Lea is Not the Only One in This Family!

Sooooooo, wife got mad that I'm only posting about the kid. So to please my better half here is the what's going on in this family--excluding anyone under the age of 11 weeks.

















So that's about it.







Okay, seriously people. If you don't care about our basement, bail now. I have some before and after pictures of the finishing going on downstairs.



Before




During...

We hope to have the after pictures within the next couple of weeks...

Spirit Tree

Eight days ago, from when I'm writing this not necessarily when your reading this (please see posting date to figure the proper day this all went down), Lea made her first trip to the Evans Family Farm. Those of you unfamiliar with the geography, the farm is located in Worth County Iowa, which about 2 hours from Des Monies and about 10 minutes from Minnesota.

Lea spent most of the trip charming the socks off her grandparents, cousins, and some of her aunts and uncles. In case you're scoring at home, Lea, seems to enjoy her Uncle Thad the most. At least if you translate the amount of smiles and goofy faces she made at him on the trip.

Lea was also given a gift. She received her own tree at the farm. In long past Central American cultures, a person was thought to be born with a companion spirit. This meant that an animal was born at the same time as the person and lived through similar experiences. In ancient Norse culture (the forerunner of the culture of North Central Iowa) a similar connection of made with nature, but in the form of a tree rather than an animal. The ancient peoples of Scandinavia (pre-Vikings) believed that if the tree grew strong, so would the person. The tree would of course out live the person. When the person would die their spirit would then inhabit the tree and continue to live on. Lea's spirit is now intertwined with the tree on the farm. Granted I'm not sure if any of this is true considering I just made it up.

Lea with her Uncle Thad and cousin Becca

Lea with her Aunt Emily (Auntie Em...get it). Note Emily's long fingers--Kate thinks that's what Lea will have.

Lea with her Uncle Mike (Emily's husband [Emily see above])

Mom (Kate) torturing young Lea by making her be outside in the cold. Not sure where I was when this was going down.

Lea with Grandma and Grandpa Evans, Thad, Becca, and Mary. Lea's Spirit Tree is in front of Grandma Evans.

Lea with Aunt Rachael.

Lea Awake

Some babies will are pretty mellow when they are awake. Now Lea is a mellow kid, but not so much in the sitting still department. This is what she does when she's awake.

The picture below is where she ended up when she finished her exercises.

Two Monthin' It Up

I (Steve. Kate is still okay with the kid) am no longer allowed at my daughters doctor visits.


Why? Well it's a great story.

We took Lea to her two month well check a few Fridays ago for the dreaded first shots. I broached the topic with multiple co-workers of mine--resulting in a near universal "it sucks to see you kid get shots." Going into the doc visit I fully expected the screaming and the anger emanating from the child. I was hopeful that I had properly desensitized myself when the needles came out. I was wrong. Granted the reaction was not what I expected. When the nurses held her down and poked her with a needle on each side, (which is a brilliant way to approach shots I must say) I laughed. Yup. Daughter screaming on the table and there's dad laughing at her. In my defense, no one told me how cute the "scream with no sound coming out" was going to be. So I'm heartless. Whatever. It was cute...and funny.

BTW her stats were all on line with her birth weight. She was 9 lb, 10 oz and 22.5 inches.

Here are some bonus pictures of her to focus on so you all stop judging me.

Cranial Size

So Lea's got a big head.

Photos!

Here are some random photos of Lea from the past few weeks...

Easter Excitment Extravaganza

Three weeks ago (one day after our laptop failed us) Lea made the longest trip of her life. She traveled three and a half hours to the Fatherland. No I'm not talking about Germany, I mean Nebraska. Upon crossing the state line Lea increased both in size and strength. She even became a better football player (granted she's still shaped more like a football, than a football player). Lea nearly made the trip without incident. Fussed a little on the last hour stretch--she was worse on the way back (I scream too when I have to return to Iowa). Let me get to the point. We drug Lea to the great state of Nebraska for Easter.

Now, she received no Easter basket and did not see the Easter Rabbit thing. She did get a chance to see a couple of her aunts and uncles at Grandma and Grandpa Sand's house. She also met her little...er....younger,by six days, cousin Chloe (you'll see in the pictures). At Easter, Lea showed off all her skills. Her smiley skills, her sleepy skills, her punching and kicking skills, and her yelling skills. In all, she had a great trip.

Lea and Uncle Jason (that is not me)

Lea and her cousin Nathan. (Nathan is Jason's oldest; Jason see above)

Lea and Andrew (her cousin; Jason's second oldest; see Jason above)

Lea with her "little" cousin Chloe. Apparently some babies are mellow and relaxed--rather than kicking and punching all the time. Aunt Chrissy is bravely holding both girls.

Lea and her "little" cousin Chloe. Chloe weighed 8 lb 14 oz at birth. Lea not so much.