Bayou Wildlife Park

With Auggie out of town for his best friend's wedding, Evangeline and I decided to go to the Bayou Wildlife Park in League City with two of my friends and their daughters. This place is a weird mix of petting zoo and wild animals and Evie LOOOOOOOVED it. I think she would have been happy to spend an entire week there. It completely made appauling traffic on 1-45 worth while. Note to self. . . get an EZ Tag for the new car.
Part of the entry fee included a pony ride. Evie was brave and went all by herself.



She loved all of the animals but was weirdly obsessed with the alligators. We had to go and look at them a LOT.


It was a great day!

We're also happy that one of Evie's new words for the weekend is "sorry". She's definitely a Brit now :-)

Jane xxx

Evie update

As Nana pointed out to me yesterday, I am way way way behind on this blog! So, here we go.

We're rubbish parents and don't have many recent photographs. But here are a couple . . .


New Year at Nana's


Merry-go-round at Katy Mills ( Evie loooooved this!)

What has Evangeline been up to?

Her new favourite game is the cuddle game. You walk over to Daddy with a huge smile on your face and give him a cuddle, then walk over to Mummy with a huge smile on your face and give her a cuddle. Repeat at your leisure. We don't mind this game at all!!

Evie talks ALL the time. She likes to say "please" and point at things in the hope that the magic word works every time. It usually does! She also likes to say "Kiss" "cat" "alice" "bear" "Safia" and "balloon" among others.

Bath time is still Evie's favourite time of the day. Our least favourite is taking her out of the bath and the fussing that comes with it. I think Evie would stay there all night given the opportunity. Equally fun is discovering that farting in the bath makes bubbles (fun for Evie, that is :-))

I am determined that we will take some more photographs of Evie over the next week so I can post some more. Until then . . .

xxx

End of year review!

I know. We are total rubbish at posting on the blog. Things have been SOOO super busy with birthdays, thanksgiving, visitors at the house and Christmas. But, there is a LOT to update on.

Most importantly, Evangeline has started helping Mummy and Daddy with the housework. She cried and cried when we took away the duster. We are taking this as a good sign.



Second in importance, Evie is ONE! She had a fabulous birthday party with lots and lots of people and even more cupcakes. We will be adding those photos later when Mummy remembers where she uploaded them to. Evie got to see Nana, Papa, Grandma, Ma, Pa and Grandad as well as lots of friends. And no, there was not any eating of cake with hands because Mummy didn't want to clean it up. Poor Evie.

The doctor's comment at Evie's one year check up was "she's certainly thriving" - which we reckon means chunky as Evie weighed in at a massive 22lbs 8oz and 30 inches tall. Hopefully some of the excess rolls will burn off now that she is WALKING!!! After taking a couple of steps, Evangeline started walking on December 17th and has not looked back since.




Evie had two Christmas Days this year - first with Grandma, John, Russ and Olga and later on with cousin Sam the rest of the English contingent. Evie ate so much we thought she might pop. But, we did discover that she really a true Brit, putting away mince pie, figgy pudding, smoked salmon, bubble and squeak, and a pickled onion. We just hope she stays this easy to feed!





More photos to follow (I promise they will be here before March). Evie is sound asleep and I fancy a glass of wine or two . . .

Jane xxx

Dear Santa, I would like a pony

To avoid the distasteful after thanksgiving crowds, we went to see Santa last weekend. Evangeline asked for a pony.



We're getting very very excited about the upcoming birthday party! Evie-Pie will have her own special low sugar cake which she will each from a spoon - no messy babies for me to clean up :-) there will be ample champange and much merriment!

Have a happy Thanksgiving, or if you're in the motherland, have a happy Thursday

Jane xxx

Flower Fairy!!!!

10 Months Old!! And getting cuter by the day (not that I'm biased).

To celebrate, Evangeline spent some more time in the pool. We seriously don't think that there is any baby in the world who likes the water as much as Evie-pickle-pie. She would have spent all day had we let her. The filter fountain is a huge source of fun!







We decided to brave the spa once it had been heated up.



We were lucky enough to have a little visit from Frannie, Erica and Matthew. We had been dying to meet baby Matthew since he was born in April and the babies had a lovely time together! Erica, Frannie and I met at the UNA International Choir so it seems appropriate that the babies engaged in some musical activity . . .







So . . what is Evie up too . .

She likes to give herself a standing ovation. Her standing is getting really good although walking usually results in an impressive face plant

She points to Daddy and says "Daddy" and points to Mummy and says "Mummy". She has also learned to say Papa.

Peep-bo is Evie's favourite game. Polly Dolly is her favourite toy.

Evie's words are: again, Mummmy, Daddy, Nana, Papa, yes, cat, kitty, ball, Safi(her friend Safia), no (!), mine (!!) and, dirty (said at Nana's house, hehehe)

Evie likes to eat whole bananas and doesn't like to wait for it to be mashed, and prefers eat it like a grown up. She LOVES roast dinner and last sunday had custard for the first time. We have also added beef, mushrooms, egg white, kiwi, pickle (firmly against my wishes. why people, why?), and blackberry jam. yummy.

Christmas and birthday dresses have been purchased and we are ready for the rest of the year!! Evie pies is sleeping and we should probably do the same

xxxx

A Few Random Photos

Evangeline was being especially cute the other day so we took a few photos.

She was readying "Fitness" magazine. Good girl wanting to keep in shape! Maybe that's why she likes her fruits and vegetables.





Apparently something was VERY exciring.



Evie went to have her anaemia test today (standard for 9/10 month olds at our docs office). We had been told it was just a finger prick so Nana agreed to take Evie. Anyone who knows Nana will be aware of her track record with needles . . . well it turned out they needed to draw blood from Evie's arm. Poor baby!! Evie was a trooper though and didn't cry at all, and Nana didn't pass out. So all is well!

Evie and I had to make a little detour to our neighbours' house today. We got home to find a swan sitting on the door mat. It was hissing at us and we didn't want to take the risk! Good thing Daddy came home to shoo it away with a broom :-)

10 months old on Monday. Where is the time going . . . . ?

xxx

Grown up baby

Evangeline is trying to be a grown up. This makes us a little bit sad, but it is fun to watch. She can stand without holding on to anything for about 5-7 seconds and is trying to take a step. She spends a lot of time falling on her bottom. Walking around the room with Daddy is a lot of fun for Evie, but less fun for Daddy's back.





She has also attempted counting and walking at the same time. We've been learning "1-2-3" in English and Arabic.


Before Evie-Pie was born, Pa did a nice paint job on Daddy's old rocking chair and he and Ma brought it down from Eden for Evie. She's finally big enough to sit in it and read a book . . . or at least look at a book and pretend to be reading (hmm, her mother's child :-))




Ma and Pa came down to see Evie a coupld of weekends ago. It was a lot of fun although evie was not feeling her best and was a bit grumpy. We are hoping that there might finally be a tooth in those gums. But to be honest, we've been thinking that since she was 3 months old so we're not holding our breath.

As anyone who has met Evie knows, she is quite the chatter box. Her latest words are "banana" and "Papa". We are expecting her to say "shopping" any time now as it is her favourite activity, after eating of course. There are still no foods that Evie won't eat :-) Last Sunday she enjoyed roast chicken with the rest of us for Sunday dinner and she has moved onto whole milk because, let's face it, formula is vile.

Since we can't think of anything amusing to say, that will have to be it for now!

J and A xxxx

9 months old (already?)

It is true, Evangline is 9 months old. We don't understand either.

Evie had her 9 month checkup on Friday. Her vital statistics are: Height 27.5 inches (49th percentile), Weight 19.05lbs (55th percentile), Head 17.5 inches (46th percentile). The doctor says she is a textbook baby. She sleeps all night (6:00pm - 5:45 am) and says "again" "ball" "Dadda" "Mamma" "Nana" "cat" and "yes".

Last Sunday Evie pulled up on the ottoman. I think she was showing off to Grandad who was on the phone at the time. Since then she has pulled up just once - at Nana's house. She spied the blackberry on the stairs and set off at a brisk pace to get it, pulled up on the stair and then had no idea what to do next. If only we could have taken a photo.

As you can see . . . Evie pickle pie has a liking for things she is not allowed to have . . .I'm pretty sure she is not smiling because she's with Mummy.




When not being a little magpie, Evie will probably be found eating. Evie LOVES food. I can't emphasise this enough. She even likes to eat food she doesn't really like. She just LOVES to eat. She is a big fan of anything involving egg yolks, likes lentils and is pretty keen on fish. To be honest though, we could probably feed her anything and she'd like it.

Her other favourite thing is smiling and waving. We make friends everywhere we go now as Evie smiles, waves or points at everyone in sight. If you get close enough, you may be greeted with a far too sloppy kiss which, let's be honest, if more of a lick.




Evie likes us to dance and jump around for her. It makes me feel like a complete twit but she seems to enjoy it . . .



Clapping is a favourite activity . . . high five anyone?



As she's getting closer to walking, we bought Evangeline some shoes. She gave them a good inspection before stretching - maybe she wanted to go for a run? Maybe she was trying to give her parents a hint that they could do with going for a run? Not sure. But she seems to like the nice soft shoes, which is lucky because those are the only ones she's going to have !!



This picture is just plain cute




We are really not sure at all where the time is going. IT will be December before we know it. And then it will be April . . . which is when Evie's new cousin will be born!! They have officially announced it now we can say an official congratulations to Rob and Elisa on their good news. Now they just need to move back to Houston (not pressure guys, . . . really!) as Virginia is too far away for play dates.

And as a closing note - you all know how cheap I am, right? Well today I scored a major victory. Went to Kroger's on Saturday afternoon to see what "managers specials" were on offer:

8 pots of organic, plain yogurt: $1.18
6 organic bananas $0.46


50 portions of banana mash for evie, 100% organic, for $1.64. Brilliant.

night night !

jane xxxx

A very fun trip to Dallas!

I decided to attend an Oil and Gas conference in Dallas and since I'm still feeding Evangeline, she needed to come too. We figured that she might not be all that enthralled by the subject matter so Daddy came along too to save Evie from unitization formulae. This was very fun for Evie as she got two whole days of fun with her Daddy. They took in some kulcha at the Aquarium and the Museum of Art while Mummy learned lots of exciting things about law and was able to catch up with Professor Kramer. fun times!!

Evie got to meet Laure for the first time - our lovely friend from law school. Evie LOVED Laura. We have pictures by the iphone is not cooperating with us so we can't include them here. So you will have to trust us that we had a good time.

The, we got to go and see Vicki and Larry. Evie really loved this as they have a pool - Evie's favourite place to be. She was able to swim around by herself and had a really good time. Evie missed talking to Russ, Tonya, Anthony and Audrey though as it was past her bedtime when we internet chatted! We hope Evie will get to see them next time.

Some photo hightlights . . . .









Evangeline will be nine months this week (!!!!!) She has now been officially out of my tummy longer than she was in it. We can't believe she is so big and grown up!! Her lack of teeth at least makes it seem like she is still a baby!!

Nine month update to follow soon . . . .

Jane xxxx

Happy 8 Month Day Evangeline!!

Evie turned 8 months old today! Time really does fly way too fast! We celebrated by playing some music :-) And tomorrow Evie will be attending a ladies' coffee with Nana where she will catch up with her adoring fans. What a hard life . . . .

Crawling and Cruising

Well, Evangeline's slow crawling has been replaced by super fast crawling that has prompted Mummy to see about getting a custom gate put in the wine room to contain Ms. Pickle. It is never good to turn away for a minute and not be able to find the baby when you turn back! Hiding is one of Evie's favourite tricks . . . especially under Nana's bed. Evie has also be seen cruising along the furniture at Nana's house and the screaming her head off when she loses her balance! Poor baby.



Evie has also had her first hair cut as it was constantly in her eyes. She was very squiggly and tried hard to grab the scissors, but there was no blood. I think I might leave hair cuts in the capable hands of Mitzi in the future though.

The MOST exciting news of the week though is that Evie officially likes Marmite. This is lucky because had she not liked it, I might have had to question her status as a Brit. But she liked it nearly as much as the bread it was served on. We're trying fish next week!! And then beef a la Papa after that.

We're hoping that Evie will have a date with baby Alex this weekend. She will have to wear a ruffles . . .

Jane xx

New vs Old

See . .. look below! I finally got the pictures done. I even took away the red eye so that Evangeline doesn't look completely like a demon child. And all this after spending hours with Auggie making huge batches of Evie food. Time for some wine and a little update . . .

So, Evie is now sitting well and crawling around a bit, but not really proper crawling. She's also discovered that when she's with Nana and she doesn't want to sleep, yelling "Nananananananana" at the top of her voice will get Nana back in the nursery. She hates avocado but likes turkey very much. She also likes toast and can feed it to herself. Evie has also discovered Charlie Girl's tail. Luckily Charlie is a good kitty who doesn't mind tail pulling, hair pulling, or batting. Daddy gave her a piano lesson the other day but Mummy is not sure who was teaching whom. hehe. "DADA", stated loudly and firmly, is still Evie's current favourite word.

As most of you know, I (Jane) have a new job. This is a very good thing. It is also a very, very different thing. A few examples:

At the old, one could be fired for having alcohol on the premises, even if locked in the car boot.
At the new, the senior partner keeps beer in the fridge

At the old, one could be fired for having any kind of weapon on the premises.
At the new, we have gun cleaning sessions in the conference room and a firm shooting team.

At the old, one could be strongly cautioned by management if caught carrying a hot beverage without a lid.
At the new, we are treated like adults.

At the old, lunch was at 11.
At the new, lunch is when I'm hungry

At the old, one risked life and limb every day just by driving to the charming ghetto in which it was located.
At the new, I drive to one of the most exclusive areas of town

Needless to say, change is good :-p

The other big news is that we have booked next year's holiday. We're off to England in April for Ollie's wedding and my 30th (shh) birthday. We've decided to actually take a holiday - a REAL one - in a hotel and everything!! This is a big deal for someone as cheap as me. We're staying here: www.stayinacastle.com - fun or what!!!

More Evie updates later!

Jane and Auggie xxxxx

Evie in England Part 2

Click here to view these pictures larger

England and Evie update!

Well, rather a lot has changed since I last posted for EVER ago. Not only has Evangline turned 6 months but she has also turned 7 months. Opps. I'm a very bad blogger and the moment. So . . . what has changed since last time?

Evie is SITTING UP!! Yippee!! This was an exciting moment for Grandad as she sat up for the first time on his lap. She now has discovered the whole new world of playing while sitting upright AND has discovered that you puke less when you're not rolling around on your tummy right after dinner. This is good news for both Evie and Mummy.

Evie is also crawling (sort of). She forgets how to do it sometimes but she definitely can do it if she feels like it. She's exceptional at going backwards but gets a bit frustrated because she wants to go forwards. One day soon she will get it all figured out. In the mean time her parents are amused.

Food is still one of the pickle's favourite things. She has added mashed potato, green beans, blueberries, banana, dates, yogurt, peas and rusks to her menu. The doc reckons she is allergic to beta carotene so no carrots or sweet potato for pickle. Nana would like her to try custard. We disagree and because Nana can't cook, we know she won't be doing it without us knowing, hehe. The only food that Evie has disliked so far is leek. She REALLY hated it. She kept eating it of course because this is Evie - but goodness me was she disgusted by it. We are trying turkey this coming week and then fish after that. yummy. Auggie and I are food processor pros now. We can puree anything.

Before we bore you with more writing . . . he are some England photo highlights.








She was the perfect baby on the flight over and slept the whole way. On the way back, we were the people noone wants to sit next to. Evie decided to exercise her lungs. The only upside to this is that we were sitting in the row behind first class so allthe people who have more money than sense got to listen to Evie scream. Serves them right - should have sat in row 38 hehe.

England was super. Evie put her feet in the sea for the first time . . . the NORTH sea. Evie's a trooper. She liked the sand. She also went to her first Church Fete although she slept through most of it. Most importantly, she had her first (of many) trip to the pub and shared a beer with Uncle Alex. We did give her some culture (or Kulcha as we were in the south) at Leeds Castle and Wimpole Hall. Leeds Castle had a lovely room with a little Evie sized bed. I will post pictures of that later. Evie loved sight seeing. She was soooo good with the time difference. I think she was born to travel. More about England in a later post when we have all the pictures figured out.

Evie was happy that her Grandma and Uncle Thad came to visit this weekend :-) A good way to spend her first July 4th (although though as a dual citizen, Mummy has told her she's not sure whether to celebrate independance or good riddance hehe).

On that note, happy July 4th or happy Sunday - whichever way you like to look at it!

Jane xxx