last day with our 0-year-old

Here are a couple of 30-second slide-show videos, remembering our time before we met our sweet little girl.

My growing belly:
http://animoto.com/play/ygC65ZsMaykZwDJKngZvWQ#

Getting ready for Evalana:
http://animoto.com/play/OV3Mu58AmL8x6kB9lPOL8g

whipped cream goes in the microwave

I was doing some work last night while Joshua cleaned the kitchen. He came to me and asked how long the container of whipped cream had been in the microwave. I said "Honey, I didn't put it there." Joshua insisted that he didn't put it there either. I know where I put things; my dear husband is the one who is misplacing keys, wallet, glasses... Joshua asked when I last used it, and then I just had to laugh. I'm sure I was the last one to use it. I was having a challenging day (evalana throwing food, biting me, dogs barking, ants and flies in the house, blocked milk duct, evalana eating dog food and trying to get down the stairs...) After lunch, I tried to quickly get myself some rhubarb crisp. I microwaved it, then Evalana was upset, I was in a hurry, and, although I do not remember it at all, I must have put the whipped cream in the microwave instead of the fridge. Ugh. So much for having a brain and being a mother.
I just found a bag of "frozen" vegetables in the pantry. And I know Joshua was the last one to use those. Soon Evalana will be old enough that we can wonder if she was the one who put things in strange places.

roseola and babies

Evalana's rash was worse yesterday, so I scheduled her for an appointment this morning. The doctor said she has Roseola, although Evalana did it all differently enough that her Roseola doesn't quite fit what I've read about it. Thankfully her fever only got up to about 102.5 and only lasted one day. She's covered in a rash, but it doesn't bother her, isn't contagious, and should be gone by next week. She's cute even when she's covered in pink bumps :-)
Yesterday my friend Maleah had her baby Ella Reese! Yea for new babies!
Sadly, yesterday Westside's MOPS coordinator, Kathy Ward, also had her baby Ella, but Kathy's uterus ruptured during delivery, and Ella died, and Kathy is currently in ICU. Please keep Eli and Kathy in your prayers. Thank you.

cruise

Joshua's grandparents took all of their children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren on a 5-day cruise to Mexico, and I think everyone except Joshua's uncle Lael and cousin Ben were able to come. It was great to get to hang out with family. Evalana enjoyed the cruise, too.
Here she is after our flights and bus ride, waiting to get onto the ship. She was a great little traveler.

We got in the very crowded ship pool during our first day at sea, although we were very quickly kicked out. They had told me when I asked before the trip that they just didn't allow anyone who is not toilet trained. Then, when we got there, they told us babies are not allowed but older children can have on swim diapers. It was a little frustrating, but we kept entertained in our little room and walking around the ship.
Evalana really enjoyed the dinners. The waiters were all so nice and understanding about the messes she made. They wouldn't even let us help clean up. They had a children's menu that had things like hot dogs and pb&j, but Evalana ordered foods like fruit, lobster, Indian, and enchiladas. She especially loved the mashed potatoes and corn chowder. I especially liked the souffle and chocolate melting cake, but Evalana didn't get to try any desserts (mean momma).

At the end of dinner, just about the time Evalana was finished with sitting in her chair, the waiters would dance around, and Evalana would get so excited to watch. On formal night, she also got to dance with Dada.

family
With Dada at our first stop, in Progresso, Mexico. Evalana enjoyed Mexico, although were we stopped was very American.

Going for a walk on the beach with Grandma.

Fell asleep on the walk.
I think this is the only picture I got of Noah. Evalana loved following her 2 1/2 year old cousin around and playing with him.

In the snorkel area in Cozumel.

We saw some dolphins in the water while were were staring at the beautiful blue ocean on our second day at sea.

Aunt Kristen, cousin Noah, Evalana, and Dada
Trying to keep the kids entertained while waiting to be let off the ship.

summer sickies

Yesterday Evalana got sick with a fever and rash. It has been wonderful having her healthy since March, but she just hasn't been her happy self the last couple days. Last night her fever got up to 102.5, but today it's around 100.5, so hopefully she'll continue feeling better. And the rash doesn't seem to bother her; she's just covered in little pink bumps. She was around people who were sick on our vacation, so I'm not too surprised she got something. Hopefully we haven't shared it with anyone else. We're always thankful that she's only had minor illnesses and is able to recover well.

last year's due date

Last year July 26th was Evalana's due date. I didn't think she'd come until later, so I wasn't really anticipating anything on her due date, but we did know that her arrival was close. It's so strange to remember our life before Little Girl took up all of our time, just a year ago. Today Grandma Moser is watching Evalana while we get some things done around here. Better get back to it :-).

And the cruise last week was great, more to come on that later.

mowing with dada

We had lots of things that needed to be done before we left town. Evalana loves spending time with Daddy, so last weekend Joshua did the mowing with Evalana's help.

date with daddy

Saturday Evalana and Joshua went on a date together and had a great time!

funny girl

pesto!

circles in squares

One of Evalana's favorite new skills is to put the circles in the squares. Gigi helped her learn this one.

Dada is home!

Sunday the 12th, Joshua came home from his two weeks in South Africa! He'll have to write about his experience later. I was holding her while taking this video, so it's not so great, but here's when she first saw him in the airport. She is so happy to have her Dada back.

sleepy breakfast

sometimes food is just so good it puts her to sleep.

not much action in this video, but she falls asleep at 2:20 if you want to watch.

blueberries

Saturday the 11th, we picked up Gigi in Belton since she was able to get a ride with a friend and then ride back to Rogers with Papa on Sunday when they returned from South Africa. The Berry Patch was kind of on the way home, so we made a stop for some blueberries. Evalana did so well, picking blueberries (or green berries) and dropping them in the bucket, although for every one she put in, she grabbed a handful out to eat. It was very warm and humid, though, so we didn’t stay long.

yea yea yea!

I’m so excited! We’ve tested out all basic foods, and Evalana seems to officially be over her food sensitivities!! It is amazing to be able to eat without reading labels or caring who cooked food! This will make our cruise 800 times more enjoyable. Joshua and I are so thankful that Evalana doesn’t have any food allergies, at least with the foods we’ve tried so far. In these last 11 months, though, I have learned so much about food allergies and foods in general, so I am thankful for the experience. Joshua and I say over and over again how thankful we are that (thanks to Maleah!) we eliminated foods and had a very happy baby, rather than just dealing with a crying, spitting up, sleepless baby like I’m sure so many people do. As far as we know, Evalana continues to be a healthy little girl, and we are so thankful.
Here’s a video of Evalana and Joshua sharing breakfast this morning, now that they can both eat the milk, wheat, corn, soy, and whatever else is in that bowl:

looking back

I haven't had any time this week to go through our videos and pictures, although I do have things to post eventually. For now, though, on this October-ish July morning, I decided to look back at where we were last year (getting ready for Evalana) and three years ago (getting ready to get married). I love right where we are today and am so thankful for my Joshua and Evalana!

Plastics and such

Figuring out all these unlabeled chemicals is a pain. Sometimes it involves contacting the manufacturer to ask. Thankfully I have found some good website resources.
Here are all the annoying chemicals we attempt to avoid in our home:

• All toys, food things, and anything else should be free of BPA, PVC, Phthalates, lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic, and bromine.
• Fabrics shouldn't have PFCs (teflon, stain or water guard, fluoro, and perfluoro).
• Cosmetics should be free of phthalates and PFCs (PEG, TEA, DMDM hydantoin, quaternium-15, parabens, lanolin, 1,4-dioxane, undefined fragrance, ammonia, propylene glycol, mineral oil, sodium lauryl sulfate, DEHP, BzBP, DBP, DEP, DMP, fluoro, and perfluoro.

food

The thing that has most surprised Joshua and me about the way we’ve changed since becoming parents is our pickiness about food and chemicals. While I was pregnant, I did research on what I should and shouldn’t be eating and also on chemicals in things around our house. I discovered that we’ve filled our lives with unnatural chemicals, and I didn’t want that for our baby. Especially as she’s growing and developing so much, I want her to have the best chance she can at being healthy. So, at the same time that we’re trying to spend less money, we’re also being pickier about what we’re putting into our bodies, and it’s a challenging balance. As we go places where other people are cooking for us in restaurants and such, I know she’ll be getting many of the artificial colors, pesticides, and other chemicals we try to avoid. I’m trying to think that what we can do at home will help, and when we’re away from home, we’ll just do the best we can. While we can’t find and afford all of our food organic, here are our foods we try to buy special.

Meat
Milk
Coffee (organic and Fair Trade Certified)
Peaches
Apples
Sweet peppers
Celery
Nectarines
Strawberries (especially when they’re out of season)
Cherries (especially when grown in US)
Kale
Leafy greens
Grapes (especially imported)
Carrots
Pears
Potatoes
Soybeans (buy non-GMO)
Corn (buy non-GMO)
Hawaiian papaya (buy non-GMO)
Rapeseed/canola (buy non-GMO)
Sugar beet (sugar cane or non-GMO)
Cottonseed (buy non-GMO)
Tea (buy fair trade certified)
Cocoa (buy fair trade certified)
Sugar (buy fair trade certified)
Rice (buy fair trade certified)
Vanilla (buy fair trade certified)

Although we never gave Evalana cereal as a starter food, she loves it now (and makes a good mess with it). Evalana and I both enjoy our oat bran breakfasts, although she eats hers much healthier without sugar.

more goats

Monday the weather here was very nice and my mom had the day off, so we took another visit to Deanna Rose Farmstead. Evalana most enjoyed making sure that every goat got a couple of her nice pats.

friends!

Evalana enjoys time with other kids, and I enjoy time with other moms! Tuesday we visited Laura and her kids Sophia and Gino. Today Sarah Beth and Elizabeth came over. And tomorrow we have another swimming playdate with Lilly and Alea and then a visit with Jolie.

Yes, I realize my little girl hardly ever has on clothes, but I thought we were doing pretty well for her to have a diaper on most of the time with Elizabeth today.

7th and 8th teeth

Ugh the teeth. I'm amazed and in awe of how God made every part of His baby creating, but I feel like He maybe messed up the teeth thing. Maybe babies could be born with their molars and then wait until they're done nursing to get their front teeth? Well, there's probably a good chance that God made the teeth perfectly, too, but I don't like it.
Evalana's 7th (top right) and 8th (bottom right) teeth are finally cutting through, so they should be feeling better very soon. She doesn't let me look in her mouth much, but I'm hoping that we have a little break before more teeth come because I really need a chance to test out dairy before our cruise. I'm so hopeful that she'll be okay with dairy; I don't know what we'll do on the cruise if we can't eat the food. Well, I guess we could eat raw fruits and vegetables.
Anyway, we're making progress towards the goal of 20 teeth, but we still have a long way to go. I think I won't dread the teeth so much once I get a chance to figure out what we can and can't eat now, though.

Happy Fourth of July!

Saturday morning my mom, Evalana, Samson, and I headed for Lincoln to visit my grandpa. Usually we go to Joshua's grandparents' lake in Oklahoma for the Fourth, but I wasn't brave enough to make the drive with Evalana by myself this time, so we got to celebrate the Fourth of July with Great Grandpa Moser, Great Uncle David, and Grandma instead. We watched the neighbors set off a few things in the street, and then we went to bed at 8:30 with the windows open, and somehow Evalana and I slept great through all of the festivities. We had a great time hanging out with Grandpa and David.

ready to travel

Evalana got her passport in the mail today. She's ready to head to Mexico later this month and then hopefully see lots more of the world :-)

missing daddy

Evalana loves her daddy so much. And Joshua helps with her a ton. So, while I was excited for him to be able to go back to South Africa, we were not excited for him to be gone. He was really dreading having to miss Evalana, too. I’m so glad Joshua and I got to go together last year while I was pregnant. This year he’s leading a team, and I’m confident he’s doing a great job of that.
Since Joshua and I got married, we’ve been reading about a chapter of the Bible together every night, and on our third anniversary this year, we’ll have read every word of the Bible together. Joshua’s been away for work a few nights before, but we were able to read together over the phone. Joshua was very thoughtful before he left for this trip, though, and he made videos of his reading each chapter to Evalana and me, so we get to watch those each evening. Evalana really smiles when she sees her daddy on the computer, especially when he talks to her. It’s pretty cute.
My mom has been incredibly helpful in coming over each evening and helping me with Evalana. I am so thankful for her. And Evalana has a great time with her Grandma. My dad and stepmom have also come over a couple of afternoons. Besides working on getting her seventh tooth in, Evalana has been doing really well this week.
As Joshua and I were sad to say goodbye to each other, both of us were thinking about how amazing military families are. The way they have to say goodbye to each other for very long periods of time, and having to wonder if the person will even be able to return. It is amazing what they do.
We’re looking forward to seeing Joshua when he comes home, and we’re praying for him lots while he’s loving on kids and people with HIV in South Africa.