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!

4 Month Checkup!

Ok. I am know I am waaaayyyy late on this, but the holidays were just so hectic and then the computer broke...you get the idea. Anyway, Emily had her 4 month check up on 12/23/08. Poor baby got another 4 shots! :( She weighed 15lbs (80th percentile), was 24 7/8" long (50th percentile) and her head circumference was 17 (93rd percentile). She really has a big noggin! Overall, Dr. Pappalardo said she was pretty healthy but that he was a little concerned that she was gaining too much weight. Now I know I am not the one with the M.D. here, but 15lbs just does not seem like that much to me - especially since she weigh 8lbs 5oz when she was born! According to Tiffany (my personal RN and BFF :) babies are actually supposed to triple their birth weight by 6 months, so if that is true, it seems to me like she is right on schedule! Oh, well. The Dr can have his opinion, but I am going to continue to do what I feel in my heart is right for my baby.

Emily had her first cereal on 12/24/08! She really liked it! Now she opens up for the "choo-choo" almost everytime!

We still have not been able to celebrate her rolling over for the first time... I guess she will do it when she is good and ready, but I am just so anxious for her to meet all of her baby milestones on time! I think if she would lay on her stomach at all, she might roll over sooner but she absolutely HATES IT! As soon as you lay her on her tummy, she starts whimpering.

I know that some people say that the first three months are the hardest, but for us they actually were easier than now. I have no idea why, but Emily just seems to fuss all the time. Not really crying but just whining. I am trying really hard to be patient, but sometimes it is really difficult. The constant whimpering sometimes grates on my nerves...especially when NOTHING seems to calm her. Oh, well...I hope it is just a phase!

Christmas and New Year's happenings, along with pics, will be coming soon...be sure to check back!

1st Thanksgiving and 1st Christmas Pics

Emily has officially celebrated her first Turkey Day! Really, I don't think she could have cared less except she did have her first taste of mac and cheese, scalloped apples and mashed potatoes, much to her Daddy's dismay. I believe he thinks that giving her anything but formula will destroy her digestive system forever! Oh, well - at least he does think of such things!

I was looking at Emily's newborn pictures the other day and I just really cannot believe how much she has already grown. She is holding her head up very well now and she is still trying to roll over. She manages to get over onto her side, but just can't seem to get all the way over. We are pretty much in the same spot as we were a month ago in terms of sleeping. Ideally, I would like her to sleep at least until about 7am, but so far we have only managed to make it to 5am. Kerry had been waking her every night at around 11pm to give her a bottle in the hopes that she would sleep longer, but tonight I think we are going to try something different. We gave her a bath at 7pm and a bottle at 7:30pm and now she is sound asleep in her crib. I think we are going to skip the 11pm feeding and see how long she can make it. I know 7:30pm seems pretty early to put her to bed, but she is honestly so exhausted we can't keep her up much longer than that. Well, I guess we could but we would have one SERIOUSLY cranky baby on our hands! So, we'll see how it goes tonight. Besides, I read somewhere the other day that waking a baby to eat really disrupts their internal sleep schedules. I also read that around 3 months is a really good time to start trying to nail down a bedtime routine since babies are pretty flexible now and should fall into the routine pretty easily.

We took Emily to see Santa on Saturday and she sat on his lap like a little angel (see the pic) but she did spit-up on him. Oh, well. I guess he gets that all the time. We also went to get our family picture and her Christmas pics done on Sunday and she really decided to show her butt! She would only smile in one of them and kept trying to eat the bow on her dress in all the others. Even though it was a hassle, I am sure I will be glad to have all those memories when she is all grown up. Everyone tells you that they grow up so fast, but it is really hard to remember that when she is screaming bloody murder or crying for a bottle at 4am. But, I am trying to savor every moment with her. Sometimes I am still kind of in shock at the thought that I am someone's mother. I have this little human being that is totally dependant upon her Daddy and I to take care of all her needs. That thought is sometimes a little scary, but every night I just pray to the Lord to help make me the very best mother I can be.