Play Date!

Emily hosted her first play date last Thursday!  Our friends from church, Laura and her twin girls, Annika and Brooklyn and Marsha and her daughter, Greta came for a fun visit.  The twins and Greta were born (on the same day!) a week before Emily. It was so nice to have friends going through the same things at the same time when we were all pregnant. Its even nicer to have the girls going through the same feeding/sleeping/growing things at the same time. This is Marsha's 3rd girl and Laura has another daughter too so I consider them old pro's since this is my rookie year.  The most helpful thing has been texting with Marsha in the middle of the night checking in on the girls as we were up nursing. She's basically the only friend I have with a newborn that's nursing too.  I really appreciate all of the advice and tips that my seasoned mommy friends have thrown my way and how they don't hesitate to help me out when i have a question.  And I realized that you shouldn't compare babies to each other but I'm always interested to see how everyone is doing and maybe trying out some of their methods.


So although 3 month old babies don't exactly "play" with each other, the mommies had fun talking and sharing.  I didn't get a picture of them all together but snapped these of Emily before they arrived!

We're headed to Marsha and Greta's house this afternoon again so maybe I will remember to get a pictures of the girls together!

3 months old today!

I simply cannot believe that our sweet baby Emily is 3 months old!  (i know its cliche...but...) She's really growing up too fast, seriously.  She's changed so much in the past month too.  She's now sucking on her fingers/thumb and laughing more. One day something is funny but probably not again the next!  Her feedings are getting a little more organized as well.  I guess we're on some sort of schedule, sort of.

Here are a few more pictures of what a big girl she is.  She's sitting up a little in her bumbo seat (and reading!).

I was in the bathroom the other day and she was hanging out on our bed and this is how I found her when I popped my head back in the room:

She had scooted out of her lounger by kicking and actually fell asleep like this!

Last weekend I had to spend a couple of days in Los Angeles and it was the hardest thing I've ever done. I went to see the Fall 2012 line from CAbi, a home based clothing company that I'm an independent sales consultant for at what we call "the SCOOP".  Since I took the previous spring season off to have Emily it was required that I attend this one.   I only needed to be there Friday afternoon and Saturday (I know, a long way to travel for such a short time). So after much stressing and worrying I flew out Friday morning and returned on the red eye Saturday night so that I was only gone for the time necessary. It didn't matter that I wouldn't get any sleep, I was used to it, right?  While it was nice to get away, I missed my baby girl terribly.  I was afraid she wouldn't know who I was when I got back, wouldn't take a bottle while I was gone or want to nurse when I got back.  Blaine did a fantastic job taking care of her while I was away and everything turned out just fine.  I took my pump and continued to pump the same 2.5-3 hours that she would be feeding so that my milk supply wouldn't be affected while I was gone.  It was really awkward at times (I had to ask someone if I could borrow their plug so I could pump in the airport!)  She was happy to see me (at least I think she was) and I was even more happy to see her.  She nursed just fine and even took a 3 hour nap with me on Sunday! And apparently Blaine wore her out b/c she's been pretty much sleeping through the night ever since I got back!


We love our baby girl and its been such a blessing to see her getting bigger and changing everyday!  Happy 3 month birthday Emily!!!


XOXO

Papa and GiGi visit

My mom (Gigi) and dad (Papa) came for a quick visit a couple of Saturdays ago.  We went to lunch at Hickory Tavern and got these cute pictures (notice how Emily rests her arm on the table like a grown up...we're going to have to work on those manners!)

While Emily was napping my parents suggested we go do "something" and I honestly couldn't remember what "something" we used to do to entertain ourselves before she was born!  But alas, Blaine and I decided to sneak away for a quick shopping trip sans baby.  It was nice not having to drag the infant carrier in and out of the car (I had a bruise on my arm from carrying her-she's so heavy!).  And they came to see her anyway so we just got out of their way.  We definitely know who the favorite is now!

Emily laughing!

I finally got Emily to laugh out loud yesterday! I was so freaking excited I couldn't stand it!  I was just taking her picture to send to the friend that gave her this cute outfit so I had my iPhone ready and was able to catch it on video. I was thrilled b/c I've been trying to get a giggle out of her for weeks now!  Blaine actually got a little chuckle out of her earlier this week when he was home for lunch and I was so jealous. I mean, I'm funny too! :)
I hope this video works (sorry it's unsteady...I was bouncing on the chair and more concerned with keeping her laughing than taking the video)

Missing the beach...

This sweltering triple digit heat has me missing the coastal breeze that we enjoyed two weeks ago in Emerald Isle.  Somehow its ALWAYS hotter when we get back inland and summer really takes off. 
Here are some more pictures from our fun week at the beach...

Emily, Chase (my cousin's son) and his BeBe (my Aunt Betty Ann)

We of course had more than one bathing suit. Emily's Aunt Allyson bought her this one too...

Emily had the best time playing with her aunt Allyson. I don't think either of them stopped laughing at each other and Allyson was even pretty good at settling her down and getting her to sleep by watching for her queues, we miss her terribly.

Blaine was especially glad to get some time to spend with Miss Emily. They hung out quite a bit which was really a nice break for me. I was able to catch some rays and lay out on the beach even.  The one day I did walk over to the beach Blaine called me right around the time she was ready to nurse and said "I'd like to order some milk"...hahaha, I thought it was really funny especially when I my dad showed up over the dune just after that and I wondered if he was there to pick up the said milk! :)
Here they are playing horsey (she's gotten really good at holding her head up but this picture doesn't really look that way!)

Emily got to spend some special time with her great grandpa Hubert too. Here he's singing her a sweet song. Maybe she'll be used to his beard and not be afraid of Santa! :)

We really loved hanging out on the screened in porch overlooking the sound and watching the sunset. The star of the week though was my cousin's son, Chase. What a funny little guy. He was really entertaing all week and is such a good kid. I got to spend some time reading to him and here he's showing Blaine how to play the guitar!  We had the best time laughing at him!

One of the best parts of the trip was watching my mom and sister talk to Emily. She is so funny and active in the mornings so we made sure they got to experience it.  I love this time with her and everyday I fall deeper in love with her.

I mean how do you not fall in love with that face!

While it was definetely "different" having a baby with us at the beach, we had a good time as a family (we still think it's weird that we actually have a baby but wouldn't have it any other way).  Blaine and I even got to go out one evening after she went to bed and we joined everyone in the annual go cart race at the local track. We just didn't get to stay for putt-putt this year, but that's ok...i'm sure we'll be spending many other trips playing putt-putt. Blaine was able to go golfing with my cousin, Matt and Emily and I went with my mom and sister to do some wedding dress shopping! Spending time with family is something I cherish and I'm so thankful that we are all so close and can get together as often as we do. I'm a lucky gal!
God is good!

XOXO

Happy Birthday Blaine!!

Happy Birthday to the best husband and daddy two girls could ask for! 

His birthday was yesterday but i didn't have time to write a post! :)

Blaine turned 35 yesterday and we celebrated by having brownies and ice cream at his office that his mom brought.  It was fun to see everyone and get out of the house for a little while.  We'll celebrate more this weekend.



Yesterday also marked the first time we went out by ourselves as a couple for a "date"...well, we just went to the Rotary installation banquet but it was still fun! 

I'm so thankful to have Blaine in my life. He really is a gift from God and I can't imagine sharing this life with anyone else. My heart is so full of love for him and seeing him with Emily has made me fall in love with him even more.  He's so funny and we have the best time together.  He's always my partner and biggest cheerleader.  I love him so much and i know that Emily loves him too the way she lights up when she sees him.  We are the lucky ones!

Happy Birthday honey!

Two month shots :(

Emily had her two month shots yesterday. I couldn't really tell you what they were for (guess i should have done more research), I just know they were awful!  Blaine thankfully went with us to the doctor's office. Not sure i would have been strong enough by myself.

This is her before (we had to take her clothes off to be weighted, she didn't go to the Dr without clothes) :) 

She got a great report...weighing in at 12lbs 8oz!  The Dr is increasing her prescription amount for her Zantac too but hopefully we won't have to take it much longer.  Then the mean nurse came in and made our sweet baby cry with those awful shots.  I picked her up right away and she screamed and cried and so did I...I wasn't able to console her but her daddy was.  I felt a little left out since I wanted a hug and to be held too!  She was fine for a couple of hours but then got really upset.  She calmed down enough for us to do our nightly bath time routine but then was upset again.  This time she was screaming so bad and I of course started crying too.  We finally took her temperature and she had a low grade fever so we gave her some baby Tylenol and she settled down enough to nurse.  Miraculously she went to sleep at a decent time and I climbed into bed after her in anticipation of a long night.  She woke up at 1:15am and 5:30am which isn't normal but not terrible. 

This morning she was all smiles and talking again so I guess she's fine.  She's actually napped a little better so I've taken advantage of the opportunity to have her sleep in her crib for naps, though they are still VERY short. 

Now we know what to expect and will have Tylenol ready for the next time although I doubt it will be any easier...