It is taking absolutely all of my power not to pick up the phone and call to see how she is doing. I at least have to wait until lunch time for crying out loud! They were really sweet and know how hard it is for new moms to leave their little ones so they told me to feel free to call at any time and I can talk directly to the teachers in Emma's infant room. She was so happy though, playing and talking when I left, which was comforting to see because boy was she cranky this morning! I think it was because it was just different then her normal routine but hopefully soon she (and Mommy) will adjust to the new routine.

I just can't seem to concentrate though today. All I can think about is whether or not Emma ate, or how well she ate, or if she has been fussy, or if she has been sleeping in her crib or playing most of the morning? I wonder is she thinks Mommy just left her and isn't coming back?!?! Is she chilly? Does she need to wear something warmer? Have they changed her diaper? Are they playing with her? How many times did she burp after her milkies? Is she going to sleep a lot today, or is she going to be awake and sleep a lot after I pick her up? The list goes on and on! How am I ever going to wait until 5:00PM to leave to go pick her up?!?! I don't think I am going to put her down for the rest of the night!

Last Belly Picture!

Wow, in searching through some of our old pictures, I stumbled upon my last belly picture before Emma was born...Wowza! Here I was thinking I was still looking pretty cute but I had no idea how big I actually was! How did I not just topple over with that belly?!?!

These pictures were taken on Wednesday, June 24th...two days before going into the hospital and three days before Emma was born. When I see pictures like this, I immediately am amazed, yet again, at truly what a miracle being pregnant and giving birth is. I had no idea when this picture was taken what was about to happen and how much our lives were going to change in just a few short days. It completely amazes me to think how you go from having this life grow inside you, to getting to meet the little one that already had a personality and her entire life ahead of her. It truly is an absolute miracle and I will never, ever forget that.

PS: I also stumbled upon my first "belly" pictures back in January where I thought I was totally showing. HA! Was I in for a surprise! I can't wait to post those to show you how I was totally arching my back and holding my stomach at a whopping 12 weeks or something. Ha!

Slept Through The Night Again!

That's right! The little tiny peanut slept through the night once again! This time, it was the longest yet! She was still pretty tired and a little cranky yesterday after her doctors appointment on Thursday and felt warm most of the day so I wasn't surprised when she got pretty cranky in the evening. So we ended up taking our bath a little early and just like I had suspected..she SCREAMED afterwards to let Mommy know just how much she did not appreciate being taken out of the bath! So after calming down a bit, it was time for our next feeding at 8:00PM. Well, she completely fell asleep in the middle of it so she MAYBE drank two ounces. So, we let her sleep for a little while and ended up changing her diaper to try to wake her up for a little more "milkies" around 9:00PM. Poor thing was sooo sleepy, she yet again fell asleep before finishing her bottle and only took about one more ounce...she was down for the count.

Mommy then woke up in complete disbelief at the sound of her rutsing at 6:00AM! That's my girl!! I think Wes and I got extremely lucky with an pretty easy going baby who thankfully has been letting us sleep from almost day one. On average, she gets up only once a night, around 3:30AM with the occasional sleeping through the night which tends to come more and more now as she is getting older (thank goodness). I am actually looking forward to her starting daycare on Monday (I say that until I have to drop her off and leave her and cry myself all the way to work) so that we can start to get on a normal routine and hopefully "meet the day" as my dad would say, at the same time everyday. The Young School is very big on routine (which I love) and by the time she moves to the "Todfant" room which is at about 8 months of age, she will be on two naps a day. Just as an FYI...the "Todfant" room is the room between the Infant Room and the Toddler Room. That will be the first of Emma's many school graduations! Now on to a few more pictures!!!

This is Emma and Mommy celebrating the weekend by playing on the floor! Although she still LOVES (and demands) to be held most of the time...she is starting to really enjoy stretching her legs and playing on the floor (despite the occasional lick on the face from her Shamus haha).

Tummy Time! Emma really doesn't seem to mind Tummy Time at all! She just kind of hangs out and tries to work on those neck muscles and is doing a great job. We usually spend about 5 minutes or so playing Tummy Time and then is back over to rest a bit. All those brains in that head are heavy!!

I actually caught one of the biggest and brightest smiles on camera yesterday. This is the kind of smile that I get to wake up to every morning and it completely starts my day on the best note!

Poor baby...Mommy does nothing but takes pictures of her...even when she is sleeping! But I can't help it, she is so darn cute I can't stand it!! She actually has started drooling a little bit which, from what I understand, can be one of the first signs of teething! OH NO! As soon as the doctor made a joke about it at her appointment, Mommy ran to the Internet to Google and find out when a baby starts to get teeth. I think we have a few months before it gets really bad, but some sites said that babies can start teething for a few months before their teeth actually come in. Uh oh!

I think Mommy is finally going to work on the scrapbook that I got for Emma (I have had it since I was about 5 months pregnant)...and am hopefully going to update her baby book! Bad Mommy!

More Pictures!

Well, yesterday was Emma's two month Birthday!! I can't believe it has been that long already! It feels like just last week when I was blogging about just finding out we were pregnant! We tried to take our two month old picture and were lucky we got the little smile that we did. Poor baby, after two shots and an oral vaccine and having mommy take your picture when you are fussy at bedtime...shew! So needless to say we didn't get very many smiley pictures ha!


After we took some pictures on the couch with our sign, I put Tiny in her PJs and we had our normal after milkies - before bedtime - snuggle time. My two favorite times of the day are 1) when she first wakes up in the morning and I go see her in her crib (she gives me the biggest and brightest smiles that just make my entire day) and 2) our after milkies - before bedtime - snuggle time. This picture explains it all...


Tiny slept pretty good last night, but was still pretty tired this morning after he big day at the doctors yesterday, so I snapped a few pictures before heading out for work. She was soooo sleepy, she was doing what she could to just keep those baby blue eyes open!

We hope everyone has a great weekend! I will be sure to update everyone on how Tiny's first day of daycare goes on Monday!!

Fun Comparison!

Here is a fun comparison between Daddy, Mommy and Tiny with our birth, one month and two month weights and lengths!

Birth Weight:
Daddy = 6 lbs 11 ozs, Mommy = 7 lbs 14.5 ozs, Emma = 5 lbs 12.6 ozs

Birth Length:
Daddy = 19.25 in, Mommy = 19.5 in, Emma = 19 in

One Month Weight:
Daddy = 9 lbs 7 ozs, Mommy = 10 lbs 4 ozs, Emma = 8 lbs 2 ozs

One Month Length:
Daddy = 20 in, Mommy = 21.5 in, Emma = 20.5 in

Two Month Weight:
Daddy = 13 lbs 8 ozs, Mommy = 11 lbs 14 ozs, Emma = 10 lbs 13 ozs

Two Month Length:
Daddy = 23 in, Mommy = 22.5 in, Emma = 22 in

Childproof Drawers!

Who needs drawer locks when you can use one of these...

Two Month Doctors Appointment Update!

Hi Everyone! Happy Thursday! TGIAF (Thank Goodness It's Almost Friday)!

Emma had her next doctors appointment today on her two month Birthday. Happy Birthday to my little Teeny Tiny!! Unfortunately, I wasn't able to go because of being back to work this week and playing catch-up but Daddy took her and did a great job asking all the questions I wrote for him ha. Daddy has a long list of questions to ask, daycare paperwork to fill out and poopy diapers to contend with and he did a great job!

Emma now weighs 10 lbs and 13 ounces!! Wowza!! That puts her in the 50th percentile for weight. She is also 22 inches long, which puts her in the 50th percentile for height too. They measured her head for the first time which Wes thinks was about 14 inches in diameter, which put her in the upper 25th percentile.

My poor baby got two shots and one oral vaccine. From what Daddy said, she handled the first shot pretty well...but the second shot was another story! I really like our doctor though. He takes the time to answer all of our questions (no matter how many we walk in the door with) and never makes us feel like they are stupid (even if they are haha).

Stay tuned for her updated two months old picture, hopefully to come later tonight!

Oh yeah...get this. We started showing Emma her Baby Einstein videos and she loves them. The best part is, that Arby, our cat, loves them even more!! He watched almost the full 20 minute video and was just about to pounce on the screen! Emma is still getting used to it..she usually lasts about 5-10 minutes and then starts to get a little fussy. I think because she has been watching it in the evenings and that's pretty much when she is the most tired. It was hilarious though watching Arby...he was almost paralyzed by the video! It was like he was half freaked out, but half loving it and no matter what, couldn't make himself walk away!

Back To Work & The Picture People!

Well, it's official...I have actually survived my first two days back to work. A lot of people have been asking me how it felt and it really was bittersweet. Although I dearly missed my Tiny Dancer and could barely pull myself out the door on Monday morning, it was kind of nice to get back into the real world and get back to some more adult interaction. Although I LOVE talking to Tiny every day, all day over the past 8 Weeks, she doesn't exactly respond much! I had a really warm welcome back at work and just loved to have people Ooh and Ahh over pictures of Emma. She is already all over my desk and work computer as my background, etc. Ha! I loved walking in the door both days and just rushing to get her in my arms!

It's been a while since I had updated the blog so I forget really where I left off and what I have and haven't talked about...so if I repeat something, sorry!

I am really excited that Emma Baptism is coming up, on Sunday, September 13th and she will be Baptized in the same church where Wes and I were married. I never thought I would get so emotional over it, but when we met with the church official when signing her up, we talked a lot about what a Baptism truly meant and I completely started to tear up!! I am really looking forward to that day and am thrilled that Emma's Aunt Mary and Uncle Brian will be her Godparents. They are going to be (more like they already are) fantastic role models for Emma and their three amazing children are a testament to that!

We had a great weekend last weekend which Emma and I kicked off by going to my Cousin Kim's baby shower (check out the link to her Baby blog on the right of our blog). Emma and I had a great time and were thrilled to celebrate Kim and Matt's new little tadpole with them! Kim got some fantastic gifts and definitely has that pregnancy glow about her! Emma also got to meet her second cousin (at least we think she is Emma's second cousin haha) Kaelyn! Kayelyn is my Cousin Kristin's daughter who is almost 8 months old already and is completely adorable! She was rolling around the shower and loving being a part of the party!

Last week we surprised Daddy with a few professional pictures that we had taken at The Picture People in the mall. It was a spur of the moment thing, mainly because Mommy found some coupons! We got a couple of prints, not too many because I figured we would be getting 6 Month pictures done as well. Tiny handled everything pretty well...we went through three changes of clothes (if you count being naked for one a change haha) and were just about to get some pictures in her dress for her Baptism when she decided she had enough! So here is what we came out with...I had to take pictures of the prints we got since getting the CD with digital pictures was $250! I don't think so!

Guess The Picture...

It's time for Guess The Picture Game!!! Can you guess what this is a picture of?!?!?!

Keep reading to find out....

Get your mind out of the gutter!!

It's a picture of Tiny little chunky leg! Ha!

Poor baby...her parents have such a bad sense of humor. She was sitting with Daddy one night and her little chunky leg just looked so much like a little hiney that we had to take a picture of it! Ha!

Updated Pictures!

Here are a few updated pictures of the little Tiny Dancer! I can't believe she is almost 8 weeks old already!

This is her "I think I can...I think I can..." face during tummy time haha. Adorable! Check out those rolls on her neck. She is so chunky I just love it! Although they sure are hard to clean during bath time!

This is what usually follows the "I think I can...I think I can..." face. The head back on the ground for a few minutes of resting. This is a good picture to show you how bald she is getting!


This is what I call her "Come Hither" look....

This picture makes me laugh every time I look at it. My little drunken sailor. This is usually what happens after "milky-time"! Haha! I swear...Mommy does not put liquor in her formula...the formula does this all on its own! Ha!

I couldn't resist posting these pictures either. This is what I came home too after getting my hair done last weekend...Daddy and Tiny playing fetch with Mus outside...with Tiny in her Baby Bjorn. She loves it and so do Mommy and Daddy!

This is Tiny's favorite new trick. Now that she is a little stronger and has some more control over her body...she likes to try to sit up while she is in her swing (swinging I might add) which normally ends up like this...

Daycare, Sleeping & General Updates!

Hi Everyone, it's been a little while since I have posted so I will try to remember everything that I wanted to include! I am typing this as I am taking part in one of my favorite times in the morning...when Emma is sleeping, I have my cup of decaf coffee and get to catch up on the news and watch the Today show! I am actually really surprised that Tiny is sleeping because...guess what...she slept through the night again!! Now, last time she did this it seemed to be a fluke occurrence (I'll still take it though!) so I am assuming the same will happen here. Emma slept from about 10:30PM last night all the way to 5:30AM this morning!! Wowza!! That's my girl! I am trying to prepare myself for the early wake ups coming next week when I return to work so I stayed awake since she got up (which explains the early post).

We had a great weekend and got a lot accomplished. I actually left Emma at home with Daddy for the first time for more then an hour and even though I knew she was in good hands, I was worried sick! I guess I'm not yet to the point where I can just relax when I get a break, but I am sure it's right around the corner. I headed to the salon on Saturday afternoon to get my hair cut and highlighted...something that I haven't done since December 2008! Let's just say I needed it! Wes was able to run some errands Saturday morning so we had a pretty good system down! Sunday was a relaxing day at home and I actually got outside for a little while, which doesn't happen much during the week with the Tiny Dancer. I took a quick trip to Home Depot (one of my favorite stores besides Costco haha) and got some flowers to plant for both indoors and outdoors. Although it was about 90 degrees outside, it still felt good to be out there.

Emma is still growing like a weed! I can't believe she is 7 weeks old already! She is much more of her surroundings and it is so much fun to "play" with her because she is getting much better at interacting with you. My favorite time of the day I think is right in the mornings when I go get her out of her crib because she gives me the biggest and brightest smiles of the day. It's adorable! Emma's brain is expanding in size and complexity (she is very advanced haha). It will grow about 5 centimeters during her first three months. I love during the day when she is quiet and alert which we use for learning time! This is when we sing and "chat" and go over our alphabet and our body parts, etc. She absolutely loves bath time now too! She just stares at herself in the mirror and splashes and talks to Mommy...it's so cute! I haven't taken any bath time pictures yet but they are soon to come. I mean, I have to have something to embarrass her with later in life right?

We also have a daycare update to report. As of last week, we had decided to go with the daycare that is right down the street. However...of course...not two days after I emailed the women who runs that daycare to say we would like to have Emma go there, we get a call from our number 1 choice for daycare, The Young School!! We have been #7 on the waiting list since I was about 5 months pregnant with no expectation of ever getting in. Well, low and behold, they have a spot open!! I am heading to check things out on Tuesday morning and then we will have to decide what to do. Although it's basically twice as expensive, for some reason, I just have it in my head that is the place where she should go, but we will see what happens on Tuesday. Their infant programs groups children together by age, so Emma would be in a "class" with infants born between May and August of this year. This is one of the reasons I feel a little more comfortable because down the street, she will be with toddlers and pre-teens and I get nervous about how much they will want to hold her, and be playing around her, etc. The Young School is also a place where Emma could start preschool and Kindergarten as well. So...we will have some new info to post on Tuesday I hope!

I think that is it for now...stay tuned!

Emma's Busy Week!

First of all...a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Emma's Uncle Brian today!! Not sure he reads the blog but just in case he does...Happy Birthday big brother!

Emma has had a pretty busy week this week! Since I am heading back to work soon :::crying::: we are trying to cram in all of the things we haven't done yet but wanted to. On Sunday we spent the afternoon/evening with the family including all the cousins and had a great time! At least until Emma decided to have serious projectile vomit all down Mommy!! So much so that I had to wear Uncle Andy's clothes home! Yuck! We will have to mark that one in the baby book as the biggest one yet...ew!

On Monday Emma and I went up to PA to visit my friend Kimmi and her new baby Cailin! Kimmi was due exactly a week after me and also ended up having Cailin early (July 9th) and it is a little bit scary how similar our labor and deliveries were! Emma and I had a great time and it was really nice to catch up with Kimmi and chat about anything and everything, especially being new moms! After we got home that evening, my cousin Kim stopped by who is due in November and it was great to catch up with her as well. She looks great and definitely has that pregnancy glow! (Hi Kim!)

(I just love the look on the babies faces on the picture below. This was after about 50 pictures of them laying together...you can tell how happy they are about more pictures! Ha! Check out the arm rolls on my little Tiny Dancer!!)

On Tuesday Emma and I just hung out around the house and relaxed after a busy two days. I can't even think about having to drop Tiny Dancer off at day care and not being able to spend all day with her. I actually miss her when I wake up in the mornings!

Yesterday, we took another day trip down to Emma's Uncle Brian and Aunt Mary's house! Although we didn't get to see Uncle Brian since he was at work, we had a great time hanging out with Mary, Lauren, Dana and Robert. Emma already loves her cousins and talks to them way more then she talks to Mommy...that little stinker! It was great to catch up with Mary and just spend some relaxing time hanging out. I'm not sure what our plans are for today yet, Emma has been awake since 5:30AM so whatever the plans are, they probably involve a nap ha! Tomorrow we are heading to Nanny's house for a visit with Nanny and Aunt Marti and Cousin Nesta. Emma is just a busy little bee this week!

This picture was yesterday morning before heading to Aunt Mary's house. I just loved this little outfit...my little farmer!

I love the look on Dana's face when Emma was crying haha...

Last night, the Tiny Dancer also had her first experience with Tummy Time! She did really well! It started out like this...

...and ended up like this.

Tiny Dancer & The Mus!

I couldn't resist sitting Tiny Dancer up on her Shamus the other day for a couple pictures. Shamus is really good with Emma and loves to be around her and give her kisses. Whenever she cries, he comes running to make sure everything is okay!

Emma also found her thumb again the other night after a bath so Daddy ran to get the camera. She tends to like the bath while she is in her little baby tub, but once she comes out and that air conditioning really hits her...well...let's just say she practices her big girl cry! You can actually see some small tears! My poor baby! But she sure does love to snuggle after bathtime!

More Pictures!

I really don't know what I am going to do with myself when I have to go back to work and I don't get to just take pictures of Emma all day long ha! Here are a few recent ones from this morning when she was "talking" to her animal friends again in her pack-n-play...adorable!

One of Emma's nicknames is now Tiny Dancer (from Daddy). We have been calling her Tiny for a little while now and when she gets all mad she kicks her legs back and forth so fast that it looks like she is dancing! Ergo...Tiny Dancer! So last night, Wes downloaded the song Tiny Dancer by Elton John which we have now deemed as Emma's theme song ha! We took turns dancing with her around the office while it was playing, and I took what I think is now my favorite picture yet of Daddy and Tiny Dancer...

Day Care, Jack-Hammers & Smiles!

Hi Everyone! While Emma is fast asleep in her pack-n-play I figured I would update everyone on the past few days. We are doing really well and everyday that it gets closer for me to head back to work I dread it more and more! I am heading back on August 24th but luckily, Wes is able to take that week off (his third and final week of paternity leave) so Emma won't have to head to day care until August 31st. She will be 6 Weeks old on Saturday and she seems to grow and change everyday. Overnight, she has seemed to gain much better control of her head. Of course, she still looks like a little bobble-head doll but she is really doing much better. Especially when she is mad and crying haha!

Emma smiles more and more each day when she is awake now. We were playing a little game just a few minutes ago when I would count to three in my best baby voice (which I have to say I am pretty good at after talking to an infant all day for 6 weeks haha) and then I would swoop in for a bunch of kisses on her chubby little cheek. She gave me the biggest smile yet, ear to ear, and it just melted my heart so I immediately swooped her up to snuggle!! I couldn't resist! I tried to catch a few smiles on camera this morning as she was waking up from her morning nap. Here eyes were open of course until Mommy got out the camera. My next goal is to get a smile with eyes open...which is pretty hard to get as they happen so fast ha!

We have also *I think* found and decided on a Day Care, and as luck has it, it is about 6 or 7 houses down from us on our street! Apparently it's been there for about two years now but they only recently put up a sign to say that they are certified and licensed. We met with the provider a few days ago and loved her. After all this time searching, I think we really lucked out with someone so close, and really reasonably priced. You can't beat being able to walk her down the street!

Emma has been really good this week despite all the noise in our house. As many of you know, we have been having water issues in our basement since last year. Finally, we hired a contractor to come fix the issue and they have been jack-hammering our basement floor for two days now. Somehow, the Lord managed to bless us with a baby that can sleep through anything! Too bad Mommy doesn't have that same ability! We now have a nice moat around our basement floor ha!

Oh and before I go, just one more picture to share....this is Emma "talking" to her animal friends that hang above her pack-n-play. So cute!

Okay...okay, one more because I can't resist. This one I titled "Big Girl Yawn". Ha!

Cute Survey!

1. How old were you when your first child was born? 29 (Man I feel old)

2. What month and year was your youngest child born? June of 2009

3. How did you feel when you first found out you were pregnant? We were absolutely thrilled. I immediately burst into tears because I was so happy. We had been wishing for Emma for 2 years.

4. Who did you tell first? Wes

5. How many pounds did you gain during your first pregnancy? 35 I think (I stopped getting on the scale the last few days).

6. What did you crave while you were pregnant? Anything with Lemon on it, Brussel Sprouts, Dairy Queen...

7. Did you find out the gender of your first child? Why or why not? Yes. Although I think it is fun to keep it a surprise, I am too much of a planner and could barely wait 20 weeks, let alone 40!!

8. Did you have any complications during your pregnancy? Nothing too serious until delivery. My placenta was low lying but that corrected itself. Everything went really well until my blood pressure spiked and Emma's heart rate was dropping during contractions.

9. How much did your first child weigh? 5 lbs, 12.6 ounces.

10. Was your first child early, late, or on time? Almost two weeks early!

11. What is the most difficult challenge or health issue that any of your children have faced? Emma has been really healthy so far. She dropped a little too much weight the first week but luckily we were able to correct that and now she is thriving (and quite chunky)!!

12. What's your favorite part of being a mom? Everything. Despite the lack of sleep and challenges along the way, it is absolutely the most rewarding thing I have ever done in my life.

13. Do you think it's easier to be a mom or a dad? Dad!

14. What is the best piece of advice you could give to someone who is about to have their first child? Time flies way to fast so take a breath everyday to remember each little moment. Also, throw any plans you have out the window! There will be a new Sheriff in town and it's the baby!

15. Did you always think you'd have kids? Yes

16. What's been the biggest surprise about motherhood? How incredibly hard it is and how much it has made me truly appreciate everything my mother ever did for me. I don't know how she did it!

17. Are there things you miss about life before kids? Sometimes...like the ability to sleep through the night, and the ability to leave the house without spending 30 minutes packing everything up!
18. How many children do you have? Just one!

19. Do you plan to have any more children? Yes! I would love to have two...but who knows what is in store for us in the future!

20. Who's the mom that you admire most? My mom!

Back From Vacation!

Hi Everyone! Emma has had quite the busy couple of weeks! We had a great visit with Gigi and Papa and then were off to Ocean City, Maryland with Mimi and Pop for a few days of vacation! We all had a great time and Emma was such a good little girl on her first ever vacation. She did really well over the past two weeks with changes in her routine, and having several different people feeding her and holding her, etc. She is definitely spoiled now with how much she was held over the past few weeks haha, so that should make for an interesting week when she is home alone with Mommy next week.

Here are her One Month pictures that we took. It started out like this with a nice and happy baby...

...but ended up like this with a very un-happy baby!

Emma did great in the car ride on the way to OC and also went right to sleep most nights in her Pack N Play in our room. She had her first ever trip to a pool, which we aren't sure she liked so much haha. It was really the first time she had been outside for a longer amount of time and although she was in the shade the entire time, it was pretty warm out and breezy, which I don't think she liked. I was thrilled though that she stuck it out and fell asleep so we got to relax by the pool for about an hour and a half.

I really wanted to see if she would like going in the water but once she fell asleep, I couldn't bring myself to dip her in the cold water and wake her up. So we will have to wait for her first swimming experience. We did however put her in her bathing suit for the first time and it was adorable! It is still a little bit big and baggy but it was too cute to resist.

The day before we headed home from OC, Mimi, Emma and I headed to some of the Shopping Outlets for some shopping for some warmer winter clothes for Emma. Once again, Emma slept through most of the festivities but came out with some super cute clothes that I can't wait to put her in! She is getting so big already!