Susan & Brad + 2

6 Months

2012-01-10T08:37:00.000-08:00

Time is flying by, as it always seems to be these days. Abby's already 7 months, and her little 6 month photo shoot wasn't completed until a few days before. At least she was technically still 6 months old, right? :) Please excuse the lack of variety in the pictures. I remembered that we had forgotten to take them one afternoon when I was out somewhere with Emma, so I asked Brad to take the photos for me. He used his own new camera and forgot to take of the time/date stamp, so they all had a huge neon label on them. He also "experimented" with some camera settings, so they were also all blurry. Ick.

She's such a sweet heart. She brings the brightest little light to our family, and it's hard to imagine life before her. She makes all 3 of us smile each day and is just so much fun. Her big sister still adores her and makes her laugh harder than anyone else. Emma adores trying to hold Abby's hands and "dancing" with her. She does little dances and funny voices to make her laugh, which makes us all crack up.

She has started to say her first word this month! Brad got her to say "Mama" one time, and she hasn't stopped since! She is sparing with it, but it's the sweetest sound ever.

She's grown so much since last month. At her last appointment she was 13lbs. 4oz. (2nd percentile) and 25.25 inches long (9th percentile). She's a peanut, and probably will stay that way from the looks of it. In comparison, at Emma's 6 month appointment, she was 16lbs 10oz and 26 inches long. A big difference!

She wears 6 month clothing, or 3-6 month. She can still fit into her 3 month stuff though! She looks so funny to me with things like her sippy cup because she looks like she should be too small to do things like drinking from a cup.

She loves to eat, and has started to eat 3 solid meals a day (in addition to still nursing about 6 times a day). She loves just about everything we feed her, but her favorite is prunes. So far she's tried pears, apples, prunes, bananas, avocados, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, carrots, green beans, and peas. She has also recently started eating yogurt, which is quickly becoming a favorite.

She wears size 1 diapers still, believe it or not. She is cloth diapered full time, but had a brief time in disposable diapers this month when she got her first diaper rash. Pretty sure the yogurt was the culprit, but it cleared up within a day or 2. Gotta love some purple Desitin!

She is rolling all over the place, and really starting to sit up as well. She started Zantac a couple of weeks ago. With it, she now sometimes goes all day without spitting up. Then again, there are days that it doesn't seem to help at all. Not sure what the deal is. We gave it to her for a day or 2 with her spitting it ALL out before realizing that it tasted vile. Actually, Brad tasted it and said it was the worst thing ever. I took it to CVS and had them flavor it. They said that the flavor was so bad, the only flavor they had that would touch it was grape. Can you imagine? She does much better with the grape flavoring, though she still hates it.

She's happy nearly all the time, and is a great sleeper. She's still swaddled, and shows no signs of being ready to stop. By this point, Emma was breaking out of it on a daily basis - not Dabbs! She takes 2 good, long naps a day, and one cat nap around 5:30. She's good about letting me wake her up from naps, unlike her sister was, so she's on a good schedule. Her naps are from 10:00-11:30, 1:00-3:00 (or until she wakes up) and 5:30-6:15. Bedtime is between 8:00-9 and she sleeps until around 9:00 the next morning. We started some sleep training this month, and she has had several nights of sleeping through the night, though she sometimes needs the passy put back in once or so.

She's our little monkey and we adore her!!

Christmas Party

2011-12-27T13:21:00.000-08:00

Every year, since I was a kid, I've gone to the Christmas party that my mom's job puts on. Santa is there, there are lots of crafts to do, and music. It's just fun! Emma's first year, we got the BEST pictures of her with Santa. She was about Abby's age and just mesmerized. The next year, she was 1.5 and terrified. I was curious about how this year's experience would be.

A few weeks beforehand, she had talked nonstop about Santa. She begged to go see him, so we loaded up one afternoon and hit the mall. I wanted her to see him from a distance and get comfortable with the idea that he wasn't a very scary guy. It turned out that he was walking around the mall and we got to visit him up close. Emma was in the stroller and felt pretty safe. She talked to him all about the Mickey Mouse in a store window, and presents. He gave her a high five and called her by name (tripped her OUT!). I was figuring the Santa visit at the Lekotek party would be just as awesome. Wrong.

She had fun making reindeer food, crafts, singing music, running around. Then it came time to see the fat man. She saw him from a distance and wasn't very happy. I decided it would be best to get some pictures with just Abby first because we stood the best chance of getting cute pictures without her sister, in case she screamed. I was right.

Cute Abby pictures, and then I tried to get Emma to sit on my lap next to Santa. Freak out. As you can see, it wasn't pretty. I wonder how next year will go??

Christmas

2011-12-27T13:14:00.000-08:00

This Christmas was a bittersweet one. Emma was REALLY into all things "Christmas." She adored driving around and looking at lights, Christmas music, baking, making an Advent calendar snowman, and decorating the house. However, always near the forefront of my mind was the missing piece. Christmas was Dad's favorite holiday and he LOVED to give gifts. He was famous for asking my input for all of Mom's gifts, and then, after all of the gifts were opened, sneaking somewhere and pulling out her "big" gift. It was always a complete surprise. He also always tucked an envelope for each of us (Brad too, once he was in the picture) with some spending cash on the tree.

There are so many traditions that I want to keep and continue with my family. There are also a lot of new ones to be made, and we got a good start this year! Our favorite was Stone Mountain. They had a TON of lights and decorations, Santa, a Snow Angel, lots of stuff to do, and a special Christmas train ride (our favorite). Several times we piled in the car, hot chocolate in hand, with Christmas tunes on the radio and checked out light displays that we had heard about or remembered from our own childhoods. We also made reindeer food, and cookies for Santa on our new special Santa plate.

We baked a lot, and made fudge. We decorated the house, though there were several decorations (particularly my beloved Rudolph houses) that we chose not to put out because someone (I won't mention a name) likes to sneak off and play with things she shouldn't. I got Emma her own tree this year. She chose purple. She had her own unbreakable ornaments on it to mess with as she pleased. It REALLY helped keep her grubby little hands off of the big tree!

On Christmas eve we woke up early to go to breakfast with Grandpops for his birthday. Afterwards we all came home and took a nap to prepare for the festivities. We got dressed and headed to the children's mass at church. As I was taking a few photos outside before church, our neighborhood Santa and Mrs. Claus came by on the back of a pickup truck. He drives around and visits the children of the neighborhood on Christmas eve. Emma is NOT a big Santa fan, though she talks a good game. He came over and offered her a candy cane. She decided it MIGHT be worth it, and met him halfway to get the candy. The poor little thing shook like a leaf the whole time.

After he left we went to church. Both girls made it through the whole thing! Emma took one little break to walk around with Daddy, and Abby fell asleep less than halfway through in my arms, but they made it like angels! We had Waffle House for supper (my mom and dad's tradition) and then went to bed early. Mimi and Bailey spent the night and got to be there first thing for Christmas morning.

Abby woke up first, and we had to wake Emma up around 8:45 after I just couldn't wait anymore! They were both so excited! Santa brought Emma an easel and lots of art supplies, a picnic table, 2 Gabba pillow friends to complete her set, a princess castle tent, and a few random toys. Abby got lots of little toys, some bibs, and teethers. She needs them - we think she's cutting her first tooth!

We played a lot and exchanged our own gifts before breakfast. Lunch was not too much later, and then we all took a nap. We got up and ready and went to Brad's parents' house for Christmas dinner. I completely forgot to bring my camera, but will add some pictures once I get a copy. The girls were spoiled ROTTEN this year! We think we may begin an "each of you gets __ gifts" from us next year. It would be different if Santa and mom and dad were the only gift givers, but both grandparents outdo Santa every year!

We had an excellent Christmas and made it through with no tears. It was nice for it to be completely different than every other year. Though my Dad's presence was sorely and noticeably missed, it was nice to have new traditions and new plans so that it was bearable.

We're enjoying our decorations too much to take them down just yet, but I want to get it done before Brad goes back to work. Isn't un-decorating just the worst?

First Solid Food

2011-12-05T16:44:00.001-08:00

So it's out of order. Sue me. ;)

We fed Abby her first solid food (baby oatmeal) when she was about 5 1/2 months old. She wasn't so sure she liked it, but it ended up well!

The faces speak for themselves.

Is it just me, or is she seriously not one of the 2 cutest babies EVER????

5 Months

2011-12-05T14:31:00.001-08:00

I find it pretty appropriate for Abby's 5 month post to come just after she turns 6 months old. That's symbolic of life these days! There's hardly a second to sit down and write a blog post, much less upload pictures to it. In fact, as I write this, there's a hashbrown casserole in the oven, Brad's putting Abby down for a nap and getting ready to light the grill, and Emma is running around like a crazy person because she woke up from nap to her Daddy home. There is a load of diapers to fold, and at least 2 loads of laundry that are ready to be done. There are dishes in the sink, and I swear that you can't tell I mopped the kitchen floor a few days ago. I swear that if I were able to do 2 loads of laundry a day, I still wouldn't be caught up. It's amazing how much laundry a family of 4 (especially with a very pukey baby) can go through.

So. Miss Abby. She weighed 11lbs 11oz. at her 4 month appointment, so I'm guessing she's near the 12lb mark now. The doctor was very pleased with her weight gain, though she's still in the 5th percentile for weight and 15-25th for height. She's an absolute peanut. Pictures just don't accurately depict her size. She's SO much tinier than Emma ever was. At 6 months, Emma was nearly 17 lbs. We have had to buy several winter outfits because Abby is nowhere near Emma's size during the winter months.

She wears 3 month clothes, or 3-6 months. 6 month pants fit, but the sleeves on shirts are too long, and they are just huge on her. She is in size 1 disposable diapers, and small cloth diapers. She's nearly out of her infant diapers.

She started solids a few weeks ago. So far she really likes prunes, sweet potatoes, and avocado. She eats twice a day right now, but tends to spit up a good bit after her first solid meal of the day. Not sure what that's about.

Speaking of spitting up, wow. She's a puker. The doctor mentioned that most babies outgrow it by 6 months. Yeah. Notsomuch. She spits up less volume than she once did, but still spits up after just about every feeding. It still doesn't seem to bother her, so there's really nothing to be done about it. She goes through a minimum of 2-3 outfits during the day, not including pjs. She also usually goes through 3+ bibs and 3 burp cloths. Wowza.

It's been tough to work on motor skills like sitting up because of her reflux. As soon as she hits anywhere near a 90 degree angle within at least an hour of eating, it all comes back up. I'm a little scared for her to lose too much of her feeds because she's such a tiny little monkey. So, if she's not sitting up right on track, it's my fault. We're really starting to work on it now, even though it always accompanies at least 2 spit ups. She can sit up with just one finger on her thigh to keep her steady. She's getting there!

She adores her sister. She belly laughed for her for the first time last night. She's smiled at her forever, but last night was the first true belly laugh just because of Em. It was precious!

Emma has really wanted to hold her a lot lately. It only lasts for a second or 2, but it's sweet of her to ask! Emma is VERY jealous of Abby touching toys. Not just her toys, ANY toys. I think it comes with the 2 year old territory. We're working on sharing and trading. She's getting there slowly but surely.

She's not teething yet, and her drooling is much better, but she wants everything in her mouth. I remember these days with Emma all too well. She gets it in her head that she wants a certain toy in her mouth in a certain way. If it doesn't cooperate, she's PISSED!

We have the Christmas tree up and both girls love it. In fact, Emma has her own tree this year. It's REALLY helping her to keep her hands on her own ornaments, and off of the ones on the big tree.

Abby is still taking 2.5 naps a day. She takes a good nap from 10-11:30 in the morning, and a nap with Emma at 1:00. She also takes a 30-45 minute cat nap around 5:30. Bedtime is between 8-9:00. She sleeps pretty darn good - particularly compared to her sister at this age. She wakes once to eat usually, and often not until 5:00 to eat. She gets up for the day between 8-9:00. It's NICE!

She's still swaddled, though I think that's going to be ending here soon. No one can get over how quickly and easily she goes to sleep. You change her diaper, swaddle her, put her in her bed, turn on the fan, and she's out. She occasionally needs you to put the passy back in, or turn on her seahorse soother, but that's it. The child doesn't know what it means to be rocked or nursed to sleep. Love it.

She's still a Mama's girl. She will look for me from across the room. She won't often calm down for anyone but Mama. It warms my heart, but makes it tough for me to leave her.

She also apparently still looks just like me. In fact, I had a complete stranger in the mall stop me to tell me that this week! I can totally see it in my baby pictures, but find it funny that so many other people see it now. I will never complain - it's only right that after carrying her for 9 months, she should at least resemble her mama!

She adores to be in the Moby wrap or sling. Particularly on the train at Stone Mountain. We broke down and got Mountain Membership passes - endless train rides! Abby and Emma both adore it, though I'm not sure Abby has ever stayed awake for more than 5 minutes of it!

Well, that's about it for 5 months. She'll be meeting Santa next weekend for the first time and I can't wait! Hope her sister makes it.

Stone Mountain

2011-11-04T12:15:00.000-07:00

We have discovered the Stone Mountain love. As I kid, I think I may have gone once or twice. I had never even seen the Laser Show until I met Brad. I was neglected as a child, as you can see. :)

We decided to get an annual pass because we live so close and we are always looking for something fun to do on weekends. I can really see us going back a lot!

We rode the train when we first got there - Emma LOVED it! If it weren't $20 for us to ride it, I would say we'd do it a lot. Maybe only on special occasions.

We went back the following weekend for the last laser show of the season. It was so fun! Emma loved running around like a crazy person before the show started. She watched the show and LOVED the fireworks. Unfortunately, it was past Abby's bedtime and she was less than happy with the situation. She stayed in the Moby Wrap and was fairly quiet though.

Goofballs.

We can't wait for the Christmas season to start and then for the laser show again in the Spring. In the meantime, we can do lots of walking, playing in the playground, and having picnics.

Babywearing

2011-11-04T11:58:00.000-07:00

I've been getting a lot of questions lately about different types of babywearing, so I thought I'd do a blog post about my favorite carriers.

If you've read this blog for awhile, you may have noticed that I have lots. I love wearing my babies and they do too. It's rare that I will put Abby (or Emma when she was smaller) in a carrier and have her be awake 15 minutes later. It's so relaxing for the baby, as they are right up next to you and can hear your heartbeat. It's incredibly beneficial for newborns as well. When they are in a carrier, it is the closest they can get to feeling like they're still in the womb. Feeling your movement and hearing your voice in your chest are so soothing for a tiny baby. In fact, many moms find that wearing their baby reduces colic and fussiness.

There are several types of carriers, and I only have a few of them. I have a ring sling, a Moby Wrap, a Sleepy Wrap, and several "slings."

I have only recently discovered a love for my ring sling, so there aren't many pictures of me using it. I never could get comfortable with it when Emma was small, so I was determined to try it again. I discovered that YouTube has TONS of how-to videos for every type of carrier imaginable. I watched a few short videos, discovered some easy tips, and then was able to master using it with Abby. She loves it!

While I like the ring sling, it still isn't my favorite. It is a little finicky and not the best for a beginner. My absolute favorite is just a plain sling. My favorite brand is Peanut Shell, and I have 2 or 3 from there. I've always managed to find them on sale on their outlet website, and never pay more than $20 for one. In fact, there's a microfleece one that's identical to one I have for $19.99 right now! I'm a bargain shopper! They are the easiest to throw in a diaper bag, and the quickest to throw on and put a baby in. I always have one in my diaper bag.

I have a few that are just pretty and thin, and 2 that are for cooler weather. They all get plenty of use! I love to use these at the grocery store or when out shopping. I can throw it on, put Abby in it, and have my hands free to get Emma out and into the shopping cart.

As you can see, you can use it with a newborn or sleeping baby, or turn the baby around to use it with an older baby. You can also use it to hip-carry, which I don't have a picture of. You get the idea.

While they are "hands free" they aren't the most comfortable for long periods of time. Because they go over 1 shoulder, they don't really balance the baby's weight equally over your upper body. You can get a touch sore after more than an hour in it. Also, you really don't have a whole lot of use of both arms, as one arm is right near the baby's head. That's where a Moby Wrap is awesome.

My other favorite carrier is a Moby Wrap. I also have a Sleepy Wrap. The only difference that I've found is that the Sleepy Wrap is made of a slightly thicker material. These are 1 size tie-on carriers. It is basically one really long piece of fabric that is tapered on the ends, or "tails." The only reason that these are't the only carriers I use, is because they take a minute to put on. Because the tails are so long, they often drape on the ground when I'm putting it on. I wouldn't want to do this in a parking lot, for example. However, when we go somewhere that requires a lot of walking and it's near a nap time, I put it on at home, and then just wear it in the car. When we get to our destination, I can just put Abby in it and go.

These are also the BEST for newborns. They hold the baby firmly, and the baby is free to curl their little legs up, froggy-style, in it. I also love it because it keeps germs away from the baby because their faces are nearly covered. I used this a lot when Abby and Emma were really little and we'd go out. It's also great for colicky babies around the house.

One of my favorite things about the Moby is that you can cover up their heads when they fall asleep. As you can see in a lot of these pictures, Abby has fallen asleep, and the Moby keeps her head comfortably supported. It also has the added benefit of body heat. We used it at the Stone Mountain Laser Show last weekend, and she and I were both toasty, even though it was around 40 degrees!

I hope this has helped to answer any questions you may have had about babywearing. I'm not an expert, but I've used one quite often through the past 2 and a half years with 2 babies. Feel free to ask me any questions you might have! I love to talk "baby" if you couldn't tell. ;)

Zoo Atlanta

2011-11-04T11:21:00.000-07:00

I'm a little late in posting about this, but better late than never. Right?

We went with Mimi to Zoo Atlanta a few weeks ago before it got too cool. The weather was perfect and we went right when they opened, so it wasn't very busy. We had a blast!

Emma loves animals, but apparently not up close right now. She tended to scream in terror whenever we saw one. And not just big things like elephants. Goats were almost as scary as elephants to Miss Em. She's a nut.

We had fun anyway though, and ended up the trip with a ride on the train. It was the girls' first train ride! Pardon the picture of us on the train. Brad was the photographer for the trip, and was a touch too lazy to move AROUND the pole to take the picture, so I ended up with 6 pictures of a metal pole through my head. On top of that, they were all blurry, even though we were holding still at the time. Goofball.

4 Months

2011-10-26T11:19:00.000-07:00

Abby is almost 5 months old now. I'm still confused as to how to count the months exactly because she was born on the 31st, but there aren't 31 days in each month. Confusing. Anyway, she's growing up way too fast! It's a recurring theme with my 2 little monkeys. Also a recurring theme: me, almost missing the month entirely before I do a photo shoot and a post!

Here is some info on Abby at 4 months:

She's a peanut. She weighs 11lbs and is about 23 inches long. That's about the 5th% for weight and 15-25th% for height. She's very petite! As a comparison, at her 4 month check-up, Emma weighed 14lbs, 6oz, and was 24 5/8 inches long!

She dropped a percentile on weight this month, but the doctor is not concerned. She's still spitting up quite a bit, and there's not much that can be done about it. Medication for reflux just reduces the acid in the tummy, causing less burning with reflux. Abby doesn't have any pain, because she just spits up breastmilk immediately following eating, before it's been digested.

I think I've had a bit of a "milk supply" issue lately. She, like her sister did, fusses and acts really rotten when she gets ready for bed. She had been really frustrated when nursing for the last time before bed. I've been upping my water intake SUBSTANTIALLY, and taking some herbal supplements. I think it's helped quite a bit. We discussed starting rice cereal (actually, we're going to do oatmeal because the rice made Emma SO constipated. TMI?). The pediatrician recommends waiting until closer to 6 months to start, and I'm in no hurry. Starting too early has been shown to lead to food allergies and obesity, so they recommend waiting. Being a peanut is just fine with me!

She can roll from her back to her tummy, and has rolled tummy to back once, but I think it was an accident!

She adores her big sister. She's not completely trusting of her (with good reason!) because she tends to be on high alert when Emma's around!

She smiles the biggest smiles and laughs for Daddy when he gets home.

Her Aunt Nancy got some serious belly laughs last night! We're not sure what exactly she thought was so funny, but she CRACKED up! She's pretty stingy with those belly laughs, so it was really awesome.

She's a mama's girl. No doubt about it. I tend to be the only one to calm her down when she's really fussy. She also still looks just like her mama, or so I'm told. I can't complain. ;)

She had been losing some of her hair in the back, but it's coming in again! Emma was bald for so long, that I'm not used to having a baby with a little hair! It's just about the same color as mine. That cracks me up because, as a baby, my hair was exactly Emma's color. In fact, we have a lock of my hair from my first haircut and it looks like it came off of Emma's head. It didn't darken up until much later. Abby's is starting out so dark, I wonder what will happen?

She wears 0-3 and 3 month clothes. She has some 3-6 month clothes, but they're still a bit big. I had hoped to be able to share all of their clothes because Abby was due 4 days before Emma's birthday. No such luck. Emma was a chunk, and Abby is petite and came 3 weeks ahead of schedule! I pulled out 3 rubbermaid boxes this morning and sorted clothes. Luckily, Emma had a few 6 month and 6-9 winter clothes, though most are 9 month. I think she'll be wearing some bigger clothes with the legs and sleeves rolled up!

She is still a good sleeper. She takes 2 big naps a day, and 1 short one around 5:30. She goes into the crib awake, and falls asleep on her own. She sleeps from 8:30PM-8:30AM most days, waking once to eat. Sometimes that one time is around 7:00, so I can't complain! She's had a few nights lately where she's woken twice to eat, but she's been catching our cold, so I can't blame her.

Speaking of colds, Abby has her first. It seems to be a much weaker version of what Emma and I had. She is a little sneezy and sounds snotty, but only has to have her nose wiped just after she wakes up. She ran a low-grade fever at one point, but Tylenol worked it's magic.

She's been a busy body lately. She tries to sit up if you lay her down, even to change her diaper! She also is too interested in what's going on around her to nurse very efficiently lately. She's been doing her best eating in the middle of the night. Emma was the same way!

See her trying to sit up?

She wears XS diaper covers still. To put this into perspective, we really began cloth diapering Emma at 4 months. She went straight into a medium. Abby swims in a small!

She had her first trip to the zoo a few weekends ago (also her first train ride!). We had a ball. I'll do a post on it very soon.

She also took her first trip to Stone Mountain. It was Emma's first as well. We rode the train and walked around. Can't wait to take them to a laser show!

She loves her swing, but I worry that she spends too much time in it. She is in there while we eat every meal. She doesn't seem to mind, and I have a hard time tending to her wild sister during meals, much less eating myself.

She loves having her hands in her mouth. We have to physically fight her to get them out and put the passy in. When her hands go in, puke comes out, so we tend to stick with the passy. Also, as I tell her all the time, I can't cut her hands off when she turns 2, but I CAN take the passy away!

She's my precious little angel. Having been through it with Emma, I know that this is my favorite age. She's happy nearly all of the time, giving us big gummy grins constantly. She's a snuggle-bug and adores being held. She also likes to spend time playing on the floor with her toys and play gym - the best of both worlds!

I can't believe it's nearly Halloween. A lot of people have asked about costumes. Emma is going to be Olivia the pig. Abby has a Halloween shirt that says "I love my mummy" and will be along for the ride!

A Fat Lip

2011-10-05T19:41:00.000-07:00

Well, she finally did it. Emma earned herself an emergency trip to the doctor's office. We were going to head straight to the ER, but the doctor's office said that we could come by there first and get their opinion, so we did. Emma must like to make sure my heart rate stays nice and high.

What happened? Let me explain.

We had just finished breakfast. Emma had eaten and was playing in the living room like she does every day. I had just put Abby down for her morning nap and came back to the kitchen to wash some dishes. We do this every single morning. Emma plays like an angel, I clean up the kitchen, and then we play together until Abby gets up. Not today.

Today I had just put away the clean dishes and was re-loading the dishwasher when I heard a bump and Emma screaming bloody murder. I went running and picked her up. She looked fine, but shaken. I took her into the kitchen and sat her on the counter to get a better look (and turn off the water). Blood. Everywhere. I thought she knocked out a tooth, but upon inspection, noticed a hole clear through her bottom lip. Well, technically it's just below her lip, but above her chin. I PANICKED.

I carefully cleaned up her face with a warm washcloth and got her a Popsicle. We were both still in our pajamas, so I carried her, Popsicle and all, to our bed. I made phone call after phone call while my hands were shaking uncontrollably, getting myself and Emma dressed in the process. First person I called? My MAMA! I knew she could get here before anyone else. Then I called Brad's mom. She was on her way. Then I tried Brad. He was the farthest one out. No answer. Shit. I frantically searched my phone for his school phone number. Called and got the secretary. I told her who I was and that we were about to head to the ER with my daughter and couldn't get in touch with Brad. She radioed him and had him call me. He was on his way as soon as he could pass his class off to another teacher.

I called the doctor's office and they said we could come there first if we wanted to. I would rather do ANYTHING than get Emma stitches OR deal with the ER, so I took them up on it. My mom got here first, and then Brad's mom. Abby was still napping so I gave Brad's mom a few instructions and some disposable diapers. By the grace of God, I had 2 ounces of pumped milk (the results of 2 miserable and fruitless pumping sessions) in the fridge. This is the first time since Abby was born that I have really pumped, and had been trying to get enough to freeze in case we ever had an emergency. How lucky was that?? Any other day and we'd be searching the house for formula samples.

So Mom and Emma and I left and Brad's mom stayed with Abby. Brad beat us to the doctor's office. We sat in the waiting room for a few minutes before heading back to see the nurse practitioner. She took a look, cleaned it up a bit, and recommended a stitch or 2. It had stopped bleeding within minutes of her cutting it, but the doctor said it's for "cosmetic reasons" that they recommend stitches. Anytime that it's outside of the lip line, they recommend them. I very politely asked her if we had any choice. She consulted with another doctor, and told us she'd be fine, but to keep Neosporin on it and watch for infection, which wasn't likely. YAY! We left like bats out of hell! I just wanted my babies.in.my.arms. My nerves were shot, as were all of ours.

We got back to our house and Brad's Dad was here. It meant the world to me that he came by. Seriously. My family is awesome. Have I mentioned that? They love us, and my girls SO much, and it's mutual. The fact that all 3 of them left work and flew straight to our house the minute I called, is just awesome. We couldn't have asked for better grandparents for these girls.

Emma got the ice cream I promised her, and Brad brought home her favorite - pillow chicken (Chick-Fil-A). She ate, I very carefully wiped her mouth, and put Neosporin on it, and we all had a much-needed family nap-time. We got up and Brad took Emma to pick up a school order of clay at a local shop, and I fed Abby. When they got back we headed to Mom's for dinner.

Emma has been an angel. She only cried for a minute once it happened, and only for a second or 2 while the doctor looked at it. I'm so impressed with her. She's awesome. AND big! Did I mention that she went from 25lbs in early July, to 28lbs today? And here I was getting concerned that she's not eating quite as much as she used to.

I bought some Mederma to use once her lip heals to help reduce scarring. It's really not that bad, but I'd hate to think that my choice to avoid a traumatic hospital experience would cause a scar she'd hate me for forever. Praying that doesn't happen. If it doesn't disappear, maybe she'll be proud of it and consider it a battle scar that adds character, though I'm not sure that little girl could stand one more ounce of character! One day, when she has her own babies, she'll understand. Until then, she can have ANYTHING SHE WANTS!!!!!

I'll leave you with a funny. This is what she did while I nursed Abby last night. She's a nut.

Emma Claire

2011-09-30T11:24:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to do a post just about my sweet EC, but I just haven't sat down and done it. I want to make sure to remember all of the hysterical things she says, and know that she she says so many that I'll end up forgetting some. This girl talks a mile a minute these days and she never fails to crack me up. So here goes.

The other day, Abby stayed with Mimi while we went "chopping" at Target. :)

She LOVES to cook in her pretend kitchen. She'll bring me a cup and say "here, lemonade." She'll take a pretend drink of hers and say "deeeeee-licious."

She was in time-out in the hallway the other day. She was crying and fussing (mostly pretending) and then I heard her instantly stop crying and say "heeeeere Sissy! Come here, Sissy. Whatcha doin, Sissy? Wanna play?" Sissy is the cat, in case you don't know.

When we pass Citgo she says "Look mom! Triangle!"

She adores Chick-Fil-A. Only she doesn't call it Chick-Fil-A. She calls it "pillow chicken." We're not exactly sure why, but she can spot the sign a mile away.

She loves eating shabeggy (spaghetti), blockly (broccoli), and hummus (thomas). She also likes spigots......biscuits! She also recently had boiled okra (YUCK!) for the first time with Mimi and loved it.

Mom and Bailey were over the other day and Bailey was sitting in such a way that Emma couldn't get between he and I to walk through. She started shouting "OPEN!" You know, like it was a door.

She loves bathtime and watching the "vortex" after the tub drains.

She adores watching kids shows on Netflix during breakfast. She makes sure to tell me "it's loading" and "it's thinking" if it takes a second to start.

If she hears an airplane she says "leeeeeesten! Hear it?"

Just before she goes to bed she says "I stay in bed?" She's heard it enough!

Sometimes after she is supposed to be asleep, Brad or I will hear her pushing the grilling buttons on her kitchen. I'll ask him what he wants to order since she's apparently up late working her second job as a fry cook.

She still adores Yo Gabba Gabba and can do a lot of the dances on the show. She particularly loves the "Twirly Lurly" (Twirly Whirly) and the "Chomp, Chomp, Chippy, Chippy, Chomp" (an alligator dance).

She has started to sing along with me when I sing, instead of finishing lines. She loves to sing "I love Jesus" (Jesus Loves Me), and "This little light of mine." She also knows most of the words to Copa Cabana (I know, I'm strange). If I sing "Her name was Emma," she follows up with "she was a showgirl" and continues from there. She can sing every single word of "Daisy, Daisy, Give me your answer do."

She's a huge climber these days. She climbs on the side table in the living room on a daily basis and the other day she disappeared from her bedroom where all 4 of us had been playing. Brad found her sitting in the center of our kitchen table, eating goldfish.

She mostly calls Brad "Dad." If he's not answering her when she calls him the first time, she changes it up. He's called "Pappy", "Papps", "Chacho", and "Brad" most everyday.

She has an awesome sense of humor. She calls Lucy "Loose Goose" and Abby is "Abbs Abbs", "Abby Gwail" or "Abby the Gwail." I can't blame her, I rarely call either one of them by their actual names.

Speaking of nicknames, Emma has several. Emmanems, Nemmers, Nem, Eeema Neeema, Neem. She will answer to any of them.

She often refers to herself as Emma Claire. She'll be climbing on the table to get my attention. When I ignore her, she says "What are you DOING Emma Claire?!"

She loves to watch "Mickey Mouse Cluh-house."

Instead of saying "can I help you?" she says "you help me?" And instead of "I want some" she says "You want some?"

She can count to 14. After that, it just gets funny!

I'm sure there are a million more, but those are the ones that immediately come to mind.

3 Months

2011-09-27T08:09:00.000-07:00

I can hardly believe that my littlest monkey will be 4 months old so soon. I guess it's time that I did her 3 month update, huh? I'm such a bad blogger now that Abby is here. I have NO spare time these days, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I spend my "spare time" kissing and loving on the 2 sweetest girls in the world.

All About Abby:

She's somewhere around 11-12 lbs the best I can tell. I scheduled her 4 month appointment today, so I'll know her stats soon enough. I'm dreading that appointment - more shots.

Speaking of shots, I'm pretty much following the same vaccine schedule that I did with Emma. I'm delaying the chicken pox vaccine, and waiting to do the MMR until she's 2. It works for us, and I'm comfortable with it, as is my doctor.

Abby is growing SO fast! She loves to stand up, but only wants to be in a sitting position for limited amounts of time. She still loves her swing and sits in it while we eat.

She is learning to reach and grab toys. She has reached for her beads on her changing table for a LONG time, but we're working on grabbing toys. She's TERRIFIED of rattles. No clue why!

She loves to just lay on a blanket and play and be talked to. It's her favorite thing.

She tolerates tummy time, but doesn't have much patience for it. She rolled over from tummy to back this month, but hasn't done it again. She sort of scared herself when she did it!

She cracks up when we jiggle her around. She likes to be messed with!

She gives her Daddy the biggest smiles when he gets home from work.

She's a mama's girl. Big time. She will let most people hold her for a minute, but not much longer. My mom is just about the only exception to that rule. And she usually only calms down for Mama.

She wears 3 month or 0-3 month clothes. 3-6 are too big still. I had to buy several outfits recently for her to wear when it gets cold. All of Emma's winter clothes are 9 months. My guess is that Abby MIGHT be into 6 month clothes by then! She's such a peanut!

She is still spitting up, but not nearly as much.

She's a great sleeper, with only a few weird occasions of waking up. She takes 3 naps a day and sleeps from 8:00 until 8-9:00 AM. She only wakes up once to eat during that span. It's awesome!

She's addicted to her nap schedule - big time. If she misses a nap, we all hear about it. It makes traveling or getting out and about a bit tough. She screams like a wild child and has a hard time settling to nap unless she's in her bed. Reminds me of someone......Emma!

She has started to hate the car, just like her sister. She's significantly better than Emma was at this age though. She only cries if she's sleepy. Unfortunately, that means that if we stay anywhere past about 6:30, she's going to scream all the way home. We've even tried driving with me sitting in the back, squeezed between the 2 carseats. She still screams.

2 Months - 3 Months

She has the tiniest ankles ever. I still can't get socks to stay on the poor thing. Check out the picture of her ankles vs. Emma's at the same age. Explains a lot!

I still can't believe what a chunk Emma was compared to Abby. Or how different they look! Abby is all mama, while Emma was mostly Brad. Right now, Emma's more me when I was her age. It's so funny how they change back and forth!

She fits into our little family so well! She's just perfect.

Angels

2011-09-07T12:00:00.000-07:00

Since my Dad died, I have had some serious internal questioning going on. I've always believed in heaven, God, life eternal. I still do believe in all of those things. I always assumed that if someone as close to me as my Dad passed away, I'd feel some sort of presence. Shortly after he died I searched everywhere for him. I found him in the red cardinal that suddenly decided that the best place to be while Emma and I were eating breakfast was right outside our kitchen window, staring in at us through the whole meal. I saw him in the bluebird that perched on my mom's fence, sitting there while we talked about Dad, day after day.

Since a little time has passed, I'm still looking, but finding nothing. I don't feel his presence anywhere. I see him in Abby. GOD, do I ever. Sometimes it's as though he's the one looking back at me from behind her eyes. That's truly the only place. It's pretty devastating.

I said all of that, to tell you about this. I think he may come visit Emma. And no, I'm not crazy. There have been SO many times that she's said things about him out of the blue. At the exact moment he died, my sister-in-law told me that Emma started saying "Papa? Papa?" At the time, that was what she called him. Since then, I've referred to him as "Grandpa." Each night we pray for our family members by name. We always pray for "Grandpa, in heaven with Jesus" (or "Stegis" as Emma used to say!). She calls Brad's Dad "Grandpops," so it's not him that she's talking about.

A few weeks ago we were eating dinner at my mom's house. Emma reached up and grabbed her head and scrunched her hair, just like Dad used to do to her. She stared off into space while she did it and said "Grandpa!" It was like she was seeing him.

A couple of weeks ago I decided, out of the blue, to get Emma her first big ice cream cone. I wanted to do something my Dad loved to do - give a toddler a huge ice cream cone and let them make a huge mess. It's SO not my style, but I knew it was something my Dad would have already seen to that we do. So we did. On the way to the ice cream place, Emma looked out the window and said, "Hi Grandpa. I see you Grandpa. Whatcha doin, Grandpa?" She speaks very clearly, and those were her exact words. It took my breath away and I didn't even know what to say. I've since thought that I should have asked her questions, and I WILL next time.

I know that she remembers my Dad, even though it's been several months since she last saw him. I've got a few pictures on the fridge, and have a necklace with his picture on it. She always says "Grandpa!" when she sees them. She also says "grandpa" when she sees pictures of men with gray hair and glasses that resemble my Dad. I wish I could find the words that her little mind could wrap her head around to explain. I just can't. I want to take her with me to the cemetery, but don't think it's the time. I know she'll ask questions that I don't know how to answer. I'm sure I'll know when the time is right.

I wish more than anything that he could see my girls right now. He loved Emma more than anything in this world and would be so thrilled with how smart she is. He would adore snuggling with Abby's sweet self. I guess he IS seeing them right now, even though I struggle with the faith that he's still somewhere watching. I hope and pray that I'll find him somewhere again, and that my faith will be restored. I just wish I didn't have to wait until I make it to heaven for that to happen. It's hard to accept the finality of death, and that I have no control over what God has planned. This grasping for his presence won't make it happen. I guess that's what faith is, huh?

It reminds me so much of one of my favorite Jars of Clay songs.

"Like A Child"

Dear God, surround me as I speak,
the bridges that I walk across are weak
Frustrations fill the void that I can't solely bear
Dear God, don't let me fall apart,
you've held me close to you
I have turned away and searched for answers I can't understand

[Chorus:]

They say that I can move the mountains
And send them crashing into the sea
They say that I can walk on water
If I would follow and believe
with faith like a child

Sometimes, when I feel miles away
and my eyes can't see your face
I wonder if I've grown to lose the recklessness
I walked in light of you

[Chorus]

[Little girl:]
"I've got joy like a fountain!"
"Be kind one to others"
"In Jesus Christ Your son"

They say that love can heal the broken
They say that hope can make you see
They say that faith can find a Savior
If you would follow and believe
with faith like a child

The Cemetery

2011-09-07T11:39:00.000-07:00

Many of you probably don't know about the runaround that my mom and I have been given at the cemetery. They purchased their mausoleum plots many years back, and all of the things involved with internment were paid for. That includes the grave marker. My mom and I had to go to the cemetery office 2 days after my Dad's funeral to design the marker. It was really painful, and the last place we wanted to be, both physically and emotionally. But we did it. The creepy guy in charge of working with us was, well.....creepy. And not in a "I work at a cemetery and only wear black suits" kind of creepy. In a "I like to play with the bodies when no one is looking" kind of creepy. I don't know of any other way to describe it!

Anyway, fast forward at least 2 months. We still hadn't heard from him regarding when the marker would be placed. I had been to the cemetery to check a couple of times. It was hideously painful. Not only was the wound on my heart very fresh, but to see him buried in an unmarked grave was just gut wrenching. I burst into tears every time I went. I had finally had enough. I wrote a letter, describing the experience we had had with the creepy dude and emailed it to their office. The manager called me the following day and I put him in contact with my mom. A new guy (much less creepy) was assigned to us and the marker was designed, proofs sent to my mom for approval, ordered, and installed. And here it is.

I think it's perfect. Dad would be so proud. The only thing missing was flowers. I took care of that this Sunday while my girls and their Daddy napped.

What do you think? I was going for "Fall, pretty, yet masculine."

Do you know what? In the few times that I've been back since it was installed, I feel such a sense of peace. It's no longer a painful place that I dread going to. It's a place where I can talk to my Dad, be alone, and feel a little bit of closeness. It's amazing the difference that a grave marker and some flowers can do.

Abby's Baptism

2011-09-07T11:23:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday we had the honor of having Abigail Marie baptized in our church. It was a wonderful day full of family and friends and we were so blessed to have them all there with us. Abby was an absolute angel. She didn't mind the big, uncomfy dress too much. She wore Brad's christening gown, my grandmother's cross necklace, and on the necklace, she wore a baby ring that Brad's mother had made from one of her rings. My mom also gave her a special bib that was blessed by Pope Benedict. It was so special to have all sides of her family represented.

It was a very emotional day for me. The last time that we attended a baptism at Holy Cross, it was Emma's. My Dad was there with us, as was Brad's Grandaddy. My Dad's absence was so painful for me. It was never more obvious that when the deacon traced the sign of the cross on Abby's forehead, and invited all who felt compelled to do the same. My Dad should have been right there. It hurt more than words can possibly express. I miss him daily, but there are certain moments when it sneaks up on me and hits me like a bus. That whole day was filled with those moments. He would have ADORED Abby, just as he adored Em. He would love to hear all of the crazy things Emma says these days. He would have cracked up when, as the Deacon was about to pour water over Abby's head, Emma shouted "Abby takin a bath!" He would have thought it was hysterical when she completed the sign of the cross with the Deacon. "Father, Son, and Holy Spiwit." Precious.

We were so blessed that Brad's Aunt Elaine and Uncle George honored us by becoming Abby's godparents. She adores them already! They drove all the way from the southern tip of Florida to be with us, and it meant the world.

After the baptism we headed home to celebrate with cake and punch. There's a funny story behind the cake. I have bad luck at Publix with baptism cakes. Emma's had to be completely remade on the morning of her baptism because they made it orange instead of pink. It was SO ugly! Well, I went to pick up Abby's and noticed that it read "God Bless AbiGALI Marie." I just about died. Had it said Emma's nickname for her, "Abigwail," I would have let it go. But Abigali had to go. They were able to remove the wrong letters and fix it, but you could still tell. I think I've learned my lesson with Publix. It sure did taste good though!

After most of our guests had left, Amber, Jason, and their daughter, Quinn, stayed and we got to visit. We don't see them nearly often enough. We had Mexican for dinner and they left just before the girls went to bed. It was an awesome day that we will never forget.

Big Girl Bed

2011-08-21T14:06:00.000-07:00

Bye-bye, crib!

Prisoner #5519 made her escape on Saturday afternoon. Brad was at the mechanic getting my car fixed and I was getting Abby down for her nap. Emma was SUPPOSED to be sleeping when I heard a loud crash and then hysterical crying. I ran in her room to find Emma, and all of her earthly belongings on the floor. She was freaked out. I got her calmed down, put all of her stuffed animals and blankets back in the bed and did what any good mom would do. I called my mom! She and I both hoped that her little fall was enough to scare her into not becoming a repeat offender. She suggested putting some blankets or pillows around the crib in case she fell again. That sounded like a plan. I called Brad to tell him what had happened, as I was watching Emma on the video monitor. Guess what I saw? Yep. #5519 chucked every single thing out of her bed and hiked one leg up over the side. I ran in there in time to stop her halfway in, halfway out. It also scared the crap out of her!

She made the decision for me. As soon as Brad got home, he dismantled her crib and brought in the toddler bed. I got it off of Craigslist several months ago for about $30, in anticipation of her needing it. I was so glad! We put her down in her big girl bed for her afternoon nap. We used the "supernanny technique" to get her to stay in bed. The first time she got up we went in and put her back in bed telling her "it's night time. Stay in your bed and go night night." The second (and each consecutive time) out of bed, you just put her back in, no eye contact, no talking. We probably had to put her back in bed 6-7 times, but she eventually fell asleep and slept almost 2 hours! Last night was even better - only had to put her back twice. Twice again for her naps today too. I'm sure that any day now she'll be a pro and just stay in bed. I'm SOOOO proud!!

Emma cooked in her kitchen with Abby while Daddy took down the crib.

I told her that she was about to take a nap in her big girl bed. I guess she assumed we weren't going to give her a mattress!

She had a little "funny" last night. At about 1:00AM we were about to head to bed (had a late night). I got Brad to check on Em in the monitor. He told me that she was out of bed but not moving. It looked like she was praying. Sure enough, I went in and found her like this.

SO cute! I put her back in her bed and covered her up. Around 5:30 when Abby woke to eat, Brad checked again. She was in the floor asleep. When he looked again, she had put herself back in the bed! I guess we have a little sleepwalker! The funniest thing was that she did this all silently.

Today we went to Target to get her some toddler bedding. They had Disney Princesses, Minnie Mouse, and Yo Gabba Gabba (her 3 favorite things right now). As you can see from her pictures, she ADORES YGG, and I thought it would be the best choice. She already has the pillow pals to go with it. What did she choose? Minnie Mouse. I'll admit, I'm not a very big Disney fan. I tried and tried to get her to change her mind, but no dice. So of course we ended up with Minnie Mouse! It's in the wash right now, so that she can sleep with it tonight. She's so excited! I'll take a picture of the final project as soon as I can.

2 Months

2011-08-18T09:43:00.000-07:00

Once again, time is flying. Abigail is 11 weeks old, actually. It's so hard to believe. She has fit into our little family so perfectly and so seamlessly that it's like she's always been here. She's growing so fast and changing daily. Here are some updates on our little angel.

Abby is wearing 0-3 or 3 month clothes. It's time to put away the newborn stuff!

She's still a peanut. She is SO much smaller than Emma was.

She still has her pretty dark brown hair and her blue eyes. I hope she keeps both!

She is cloth diapered, and still wears XS diapers, with a few smalls thrown in.

Her favorite time of day is bathtime. She gets a bath every other day, and alternates with a "cat bath" next to the sink in our bathroom. She LOVES starting at herself in the mirror!

Her favorite toy is the bead toy that my Dad made. Emma enjoyed it, but it's Abby's best friend! She talks to it, coos at it, and smiles. She loves grabbing the beads and bells when I'm changing her.

She's such a happy baby. She only fusses when she gets really sleepy.

She's sleeping SO well! In fact, last night she slept 8 hours straight, followed by another 3.5 after a feeding.

She takes 2 scheduled naps a day. I've pretty much gotten her on Emma's schedule, though she dozes in between naps. I'm pretty sure she'll end up with a 3rd nap, but it's so nice to have her napping when her sister does.

Emma adores her "baby sisser" still. She loves to stroke her hair, kiss her head, and bring her toys to show her. She also loves it when Abby does things that she asks. For example "throwing" a ball when Emma brings it to her - Emma cracks up.

She smiled for her Daddy for the first time yesterday! She's been smiling at me forever, but he hasn't really worked for it. He finally got a huge, gummy grin last night. I think it made his day.

She finally likes her swing. She used to hate it, but love her bouncy seat. Now it's the other way around. She tends to get what my Dad called "back-itis" when she sits in her bouncy seat. She HAS to be moved. If I take her out of the bouncy and put her in the swing, she's completely happy.

She's such a happy baby - I just can't get over it. She is so content to sit in her swing while we eat. Emma was the opposite - it was like she could smell the food and had to be held. This is SO much nicer!

She wore her first "hair click" as Emma calls them, yesterday! She's got so much more hair than Emma did, though she's losing a little in the back. :(

Her baptism is coming up in a few weeks! Her godparents are Brad's Dad's aunt and uncle, George and Elaine. We can't wait for them to come up from south Florida to meet their god-daughter!

Honesty

2011-08-16T19:06:00.000-07:00

Most people who know me will tell you that I tell it like it is. It's true. However, as those closest to me can attest, I often keep most of my personal feelings bottled up until they run over. Yesterday was one of those days. I have kept so many feelings bottled up for way too long.

I keep this blog not only for myself to look back on, but for my girls. I want them to be able to look back at this and see what our lives were like "back then." I want them to see how much fun they had, and how much they were loved. I want them to see how much their mama adores them and always has. I hope they see that anyways. I don't only want them to know about the best times. The sugary sweet moments. The always happy, smiling, funny mama. I want them to know the honest truth. That I'm a human, that life is not always perfect, and that it's OK to feel ALL of your feelings.

While I have enjoyed and savored every single second that I get to spend at home with these girls, things are difficult. When I had Emma we had a good bit of money saved up from my years of teaching that we could use to "get by" so that I could stay home to be a full-time mom, my greatest desire. I knew things would be tough, but had no idea how much it would stress me out. Brad's paycheck as a teacher doesn't pay all of our bills, much less food, gas, car insurance. I had no clue how quickly our "savings" would be used. It's hard. I'm stressed on a daily basis just from managing our finances, but I hope my girls never see that. I'm fairly certain that they don't. When I'm with them, I'm 100% with them. My mind is nowhere else, and I try hard to keep it that way.

Let's be honest. Over the last 2 years, money has been the least of my stress. This year has SUCKED. My Dad getting sick and eventually passing away was the single hardest thing I've ever had to experience. It has ripped out my heart and I'm struggling to keep it together most days. Like I said, I put on a smile, keep focused on my girls, and I survive - putting one foot in front of the other because I HAVE to. But that's all.

I miss him every single moment of every single day. I've heard that at some point it will get easier, but I'm seeing no signs of that. I can't fathom a day where I miss him less or think about him less. I'm not really certain I want to. I just hope that a day can come where I can look back and smile. Not cry for my loss, but merely be thankful for the time we had. I AM thankful, but I'm also deeply, deeply grieving and sad. How do you piece your heart back together when it's been broken so permanently? When will a quiet moment to myself pass by with peace instead of tears? When will I be able to look at pictures of him and just be happy, instead of thinking of how it felt to speak my last words to him as I watched him slip away?

I want those last 2 weeks to disappear. I don't want them in my memories. I don't want to see what I saw, feel what I felt, or let those horrible memories taint my recollection of my sweet Daddy. I just want to remember him as he was when I was growing up. Before his depression, before his physical pain, before the drinking, before he got sick. He was the best Dad in the whole world. I'm quite certain that no one has ever loved me more, or ever will again.

What's my point? Abby, Emma, it's OK to be sad. It's OK to let the tears fall and even more OK to let someone comfort you. It's OK to be angry and to grieve like there's no tomorrow. But there IS tomorrow. You have both taught me that. I would never have made it this far out of the pits of depression without you both. I'm still working on myself. I'm working on being genuinely happy again, but have no idea how to make that happen yet. I'll get there. I love you both more than life itself, as did your Grandaddy. I can never thank you both enough for giving me reason to get up in the morning, and reason to be a better person tomorrow than I am today.

Love you both, your Mama.

Nekky Booty

2011-08-15T13:41:00.001-07:00

Houston, we have a problem. Emma has figured out how to take her diapers off. All of them. Not just the ones with velcro, but the snap diapers too. I thought I was safe with those. Nope. Behold. In all of her royal nakedness, Princess Nekky Booty. That's what she says when she's "nekkid."

When I was in the hospital having Abby, my sister-in-law was watching Emma for us. Em was in disposables for those few days and apparently figured out how to take those off REAL fast. Since then, it's only happened a couple of times, and only with velcro diapers. Only once has there been a mess, and it was luckily only pee.

Today I put her in her "nap diaper." It's a pocket diaper with snaps (3 on each side!) holding it closed. Foolproof, right? It takes her awhile to fall asleep sometimes, so I glanced at the video monitor every now and then. She was happily playing with her stuffed animals and blankets each time I checked. Then, silence. She fell asleep. A couple of hours later I went in to wake her up and was dumbfounded by the sight which I beheld. Nekky booty. With her face in her diaper. Her.wet.diaper. She's a nut job. So what's a mom to do? I grabbed my phone, snapped the picture, and proceeded to send it to both Brad and my mom. And now, it's on the internet. You had better believe that I'm going to show her this when she gets older. The things she puts her mama through.....

So now I guess I get to pull out the onesies and put one on her for every nap. If that doesn't work......I don't know. Ducktape??

Wordless Wednesday

2011-08-08T12:59:00.001-07:00

A normal day

2011-08-08T08:42:00.000-07:00

I thought I would write a little bit about what our days look like right now with a 2 year old and a 2 month old. I'm afraid that I'll wind up forgetting all of these things one day, as I already HAVE with some of Emma's babyhood. I may have done this before, but not about both girls. So, here you go.

8:00 wake up. Abby starts to stir around 7:30 usually, but I can put her passy back in, flip her onto her belly, and keep her asleep until Emma's up. Emma gets up somewhere around 8:00-8:30. I go get Emma up and bring her into our bed to "nuggle" and I nurse Abby while Emma watches "Mickey Mouse Cluh-house." It's a pretty sweet time of the day.

8:30 Breakfast. Abby sits in her bouncy seat or the swing while I drink a cup of coffee (thank GOD for the Keurig) and fix Emma's breakfast. She usually eats pancakes or waffles, or the occasional cheese eggs or bowl of oatmeal. She always has fruit, and usually some yogurt too. We've started letting her watch either Blue's Clues, Rugrats, or Madeline on my laptop from Netflix while she eats. It keeps her happy so I can check my email and tend to Abby.

9:00 Playtime. I usually take this time to clean up the kitchen and run some laundry while Emma entertains herself. There's usually some Sesame Street involved at some point. When I'm done, we play in the living room/playroom.

10:00-10:30 Naptime. I try to get both girls down around 2 hours after they wake up. Emma typically plays for a good 30 minutes in her crib before falling asleep, but once she's out - she's out. She would probably sleep for 3 hours if I let her. I sometimes do! After she's in the bed, I change and feed Abby and put her down. She falls asleep on her own in her crib. I occasionally have to put the passy in a few times, but she goes down SO easily.

1:00 Lunch. I sometimes have to wake Emma up from her nap for lunch. I try to get Abby up a little earlier and feed her before Emma's up. Emma's quite the sleeper. Lunch usually consists of a sandwich, puffs (similar to Pirate's Booty), and fruit, along with her cup of milk. She adores PB&J and will also eat a grilled cheese if it's made in the toaster - NOT in a pan. She's a nut. She has recently discovered a love for PB&Banana too. I occasionally mix it up and throw in some nutella if it's a special occasion. Abby chills in the swing while we eat.

1:30 Playtime. If we have any errands to run, now's the time. I haven't gotten out much with both girls yet, so we are tending to stay at home. Emma loves to help me fold diapers, so we do this every other day. If it's cool enough, we go outside to play. She loves bubbles and to swing.

3:00 Nap #2. We've tried cutting Emma back to 1 nap because she won't always sleep during this nap, but it was ugly. Very ugly. She still doesn't always sleep, and takes forever to fall asleep, but once she's down she sleeps from 1.5-2 hours and our world is much better for it.

5:30 Wake Up. We usually have to wake Emma up from this nap. She's not usually very happy about that, but if we don't, she won't sleep at night. Brad usually gets home around this time.

6:00 Dinner or Mimi's. We go to my mom's several nights a week for dinner. This is when we make it out the door to go. If we're staying at home, I start cooking by this point. Brad has just gotten home and can watch the girls while I cook.

6:30-7:00 Dinner. It's not always this late, but sometimes is. Emma is a pretty good dinner eater. She adores jambalaya, spaghetti (shabeggy), chicken of any assortment (as long as there's a sauce to dip in), anything Mexican (white chicken chili is a favorite), and hot dogs. She'll try just about anything, but is fairly picky. If it's something she likes, she chows down.

7:30-8:00 Nuggle Bed. That's what Emma says around this time. Once the kitchen is cleaned, we pile in the bed to watch Peppa Pig. It's one show that we all enjoy. If you haven't seen it, you should.

8:00-8:30 Bathtime. Brad and I take turns for baths. On my night, I actually take a bath with the girls. It's just the easiest and most time-conscious thing. Abby goes first, and then while Brad's putting her jammies on, it's Emma's turn.

9:00-9:30 Once Emma and I are out, I read stories to Emma and we say our prayers. Then Brad puts her in the bed while I nurse Abby. Abby goes down right after.

Well, that's pretty much a typical day. I had worried so much before Abby came about how things would go. How on earth would I manage getting them both out of the bed if they woke up at the same time? How would we do baths? It's really been SO much easier than I had expected. It was so nice to have Abby come on Brad's first week off of school for the summer, so we had the entire summer to figure things out. This is the beginning of my second week alone with both girls and it's going great. I'm really enjoying my new normal with my 2 girls!

2 Months Old

2011-08-02T10:53:00.000-07:00

Just as it did (and does) with Emma, time is flying with Miss Abby. She's growing so quickly and it's moving way too fast for her Mama. We just had her 2 month pediatrician's appointment. She weighs 9lbs. 13 oz. Emma weighed 12lbs. 4oz. at the same appointment!! She is 22.25 inches. She is in the 10th-25th percentile for weight, and 25th-50th percentile for height. She's long and lean! She got 2 shots and SLEPT THOUGH THEM! She fussed for about 10 seconds and then fell back asleep on the exam table, without me picking her up. She's just such a sweet heart.

She's a good little eater, but spits up a TON. The doctor says that it's considered reflux, but because it doesn't cause her any discomfort, there's no reason to treat it with medication. She'll likely grow out of it by 6 months or so. In the mean time, she's just a messy girl! In fact, when Brad picked her up out of the bed last night, she spit up SO much and so fast, that I could hear it splatter all over her co-sleeper and the carpet. Fun times. Particularly at 4:00 AM. I can't begin to tell you how many times we've had to change the sheets or her entire outfit SEVERAL times a night. It's no fun.

Abby is such a good little sleeper these days! We had been waking her up one last time before we went to bed to eat. She has been going down to bed around 9:00PM when Emma does, and we are putting her in her crib in her room for the first stretch. After her last feeding before we go to sleep, we put her in our room in the co-sleeper. Well, one night we decided to let her sleep and wake up to eat on her own. Ever since then, she sleeps in her room from 9:00-4:30AM, and then wakes to eat. She then goes back to sleep in our room until around 8:30!! It's awesome. Now if WE can just get to sleep a little earlier.....

She's started to really smile and coo lately. She's such a sweet heart. She loves to just be laid down on a blanket and play. She doesn't mind tummy time at all, which is not something I'm used to! She adores her big sister and will look around until she finds her. She's great in the car, unless her passy falls out and she's hungry.

Abby is still in a lot of newborn clothes. She also wears a lot of 0-3 month and a few 3 month onesies, though they are pretty darn big on her. I still can't get over what a peanut she is.

She looks SO different from Emma to us both. Her hair is so much darker and her face is just different. She looks a ton like her Mama, and just about everyone who sees her mentions that. I certainly don't mind. ;) In fact, she really looks a lot like my Dad. She has his blue eyes, his cleft chin, and pretty much his entire face. It's a bittersweet blessing to me.

Emma is such a sweet big sister. She will get down in Abby's face and talk to her. She knows that Abby can't talk back, so she carries the entire conversation. It sounds something like this. "Hi Abby, whatcha doin Abby? You want some mango juice, Abby?" It's just precious. There doesn't seem to be a mean or jealous bone in her body. They both adore each other.

Brad went back to school today for the first day of pre-planning. It's my first day at home alone with both girls. It's been interesting! I'm trying to get Emma down to 1 nap a day. Emma's gotten used to having everything she wants given to her as soon as she requests it because we've had 2 sets of hands here all summer. Well, times they are a changin. She's a whiny mess and we've got to work on that. Abby is also used to being held whenever she wants to. Don't get me wrong, when she's in a good mood, she'll sit contently for a good chunk of time in her bouncy seat. But if she's hungry or sleepy, she's not a happy camper unless she's in my arms. It's tough to figure out what to do with one while I'm "doing" with the other. That's the biggest challenge of having 2 so far. Emma's a great helper though, and is a pretty good sport.

We've also discovered our love of "the sling." I used one with Emma from very early on and she adored it. Abby is exactly the same way! She immediately calms down if she's upset. She's had a rough couple of days because she got 2 shots at the doctor yesterday, and the sling has been the only way I've been able to "put her down" for a majority of the day. It's SUCH an awesome thing - a definite 'must have' for any new mom.
I'd better run. I can see Abby squirming on the video monitor, and I'm pretty sure I just heard Emma talking as well. So much for a long nap!!

Abby Dabby

2011-07-08T13:34:00.000-07:00

I've been writing this post in my head for 5 weeks now, but have just gotten around to putting it down in words. I wanted to take a few minutes to talk about my sweet Abby. Before I do, let me talk about Emma for a minute.

Emma is the best big sister in the entire world. She adores her baby "sisser." She lights up every time she sees her and has NEVER shown aggression or jealousy when Brad or I are with Abby. It's like they have always existed together. With that said, we have taken lots of care to make her feel included and indulge her whenever she wants to "hold it" or kiss on Abby so that she doesn't feel left out. I have fallen more and more in love with Em as I have seen her become a big sister. I've been SO impressed with her acceptance and happiness with her new role. As much as I wanted a baby, the main reason that I wanted Abby so badly was for Emma. She may not understand now, but she will one day.

Now onto Abby. We often call her "Abby Dabby" and Emma's version of that is "Abby Abby." She's got plenty of nicknames already.

She is an OK sleeper. Some would say great. She sleeps great when Mommy's holding her! She sleeps 3 hour stretches at night, and is falling back to sleep right after eating during most wake-ups now. She has had the occasional 4-5 hour stretch, but it's been rare, and I've feared she was dead on more than one occasion! Luckily, she sleeps in the co-sleeper, just beside my bed. Her Daddy doesn't deal well with a lack of sleep, but he's getting better at it. He is awesome - when she wakes up, he gets her, changes her diaper, and hands her to me to feed. When she's done, he re-swaddles her and hands her back. It is SUCH a help!

We often put her down around 11:30-12 at night (after we've given both girls baths, put Emma down at 9:00, and then showered ourselves, finished cleaning up, etc.) She typically wakes around 3-4, and then 7-8. As sleepy as I consistently am, I am actually getting more sleep than I did when pregnant with her!

She's a snuggle bunny. She seems to form perfectly to the curvature of my body - whether over my shoulder just in the crook of my neck, or into the bend in my arm. She's just precious to hold.

She's started to make lots of eye contact, and smiling is just around the corner. I can feel it!

The poor girl has developed TERRIBLE baby acne. It started on the day of her 1 month check-up and the doctor told me that it's caused by her hormones from my body that were left over from pregnancy. The poor girl looks like she's about to go to prom. Brad says she needs Mama to call and get her some Proactiv. ;)

Speaking of her appointment, she's a growing girl! She was 8lbs 0.5oz! That's up from 6lbs. 13oz at her last appt! I'm one proud Mommy. Emma was over 10lbs at her 1 month appt, just to compare. Wowza.

She loves her paci. She uses the same kind Emma did, MAM. She doesn't particularly like the swing, but seems to enjoy her bouncy seat. She sits in it when we eat mostly. She PREFERS to be in my arms, but settles for the bouncy. ;)

She's the most laid back baby I've ever seen. She's SO happy and content. I had no idea how high-maintenance Emma was as a baby (and STILL is!) until we had Abby. I think that's best though. God knew what he was doing. If we had a laid-back baby first, and THEN Emma, we would have died. As it was, we just adored every single second, even of the crying, not knowing it could be any other way.

She's a great eater. She's breastfeeding solely, and is awesome at it. She hasn't had to supplement with formula since the day of her last pediatrician's appointment when she was about 10 days old. She caught on SO quickly once my milk came in, and we really never had any issue. Whether that was because I was more relaxed this time around, or because she was just brilliant, I may never know. I was prepared for the nightmare that it was the first time around. Emma and I had a HARD time. She would scream at the top of her lungs when I would try to latch her on, and we would both cry together. It has never been a source of stress for either one of us this time around. A blessing!

We've pretty much graduated to completely cloth diapering Abby. However, Brad still uses disposables at night. He says that he is pretty much asleep while changing her overnight, and it's just a little less complicated to use disposable. We're nearly out of those though, so he'll convert pretty soon! She's still in newborn diapers, though she could use a size 1 now. She is still wearing newborn clothes, and probably will for awhile. 3 month clothes swallow her. My friend Amber saved our butts with the clothing - she let us have several of her daughter's newborn outfits. We barely had ANY with Emma because she was in 3 month clothes nearly from the start.

I have a really special bond with Abby. I had an incredible bond with Emma as well, and still do. However, Abby and I are on the same wavelength. Emma and I often butted heads (on nursing, sleeping, swaddling......lots of stuff) and still do! I think I'm gonna be in for it when she's a teenager!

Abby and I have just never gone there. We agree on things. We just are, existing on the same plane. She's very "go with the flow" and relaxed. Being with her physically relaxes me. There's no stress, no rush, no sense of urgency. Just calm. I have known what her cries meant from day 1, and she's really not had much reason to cry because I SWEAR I can read her mind. My mom told me the other day that we reminded her of a mother monkey and her baby. I was only SLIGHTLY offended, until she explained. When she looks at me holding her, it seems so natural. Like you would never see one without the other. That's so true. It's like I physically NEED to have her near me. It's very strange, and probably something only understood by another mother.

I think a very real part of this connection is because of all that we went through together. I was pregnant for ALL of the bad stuff with my Dad. Finding out the chemo didn't work, trying his last round of oral chemo drugs, getting sick. All of it. She was literally what kept me going. I couldn't sink completely into the depths of my sadness and grief because I HAD to keep going. I knew that Abby would suffer if I gave into that. I often wonder what effects my sadness and grief DID have on her. Is she so relaxed because I was such a wreck for 9 months? She was with me when I held my Dad as he took his last breath. She was with me when I literally clung to his casket. Did she know? Did she have a clue? I think she must have.

I think God knew what he was doing when he made her look just like her Mama. This girl looks SO much like my Dad. She has his mouth, chin. It's a daily reminder that he's never completely gone because he lives on in my girls. And my goodness, he would have eaten her up.

I know that it's going to tear my mom up, but I have to post this picture. It's of Emma and Dad. I know that he would be doing the exact same thing right now if he could.

Emma's 2!

2011-07-01T08:23:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty late in posting about this, but I guess that you can say that we're quite busy these days. My spare moments to upload pictures (or even to TAKE them!) are few and far between, and I prefer to spend them with my girls.

Emma turned 2 on June 22nd, but we decided to celebrate on Father's Day. This year I planned a tiny little party for her. With a newborn at home, and a girl in the midst of the terrible 2s, a big party just wasn't a smart idea. We had Brad's parents and sister and my mom over to grill out. We grilled hamburgers and hotdogs and had lots of great sides.

Emma's favorite part? Her Elmo Airplane cake! The girl is obsessed with airplanes. She's also obsessed with Elmo, so it was a perfect combination. All of the attention was on her, which was exactly as she wanted it! She had the best time. She got a trampoline from her grandparents, and my mom got her a toddler slide. She was in hog heaven.

Of course we couldn't let her actual birthday go uncelebrated. We had her favorite meal (jambalaya!) and cupcakes on her special birthday plate. This was the first year that she was able to blow out her candles! She's so proud.

Ever since her birthday she's been saying "happy birthday Emma!" and asking to "blow" out candles. I, of course, have been giving in and lighting candles for her to blow out after her Daddy and I sing to her. I can't help it - the bashful grin that she gets afterwards just melts me.

She's here!!

2011-06-14T08:04:00.000-07:00

She's here!! I can hardly believe that our newest little angel is 2 weeks old today. The days have flown by so far. I'm pretty late in updating the blog, but I have had NO time to do anything other than be a mom and recover from surgery, so I have an excuse! Let me back track a bit...

On Monday, May 30th around noon, I started to have contractions. They weren't very regular, but they were consistent. We had plans to go to Brad's parents' house for dinner, but he was nervous to do anything with me in possible labor. I called the doctor on duty and she assured me that we were safe to leave the house, but to call her cell phone if the contractions became regular or stronger.

We went to their house and had a nice meal (steak, baked potatoes, etc.) and then came home. Brad bathed Emma because, by then the contractions were somewhat stronger and more frequent. I read her bedtime stories to her, said prayers with her, and put her to bed. We slept fairly well until about 4:00 AM when I woke up with even stronger contractions. I timed them - every 3 minutes. They still weren't as strong as I knew they needed to be, and I convinced myself to try to sleep. There was NO way my body would let me sleep through contractions if they were strong enough to warrant me going to the hospital, right?

I had an OB appointment already scheduled the next morning with the same doctor that was on duty the night before. I took Brad with me and we had the bags in the car, just in case. My NST (non-stress test that I've been having twice a week) showed strong contractions every 3-4 minutes - a definite labor pattern. The doctor checked me and I was 3 cm dilated and 70% effaced. We were off to the hospital!

We drove straight across the street to the hospital and got checked in. The nurses took turns stabbing and poking and prodding me - 3 needle sticks to try to start the IV. Needless to say, it hurt like hell. We got to the hospital around 1:00 and I was in surgery by 3:30! It was the most surreal experience ever. It was also slightly scary. Once my epidural was placed (and worked like a charm, thank GOD!), my heartrate dropped. So did Abby's. They had me switch positions a few times and started me on oxygen. A few medications later and all was well. When my doctor came in to check on me before surgery I asked her about the decelerations in Abby and she said it was no big deal and not bad at all. I felt much better.

I was wheeled into surgery and Brad met me there. It seemed like just a few minutes and we heard the most beautiful sound in the world - Abby's sweet little voice. I cried like a baby before I ever even saw her. The doctors cleaned her up and wrapped her in a blanket and brought her straight to me. I was worried that, having a c-section, I wouldn't get to hold her at first. I was wrong - I was able to wrap my arms around my sweet girl and kiss her all over. The nurses took Abby and Brad to the recovery room to give Abby a bath and weigh her while I was being stitched up.

Within 30 minutes we were back together again and I was able to nurse her for the first time. It was then that I heard her weight - 7lbs 11oz and 19.5 inches long!! She was a peanut! She was born at 37 weeks and 3 days on May 31st. They checked her blood sugar (because of my gestational diabetes) and she got 2 consecutive scores that were too low, so they had to give her a bottle of formula and take her to the nursery for a few hours. I was crushed, but knew that I had no choice - I asked. My heart rate was too high in recovery, so they kept me a little longer and consulted my OB. More on that later.

We were brought to our room, where my mom was waiting. We got to visit for a little while and they finally brought Abby back to me. She was the tiniest little thing I've ever seen! Her feet are honestly like baby doll feet - I don't think that socks exist that would stay on her. Have I mentioned, she looks JUST like her mama?? I've got to scan my hospital picture from when I was born - we look like twins. I must admit, it's nice that I finally have one child that resembles me ;) I got to nurse her again and just hold her and bond for a long time. They checked her blood sugar again and it was fine, so she was off the hook!

Brad stayed with me each night. That wasn't our initial plan, but it is what ended up happening. He went home to put Emma to bed each night, but then came back to the hospital to stay. Emma got to come the next day to meet her new baby sister. It was the most precious experience, getting to see her face light up - she was BEYOND thrilled! I am so happy for her and for what she has now in Abby. They are both such blessings.

Emma kept saying "I hold it?" and looking at Abby, so she got to hold her baby sister right away. I think she's as much in love with Abby as we are. Brad and his Dad and sister took Emma down to McDonald's for her first Happy Meal while the girls visited. My mom took Emma home that night (to our house) and got her to bed - the only person EVER to do that other than Brad or I. Brad was a tad bit sad. He was struggling with feeling very torn between needing to be with Emma and needing to stay with me and Abby. It all worked out well though. His sister took excellent care of Emma at our house while we were gone.

As I mentioned before, my heart rate was a little high in the hospital. My OB contacted my cardiologist (that I saw only when pregnant with Emma and having the same issue). He came twice to the hospital to check in and run some tests. He doesn't feel that it's anything to worry about, but wants me to have a follow-up EKG in a month or 2 to compare.

We were sent home on Friday around lunch time and were SO happy to go! Abby was down to 7lbs. 1 oz. and had a touch of jaundice. They kept checking her jaundice levels and scaring me to death, but they let us go anyway. Emma was overjoyed to see her sister again! She calls her "baby sister" and lights up every time she sees her. Not even a hint of jealousy so far!! Emma unfortunately got a fever of 102 a few days ago, so we had to limit their exposure for a few days. She's back to her old self now though!

Abby is such an angel baby. She's laid back and easy going. She only fusses when her diaper needs to be changed or she's hungry. She seriously never cries. She's the perfect baby! She's an excellent nurser and loves to eat, now that she's coming out of the "sleepy slug" phase. She scared us a bit at her doctor's appointment. She dropped down to 6lbs 11 oz and her jaundice wasn't going away. Luckily, one more weight check and a heel stick later, she was gaining weight.

I can't express in words how tiny she is to us! Maybe it's just because Emma was such a big girl (9lbs at birth), but she's so small!! She's like a little baby doll. We have to fold down the front of newborn diapers! Lots of people have asked me about my recovery. After experiencing a 4th degree tear with Emma, and a scheduled (somewhat!) c-section with Abby, I have a bit of "birth experience." I can now verify, the recovery this time around has been MUCH better!! I was off of all pain killers by the end of the first week, and am now only slightly sore when I move. I would do it again in a second. No doubt about it.

Abby's been sleeping on my chest as I type this, but is starting to wake up, so I'll end this with some pictures. More later!!

36 Weeks

2011-05-21T12:02:00.000-07:00

36 Weeks with Emma/36 Weeks with Abby

9 months today. I'm nearing the finish line - yay!! I adore being pregnant. I love feeling a baby kick and move, adore watching my growing belly stretch, and am beyond amazed daily with what a woman's body can do. I mean, do you REALIZE that it grows an entirely new ORGAN to sustain the baby??? Incredible. With that said.....I'm miserable. I can't lie.

I've reached the point where everything hurts. Parts I didn't know I had hurt. My back is in constant pain. Flipping over in the bed sometimes requires 2 people - THAT's how worn out I am. I have heartburn almost nightly. It hurts to pick Emma up out of her crib, put her on the changing table, or even into her high chair. Brad has 1 day of post-planning and then he's home for the summer so I'm SO happy! Not a minute too soon.

I had a pretty productive doctor's appointment yesterday. I saw a doctor that I really don't care for. The only other time I've seen her was the day that I found out I was miscarrying our first baby. She was insensitive, had a poor bedside manner, and was very "by the book." She was just...... a bitch. There, I said it. Having these twice a week visits though, and trying to work around other people's schedules so they can watch Emma, means that I don't really get to pick and choose who I see every time. I also know that I should have at least one visit with each doctor there because you never know who will be on call when you deliver.

Well, I still don't like her, but she was productive! We discussed my NST (non-stress test) results. Abby was looking VERY healthy. In fact, maybe TOO healthy. She wouldn't hold still and kept getting mad at the monitor, so a 20 minute test took over an hour. Little booger. She had great heart accelerations and movement, and the doctor was very happy with that. I didn't have any contractions this time, so I was happy too. She asked about my "plan" and whether or not I wanted a vaginal birth or c-section. As I think I've probably mentioned several times before, I had a terrible tear with Emma. She was 9 lbs and it took 4 hours in the OR to stitch me up and, let's just say, things will never be quite the same. After discussing that with this doc, she told me that she thought that was a prime reason to get a c-section (my insurance company won't cover an "elective" c-section). She said that she wouldn't even want me to labor with a 6lb. baby, much less one "this big."

After spending a bit of time feeling my belly and the baby, she made a guess on her size. 7-7.5 lbs!!!!! ALREADY! AT 36 WEEKS!!!! Do you realize that most babies weight that much at 40 weeks?? Average for right now is around 6 lbs, if that gives you any idea. Yeah, she's gonna give my 9lb, 38 weeker a run for her money. So the doc emailed their surgery scheduler and now we wait. She said that the woman would be going back and forth with my insurance company and would likely call me sometime next week with their decision - AND likely to schedule my surgery!! I'm crossing my crossables that it works out. I know it sounds strange for me to be excited about surgery, but you just.don't.know. I'd so much rather be cut open and have Abby arrive safely than risk shoulder dystocia (google it!) or the long-term damage that I would likely suffer from having such a big baby.

Emma's been so sweet and funny lately. I honestly can't wait to see what she thinks of being a big sister. The only thing in the world that concerns me is the thought of being away from her for that long. It terrifies me. We've never been apart for a night, much less several. Our plan is for Brad to be with me in the hospital during the days, with his mother watching Emma at our house. At night, he'll go home to bathe and play with her and get her to bed. My mom will come stay with me in the hospital because I'll likely need a little help getting Abby and changing her, etc., after surgery. I think the most important thing is for Emma to be at home. Her whole life is going to change and I think it's really important for her to be in her own environment. We'll see how it goes!

I've got the nursery almost completely ready. I want to wash the curtains and the dust ruffle from the crib. I also have to wash her carseat cover, swing, and bouncy seat. Brad's already re-raised the mattress. I've washed and put away all of the newborn clothes and diapers. Emma's all settled in her big-girl room and loving it. I can hardly believe that we'll likely have a new baby girl in our arms within about 3 weeks....or less. I'm so excited!!! I can hardly wait to hold her and see who she looks like. I'm over the moon. SO in love with her already.

35 Weeks

2011-05-16T17:12:00.000-07:00

That's right. I'm 35 weeks pregnant. I can hardly believe that the time has flown as fast as it has. With the whirlwind of a crappy year that we've had, it's so nice to have something so happy and joyous to look forward to now. It's incredible to think that I will be holding a baby anytime from tomorrow until 4 weeks from now. It's been a really smooth, and really pleasant pregnancy so far. I've felt pretty good (up until the last week or so), haven't had the re-occurrence of morning sickness that I did with Emma, and have had really great doctor's reports and ultrasounds.

The tentative "plan" is to wait until I'm around 38-39 weeks pregnant and do an ultrasound. It will likely show (or they'll MAKE it show!) that Abby's huge and recommend scheduling a c-section around week 39. I had a really hideous tear with Emma and the doctor has informed me that, while it may not happen again, the damage is cumulative. My insurance won't cover an "elective c-section," but we're trying to make it work. Particularly because it looks like Abby's gonna be a big girl too. My gestational diabetes diagnosis also means that she has a much higher risk of being big.

Abby looks gorgeous in her ultrasounds - and looks NOTHING like Emma did! The ultrasound tech even told me at my last appointment that she appears to have a full head of hair! I can't even IMAGINE what that would be like. I can barely get bows to stay in Emma's hair now, even if she would let me!

She's a big girl. She was in the 67th percentile at my last ultrasound and likely now weighs in around 6 lbs. According to my pregnancy journal from Emma's pregnancy, by next week, she was registering at 6lbs. 13oz. Abby has been almost the exact same size that Emma was at each ultrasound, so it will be curious to see how big she is at my next ultrasound appointment.

I'm now going twice a week to the doctor. Yep. Twice a week I get to find someone to watch Emma, drive 30 minutes in traffic to the doctor's office, be hooked up to a non-stress test machine for at least 20 minutes, and then have an appointment with a doctor. It's not pleasant. I know that it's important for Abby's health though, so I do it anyway. The reason for such frequent visits is my gestational diabetes. It's very well managed right now, but around the time that we lost my Dad, the doctor thinks that stress caused it to get a little crazy.

They look for fetal movement, elevations and dips in her heartrate, and contractions. I DID have a few contractions at my last appointment, but the doctor said that it didn't appear to be a "labor pattern," and wasn't too concerned.

Abby's so precious already. She moves a TON. She never stops. She's head down and gets the hiccups a lot. She is so much more well-behaved than Emma was in-utero! Emma used to keep me up all night kicking, and hated it if I laid on my left side. Abby hasn't done any of that. She DOES wake up a lot right before we go to bed, but she eventually calms down and I don't feel her the rest of the night. Her kicks still creep Brad out pretty bad. They're VERY strong and you can really see them through my clothes. She's reached the point where you can feel a foot/knee/leg, etc. as it moves across my belly. Sweet, but a little creepy!

She kicks Emma's butt (literally) every night. After Brad puts her jammies on her, she sits in my lap for stories and prayers. Abby has a pretty good sense of humor because she will wake up and start kicking Emma HARD in the booty. I don't think Emma has really noticed it yet though - that night time diaper is pretty darn thick!

She's very high in my belly, and I got my first case of heartburn today. Emma was usually considered to be fairly low throughout my pregnancy, causing a ton of hip and pelvic pain. **knock on wood** I haven't had any of that with Abby. It's really been a very different pregnancy. My face hasn't broken out as it did with Emma, my heart hasn't raced, I'm not out of breath often, and though my back hurts like HELL, that's really my only discomfort.

Since we moved Emma into her big girl room, we've been working to clean out the nursery and get it ready for Abby. I've already washed all of the newborn clothes (was Emma EVER that small??) and have even started washing the newborn diapers. They're SO cute!!

We plan to use disposable diapers only as long as we feel like we need to. I've got infant prefolds and covers, and borrowed some newborn diapers from a really sweet lady that we met in Helen, GA on our last vacation with Emma - we bonded over cloth! I've got a case of newborn diapers, but don't plan on needing much past that point. I feel like we are already doing the laundry with Emma's diapers, and some extra isn't a big deal. We're already in the swing of things.

Just as soon as Brad gets done with school (Monday is post-planning and then he's DONE!) we're going to get the co-sleeper, swing, bouncy seat, etc. out of the basement and washed and ready to go. It won't be long now!

I can't wait to hold this sweet little baby in my arms. I also can't wait to see how Emma is with her new sister. I'm so incredibly happy for both of them and the bond that I know they will share as they grow.

The first picture is 35 weeks with Emma. The second is 35 weeks with Abby. I think they look darn near identical - including the fact that I look and feel like a cow in both of them!! ;)

Happy Times

2011-05-16T09:16:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged lately because, to be honest, I've felt like I was under a rock. I'm slowly starting to emerge and get my feet back under me. I PROMISE to be a better blogger very soon. It's certainly not been for a lack of hysterical new things Emma does! I thought I'd take a minute to jot a few funny things she says/does down so that I can remember them in the future. She literally says something new every.single.day. She keeps us amazed.

She's in her new "big girl" room now (still in a crib, but in her newly-decorated room). Her grandmother and grandpops gave her a ladybug that projects stars and the moon (some of her favorite things) on the ceiling. She's in LOVE. When Brad puts her in bed at night, she gets to request which color she wants the lights. It's usually "ba-loo." She loves baloo.

Her newest favorite show is "ba-loos ba-loos." AKA Blue's Clues. She's so funny. She has really been paying attention and comprehends so much of what she sees. She loves Sesame Street (mostly Elmo), Blue's Clues, Peppa Pig, and, of course, Yo Gabba Gabba. I try to keep it educational!

She gets VERY concerned if anyone cries - particularly any animal noises. She says, "she CRY!" I can't wait to see how THAT goes once there's a crying baby in the house!

She calls me "mommys." I'm not sure why. It's precious.

She calls Brad "Daddy" or "Pappy." If she hears me call him, she'll also call him "Bad" (Brad). Cracks me up. He doesn't particularly think Pappy is as funny as I do, but I don't really care. ;)

She adores air-pains. She will drop whatever she's doing to stop and listen to them or look for them when she hears one. She'll put her hand to her ear and say "listen! Hear it?" If you ask her where the airplane is going, she'll say "air powt." It sounds British and is HYSTERICAL.

She loves to boss the dogs. She'll say "come OWN Lucy!" Yesterday she said "HUSH Bailey!" and "get down Lucy!"

She pronounces nearly every word perfectly, with the exception of the word "spoon." She says "boos." No matter how many times I try to get her to say it the right way, it is always a boos. We just go with it. She'll repeat anything you ask her to, and even some things you wish she wouldn't. ;)

She has incredible manners. She says "thank you" and "you're welcome" perfectly without prompting and knows what they mean - she always uses them appropriately. She has also started to say "puh leeeese?" when she wants something she knows she most likely shouldn't have.

Her improved language skills are a double-edged sword. She now frequently requests chocolate and ice cream for breakfast. If I tell her she may have them after dinner, she says "puh leeeese?" Um. No.

She's in the midst of the terrible twos. Her language skills have helped somewhat lately, but she will still get VERY angry over small things. She usually just screams, but has been known to very delicately sit down on the floor. She REALLY wants to lay down and beat her head on the ground, but knows it would hurt. If we ignore her (which we always do) she stands right back up and is over it. She's a mess.

She's gotten to be a picky eater. What's funny is that she doesn't like most "kid friendly" foods. She's not really big on chicken nuggets (unless they're from Chick-Fil-A). She HATES macaroni and cheese, soup of any kind, and most noodle dishes. Her favorite food in the WORLD is Zatarain's Jambalaya with Cheese and turkey smoked sausage. She also adores hot dogs (nitrate free), PB&J, pizza (sometimes), and anything I'm eating.

Her usual breakfast these days consists of waffles, oatmeal, cheerios with milk, pancakes, or Mama's cheese eggs. She always has fruit of some sort - bananas or raisins, usually. She loves PB&J or grilled cheese for lunch. On Fridays we go get Chick-Fil-A as a treat. She calls it "pillow" because she's decided that the "C" on the sign looks like a pillow. I have no clue why. She adores most fruits - particularly mangoes, bananas, blueberries, blackberries, pears, and GRAPES!

She still takes 2 naps a day. Her first is 2 hours after she wakes up, and she usually sleeps around an hour and a half. Her second nap is 2 hours after she wakes up from the first, and is anywhere from 1.5-3 hours. She also still sleeps through the night - 12-13 hours or so. She usually wakes up around 8:30 AM. She has also fairly recently gotten VERY attached to her lovies. She's got one that my aunt gave her as a baby shower gift, and another that my mom got her for Christmas when I was pregnant with her. She loves them equally.

She knows all of the essential body parts and can point to each of them. She knows where baby Abby is if you ask her. She likes to lift my shirt up and say "open" to my belly. She doesn't seem to "get" that it doesn't work like that!

She adores Lucy - they are best friends.

We're starting to experiment with potty training. She seems interested, but doesn't mind having a wet or dirty diaper, and WON'T sit on the potty for more than 30 seconds at a time. We'll get there, but I think it will be after Abby gets here. It's not like I'm wasting money on diapers after all!

My goodness. That's all I've got time for. She's dancing in her crib as we speak - I'm watching her on the video monitor. More later!

Gone

2011-04-17T20:11:00.000-07:00

I can't write much about this right now, because I just can't. Maybe one day soon I will, but not now. It's too fresh and my guts and my heart have been ripped open with loss and an emptiness that I can't even begin to explain. I want to be able to remember everything for my girls, but somehow, I don't think that I will need to write it down to remember every detail of every second.

My dad passed away on 4/15/11 at 4:08 PM in my and my Mom's arms. It was a beautiful and peaceful experience and I can only hope to feel as much love and peace as there was in that room when it's my time to go. He kept his dignity until the end, and passed away in his own bed - no needles, no poking, and no medication. He always DID choose his own path in life, and did things the way he wanted to - even in the end. We said our goodbyes, and a lot of words that I'd like to keep in the privacy of my heart, and then he went to sleep.

His funeral is tomorrow and I'm praying for the strength to make it through it. Mom and I are taking things minute by minute. The grief swells in waves, but is always there. A constant "hum" in the background of every conversation, every exchange. The tears flow several times a day, often unprovoked. I'm sure it will be that way for a long time.

For now, we have our precious Emma to love on and "nuggle nuggle" with, and sweet Abigail to prepare the way for. It's an incredible blessing to have those sweet girls to go on for. They will never know how much they've helped us all make it through these last few days, weeks, months.

Thank you all for the prayers, food, and general outpouring of love. We love each and every one of you and you have helped to ease the pain of our loss. We are eternally grateful.

Dad

2011-04-14T11:51:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I did an updated post on my Dad, and his health has declined quite a bit since then. If I remember correctly, the last post I did was shortly after he stopped taking Tarceva, the chemo pill. He had been having nausea and diarrhea and had lost a good bit of weight. Well, that was when the floodgates opened.

He began actually vomiting a couple of weeks ago. He ate his last "meal" about 2 weeks ago this Sunday. He began to refuse to eat, knowing that he'd be sick if he did. He would eat a bite of food and vomit. He had an upper GI test done that showed 2 ulcers in his stomach, which would explain some of his stomach pain, but not the nausea. He was prescribed more anti-nausea medications than I can count, and none really helped. He began needing IV fluids daily because he literally wasn't eating or drinking anything. A home health agency has been sending a nurse out every day to give him IV fluids. It's been a huge event.

Last weekend his doctor recommended upping his anti-nausea medications to see if it would help. Within a day or 2, he began getting very disoriented and confused. It has gone downhill from there, despite changing the medications.

Right now, not much of what he says makes any sense. He mumbles and whispers and it's nearly impossible to understand what he's saying. Even when you DO understand, it is so incoherent. He talks about my grandpa like he just spoke to him yesterday, and tells you about their entire conversation. He's just in another world. On top of that, he's incredibly weak. He can't walk on his own and frequently bumps into things or falls, even when he's being helped to walk. He's still as stubborn as always, and keeps insisting that he needs to jump up out of bed to go SOMEWHERE. He can't be left alone - even for a second. He's a master at silently getting up if someone leaves the room for a second. In fact, the other night he managed to get out of bed, make coffee, go in the garage, and make it back into the living room. He was completely disoriented when my mom found him. It's very scary because there's NO telling what he could manage to do if he was alone.

My mom has been by his side nonstop since this all began. She gets no breaks. He isn't really sleeping, and is keeping them both up all night. If it's not constant trips to the bathroom, he's insisting that there's blood all over his hands, and getting belligerent when she tries to explain things to him. He's been "packing up the camper" as well. During the day, he is only "sleeping" for a few minutes at a time. When he does, his hands are often near his face, moving as if he's acting out his dreams. It's perhaps the saddest thing I've ever seen.

My aunts have been taking turns helping my mom and trying to provide her some bit of relief. I've been going over daily, but it's very hard because it's impossible for me to bring Emma with me and be of any use. I have to wait until Brad's home and can either watch her at our house, or watch her at Mom and Dad's while I visit with them or sit with Dad while my mom takes a bath. I don't really feel like I'm able to do any good, but I'm trying to be strong for my mom in anyway that I can. I have no idea how she's done this for so long. She's the truest testament of true love and of loving someone "in sickness and in health" that I've ever known. She's also the strongest person I've ever known. If you had ANY idea what she's gone through and put up with in the 30 years they've been married.......

On Tuesday my Aunt Nancy and Uncle Jim helped my mom take Dad to have an MRI. The doctors wanted to check his brain and see if the cancer had metastasized there, or if it was something else causing the dementia. His nurse came last night and was unable to even get a vein for an IV, despite she and my Aunt Nancy (who's a nurse) trying over and over. This morning my mom heard from the doctor's office. His brain scan was clear. However, it appears that his body systems are shutting down. She's waiting to speak to the doctor himself, but we've pretty much accepted that it's almost time to say goodbye. Hospice has been called and a nurse should be coming by the house sometime today.

In the end, I have to accept that he's made this decision himself. HE chose to stop eating weeks ago, and still refuses food when offered several times a day. There's nothing else anyone can do. At this point, IV fluids are just prolonging the inevitable. In some way, I'm so glad that he's so incoherent and unaware of what's going on around him. My worst fear has been his last moments and somehow, knowing that he will hopefully be unaware of the reality of what's happening is truly a blessing right now.

We're all devastated and would really appreciate your prayers during this difficult time. And thank you all for the prayers that you've been praying - they are being answered, even though only God knows what is best right now. I can't even begin to explain how terrified I am with what I know is about to happen. I'm trying to be as strong as I can, because I know that when it finally happens, it's going to take all that I have to avoid crawling under a rock and never coming out. I'll be 31 weeks pregnant in a few days. My only hope had been that Dad would be able to hold Abby. We know now that that won't happen. Devastation.

29 Weeks

2011-04-03T08:17:00.001-07:00

The first picture is 29 weeks with Emma. The second is 29 weeks with Abby. I actually don't see a really huge difference between the 2 this week. In past weeks, it was pretty obvious that Abby was bigger. I have an ultrasound tomorrow, and can't wait to see how big she actually is. According to my weekly pregnancy emails, she's supposed to be around 2.5lbs this week.

I've been feeling really good lately. This pregnancy (aside from the gestational diabeetus) has been SO much easier on me than Emma's pregnancy. Looking back on my posts from back then, I was in SO much pain and was already seeing the cardiologist for my fast heart rate. At my last appointment, my heart rate was below 80. With Emma, my resting heart rate was often 140.

I'm also not in the tremendous pain I was with Emma. My pubic bone hurt TERRIBLY, and the back pain was almost unbearable. So far (knock on wood), I've had some back pain, but nothing too bad. Emma's been coming up to me and pointing to my belly and saying "Baby? Abby?" She's going to be such a good big sister. I can't wait to see my girls together.

I'm really looking forward to holding this sweet girl in my arms. I was talking to Brad a few days ago about what is going to be different "this time around." I don't think we've made any major mistakes with Emma so far (SHE may have something else to say about that once she's a grown up!), but I think I will be SO much more relaxed. I remember being terrified that she wouldn't latch to nurse her. I was stressed out and crying, she was stressed out and crying....Brad couldn't do much aside from sit back and watch helplessly. This time around, I know that she won't starve. She WILL latch and I WON'T think of offering her a bottle. I WON'T listen to the nurses in the hospital who tell me that I should just give her a bottle if she seems hungry. I know that I can do it, I know that she can do it.

I won't worry so much about her getting her days and nights straight right away. There's not much you can do for those first few weeks, and I plan to soak up every second of those "wide awake in the middle of the night" moments. They're often the sweetest. I know how precious that time is, and how quickly they grow. As much as I adore Emma and the age she is now, my heart still breaks that she's not my little baby anymore. I try to get her to let me hold her and play "baby," but she's not having it!

I have my ultrasound and OB check-up tomorrow and Brad's going to be able to come with me! He hasn't seen Abby on an ultrasound since I was 18 weeks pregnant. He's got Spring Break this week, as does my mom, so she's going to come watch Emma for us. I can't wait! I'll let you all know how big she is when we're back.

I Love You

2011-04-01T12:10:00.000-07:00

Emma is growing up SO fast that it kills me! She's just been the most precious girl lately. She's so affectionate, and so sweet. She's also talking non-stop - seriously! I thought I'd spend a post talking about some cute things she says/does these days.

Stuff she says a lot....

I stuck.
I love you.
Thank you
Airplane
Baby CRY!
Where it go?
Go car? Mimi....Bailey? (she asks me this after EVERY nap!)
Nuggle nuggle (what we call 'snuggling' in the bed)
Come on!
All ready.
All done.
Come on Lucy!
Let's go!
Ok, ok, ok.
Waffle
Strawberry
Coke!
French fry
dipey
Gullah (from one of her favorite shows, Gullah Gullah Island)
Gabba (Yo Gabba Gabba)
Awesome!
Elmo
Night night dipey
Sauce. (pronounced saush)
Up above the... (when she wants us to sing Twinkle, Twinkle.)
Shhhhhh! Quiet.

We discovered a few weeks ago that she knows the last word to every line of her favorite song - Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. For example, I sing "Twinkle Twinkle little......" and she says "star." She knows the whole song that way!

I was folding her diapers the other day and she was helping. She picked up a stack of some of the inserts from her overnight diapers. I told her they were her "night night diapers." She proceeded to lay her head on them and say "night night dipey!" She STILL remembers that and does the same thing every time I fold diapers.

Yesterday while I was on the phone with my mom (I have a witness!) Emma walked up, pulled up my shirt and said "Baby Abby." "Abby come?" I was blown away. I rarely talk about that with her because I don't want to confuse her too much. It blew me away how much she understands.

She adores airplanes and has to stop dead in her tracks every time she hears one.

She will walk up to me and kiss me and say "I luh yee." It's the sweetest thing in the whole world. Check out the video!

She's very concerned about things "crying" these days. We went to the Yellow River Game Ranch and every time she heard an animal she said "oh no! Cry!" It was so cute.

My Sweet Little Booger Butt

2011-03-13T18:49:00.002-07:00

It's been far too long since I've uploaded some pictures of Em, so here you go. She's just the sweetest thing lately. We have SO much fun together. I told Brad the other night, I was expecting to have a holy terror on my hands by this age. She just seems to get more affectionate, better behaved, and more fun as the days go by. This week she's started to ask "where it go?" with her hands in the air. It's the cutest thing EVER!!

The other day we went to Trader Joe's. The cashier said "hey, cutie!" to Emma. Her response? "Hey, cutie!" We just about died. She's talking SO much these days. Every day she comes up with new words and puts together more words. Right now she's combining 3 or so. Her favorite song is Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. She gets us to sing it by saying "up above the....." Precious. She loves to say "come on, Lucy." She sounds so country with that one though - it usually sounds like "come own, Lucy." She also learned how to knock on doors, thanks to her Mimi. There's nothing like being in the restroom and hearing what sounds like an adult knocking on the door, only to find out it's Emma!

She's quite the little eater too. If it's spicy, she wants it. Her favorite meal of all time is jambalaya with turkey smoked sausage. She will eat TONS of it. She also likes white bean chicken chili, spaghetti (well, she hates spaghetti noodles, but loves penne, ziti, or whatever else with marinara sauce). She adores beans or peas of any kind. She hates green beans these days, but loves corn, green peas, sweet potatoes, baked potatoes (with plenty of butter, salt, pepper, and cheese!). She eats waffles just about every morning. They're easy, and I'm guaranteed that she'll eat them. She also loves cheese eggs, but only if mommy cooks them. Daddy found that one out the hard way!

She's an excellent sleeper. She goes to bed around 8:30 or so, and we don't hear a peep until 7:30-8:30 the next morning. She has to sleep with Brobee and Muno (from Yo Gabba Gabba.) I've tried taking one out, but she notices and asks for him. She's a mess. I'm not going to complain though!

We're getting her big girl room ready. Brad is still in the very slow process of cleaning out what WAS our guest bedroom/office/dumping ground for all of Brad's......well, let's be honest. Crap. We're going to paint the walls a pale pink and she's getting black and ivory toile bedding. Her furniture will also be white. I can't wait to see it come together! We plan to transition her well before Abby comes, so that it's not all new. We're going to borrow the white crib that my parents have and aren't using, and let her use that until she is really ready for a toddler bed. Why mess with 12 hours of uninterrupted sleep?? We have a toddler bed that I got off of Craigslist for $20, waiting to go. We ALSO have a twin bed and mattress that she can use next. We're all set!

I am so happy that she's getting a sister. A brother would have been a blessing too, but I've always dreamed of a sister and am SO glad that Emma will get to experience that. She'll never be alone. Never have to make decisions alone. The older I get, the more I wish I had that. I'm so blessed that Emma will. I can't wait to see the two together. Emma will be the bossy "Angelica" sister (from Rugrats, if anyone remembers that!). I can see it now. I can't wait!!

26 Weeks

2011-03-13T18:08:00.001-07:00

So that was 26 weeks pregnant with Emma, followed by 26 weeks pregnant with Abby. I'm cracking up. Why is it that I had a full-time job, was tired all the time, and going through my first pregnancy, and I looked 100 times better than I do now?? Hysterical. I guess this is more of a picture to show you what chasing around a 20 month old all day can do to a girl. In reality, I think I was better about getting right up on Saturday mornings, getting makeup on, and having Brad snap pictures, than I am now. Now it usually occurs to me to have him take them at night, after a full day of exhaustion! I think the belly looks a little bigger with Abby though!

I'm doing pretty well. Feeling good, other than a lot of back pain and being tired all the time. Emma's started to point to my belly and say "baby," which is funny because we really don't talk about it too much. I don't want to confuse her and don't know how much she has the capability to understand. We DO read several books about babies in mommy's belly and she loves them. Maybe that's where it came from.

I have my monthly OB visit tomorrow. Things, medically speaking, have been going very well. At my last Perinatology visit, the doctor even dismissed me! She said that my doctor's office was doing a very capable job of managing my GD and that I was doing great. My blood pressure was excellent, and, pending no further complications, I don't have to go back! I'm thrilled. It was more than a notion to make it to 2 appointments a month. I will still have to have 2 per WEEK later on in my pregnancy, but I'll cross that bridge when it comes. Besides, Brad will be out for the summer for most of that time.

I've been really enjoying Abby this week. She's just so sweet - even on the inside. She NEVER keeps me up at night like Emma did. She will occasionally let me know that she doesn't like the position I'm in, but she's very nice about it. :) She has some BIG kicks that I was even able to catch on video the other night. It creeps Brad out beyond belief. I think he's watched to many science fiction movies.

Can't wait until tomorrow to hear her precious heartbeat again!

1st Haircut!

2011-03-01T12:07:00.000-08:00

Miss Emma's hair. What can I say? There hasn't ever been much of it, but lately it's been weird. The front isn't really growing. I can get a tiny clip to stay in it, if she doesn't notice me putting it in. The back is a different story. The hair on the back of her head, in the center, grows. The underneath doesn't. So she's had a bit of a rat-tail. It was getting out of control, so Mommy decided it had to go. Daddy wasn't too happy with me, but maybe he should have been paying attention during the conversation where I told him what I was going to do and he said "ok." He'll learn!

Before:

She was an angel. She sat in her Mimi's lap eating a banana. She only freaked out a little towards the end when she realized that something weird was going on, but she never cried. She only shook for a minute! ;) I'm pretty darn sure her hair is going to be my color. It's exactly the same shade as mine was at her age. Brad's was WHITE when he was tiny. Not sure about any curls though. Mine didn't curl until high school, so we'll have to wait and see.

After:

Sometimes I think he must love her as much as I do.

The Dreaded "C" Word

2011-03-01T11:44:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted any updates on my Dad in quite awhile, and there have been some pretty recent developments, so I thought I should. He was diagnosed with lung cancer about 2 years ago (I think it may have even been longer, because I don't think I was pregnant with Emma yet.) He had it surgically removed and all of his scans showed no signs of cancer. Several months ago, after having regular PET scans to detect it, we learned that his cancer was back, and in his "healthy" lung. The doctors felt pretty positive about his prognosis and prescribed chemotherapy.

He has undergone several months of chemo treatments and hasn't felt great through them, as was to be expected. He hasn't lost any hair, or vomited. However, he's got no energy, has had a terrible upset stomach, and has lost a ton of weight because of his lack of appetite and nausea. Throughout the chemo he would undergo scans to determine how well the chemo was working. The doctors felt fairly good about his treatment. After his last "big" chemo treatment, the doctors said that, while his tumors had not gotten any smaller, they were not growing either. This was good news and the doctors hoped that maintenance chemo treatments would keep the cancer stable.

Unfortunately, we found out on February 18th that this wasn't the case. His tumors had grown and had somewhat spread. The doctors don't feel that the chemo worked as well as they had hoped for because, if it did, this wouldn't have happened. Therefore, chemo was not another viable option. At this point there is only one possible treatment that may give him some more time. It's a very expensive pill regimen which has some nasty side effects. Many insurance companies will not cover it, so we were told to expect it to take weeks to be approved, if it would be at all. Luckily, my mom got a call the next day that the prescription was approved and he could start taking it the following day.

That little bottle of 30 pills would have cost over $4000 without insurance. Incredible. Dad started taking the pills a few days ago and has since had a lot of nausea, dizziness, and stomach cramps. He's a bit of a baby when it comes to stomach issues, so he's certain it's the end of the world. Men..... Because of the nausea, he's not been eating.

This morning, after speaking to his doctor, the doctor wanted to see him. They are taking him off of the pills for the next few days to see what happens. He's also got a new prescription (he's got more than I can count) for nausea. He also got to go sit through an hour and a half round of IV fluids, and gets to do the same tomorrow for dehydration. If he would quit being stubborn and drink something, we wouldn't be in this position. But, being the stubborn, hardheaded (Brad says he knows now where I get it from!) man that he is, he's still refusing to eat or drink anything.

Please keep him in your prayers right now. If you talk to him, please try to stay positive. He's well aware of how serious this is, and needs to have something to live for. We need him to get some energy back, start eating and drinking, and back on those pills so that he has a fighting chance of seeing his grand babies grow up some more. We have no clue as to where things will go from here, or of an exact prognosis or timeline. I'm devastated to think that there's a possibility that he may never get to meet Abby on this earth. Pregnancy is difficult. But trying to stay positive and enjoy this pregnancy as I know I should, is nearly impossible. I'm overjoyed that God has decided to entrust Brad and I with another blessing, but I wish he wasn't taking one away at the same time. Please pray.

PICTURES!!

2011-02-12T09:39:00.000-08:00

So I guess I lied a little when I said that I hadn't been taking any pictures. In actuality, I've taken a ton of pictures - just not with the camera. I'm a bit addicted to my iphone, as is Brad. It's always with me and easy to pull out to snap a picture of something cute Emma does, or to take sweet pictures to send to Brad throughout the day. In fact, while he watched Emma when I had an OB appointment yesterday, I think he sent me 5 or 6 pictures!

So, here they are, in no particular order. (Though they were all taken over the last 3 weeks or so!)

While I think that most of these are self-explanatory, there are 2 I'd like to tell you about. "Prison Break" was hysterical. She had just finished her breakfast and I was cleaning up the kitchen while chatting with my mom online. The next thing I knew, Emma got too quiet. I turned around to see that she had pulled a pillow off of the sofa and was using it to attempt to climb over the baby gate - silently! I just about died. Hysterical.

The one of Emma and Brad that doesn't have a caption was one of the sweetest moments. After I gave her a bath, Brad lotioned her up and put on her jammies. She sleeps in a sleep sack (wearable blanket) because she would get cold otherwise and won't keep on a blanket. So in this picture she's wearing her jammies and her sleep sack and she and Brad are watching a little bit of Yo Gabba Gabba just before time for her bedtime stories and prayers. She's just absentmindedly playing with his beard. How sweet is that??? They are so in love with one another - makes me one happy Mama.

So now you can see why I like the iPhone better than the camera these days. The camera may take better pictures, but I don't have it strapped to me 24/7 and would have missed nearly ALL of these moments otherwise. By the way, the picture quality was pretty good to start out with, but I used the "Polarize" app on my phone to make them a little "different." Hence the old-fashioned looking quality. I'll try to upload them more regularly now because it was SO much easier than using pictures off of the camera!

Boring Update...

2011-02-01T09:06:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately, I've been slacking on my job as the family photographer lately, and haven't had any new ultrasounds from which to post pictures. That means that this will be a boring post. Sorry! I'm mostly posting this update for my own benefit later on, as I've found my blog VERY useful during this pregnancy because I can look back on when I was pregnant with Emma and see what happened and when.

I have been following my GD (gestational diabeetus) diet pretty stringently. I have 2 carb servings for breakfast and each of 3 snacks, and 3 carb servings for lunch and dinner. It's no fun. Trust me. As a pregnant woman, the LAST thing you want to do is read every single package before you make a meal choice, or restrict yourself from something you're craving. But I'm doing it. Daily.

My glucose levels have been pretty well regulated. During the day, I have control of my levels to some extent. What I eat pretty much denotes how high my blood sugar will be. I can exercise to lower it a little if I've had a little too much. I've done really well with this. The only hard part is getting in enough protein - I've NEVER had this much daily protein in my life! I've discovered the joys of low-fat Greek yogurt - they have the most protein of any other snack that I can come up with. And they're good!

As good as my daily levels have been (unless I eat pizza or something else naughty), my fasting levels first thing in the morning were higher than I'd like them. The doctor wants to see them below 95, which they sometimes were. Then they crept up, 96, 98, 101. Unfortunately, there's not much I can do about my fasting levels. No matter WHAT I had the night before, it's completely out of my system when I test in the morning. According to my perinatologist, these morning levels tell you the most about how your body is handling the GD.

So I emailed my nurse practitioner and started on a low level of Glyburide, to lower my levels some. So far, so good. I still have to be very mindful of what I eat, but, for the most part, my morning levels are lower. So that's where I stand. I have an appointment with my regular OB in 2 weeks or so, and then my monthly appointment with the perinatologist for an ultrasound and check-up. I'm hoping all goes well with both!

Can't believe I'm 20 weeks already. It has flown. This week I've been feeling lots of kicks and movement, which I hadn't felt much of up until now.

Emma's doing great. She's an absolute angel lately. She's the sweetest, most affectionate, funniest baby I've ever seen. I'd love to freeze her like this forever!! Her new thing is to say "come on." She'll be ready for her nap and meet me at the door saying "come on baby." SO sweet! She also says everything in a really precious high-pitched voice. Melts my heart.

She's had 2 little accidents this week. :( She stayed with Brad's parents while Brad and I had a little date night. When we got back, we were just in time to see her trip and fall on her face on the hardwood floor. She got her first busted lip. Broke my heart. It only bled for a minute, and a popcicle did the trick of calming her down. Then, a couple of days ago, Brad was cleaning up her high chair after breakfast while she played in the living room. Unfortunately, the cats were locked in the room with her (I think Brad learned a new lesson on this one!). She loves to hold them down and "kiss" on them, pet them, follow them, chase them, etc. She has no fear. The next thing we know, Emma's got 2 little nicks on her nose and is hysterical. Brad went a little postal on the cats, which apparently amused Emma. It's really not very bad, but scared her nonetheless. I think they may have both learned a little healthy respect.

I'll try to remember to take more pictures this week! I promise!

It's a girl.....still!

2011-01-21T12:22:00.000-08:00

Because of my GD (gestational diabetes) and what my OB considers "borderline hypertension" I now get to see a perinatologist once a month. The good side to this is that we'll have LOTS of ultrasounds. The bad side? From my experience, the wait in a peri's office is never less than an hour in the waiting room. It sucks.

Brad took the day off to go with me to this first appointment because it was my BIG "20 week (even though I was 18.5) ultrasound." It's the one where they take a really close look at everything - particularly all of the parts of her heart and the different lobes of the brain. It's also usually the time that you find out the sex, though we already knew.

The ultrasound was great. Abby looks perfect. She's measuring exactly where she's supposed to, and her heart rate was great. She looks SO much like Emma did in her ultrasound pictures. She has a completely different nose though. I'm pretty sure it's mine. She was doing all sorts of flips and tumbles and liked to keep her feet up by her face. It was pretty funny. When the tech looked at her brain I said "OH! Thank GOD! It's not empty, so she definitely took after her Mama!" The tech cracked up, as did I. Not sure Brad found it that funny. ;)

We got to wait for a referral so that we could see the perinatologist himself. Not sure why, but hey. About 30 minutes later, after having to call Brad's sister in a panic because our appointment ran so long that my mom had to be back at work, we saw Dr. Eller. He was great. He said that my glucose levels look good so far and that he'll want to see me monthly for ultrasounds to check on Abby's growth. GD babies have a tendency to be big. If she's any bigger than Emma, I want no part of it! He said my blood pressure looked great to him, and that if I had any issues with it later in my pregnancy, he may want to see me bi-weekly. I'm hoping that that doesn't happen, but you never know what will creep up. With Emma it was my heart rate and I saw the cardiologist. With Abby it's my blood pressure and a perinatologist. Yay!

Here are some pictures of my little bug. Isn't she precious?? She's 10 oz. according to their calculations. I have felt several small kicks, but nothing as strongly as I did with Emma. At the ultrasound I found out why - I have an anterior placenta. That means that, rather than the placenta stretching along the top of my uterus, it's across the front. It makes feeling fetal movement early on a little harder because it's padded, but otherwise has no danger. Hopefully I'll start feeling some bigger kicks soon, though I do remember what it was like when Emma would wake me up at all hours of the night kicking me!

Little feet

19 week belly pictures. Emma had just woken up from a super long nap and was a little crabby. Can you tell? ;)

It's a........

2011-01-17T18:41:00.000-08:00

GIRL! Well, most of you probably already know that by now, but I'm still excited! I couldn't wait until 20 weeks to find out at my "big" ultrasound, so I scheduled a gender reveal at the 3D ultrasound office. She's ALL girl! I knew already. Honestly, everything in my head, heart, and body told me that our baby was a "she." With Emma, I started out thinking girl, then changed to boy, and was honestly surprised when we found out she was a girl. With this one, the ultrasound was mainly to prove it to Brad!

She, just like her big sister, had NO issue showing us the goods. No pride, I tell ya. She was just precious, even without fat under her skin. She was constantly moving and flipping around and the ultrasound tech could barely let us listen to her heartbeat for a few seconds because she kept moving. Just like her big sister already!

Her name will be Abigail Marie Gilchrist, and we'll call her Abby. Abigail was just a name that Brad and I both loved. Marie was my grandmother's (Dad's mom) middle name, as well as mine. I love that my 2 girls are named after such strong, special women.

Shortly after finding out the good news, I found out that I failed my 1 hour glucose test. After an agonizing 3 hour test (4 blood draws from my arm, and a good 3 hours waiting around the waiting room), I found out that I failed that one too. Not by a large margin, but enough to earn the diagnosis of "gestational diabetes." In all honesty, part of me has always wondered if I may not have had a slight case when I was pregnant with Emma. I passed both of my tests then, but she was 9lbs, and had low blood sugar at birth, which are both signs of GD in the mom.

So today I had my "diabeetus education" class. It was fascinating. Actually, it was as boring as hell. I learned a lot, but much of it was common sense and it was a LONG day. So now I get to continue testing my blood 4 times a day. Thanks to my sister-in-law who has type 1 diabetes, I had been checking my blood for about 2 weeks now with her borrowed monitor. I am on a special diet that includes counting carbs and eating every 2 hours. It's quite a life changer for me. But, as I told Brad tonight, I'd do anything for my girls.

I also had my regular OB appointment this afternoon which, conveniently, was just one floor down from the class. The doctor said that everything looks great with Abby and he wants me to stop taking Metformin (which I've been on since I was trying to get pregnant with Abby - it helps women with PCOS to ovulate). This may make my glucose levels a bit more unpredictable than they have been. We'll see. He also told me that he would be the one dealing with my GD, which made my day. I trust him SO much and have such a good relationship with him. I have my "big" ultrasound on Wednesday with the perinatologist. I'll apparently be seeing quite a bit of him as well, as they like to keep an eye on the baby's size as she grows. LOTS of medical intervention this time around, as it was with Emma. At least it's the perinatologist and not the cardiologist this time!

I know from experience, and from having a tough pregnancy and delivery with Emma - once you look into their eyes, it makes EVERYTHING worthwhile.

Merry Christmas/Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T17:44:00.000-08:00

We had SUCH a great holiday break! It was very busy, but fun. We went to the Christmas Eve mass that was the children's service at 4:00, and then to dinner at Brad's parents' house after. I wish I could say mass was a success, but Emma is at the age where she has no interest in holding still. We had to leave before communion :( Maybe next year!

We celebrated Emma's Grandpop's birthday with him on Christmas eve as well, and he read "Twas the Night Before Christmas" to her. I wish I had more pictures of that event. Emma was exhausted from a very busy day, no nap, and it was way past her bedtime. She listened like a good girl for all of 30 seconds (long enough for me to snap one picture) and then fell out like a demon overtook her little body. She arched her back, she screamed, she did her best imitation of the girl from The Exorcist. It was hysterical!

We looked at Christmas lights on the way home - one of Emma's favorite things to do. She sits in her carseat (that now faces front) and says "lights!!!!" She went to bed like a good little girl, but woke up earlier than usual. I think she was too excited to sleep.

We had the BEST time on Christmas morning. She really got excited this year. She still doesn't understand Santa (but is terrified of him, nonetheless) but she certainly understands presents! She had no interest in opening packages this year, but loved playing with her new toys that Santa left her.

Once we played for awhile and got dressed, fed, and ready to go, we headed to my parents' house to celebrate. We opened presents and had a great lunch - you can't go wrong with Honeybaked Ham! I think my parents just adored watching her open presents. She's really gotten into imaginative play lately, and got several "cooking" toys. She loved a Melissa and Doug cookie decorating kit, and brownie making kit (they're all wood). She had a blast.

We headed home for a nice nap, and when we got up it was time to head to Brad's parents house for Christmas #3. They got Emma a kitchen for Christmas! She adored playing with it with her Aunt Stacie. They had so much fun.

We had a few days to recover, and then left for Richard B. Russell State Park for a few days with them. If you are wondering where that is, head up 1-85 and once you start seeing nothing but cows and signs for South Carolina, you're nearly there. It was quite a ride!

We had a great time and it was such a nice getaway. We had one cabin and Brad's parents and Stacie had a cabin next door. It was great because Emma had her own room. She has a really hard time getting to sleep in new places. She's a creature of habit and her bedtime routine at home is IDENTICAL every night. I credit that with how good of a sleeper she is. Once she fell asleep, she slept through the night until around 8:30 both mornings. We celebrated Stacie's 25th birthday while we were there, and Emma certainly enjoyed her cake!

She has just been amazing us lately. Brad and I talk and talk about how much her speech has developed just over the last week or so. She says "bite" when she wants a bite of something. Here are a few others so that I can remember them down the line:

juice
Brobee (a character from Yo gabba gabba)
puppy
night night
car
no
more
down
grapes
cracker
cookie (as in "cookie monster")
Elmo
Abby (from Sesame Street)
Mommy
Daddy
Mimi
water
nose (she can identify all of the parts of the face, and some body parts)
flower (comes out "flow-ah" SO cute!)
hot
diaper
baby

She's just incredible. She's SO smart that it just blows my mind. The other day she pulled a step stool over to the stove at my parents' house when my Dad was cooking - we're in trouble!

I felt the baby kick for the first time yesterday! I think I had been feeling some little bitty kicks for a few days, but they were more pronounced yesterday. I felt even more today - this one likes to kick my bladder more than Emma did at this point! We find out the sex tomorrow, if baby will cooperate. Emma never had an issue with that - she practically sat on the ultrasound probe every time I had an ultrasound!

Can't wait to see whether Emma will have a brother or a sister!

Santa!

2010-12-14T11:48:00.000-08:00

Well I'm officially (pretty sure) in my second trimester!! It only gets more fun from here, from what I remember. My morning sickness is somewhat better. I still vomit every.single.morning, but that's usually the only time. We can hear the baby's heartbeat on the doppler that we rented and it's the best sound in the world, aside from Emma's of course. I have an early 4D ultrasound scheduled in 3 weeks to find out the sex - I just can't wait!!

Emma's been quite a pill lately. She had been really fighting her afternoon nap (she usually takes a morning nap and an afternoon one). She would lay in her crib and play for upwards of an hour before falling asleep. She was very happy to do that, but by the time she would fall asleep, it would be nearly time to wake her up or let her sleep and risk her not sleeping at night. A few days ago I decided to try and see if she was ready for 1 nap a day. Day 1 of the experiment she slept for about 1.5 hours. Not good. She usually gets a combined 3.5-4 hours during the day. Day 2 she slept for 2.5 hours, which was better. Day 3 she was back to barely 1.5 hours. On top of that, she's been a fuss bucket by dinner time. As if that weren't enough, as they say "good sleep begets good sleep." She went from sleeping a solid 11-12 hours a night, to waking up around 5:30 and rolling around and playing most of the morning. It just wasn't working. So today, we're back to 2 naps. I'm hoping she quits fighting that afternoon nap that she so desperately needs. Mommy needs the break!!

We had a really fun weekend. On Friday we had a playdate with my friend Mary and her little boy, Jack. Jack is almost 2.5 and is precious. Mary is about to pop Jack's baby brother out any minute now (fingers crossed!) and it was likely our last time to see them before they have a new addition. Emma loved playing with Jack. She gave him a run for his money! My girl has some attitude these days, and is quite a handful!

On Saturday we went to the Christmas party that my mom's job has every year. Emma got to play music (which she LOVED) run around, and visit.........the old man. We haven't talked much about him in our house because I wasn't sure what she'd think. Last year she was enamored. Every single picture I've seen of kids Emma's age lately have been "Santa Fail" pictures of screaming, terrified children. Well, Emma has her own to add to the pile! She was great while we were in line waiting. She walked around with her Mimi and watched other kids sit on Santa's lap. She seemed like she was going to be fine. Until I sat her on his lap. Every single bone in her poor little body stiffened up! She freaked out. After we got several pictures of said freak out, I took her and sat next to Santa. She was just as terrified. It made for some good pictures though! Enjoy!

Last Year:

This Year:

That last picture is sort of freaking me out - is it just me, or do I look exactly like my mother???

On Sunday it snowed!! It looked like a blizzard outside, but NONE of the snow stuck to the ground. We took Em outside very briefly so that she could see it and feel it on her face. She wasn't that thrilled. Brad and I got some more last minute Christmas shopping done at IKEA while the snow stopped.

It was a really nice and productive weekend. This is Brad's last week before Christmas break and we're READY! I can't wait for Christmas morning this year. It's going to be so much more fun now that Emma sort of understands and will be able to get excited about new toys and stuff. She loves looking at the tree, and has been an angel about not destroying it. We only decorated the top 2/3 just in case!

Now I'm off to address and stamp some Christmas cards! Happy holidays!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-12-01T17:33:00.001-08:00

Our newest Peanut

2010-11-30T18:26:00.001-08:00

Once again I have to start out by saying that I've been a very bad blogger lately. But....this time I have a very good excuse!! Morning sickness! As of today, I'm 11 weeks and 3 days pregnant with Emma's little brother/sister (I'd be willing to bet big money that it's a sister, but I haven't the money!). We're very excited. We had been really trying for about 3 months - much shorter than when we got pregnant with Emma! My goal was to plan things so that this baby would be due around the time Emma was so that Brad would be home for the summer to help me out. We did good - the due date is June 18th and Emma's 2nd birthday is June 22!

Ultrasound 7 weeks, 3 days

Like I said, I've had terrible morning sickness. I have been thinking that it's worse than with Emma, but after looking back at my pregnancy journal, it's really not. With Emma, I once got so sick and threw up so violently that I caused my cervix to bleed, and another time I actually broke blood vessels IN my eyeball. Gross. This time I've had a few broken blood vessels on my face, and lost 9 lbs, but that's it.

So far, things have gone pretty smoothly. My blood pressure has been a little higher than usual, but not "high" so the doctors are keeping an eye on it. Other than that, and the all-day nausea/vomiting, things are great!

We had a bit of a scare this week though. We rented a doppler to hear the heartbeat, as we did with Emma. We've been trying and trying for a week or so, but haven't heard anything. I told myself that I wouldn't panic until I saw my doctor (who I love tremendously and would likely want to marry were I not already married, and were he not playing for the other team). Well, Dr. D listened for a good 10 minutes. He pushed, poked, and prodded. He made my uterus contort into positions I didn't think possible, and nothing. He told me not to worry, and I tried not to. He wanted to squeeze me in for a quick ultrasound before worrying. He stuck his head in to tell me this, and asked how I was doing. I told him I was going to hold it together as long as he told me to. He came in and sat back down with me - that's what kind of doctor he is. Once he was satisfied that I hadn't lost all hope, he left and I waited.

By this point, my knees were shaking. I had already sent out a quick "please pray" on facebook because I know how much some prayer warriors can do in times of need. I prayed to every saint I could think of, and called my mom and Brad to ask them to pray too. The ultrasound tech came out and took me back to the ultrasound room.

I've had so many experiences in that very room. It was the place where I was first told that my baby wasn't developing properly. The place where I was told I was in the process of miscarrying. It was also the place where I heard Emma's heartbeat for the very first time. Many tears had been shed there - and I was a big mess. As soon as the tech put the ultrasound probe on my belly she said "it's jumping!" I burst into tears. She handed me tissues as she kept scanning. The baby had a perfect heart rate of 162. We watched it jump, flip over, kick, and move it's arms. I was in love. Only once have I ever been so relieved in my entire life - the day that I heard Emma's heartbeat after spotting and thinking I was miscarrying again. Praise GOD!! The pictures are a little blurry, probably because I was hysterical, but also because she was in a hurry! I think he/she looks a little like Emma did in her 12 week ultrasound. What do you think?

Profile Picture - his/her head is on the left

Sweet little foot :)

I got to see my doctor again and hear a "SEE! I told you not to worry!" The ultrasound tech thinks that I may have an anterior placenta, where the placenta is attached to the front of my uterus, making it a little harder to listen to a heartbeat or feel kicks. Then again, it's also a little on the early side to trust a doppler anyway. I felt SO much better! I go back right before Christmas for a regular appointment. We SHOULD be able to hear the heartbeat then, unless this little monkey has other plans!

Emma is doing SO well! She's just Mama's little angel. She's talking up a storm. She'll repeat just about any single word that you ask her to, or try to. She says "hot" and blows on food - even if it's not hot! My mom asked her if her doll needed a clean diaper. Emma sniffed the butt!!! We all cracked up. When we say her prayers every night, she ends it with "may-men." It's the sweetest thing I've ever heard. She's a climber, and has gotten into some trouble for climbing on furniture and looking at me with a guilty face while she does it. We've recently had to start implementing "time out" which is working beautifully. That Supernanny sure knows her stuff.

We had a great Halloween - Emma dressed up as a butterfly and trick or treated in Brad's parents neighborhood. We had a great time - and Brad even got to terrorize some little children while handing out candy. Would you believe that she left the hat on the entire time???

We're looking forward to Emma's second Christmas. It feels so strange to think that this is her second. She still is so much of a baby to me! She's going to get lots of great presents from Santa and her grandparents. We put up the tree (fake this year - think we'll start the tradition of a real tree next year once she's not trying to pull it over!). She loves it. We are going to decorate it this weekend. I can't wait to see what she thinks of it and of all of the Christmas houses and decorations. She's so much fun right now. She loves baby dolls, is very affectionate, and is just an angel. She'll often come up to me and get some "sugar" AKA wet mouth kisses! It's the sweetest thing. She thinks my Dad hung the moon. She runs up to him with her arms up every time she sees him. She can even say Grandaddy!

I feel like there's so much more to say, but I can't even think because I've missed blogging about so much. I'll update regularly now - I promise!!

October

2010-10-26T11:51:00.001-07:00

I've been a very, very bad blogger lately. I have my reasons. A lot's been going on! We've been busy getting ready for Halloween over here. Emma's going to be a pink and purple butterfly. It's the cutest costume I've ever seen - I'll be sure to get lots of pictures.

With all of the Halloween festivities, Emma's been having nightmares. She get scared of strange things very easily. We went to a pumpkin patch to get our "big" pumpkin and she saw a blow-up display of 3 witches stirring a pot. She was terrified. That led to her, screaming hysterically from the time we put her down to sleep until around 11:00PM. It's really sad. There's almost nothing worse in the world than the sound of your baby being scared.

Pardon the blur - the lighting was horrible!

Lots of things have induced nightmares lately. There's a rocking horse at my mom's office that scares her, our Jack-o-Lantern, a Snoopy singing toy that Brad's mom got her last Halloween (that was the WORST!). It's terrible. I'm really ready for Halloween to be over with so that she won't have such a hard time.

She's usually an excellent sleeper. She goes down to bed around 8:30 and sleeps until around 9:30 the next morning without waking up. She takes 2, 1-2.5 hour naps a day. She has a tendency to play in her crib for quite awhile before falling asleep though.

She's running everywhere! She's a busy little bee. She's talking up a storm as well. I sat down and made a quick list of her words:

Waffle

Hot

More (word and sign)

Mama

Dada

Grandpa

Lucy

Bailey

Love

Banana

Milk (sign)

Finished (sign)

Swing “weeeeee!”

Hello

Olivia

Quack

Baby

Grapes

Shit (my fault – I dropped something and said it and she repeated – but she’s only said it twice!!)

Raisins

Cracker

Meow

Bark, bark, bark (her version of a dog sound)

She recently got a new toy that she LOVES! A family that my mom sees at work was getting rid of a HUGE school bus toy that their son had outgrown. Brad went to pick it up for us and Emma LOVES it! You can tell by the pictures. Her favorite thing to do with it is climb it :( In fact, she'll climb just about anything these days.

She also got some new shoes! She has tiny feet - she wears a size 4 wide. Short, fat, little feet!

Another thing that's been going on is my Dad's chemotherapy treatments. He's been having a really tough time with them. He's had 2 treatments so far and is suffering a LOT from the stomach issues that go along with them. We're hoping and praying that it's doing some good and that he'll feel better soon.

I promise to be a better blogger soon!!

Happy Halloween!!!

Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-04T09:03:00.000-07:00

We had SUCH a busy and fun weekend! Friday was our 5 year wedding anniversary, so Brad's mom came over and watched Emma while we went to dinner and to run a few errands. Saturday we got up early to get on the road to Berry Patch Farms for the Pumpkin Patch! Every year my mom's company (Lekotek) has an event there, and we never miss it. Here's a post about last year's pumpkin patch adventures. This year it was SO much more fun! Our friends Mary and Jack met us there, and Emma was enthralled. There were animals to look at (turkey, baby cow, pigs, etc.) and tons of pumpkins. We took a hayride out to the pumpkin patch and Emma went to work picking out the best baby pumpkins she could find. She thought they tasted pretty good too!

When we got to the part of the patch with the BIG pumpkins, Emma was so excited that she never even turned around so that I could get a good picture. Oh well. I had to settle for several cute ones of the back of her head.
After we finished at the pumpkin patch, we hitched a ride on the hay wagon again and went back to the farm stand so that Daddy could pay for the little pumpkins. We discovered last year, it's not worth it to buy our BIG pumpkin there - they are EXPENSIVE!! We'll get that one this week.

As soon as we got back, Grammy found us and took Emma off to play. They had lots of fun. Can you tell??

And, my favorite picture from the entire day...

Wordless Wednesday

2010-09-29T08:47:00.000-07:00

Emma-isms

2010-09-17T08:54:00.001-07:00

Emma is changing SO much and doing so many new things everyday, I thought I'd write about some of them so that I can remember them down the line. She's so precious!

Talking - She says.....

Mama
Dada
Lucy*
Love, Love (when she's being gentle)*
cracker
baby
cheese
animal sounds - dog, cat, duck, cow, sheep, rooster
She signs "more" and just started signing "finished."
She can touch her head if you ask her where it is. We're working on other body parts!

*(her version of it)

What she's up to...

She is running everywhere! She rarely crawls anymore.
She climbs all over the house - the couch, her chairs, etc.
She's a good sleeper - 12-13 hours a night without waking!
Her naps are crappy - 45 mins. - 1 hour, twice a day. She needs more!
She is headstrong and impatient, just like her mommy!
She's got quite the temper, but isn't hitting as much anymore. She understands that it's a "no no."
She HATES having her diaper changed!
She has 4 teeth - top 2 and bottom 2.
She LOVES Lucy.
She loves to brush her teeth.
She knows "If You're Happy and You Know It."
She LOVES Yo Gabba Gabba - it's maybe her favorite thing in the world.
She is a great dancer - she "drops it like it's hot!"
She loves the computer. Brad loves finding fun youtube videos of kid's songs for her.
She is STILL hunting the carpet for cat fur, lint, etc. to put in her mouth. Yuck!
One of her goals in life is to eat dog food. No clue why.
When she disappears in the house, she's likely trying to "stir the toilet" with something, or tossing things into the bathtub.
She adores her Daddy and will bring me the phone and say "dada" so that we can call him and talk to him on speakerphone.
She STILL doesn't have enough hair for a hairbow. Maybe one day....
She is almost 15 months old.
She is mostly weaned - just nursing right before bed.
She is finally drinking whole milk in a sippy cup - she used to hate it.
She LOVES sweet tea - it's her favorite drink.
She loves taking a bath and loves her liquid vitamins, but hates getting her diaper and clothes on afterwards.
She is still cloth diapered full-time. We love it!
Mommy is very proud to have nursed her for over a year now! My finest accomplishment, aside from giving birth!
She loves the antique rocking chair her Aunt Claire gave her - she's recently learned how to sit in it and rock herself!
She loves to pull books off of her bookshelf, but will rarely sit still long enough for a book to be read to her.

Favorite Foods

bananas
yogurt
meatloaf
spaghetti (anything with red sauce!)
lasagna
peas
corn
green beans!
grilled cheese sandwich
peanut butter and jelly sandwich (though it gets EVERYWHERE!)
goldfish crackers
apple cinnamon Cheerios
CHOCOLATE! Thank you, Grandpa!
Yogurt Melts - AKA, baby crack
She HATES most meat, with the exception of the occasional Chick-Fil-A nugget, or meatloaf.

The Candy Bucket

2010-09-13T11:43:00.001-07:00

If I know one thing about my Dad, it's that he has a sweet-tooth. He always has. He LOVES candy! A few years ago I started a tradition. I bought him a Rubbermaid container and filled it with chocolate candy for his birthday. 3 Musketeers, Snickers, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Almond Joy, you name it - it's in there. Whenever his birthday, Christmas, Halloween, or any holiday that has great candy comes along, I re-stock the "candy bucket."

As soon as my Dad found out that I was pregnant, he started talking about "that baby." He couldn't WAIT until "that baby" was big enough for him to feed her candy. He said she'd go home from their house with her little fingers stuck together because of all of the goo-goo's and gaga's that he was going to give her. Well, the time has come.

Someone ELSE has discovered the candy bucket as well. Apparently, one night when Mom and Dad were watching Emma while Brad and I went to a movie, they shared a little secret that they didn't tell Mama. Emma had her first taste of candy! Yesterday, she hunted and hunted until she found it - the holy grail. She tried to pick it up and carry it herself, but it was too heavy, so she had a little help. Her Granddaddy was all too happy to help her bust into it. What ensued, was nothing, if not a photographic gem.

A fun-sized 3 Musketeers bar and a half of a Reese's peanut butter cup later, she still didn't think she was done. Needless to say, the candy bucket made a disappearing act. I really think that the fact that she's in nothing but a diaper and Dad's in his pajamas really adds to the "classiness" of the pictures. Don't you? ;)

Nana

2010-09-13T08:46:00.001-07:00

Last weekend we had a nice visit from Brad's Nana from Illinois, his sister, and his Dad and step-mom. It was the first time that Emma got to meet her Nana, and she hadn't seen Brad's Dad since her Baptism, so it was a nice visit! Emma LOVED playing with them and we had a nice time too! Here are some of the best pictures that I took - there were tons, but these were the cream of the crop!

It was actually a very LONG Labor Day weekend. My Grandpa's funeral was on Saturday. It was a very emotional day, to say the least. It was a very beautiful funeral for a very well-loved Grandpa. Following the funeral, we had a reception at my house for a LOT of people! Brad's family came the following day, and then we spent Monday trying to recover!

Tuesday, Brad went back to work. When he got home, Emma was waiting for him and got to take a ride down to the mailbox. How sweet are these pictures????

Dad had his biopsy on Thursday and it went well. We won't know anything until tomorrow. He has an appointment with the thoracic surgeon to get the biopsy and CAT scan results, and then an appointment with his oncologist on Thursday to get a "plan of attack." This has been a really tough week for us all. I have a really hard time talking about it at length, but I'm able to give the "just the facts, ma'am" of what's going on so far. Any more than that, and I'm usually in tears, so I try to shy away from that! I'll keep everyone posted when we find out more information. Hoping and praying for some good news!!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-09-08T18:55:00.000-07:00

Grandpa

2010-09-01T08:37:00.000-07:00

Once again, I find myself playing catch up for a couple of blog-less weeks. A lot has been going on and I just haven't had a ton of time to sit down and update. Emma has been sick as a dog. She caught some sort of "virus" that included several days of a fever and then turned into the runny-nose-that-never-ends. She literally had a runny nose for 3 weeks straight. I decided that Gymboree might be partly to blame because the child has never really been sick before, so we opted out of the last 2 sessions. I'm glad I only paid half price for it!

Aside from her being sick, we had been having a good couple of weeks. All of that came crashing down on Saturday. We were at Brad's parents house having dinner and had just told them that we were leaving the following morning to go visit my Grandpa in Thomson. No sooner did we mention that, then I got a call from my mom, letting me know that my Grandpa had passed away. He wasn't feeling well and laid down for a nap, but didn't wake up. I was crushed.

I've always been very close to my grandparents. They lived next door to me for a majority of my life and I have so many good memories of times spent together. I'm so glad that I have those. I'm also glad that we have so many pictures and memories of taking Emma to see him. When I was pregnant with her, I was so afraid that he would never get to meet her and devastated that my Grandma never would. His health has been slowly declining over the last couple of years. When Emma was about 6 weeks old we put her in the car and drove the 2 hours to Thomson, with her screaming the entire way - she HATED the car. I'm so glad that we did that. My mom put Emma on my Grandpa's chest as he slept and he woke up to Emma snuggled up with him. I will never forget that moment. We went back to Thomson as often as we could - traveling with an infant is tough. Grandpa has a few pictures of Emma that my Aunt Claire took and had framed that he used to look at and talk about her all the time. I'm so glad that he got to know Emma a little bit and that she brought some sunshine into his life. She does that for all of us. My Grandpa was an amazing man and he will be missed terribly, though I know in my heart that he's right where he needs to be - with my Grandma holding his hand.

Just as we were mourning my Grandpa, we got some more bad news. My Dad went in for his annual PET scan that he gets yearly now that he has had cancer. He and my mom went yesterday to get the results. It wasn't great. There is another spot in his healthy lung, which is inoperable because of his diminished lung capacity because they removed 1/3 of his other lung previously. His adrenal gland, which had been swollen for some time (not sure why) is now lighting up as possibly cancerous. He also has a lymph node that wraps around his voice box that is lighting up. We're not exactly sure where we stand. He has to have a biopsy of his lung next week, and we should know more then. He also has to set up an appointment with an oncologist and talk about treatment. There has been talk of chemotherapy.

Needless to say, we're having a tough time. We're all trying to stay positive until we know more. He's beaten cancer once, though it took a huge toll on all of us as a family. We're trying to remain strong and hopeful that this can be taken care of and that he will be victorious again. I'll keep you all updated as soon as we know more.

Please keep us all in your prayers. This is a really tough time for us and we need God's grace to walk this road one step at a time.

Catch Up

2010-08-08T17:30:00.000-07:00

I've been informed (thank you, Aunt Claire) that I need to put some more Emma pictures on here, so let me play catch up!

For my birthday we met Brad's sister, Stacie, and cousin, Madison, at the Georgia Aquarium! It was Emma's very first trip and she was mesmerized! She loved it! She was in a stupor for most of the trip - all she could do was stare! It was a good thing that we took separate cars from Stacie and Madison - Emma decided it was time to meltdown about an hour and a half after we got there, so we took the express route in expectation of that. We hit all of the big attractions that we knew she'd love and be able to get the closest to. It was SO much fun, as you can see! This picture was just as we walked in - the first fish she saw. She kept pointing and looking at me, and pointing. She couldn't believe her eyes!

Checking out the stingrays and the sharks. And yes, I DID touch a stingray, despite being stung by one a few years ago. And no, I didn't pinch him as I had told Brad I would. ;)

Looking at the otters with Daddy.

Unfortunately, we've been pretty sick around here lately. Brad had bronchitis, which he gave to me. Emma came down with a runny nose on Friday and woke up Saturday with a fever of 100.7 and a cough. Having only had one cold before (when she was 4 months old) and seeing as this was the first time she had a runny nose AND a fever, her overprotective Mama packed up and went to the pediatrician. We're SO lucky that our pediatrician's office has Saturday hours. We were only in the waiting room for a minute and the doctor was pretty quick to diagnose Emma as having a "virus." She said that it would likely last 7-10 days, with days 5-7 being the worst and most congested days. She also said we'd likely be dealing with the fever for 3-5 days. No prescriptions, no meds. Just a lot of liquids and the humidifier. The whole time she was talking I was sitting there thinking, "Didn't we JUST do this?? Didn't she JUST have 5 days of a fever???" The kid can't catch a break. Neither can her Mama.

Even more unfortunately, I now have a lot of sinus congestion and am still on the antibiotic for bronchitis. Hoping it goes away soon - it's no fun to be taking care of a sick baby when you feel like crap yourself. Ick.

Brad started back to work last Wednesday for 3 pre-planning days. His students start tomorrow. I think he's excited, but he'd never tell. ;) He gets really, really stressed out near the first day of school, and always has. He's been a little hard to live with the last few days, so Emma and I are looking forward to seeing the first day of school go ahead and get over with already!

Here are a few pictures of Emma from tonight. She was about to take a bath, hence the nekkidness. Brad was dropping her crib down for the last time because she's getting to be a big girl and we wanted to put in her crib wedge while she's sick (it elevates the head of the mattress so she can breathe better). With it in, she could likely have crawled over the top, so we lowered it. She was a good helper for Daddy! She pulled out plenty of books to read to him while he worked.

Gotta love the big old diaper butt!

Have I mentioned that she's walking???? She'll take up to 7 or so steps on her own! She doesn't have a ton of confidence with it yet, so it's not consistent, but she's getting there! 2 more sort of random pictures. I love this first one. It's Amber, just about 60 seconds after finding out she's pregnant again! Yay!!
This last one was created by Amber's mom, Penny. She's Emma's other "Nana!" Isn't it incredible???? Thank you Penny!!

Gymboree

2010-08-04T12:21:00.001-07:00

Well, Brad's back at work. Emma and I were on our own again for the first time today. It's been a great day, but the little monkey is going to have to get re-accustomed to being sat down every once in a while! She's been spoiled this summer having both of us here to entertain her and she hasn't been in "the pen" or in her crib very much. Now with Brad back in school, if I have to fix her lunch, go to the bathroom, wash my hands, etc. she has to be put somewhere, which she doesn't like. She was absolutely fine with that before the summer, and I'm sure she'll get back in the swing of things again soon. ;)

I had a great birthday. Amber and Jason came and spent the day and we had a great dinner while Emma played at her grandparents house. Amber gave me the most incredible gift ever - a scrapbook of Emma's first year (and my pregnancy). It's gorgeous beyond words and had me in tears by page 3!

Brad has been dealing with bronchitis, which he then passed on to me. I'm now working on getting over it and praying that Emma doesn't end up being the next victim.

We decided at the last minute to go visit Amber and Jason in Carrollton one last time before school starts back up. Brad and I really needed to de-stress and were really happy that they don't mind us inviting ourselves over every few weeks ;) Emma loves their house because it's like going to a petting zoo - they have chickens, roosters, ducks, cows, and a goat. Oh, the goat. She has looked at him from a distance before, and even gotten quite close. This time, however, she was scared to death! He is really friendly and was in his fence. He came over and started "meeeeehhhhing." He kept wanting to give her kisses and as soon as he'd get close, or LOOK like he was going to get close, she'd grab onto me REALLY hard and yell! It was hysterical! I'm a horrible mother :( After some gentle coaxing, she was much better with him.

We had a lot of excitement on Monday. Amber found out that she's pregnant! Seth is SO excited to be a big brother! I'm so excited for her. Maybe it will be us soon enough. It was so awesome to be there with them when they found out. In fact, she told me before she told Jason ;) Just had to brag!

We also had a few firsts this week. Emma gave my mom a black eye for the first time! She's got quite a temper (Emma, not my mom) and has really gotten into stiffening up and throwing her head back when she doesn't get her way. Well, my mom's face got in the way when I told Emma that it was time to go. I feel horrible - she's on vacation this week and I'm sure my Dad's getting the side-eye because it looks like he beat her. Wow.

We went to Gymboree for the first time today too! She had an absolute blast! As soon as we got in and I was sitting our stuff down, I sat her down as well. She made a beeline and was across the room with the other kids before I knew it! She loved climbing on the fun equipment and playing with the other kids. It was so much fun! Every 5-10 minutes the "teacher" would have a different group activity that the kids could do in the middle of the room (banging on a big drum, pushing a huge padded "log," etc.) There was lots of singing, bubbles, and dancing too. Emma loved it, but after the last 15 minutes of sitting down and singing, she was almost over it - but she held it together nicely! She was so funny. She didn't want to have much to do with me once we got there. She was too busy playing with other kids, taking their toys, throwing balls, and climbing through tunnels. Once they pulled out the parachute, she was a mama's girl again! They had us all get under it and make a big tent. She enjoyed that, and crawled over to the teacher (across the group from me). As soon as she got over there, the teacher had the adults get out of the tent and make it go up and down over the kids. Emma freaked! She found me and I got to hold her for the rest of the class. Poor baby. She did SO well, especially considering that it was during her nap time. We're going to try to go this weekend when they have Open Gym so that Brad can come play too - it was SO much fun!

Once we got back from Gymboree we ate lunch and Emma had another first - she signed "more" for the very first time! I tried signing with her a few months ago and she really just didn't get it. She would watch me do it, but make no attempt to imitate. Today she was doing it over and over again - even when I just would ask her if she wanted more! She's getting so big!

Sorry there aren't pictures to this post. I'll try to upload some soon, but it's quite a chore and I just honestly didn't have the energy this afternoon. I'll try to catch up next week!

Hand, Foot, & Mouth, oh my!

2010-07-19T12:35:00.000-07:00

We've had quite the exciting week this week! We went to Carrollton to spend a few days with Amber and Jason. We had a great time and Emma was an angel - she slept well, and even liked Jason this time (she's always been terrified of him for some reason!). We had a really funny moment. Amber and I were at her mother's house visiting with Amber's brand new niece when Brad called. I had apparently forgotten to pack bibs and he was feeding Emma dinner. I told him to go ahead and use a dishtowel and that I would run to Walmart later to buy some bibs. This is what I saw when we got back to Amber's house! Please notice the CHIP CLIP!

Jason brought out his guitars and played for Emma. She had fun playing too!

When we got home on Thursday morning, Emma felt really warm. I took her temperature and it was 102! I immediately called the pediatrician's office and we made an appointment for right after her nap. I gave her tylenol and put her down. By the time that we got to the pediatrician's office, it was down to 99.5. However, her cheeks and arms were bright red. Dr. Hutson said that that's her body's way of ridding itself of excess heat. She was miserable. He did a quick exam and noticed one small sore in her mouth and determined that she had the coxsackie virus, commonly known as "hand, foot, and mouth disease." It's basically a really common summer virus that causes 2-5 days of a high fever and often sores in the mouth or on the hands and feet. He recommended Motrin because it has a longer half-life than tylenol. We came straight home and gave her Motrin. She was a sick little puppy.

We had a good 4 days of fever and general miserableness. She never did get any more sores (she may have had more in her mouth, but none that I could see). By the time that she was well, we had completely screwed up her sleeping schedule. I had gotten back in the habit of going in her room everytime she fussed to make sure her fever wasn't too high. Often times I would take her out of her crib, give her more Motrin, and nurse her again before putting her back down. It took 2 days of sleep training to get her back on track, but she's as good as new now! In fact, she's recently discovered the joys of sleeping late in the morning. Yesterday, she didn't get up until 9:30! It's nice.

One bad thing may have come out of her little illness though. The "fussiness" that seemed to come with it, has turned into a screaming, yelling little monster that won't go away! Emma started arching her back and throwing herself backward whenever she would get mad, upset, or generally not get her way (picture someone being touched by a faith healer - exactly). Well, THAT started a few weeks ago. NOW she's screaming and yelling when she doesn't get her way. If we're at dinner and she wants something other than what she's been served, SCREAM. If she wants to go into a room other than the one we're in, SCREAM. You get the picture. We're working on ignoring it at the moment, but it's tough! Brad actually had to take her out of TJMaxx the other day because of it. There was nothing wrong - she just didn't feel like shopping right then. It's way too early for the terrible 2's!

This is her fake "I'm mad!" screaming. As you can see, she keeps her eyes open just enough to be able to see us and tell if it's working. If it's not, she can turn it off just as quickly. She's a mess.

We've had a pretty relaxed week, aside from all of the above. I finally got to go to Spa Sydell and use a gift certificate for a facial and manicure that Brad's parents got me for my last birthday. My 29th birthday is on Wednesday and we're planning to celebrate with Amber and Jason on Tuesday night. Emma's going to be playing with her Grandmother and Grandpop and Aunt Stacie while we all go to Carrabba's for dinner! It will be nice to be able to go out for my birthday this year. Last year I had a one month old to think about, and restaurants weren't in our vocabulary. With her little attitude these days, she won't be seeing another restaurant for quite some time either! Keep us in your prayers!

I'll leave you with one more sweet picture. This is Emma's first "lovey." My Aunt Barbara gave it to me for my baby shower and Emma has fallen in love with it! She goes to sleep each night holding it and burying her face in it - it's the sweetest thing I've ever seen!

Kissin Cousins!

2010-07-12T13:23:00.000-07:00

We've had a nice week or so just hanging around the house. Nothing too new or exciting to report, but it's been fun nonetheless!

Here are a few pictures of Emma and her cousin, Luke, from their visit. They were SO cute together - they really seemed to like playing together this time. When they've seen each other in the past, they've been so young that they didn't really pay each other too much attention. It was sweet to see them playing together. Luke even gives Emma some sugar! There's nothing like kissin on your cousin in front of the bear pt

Emma's now OFFICIALLY unswaddled!! PERMANENTLY! Like I mentioned previously, it was a long time in the making, but pictures like these make it all worthwhile.

It's taken her awhile to get used to her new found freedom. She's been taking shorter naps because she'd jump right up and start singing and jumping up and down. Luckily, that time has hopefully come and gone. She's now taking her usual 1.5 hour (sometimes longer) naps twice a day. She sometimes likes to lay in her crib and play with her seahorse for awhile before she falls asleep, but she eventually crashes. In fact, this morning she slept until 9:15!! I thought I was in heaven! Emma also had another big "first" this week. She had her first Chick-Fil-A kids meal! It was "Cow Appreciation Week" at Chick-Fil-A, and Emma got dressed up in all of her finest cow-inspired apparel. She even had on a cow diaper cover that you can't see in the picture. She got her meal for free. She LOVED the nuggets! I gave her some veggies rather than the fries, but she HAS had them in the past. She had been having a few days of eating nothing but crap, so I felt like it was a better move to try to sneak in something healthy with her chicken nuggets. She didn't mind ;)

Emma also took her first step this week! She isn't walking yet, but has taken a step here and there. As soon as she's a little more stable when she's standing, she's gonna be off! I'm NOT READY!!

Speaking of cow diaper covers, you all probably know by now that we cloth diaper Emma. We have since she was about 3 months old, though I now wish we had started earlier. We primarily use prefold diapers (see picture) with Thirsties diaper covers (also in picture). We've NEVER had a diaper blow-out!

This week we actually did the math. I've spent approximately $600 total on cloth diapers. They will take Emma from when we started to potty training. That's approximately 2 years of diapering for $600. Had we used disposables, we would have easily spent $2,200 for those 2 years, not including wipes (we often use re-usable wipes). Can you believe that?? AND, the diapers that I have purchased for Emma will EASILY last through another child using them for another 2 years. So, $600 rather than $4,400! Why would you NOT use cloth?? I truly don't mind the 2-3 extra loads of laundry per week, and it's really not that big of a deal. I'm considering doing a cloth diapering post sometime soon and I will show you exactly what's involved and how easy it can be.

For now, I'd like you to click this link and head over to the blog post that a friend of mine recently posted. She saw a facebook status update that I made when I was talking about the new Pampers Dry-Max formula and the chemical burns that it's causing on babies behinds and how glad I was that we didn't have to worry about that with Emma. She emailed to ask me some questions and I gave her the run-down of the different options available and linked her to some great informative websites. She completely converted from disposables to cloth for her second child! I'm so excited about that! Check out her post here.

We're heading back to Carrollton for a few days to spend some time with Amber and Jason. Brad heads back to school pretty soon :( and it's the last time we'll get to go for awhile. I'll post pictures of the trip when we get back!

Busy, busy, busy!

2010-07-02T19:14:00.000-07:00

There has been so much going on lately that I feel like I've been in a whirlwind. I've been meaning to stop for a minute and write a new blog post, but I haven't had much spare time. So, here's a couple of weeks worth of blogging in one.

Emma's birthday was wonderful. We spent the day doing fun stuff - lunch with her Aunt Stacie and Grandmother at a Japanese restaurant. It also happened to be the same restaurant where Brad and I had our very first New Years Eve dinner - 10 years ago! My, how times have changed!

We went from there to Emma's favorite store - Petsmart. Emma picked Lucy out a few new toys and treats and headed home. After a big nap and a big dinner, we turned her loose on a slice of her smash cake that hadn't been touched from her party. She made short work of it! We put it on her special Birthday Plate that she will eat her birthday cake on each year. She did so well! Her Grammy even got to watch her tear it up via webcam. We went straight from the highchair to the baby pool - she was a mess!

We spent most of the week recovering from all of the fun festivities. Brad celebrated a nice first Father's Day. It's so hard to believe that last year on Father's Day, my water broke at 10:30 at night and Emma was born the next day. I like to say that she WAS his first Father's Day gift! This year, Emma gave him a grill light and a sweet card. Whenever I think of them grilling, I think of these pictures. So the gift was very appropriate! At least now, when he grills at night, he can see the grill before he throws her in! :)

We took a short trip to Carrollton this week. Only one night away from home. We had a great time, but, as always, it was too short for my taste. Emma slept ok - though she didn't think it was time to go to bed until around 11:00!

This was Emma eating lunch - think she was comfortable at Amber and Jason's house?? Hehe!

Speaking of sleeping, we have big news. Emma is sleeping UNSWADDLED for the very first time in her life! We've tried unsuccessfully several times to unswaddle her. We've tried to slowly loosen the blanket, leave one arm out for several nights in a row, gradually setting her free. It's never worked. She'd scream inconsolably and we'd eventually give in - after all, she was sleeping mostly through the night, so we chose to pick our battles.

Well, it finally became a battle I was ready to fight. She's one year old. I can now say that it's purely out of habit that she needs to be swaddled. AND, she was waking up 1-2 times a night when the swaddle would become loose from her moving around and have to be re-swaddled and nursed back to sleep each time. I was over it. So we did it. One arm free for about 5 days, then both. She's now in a sleepsack (a wearable blanket that zips up, sort of like a potato sack with arm holes). It's awesome. I'm SO proud of her! It was not easy. She screamed the first night or 2, and we swaddled her arms back in. Each night we'd try again, just getting her used to the idea. Eventually she was ok with it. Now if I can just get her to nap a little longer! She used to start to fuss a little and I'd put "pass" (her pacifier) back in and she'd fall back to sleep for awhile longer. Now she bolts right up onto her hands and knees and is ready to roll.

Tonight we left her with my Mom for a little while while we went to dinner. Mom called to let me know that she was refusing to play because all she wanted to do was curl up and go to sleep! Hopefully she'll be completely comfortable with her new-found freedom soon and will sleep a little sounder.

We spent the afternoon at the Yellow River Game Ranch today with Brad's parents and sister and Emma's cousin, Luke. Luke's parents are at an out of town concert and so he's spending the day with his grandparents. We had the best time! It was hot, but lots of fun! Look for lots of pictures of the trip in a later post.

They babysat Emma and Luke together last night so that the parents could all go see Eclipse and have Mexican food for dinner - a nice treat! Apparently, Emma ate her grandmother's meatloaf like it was going out of style, and even tried to eat off of Lukas's plate!

I spent this morning preparing my blog for printing. I ordered Emma's hardbound copy of all of the blog posts from the first time that I announced my pregnancy to her first birthday. It looks incredible online and I can't wait to see it!

Emma's got a new trick - she can make the "rooster sound!" It's the cutest thing in the world. It all started with a Little People farm that my parents got her to play with at their house. She loves it and started making the sound on her own, imitating the toy and my mom. She REALLY got to practice it today at the Game Ranch - we heard LOTS of roosters. I tried and tried and TRIED to get it on video, but she'd quit everytime she saw the camera. Maybe I'll catch her soon! She also sings along with music now - one of the sweetest things you've ever seen. I promise. I'll try to catch her doing that too.

We have a birthday party to attend on Sunday (July 4th) for Emma's friend Juliette. It should be fun! Guess what we have planned for next week?? NOTHING! We need to rest!!

Happy Birthday baby!

2010-06-19T19:10:00.000-07:00

It's finally here. She's 1. At 5:35 PM, 1 year ago, I had just given birth to my precious Emma Claire. My life had changed forever. We went from a couple to a family, in a matter of moments. Before I delivered her I had all of these images of holding my sweet baby, nursing her in the delivery room. She wouldn't leave my side - it's standard for the nurses to give the first bath and check-up right in the room. Brad and I would have a few hours to ourselves, getting to know our new little life. Then we would welcome in our family, sharing her with them for the first time, together. It was written in my birth plan, so it would happen just as I had proclaimed it, right?

Yeah. Right! Moments later I was being whisked into surgery to repair my 4th degree tear and Brad was feeding Emma her first bottle. Well, her only bottle. It was right then that I realized that I had absolutely NO control - God was holding the reigns, just as He always has. Emma's blood sugar was borderline-low and she needed to eat right then. I was bleeding so badly that they couldn't wait for me to nurse her before stitching me up in the OR. They tore her away from me before I was even able to hold her. I didn't get to see who's nose she had, what her eye color was, how she smelled. Brad didn't know which direction to go - follow me, or stay with Emma. I told him to stay with her, no matter what. I later found out, it was in those scary first moments when he was alone with her, her sole caregiver for a little while, that he and Emma found their niche. He felt true responsibility for the first time. He fell in love. After I was out of recovery and in a room, they brought her to us. I held her for the first time, and nursed her. I stared at her for hours. I wouldn't put her down until I decided that after well over 36 hours with no sleep, I had to give in. She was mine, and I was her's. And Brad sobbed like a baby. It was all so real all of the sudden. We were a family and we were in charge of another helpless human life. And it was magnificent. She was absolutely perfect - hairy ears and all. ;)

It has been very difficult for me to accept the fact that once she was conceived, I was no longer in control. I couldn't control my morning sickness, my heart rate issues, my water breaking IN THE BED! I can steer her and I can lead her, but she's got a mind of her own and she steers her own boat. It's becoming more and more obvious that our little girl is hard-headed and determined. She knows what she wants and will do what she has to to get it. And I love it. I love that I have no control. She makes up her own mind. She knows what she likes and doesn't like. And I love it. It amazes me to think that we have raised this awesome little one year old with such strong opinions and such an incredible spirit. She's just perfect for us. She fits in our family so perfectly.

She arches her back when she doesn't want her diaper changed, she makes the funniest face and shoves my hand away when I feed her something she doesn't want, and she will look at me and make the cutest little guilty noise before she does something that she knows she's not supposed to. And I love it. I love every BIT of it. I love her.

And here she is, a perfect 1 year old. I'm planning to have this blog printed into a book very soon, and have been thinking for months over what my last post would be before I print it. I want very much for this to be Emma's book. I have written these blog posts for many reasons - for family, for me, but mostly for her. I want her to be able to look back at this as a woman and know how very loved she is and has always been. That's why I've decided to share with everyone a letter that I wrote to Emma when I was pregnant. It's a personal letter, but one that I want included in her book.

I hope that you all enjoy reading it and that she will one day look at it and realize just how much she means to her Daddy and I and how much I have always loved her - with my whole heart. I love you my sweet baby girl. Now and forever.

Enjoy your book. It's the first of many, as my special gift to you on your birthday.

Written: May 11, 2009

My sweet Emma Claire,

I’ve been meaning to write you a letter for months now, but have spent so much time getting ready for your arrival that I just haven’t sat down to write it. You’ll learn that I’m a bit of a procrastinator when it comes to most things. I WOULD be handwriting this letter, but that would be yet another reason to put it off – typing is much quicker.

I wanted to take a few minutes and tell you a little bit about life for your Daddy and me right now. We’ve been waiting so long for you – only 2 more months now! I’m 32 weeks pregnant this week. It seems like it’s been a long journey, although it’s only been 8 months. In truth, it’s been a much longer journey than the past 8 months. Let me tell you a little bit about that journey.

Your Daddy and I got married on October 1, 2005 at Forrest Hills Mountain Resort in Dahlonega, GA. We had been talking about having children for years – we met on November 13, 2000. In fact, we had already planned your name before we had even gotten married – we knew that you would be Emma Claire if you were a girl. A boy, we weren’t so sure about boy names! After I got pregnant with you we decided we liked Jacob Thomas or Ryan Thomas. If you ever have a brother, you may hear those names again! Anyway, we waited until your Dad had a job with Dekalb County Schools and we had purchased our first house before we started trying to get pregnant.

We had no idea what we were in for. No one on either side of our families had ever had a hard time getting pregnant. We were expecting for it to happen quickly and easily and follow our “plans.” We were wrong. After well over a year of “trying” we were getting nowhere. I had always had irregular periods and discovered that even when I DID have one, I wasn’t ovulating. I used ovulation test strips, took my basal temperatures to chart, and kept lengthy records of my monthly cycles. After a year, my doctor decided to do some tests. It was discovered that I had polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and that was what was likely causing my irregular cycles and not ovulating. I began taking Provera to induce my periods. Each month I would take Provera for 7-10 days and then wait. Once my period started, I would chart my temperatures and use test strips. I still wasn’t ovulating. That was when the doctor prescribed Clomid, a fairly strong drug with nasty side effects that is supposed to induce ovulation. I did 2 rounds of Clomid, 2 months in a row. After the second round, I was pregnant! I was thrilled, as was your Daddy. We told our families right away, sure that everything was perfect.

Unfortunately, I lost that baby after only 8 weeks and 3 days. It was the most devastating thing that I’ve ever experienced. Your Daddy was so supportive, but it was something that I really had to deal with on my own. At that point, I was certain that I’d never be able to get pregnant, much less carry a baby to term. The doctors assured me that it was likely a genetic defect that caused the loss, but I was unsure. I had to go back to the doctor every other day to have blood drawn to check my HCG levels until they were low enough – about 2 weeks. As part of the blood work that was done after my miscarriage, a thyroid panel was completed. That was when they found the real problem. I had hypothyroid disease. Your grandma has hyperthyroid, and your great grandma had hypothyroid. It’s considered to be genetic, though I hope it skips you. It causes several things, including irregular periods, blood clots in the umbilical cord, and most likely, my miscarriage.

I went to the endocrinologist and started on synthroid, to correct my thyroid levels. The doctor told me to not try to get pregnant for at least 6 weeks. At the time I thought, “I just miscarried. I’m not trying again for a LONG time.” I was so afraid of losing another baby. Needless to say, within 5 weeks I was pregnant with you! We decided to let whatever happened happen, no testing, no charting, and no stress. And then you happened!

From day one this has been the perfect pregnancy. You have always measured ahead of your gestational age (the other baby always measured behind). I had horrible morning sickness, mostly in the morning when I brushed my teeth and occasionally at night. Do you want to know the truth though? I was grateful for every bit of morning sickness that I ever had. I told God that if I had to throw up every single day of my pregnancy for you, then I would do so happily. God had better plans, and I was over the nausea by 16 weeks. It’s recently come back, but not very strongly. I have also had symphasis pubis dysfunction, something that happens when your body produces too much relaxin and your pubic bone actually separates. It was painful, but worth it.

This pregnancy has been the happiest time of my entire life. I have everything that I have always wanted. I have a wonderful husband, a beautiful house, a nursery that’s almost all ready for you, and a precious baby bump. As I sit here now and look down, all I can see is baby! You weigh about 4 ½ lbs right now. You kick all the time and it’s the best feeling in the world. I think all the time about what you’ll be like when you are born. Will you have hair? Will you look like Daddy or me? Will you be big? Right now you are in the 66^th percentile of height and weight. You are the most precious thing to me in this world and I would do anything in the world for you, even though you haven’t been born yet. I just can’t wait to meet you.

Let me tell you some things that I’ve already learned about you. You hate it when I lay on my left side in particular. You kick me hard and fast and it scares me sometimes because I’m afraid that I’m hurting you – the doctor assures me that I’m not, you just have “attitude!” You like to kick Lucy in the back when she lies against my stomach. When I sit down for too long, you like to kick me in the ribs to make me stretch out more. You hate it when I lean over the counter in front of the sink to wash my hands or do dishes. You love it when I play loud music and take a bath – you kick so hard! You really love Matt Nathanson and Sublime. You kick back when your Daddy pokes my belly – he loves to play with you because you only kick him back. When I had a rented heart Doppler, he was the only one that could find your heartbeat – he used to have to chase you around in my belly because you could feel the pressure from the Doppler and would run! You love to kick my bladder – I could live without that one! You have definite sleep patterns. You usually wake up when I get to work in the morning, around 7AM. You sleep off and on throughout the day, waking up very much around 7PM to play. Your Daddy and I love to sit around and watch my big belly move as you kick and do somersaults. You often lay upright on the right side of my belly looking like a big lump. It makes me laugh, and Daddy says it looks like I have an alien in there. You hate it when I wear pants with a band that goes across my belly. You kick the band all the way around my waist over and over and over again until I change. You’ve given me the best figure I’ve ever had. I lost 5 lbs throughout the early pregnancy and have only gained 7 lbs so far (2 over my pre-pregnancy weight). People tell me all the time how cute I look – I’m only big in my belly, nowhere else. I have you to thank for that! I think I’d like to be pregnant forever. It’s just the best. There is one bad part – sleeping. I wake up once an hour (not exaggerating) to go to the bathroom and readjust in the bed. I have to sleep with one leg over a pillow to keep from rolling onto my belly. You and I don’t always have the same idea as to when bedtime is, so I often get woken up early in the morning to you kicking me because I’m on my side. You have a mind of your own – you WON’T stop kicking until I turn over. I’ve even tried waiting you out. No luck! I’m looking forward to you getting here so that I can get MORE sleep – even if you wake up every 2 hours, it’s still better than I’m getting now!

There are so many things that I’m looking forward to. I can’t wait to hold you, smell your sweet baby smell, and cuddle you. I can’t wait to see your Daddy holding you for the first time. I can’t wait for your grandma to meet you – she’s almost as excited as I am, though she would say more. I can’t wait to breastfeed. I know, it may sound weird, but I can’t wait. It amazes me to think that my body will be making everything that you will need to survive for the first year of your life. It’s such a bonding experience and I’m so excited. I can’t wait to be not only your mom, but your friend. I hope that you will always know that you can come to me and talk about anything in this world, without judgment.

I am planning to cloth diaper you. My mom did the same with me, and it’s a gift I’d like to give you. It’s more complicated and much more time consuming than disposables, but I’m devoted to it. I will have enough time to do the laundry because I’ll be at home with you.

Speaking of being at home, I have 2 more weeks of school until I’m done. I’ve decided to take off a few years to be a stay at home mom. I want to be the one to raise my sweet baby and wouldn’t dream of daycare. We will be on a tight budget just to make ends meet, but things will work out. I’m a little scared about our finances, but I know that God will provide for us. He always has.

I can’t wait to meet you sweet girl. You’re going to make me the one thing in this life that only you can – a mother. Thank you for allowing us to be your parents. I hope that we won’t let you down. I had the best parents in the world and I can only hope that we can be just as good of parents to you. You can always know, without a doubt, that you have always been wanted, loved, and desired. We love you unconditionally and without end. We always will.

With all the love in my heart,

Your Mommy