4 Months! (delayed)

-Emma still weighs less than 13 lbs. which still makes her smaller than our cat.

- Her hair is growing pretty fast, but the cutest part is that she still has a handful of really long hairs from when she was born. It adds to the fluffy quality.

Hair fluff and long eyelashes.

-She is great with people. We have been venturing out around town during these abnormally warm late fall days. Whenever someone smiles at her she smiles back. She is also patient and calm when being carried in her wrap, so outings are actually really fun.

Ready for a hug.

-Emma is really good at supporting her own weight on her legs. She can even push up from a squatting position (she is preparing her soccer legs).

-She loves to just hold things...especially when she is napping.

-Rolling over has started to be an easier thing for her. She does not always roll all the way over, but the back and forth is no longer frustrating.

Mid-roll

-What is frustrating is the fact that she can reach the toys on her play mat, but she can't pull them down. She tries so hard to chew on them and gets very grumbly when it doesn't work out.

-Although she (probably) won't be eating solids until she is 6 months old, Emma has become fascinated with watching us eat. My theory is that she wants to be chewing on everything and the fact that we are chewing on something that she can't have is frustrating.

-During changing time (and other times) she sometimes grabs her feet. She is going to be very good at yoga.

Happy baby pose.

-Football is very entertaining and hilarious to Emma. She smiles every time football is on TV. No other sport seems to have this effect.

-Emma is now able to bring things to her mouth with ease. She is super excited about this fact and likes to use her new skill whenever possible.

Even her sticker was a victim. Goodbye month 4; hello month 5!

We waited a week to take these pictures, because Miss Emma had a bit of a virus that covered her with red spots. They weren't itchy and she was never unhappy....but we still thought it was best to wait until her skin was all clear.

Clear skin = happy, bubbly baby

What Have We Been Up To?

Now that Joe and I are both back at work, our priorities have shifted towards spending every possible moment with Emma. This has led to a lack of communication with anyone who talks in anything beyond vowel sounds. So, here are a few pictures that represent those precious moments we have with our girl:

1/4 of a Year

Emma turned 3 months old on Wednesday. I know everyone says it goes by fast, but I didn't believe them... I do now.

All things Emma, 3-month edition:

-Emma is very much a morning person. If you want to see her smile at everything then you need to be at our house between 5-8 in the morning.

-Emma still does not seem to like pacifiers, but she loves to chew on things. This chewing comes with an amazing amount of drool.

Drool bubbles are fun!

-She can now roll over to one side really well. She wants to roll over to the other side so bad that she gets frustrated when it doesn't work. Emma can also hold her head parallel while being pulled up and can lift her head up 90 degrees while on her tummy. She is going to be an active little girl.

-Emma has been able to support her own weight for about a month. We have to help her with balance and control, but she is pretty strong.

-We can almost tickle her at this point. I think she knows that she is ticklish, but doesn't always know how to process that information. Sometimes she smiles, sometimes she grunts, and other times she just looks at us like we are nuts.

-She has discovered her hands and she loves them. She is constantly playing with her own hands or sucking on her fists. It is seriously adorable.

-Her little hands also like to grab things. She likes toys, but she is way more interested in grabbing hair, necklaces, shirts, anything that is attached to the person holding her.

-It seems as though Emma has an internal alarm. She always knows when it is bath/bed time. At 6:30 she is adorable and silly, but by 7:30 she starts to get sleepy and... a bit cranky. This may seem like a bummer, but it means she knows when it is time to sleep and, for the most part, she stays asleep through the night. :-) Yes, we know we are very lucky.

-Speaking of bath time, Dad is now the bath giver. It gives Emma and her Daddy some fun, relaxing time that is just for them.

-She is starting to notice the tv... a lot. We were hoping she wouldn't pick up that family trait, but those shiny, happy images are very appealing.

Oh look, the tv!

-I went back to work this month. While I am still having a hard time adjusting to not seeing her 24/7, Emma is doing well. I think this is because she gets to spend every day with her Grandma or her Dad. I am a bit envious.

-Every day Emma's personality is developing. It is amazing to watch and makes every day special.

1st Halloween

Tomorrow is my first day back at work. I have extremely mixed emotions about this, but I know it will be a good thing in the long run. However, what I am really unsure of is what my weeknights are going too look like now and since Halloween is on a Monday I wanted to be sure and get some pics of Em in her costume (just in case my first monday of work is chaotic). So here is my little lady bug.

We also carved a pumpkin this weekend. For some reason we have not taken a good picture of the completed pumpkin, but it is an owl in honor of Emma's first Halloween.

Emma/Cat Time

We were taking pictures of Emma this morning on a blanket that was made just for her. We had every intention to just take a few pictures in order to send a picture as a thank you. Well, Peesh decided that this photo session would become extra adorable. Here are our two girls...

Oh, hi!

I love my big sister-cat!

Look, we can make the same face!

I love you! I love you too!

What is the silly kitty doing?

That was fun!

Happy Two Months to Emma!!

Two month factoids:

-Emma is starting to grow out of her newborn clothes (except the Circo brand...that stuff is huge) and moving towards wearing 0-3. I don't think I will ever get used to retiring pieces of clothing because they are too small, but Joe might be worse. He was so upset when this outfit no longer fit that we had to take a picture of the last time she wore it:

(Joe's Note: ...because Ducky and Froggy are awesome and Best Friends...it says so on the outfit)

-It seems as though Emma let me know of her love of owls from the womb. The pattern on the rocking chair has become a point of interest for her. She loves to look and smile at the owls behind my shoulders. It has gotten to the point where I try to rock her without turning any lights on during a late night/early morning feeding, because if I don't she wakes right up when she sees her owl friends.

-Emma is not at the point where she is really playing with toys, but there are two objects that she loves. One is THE pig (as it is referred to in our house) that plays music. The music is magically not annoying and it calms her down quickly. We had it with us during Emma's first shot and the nurse was amazed by how much Emma loved the pig. The other toy is a monkey that came with her gym mat. She stares at it and smiles. Sometimes she even laughs at it.

-Bath time is no longer a sign of doom. They now make her happy and peaceful. Hooray!

-However, the stroller must be evil. There has only been one walk that did not result in tears. Sadly, this magical walk did not involve the stroller whatsoever because I put her in the moby wrap before even leaving the house.
-Most of the time Emma is a cheery little gal, but she knows when it is time for her to be sleeping. If try and keep her active pass 7 she gets fussy until we cave and stop playing with her.

-I did not give Emma a pacifier until after she was six weeks old. Since then we have tried a number of them and Emma is just not interested. This is a good thing and a bad thing...jury is still out on that one.
-She has the longest eyelashes I have ever seen. They are still light in color, but one day she is going to be the envy of every girl around her... including me.

-Emma is a complete cuddle bug which makes me feel like one of the luckiest moms in the world.



Note: she is wearing a newborn onesie in her two month pics.

Pictures!

These are the pictures that Katie took and edited for us. I would say a lot more, but really it is way more fun to just look at pictures. Emma is 6, going on 7, weeks old in these pictures.

I Could Not Help Myself

Emma is a blessing. Not only does she constantly amaze me with adorableness she also continues to show me how lucky we are. Emma is going to be a spoiled little girl (in the best way possible) and this becomes more apparent every time someone comes to visit. One such example was this past weekend when Katie (of pregnant belly picture fame) came over. She brought her camera equipment and spent about 90 minutes just taking pictures of Emma and holding her once she fell asleep. Who wouldn't want to hold a sleeping baby? This not only helped to spoil Emma, but also myself, Joe, and anyone else who enjoys pictures of babies.

During this photo session Katie brought out a black blanket she bought in order to take some very professional looking shots. Well, Emma wanted to show her excitement, so she peed on said blanket. We, of course, kept this blanket in order to wash it.... but, I couldn't help myself and took some pictures of my own once the blanket was clean. So, here are some unprofessional pics of Emma that I had a blast taking. You will be able to see Katie's beautifully edited shots at a later date. FYI: The camera we bought before Emma was born already has 789 pictures on it. Yep, we are going to be those parents.

What My Focus is...

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
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Where were you on 9/11? This is the question that has permeated the media this week.
Joe and I were both at JMU on 9/11/01. We both had classes and we both huddled around a tv trying to figure out what was going on and what it all meant.

We feel the clip above symbolizes the way our generation felt in the aftermath of that day and how far we have come in the past ten years.

This morning while watching the memorials at New York, DC, and Pennsylvania my focus was not on what was on the tv, but instead it was on the beautiful girl in my lap. I hope that she does not have to go through a "where were you" moment that negatively changes the way she views the world. My hope is that she gets to ask the question in a positive way (ex. Where were you when Israel and Palestine became united? Where were you when they announced the cure for cancer?).

It is time our country produced a generation focused on tolerance and understanding... and I can only hope that Emma will be one of many that help to form that generation.

One Month and Counting

Emma has now been in our lives for a month (as of Sept. 2nd). She is quickly becoming a little person with unique quirks. I love watching her personality being formed. It is hard to believe that soon she will be talking, reading, pretending... I can't wait (well, maybe I can wait a bit).

I thought for her 1 month birthday it would be fun to make a list of things that make Emma...Emma, at this point in her life.

-Her hair feels like duck fluff and most of the time it stands straight up like she is a little rock star.

-She is beginning to hold onto our fingers. The first time this happened I am pretty sure I melted a bit.

-When we talk to her while she is "crying" out for attention she changes her tone to this adorable coo like she knows that everything is going to be ok.

-There has only been one bath where she hasn't thought the world was going to end.

-Her current nickname is Froggy. She constantly sits like a frog with her legs tucked underneath her. It is adorable. Here is a picture of her in her froggy towel. I am pretty sure her eyes are saying, "why in the world are you taking that picture instead of holding me close and making me warm?"

-She is still wearing newborn clothes. I love this about her. Side note: she has long arms and legs, so even though she is tiny I am certain she is going to be taller than me (hooray).

-Holding her head up while on her tummy is one of her favorite things...even though it sometimes ends with a headbutt for mom and dad.

-She is starting to show her personality with her expressions. She has this way of looking at you out of the corner of her eye that seems to say, "what are you trying to make me do?" or "I think you are up to something and I am not sure that I like it." This isn't exactly the look, but it is still adorably expressive.

-She seems to always know when it is dinner time. And, understandably, that means it is time for her to eat too.

-Two words. Squirmy worm. There is really no other way to describe her... and this is why most of the pictures we tried to take yesterday turned out like this:

-I am pretty sure Emma speaks Pig Latin--if Pig Latin were a real language made up of a combination of snorts, grunts, and squeals.

-She is starting to begin smiling and it is amazing.

-It seems to be very tiring to be 1 month old.

"We want a story that starts out with an earthquake and works its way up to a climax"

9 minutes before Emma's official 3-week birthday, this happened:

Many of you know that we live in a new construction neighborhood, so it's not uncommon to get large dump trucks carrying gravel, lumber, or other building equipment down the road. The sound started out rattling the windows in the same sort of way, but I looked out the window, saw nothing, and immediately knew it was an earthquake. I ran into the bedroom, grabbed Emma, and stood in the door frame with her in my arms.
Like the great child she has been, she continued to sleep through the biggest earthquake in Virginia in over a century. For those reading this from farther away locations, we are all fine, the house is fine, and we never lost electricity (or any other amenities).

When the earthquake happened, we were getting ready to go out for Emma's first walk. Today was an absolutely perfect day in the Shenandoah Valley. After the earthquake, we felt it best to stay inside, keep an eye on things, and postpone the walk for another day. Hopefully, the rest of the week will stay nice.

Pam and John (Amber's parents) finally moved into their new house in Staunton this past weekend and we had a chance this evening to finally go over to the house to see them and have dinner. They've gotten an incredible amount of work done for having been in the house such a short amount of time.
It's hard to believe that it's been 3 weeks since Emma was born. Every day has been absolutely amazing and she is growing up so quickly. Hopefully, we'll have pictures of our first walk together in the next post. Until then, here's what Amber and Emma look like most of the time:

The quote from this post comes from Samuel Goldwyn. We started with an earthquake and here's the climax:It should be an interesting week...