Congenital Heart Walk

On March 22nd our family was able to attend our first Congenital Heart Walk in Round Rock, Texas.  The walk was put on by The Children's Heart Foundation (CHF) and The Adult Congenital Heart Association (ACHA).  They did not offer a walk in the DFW area, so off to Round Rock we went!  Luckily, we were able to stay with Kyla & Kyle, who were gracious enough to house us, as well as the Snowden's who came to support as well.  Mitch's parents and Alex & Elizabeth came to the walk as well! 

The walk was at Old Settlers Park.  It was the perfect place for a charity walk!  It had a playground, a pretty pond, and lots of running room for kiddos.

 

 Marley was ready to walk!

Our adorable little honoree.  So proud to walk for our precious girl!

We had to come up with a team name for the walk, and it only seemed appropriate to use the name of the blog, so our team was "I Heart Evin".

The smallest {and cutest!} members of our team.

I love how Evin is looking so adoringly at Lane.

 

Mommy, Evin & Daddy

The Armstrong Family

The Snowdens, Tittles and Coots were there, too!

  

  

You can't tell here, but Kyla was only a few weeks away from Ellis' due date.  She stuck it out for the entire walk though!

  

One of our furry team members.  Kathy's new puppy, Paisley, came along too!  She had just gotten her that week and she was so tiny & cute!

 

These two...

I am sure everyone who sees them thinks they are twins!

The other canine member of our team was Ava, Alex & Elizabeth's dog.  Evin is always intrigued by her!

Marley & Lane were able to get some energy out before we started the walk.  They were ready to play!

 

Kathy & tiny Paisley

 

My heart

Here we go...

 

Kyla designed the t-shirts {as well as my matching blog header} and The Big Red Fern printed the t-shirts.  I can't say enough good things about them!  They were so easy to work with and had fast turn around for us.  I love how they turned out!

The front says "i heart evin" and this is the back:

Taking a little break halfway through the walk.

 

 Waiting in line for balloon animals.

I think it was worth the wait! Until this popped on the way to the car...then there were some tears.

 

Mitch & Marley dancing it up.

Evin went strong all morning but got really tired and hungry towards the end of the walk.  She was no longer all smiles like she had been!

Trying for a picture with Mason and I got about 15 pictures with the balloon animal in front of either Mason's face or Evin's face.

Mommy/Daughter Nikes

At the end of the walk the walk coordinator asked for a picture of all the Heart Warriors that were in attendance.  The photographer wanted all other family members that were behind the camera to scream at the same time so the babies would look at the camera.  Remember when I said Evin was tired/cranky?  Well, check out her reaction. We are on the right side of the picture...

She did NOT like the screaming.  Poor girl buried her head in me and just cried.  What else could I do but laugh?

Team "I Heart Evin".

So thankful that these people were able to travel to support our girl and her mended heart.

God certainly has perfect timing.  The walk was on March 22nd, 2014, which was exactly 1 year after we found about Evin's heart defects.  On March 22nd, 2013, Evin was taken to the NICU at Mansfield Methodist, then taken via Teddy Bear Transport to Cook Children's NICU.

Evin in the NICU at Mansfield Methodist as we were waiting for her to have an echocardiogram before she could be transported.

 Later that day, after being transported to Cooks- intubated, and wires everywhere.

 March 22, 2014 was certainly a much better day that March 22, 2013.

So thankful that we were able to participate in the walk and raise money to support other heart babies like Evin.  We are already looking forward to next year's walk!

12 months

We have a 1 year old!  It is so hard to believe that a year ago we were welcoming our girl into the world.

All about Evin at 12 months old…

Weight:  18 lbs 3 oz at 12 months and 4 days

Length: About 28 ½ inches

Clothes: 9 month and some 12 month

Shoe Size:  2

Diaper Size: 2

Still taking 4 bottles a day of fortified breastmilk.  She’s been taking the full 6 ounces each bottle and typically eats around 8:30, 12:30, 4:30, and 8:30. 

Eats 3 meals of solids a day.  We started getting rid of baby food around 11 months 1 week old.  She started pretty much eating whatever we eat.  I really haven’t found many foods that she won’t eat.  Girlfriend likes food!

A few of her favorites:

Fruit- loves blackberries!

Green beans

Carrots

Loves bread, cereal, puffs

Cheese

STILL no teeth!  Is she ever going to get any?!

Loves to drink water from her sippy with a straw.

Evin had several rough nights sleeping this month.  She will go in spurts where she will sleep great for a week straight and the next week she will wake up several times each night.  She usually goes down for the night around 8:45 and typically wakes up in the morning around 8 or 8:30.

Most days she still takes 2 naps, but sometimes she will only get in 1 long afternoon nap.

Prefers to sleep on her belly.  I always lay her down on her back, but it doesn’t take her long to flip to her belly and stay that way.

Still takes her pacifier to go to sleep and also uses it in the car.  She loves her giraffe wubbanub!

Evin could be a professional army crawler.  She is super speedy at scooting all around.   Loves to be chased around the house while crawling.

Still loves to give kisses!

Seems to have grown out of the hitting phase she went through last month.  I am glad to have outgrown that phase!  Although I know it won’t be long until it is back with the terrible 2’s…

No real words yet, but still likes to “talk” in her own language.

Evin had ANOTHER double ear infection this month.  She had a cold for a few days, and then it developed into an infection.  After she gets her meds, she quickly starts feeling better, but there are always a few miserable days/nights before we get to that point.

Super wiggly during diaper changes.  I have to keep several items handy to give her while changing her, because she quickly tosses them off the side of the changing table and wants something else.

Loves to point. 

On her 11 month birthday she started pulling up on things other than her crib.

Just after turning 11 months Evin used her walker to walk across her room.  She loves to push her baby in her the stroller now.

Had her first sleepover this month with Mums.  Mums had to keep her the next day, and since Mitch and I were both working it just worked out better for Evin to sleep over at her house.  She did great!  It helped Mommy & Daddy that she was asleep for the night when we left.  We didn’t feel like we missed out on anything that way!

Starting to stand and make circles around her play table and cruise around on furniture.

She puts everything in her mouth.  She will scour the floor and find the tiniest speck of something, and automatically put it in her mouth.

Started liking cartoons, especially Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

Started exploring the house by herself.  She usually heads off to her room or the extra bathroom.  Occasionally she cries to be rescued if she is in the dark.

She loves to be in her room.  If she goes missing, I can usually find her in there reading books.

Had her LAST synagis shot this month.  Woohoo!  We were told by her pulmonologist that Evin will not qualify for the shot next year, and that she should have the same chances of getting RSV as any other child would.  That is good news!

Attended Lane’s 4^th birthday party.  She had more fun than we thought she would!  She really liked watching the other kids play.

Started throwing mini fits if she doesn’t get her way.  She hasn’t done this often, but she will kick her legs and whine around/cry.

We started the weaning process at 11 months 3 weeks.  I have exclusively pumped, so it was a pretty easy switch for her since she didn't have to get used to a bottle.  We gradually changed from breastmilk to cows milk over a week and a half.  This was wonderful for me because I was able to stop pumping.  Hallelujah! 

4 days shy of turning 1, we had her 1^st birthday party.  It was a fun day of celebrating Evin!

Started waving hi/bye bye 3 days before her 1^st birthday.

Loves to cruise around the coffee table and throw everything off.  This is becoming a favorite activity!

We call her the stealth pooper.  Most of the time she never changes expressions while pooping and sometimes you don’t smell it either.  A while later, you will find a surprise in her diaper.  She is the sneakiest pooper I’ve ever seen!

Loves books!  Favorites are lift-the-flap books and Eric Carle Brown Bear books.

Loves to “dance, dance.”

Loves Beckham & Mia.  Wants to give them kisses, give them pats and chases them around.

I can’t believe I have written 12 of these monthly posts.  This girl changed our lives for the better a year ago and I can’t imagine life without her.

We love you to the moon, Evin Kate!

Evin's Birthday

On Thursday, March 20th, Evin turned 1!!!

{I know, I am SO behind on blogging.}

It was one of the most fun days I have ever had.

I started my long-term substitute teacher job earlier this week, and the teacher I am subbing for was nice enough to arrange for a sub this day so I could be off with Evin on her 1st birthday.  Funny enough, she was pregnant with a little girl and ended up having her this very day.  So her little girl and Evin share a birthday!

Anyway, we started the day off with a little blueberry waffle breakfast while singing "Happy Birthday" to our girl.

I had big plans of making one of these flags to hang outside for Evin's birthday party, but ran out of time and didn't get it done in time for the party.  My mom whipped this one up while she was keeping Evin one day,  so we could hang it up for her birthday.  Thanks, Mums!

Then we headed out for a fun day at the zoo!

Giraffes are my favorite, so we had to get a picture.  I thought Evin would be most interested in the bigger animals, but they were standing pretty still and were far away, so I honestly don't know if she even saw them.

 Twins!

 

Mitch took Evin in the enclosed area with all the birds.  Last time we were there, the birds came so close to us.  This time, they kept their distance, so Evin didn't get to see many.

Daddy did great on snapping this pic!  One of my favorite pictures with my little chick.

Sporting her "It's my birthday" shirt.

Peeking over Daddy's shoulder.

We stopped for a snack break.  Evin was starting to poop out at this point.  She was SO good while we were there though.  She enjoyed it way more than we thought she would!

 

 After the zoo we had a quick lunch at Panera and then the birthday girl fell asleep in the car on the way home.

After a big nap, she had plenty of cards and presents to open.  We saved Evin's presents from us for her to open on her birthday.  My mom came over to see the birthday girl and to give her gifts as well.

 

A new Mickey Mouse Clubhouse ride-on car!

 

I made a book with pictures of Evin's family members so we can practice learning people's names.  She didn't care much about it when we gave it to her, but it is one of her favorites to look at now!

 

Beckham is ALWAYS willing to help open presents.  He's actually not just willing, he is insistent upon opening gifts whether he is invited or not! 

  

Checking out her new shoes from Mums.

 She also gave her an adorable smocked dress, among other things.

We went out for a quick spin in her Cozy Coupe that GiGi and PawPaw gave her at her party.

That evening we went to eat at Cotton Patch with Mums, GiGi & PawPaw.  GiGi & PawPaw came to our house after dinner to give a few more gifts and to have cupcakes.

 We let Evin smash into her cupcake and she did more damage to this one than she did to the big smash cake at her party.  I guess that was her warm-up and this was the real deal!  Of course, my camera died right after I took this picture, so I didn't get any good pictures of it.

I took this picture at 8:06pm, when Evin turned exactly 1 year old.  She has brought so much joy to our lives in one short year.  I can't wait to see what her future will bring!