5 1/2 and 26.1

Today I had a few places I needed to go, and no time constraints, so I decided to ride my bike.  I got Evelyn's backpack, some blankets, a water bottle, and a Clif bar.  I tucked Evelyn into the Burley, propped her up with blankets, and gave her a few toys. I left home around 12:30pm.

I was about a half a mile from home when I realized that I hadn't grabbed our ipod.  I decided that since I wasn't too far from home, that I would ride back quick and grab it.  This added an extra mile to my trip.

Around 1:15 i reached my first stop. This was to drop off an estimate for lawn care at the house that Keith is working on.  I stayed for a few minutes to look at the house since it is almost done for the parade in two weeks.

I left there and headed out down Lake Rd. in Altoona to check out a thrift sale I had seen on craigslist.  I had to stop at 1:30 to feed Grunter, drank some water, and then we headed on.  I got to the garage sale and found a few things.  Among which were two books.  Of course I would find books.  So I added them to the cart.  I headed back through Altoona via Hwy KB. By this time, Evelyn was getting irritable.  She can't quite sit up by herself, and the bumps in the road were causing her to slowly slouch over to one side and be buried by a blanket.  Her toys were now out of reach, and the sun was shining in her eyes.  All legitimate reasons for a soon-to-be 5 month old to be upset.  Eventually she found her thumb, and the bumps bumped her to sleep.

My next destination was another thrift sale that I had seen on craigslist that was behind Kohls.  I headed down Clairemont to London Rd. and then over on Hamilton.  When I came to the sale, I was sorely disappointed.  I bought nothing. BUT, while en route to this sale, I saw a sign for another sale that appeared to be just a little further down this big hill.  I decided to check it out.  Much to my dismay, it was a LOT further, and was up another hill.  When I finally made it there, once again I was sorely disappointed.  The only thing I found was 2 Curious George books for Evelyn.  I should have saved my $1 and the 2 miles I biked up and down hills...

Next on my itinerary was to stop by one of our commercial customers
to pick up a fertilizer bill that had been left there.  So I headed back up the big hill behind Kohls and guess who woke up from her nap?  That's right.  And of course the sun was shining right into her eyes and no matter how hard she arched her back, she just couldn't get comfortable.  So I took her out of the cart and carried her as I lugged the bike with the cart up the hill.  After picking up the bill, I began to ascend another hill (the one behind Panera and BWW).  Grunter just was not having a good time at this point, so I decided it was time for a break.  We sat down in the shade of a retaining wall and laid down.  I ate my Clif bar, changed Evelyn's diaper, and called Kevin.  This was around 3:45pm.

After the short rest, I decided to press on.  I made it down to Golf Rd. and headed to the west.  Of course I went down the side of the road where the sidewalk ends 100 yards down, so I 'quickly' hopped down the curb, and up over the median, and back up to the sidewalk on the other side.  Evelyn was thinking about the rest we had taken where she got to lay in the grass and play with Mommy and was wishing we could do that again.  Unfortunately for her, we had to keep trucking so that we could get home.  She eventually fell asleep to the rhythm of the bumps in the sidewalk.

The last place I was planning to go was the Post Office to check if we had anything in our P.O. Box.  As I was heading down Golf Rd. towards State St. I turned right on a road that I assumed would connect to Hamilton so that I could stay out of the busy traffic.  Turns out the road I chose did not connect, and added an extra mile to my trip.

We were near to the top of State St. hill when it became time to feed Evelyn.  At 4:45pm we stopped in the little park by the fire station and sat in the shade.  I drank a little more water (which was very warm by this point) And tried to keep flies and spiders from crawling all over me.  As soon as Evelyn was done, we packed up again and headed down the hill.  The P.O., as we like to call it, held one letter for us, which is barely worth the trip over there.

Since I was plum out of water, I decided to swing by Daniel & Ellen's house, which is only a few blocks away, to refill my bottle.  This added an extra .75 miles to my trip, but was sooo worth the cool water that Ellen poured into my water bottle.

We left there around 5:30pm and were finally headed home.  As I headed up the Madison St. hill, it felt as if Evelyn had gained 20lbs.  How had the bike cart gotten so heavy?  I made it up and flew (more like crawled) past several thrift sale signs.  No way was I going to waste any more time stopping at more of those today.  I arrived back home around 6:10pm and fell onto the couch.  Never had it felt so good to sit down.

Out of curiosity I calculated out the miles I traveled and it came to a grand total of 26.1 miles.  I was out for 5 1/2 hours, got a fair amount of sunburn, and definitely broke in my new-to-me bike.  Needless to say I promised Grunter that I wouldn't make her go into the bike cart for a few days (not that my backside could take anymore time on a bike seat), and I will be staying home ALL day tomorrow!

Matching Outfits

Last summer I turned a pair of Kevin's pants into shorts for him.  I saved the pant legs knowing we were having a girl so that I could make a dress for her to match him.  Well, last Sunday I finally got around to making the dress for Evelyn.  It turned out even cuter than I expected.  It only took a couple of hours from start to finish, and was well worth missing my nap in order to make it. I also made a matching headband, but had trouble getting it the right size, so it kept slipping down on her face.

Here she is in her brand-new dress!

Evelyn and Daddy in their matching clothes.  Kevin absolutely loves it when outfits match.  He was hoping that there would be enough fabric left over to make something for me out of it, but unfortunately there was not.

A close up on Evelyn.  This was my first attempt at making button holes, and they didn't turn out the greatest.  Functional, yes, but good-looking? Not so much... Good thing the button covers it up!

The Misner Name Lives On

Late Sunday night (or early Monday morning) April 5th around 1:30am Gideon David Misner was born to my brother-in-law Keith and his wife Amanda.  He was 8lbs 4oz and 21in long. 

They wouldn't tell any of us his name until we went to the hospital to see him.  I have to admit that I was a little bit jealous that they named him Gideon, because it was one of the names that I really like for a boy.  Oh, well - you can't use them all, and who knows how many boys we'll end up having if we would even get around to using it...

His face was a little swollen and bruised from being born, but he is still a little cutie!

Because there are only two brothers (Keith and Kevin) in the Misner family, it was up to one of them to have a boy to carry on the Misner name.  So far they've only had girls.  So, needless to say when PapPap (David Misner) found out that not only did he have a grandson who would carry on the family name, but he was also named after him, a few tears were shed. 

We are all so very happy and excited about this new little bundle.  I can't wait to watch him grow and develop, and to see Norah as a big sister :D Congrats Keith & Amanda & Norah!

RSV?

A couple of days ago Evelyn started coming down with what seems to be a nasty cold.  It all started with a cute little cough and a snotty nose.  She has some of the symptoms of RSV, but it hasn't gotten to the point where we have to take her in to find out for sure.  She has been okay the past couple of days, but this morning as we were sucking snot out of her nose, she started having a coughing fit and began choking.  She scared us very badly, but thankfully that's all it was.  We got a humidifier going and that seemed to help some.  She doesn't have a fever, but she does have a stuffy nose and cough.  Her appetite has drastically decreased, but she is still having around 4-5 wet diapers/day so at least I know she's not dehydrated.  She has also been very sleepy during the day, hardly staying awake for more than an hour at a time.

She was just starting to eat well at 5:00pm, and then when I sat her up to burp her, she spewed milk all over me.  This wasn't just a little spit up either. It just kept coming and coming.  I think she threw up everything she had just eaten.  The first round went up her sleeve with the rest falling all over me as I tried to catch it with my hand.  So into the shower the two of us went.  I think the warm steamy air helped loosen things up in her nose and throat because she's been breathing a lot easier and not coughing as much.  

Because we are trying to take a more natural approach to health and wellness, both her and I are taking a natural supplement.  We brought her bed back into our bedroom so that we can hear her easier if she has trouble breathing during the night.  We also have the head of her cradle built up with blankets so that her head is elevated.

We have no idea where she caught this bug.  If it is indeed a mild case of RSV, it can be spread through touching or kissing, and can take anywhere from 2-8 days for symptoms to show up.  In adults, RSV is simply a mild cold, so anyone who has held her in the past week could have given it to her.  It can take up to one to two weeks to fully recover from it, so we're looking at a potentially long haul with this. 

Please pray for little Evelyn.  It is so hard to watch her cough and then grimace because it hurts her throat.  It is also a very scary thing when she starts coughing and can't breathe.  Pray also for Kevin and I that we would have wisdom in knowing how to help her, and when to seek additional care for her. Any advice is welcome too!

Evelyn Rolled Over!

Yesterday I laid Evelyn down on her stomach on a blanket in the living room. I went into the kitchen to put away the dishes and when I turned to check on her, she was off the blanket and laying on her back. I thought it was just a fluke thing, so I put her back on her stomach and sat and watched her. Much to my surprise (and delight), she rolled over again. I quickly grabbed the camera to videotape her, and she rolled over again while I caught it on camera. When I went to watch the video, much to my dismay I discovered that the camera had been in time-lapse mode. I tried to get her to do it again so that I could get a regular video of her, but I think she was a bit tired out.

So today after her morning feeding, I thought I would try it again. I laid her on her stomach on her blanket and went to grab the camera. When I came back to her room she was already on her back. I reset her and got the camera rolling... Enjoy! Evelyn rolling over at 5 weeks and 6 days old!