Our 4th Anniversary

This year, more than ever I am thankful for the man God made for me. It's hard to believe that another year has gone by, but I am blessed to be able to say that it has been a year filled with so much love and joy. Shawn and I have had to learn to juggle being married and being parents and keeping things in the right order has been what has made this year so much fun. As much as we love our daughter, and will love whatever number of children that Lord blesses us with, we have to love each other first, because when it's all said and done we don't want to loose us while raising them. I'm a daughter of the King first, a wife second and mother third and I'm thankful that my Husband lives life with the same priorities. We don't always get it right, but we strive to keep things in that order and I'm so blessed to be on this journey with my Best Friend. 

To the one that knows my stories, warms my feet, takes my side, ignores my quirks, finishes my sentences, soothes my worries. To the one that makes all my days better and makes me a better me! Happy Anniversary! I love you babe, the best is yet to come!

First Picture Together - August 2006

Engaged - 2009 

Married - 2010

Just the 2 of us - 2011

Expecting - 2013

Family of Three - 2014

Happy Half Birthday Nugget

I can not believe we already celebrating Miss Em's half birthday. Time is literally flying! One of my co-workers made the comment to me, "the days go slow (or nights), but the years fly!" This statement is proving to be very true already. 

Our sweet girl is just that, so sweet. She is coming out of her shell more and more everyday and I love when she gives me glimpses of her personality. She loves to snuggle and be close, but is Miss Independent and can lay and play alone, keeping herself entertained. She is rolling all over the place, front to back, back to front and is even starting to scoot around. We lay her down one way and she has tossed and turned a thousand different ways before finding the perfect position, which is usually on her belly. She puts herself to sleep, which is awesome, and we love listening to her talk herself into her dreams. She does "push-ups" and has pushed herself up on her knees a handful of times. It's so exciting watching her grow and I have a feeling she is going to take off before we know it! She has almost mastered sitting up and can sit unassisted for a couple minutes. She loves to laugh, give kisses, go to swim class and run/go for walks with Mommy and Daddy. 

 

We had her 6 month doctor's appointment today, so here are the stats:

Weight: 16 pounds 5 ounces

Height: 27 5/8 inches

Diapers: 3's

Clothes: 3-6 (some), 6 months, 6-9 months and 9 months

Tonight is the night that we try big girl food! We have been just having Mommy's Milk up until now and I am so excited that we have made it 6 months EBF! (Exclusively Breast Fed) Nursing has been such a special time for me and the Nugget and I hope that things continue to go smoothly in that department! I'll post an update on the food situation next week!

Hope you all have a WONDERFUL Wednesday!

My First Mommy's Day

I had the privilege of celebrating my first Mother's Day this past weekend. Although I was pregnant last year, and in my eyes a Mother at that time, this year I was celebrating motherhood with my bundle of joy actually in my arms versus being snuggled in my belly!

Mother's day has always been important to me, because fortunately I have a mother that is worth celebrating, not just on a particular day in May, but every day of the year. She has shown me time and time again what unconditional love looks like; embracing me and my siblings and loving us even in are weakest moments. She has shown me how a godly woman should love her husband, with gentleness, kindness and respect. She has taught me how to love and serve others and how to be selfless even when she has every right to be selfish. She is a woman that I love and respect and I hope that one day my Little Lady will be able to say the same about me. 

So thank you Mom. Thank you for being the most perfect Mom for me and an even more perfect Granny for my girl. We love you.

Sunday was also important because we had Em's Baby Dedication at our church. It was such a beautiful time to come before our family and church family and commit to raising Emerson as the Lord would have us. To loving her and showing her the love of God. Our prayer is that one day she will make the decision to follow Christ and we are so thankful for the loved ones that we have in our life to help guide her in that direction. We are blessed beyond measure and are so thankful for our girl. 

5 Must Haves for Living with OUR 5 Month Old

Since tomorrow is the big day, you know...MOTHER'S DAY...I thought I'd share our Nugget's update tonight. So here goes, our top 5 baby items that have helped us along our parenting journey so far.

In no particular order:

1. The Moby Wrap
Let me just say, I love baby wearing and Shawn does too! The first time I got it out I have to admit, it was a little intimidating. There is just so much fabric or at least it seemed that way. After a few trial runs, we got it together and Em has loved being snuggled next to Mommy or Daddy and being carried a long for the ride. We use it around the house, on walks and I love having it for when I'm out about on solo shopping runs. I was nervous that using it too often would create a habit of our sweet girl always wanting to be held, not that that would be a bad thing, but she seems to be well adjusted and for the most part can entertain herself when needed. We also have an Ergo and I love, love this too. We haven't used it as much, but I see it getting a lot more use now that our girl is holding up her head and taking in the sites of her world.

2. The Wub-a-nub (aka Ellie)
To us this has become the ultimate pacifier. It really helped in the beginning when she was constantly trying to spit her pacifier on the floor and now has become a comfort for her at naps and bedtime. Even if she doesn't have it in her mouth, she holds it in her hand or sucks on the stuffed animal's foot. We love it so much, we got a spare for the diaper bag, so we don't have to loose Ellie while we are out and about.

3. Bouncy Seat or Play-mat
Like I said before, Em is pretty good at entertaining herself, which comes in handy when I have things to get done around the house. However, the bouncy seat served as a pretty good napping spot for Em when she was first at home.

4. Noise Machine
We have a giraffe that hangs on the side of her bed. Now that she is getting more mobile she is starting to reach out and hold onto it in her sleep. It's the cutest.

5. Swaddle/Sleep Sack
Our sweet girl loved being swaddled. We have stopped swaddling her arms to her side, sweet girl is starting to roll onto her belly in the middle of the night, but we still you the sleep sack on cooler nights. These things came in so handy and made her sleeping experience so much more enjoyable!

I'm so honored to be Emerson's Mommy. She brings so much joy to my life and I love all the little moments we get to spend together. This month Emerson has been a busy lady. We've made trips home, met knew family members, had our first visit to the zoo and even ran our first race together! She is a pretty go with the flow type of baby, so it makes all our adventures that much more enjoyable. She has been giving us a run for our money in terms of her sleeping routine, but we are hoping that we are nearing the end to our struggles in that department. She is rolling over more consistently and we are finding her on her belly during naps and at nighttime. We have been flipping her back onto her back, but I think we are loosing the battle. In terms of her size, I'm thinking she is 15 1/2ish pounds. She is wearing 3-6 month, 6 month and 6-9 month clothing...she is growing like a weed...and we are still in size 2 diapers. She loves her teddy bear and her goofy, to read books with Mommy and Daddy, swim class and family signing and dancing parties! She is still only having Mommy's milk, but we plan to introduce first foods at her 6 month birthday.

Here are some pictures from this months adventures:

First trip to the Zoo!

Meeting cousin Mackenzie!

 

Swim Class

Our first Race!

 Hope you all are having a great weekend!

Happy Mother's Day to all you Mommies!

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!