names

A list of currently acceptable names for Miss Evelyn Naya (inspired by Chris & Michelle's blog):

Chubby Chicken

Turtle

Muffin

My girl

Baby girl

Little lovely

Schnooky/Schnookums

Poopy Pants McGee

My love

Kitten

Puppy Pants

Cup-cake

Pup-cake

My sweet

Precious

Pooper

Puppykins

First movie!

Make sure the volume is up to fully appreciate the cuteness of the hiccups!

and be sure to watch the whole thing!

peaceful time

A little bit of peaceful time in between fussiness. Heather gave her an excellent back massage that soothed her nicely. A few short minutes after these pictures, Evelyn awoke, demanding a square meal immediately. She's so lovely.

One week and one day

I think Evelyn is taking after her uncle Ryan in her penchant for loud and deliberate flatulence... I know uncle Ryan will be proud. I can tell she really enjoys pooping and always seems a bit relieved after one of her ryan-esque outbursts. I also think she's a fan of Cat Stevens and loves the "African Dreamland" CD that Grandma gave her. Sorry we've not been very active in our online lives, we're so enamored of the little critter that it's hard to be good about getting information up online. we've got more photos that'll likely turn up sometime soon...

Had a great Thanksgiving outing, baby Evelyn's first time leaving our apartment. I warmed up the car for a half hour and pulled it right up to the alley door of our building. It felt like some sort of secret mission or something. We filled the back of the car with the wonderfully aromatic goodies made by Nana Cheryl and Jaime (stuffing, chicken & noodles, peanut butter pie, and chocolate pie) before whisking Eveyln through the cold into the toasty car and then sped off through the snow-covered streets. Kelly and Thom were wonderful hosts as always. Eveyln was on her best behavior. She's wonderful. I am continually amazed at this new life in our home. It is so amazingly beautiful.

Some photos are on Flickr

Alright! we've uploaded some of the first pictures of the beautiful Evelyn Naya to our photo site:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bingo_todd/sets/72157625434091362/

Home sweet Home

Left the hospital yesterday at around four. It was four degrees outside. Now we're home safe and sound and incredibly cozy. It is so nice to be in our own space, away from the florescent lights, forced air, and cafeteria food of the hospital. Baby Evelyn and mama Heather are both doing great. This is all just so incredible.

The announcement on the Hospital website

welcome to the world......

Evelyn Naya Riggins.

Born 11-18-10 at 12:35 pm Mtn time.

seven pounds five ounces

20 1/2 inches

simply beautiful

heather's doing amazing. she is incredible.

this is todd: our contractions begun at about 4 this morning: we're feeling happy and healthy. five minutes apart and progressing beautifully. can't wait to meet this new little amazing critter. more info to come....

So we're ready. Bags packed and ready to roll. We'll likely update this blog fairly regularly once the labor ball gets rolling... Due date is one week from today, so it could be anytime. Heather's feeling pretty well. Ready to meet this beautiful little person. This picture is a bit dated, taken on oct. 23. Heather went out for a 1.5 mile stroll around the park today, and then a beautiful drive out to the river trail. This fall in Montana has been absolutely incredible. Warm and sunny. Our high temperatures have been in the 70s. crazy. last year at this time we had already had substantial snow and subzero temps. This has been exquisite. The perfect season for a baby to enter the world. Can't wait.

Apple Lentil Salad

So we have recently been loving this apple lentil salad we found in our Mennonite cookbook and thought we'd pass on the recipe:

1 Cup Lentils

Soak 15 minutes in hot water

2 Tbsps curry powder

1 tsp salt

In large saucepan heat 1/4 cup olive oil. Add salt and curry powder and heat until bubbly. Drain lentils, add to saucepan, and fry briefly.

2 Cups water

Add and cook until absorbed (adding more water if needed to cook lentils until tender), about 20 minutes. Drain any excess water. cool.

2 tart apples (cored and diced)

1/4 Cup lemon juice or cider vinegar

combine to prevent browning. Mix with cooled lentils.

2 potatoes (cooked[boiled], cooled, peeled, and chopped)

1/2-1 small onions (thinly sliced)

handful of fresh or frozen parsley(chopped-optional-we didn't use this tonight)

Mix in with salt to taste. Serve warm or at room temp. (we also have loved it chilled)

we remarked continually when eating this today how great it was and how much we loved it. not sure if anyone is interested in trying it, but if so, be sure to let us know what you thought!

still no baby-- we're getting more and more ready!

First Picture of our Baby!

isn't she cute!?!