Date Night

My mom and dad watched Emma so that Tom and I could have a night out. It was so nice to get out, just the two of us. We still talked about Emma some of the time :) (haha) We went and had a drink at IBG and then to Flamestone for dinner. We had a great time!

The difference one day makes...

Yesterday I made a blog about Emma and what she is doing these days. I said that she is pulling up to her knees. Well, as soon as I was done with the blog post...guess who pulled up to her feet?!? She can now pull up to a standing position. :) Craziness!!!

Growing up SO fast!

Today (12/29) we have a clapper! Emma is so smart and growing up so quickly. She LOVES to wave. Everywhere we go, she waves at whoever passes us. She knows exactly what it means, and loves when people wave back. She started actual real crawling two weeks ago (right around my birthday). She had been crawling a few crawls, rolling, scooting, etc. to get where she wanted to go. Now she crawls all the way across a room. She is laughing and talking all the time. She says, "ma-ma", "da-da", "ba-ba", "ga-ga", "ca-ca", and a lot of other cute noises. Sometimes it sounds like she is trying to say "hi" or "ry" when I say it. She is pulling up on everything. She can only pull up to her knees, but I know it's not long before she can stand up alone. She can stand holding onto her toys with one hand on an object. Her little legs are so strong! You can see her thinking when she is playing with her toys. It is so neat! I can't believe in two weeks she will be ten months old! It is going by TOO fast! However, each day is even more fun to play with her. We've tried a few "real" foods, but she isn't a big fan yet. She keeps pushing them out of her mouth. We've tried puffs, cheerios, cheese, mashed potatoes, bread, and sweet potatoes. She hasn't really eaten any of them though. We'll keep trying. She is still eating baby food and nursing, but we'll soon get her on finger foods.

Emma's 1st Christmas!~

We are so blessed to have such loving friends and family. Emma had a FANTASTIC first Christmas, and she was very spoiled!~ She was so cute opening the gifts and wanting to play with them, that it took a long time :) She got so many gifts from mom, dad, and Santa. Then we went over to Tom's parents house and she got SO many gifts. Then my parents came in town and she got even MORE gifts. The playroom is super packed. She got a lot of walkers and ride on toys. She got a lot of books and developmental toys (that's mommy's teacher coming out). She got a swing set in the backyard. It is just a baby swing set that includes a little slide and baby swing. She LOVES it outside and it's perfect for when daddy is grilling and Riley is playing outside. She got so many cute clothes. She is going to be the best dressed baby around.

My last birthday in the twenties...

I will always love my birthday, even when I am turning 86!~ I am officially 29 now!~ I had a great birthday. Tom, Emma, and I spent the day together. We went Christmas shopping and then to dinner with my friends, Rebecca and Damion. Tom got me a cake from the same lady who made our wedding cake. It was delicious (German Chocolate--my fav). Tom got me a nice salon quality blow-dryer. Emma and Riley both got me gifts cards to American Eagle. On Sunday, we went to Outback with Uncle John and Aunt Patti for my birthday. I got two birthday dinners :)

Emma sees Santa Claus

We took Em to see Santa last weekend. When I first put her on his lap, she got a little scared. Then she looked at him and it looked like she was thinking, "Who are you?" I love her Santa picture :) I know that Santa already got her a lot of cool Christmas presents. Mommy and Daddy have already bought a LOT of gifts too. Emma is going to have a GREAT first Christmas!!

Emma is NINE months old!!!!

I am sorry for posting so late. We haven't had home Internet in a few months. We cut it out as a plan to save money. We have just been getting on the Internet from our I-pod or phones. Now, we finally have Internet at home again (yay!!)

Emma is so much fun these days. She is talking like crazy! She is going to be a chatty one :) She can say ba-ba, ma-ma, da, ga, ca sounds. She has been saying mama for months, but I don't think she really knows what it means. She knows that if she says it, she'll get fed, put to bed, something :)

Emma doesn't really crawl like most babies. She gets from one side of the room to the other by scooting, pulling, rolling, etc. She crawls a few crawls then rolls, or scoots. She hasn't done the full crawling yet. She is trying to pull up on EVERYTHING. She can pull herself up to her knees, but not quite to her feet yet. If I stand her up she can stay up for a long time while holding on. She will hold on to her walker, but doesn't quite know how to move the legs yet. :)

We are slowly trying some real food with her. Tom and I are both very paranoid and scared of choking. (First time parents, I guess). We have given her yogurt, cheese shredded, and sweet potato so far. We'll keep trying.

She is finally getting over her RSV, but still has a cough. She is back to sleeping in her crib. When she was sick, she had to sleep upright in her bouncy chair and it was hard transitioning back. She hasn't slept through the night since being sick. We are hoping that starts back again. :)

She still doesn't have any teeth yet, but we think one is coming soon (but I've been saying that for months).

She is laughing, talking, and so playful. We have so much fun spending time with her :)

Emma is EIGHT months old!

I know I am posting this a little late. We have been so busy lately and our Internet at home has been a little slow. We are currently in Niceville, at my parent's house. Emma turned eight months old 2 weeks ago. She is getting cuter and more fun by the minute. She is currently so close to crawling. She isn't actually going anywhere yet. She can't figure out how to move, but she can get on all fours and rock. She is also trying to pull-up on everything! She can pull herself up to her knees, but not quite to her feet. If I put her standing up holding onto something, she can stay standing up for a quite a while. She is talking like crazy. Mostly "ba ba ba" or "ma ma ma." I don't think she knows that I'm mama, but she does know that it is associated with me. She has been saying it for quite a while, and it's usually when she wants me or when she is hungry. I love it! She can make the "g" sound too. She smiles ALL the time and laughs a lot too. She absolutely loves bouncing in one of her many jumpers. Her little legs are so strong. She is getting so smart with all of her toys. As she is playing, you can see her little mind thinking. I love it! She loves listening to stories, and can even turn the pages (sometimes when it's not time, haha).

Emma's First Halloween!!

We took Emma to the mall for her first Halloween. The trick-or-treating in our neighborhood was too late, since she goes to bed at 7:30. She loved seeing all of the other kids. We didn't wait in line for candy (since she can't eat it anyway). We just walked around and let her see all the kids. On Friday, she had a costume parade at her daycare. She was Tinker Bell for both occasions. Here are some pictures of our fairy:

Pumpkin Patch

We took Emma to the pumpkin patch to take some pictures in her pretty Halloween dress (thank you Lisa).

Scariest Day of my Life....

On Friday, October 15th, Emma and I were in a car accident. I had just picked her up from daycare (seriously, like 3 minutes before). We were starting to slow down for a red light. I heard screeching tires and looked back just in time to be hit. Emma screamed and started crying, which freaked me out. I jumped out of the car, glared at the car who hit us, and got my little girl in my arms. I had the EMS workers check her out to make sure she was OK. When she started smiling and laughing at them, I figured she was OK. My car was undriveable and the estimate is close to 5,000. Thank goodness we were both OK. It was the first accident I've ever been in, and of course it had to be with Em. The girl hit us really hard. She said she looked down. She was only 15 driving with a permit. Thank God and our angels for watching over us.

Photo Shoot

A parent at my school is a photographer and she asked if Emma would like to come out to the shoot she was doing for "Brag About Baby." It was so fun to have Emma dress up and take pictures. We don't know if any of the photos will be used, but it doesn't matter either way. Here is a picture of our princess in the "Brag About Baby" clothes.

Emma is SEVEN months

Wow, I can't even explain to you how fast the last year and a half has gone by! It seems like just yesterday I found out I was pregnant with Em. I can't believe that she is already seven months. She is so fun these days! Her true personality is starting to come out. She is laughing all the time. She is babbling like crazy. Her newest thrill is to scream. She does this for fun, not because she's upset. It's cute now, but I'm sure out in public won't be too cute :).

She can sit by herself so well. I have to put her in a sitting position, but she stays there forever. She can get into a sitting position by herself if she is raised up a little, she just can't from flat on her back. She is trying so hard to crawl. She rocks back and forth and maneuvers herself all around by scooting/sliding. She just doesn't pick her belly up all the way off the ground yet. I think it won't be too long and we'll have a mobile baby. She likes to roll all over the place.

She is sleeping so great at night. She has slept through the night a few times, but usually gets up one time around 3 am. She can finally put herself back to sleep when she wakes up during the night. Her naps are still crazy at daycare. Some days she naps so well and other days she naps a total of 30 minutes all day. We are trying to get her on a consistent napping schedule now.

She is doing such a good job with solid food. She is eating veggies, fruits, and cereal. We just started some of the stage 2 mixed fruit and veggie baby food. Just yesterday, she started waving "hi" and "bye." We've been working on it. She is so cute when music is playing. She bounces to the music. She LOVES jumping. We have a few different jumpers for her. We have the door-way jumper and two standing up stationary jumpers. She can even hold herself up on her legs if holding onto something. She buckles after a few minutes but does good.

We took her out of the infant tub. She was just getting too big. We got one of those inflatable tubs that goes in the big bathtub. She splashes like crazy. Yesterday the whole bathroom was soaked. She gets water all over her face and in her eyes, and it doesn't even bother her.

I can't believe in 5 months she'll be a year. Craziness!!

Diet

It's been 3 months now since I've been on the dairy and soy free diet. Slowly the last couple of weeks, I have been adding back food to see if it causes a reaction with Em. I have added back soy completely, and still no reaction--yay! I started simple with soybean oil and then went to soy milk. I can finally go to Starbucks again! I still can't eat out because almost everything is made with butter. I am slowly starting to reintroduce dairy. I start last week eating real bread---soooo good! Hopefully by Thanksgiving I can have mashed potatoes--yum! So far...nothing has bothered her-yay!

I know this is going to sound crazy...but I actually can't wait to eat again and gain some weight back! I am smaller than I have ever been in my adult life. I was so excited to finally be able to wear all of my clothes again, and now they are all falling off of me. I refuse to buy all new clothes. I bought a couple of pairs of cheap work pants and one pair of jeans.

Keep your fingers crossed that I'll be able to eat yummy food again :)

Daycare

We LOVE Emma's daycare!! She is always so happy when we are dropping her off or picking her up. I love that I can log-in from work and see her on the web cam. I have gotten much better and just check it a few times throughout the day. Thank goodness my days are so busy, or I think I'd be glued to it. She gets to go outside daily and swing on the baby swings. She makes art projects every week. Each week they have a word of the week that they learn in English, Spanish, and Sign Language. She gets read to, listens to music, plays with toys, and they sing songs to the babies. She had picture day last week and they are having a Halloween Costume Parade. I'm so glad we found that place! :) It makes being a working mom a little easier.

I think that I'm finally getting into a good routine. It's crazy how busy my days are from the time I get home to the time I go to bed. When we get home, I wash all the days bottles and pump parts. Then we play until bath time. After I put her to sleep, I shower, make bottles and food for daycare, make my lunch, make coffee, and grade papers. Then do it all again the next day.

Emma is SIX months old...half a year!!

I can't believe she is already 6 months old! Where has the time gone?!? She is changing so much each and every day! We started solids the week before she turned 6 months. My parents were in town, so I wanted to have a veteran mom around :) Emma made the funniest faces. She wasn't a big fan. We also tried sweet potato, which she didn't really enjoy either. I am sure she was wondering what we were trying to put in her mouth, haha. Since then, I have tried bananas and apples. She has eaten both, but not really too interested.

She is now sitting. She can't sit up alone, but if I put her in a sitting position she can stay like that for a long time. She is a crazy crawler. She crawls where ever she wants to go. I put under her Baby Einstein play mat today and she managed to roll all the way over to her tummy time mat, which was across the playroom. It's so cute! She can grab everything. I have to be careful what I have in my hands when holding her. She still hasn't cut a tooth. I could swear she's been teething for a while now, but no sign of teeth.

She is really so fun now. She is talking like crazy, laughing all the time, and really smiling at us. She loves to be on her legs. She tries to jump and can even hold her weight on her legs. She loves her Baby Einstein stand up jumper that grandma and grandpa bought her. She also loves her doorway jumper.

She did so good with her shots. She barely even cried this time around. She is 18 pounds, 2 ounces (85%). She is 26 3/4 inches (also 85%). She is starting to slow down on the growth scale, and I'm sure that will continue now that she is becoming more and more active. She wishes she could crawl, but still can't completely lift herself off the ground. She can either lift her butt or her chest, but not both at the same time.

We LOVE her new daycare. Everyone who works there is so nice and they love Emma. I can log on and see her from work and she is always playing, or being read to, or working on mastering her new milestone. I think they really helped with her sitting up. There is another little girl there that is her same age and they are usually both sitting on the floor together playing with toys. It's so cute!

Emma is FIVE months!

Wow! I can't believe our little princess is FIVE months old already! Time sure does fly by! Every day is a new adventure with her. I love every day more and more because she changes so much! She is now rolling BOTH ways, tri-pod sitting, grabbing EVERY thing, laughing all the time, smiling, and loving peek-a-boo!! Her personality is really starting to come out! :) She is all smiles when daddy gets home from work now too. She is already trying to be a daddy's girl! She is starting to have stranger anxiety bad. If someone comes up to her when we are out that she doesn't know, she'll start crying. She is sleeping so well in her crib now (finally!). She is starting daycare. There are so many things happening, it's crazy!

Rolly-Poly!!!

On August 13th (a day before she turned 5 months) Emma rolled from tummy to back!! Now she is rolling BOTH ways. It's funny...she is loving her new skill so much that she does it ALL the time. I was trying to rock her to sleep and she was trying to roll in my arms. I was feeding her...and she was trying to roll. It's so fun to watch her roll to get a toy! :)

New Daycare

We decided after a week and a half that we weren't happy with Emma's current daycare location. The lady, who ran the home daycare, was very nice and really tried to help Emma adjust. The other three kids are all over one and mobile. Especially in the beginning, Emma needed a lot of attention and love. It was hard for the lady in charge to give Emma all of attention she needed while taking care of three other toddlers. I know that she cared for Emma, but I felt Emma needed more. Also, she believes in the "cry-it-out" method, which I'm not a big fan of. In the end, Tom and I think it was a good decision.

We found a daycare in Land O' Lakes, where we live. I was hesitant at first because that means Emma will be at daycare longer, because my school is 30 minutes away. I was trying to find something close to school, so I could get her sooner. Although, I think she will be really happy at this place.

They have an infant curriculum, they rock the babies to sleep before putting them in their crib, and they have a web cam where I can log on anytime and see the infant room. There are 12 infants and 4 teachers, which is a 3:1 ratio. They have so many toys, a swing, bouncers, they do tummy time/developmental stuff with them, and even an infant only outside playground. Everyone we met was so nice. I really think it will be a positive move. They even have the parents make a collage of pictures to put on the baby's crib so the first thing they see when they wake up is mom and dad. Also, they said that they realize infants are on a schedule of their own and don't expect them to nap/eat at certain times. At the other place, Emma was expected to nap at a certain time and I knew she was beyond tired by that point which probably is a reason nap time didn't go too well.

The only problem is I officially go back to work Monday, and they couldn't start Emma until the 23rd. (thank goodness it's only a week). Tom's mom is going to watch her M-R of next week. We are so grateful that she lives close and doesn't mind watching Em. We still aren't sure about Friday. I can't take off because it's week one of work. We'll figure it out though :)

Please pray that this daycare really is as good as we think it will be. It's a little more expensive, but I think it's worth it.

Update

Emma started daycare on Monday. It was the HARDEST thing I have ever done to drop her off. I don't officially start work until the 16th, but I wanted to ease Emma (and myself) into daycare. She only went three hours on Monday and has gone from 10:30-3:30 the rest of the week. She has been taking her bottles like a champ at daycare. Naps were a little tricky at first, but she's already getting the hang of it. The lady puts her down awake and expects the baby to fall asleep, and I've always spoiled Em and rocked her to sleep. The lady will let them cry until they fall asleep, but won't let them get too upset (thank goodness). She's been a little clingy with the lady. She cries when she puts her down, but she is adjusting. It has to be hard for her to understand where she is and why :(

It's been VERY hard on me. I miss her so much when she is away. The best part of my day is picking her up. I wish I could just win the powerball and stay home with her every day. :)

We went back to the doctor on Thursday and it seems that the dairy/soy allergy was the problem. She is doing much better. She is 17 pounds, 3 ounces. I love my little chunky monkey!! She's finally sleeping well in her crib--yay! She is still waking up 2-3 times a night, but much better than every 30 minutes.

Here is a picture of Em's latest milestone: tri-pod sitting :)

Emma

Wow, she is really changing every day! She is such a talker now. She does this new talking where she doesn't really open her mouth--it's so cute! She is also starting to make the "m" sound, which I keep waiting for "mama" even though she won't really know what she is saying yet.

She laughs and smiles all the time. She is fun to interact with and definitely knows her mommy and daddy. When daddy gets home from work, she is all smiles.

We've transitioned her to the crib all night. It was really hard for mommy to have Em out of the room. We started just putting her in there for the beginning of the night, but then moving her back to our room when we went to bed. However, I don't think she was very comfortable in the pack and play anymore. The first couple nights were not fun. She was waking every 30 minutes. She was in a new place and had trouble putting herself back to sleep. Last night was night #4, and she did much better. She still woke up a lot more than in our room, but it's getting better. Yay! At 5 a.m. I heard her on the monitor talking and playing. She is such a happy baby~! :) I also am to the point where I can sleep and not stare at the monitor all night, haha!

She is grabbing EVERYTHING! I have to be careful what I have around her or in my hands.

She is tri-pod sitting, where she can sit but has to have her hands on the floor in front of her. She has rolled back to front a few times, but isn't doing it all the time. We are still waiting for front to back rolling.

We've let her try to drink out of a sippy cup for fun. Yesterday, she actually held it herself and managed to get it in her mouth a couple of times. Even though she was just biting it, it was cute to see her hold it.

We got her a new car seat that is convertible. She is 16 pounds and it was hurting my back taking her in and out with the infant car seat. She loves the new seat!

I can't believe tomorrow she is 20 weeks old! Time is flying!

Diet

It has been really hard being on the dairy/soy free diet, but it's definitely worth it. I never realized how many foods actually have dairy proteins and soy in them. I can't eat normal bread or really any processed food. I am so glad that we have a Whole Foods near by. I found dairy/soy free butter, which actually is pretty good. I tried rice cheese, which wasn't very good-LOL. However, we did find some shredded vegan cheese that actually tastes like cheese---yay!! I found dark chocolate that is delicious! Also, we tried coconut milk mocha almond fudge ice cream, and I think it's better than regular ice cream. I made some peanut butter, oatmeal, and chocolate chip cookies yesterday that were yummy. You use apple sauce and canola oil instead of butter, and get special chocolate chips. Here is a picture:I also found a coconut milk coffee creamer. It's not the best, but will work. We are still working on dinners. We usually just have meat, rice, and veggies. A lot of sauces have soy in them, but we are making it work.

Emma seems to be getting better. Not as much spit up, and her diapers seem to be getting better. We have a check-up on Thursday at the doctor.

Milk Allergy

We took Emma to the doctor on Thursday because she's had some tummy trouble. We found out that she has a milk allergy. When I was a baby, I had a milk allergy as well. Since I am nursing, I have to eliminate all milk and soy out of my diet. We aren't sure if she is allergic to soy, but the doctor wants me to eliminate it for a couple months, and then add it back slowly. Wow, I never realized how many foods have soy in them. Thank goodness for Whole Foods! It will be hard, but it's worth it to make our little girl feel better.

We Have a Roller...one-sided :)

On Wednesday, July 21st, Emma rolled from back-to-front. Yay! She is still working on rolling from her tummy to her back.

First Time in Highchair!

We let Emma try out her highchair while we were eating dinner. We let her play with toys. She seemed to really like it. The doctor said to wait until she is 6 months to start solids, but we figure we'll let her get used to the highchair in the mean time.

Emma is FOUR months old!

Wow, I can't believe how fast the last four months have gone by! I am so lucky as to have had this time with Emma. It makes me so sad to think that in a few weeks, we won't get to spend every second together anymore. I know she'll do great at daycare and at least she'll have her friend, Brody, there.

Today Emma got her four month old shots. She did much better than with her two month shots. She wasn't even overly tired today, like last time. We had a pretty normal day, with just a little fussiness. She is now an even 16 pounds (92%) and 25 1/4 inches (85%). She is growing so great! The doctor gave us the option of starting solids, but said that with breastfed babies you really don't need to until 6 months. We are going to wait for now. As you can see, she is growing great!

She is changing so much every day. She is now smiling and laughing ALL the time. I love it! She is talking up a storm, and let's you know when she doesn't agree with something, haha. She can pick up toys, change hands with them, and shake her rattles. Everything goes into her mouth. We think she is teething because she goes to town on her hands, more than before. On her belly, she can lift her head straight up. She pushes up and tries to crawl (and gets mad when she doesn't go anywhere, lol). She isn't rolling over yet, but I can tell it's not far off. She hates laying down and just wants to sit all the time. She pulls herself up, so her head and neck are off the ground, but can't quite get to a sitting position. If she is laying in my lap against me, she can pull up to a sitting position, but sometimes goes too far and goes straight forward, haha. She really recognizes Tom and myself. She hasn't been sleeping her long stretches anymore, but I guess that's typical at 4 months, because they have so much going on (teething, new skills, etc). We've been putting her in the crib to start the night, but usually she's back in her bassinet before we go to bed. We can't keep her asleep in the crib, but we are trying to get her more used to it by starting each night there and hopefully we'll get past the hour wake-up, haha.

Emma is THREE Months Old!

Emma is three months old! I can't believe how fast time is going by! She has grown so much in the last three months. She is so alert these days. On her activity gym, she bats at the toys and also can grab onto them. If we give her keys or rattles she can pick them up from the blanket and hold them in her hands. When laying down on her pillow, she now picks her neck up like she wants to sit up. She is getting so good with her neck control. When doing tummy time, she can pick her neck all the way up and look at us. She isn't a huge fan of tummy time, but does a good job. She makes crawling motions on the play mat. She is really smiling. She smiles now when she sees Tom or myself. She is starting to talk a lot. We have heard "laugh" noises, but just not sure if it's a real laugh or not. She is getting very good at communicating with us. We know what she likes and what she doesn't like. I think that rolling over isn't too far in the distance. When she is laying on her back, she can roll to her side. Once, she rolled to her tummy but couldn't figure out how to go all the way. Her arm was in the way. She is so much fun these days. I love being home with her and experiencing how fast she is growing. We don't go back to the doctor until 4 months, but we tried to measure her at home. We are thinking she is 14.8 pounds and 26 inches.