The hardest thing...

The hardest thing about being a parent (of a newborn/infant) has to be the "not knowing".  Its so hard to know if what you're doing is the right thing for them! I realize that it probably just gets harder but man, this is tough.  My dear friend Amy says that the celebration at their 1st birthday isn't for the kid but to congratulate the parents for keeping the kid alive for a year! ha!  I feel like I'm constantly obsessing over Emily's schedule/feeding/sleeping but I just want to do the right thing for her.  

Isn't this the sweetest thing you've ever seen...
She's helping hold the book!

The one thing I know that I'm for sure doing right is breastfeeding.  Its the hardest and easiest thing I'm doing at the same time.  Easy b/c there are no bottles to make and wash but hard b/c I'm the one thats always feeding her.  (I have to say that she does get at least 1 bottle of breast milk on most days but more often than not she's nursing all day).  I love it though, I don't even mind the getting up in the middle of the night (which we're still doing most of the time but its only once so I really don't mind) and we're on a good 3 hour schedule for the most part so it isn't ALL day exactly.  I know its the best thing for her and its helping me shed those pounds I put on during pregnancy.  I am constantly looking to message boards, friends, and books for helpful tips and advice.  I plan to continue to breastfeed until she's at least 6 months old and if all is going well, on through the first year.  I recently came across this blog post that was just the sweetest and encouraging thing about breastfeeding. I urge all mommies to read it; you'll shed a tear just like I did I'm sure.  I've been blessed to be able to give the gift of breast milk to Emily. I prayed about it while I was pregnant and continue to pray that we will be able to make it through this first year.

So this week was a little challenging...she had become increasingly fussy during/after a feeding and I was getting worried that her reflux was out of control but then she began to seem to want to refuse to nurse at certain feedings. I was a hysterical mess about it...  researching nursing strikes, eliminating dairy, calling the doctor and lactation consultant, doing what ever I could (obsessing) to figure it out.  Well I still don't know what was wrong but she's eager to nurse again and I couldn't be happier. She had even slept through the night one night and I was anxious for her to wake up just so we could nurse since she was better when she was sleepy. I mean who hopes their baby wakes up in the middle of the night?!?!  I'm glad I had the patience to stick with it as well as the time to work with her during the day.  

we were trying out a new hairstyle!

Thanks for reading my long story :) The pictures aren't really relevant at telling it, I just thought they were cute and needed to add some flair to the post.  Plus I wanted to document the whole story of our little family.

What we've been up to...

It's been quite a while since I last posted something so here's to catching up...

Of course we've been watching the Summer Olympics (the men's swim team? God Bless America!-hahaha!)  Emily actually turns her head toward the TV now and likes to watch so we have to face her away from it and make sure we're playing with her at the same time or wait until after she goes to bed.  One Friday night Blaine had her laughing pretty good. Her squeals are so fun to hear right now and I just want to soak up these precious times with her.

We had another play date with our friends from church. Here the girls are all together (Emily is the youngest by a week but she's a bully and pushing them all over!)

Emily took her first boat ride 2 weekends ago.  We keep our boat at Lake Tillery and haven't had a chance to see it or get out on it this summer so we got a wild hair and braved it a couple of Saturday's ago.  We went during the afternoon when she naps the best and she slept most of the way there and while we were out on the lake.  She was great, it was just the 3 of us and we had fun. Here are some pictures...

I was determined to keep her cool and bug free while we took the cover off the boat

We're still working on sleeping through the night consistently and napping for longer periods during the day. From the looks of this picture though you'd think she had no problem sleeping :)

This past weekend we went to Henderson to do lots of stuff.  My sister and her fiance, Matt, were home too.  Allyson pretty much just laughs at Emily and it's very entertainig to watch.  We loved being home and hanging out with the whole Wilder clan.

One of the most exciting things that happened over the weekend was Emily rolling over!
You would have thought she won an Olympic medal!  She still struggles with that one arm and has to get a "running" start before she actually makes it over. I had captured several attempts before almost missing the actual roll.  She doesn't like being on her tummy though so gets upset once she's over.  That night was very frustrating for her b/c she kept trying to roll over but woke up mad b/c she couldn't get there or was pinned against the side of the pack-n-play where she was sleeping. :(  We'll keep practicing our tummy time and perfecting her roll. She'll be on the go in no time!

Another first (for Emily and myself) was going to my uncle Sam's "tractor" pull on Saturday night.  I say "tractor" b/c they are actually modified lawn mowers. I don't totally understand the concept but it didn't matter, we were entertained. I was nervous that it would be to loud for Emily so I brought along her headphones that we bought for her to use in our airplane. They aren't noise canceling but they worked really well b/c she slept through most of it!  We left early so I don't know if Sam won but it was sure entertaining! (esp Sam's t-shirt that said "Grasscar" and Matt's overwhelming excitement as we drove up and he jumped out of the car before I could get it in park!)

Everyday with Emily is fun, tiring yes, but I just love playing with her and watching her grow.  We're so very blessed that this precious little one is a part of our lives.  Its still weird to check on her before bed and see her sleeping (so peacefully) and know that we're responsible for this little life and that she's all ours. God is good! XOXO

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