Our Big Weekend

My parents were here last weekend. We had a great time hanging out while they got to meet Evelyn! While they were here, Dave and I did some research on RV's and by the end of the week, in a whirlwind type fashion, Dave and I bought an old 1988 Sunview RV.  My Dad was very helpful in getting our RV looked over and checked out for the best quality old RV we could find. We've had this 28 foot monstrosity for only a few days, and Dave has already spent hours tinkering on it! The engine is sound, the upholstery is old, and the ideas in my head for updating it are swarming.

Part of the reason we purchased this RV is for summer fun, but we are also looking forward to taking it on a long, awesome, home school type road trip in the fall. We plan to travel North Dakota, to Minneapolis, to Chicago, to Cleveland, through Pennsylvania, to D.C., up to New York, and back through the great lakes, stopping at Niagara Falls on the way back. While we travel plan to follow the map of our trip, do school, play games, and NOT stop for bathroom and snack breaks on the way! We also plan to try Chicago style pizza, see the Great Lakes, learn more about the Amish communities in Pennsylvania,  see the National Monument, White House and other D.C. sights, eat a philly steak and cheese sandwich in Philadelphia, and visit Lady Liberty. I am so excited for this adventure!

Getting the RV now has turned out to be a good idea. (Thank you, Lord.) Dave needs time to get used to driving it, and it takes a while to figure out how all the parts and pieces of how one of these things works. Plus, we plan to camp one or a few times in it before we leave so that we can see just what we will need when we take it on a two-week extravaganza!

Those Curtains are Already Down

 Please excuse my jacket, baby blanket pile that looks like a cat perching on the couch.

Pull-Down Bed over Cabin

Main Living Space

Here are few inside pics of this slightly stinky, class A motor home. I kinda love it! My RV Pinterest board is growing by the minute!!!!!

Thanks for reading! Love, Amber

Evelyn Claire Stewart

----I started this blog a week and a half ago, but after I was almost done, I lost most of my work. I couldn't get back to it with family in town for a week. So, I am finally finishing.----

In case you haven't heard, we had our 4th sweet daughter on May 5, 2016. And now that I have my computer back from the repair shop, I can write about it on my blog.

Evelyn is a sweet and beautiful blessing. She is well-loved, and very much fought over by her sisters. She is 2.5 weeks old, and the honeymoon has totally not worn off for any of us yet. But, her umbilical cord piece has! Yay!

Evelyn loves to look at lights, look at me, her dad and her sisters. She is going between 3 and 4 hours to eat, and loves to be held. She will take a pacifier sometimes, but doesn't always need one to sleep. We are hoping she doesn't get as attached to her pacifier as Julia and Lydia did, and didn't want her sucking her thumb like Saige does.

Julia meeting and holding Evelyn

Lydia holding and meeting Evelyn

Sweet Sisters

Saige and Her Baby Sister

Evelyn - May 5, 2016

 Evelyn weighed 8 lbs, 1 oz when she was born. She ended up being much bigger at birth than my other three girls. The nurses in Labor and Delivery told me that Evelyn was 21.5 inches long. However, at her first doctor's appointment, the nurse told us that Evelyn was 20.25 inches long. There is no way that Evelyn shrank over an inch in a week! Plus, even at 20 inches, Evelyn is in the 88% for height--which is especially tall for our family. So, I think the measurement of her height at the hospital may have been a bit off. Either way, she will more than likely end up being our tallest girl.

Swaddled and Cute

Beautiful Babe

Grandma Christie and Our Girls

 Christie came and spent a few days with us before Evelyn was born, and got to stay until a couple of days afterward. She was an amazing blessing to us. She took great care of the girls while I was in Labor and Delivery and did a ton of cooking, cleaning and even grocery shopping.

Awake at the Hospital

 Evelyn was about 7 lbs 4 oz when we left the hospital. But she doesn't look teeny tiny in the hospital pics. Even though she was.

Being Discharged

 Evelyn already looks so different since leaving the hospital.

Sweet Girl

 Evelyn didn't want to take pictures. She just wanted to go home and be done with all the fluffy stuff.

 Evelyn is a very strong baby. She lifted her head regularly in the hospital and has been smiling at us from the very beginning. She had a small heart murmur when she was born, but at her 2nd follow-up appointment, our amazing pediatrician told us that she no longer has one. Yay!

2.5 Weeks Old

Evelyn is a super sweet baby. I feel like the two pictures above show just how much this little one changed in just 2.5 weeks. --And now she's 4.5 weeks old, and has grown up all over again. She is getting closer to sleeping through the night, and even rolled over from front to back on Sunday, May 29th. 

A couple days after Christie left, my sister was able to come and take care of us for almost a week. Aubrey was another huge blessing to us. She also cooked, cleaned, went to the grocery and took care of our big girls. Dave and I even snuck out for a date night while she was here. We brought Evelyn with us, but we enjoyed celebrating her birth, our 14th anniversary and Mother's Day all at once. :)

We are loving having our beautiful 6th member of our family with us. She has 10 beautiful and long fingers, and 10 super long toes. She is growing as she should. She is as perfect as they come and she is well-loved! We are thankful!

Thanks for reading about my Evelyn today. I appreciate you stopping by!