MERRY CHRISTMAS

Making Christmas sugar cookies with Gram

Annual family PJ picture!

Evelyn's first smile!

Mommy and baby!

Merry Christmas to all......

This has been a very wonderful Christmas since it has been filled with children's laughter! All three Kensing girls with all the Kensing grandkids have gathered at my parent's house for a big family Christmas! This includes a 12 year old boy and 5 girls ranging from 5 weeks to 10 years old! We were missing two husbands, Chris and Shaun are both deployed overseas.

Evelyn and I also spent some time with Shaun's family! There were lots of relatives down from South Dakota and very happy to meet the new addition.

4 weeks

Look! I am 4 weeks old!

Bright-eyed!

Chandler watching over Evelyn

I dunno

My new pacifier that I actually take!! Wohoo!!!

Cute Christmas baby!

We made it through the weekend without any major events happening! :) We actually went to our first post-baby party! A friend of mine hosted a Christmas party on Saturday night and Evelyn and I decided to attend for as long as she would cooperate. She actually surprised me by staying awake, alert and happy the whole time we were there!! Once we got home, it took her a little while to get settled--too much excitement at the party--but then she slept for 5 hours!! I need to repeat that: Evelyn slept for 5 hours!! Wohoo!! I don't expect that to happen every night, but it's nice to know there's a possibility it could happen again in the future!

Today we went on a shopping adventure! I needed to get a pair of pants that fit without having an elastic waist band! Once again, Evelyn was very cooperative until she got hungry. I have discovered the back seat of our Explorer is very comfy and a great place for nursing! :) However, I have learned to always have a spare set of baby clothes on hand at all times! Evelyn poopy diaper decided to leak and so I needed to take her outfit off. But, I didn't pack anything for her to wear! Luckily, our shopping spree included a little outfit from Old Navy, so it got put ti use right away!! :)

My new Old Navy outfit

That's really all to report from our exciting lives. We have a countdown going for Shaun's return: 25 days!! The time really has gone by quickly and the holidays approaching make it seem to be going by even faster! We can't wait for our little family reunion!

Absent-minded Mommy

Trying out our cool baby sling!! It's very comfy and holds her close! Now we might be able to take the dogs for their walks! :)

Well, I am proving to be a very absent-minded mommy when left all by myself!! On my first afternoon (not even a whole day alone) I managed to stub my pinky toe on a base board and break it! (my toe, not the base board) In my defense, I was just wanting to get to my crying baby as quickly as possible!

Then, while preparing to give Evelyn a bath this morning, I put the tub on the counter and started filling it with warm water. It wasn't until I had her undressed that I realized the stopper in the tub had been open the entire time!! I look at the other side of the counter and see water had gone EVERYWHERE!! Since I was holding a naked, unhappy baby I just put the stopper in and finished her bath. After she was clean, dry and dressed my kitchen floor got a good mopping! :) So clean baby and a clean floor!! Wohoo!!

My little sleeping beauty!!

We're so lucky to be surrounded by lots of little babies! Evelyn is going to have plenty of friends to play with as she grows up! Our neighbor, Whitney, just had a little girl 4 days after Evelyn. And of course, Sydnee can't wait for Evelyn to get a little bigger so they can play all day! :)

Since we had our little umbilical incident, we can officially have a bath instead of just using the washcloth!! She still didn't like the bath part too much, but having her hair washed is one of her favorites!

Updates and Decorations!

Well, on Monday our little Evelyn turned 2 weeks old! Seriously, I wish I could make time stop. She is just so sweet and little I want to keep her this way!

On Tuesday her umbilical cord decided it was time to let go. Since I hadn't taken a good belly picture, I wanted to hold on to the cord long enough to take a picture of it next to where it had been. I placed the "stump" on the bed and then carried on with changing Evelyn's diaper. When I turned around, the cord had mysteriously disappeared. However, Chandler was on the bed. It only took a second to realize that Chandler had consumed the cord and now he and Evelyn will forever share a rare bond. It made me want to laugh, cry and gag all at the same time. My mind immediately thought of my niece Emma who would go around telling people that their dog, Gabby, "ate my poop." Now Evelyn can share her gross story with strangers--when she starts talking! :)

Today was our 2 week well-baby check up and she passed with flying colors! She had not quite made it all the way back to her birth weight (just 2 ounces shy), but she has gained 12 ounces in 12 days--so the pediatrician says she's right on track! We don't have to return to the doctor again until her 2 month check up!

As for the rest of our time, mom and I have been busy getting the house Christmas-y! We even made a trip to Garden Ridge to get some wreaths for our outside shutters!! I plan on leaving everything up until Shaun returns so he can experience the Christmas spirit--and so he can help clean it up! :)Her very own ornament from Aunt Kiss

Some random pics!

Talking to Daddy on the webcam!

My little Aggie girl--too bad it didn't help the score!

Thanksgiving at my house!

Aunt Dot holding her newest niece

Fresh and clean from a morning bath! :)