Big Day

This past Sunday Evangelia had her 40 day blessing where she was welcomed into the church. Unfortunately the service was running a bit long and she was due to eat right as Father Stratton was beginning the ceremony, thus she screamed through most of it : ( That is until Father carried her into the church and she stopped crying and was immediately calm. We joke that there must be a pressure point somewhere on a baby's body that only he knows because he always has this affect on the little ones. It's a beautiful service and we are so blessed that we were able to share it with Yia Yia, Theo George, the Roustemis family the Kenny family and the Geottes family.

Life

Feeling uninspired in the title department today so we're going with "Life" : )

Evi had her 1 month appointment this week and is looking great! It was the first time she didn't have blood in her stool so we seem to have found a formula that works. We are hoping she will not need to be on it for too long but we'll have to play that by ear. She's on medication for reflux which is helping but she may be moved to a stronger one since it doesn't seem to be totally eliminating her discomfort. Otherwise, she's happy and healthy! She's so strong it's alarming. She held her head up for a full minute and then rolled over when the doctor was examining her. She is now smiling and cooing and occasionally letting out little shrieks of glee...which makes my heart almost explode.

1 month stats:

Weight: 9lbs, 5oz

Length: 21 1/8"

Head: 14 1/8"

A few new pictures...

1 Month Old!

I think I'll celebrate by sleeping, eating and pooping!

Two is the New One...

Notes/thoughts on parenting two and doing it all again...

(for my own self-serving purpose of looking back and seeing how far we've come : )



1) About 2 hours of every day I feel like I can handle being a parent of two. If I add a couple minutes to this daily I should have things under control by Evi's first birthday.

2.) Late at night when you are feeding the baby and trying not to fall asleep you're mind goes to strange places. Like, the branches on the tree outside the window look like a pineapple when the moonlight hits it just right. Or, holy shit, this new formula is going to cost us around $12,000 a year if she has to stay on it. WHY THE HELL DID I QUIT MY JOB???????

oh, wait, because it sucked and my girls are the bomb!

3.) Sleep deprived induced sleep talking is an under-appreciated form of entertainment.


Taki: "We were so worried about the bottles width that we didn't even consider their length" Me: "I'm going to repeat that to you when you are more awake and you're going to realize how stupid it sounds"

4.) I forgot how fun it is to try and go to the bathroom with a baby strapped to you because it's the only contraption out of the 20 or so that you own that calms them and you would rather chew off your own foot then chance taking them out and paying the consequences.

5.) It is inevitable that your oldest has a "spoon meltdown" requiring 20 minutes and emptying your entire utensil drawer to find the perfect spoon for her morning oatmeal at the same time your newborn needs to eat/have their diaper changed/receive medicine/scream for no apparent reason. Thus making you use expressions such as, "SERIOUSLY CHILD?!", "Really, REALLY? Are we REALLY doing this right now?" or my personal favorite: "Are you KIDDING me?"

...oh and did I mention I want the purple bowl instead of the pink one this morning mama?

6.) Fortunately you have learned from your first one's poop woes that when you call to report a poop/butt problem to the pediatrician you should use the word "rectum" rather then "anus", translating to a far less uncomfortable conversation with the nurse on duty. Whew!

7.) Trying to bounce a bouncy chair with my foot has made me realize how rhythmically challenged I am.

8.) Having a newborn changes your language. You will find yourself starting every sentence with the word, "maybe" because newborns are innately one big question mark. "Maybe it's gas". "Maybe she's hungry". "Maybe she's tired". "Maybe we have no idea what the hell we are doing and it's a fluke that Sophia turned out so well".

9.) If it takes a village to raise a child then it takes a country to raise two. Big thanks to all of our wonderful family and friends - especially GG and Yia Yia - for helping us out SO much! We love you!

Evi Update!

Time for an Evi Bean update!

Our little girl is doing well considering she's been quite uncomfortable : ( We're still trying to pinpoint what the problem is but we're moving in the right direction, or so we hope. She's experiencing 2-3 hour screaming spells a couple times a day where she is inconsolable and clearly in pain. She's had blood in her stool after two formula changes which indicates a milk/soy protein allergy. We're now on Elecare which is an amino acid elemental formula. We're also going to start treating her for reflux today. I'm sure anyone who knows Sophia, remembers that she had very severe reflux. Evi doesn't spit up very often at all but instead swallows it back down. Her breath smells terribly of stomach acid so we're pretty certain she is experiencing silent reflux. All in all, a pretty sad thing for us to see. It's tough to see your little one in pain and not be able to do anything to help them but we're confident we'll figure out some solutions soon!

Despite all of this, she is becoming more alert every day and is so very, very sweet. It's fair to say we're in complete love!

More Easter...WOOPS!

Forgot to post pics from the annual easter egg hunt...

Easter Festivities!

Written by: Sophia

The Easter bunny came a bit early this year and brought me a sister. Then he came back and brought me some candy. Verdict is still out on which I like better.

Written by: Evi

They say it's Easter. I say the back of my eyelids are just as entertaining.

Written by: Mommy

Wait, what day is it?

...

But in all seriousness(not something that comes easy to me), Easter was very good to us this year. We are very, VERY blessed in so many ways!

180 Degrees

Wow, where to begin...

Every day I'm just a little more shocked at how different this pregnancy/labor/child is from our first. Of course there is always a possibility that they will look different and have different personalities but EVERYTHING from the way their hair grows (Sophia's hair naturally parts on the left and Evi's naturally parts on the right) to the way they arrived (Sophia in torpedo fashion at 3 hrs. 12 minutes while Evi was in no hurry at 10+ hrs.)

As a mom, I just figured it would all be familiar, from the labor to the little person inside. After all, I've been living with a representation of Taki and I for 2 1/2 years already. I am SO excited to see how this little person will grow and develop. I truly feel like I'm doing all again for the first time, just with a little more knowledge and confidence.

Sophia is doing very well with her sister. The night that she was born Sophia visited the hospital and sang Rock A Bye Baby to her. It was the sweetest, most wonderful thing ever. There are times when she is indifferent to her and times when she acts out when we can't give her the attention she wants, but overall she's been incredible and we have been blessed to have wonderful family that has been her to help with the baby and Sophia. She's having a blast playing with all of our loved ones that she doesn't have the privledge of seeing often. And my favorite quote from Sophia since Evi's arrival happened when she left after visiting the hospital that first night. She said to my mom..."Mommy went to the hospital, and the doctor came, and POOF the baby came out".

If only it were that simple my sweet girl : )

Below are some photos from the first few days of our newest little girl's life...

Hospital Photos are in!

www.bellababyphotography.com
Click on "View My Photos: Login"
Password: 0323evangeliakarras

Enjoy!

Evangelia Josephine Karras

She's here, she's here! And here are her stats...I will post more about her birth-day and all that has happened since once I screw my head back on and body back together...


Evangelia Josephine Karras -(pronounced Eh-vauhn-geh-lia), Evi (pronounced Eh-vee) for short
Born: 3/23/10 @ 3:57 p.m.
Weight: 8lbs 3oz
Height: 20"
Type: Hairy
Classification: Hairy

And did we mention she's hairy? After having a baldy the first time around I'm just shocked every time I look at her! We think she definitely resembles her daddy more then mommy...but it might just be the hairy ears ; )

Sophisms Take 3

Time for another episode of Sophisms:



-"My poop smells like peppermint" - We have no idea where this once came from but she insists that her poop smells like peppermint. Every day. All the time. I can ASSURE you, this is not the case.



-"Becaaauuuse" - This word is said before every explanation of why she should get or get to do something we've told her she can't have or do. It's said with a very "teenage-y" tone.


For instance:
Mom: "Sophia, you can't bring woob dog with us to the library"
Sophia: "Becaaaaauuuse he'll cry, and cry, and cry for me"



-"What are we gonna do with you" - This is her fill-in-the-blank response when I yell at Gabe. Quite frightening to hear your voice come out of your little person.



-"Mommy/Daddy you're a good friend" or "Mommy/Daddy I'm so proud of you".



-"Mommy, you're so bootiful" (said while putting a hand on each of my cheeks).


-"Mommy, you got some red stuff on your face" (when I wear real makeup)



-"Mommy, you answer me please!" (said after she's repeated something over and over again and I haven't given her the answer she wants. In fact, often it wasn't a question to begin with)



-Correction to all of the above should read "Mom/Dad" because she rarely calls us mommy or daddy anymore : (



She's growing into such a little lady (with an unfortunate splash of teenager for good measure). It's so sad to see the baby in her disappear but each day brings a new surprise and it's such a joy to see her become her own little person. I'm SO incredibly proud to be her mommy, er, I mean mom : )



And a current picture...

Yesterday we went to the mall for a butterfly exhibit. One landed on her and as you can see she stood so still she didn't even move her head to look at it. I'm a bit shocked she didn't run screaming considering she runs screaming if she hears a motorcycle miles away. The girl loves her bugs and wildlife just like her mama.