First Attempt at Viewing Christmas Lights

It has turned into a kind of tradition for our family to drive around the city and look at the lights people have put on their houses. We always look forward to this and were very excited to take Emily this year since she is now old enough to be semi-interested in them. So, Friday night was the night. We decided to go all out so first Kerry, Emily, Grandma Bonnie and I went to Shogun for dinner. Then we set out to see this lights. Kerry took us to a very expensive neighborhood off Hurstbourne Lane and we had a good time for about fifteen minutes. Emily started getting fussy, but we shrugged it off thinking it was getting close to her bed time. Then it happened. I heard this horrible gagging and retching noise coming from the backseat. A split second after that I heard Grandma Bonnie's laments of horror. I turned around just in time to see the horrible most horrible substance I have ever seen spewing from Emily's mouth. Then it happened again. Then again. Now, I can change dirty diapers all day long and never bat an eye, but I just cannot, I say CANNOT deal with vomit. Seeing it was bad enough, but once the smell hit. Let's just say I bore an uncanny resemblance to a sick dog hanging it's head out the car window. Needless to say, we made a beeline for home. Now, a nanosecond before the spewing began, Kerry had reached his hand back from the driver's seat to pat Emily's leg and attempt to comfort her. His hand was covered in the disgusting stuff. Thus, he had to drive the whole way home with one arm stretched into the backseat. Once we finally made it home, we different even try to take Emily out of her vomit covered carseat. We decided the best course of action was to unhook the seat from the car and carry the seat (with Emily still in it) into the bathroom. As Kerry hosed down the kid, I undertook the job of disassembling the carseat so the cloth part could be thrown in the washing machine - which I did with careless abandon. In restrospect, as I think about how long it took to reassemble that darn contraption, perhaps I should have paid a bit more attention to where all those straps and harnesses went. Once the smelly kid was bathed and all vomit-covered attire in the washing machine (accompanied by at least a half gallon of Gain detergent - I wasn't taking any chances on the smell returning), we covered the floor in her room with towels just in case there was another act to this drama and put our little puke machine to bed. I am very thankful to report that the vomit was a solidary incident. We may try again to go look at Christmas lights, but then again, we just may consider that tradition "fouled up" for this year.

Getting Bigger Everyday!

Emily is just growing by leaps and bounds! She was 27lbs at her 15 month check-up. This time was the first time she has shown any anxiety at being at the doctor. I guess she remembered that those shots hurt!! We just celebrated Thanksgiving and are looking forward to a great Christmas. Emily was very excited to put up the tree (instead of "hanging" ornaments, she just shoved them in the tree). We are very excited that she will be somewhat old enough to enjoy Christmas this year. I have a feeling that Santa is going to be very generous to her this year. :)

Emily's vocabulary is growing more everyday, too. She far she can say Mommy, Daddy, eye, ear, nose, mouth, Punk, bye-bye, dog, kitty, eat, juice, please, Joe (pronounced Jew), Jim, Grandma, Papaw and, unfortunately, the "s" word. I am not very proud of that last one and have realized that Mommy and Daddy really need to be weary of what we are saying and make sure we are setting a good example for our sponge.

She is still not showing much interest in TV. If she is sleepy she will lay in Mommy or Daddy's lap and watch whatever we are watching, but that is as far as her interest goes. Her "eye" teeth are finally making some progress and I believe they will be completely through any day now (if they are not already). We officially said goodbye to the ba-ba on 11/23/09. It was kind of sad for Mommy, but Emily hasn't seemed to miss it. Saying bye-bye to the pacie, however, will be a completely different story!

All in all, Emily is growing into a beautiful little girl. While I am a bit said to not have my little baby anymore, I am even more excited to who she will grow into. I'm sure it will be a wild ride with lots of ups and downs!

Whew...Almost 14 months!!

Wow! I have been seriously neglecting my baby blog duties!! Somehow, the more mobile Emily becomes, the less time I have to do anything but chase her! It has been so long I don't really know where to begin....

Emily seems to have bypassed the walking stage and jumped right into running. She is never still and is constantly investigating something. She is very inquisitive and has to know how everything works. Unfortunately, she does not seem to have much patience if her "investigations" don't go as planned. This tendency was recently displayed in the form of flinging herself backwards onto the floor. Strangely, my Mom said this reminded her of me....so I guess it is official. Em has inherited my temper. I guess when she starts throwing things in fits of rage, I will know she is truly my daughter!

We finally have said goodbye to formula - Yippee!!!! Emily will now drink whole milk. However, the princess does demand that it be nuked for exactly one minute and be in a BOTTLE. Yes, a bottle. As hard as I have tried to convince her it tastes the same in a cup, she will only drink her milk from bottle. Oh, well. I say as long as the bottle goes bye-bye before preschool, who cares???

Our once ravenous little eater has turned into quite a Ms. Picky. If it doesn't look like a piece of cheese or a vienna sausage, chances of her eating it are pretty slim. I have seriously been entertaining the idea of just hosing all her meals down in Cheez-Whiz.

I am constantly surpised with some new word that Emily has learned. So far, her vocabulary consists of (but is not limited to :) Mama, Dada, Punk, juice, hot, ball, bug, and butterfly. She also knows where her eyes, ears, nose, mouth, toes and hair are. She is trying to wink but so far only accomplished a very exaggerated blink. I have discovered, however, that is always up for a rousing game of "Where is Thumbkin". The "Itsy-Bitsy Spider" is another favorite.

Since Halloween is just around the corner, we took Emily to Gallrein Farm for her first pumpkin picking experience where she enjoyed getting her new little farmer's boots very muddy! We also took her to the Louisville Zoo for her first trick-or-treating. I don't think she had a clue what was going on, but "Dada" and I had a ball showing off our little butterfly!

Well, I guess that is about all the recent news....I am going to put a concientious effort towards updating this blog more often!!!

One Year Old!!!

It just doesn't seem possible that my baby is a year old!! The time has just gone by too fast, but I am not going to lament over my baby not being a baby anymore. There are just too many exciting milestones to look forward to! At her 1 year check up, Emily weighed 24lbs 11oz (90%), was 30" tall (80%) and had a head circumference of 18 3/4" (95%). Dr. Joe said she appeared to be doing great!

We celebrated this milestone birthday with just a small, family celebration at home. Those in attendance included Mommy and Daddy (of course), Grandma Ruthie, Grandma Bonnie, Granny, Mamaw, Granddaddy, Uncle Jim, Uncle Joe and Aunt Mary Lou. The received TONS of presents and made an absolute mess digging into her own little cake. She was hesitant with the cake at first, but once Daddy showed her how it is done, she really went to town!

Thankfully, Emily has cut most of her teeth, with the exception of her canines and second molars. If those teeth are any where near as painful to cut as the first year molars were, then Heaven help us!

We are trying to transistion from formula to regular whole milk - a transistion that little Ms. Stubborn has been resisting with her entire being. We have been trying to wean her off the formula for about a month and half now and tonight she took her first all milk bottle. Little Stinker still won't drink it cold though - the princess insists upon warm milk !! :)

Baby food seems to be a thing of the past as she is eating mainly table food now. Her absolute favorite has to be grilled cheese sandwiches, while peas are still way down the list! She got her first taste of pizze at Colin Anselmo's first birthday party, which was just a week after her own.

Overall these days, Emily's time is consumed by taking her first toddling steps, terrorizing the poor punk and thoroughly enjoying each and every toy she hs ever been given. This is overwhelmingly apparent each night after she goes to bed and Mommy and Daddy are cleaning up her days worth of fun.

I have known, of course, that she would get older with each passing day, but I am truly floored when I look at her one year pictures we just had made. Makes me wonder who is this little girl and what have they done with my baby??? Every time I look at these pictures, I just cannot believe that the child staring back at me is my daughter. She is truly a beautiful little girl. The good Lord blessed me well the day he decided to entrust her care to me. Even during the temper tantrums, the sleepness nights with little swollen gums and the sometimes incessant whining, I try to remember that I am blessed. I just continue to pray that the Lord will help me be the best mother I know how to be. An even though I was hiding behind the door when the Lord handed out the patience, He knows I am trying!

10 Months Old Tomorrow!!

Only two more months until our beautiful little girl turns a year old! I am just in awe over the new things she learns to do everyday. She has become an expert at crawling - just not in the traditional sense of the term. She does what we call the "crab crawl". Her left leg stays in the normal crawling position, but her right one sticks straight out. It is just hilarious to watch her. Even though her crawling method is a little unorthodox, she definitely has no problem getting from point A to point B. She is also pulling up like crazy and has begun to "cruise" up and down the couch. I guess it is just a matter of time before she starts walking.

Her 9 month check-up went perfectly. She weighs 21 and a 1/4 lbs and was in the 75th percentile for heighth, 85th for weight and 95th for head circumference.

I suppose I should knock on wood before I type this, but she has been sleeping very well at night. She usually goes to bed sometime between 7:30 and 8pm and gets up between 6:30 and 7am. I don't guess I can really ask for more.

We are slowly starting to transition off the bottle - we have cut it down to one before her morning nap, one before her afternoon nap and one before bedtime. She is also getting very good at holding her own sippy cup.

On to teeth...she has 7 of them!!! And has learned to bit. That is all I have to say about that... :)

All in all, our little girl is progressing beautifully and we continue to say daily prayer of thanks for allowing us the pleasure of raising this little wonder.

1st Mother's Day!

Our first Mother's Day was pretty uneventful, but special just the same. Although I didn't get the blackened toast, burnt bacon and runny eggs served to me in bed like I am looking forward to someday, I was blissfully allowed to sleep as late as I liked. Unfortunately, I am so used to the Princess waking me every morning, I woke up at 6:30 anyhow. I tried to force myself to stay in bed longer and try to go back to sleep, but I could hear Emily giggling and playing in the next room so I figured playing with her is better than sleeping any old day! But...I did cash in my sleep late card for a nap card later in the day!!!
After we were up and about, we went to breakfast at Cracker Barrel and then to Mamaw and Granddaddy's to spend the day. There I received a card from Kerry and one from Emily. Kerry had held her hand to help her write her name in it... so cute! Inside the card was a gift certificate for a manicure, pedicure, facial and massage at Dazzle Day Spa, which I got to use this past Saturday - it was wonderful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I couldn't have asked for a better first Mother's Day. Now I am just looking forward to Father's Day so Emily and I can honor Kerry for being the wonderful Daddy he is!!

Time Marches On...

Emily is now 8 months old. That is really hard to comprehend when it seems like just yesterday we were still in the hospital. She now has 4 teeth - I think. I know her two bottom, middle ones and one of the top ones are in. I think there may be another one in on top, but little Ms. Stubborn refuses to let me see. Everytime I try to stick my finger in her mouth to check out the situation, she shoves my hand out of the way. Guess I can't really blame her. I don't think I would like someone constantly sticking their finger in my mouth either.

Still no crawling yet, but she is getting so close! She will go from sitting to putting her hands on the floor and trying to push with one leg. I think if she could just get her other leg out from underneath of her, she would have it!

She has been sleeping pretty well. Over the last several weeks she had been doing awesome! We would put her to bed around 7:30 and she would sleep until 6:30 or 7:00. But the past two nights we put her to bed, she would sleep a couple of hours and then wake up around 10:00. Maybe her teeth are hurting her... It is so frustrating to know that their is something making my baby uncomfortable and not knowing for sure what it is!

Well, that is about all I have to report for now...be sure to check back soon!!

I Think It's Working!!!

Knock on wood...but I think our new system of putting Emily down to sleep may be working. We have been putting her in her crib awake and letting her put herself to sleep instead of rocking her. Friday night she cried for about 5 minutes, then went to sleep. During Saturday's naps and Saturday night she cried for about 10 minutes and then went to sleep. Her nap schedule today (Sunday) was a little out of whack because we were at a family birthday party, but we just put her in bed and she didn't cry at all! She just laid there awake for about 10 minutes and she was asleep when I just went in and checked. I really hopes this continues!!! It sounds silly, but I am pretty proud of myself! I set a parenting goal and accomplished it without caving into what was easiest!

Oh, we also took her to get her picture made with the Easter Bunny - I will post it later. The picture really didn't turn out too well because she was too busy trying to look up at the Easter Bunny to even worry about smiling for the camera!

7 Months Already

I just can't believe our little girl is already 7 months old. It seems like just yesterday that we were still in the hospital trying to change her diaper, terrified we would damage her cord. Things sure have changed since then. I am still not 100% confident in my role as a Mommy, but I am giving it my all. There are so many things that I am so excited to do with her and teach her. I just cannot wait to start a family tradition of going to Huber's Orchard to pick out our Halloween pumpkins, taking her to the Louisville Science Museum to make those giant bubbles and huge domino exhibits that I remember from my own childhood, spending a sunny Saturday at the zoo and promising her a trip to the giftshop for a treat if she is good, building sandcastles on the beach at Destin. But as much as I am looking forward to all those things, I am really trying to remind myself to enjoy this stage too. The nights that she wakes every hour for her pacifier are some of the most trying times I have ever been through, but all those little smiles, gurgles and laughs make it all worth it. Sometimes I worry I am not being the best mother I can be - in all honesty I have never been accused of being a patient person. Nor have I ever been accused of being overly friendly or affectionate. But I am really trying to work on that. I don't ever want her to have any unpleasant childhood memories to look back on. I know that no one is perfect, but doesn't my little girl deserve perfect? Either way, I know she deserves the best I can provide and sometimes I just don't feel like I am up to par. However, now that I really think about it, maybe I don't want her to grow up thinking she has a perfect mother. Instead, I want her to grow up knowing that even when Mommy makes mistakes, she is always trying her hardest. Even when Mommy doesn't remember to count to 10 before speaking her mind, she is really trying to do right by her. Someday I will print all of this out and give it to her to read so she will never have any doubt how much I love her. Hopefully, when she reads it, she will know without a doubt in her mind that no matter what else I may do in my lifetime, she is what I will always be the most proud of. So even though it will be years before she can read and understand this - To my Chunky Monkey - I love you more than anything in this world.

She Sleeps!!!!!

I feel like I should knock on wood before announcing this, but....Emily slept until 6:30am this morning!!!!! I am so excited! Really, really hope this is a new trend!

6 Month Check-up

Emily went for her sixth month check-up on Friday, 2/27/09. She has grown so much - I am especially pleased to see that her height has finally caught up to her weight! She is 26 and 3/4" long, weighs 18 and a half lbs and has ahead circumference of 18". The doctor said he was very pleased at her progress and gave us a few pointers on her feeding schedule. Along this journey of parenthood we have had several things to figure out, but the most difficult by far is the feeding schedule. We started out feeding her too much formula, then we were not feeding her enough. I think we have it nailed down now though. Dr. Joe said that as long as she was getting between 28-32 oz. of formula and a few feedings of cereal and baby food a day, she is fine. We asked about her spitting up so much, but he said that since she was so healthy, we really shouldn't worry about it. We also had concerns about the "pacie" that she uses, since she still uses that same one that she came home from the hospital with! So we tried to change it out with a orthodontic pacie. But she was having none of it. As soon as we put it in her mouth, she would yank it out and actually throw it! But, he said it was fine to let her keep using that one for now. Sometimes I feel like we still have so much to learn, but we are trying to just take it a day at a time.

At the appointment, she got another three shots. It really kills me to watch her be in pain, but she was really so brave! She only cried for a second. I know it is only a shot, but it is so hard to have to watch someone hurt my little baby girl!

Emily still only has her two lower, middle teeth. It is so cute when she does a wide-mouth grin and you can see them poking up. We are trying to get her used to us brushing them, but she doesn't care for it much. The faces she makes when we try to poke that little bitty toothbrush in her mouth is just too funny!

She is also sleeping sooo much better. We still kind of have a hard time keeping her up until 8:30, but when we do, she will normally sleep until about 5:30. Now, if we could just get her on a nap schedule...

We also took Emly for her first Easter pictures on Saturday. They turned out sooooooooo cute - be sure to check them out on here!

Well, I guess that is about all we have to report for now....stay tuned!

Teeth!!

Well, one tooth. Just barely poking through. I guess you truly know you are a parent when you get super excited over a tooth! She has been a little fussy, but nothing too bad. A little Tylenol and Orajel fixes her right up.

In other news...she is just growing soooooo fast. Mom and I went shopping yesterday for some new sleepers and such since she seemed to outgrow hers overnight. She is only 5 months, but the 6-9 months fit perfectly and the 9 months were just a little big.

We have been trying all kinds of new veggies. The first week she had peas (hated them), last week she had green beans (loved them) and today we started carrots (still not sure). She is really getting the hang of eating from a spoon - it is so cute to watch her open up just like a baby bird!! After the carrots, we will have a week of squash and then a week of sweet potatoes. Then, we get to start fruits - Yippee!! Yummy stuff!!

Oh, and even though Kerry says I am disgusting, I have tasted everything we have given her. Not bad really. Tastes like regular ole veggies with no salt!

We are still trying to master the whoel rolling over thing. She has done it a couple of times, but has no interest in it anymore. And she still HATES tummy time. Oh, well. Maybe she will skip all these preliminaries and go straight to walking!

Emily's Baptism

We had Emily Baptised on Sunday, January 11, 2009. There is not a lot I can say about it, except it was pretty emotional for me. Emily was created within the bounds of love and wedlock and her birth was the answer to one of my most fervent prayers, so I was so happy to dedicate her to the Lord that made her possible. She looked absolutely adorable in her white gown and bonnet. After mass, we had a just a small little ceremony here at home where she received a few gifts to mark her special day.

Just a thought...as parents we celebrate every milestone our baby reaches. We are ecstatic when he/she rolls over, gets a new tooth or takes a first step. We rejoice when we receive good health reports at the never-ending checkups and we breath a sigh of relief when our babies make through their first little illnesses. Since I am not Catholic, before I never really understood the purpose of "Baptism parties"...but now I do. Since we celebrate every other element of our babies lives, why shouldn't we celebrate the beginning of our child's journey to know Christ? Answer- we should and I'm glad we did!

Christmas and New Years

Boy!! The holidays were a whirlwind of fun! Christmas Eve we went Grandma Bonnie's to the annual party and Emily got to meet her Aunt Judy and Uncle Steve for the first time. She also sampled her first ginger ale and sherbert punch - just a little on her pacie! After we got home, Santa came!! Emily got to open her stocking that morning, but the rest of the presents waited until we were home again that night. Then we went back to Grandma Bonnie's for more presents. Then to Grandma Ruthie's for more presents. The to Papaw's for more presents. Then to Mamaw and Granddaddy's for more presents. Then finally home for more presents. Our little girl is quite possibly the most spoiled baby in the country. Well, I shouldn't say spoiled - let's say loved!!

New Year's was a quiet affair. We went to Grandma Bonnie's like we do every year, but we didn't get to play all the board games like we usually do...I hate to admit it, but I fell asleep on the couch at 10pm. Yes - I am Mommy, so I am tired. Daddy did wake me up about 5 minutes till midnight so we could watch the countdown together. Emily slept through it all - thank goodness. Kerry wanted to wake her up for the countdown, but I said, "NEVER wake a sleeping baby!" We went home right after midnight and slept in til 5am...guess even all the "partying" didn't make Emily want to sleep any later!