. Evelyn was a trooper through the showy dinner. We finally got home and in bed around 9:30, which is a little off her schedule. The next morning, Grandma Jill, Uncle Donnie, and Aunt Debbie headed back to Indiana. The visit was much too short, but we are glad that they got to come and stay for a little bit.

First Road Trip

Over the past weekend, we had our first road trip to visit family in Hayti. Evelyn did very well considering it took about 3 hours to get there. She only fussed a little towards the last hour of the trip. Once there, we had the chance to visit with extended family from Tennessee and Arkansas. On Saturday, Rob and I were once again overwhelmed by the love and support of our family and friends at a baby shower hosted by the women at First Baptist Church of Hayti. The Lord has truly blessed our family with such special and wonderful people. Of course, Evelyn was the hit of the shower. She just laughed and smiled as everyone spoke of how sweet and cute she is (which her mommy and daddy already knew because we are biased)! It was a wonderful time. Perhaps the most special moment of the weekend was when Evelyn met Rob's grandmother, whom she is named after. It was such a joy to see Grandma's face light up when she saw Evelyn at the nursing home. Of course, she had to have all the nurses stop in to see her great granddaughter!

Our Big Girl!

Yesterday was our first visit to the doctor! Mommy was nervous, but Evelyn was a pro! The nurse took the measurements and wow! Evelyn is now 14 lbs. and 9 oz. and is 24 inches long. Of course, she flirted with Dr. Riechert--heaven help us as she gets older! He gave us the okay to introduce rice cereal to her along with some fruits and veggies in the coming weeks. So, last night she gave the cereal a try. I think more ended up on her daddy and her face rather than her tummy, but she seemed to like it okay. Hopefully her willingness to try new things will continue!

Busy Days

After saying good-bye to family, Evelyn has had her first play group experience and more overnight visitors. On Friday, we met our friend Natalie and her son, Mason, at the mall for some shopping, which Evelyn loved! Afterwards, we headed back to our home and Bethany came over with her son, Jacob. The three of them had some fun playing with each other and the mommies enjoyed the time to chat! The next evening, Damon and his wife, Lulu, came for a brief visit. They are moving back to the area and we can't wait for them to move here! Evelyn seemed to really like Damon as she kept smiling at him the entire time he was here. Such a little flirt!

On another note, Evelyn has mastered the art of rolling onto her tummy (heaven help us!). She gets frustrated when she isn't able to go anywhere from that point. She also has her first doctor's appointment tomorrow morning. Pray that all goes well and that mommy doesn't have a melt down if her little one cries!

Normal?

We are slowly adjusting to whatever normal will be for us. We had to say goodbye to Grandma Donna today. She has been a big help over the last few days as we all get settled in. We also had another visitor today. Our friends Tim and Ginnie stopped by to say HI to Evelyn. As you can see from the pictures she loves the elephant you brought her. We have also been playing in the exersaucer. Evelyn's not sure what to think of it yet, but she likes the songs it plays.

We're getting ready for our first big road trip in a few weeks. Please pray for Evelyn's mom and dad. She does really good in the car, but we have never had her in the car for that long. And, she needs someone in the back with her. If someone is in the back with her, that doesn't leave a lot of room for big sis Mindy. We hope it goes well.