When I get asked certain questions of fact, I find myself fumbling to provide what should be a quick, easy answer.  For example, when asked about my age or the age of my wife I find myself computing the answer rather just spouting it off as a memorized fact.  It’s not that I have trouble understanding the question or have to interpret the askers intent.  It’s just a slowness of brain.

Other questions—which I find being asked more and more frequently these days—cause a similar pause which the asker probably finds odd.  In this case, it’s not because I don’t know the answer; it’s because I do.  I’ll give some examples.

“Is this your wife’s first pregnancy?”  The plain answer: “No.  She was pregnant twice before this, but the babies didn’t survive.”  The answer I often give: “This will be her first live birth.”

“How many kids do you have?”  The plain answer: “Four.  Two died and two are still alive.”  The answer I often give, accounting for what I think they mean: “Two.”  I’m assuming they’re asking how many children are alive and well in our home.

(The context for those who don’t know us well or for that long is that my wife has had two confirmed miscarriages—possibly a third.)

Sometimes I’ll break the pattern and throw out the “real” answer depending on the situation.  I’ll leave the contemplation of what I should say for another time.  For now, I’ll just let these examples illustrate one simple point:  we have not forgotten any of our children.

Now while I can’t say our departed children come to mind every week, there has certainly not been any week where I did not think of them.  It’s not just when people ask about our kids.  They come to mind at various times and in various ways.  Sometimes the thoughts are those of sorrow.  Sometimes its speculation of about what they would have been like had they were still with us today.

After the first miscarriage, each new positive pregnancy test—to be perfectly frank—brought mixed feelings.  The doctors had checked out my wife thoroughly.  Their explanation was simply, “Sometimes this happens.  There’s nothing we see that puts you at a higher risk.”  While we were thankful that there were no major medical issues, it also meant that it could happen again.

It did.

Now fast forward to our discovery of Elijah’s conception.  At that point, we had no idea of the outcome.  We hoped past experience was not an indication of the future.  With each good report from the pregnancy checkups, our hope and excitement grew.  Nevertheless, we knew that complications could arrive suddenly and the pregnancy could end without much perceivable cause.

I don’t think Elisha or I was being cynical or pessimistic, but in a certain sense our excitement was going to be held back until the moment our boy was born alive and healthy.

Fast forward to mid-November.  We have a tradition among my siblings to gather guesses about the birth time, date, length and weight.  Most of the guesses on birthday clustered around our early-to-mid-December due dates.  (Dates?  Another story for another time.)  These guesses were predictable.

However, one guess was eerie.  Matt guessed December 21st.  On one hand, Elisha really wanted the baby to come soon, so a late birth meant more discomfort.  Furthermore, a birth that close to Christmas would present its own challenges concerning the logistical aspects of our holiday routine.  But the eerie part was that December 21st was the day of Elisha’s 1st miscarriage three years ago.

When we realized the correlation, I found myself constantly remembering the events and emotions of three years earlier.  The baby’s death had been confirmed at an appointment down at Kaiser the day were also driving up to Grass Valley to celebrate Thanksgiving.  This year, when we went to the Christmas party with my dad’s side of the family, it seemed like we didn’t even attend that year since we knew the actual passing of the baby would be soon.

Elisha had been having mild contractions for most of December, but when they intensified on the 19th I was amazed that we might actually hit the 3 year anniversary on the nose.  As you know, Elijah was born on the 21st at 2:53 AM.  It wasn’t until a few days later when I looked back at one of Elisha’s blog posts and saw that the miscarriage took place not long after 2:30 AM.

When our first baby was conceived, God knew the length of her days would be short.  He knew when she would pass.  And that night as we mourned our loss, He knew that we would joyfully receive a live, healthy, beautiful baby into our arms exactly three years later.

No pictures… just a quick story.

We had wondered how well Evelyn would do with a baby brother.  Would she be jealous?  Disinterested?  Well today as we were opening gifts, we got a little hint.

After she had removed every last scrap of wrapping paper from each gift, she would jump up and run down our hallway with gift in hand.  At first we thought it was a little game like she wanted us to run and catch her.  But when she got to the door, she would say “Be be.”

She wanted to show her gifts to her little brother.  I’m not sure whether she would have wanted to actually share or just show him, but it was neat to see that she was thinking of the newest family member.

We’ve all noticed it. When you have a baby, people feel they can open up to you, give unsolicited advice, ask personal questions, etc… and frankly it is puzzling and sometimes humorous.

Click here for a very funny yet thought provoking perspective from an “internet friend” of mine.

I especially appreciate her thoughts on community. 

Send us your prediction of Elijah’s birth stats.  There are three categories:  date & time, weight and length.

My official guess is 11/26/09 at 7:53 am.  He will weigh 9lbs 7oz and will be 19.6 inches.

Dearest Evelyn,

Yesterday you officially became our daughter. Even though you were there, you may not remember many of the details for very long. You probably weren’t able to completely understand why the day was so special for us.

In a few days, you will be 15 months old. That’s not very old for a person, you’re still just a little girl. But 15 months has been a long time to wait for this whole adoption to be complete. The attorney who helped us with all the paperwork thought everything would be done in 6 months. Oops! We have been looking forward to this day for a long time.

So many people love you, Evelyn. Grandma G., Grandma Steward and Grandpa Stewart drove a long way to be with us on our special day. Uncle Matt, Auntie Jamie, Jack and Katie were there. Grandma Terri was also there at the courthouse.

After some waiting, the judge was ready to start the ceremony. She told us that we were going to be considered your natural parents. You would be considered our natural child. We promised to love you , feed you, clothe you and take care of you. You officially have a share of our inheritance. Your mother and I said “yes” to all the questions. We were so glad for you to be our girl.

While the judge was reading our promise, your mommy and I had tears of joy. You said, “Dada” and also gave mommy a nice kiss. It melted our hearts. We love you so much.

When we decided to adopt you, there was nothing you had to do. We picked you and love you because you are you. You are the girl we wanted to be part of our family. While we love so many things about you, please don’t misunderstand. You are so cute. But that’s not why we picked you. You have gorgeous blue eyes. But that’s not why we wanted you in our family. You are lots of fun  to play with. But we didn’t know that when we chose you. You are very friendly. You love to dance. You are so affectionate. But all those these things are just a bonus. You are the person we chose to have in our family. Nothing will ever change that. You are our daughter as long as we shall live.

We hope that some day you will be as happy as we are about your adoption, God knew where you would be. He helped us find you so you could be our baby.

Evelyn, I love you with all my heart. You will always be my sweet girl.

Love, Daddy

“A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favor rather than silver and gold.”  - Proverbs 22:1

Our desire is that our boy has, in every sense, a good name.  My wife Elisha and I have given him the name Elijah Bunyan Larsen.

Ok so assuming that the baby is in fact a boy, we’ve come up with a wonderful name. There is still a 15% chance that he could be a she…but we felt confident enough to name him. If it changes, of course so will the name :)

Well, again my husband has come up with a wonderful name. Elijah Bunyan Larsen. Be sure to click here for the meaning and reasoning for the first name, Elijah. Then click here for the meaning and reasoning for the middle name, Bunyan.

David and I are what people may call “big” on names. Meaning, that it is important for us to name our children a name of substance that has rich meaning both to us and to the advancement of God’s kingdom. For instance, our daughter, Evelyn Kate, means “Life” and “Purity”…what a beautiful name with wonderful meaning. Our prayer for her and for Elijah Bunyan is that they would grow into their names, know what they mean and seek to live according to the grace given by God in after the people or things we’ve named them after.

In the Bible names have rich rich meaning, and we’ve noticed that many people identify with their names and their name’s meaning. Although, I get slack for my name, Elisha, I LOVE it! It means “God is Salvation”. I couldn’t ask for a better name. In fact it’s become who I am…God has always placed it on my heart that He in fact is the only true salvation. Even before I knew what it meant. Even when I was walking in utter darkness. It was woven into my being and placed upon my heart… more on that later…

Many people will wait until their child is born to see what they look like before they name them. Not us! Our take on it is to name them who we would desire for them to become. I don’t know about you but to me, no one just looks like a, (insert name here). In fact there have been many times I’ve thought the opposite, “oh really? he/she doesn’t look like a (insert name)”. Only to later see that little person grow into their name and totally own it.

For us it also helps us to identify with, dream about, pray for, hope for and love even more this little person who is about to change our lives! In this case, it’s even helped us get excited about having and raising a little boy. It’s neat to think that we will have such a privilege to do so. As much as we look forward to raising and spending time with this little boy, we mostly look forward to seeing who and what he will become as a man. Our desire and prayer is that he will be a man both like Elijah and John Bunyan. That he will follow the one true God. That his journey may be filled with rich growth. This will likely include trials such as Christian faced in Pilgrim’s Progress. May Elijah turn to the One God and be strengthened by Him. May he know His faithfulness, goodness, kindness, correction, restoration, sanctification and ultimate glory… May Elijah Bunyan indeed grow into his name!

Ok a couple disclaimers – no, we are not going for names that all start with E…it just happened to work out that way. Yes we are aware that there may be some confusion with having an Elisha and Elijah in the house…but we’ve it’s grown on us and we now think it’s pretty cool. Besides if pronounced correctly, there is a big enough difference, at least we think there is. Also, we are aware that a bunion is some sort of foot growth and sounds an awful lot like a famous mythical lumberjack, but we can’t help that Bunyan is the last name of the author of “Pilgrim’s Progress” :) – Our hope is that our son will in some way resemble the great author. Of course, the author is a reflection of the One True Author of life, Jesus Christ. That is the main reason for choosing this name.

I will admit, I wasn’t a huge fan at first. So if you aren’t either…don’t feel bad. Hopefully you will grow to love it as I have. Granted it only took a matter of minutes for me to start to like it. I call him my little E.B. :)

It’s so great to have a name! Please continue to pray for us. Pray for his development, safety in utero, safety in birth and most importantly pray specifically for his character and soul. Pray that he would follow in the footsteps of this great prophet and author as they followed the footprints of their Savior, the Lord God Jesus Christ.

Much love and happiness to you all!

Praise the Lord with us today!

Well this post was supposed to go on my Happy Wife blog, however, our new computer doesn’t have that particular blog set-up in Windows Live Writer (what I use to post blogs with). So I’ll pretend that Evelyn is just as proud of David as I am…I know she would be if she understood what was happening. All she really understood yesterday was that mommy and daddy were really happy and laughing A LOT! So she joined in with her belly laugh too! (sadly no pictures of that, it all happened so fast)

Well, David was awarded the Employee of the Quarter Award at work yesterday! Complete with a cake, a parking spot, some words from the president of the company, a framed certificate and the ability to buy hundreds of pizzas (inside joke). What a blessing from God! David is one of the best men I know. Of course, I’m no dummy – that’s why I married him! :-) Even still, over the past 7 years I have known him I have seen his unwavering devotion to God and the responsibilities given him by God grow so much more than I could have ever imagined!

One thing about my husband is that he strives to do what is right. He is a man of absolute integrity. When I sought counsel in the beginning of my thought process of liking guys at Masters, I asked one of my Biblical counseling professors (who was also a bit of a mentor and father figure to me at the time) how I would know who I should marry. He asked me to read along with him in Psalm 112. He said, “Elisha, this is the man you want to marry.” I never forgot it, in fact I wrote it down, broke it into segments and studied each quality. Then I spent an entire year praying that God would bring this man to me. A year later I met David Larsen. When I met David, I knew he was “the one” I had been praying for. Hehe…most people know that I “knew” much sooner than David did :). During that year I also studied my role and the woman I wanted to be…that was also the time I switched my major to Home Ec and minored in Biblical Counseling. Anyhow, maybe there will be more thought posted on my personal blog about all of that later.

Today I want to focus on God’s faithfulness in David’s life. Not to brag about David, but to really turn the attention to how God works in individual lives, specifically David’s. We all have different gifts that display different attributes of God in all His glory. David’s gifts are many and are remarkable qualities to have. He has sought to follow the Lord in many ways. Some ways come more naturally to him, and those qualities can easily be overlooked by those who are more emotionally based. Mostly because they are more quietly displayed and aren’t necessarily the “one another” type qualities. They are the outpour of one’s inner being. What and who someone is, not necessarily what that person does. Although there is evidence of it in choices they make and the things that they do, it takes a little more to see. I find because of this David is sometimes misunderstood, and I love being the one person who totally gets him. Don’t get me wrong, there are others that come close, but being this man’s wife is remarkable! I am SO blessed! I feel absolutely privileged to be the one he chose to make his life with, to share his dreams with, to completely be himself with and to have a family with. It’s amazing that this man chose me, and that he is a righteous man. God is so very good.

Although these qualities can be overlooked in other circumstances they are quite noticeable in a work environment, and his hard work and devotion have been noticed! I am so proud of his devotion and integrity in both the work place and in our marriage. David takes his responsibilities seriously, strives to follow the rules (not just as a rule follower but as a follower of Christ), do what is right and find the best way to do it. He is never one to waste much time or take short cuts (totally opposite of me). God knew I needed him, and I am truly a blessed and happy wife!

Sadly, I have so much more to say, but not enough time, so for now I will leave you with some pictures and the passage that describes my dear husband. I love you babe, and I am so so so proud of you! To God be the glory…continue to look towards Him…for Him.

The Righteous Will Never Be Moved (Psalm 112)

Praise the LORD! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD,
   who greatly delights in his commandments!
His offspring will be mighty in the land;
   the generation of the upright will be blessed.
Wealth and riches are in his house,
   and his righteousness endures forever.
Light dawns in the darkness for the upright;
   he is gracious, merciful, and righteous.
It is well with the man who deals generously and lends;
   who conducts his affairs with justice.
For the righteous will never be moved;
    he will be remembered forever.
He is not afraid of bad news;
   his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD.
His heart is steady; he will not be afraid,
   until he looks in triumph on his adversaries.
He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor;
   his righteousness endures forever;
   his horn is exalted in honor.
The wicked man sees it and is angry;
   he gnashes his teeth and melts away;
    the desire of the wicked will perish!

The pizza was our “celebration dinner” – only because that’s what I had made for dinner. I didn’t know we were going to have something so wonderful to celebrate. Although, it was made especially with David in mind – notice no strange veggies :-)

   

Evelyn got to celebrate with us too. She had her first bite of cookie cake with us. It was so cute – she took her piece of cookie to the corner and sat down to eat it. She didn’t realize it would be so good. As soon as she put it in her mouth she bounced up and ran towards us signing, “please” for more please! So cute…wish we had the cameras rolling!

Although this blog is for the people interested in knowing what is going on with Evelyn here and now, it is also meant to serve the purpose of recording memories and keepsake moments for Evelyn, her children, her children’s children and so on… Our family (the David Larsen family) is big on words. We love pictures but even more than pictures we LOVE recorded stories or thoughts. Growing up I would get so frustrated going through pictures, especially the ones with no writing on them. I always wanted to know who, what, when and where. Of course, I have some recollection of the pictures I was in. Certain outfits I remember, certain visits with family members – David always thinks it’s so funny how much I could tell you about one picture. Things like “oh yeah, that was my favorite outfit”, or “that was the day I got so  embarrassed because I wet my pants at school” or “Oh yeah, I was so mad at her that day”. He’s amazed by my memory.  In the case that I was there for the picture, yes a picture was worth a thousand words (hehe just ask David) but when looking through my grandparent’s and parent’s photos – it was…err…frustrating.  I always wanted to know what the picture was about and WHY it was taken. I wanted to know more. Like, did my mom really love that hat or was she just being silly? Was she really angry in that picture or just didn’t like her picture to be taken? AND seriously, where is that?

One of my favorite past times with my grandpa Fyler was to get out ALL the photo albums and sit down with him for hours going through each and every picture. He would then tell me the stories that the picture could not. It would take hours upon hours just to get through one album. He would tell me about the old Fyler house in Connecticut or the house in Florida – and how he and my grandma spent time fixing it up. He would tell me about all of our heritage, all about his sisters and brothers and their family, how he ended up in Colorado even though he was from Connecticut, or stories from the family house in Florida – all from one picture of the “Florida house”. He could also tell me what couldn’t be seen in the picture. Things like to the left is this or that. To the right is the pool, etc… painting a more accurate picture with words. I loved it!

Another thing I would do with Grandpa is ask him question upon question. “Grandpa, tell me how you met Grandma.” “Grandpa, tell me about your time working for the military and building bombs.” Grandpa, how did you know you wanted to marry Grandma? What did you think the moment you first saw her?”  The answers to these questions and the hours of meaningful stories of actual events in the lives of people I loved helped me understand where this family began, and I was so proud to be apart of it! It also developed one of the deepest loves I could have for a person. I had these conversations with all of my grandparents, and sometimes my parents as well. Only ironically my grandparents had better stories to tell and a better memory to tell them too! These are some of my fondest memories and I will never forget the special moments I had with my grandpa. Nor will I forget all the stories he once told. I only wish they were recorded for my children, their children, and on down…

Grandma Fyler was also a good story teller. She and I would spend hours on the couch while she would tell me stories of being a young wife and mom. I appreciated her German insight on it all. Things were just they way they were. No fairy tales just plain old life. She told me stories of how strong her mom was – giving birth in the cornfield and being able to make supper that night. Or how she and her niece were nearly the same age. She would tell me what it was like to be a military wife and how she did what she had to do. She was also grandpa’s greatest supporter. She had four children, a tidy house, woke every morning before anyone else, kept track of all the bills, her kids were clean, fed and happy. That’s just what she had to do. She was a woman of planning and order. On the other hand though, she has the greatest sense of humor. She can find great humor in many situations. Many of our conversations would turn to something hilarious! Whenever I ask her “whatcha been up to?” her response is always, “Oh, I’m still about 5’4” (or however tall she is – you’d think I’d know after years of asking “whatcha up to?”).” too funny! She also had a rule – after 3 yawns it’s time for bed. Another fun story about my grandma and her family is that they are Germans from Russia! That’s a whole post in and of itself. Although, very cool to be able to sit up late to talk about it – until that 3rd yawn anyhow :)

Someone else I would turn to for stories was my grandma Knoll (that was her name then) now we call her grandma Carol. She would spend hours with me also. Only her pictures were in a big chest in no particular order :). She explained to me - “well, in that picture your mom was going through the David Bowie stage and she cute her hair that way to be like him” or “that was at Grandma and Papa Walsh’s house in Illinois when we all went out to visit” or “no, your mom thought that hat was cool. She loved it!” – haha sorry mom, not trying to pick on ya! – She would also tell me what it was like to live in Illinois, or she would tell me what I couldn’t remember about her old house in Lakewood, or about her days working as a volunteer for Volunteers of America. Thankfully, she also moved to the same town my parents did so she and I were able to “make memories” too. She brought me to various places in Vail where we cleaned houses, served the rich, planned parties for the rich and enjoyed their company too! I met so many people tagging along with her. So much of my plethora of experiences came from tagging along with her. There were also things we never missed as a family (that always included grandma Carol and other friends we had – growing up in a small town everyone is family): Eagle Flight days, Strawberry days, Blue Grass Festival (I think that’s what it’s called) with hot air balloons over Vail, 4th of July over Avon lake, 4th of July parade in Vail, New Years in Vail on Bridge street and countless others! Other memories were of my grandma and her friend, Margaret (who was like our aunt) telling us ghost stories in the Glenwood Springs canyon on our way home from a movie with friends. They would try to make it real by locking the doors or rolling down the windows. We knew it was fake but it would get us every time!

Another family member that I did not “know” very well in person but knew so much about after her death was my great grandma Topel. She left journals, kept letters, wrote on pictures, kept beautiful things from the 20’s, 40’s – actually she kept everything! haha. I know because my mom and I went to her home in Illinois and packed it all up when we moved her to a nursing home in Colorado! She also wrote me letter upon letter usually sent with a package of cute clothes. I always looked forward to her letters. They weren’t addressed to me as if I were a child. She explained very “adult” things to me. She sent me very nice things and would explain Illinois fashion and how to properly take care of the gold necklaces, etc… She would tell me her hopes for me, and explain the importance of education. I’ve recently re-read these letters and gleaned many things from them. It also came to my mind that these letters shapes a certain part of me. I was able to piece together certain parts of her personality better too – reading them as an adult. She was a remarkable woman who came from Greece as an orphan. She had many brothers and sisters and did her best to care for them all at a young age. She is probably the most complex out of them all. Or so it would seem because she left the most behind.

Another dear family member that died early on was my great grandma Walsh. She too sent me letters. She also lived in Illinois. I have letters from her for me as a baby up until I was about 8, when she died. She even recorded herself singing, “Mr. Moon Has His Eyes on You” and her reading a story for me to listen to so I would never forget her. I don’t know why, but even today it brings tears to my eyes. I didn’t “know” her very well, but I never doubted she loved me. I’ve read and re-read her letters many times throughout my life. She would tell me of little characteristics I showed during our last visit or things my mom had told her about my development. She would also put fun stickers on the letters. I looked forward to her letters too. And whenever I would talk to her or grandma Topel I would feel so grown-up and I would get the good dizzy feeling that I was so special. You know the one I mean?

Anyhow, I could write a book about each one of my grandparents and great grandparents, and the influence they had on my life. How the things I’ve learned from them have helped shape the things I love about life and the things I hope to share with Evelyn. One of these things is using words and sharing life’s stories. That is my hope for this blog. That is why I want to share my greatest moments being Evelyn’s mommy, and all her achievements. I will share difficulties as well, but most of that is written more privately. My intention is not to brag, but to share all my joy in what Christ has given me in my precious baby and soon babies! This will be a keepsake for her and her siblings in the years to come. I love her deeply and I wish I could share every moment of her life with her later, the reality is I can’t, but I can record some things here.

My hope is to be able to set aside more time to clearly articulate better posts. To share more of her great characteristics and things we are thankful for. I used to be much better at writing in Elementary through High school, and some in college. English was my best subject. I won awards in school for my writing. However, now I would have to say after being so far removed and engrossed in the age of texting and chatting my writing skills are – blah - to say the least. My hope is to use this and my journaling to improve. We’ve also been reading more as a family, which really helps my grammar, etc… On top of that I have a great husband who is so good at correcting my errors :-)

And now I’m apart of a whole new family, and look forward to hearing their many stories as well! All we need is hours upon hours – which tends to be a little hard to come by these days – so keep writing it down for us!

Anyhow, much love to you all. More Evelyn updates to come!

For now – onto some pictures – which I will explain :)

These two are more current. The first is Jeremiah (my brother), me, Grandma and Grandpa Fyler and my cousin Jonathon. The picture was taken on the deck of my grandparent’s home in Meeker, CO – although they moved back to Denver since then.

The second picture is of Grandma Carol with Evelyn after we picked Grandma up from the airport. The picture was taken at our house.

These are older pictures. Obviously. The one on the left is my cousin Victoria and me. Grandma Fyler is in the background. It’s obviously Christmas. I LOVED that dress. Hated the tights but loved the dress. My aunt Cindy curled my hair for me, and it was the first Christmas I realized Santa Claus wasn’t real.

The picture on the right was after my ballet recital. It was the happiest day in my little life up to that point. The flowers were from my Grandma Carol and wonderful family. My grandma had put my hair in curlers the night before. The necklace and sweater were favorites.

The picture on the left is of my brother Jeremiah, my friend Christopher (he lived next door) and me of course! That field was right next to our house. Beyond the field was the Eagle river. We made many many forts all over that field. I really did not like the outfit I was wearing. It was so itchy!

The picture on the right is my birthday party at Pizza Hut in Glenwood Springs. It was a hot spot for our parties. I loved the outfit although it was itchy. The skirt was oh so cute, and that year I got the book, “Bambi” from Margaret.

The picture on the left is my dad, new baby brother (still Jeremiah), and my favorite Raggedy Anne doll. I can’t remember who I got it from. We are in our old trailer probably in Leadville or Edwards, CO. We are sitting in front of the fireplace.

On the right is our family – mom, dad, Grandma and Grandpa Knoll, Jeremiah and me – taken after church near the parking lot. 

 

Picture on the left is Grandma Knoll with us. My hair had been cut due to an unfortunate mishap I had with the scissors. My punishment was to have it all cut! Very cruel I must say :) In the picture we are watching the hot air balloons fly over us! It was always such a big event. My favorite balloon was of the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland. It’s an event we hardly ever missed. There were hundreds of balloons to look at.

The picture on the right is my brother and me with Margaret probably at Flight days or something similar. Probably in Vail actually. Maybe another Blue Grass Balloon festival. Funny thing is I always expected the grass to be blue. I never understood what blue grass had to do with balloons. Also – I LOVED that sweater and the stone-washed jeans, and the clip in my hair! One of my favorite outfits at that time. Margaret was also constantly correcting my grammar while speaking. I do it do David all the time now, drives him nuts. I can always hear it when other people do it. Sometimes I catch myself, but not always.

On the left is my brother, my great grandma Topel (in her healthier days) and me. My grandma Carol took my brother and I on a train ride to Illinois to visit family. We met Gramma Topel at a restaurant. I thought she was so stylish, and I LOVED what I was wearing.

On the right is my brother, my mom and me during the 4th of July parade in Vail. I thought all of us looked fantastic. I love Jeremiah’s outfit, my mom’s dress was beautiful and mine was simply the best. I am holding one of the best inventions ever made – a popple! Oh how I loved mine. Wonder where it went off to?

 

On the left is – haha – my mom, Papa and Gramma Walsh and my auntie Dana. There is the famous hat.

On the right we are with Grandma Topel at Judy’s house. We had just eaten some yummy Flintstones popsicles!

On the left is dad, Jeremiah, mom, me and Papa. Papa was there for a visit after Grandma Walsh passed away. I remember he missed her so much. The fountain in the back is in Vail. I have many memories there. I don’t remember what was going on. Maybe 4th of July? Either way I remember riding the Vail bus up and down and hitting all our favorite spots. I got my face painted and was trying so hard not to mess it up, and of course I loved that shirt!

On the right is obviously my mom pregnant. That’s all I know – not sure if it’s with me or Jeremiah because there is no date and no writing…erg :) – actually it’s gotta be me if it’s Christmas – mystery solved!

haha – well, Evelyn is up so no time for editing…ironically!

Eggs are more than a staple in our home. They are the most complete nutrient we get each day. It has been said that eggs are nature's perfect food... a "super food". Its a good thing too because eggs fit nicely into our budget for nutritious foods. I've been sure to keep my egg intake up especially while I have been nursing. I found that it helps keep my milk supply up, and the benefits for Evelyn are incredible.

Well the time has come for Evelyn's first solid food. After years of preparation and research about first foods (since I had been planning for a baby for over 2 years) I knew her first food would be eggs. I know its a controversial first food, but all my nutritional sources emphasized the importance of an animal based protein for a first food. I could go into it further but that isn't what this post is intended for. So I'll just post some links here for anyone interested in researching it. My top three resources for nutrition are -  The Weston A. Price, Foundation, Great Physician's Rx for Children's Health, and Mercola.

So we prepared the eggs by hard boiling them making sure they were cooked thoroughly. Also she will only be fed the yolks until after a year. The white is the part that babies tend to be sensitive to. The yolks are quite easy for them to digest. Easier than grains actually. So we made sure they were good eggs. Organic, etc...

Anyhow, on to the cute part -

Little Evie loved it!

What I learned? Next time she'll have a BPA free spoon of her own and not a "big person" spoon. I'll also mix the egg with breast milk...duh mommy!

We waited the 4 day period for allergies and she hasn't had any...yay! So we'll be trying it again very soon. She can also have banana. That will be fun. We'll be sure to put some pictures up!