Valentine's Day

On Sunday Evangeline celebrated her first Valentine's Day. She had a special outfit for the occasion.

She didn't seem keen on smiling though. Evie likes to be selective with her smiles and is suspicious of the camera (can't imagine where she got that from). So we had to make do with non-smiley pictures This is vintage Evie. She is deliberately looking away from the camera and sort of smiling. Apparently she is amused by tormenting her parents in this way. Evie also has another special trick . . .

Notice the new outfit?? Evangeline has learned how to mess up her outfits. Especially new ones. Evidently she could not contain herself. But she got to enjoy a nice snooze with Daddy before going out for lunch.

Evangeline's bottom burps are now legendary as far away as Bozeat, England. Her pretty face is also legendary so that makes it a bit better!

This week is Mummy's last week of maternity leave :-( Next week I go back part time and I'm not looking forward to it at all. At least XOM is giving me work from home time for two days a week so Evie won't be missing me too much. And I think she's looking forward to a day with Daddy a week!!

On a different note, last year Auggie and I went to DC as a Valentine gift to one another. We may have frozen to death (or so we thought), on reflection we are glad we did that trip last year and not this year. I don't do snow. I'd much rather spend the day snuggling with Evie and Daddy!!

Jane xxxx

Evangeline's Baptism

On Sunday, February 7th Evangeline was Baptised at Holy Spirit Episcopal Church in Houston. Some people seemed to think that February 7th was important because of the superbowl. Evie disagrees and thinks it was all about her! Her Godparents are:

Claire Mabilat (Mummy's best friend who could not attend for two very good reasons - she's expecting her first baby and lives in France!)

Jana Grundy (a.k.a. Auntie Glover. Mummy's other best friend)

Chris Hammon (Daddy's best bud and beer brewing partner)

Three fine people who are sure to lead Evie down the right path but have a LOT of fun and silliness on the way.

I think the vicar was a bit concerned about Evangeline's crying after she screamed the place down in his office last Thursday, but she was a good little baby who after a drink and a little puke on Mummy's hand, was a perfect pickle. Evie hosted a party after the service and hired her parents to do the catering and Nana to bake a cake. We had lots of guests and everyone had a good time. Evangeline met Auntie Jill and Great Ma and Great Pa for the first time. She was pretty excited! Here are some photo highlights . . .

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Jane xxxxxx

2 Month Birthday

Evangeline turned two months old today! She celebrated at a ladies' coffee and with a visit to
Viv's house. She was a good baby right until I tried to take photographs of her. Here are the only good ones we managed to get!!


Evie has water occasionally so Daddy gets the chance to feed her.

I love how she grabs Daddy's arm!

She finally let us get a good closeup! Or at least, she finally let us get a good closeup in which she is not screaming blue murder.

Happy Birthday Baby! Don't grow up too fast . . . .

Jane xxxx

8 Weeks Today!

Evangeline turned 8 weeks last Thursday. She celebrated by playing with Alice cat and sitting in her boppy pillow for the first time. As you can see, she was a bit suspicious of all this at first. I think she has learned this look from her Mummy! I think Daddy hopes she will unlearn it.

Alice has been becoming more and more interested in Evie over the past few weeks. She started stroking her with her paw on Thursday. It was cute. Luckily Alice has no claws so we don't have to worry about her getting too enthusiastic. Sorry Nana for cutting off your head on this picture!! Charlie cat loves Evie but keeps away. Perhaps she's a little camera shy?

She got more into it later on . . . and then got a bit tired. I love this progression of pictures. Its pretty typical Evangeline :-)

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Also to celebrate being 8 weeks old, Evie slept for 9 hours!! Good baby. She was also good while we were out to dinner on Friday night, going to sleep like a good girl in an unfamiliar cot.

Watch this space for Evie's 2 month pictures on Wednesday. She plans to wear a pretty dress!! She's also wondering whether she can purchase an England rugby shirt before the game next Saturday. Thinking probably not but luckily we play in white so at least she can be in the right colours!!

Auggie and I also want to mention that we have discovered new skills we never knew we had, mainly involving the use of our feet!! Who knew that feet could have such dexterity?

Jane xxx

Weeks 7 - 8 and a few catch up pictures

Evangeline is still growing really fast and we estimate she is now around 12 - 12 1/2 pounds!! Luckily Mummy's arms are learning to deal with the weight! She's sleeping really well in her own bed and is a good little girl about going to sleep at 6:30 after her bath. She wakes around Mummy and Daddy's bedtime and then once more. I'm hoping she will cut out the second feed in the near future! We're also pleased to say that she does not require any rocking to go to sleep. Smiling at her Daddy!

Loving her playmat!

Evie has had some exciting outings including meeting another boyfriend last week at a ladies coffee.

Evie can now lift up her head and chest when she's lying on her tummy. She's also started giggling an little and makes lots of cute noises as if she's trying to speak to us. She loves to play on her playmat - especially with the monkey and the elephant. This was seriously one of the best things we registered for. She's also started holding up her head when we carry her around. The little squiggler likes to be involved! Slightly less cute but highly amusing is Evie's amazing ability to make very loud wind noises. It had to be heard to be believed.

A slightly older picture of Evie meeting Uncle Thad

Snuggling with her Daddy.

More fun on the playmat

Tummy time mat. Another catch up picture - this time with Grandma.
We can't wait for Evangeline's Christening in a couple of weeks. She will be meeting her Great - Ma and Great - Pa for the first time, as well as Auntie Jill. Evie is VERY excited!!

Jane xx

Big Girl Bed!! Weeks 5 - 6

Well, this week Evangeline moved into her big girl bed in her own room!! She looks so tiny in it! She's been a really good girl though and sleeps there very happily. She has also made her first trip to the City of Houston to visit Daddy at work, and took another trip to ExxonMobil today. She met Mummy's bosses and luckily was on her best behaviour. That behaviour ended however when she sicked on Auntie Jana's nice blue dress.
Evangeline is certainly eating well and is already up to 10 lbs 9oz and must be long because her 3 month clothes are beginning to get a bit small. She's growing more hair too!! Her eyes are still blue but Mummy is hoping they might turn a bit green eventually. Evangeline will be attending her first winetasting party this weekend. I think she is looking forward to it!
Here are some week 5 - 6 picture highlights!!


Loving Daddy and her play mat!
Tiny in her bed

Having cuddles with Grandad before he went home.

Sleeping on Nana. We were actually trying to wake her up but had no luck at all.

Snuggles with Mummy!

Jane xxx

Christmas Day Photo

From the top, left to right
Auggie, Evie, Jane, Rob, Pip
Nana, Sarah, Alex
Elisa, Sam
Daddad, Nanina, Papa

I should have mentioned on my previous post that Evangline now weighs in at 9lbs 14 and has more hair by the minute - or at least that is how it seems. I can tie a ribbon in it now (much to daddy's dispair).

Jane xx

Christmas etc.

Christmas and New Year was very exciting for Evangeline. She met most of her Uncles and Aunts (Uncle Robert and Auntie Elisa, Uncle Alex, Uncle Pip and Auntie Sarah, and Uncle Thad). She also met her only cousin, Sam. Later on she met her Grandad and Granny Judy. She also experienced her first family sing along session. She also had her first figgy pud and mince pie via Mummy's milk. Yum.
Mummy had some highlights too including losing 27lbs of baby weight and fitting back into a size 4. I think my size 2 clothes have a few more weeks to wait and the size 0 are probably in for a long stint in the closet. I can also now carry the car seat so Evangeline and I are mobile if we want to be. Here are some photo highlights . . .

Evie in her snow princess outfit bought by my work. Cutie!



Evie meets Grandad for the first time. It was nice of him to wear pink for the occasion.
Evie is has a nice cuddle with Nanina and Daddy.

Looking cute on Mummy and Daddys' bed.

Family!

Evangeline meets Sam! He was too cute with her - he kept saying "she's lovely" and smiling.

I hope everyone had a happy new year!! More pictures soon now that we are finally back online. yippeeeeee.

Jane xxx

Two weeks old and a milestone

Last Thursday Evangeline turned two weeks old. Daddy gave her a bath to celebrate and then Evie stayed up with us for a while looking too cute for words.

This close up of Evangeline is one of our favourites.

During the day, Evangeline took her first trip out into the wide world by attending her first Ladies' Lunch and the Lakeside Country Club. She enjoyed herself so much she slept through the entire thing including Nana's singing which to be honest, was a wee bit rude.

This was a very exciting day for Mummy, Nana and Nanina too because this was the first outing of all the girls - all FOUR generations of us! As you can see from the picture, we all had a lovely time!

On Friday night Evie's Ma and Pa came to visit her. As you can see, they are very happy grandparents! During their visit Evangeline reached a very exciting milestone - her cord FINALLY fell off!! Yippee! Luckily this was just as we ran out of her newborn nappies. She is now sporting her very trendy cloth nappies. She owns them in pink, yellow and white.

Evie also decided to show off a little for her grandparents and lifted her head past 45 degrees. She also demonstrated superior leg strength by climbing up Daddy while he was burping her.

This week Evangeline will meet her Uncle Pip and Auntie Sarah. We also hope she will take another pram ride with her great grandparents (Nanina and Daddad) since the weather in Houston is glorious!

Jane xxx

Evangeline's first pram ride!

Last weekend we took Evangeline for her first trip out around the neighbourhood in her pram. Grandma was visiting for the weekend so she got to have her turn with the pram too. Evangeline enjoyed the outing a lot despite the very cold weather. Mummy and Daddy enjoyed sporting our super pram from England.

Evie is 10 days old - and our birth story

Sorry for the long break in posts - I have not been able to get upstairs to use the computer! It has been very frustrating. But now I can show off our little girl who is already 10 days old. I don't understand how that is possible! Below is a collection of pictures from her first hours right up to a few days ago. Note the very proud parents! I can't believe how much she has changed in just 10 days and decided it was time to write our birth story down before I forget it.

Evangeline Kay Campbell's Birth Story.

Well, our story begins at 36 weeks when the ultrasound told us she was already over 7 pounds. We then determined that I was only 1cm and 25%. This did not look good. A week later, no change so the doctor scheduled another ultrasound for the next week. It was already looking like a c section. So, on December 2nd we went to the doctors. The ultrasound put her at over 9 pounds and guess what, only 1cm and 25%. My wonderful doctor told me that she could be in there for at least another 2 weeks and gain another 2 pounds and so for my safety, she recommended a c section. I agreed.

There is a certain irony to this as I was determined not only to have an "old fashioned" birth but to do it totally drug free. So I guess the joke was on me. We were scheduled for the next day at 1:30pm. As I called husband and told him it all seemed rather unreal - we were actually going to meet our baby in less than 24 hours. I was excited. It look away all my fear of the surgery.

I was not allowed to eat after midnight so Auggie took me out for dinner at our favourite restaurant and then we went home to pack. I didn't think I would sleep but surprisingly, I did. I enjoyed feeling Evangeline kick around in me for the last time and tried to commit to memory how it made me feel and how much I would miss her little feet poking out of me.

The next day went so fast. I cleaned the house in the morning, and put on some laundry and then dressed in dress and high heels to go to the hospital. The doctor was waiting for us on the 4th floor and we went off to the prep room. This is when I started to get nervous.

Having seen off one nurse who decided I didn't like her, I met the anaesthesiologist who was AMAZING and the other nurse, and listened to Evie's heartbeat. Then suddenly it was time for the IV, and then time to go.

Walking into the OR was cold (!!) and a bit scary. Not at all what I expected. The epidural was a non event - I didn't even feel it go in. I put this down to the doc and the nurse having been warned that I am not a good patient and therefore got extra special attention. Auggie got to watch all this from the ante room, and he then came in to join me.

As soon as the epidural started to work time flew by. My legs went hot and them numb and my doctor came in. Dr. John (the anaesthesiologist) and Auggie kept me so distracted that although I could feel some tugging, I didn't know they had started. Soon I heard someone say "just a few more minutes" and then I heard her cry and someone say "goodness that is a BIG baby to come out of such a small person". The held her up for me to see and Auggie stood up to look over the screen for a better look. Everyone who could see her agreed that she was a cute baby! Then Auggie was taken away to watch her cleaned up while Dr. John chatted to me to keep me distracted. I would like to say at this point that noone tells you about the "lost of pressure" part of a c section. Its AWFUL. I thought I was going to die. There was definitely nothing said about this in any of the books!!

But after that Auggie brought Evie to see me and then left to take her to the nursery to be weighed. 8lbs 8oz, 19.75 inches and a LOT of hair. Her apgar scores were both 9. Definitely a bouncing baby!!

After an eternity in recovery I met my baby properly. She fed easily first time and continues to do so. Shes a beautiful little girl and I don't think anything in the world could make me happier.

I will spare you from the nasty details of the day after the c section but at least I only needed motrin and tylenol so I could toast my baby with champagne when we finally came home!!

So that's my story. Long and not all that exciting . . .

Jane xxx

Pictures . . .