Real Life - 12 weeks Postpartum

Truths about my life at this moment:

I carry a little extra weight on my hips...

and I have eyes on me all the time, even in the shower...

but for this pretty face, I wouldn't have it any other way!

Splish Splash: Emerson's first swim class!

This past weekend, Shawn and I had the pleasure of bringing Emerson to her first swim class. While I was pregnant, we had talked about wanting to make sure that we took our baby to swim lessons and help cultivate a love for water. Since my parents have a pool, it was also important that our little one learn to swim and the earlier the better. Luckily we didn't have to work hard for Emerson to love water. Taking a bath is no problem and getting into the pool was great. It's getting out into the cold and playing in the pool when all she wants to do it sleep, that is the problem. Needless to say, we had a blast at her first swim lesson. She did great, for the most part, and we know that it is going to be so good for her to continue taking lessons. Plus she gets to hang out with her friend, Baby A, so it's pretty much a win win. Here are some pictures from the big day!

"My parents are so cool." - Emerson

This was towards the end of class when nap time was creeping up on us.

Friends and their Babies :)

Two Months Old

I feel like I am going to write this in every blog post, BUT time really does fly by! Even after having long days with a semi-fussy baby, I can honestly look back and say, where did the time go?? It's hard for me to believe that two month ago today I was holding our girl for the very first time and now I'm watching her sleep after getting her big girl shots. It's amazing, exciting and kind of sad all at the same time. I love watching her grow, but I know that time is just flying by!
 

 

 

So here is what we have been up to as of lately. Nugget is LONG, we're in the 82 percentile, meaning some of her 0-3 month clothes already don't fit and she is more comfortable in 3 month clothing. I'm already having to pack away clothes, is this real life? She is wearing size 1 diapers, but there are times that I feel like the diaper wasn't there at all based on the explosiveness of her BM's...thank goodness for Oxy-Clean! Our little girl is thriving off of Mommy's milk, she weighed 11 pounds and 4 ounces at the doctor, but isn't loving the bottle. We are going to have to work on that this month since Mommy has her first day back to work exactly 1 month from today. Sweet girl loves to sit in her bouncy seat and look at her friends mouse, owl and hedge hog. She also tried her swing for the very first time today and seems to be a fan. We like to read and take naps, most days, and this Mommy gets to sleep 6-8 hour stretches at night, so that makes me very happy! Our little lady has also discovered her tongue and loves to stick it out and make funny faces. She really is such a doll and we couldn't be more in love.

And as for her shots...I think it was harder for Mommy than for Emerson, but thanks to my Dad being there it made the big event so much easier. Emerson did great, but I'm not going to lie, the girl has a set of lungs on her.

Here are some pictures from the doctor's office. Our girl is getting so big!



Safe in Papa's arms before the shots.

Happy Tuesday Friends!
 

4 Generations

Shawn and I can not express how blessed we feel to be able to share the birth of our first daughter with our Grandmothers. Although we wish that we could have all our Grandparents with us, having two Grandmothers, my Dad's Mother and his Dad's Mother, has proven to be so much fun.

A while back I posted some of the responses I got when I started telling family members that we were expecting. My favorite response by far was my Grandma's. She simply said, "I'm happy for you, but I am REALLY happy for me!" With that being said, I'm sure that you are like me and have always had a long standing joke with your cousins about who the favorite Grandchild is. Well I'm pretty sure I am winning that competition now...or at least my daughter is! Seeing my Grandma hold Emerson has been so much fun. The way she looks at her gives me goosebumps and I know that she is sending up prayers for our little girl. She has spent countless hours praying for all her Grandchildren and I know that she is loving having one more Great-grandchild to pray for. Along with my Grandma, I am blessed to have several Great-Aunts and Great-Uncles that are still part of my life. My Great-Aunt Esther, who is now a Great-Great-Aunt to Emerson, has been such a support in my life. She, just like my Grandma, has prayed for me, Shawn and Emerson and we are so lucky that these two women are the head of our family. My Great-Aunt Esther has made me laugh so much since Emerson has been born, with her most famous line being, "A Great-Grandma is important, but a Great-Great Aunt is pretty important too!" I just love these women and the way they love Emerson is beautiful. Here are a few pictures from when Great-Aunt Esther met Emerson for the first time.

Left:Great-Great Aunt Esther, Right: Great Grandma



 

Shawn's Grandma is now a the Great-Grandma to two little ones, Ethan and Emerson. We were able to introduce Emerson to Shawn's Grandma last month and it was great to have all four generations in one room. She just loved holding Emerson and we loved capturing the moment!

4 Generations

"Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it."

Proverbs 22:6



Beautiful baby Girls - Emerson and Harper

This past weekend Shawn and I drove down to Fredericksburg so that Emerson could have a few introductions, Miss Harper and Shawn's Grandma. I'll post later on how much joy it brings me to see my Grandma and Shawn's Grandma becoming Great-Grandmas, but for now I'm going to focus on two beautiful babies that were destined to be friends.

 

In college I had the privilege of living with 5 girls for my last two years of school. Although living in a house with that much estrogen floating around had it's challenges, it truly was a blessing and the summer after college I had the privilege of witnessing several of them become wives. Since then, three of the married, no pressure to the ones that haven't, have journeyed into parenthood and although I have not been able to meet my friend Rebecca's, who is now expecting a little boy, daughter and did get to meet Megan's beautiful daughter, Harper, this weekend. (I'm looking forward to the day that we can bring all the babies together!)

 

It seems like only yesterday that we were talking about our weddings, staying up way too late and eating way too many packets of fun dip and now we are both blessed with the greatest joy that is motherhood. Words can not even describe how happy it made me to see our daughters together and I look forward to many more play dates in our future!

 

Hope you enjoy these gems as much as I do!

 

Holding hands.

 

Daddies and their Daughters

Can you guess what Emerson is doing?? Poor Harper. Haha.
 

 

 

6 weeks Young - Learning as we go!

Once again I find myself in shock that 6 weeks have already flown by! As before everyday is an adventure and with each adventure we are falling more and more in love with our Nugget! I asked Shawn a few nights ago what "lessons" Emerson has taught him so far and afterwards I thought it'd be fun to list of few of the things we came up with. So here we go, lessons taught by a 6 week old.

1. We aren't as patient as we thought we were. I'm not sure if it's because we are tired, but sometimes a 5 minute cry session can seem like an eternity. I know for me most of the stress when she's upset comes from the fact that I'm her Mom and want to be able to calm and make her happy all the time, which unfortunately isn't always possible. So sometimes we just sing and wait for the fussy period to stop. Fortunately this hasn't happened very often. Thanks to the book, "Happiest Baby on the Block," and the 5 S's we have a pretty good calming routine down. Yay!

2. I get more sleep than I thought I would. This statement came from Shawn and I have to say that I agree. Sweet girl sleeps between 4-5 hours at night, most nights, and I'm learning to function pretty well with that. Shawn of course followed his statement with sweet encouragement that all his uninterrupted sleep is because I have been working so hard and making sure he is well rested for work. I'll take the encouragement and pat myself on the back! : )

3. Changing your newborns diaper in your bed, on your white comforter, although convenient, NOT a good idea. We have the stains to prove it.

4. Cream is a very good color for me...blends in with the spit up.

5. Always pack an extra outfit for your extra outfit. Home girl loves blessing Mommy with blowouts of all sorts. I swear it's like Niagara Falls in there sometimes.

6. You really can't hold your newborn enough. I already miss the stage of her being all squished up from being in my belly. She is stretching out and growing so much! It's awesome and sad all at the same time. Slow down please!

7. Nothing is more precious than watching your husband make your baby girl smile. Nothing.

8. You can tell yourself, "I won't do this," and, "I won't do that," before your baby comes and then once she's here all the, "I won'ts, " and, "I would nevers," go right out the window.

9. Even though you have a video monitor, you'll still find the need to "check" on your baby once or twice while they are sleeping in their crib. Emerson has taken 1 nap in her crib and slept in her crib for the first time overnight, last night and I was in and out of her room probably 20 times. What can I say, she's beautiful and I love to watch her sleep...if she weren't my daughter that would sound a little creepy.

10. LOVE. Before you have a baby you think you understand love. You think you know what it means to really love someone and as a Christian you think you understand the love of God. But until you hold your precious baby in your arms for the first time, look into her eyes and think I will do anything to make you happy and keep you safe, that is when you understand love. I'm not trying to say that you have to be a parent to understand what it means to love or to be loved. Or that you have to have a child to understand the love of God. I'm just saying that having her in my life brings a whole new understanding of how much we are loved and cherished by God. That He loves us so much that he would send his one and only son to live a perfect, sinless life and then to die for the sins that you and I commit everyday. I can't even fathom it, but I am amazed by it.

 

With all that being said Emerson is doing great! We don't have any official updates on her growth, but I did weight myself and then re-weigh myself holding her and I am estimating that she weighs roughly 10 pounds 5 ounces give or take. She is such a happy baby and is starting to respond to all our silliness, smiling back at us and cooing up a storm. I just can't get enough of her cuteness!

 

Big event since her 1 month birthday, meeting cousin Ethan! I'm so excited to see the two of them interact and grow up together. Here are some pictures of the two of them!