talker

Last night we went to dinner at Uncle Alex and Bridgett's house. Evalana got all the attention during dinner and told some good stories. Although Uncle Alex is a little hesitant around babies, Evalana likes him and wished him happy 25th birthday a day early. Here are a couple of videos of Evalana telling stories today. It's beautiful outside, so we got to go for a long walk this afternoon. I think Evalana's cough might be a little better today, but I think maybe her other top tooth is going to come in in a couple of weeks. And yes, she has a black eye; her little piano flipped up at her face a few days ago.

our little girl

Here's the video from a year ago, when we found out we'd be having a little girl. Back then she was just about 7" long and about 7 oz (which means i think she now weighs about 45 times as much. If she gained that much this year, she'd weigh about 900 pounds by next February). Once we found out we were having a girl, we were able to start thinking of names (and it only took us about six weeks) and some other fun stuff that comes with getting to know this girl a little more each day. We're so thankful for the sweet girl God has blessed us with.

cough

Evalana's had a cough since Tuesday evening, and it seems to have gotten worse over the weekend. She's been a little whiney and sleepy and loves to rest her head on her daddy. We're thankful that it's just a little illness that will probably go away soon, and we're enjoying our extra cuddles in the meantime.

where's my six-month old?

Evalana does a great job of walking while holding onto our fingers (second video below). I had thought I'd want her to wait as long as possible before crawling or walking (not that I actually have any control anyway), but she wants to walk so badly, and it'd be easier if she could do it on her own. (She's not even close to crawling). Yesterday she was fussy sitting and then being held, so I gave her my fingers and let her walk, and she went from the kitchen, down the hall, into her room, and sat down by her potty, right where she wanted to be. This morning I set her in her exersaucer while I was getting my oatmeal, and she wasn't happy. I held her and she wasn't happy. I set her down on the floor by Samson, and she seemed content. Then she leaned over, grabbed onto the spindles, pulled herself up, and then went from spindle to spindle "walking" from by the stairs to by the trashcan to pick up a leaf that was on the floor without my help (except that I was spotting her). It was funny, so I sat her down and went to grab the camera that was a few steps away. I got it, turned around, and this video is of what she was doing (and my bad parenting skills). She didn't walk so much while the camera had her attention, though.

after the sickies more sickies

Evalana’s tooth finally popped through on Tuesday! After two weeks of swollen gum pain, she seems more comfortable and has a little white top right tooth on its way in. Monday I spent the entire day in bed, and I was so thankful that Joshua was able to take care of Evalana, except for the feedings. It is a blessing to have such a wonderful daddy for a husband. Evalana thoroughly enjoyed her time with Joshua, as she always does. It was amazing to me that my body knew that milk-making was such a priority that I was able to take care of Evalana even after getting sick about 20 times. God creates things so perfectly. I am so thankful to be able to feed Evalana. I have a fear of something happening to my milk, but I know God will take care of us, as He always does. While I was sick, I was so thirsty, although most of my water kept coming back up. Every drink I took tasted like the most delicious water I’ve ever had. It made me think that maybe the water the people in India get with their new wells tastes this good—after they’ve only had bad water and then finally get clean water. For an engagement gift (when we got engaged in July 2006), Joshua paid for a well for a village in India rather than for a diamond on a ring (which I didn’t want anyway). Here’s a little article about Wells for Life. Once I was able to keep food down but my stomach was still adjusting, I had to try to eat and drink as much as I could to keep up my milk supply. I calculated that it actually takes around 1000 calories to feed Evalana every day. Tuesday I was still feeling somewhat light-headed and weak, but thankfully Evalana’s at an age where she’ll sit on the floor and play beside me for awhile. Here’s a picture of her asking to be picked up (so cute it’s hard to resist). This evening she was grabbing onto my pants as I walked by. She likes attention! Tuesday night Evalana started with a cough, so now we’re dealing with that. It’s not too bad, so hopefully she’ll get over it quickly. I read that kids under the age of five are on average sick every other week from October to April. Her immune system seems to be developing well. We’re still looking forward to spring!

Feeling Better

Sorry - no super cute pictures or videos with this post. Sunday night Evalana threw up. While it was shocking in its volume, she only did it the one time, so we assumed we were in the clear. However, right at bedtime Rachel started to feel nauseous. Whatever it was that made Evalana sick that one time, incapacitated Rachel for the rest of the night and the following day. I stayed home and got to have a day with my daughter, and we both tried to think of good ways to take care of her mom (mostly this involved letting her mom sleep). Prayers were answered and Rachel is feeling nearly 100% better - thank you Lord!

valentine

I love Valentine's Day! We usually have a dinner party at our house, but it didn't work out this year, so we had a fairly quiet day at home. My mom came over to hang out with Evalana while Joshua and I made a quick run to the Christian bookstore to buy a couple of gifts with a coupon we had. My mom had been at our house for awhile, and Joshua and I had been in and out of the room, sometimes kissing Evalana, and Evalana was happy to hang out with Grandma. When we were ready to leave, I said bye to Evalana and gave her a kiss, and she got upset and didn't want me to leave. We were all surprised that she knew we were leaving! She gets upset for a minute when I drop her off at church, but I can't even remember the last time I've left her at home, and, other than saying "bye," I don't know what I did differently than the rest of the afternoon. She was happy with Grandma again by the time we got out of the driveway. On Sunday (when the flowers were on sale), Joshua brought home roses for Evalana and me.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

1 John 4:11

cornell!

Evalana got her first mail from Cornell College. She received her Wee C Club card today. Joshua found some teething gel that seems to help Evalana.

This morning Grandma Moser (my mom) came by for a quick visit. Then the Parents as Teachers lady came over for her first visit. Then Grandma Kidd (Joshua's mom) came over. Here's another dinner video (sweet potatoes and water).

tooth cutting?

We have not been sleeping so well for the past month. First Evalana was sick, then she had to eat extra to make up for being sick, and recently I think she might be getting ready to have a top-right tooth soon. She's been chewing on her teethers about like a dog gnaws on a bone. Here's a video of the sad little moaning she's doing. She also still giggles and smiles, too, though. I'm looking forward to a full night's sleep soon, but I enjoy the extra middle of the night time with my baby for now.

spring is coming

I spend all winter looking forward to spring, and we've had some great spring-like days for the tiny winter breaks I appreciate throughout the season. I love going on walks together as a family! When I was doing a little yard preparation for spring this past weekend, I noticed our crocuses are starting to come up! Valentines Day is this Saturday (yea! yea!), and then two more months to Easter (April 12th this year). We can do it! But, as long as it is winter, I don’t mind having a little snow. Last night we had a good thunderstorm, and this morning there were beautiful humongous snowflakes falling from the sky. I wonder which season will be Evalana’s favorite.

intimacy and stuff

This morning at MOPS the topic was intimacy. One of the discussions we had at our table was how we'll teach our kids about sex and those topics that could be difficult to discuss. Joshua and I intend to always teach Evalana the truth in a God-honoring and age-appropriate way in every subject. God created our bodies in an amazing way, and I feel like that shouldn't be hidden behind silly names and secrets. I’m sure we’ll have many challenges with Evalana and other future children, but I pray that they’ll trust God to help them in the decisions they make and that they’ll also be able to come to us when they make a mistake. While I don’t look forward to seeing them struggle, I do look forward to our conversations together and growing closer to Christ through those times.
I have friends who have had difficult times and may not have made good decisions (abortion, divorce, pornography, drugs…) but now use those experiences to help prevent others from experiencing the pain they went through, and I am so thankful for them and their courage to share. God’s grace is amazing.
My friend Crystal is writing a book for women with sexual addictions. You can click on the link below to learn more and take her surveys for people who are affected by pornography. I pray that Evalana, as well as our whole family, will respond to God instantly when He asks us to do something, no matter how challenging.

tickles

one more. my mom has been sick and is going through evalana withdrawal, breaking her record of no-evalana-time with now being over a week since her last evalana visit. Here's a video we just took a few minutes ago. Now Evalana's having bath time with Daddy.

saturday walk

On Saturday it was 70 degrees here, and we got to take a nice long walk. Evalana loves being outside, and she really enjoys riding in her stroller. She leans her head against the side and just stares at everything without moving.

still growing

Evalana had her 6-month checkup today. They don’t really do all that much, but, as far as we know, Evalana’s a healthy little girl, and we are so thankful for that. Here are her stats:
Height – 26 ½ in. 76% (75th bf)
Weight – 18 lbs, 12 oz. 91% (90th bf)
Head – 17 ¾ in. 97% (99th bf)

it's okay to laugh

I came across this video that Joshua took on Sunday. Evalana loves music. She does a great job of standing, but she (and sometimes we) forget that she needs to hold onto something. She wasn't hurt one bit in this video, so now you can go ahead and laugh.

lauerman cheeks and vaughn eyes

Evalana may have her daddy's eyes, but she's got my cheeks! When she was first born, my mom went into the waiting area and told the rest of our family that Evalana had "the Lauerman cheeks." My brother and sister looked at each other to see what my mom was referring to. Here are my and Evalana's newborn pictures, if you want to take a look. Sometimes Evalana likes to grab onto my cheeks and pull my nose to hers, but Sunday evening, she just decided to smash her cheek my against mine, and Joshua took a picture.

banana, water, and bath

Watched in succession, these posts will give you a nice little cause/effect progression through our evening. First, Evalana did much better this evening with her eating. As you can see she dominated the potatoes and carrots and accepted the challenge of a new food - bananas - with gusto. When you're working that hard you're bound to get a bit thirsty. Rachel helped her out with that. We worked on the sign for "eat" tonight and, as corny as it may sound, I really do think something was kind of clicking behind those baby-blues. The intent expression she gave my hand-to-mouth gestures and energetic "Eat! Eat!" reminded me of what you expect when you are traveling in a foreign country and are trying to earnestly communicate with an otherwise busy individual. She watched me closely and seemed to think: "Look pal, you seem like a decent chap, but I'm a busy girl and just because you say it over and over again doesn't mean it's getting any clearer." We then finished up our evening washing the bananas off.

Joshua

6 months!

Evalana’s already half a year old! It’s so much fun to get to know more about her as she interacts more and more each day. Right now she’s sleeping on my lap and really cute.
In January Evalana was sick with a runny nose, diarrhea, and vomiting for 10 days, and she lost some weight but thankfully wasn’t at a low weight to start with and has seemed to be packing in as much milk as she can since then. Her next doctor’s appointment is Thursday. As far as we know, she’s a healthy sweet baby, and we’re so thankful for that.
Evalana’s been doing so much better in her carseat. We’ve been able to drive to and from work (about 20 or 25 minute drive) while she either plays or sleeps. We’re ready to get out more this spring! Here’s a picture of her in her car seat on Saturday and a picture of her when she was a day old.
Cousin Noah celebrated his 2nd birthday on Saturday! And Grandma Kidd sent a couple six-month gifts back for Evalana. The videos below are of her two new toys.
This butterfly says it's supposed to encourage crawling. Evalana likes to watch it move, but so far just uses her "roll to the left" strategy, and is a little confused about why her toy runs away from her.
Evalana's started kicking and acting excited when she sees something or someone she wants. And she does a good job of acting very upset when something's not going the way she wants. She also holds her arms out when she wants to be picked up--pretty cute.

sweet potato, carrots, and potato

more coming in a few minutes, but here are a couple of things from dinner:

She was a little concerned at first when her new toys started coming apart in her mouth:

After a break for a minute, she decided she wanted to try the food again, and this time she seemed to enjoy the new experience. Unfortunately I cooked the veggies too long, so they were a little soft for her.

I guess we should have gotten a highchair with a tray that has sides. Samson is a great cleanup helper and enjoys Evalana's new trick.

If you're wondering why we're feeding her whole food, check out our post on baby led weaning.

Okay, i'm too tired to finish this post tonight (these videos sometimes take a long time to upload). So more soon about her fifth month and her half birthday.