Four Months Old

Another month has flow by. This month more than any other seems to have gone by at lightening speed. Maybe it's the fact that I have been going back to work or the fact that days are longer and I just want to soak up every bit of daylight with my girl, but I feel like if I blink I am going to miss something! 

This past month has been great! Emerson's personality is coming through and she is definitely getting more "active," if that is even possible at four months old. She has rolled from tummy to back several times and is getting up on her sides when she is laying on her back, so needless to say there is no more lay right here on the couch or changing table while I go grab this or that. Not that I did that anyway....bad Mommy. 

Sweet girl is starting to reach and grab for toys and of course as soon as she gets a hold of anything, right to the mouth it goes. She is laughing more and starting to squeal in delight, which completely melts my heart. She LOVES to talk and usually goes to sleep and wakes up talking to  herself. It really is the cutest thing. Sleeping has been a bit of a challenge over the last few weeks, but overall I really can't complain. She goes to bed between 7/7:30 and wakes once to eat in the middle of the night and is up for the day around 6/6:30. During the day she takes 4 naps, usually 2 little cat naps and one or two longer naps. Over the next month I am going to start trying to transition her to 3 naps a day and work on weaning her off the night feeding, since nutritionally she doesn't really need it. I do enjoy our middle of the night chats though, so we will see how this goes. She loves Mommy's milk and the plan is the remain exclusively breastfed until her 6 month check up...we'll see if our curious little girl can wait that long!

Today at the doctor Nugget got her 4 month vaccinations. She did awesome. She screamed for about 30 seconds and then went to town on her pacifier and was out once we got in the car. She kept right on snoozing once we got home so we could both enjoy a nice long run before it was time to eat. She is such a trooper and I couldn't be more proud.

And for the statistics...

Weight: 14 pounds 2 ounces (51st percentile)
Height: 25 3/4 inches (94th percentile)
Head Circumference: 15 1/2 inches (17th percentile)
Diapers: 2's
Clothes: 3 month, 3-6 month and 6 month (all depends on brand)

She really couldn't get any sweeter, at least in our opinion!
Happy Friday!

Three Months Old

Didn't I just write about our girl turning 2 months old?? Has it really been another month already?? I think this past month has gone by especially fast because tonight is the night that I return to work. I know, it's crazy. This day has been in the books since the beginning of January, but I just feel like it crept up on me. I'm not going back to work full-time and I have flexibility with the days that I do work, but it's still hard to think about leaving my baby girl to go into work. Fortunately she'll be in great hands...her Dad's! :) 

Just as a side note, the decision to go back to work was a hard one. I definitely love my time at home with my girl, but I actually am looking forward to returning to the world of nursing. I love what I did before our Nugget arrived and I want to continue to work in the field of nursing. I'm not going to be working full-time, just shifts scattered throughout the month, so knowing that makes things so much easier. Also that fact that she will either be with Shawn, her Granny or close friends, definitely puts my mind at ease.

But without further a due here is our beautiful 3 MONTH OLD!! 

Emerson is doing great. She is reaching milestones and with each passing day she shows us more and more of her personality. She weighs 13 pounds and is fitting more comfortably in 3 month or 3-6 month clothing. We also went up to size 2 diapers, although I still sneak a size 1 in there every now and then because I have some and don't want to waste them. Our Little Lady is sleeping great at night! She goes to bed between 7:00 and 7:30, wakes once between 2:00 and 4:00 to eat and then sleeps until 7:00, sometimes later. She's eating just Mommy's milk and as long as things continue to go smoothly we plan to keep it that way until her 6 month birthday. Her naps during the day vary, but she is generally eating, playing and sleeping in 3 hour cycles. She loves to talk and has recently starting laughing. We can't always make it happen, but when it does, it is the cutest thing!

Emerson has really found her hands and apparently thinks they are delicious because of all the sucking she does on them. I also think she has eyed her feet, although she hasn't quite figured out how to reach them. She is becoming a bigger fan of tummy time and although she hasn't rolled over yet, except for once which I think was a fluke, she is definitely getting stronger. She's noticing things that are further away and seems to really pay attention to her toys and books when we play. And even though I love playtime, the best time of day is morning. I love when I can hear her talking to herself in her crib and when I walk in she gives me the biggest smile..melts this Mommy's heart. 

Hope you have a terrific Tuesday and if you think of me, say a prayer as I head into work tonight! :)

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.