Eva and Mommy

Eva's Baby Blessing

We did Eva's baby blessing tonight at our home. Baby blessings are sort of like christenings, except without the water. The baby is officially named for church records, then a special blessing is given to her. Usually these are done at church, but Rob's family likes doing them at home and so we have done most of ours in our home.

Eva's said she would be healthy throughout her life. It said that she was loved and that her family and friends were glad she was able to get here safely. She was also given the blessing of being able to bring people together.

Eva in her blessing dress (the same dress Megan, Kylie and Beth wore for their blessings) ~


Those who helped with the blessing ~
Travis, my dad, Chris (Crysta's husband), Rob, Roy (Brittney's dad), Bret, and our new bishop

Eva at 6 Weeks

First a comparison ~

Beth ~


Eva ~


Think they're sisters? I hadn't realized how much alike they look!

Some random shots of Eva from today. She was six weeks old yesterday!







Almost caught a smile! She's given me big smiles several times, but I haven't managed to capture one with the camera yet ~




And a few other shots from today ~

Meg reading with Eva ~


Kylie using her new mop (yes, she asked for it!) to mop the bathroom floor ~

Can I Just Say . . .

This is SO going in her yearbook when she's a senior!

Goodbye Molly!!!

Molly flew home Wednesday morning, so Tuesday night Nona and Papa took Rob and I, Kiki, Molly, Travis and Susan out for dinner. It was the last time we'll be together until my parents get home from their mission. Even though it was late, we had Brittney keep the kids up so Molly could say goodbye to them.

We tried to get a picture of Molly with all five kids, but Jack was less than thrilled with the idea ~


I love Eva's face in this one!


And, of course, we needed a silly picture!


Or two ~

Beth's Birthday Party

Although Beth's birthday is January 8th, we had her party on Monday night so Molly could attend. I asked her what she wanted for dinner and she requested pancakes and bacon. Molly came over that afternoon to spend some time with the kids and go birthday cake shopping with us.

We came home and I cooked the bacon and a bazillion pancakes, then we ran into a problem. We discovered that we somehow ran out of maple syrup! Such a catastrophe!!! We used caramel and butterscotch ice cream toppings in lieu of syrup and topped them off with whipped cream. Beth really wanted syrup, so she used agave nectar. I used strawberry jam. They turned out pretty good :)

After dinner, we opened presents. Rob and I got Beth a leapfrog thing that helps her with her writing ~


Molly and Brian got her a Dora book with drawing pad ~


Nona and Papa got her a Dora coloring book with paints ~


Beth picked a cake just like the one she picked last year ~




The kids talked me into getting party horns. I had forgotten how loud those can get!


We also got balloons, which apparently were the worse tasting balloons ever!


After cake and ice cream, Beth painted in her coloring book with Nona ~


And Papa started a balloon fight in the playroom with Megan, Kylie and Jack ~

Christmas Day

Christmas morning the girls woke up first, but as usual, they waited for everyone to wake up before going downstairs. I woke Rob and Jack up as Eva had been up since 3am and I was tired and wanted to go to sleep.















After everyone opened their stockings, I handed Eva (now sound asleep, of course) off to Rob and went back to bed :)


I slept for several hours, then Rob took a nap. The kids played with their stocking stuffers and waited for the rest of my family to show up so we could open presents. The kids started getting antsy towards the end, so I found several 1950's Christmas cartoons on Netflix and let the kids watch them on my laptop.


This year Travis cooked Christmas dinner and brought it over to our house (we have a larger house than Kiki, so we ate both dinners - Christmas Eve and Christmas Day - at our house). He made a pasta dish first, then we had ham and a spinach dish, all of which were delicious! After dinner, we opened presents ~

Christmas Eve

Susie meets Eva ~


Sus reading to all four girls ~


Making Christmas cookies (yes, I now realize I had the wrap on wrong - I've adjusted the straps and my back feels much better now :) ) ~


The girls helping with cookie making ~


Sus multi-tasking - talking on the phone, holding Eva and giving Jack a ride on her foot ~


One of my best friends, Allison, with Eva ~


Getting ready to watch personalized messages from Santa (Jack wanted to be first and was very sad) ~


My beautiful oldest daughter ~


Watching Santa messages ~


Apparently Santa DOES see everything! D'oh!


Jack gets a turn ~


Oh my goodness! Santa saw that?!? ~


Beth watching her message ~


Megan watching her message (Eva was very insistent that she needed to eat right at that moment, so Meg watched her message on Susie's lap) ~


Opening Christmas pjs ~


As we do every year, Papa read "the Night Before Christmas - in Texas that is". Jack was a bit hyper ~




Reading "The Night Before Christmas" illustrated by Tasha Tudor, with Jack running around pretending to be Superman ~










Our obviously kid-decorated Christmas tree :) ~


Susie resting on the floor under the slide while listening to the Christmas readings ~


Jack and Travis ~


Nona, Kiki, Molly and Kylie ~


Rob and Eva ~


Molly and Kylie ~


This year we allowed the kids to open an extra present on Christmas Eve - Pillow pets!!! (They've been asking for them for at least 6 months) ~


We usually have all the grandkids sit with Papa while he's reading, but Eva was sleeping, so we waited until she woke up to get a picture of all five grandkids with Papa (Nona wanted to wait until her hair was done to get her picture taken with the grandkids) ~


The four older kids with their pillow pets ~


Travis, Kiki, Nona, Eva and Molly ~


Nona and Eva ~


The stockings were hung by the chimney with care ~


Opening stockings ~


"My very own calendar!!!" (Megan's been asking for one for several months) ~








Eva, having been awake since 3am, was very tired. I, also having been awake since 3am, handed her off to Rob and went back to bed ~