Well, we wanted snow this year and boy did we get it! We got over 20" at our house on Saturday and Sunday of this past weekend and it has been bright and sunny ever since. Emma has LOVED looking out at the snow and Shamus has been having a great time too. Here are a few pictures of what it looks like outside!

And of course I can't NOT post of picture of Emma! I went to pick her up from daycare last Friday and Ms. Krystal said she wouldn't stop sticking her tongue out all day, and she still hasn't stopped! Ha!

Our Routine & Sitting Up! Well...Almost...

Hi Everyone! I am sure you have been just as busy as we have getting ready for the big Christmas Holiday!! Yeah!! I think I finally finished up my shopping last night, with the exception of one or two more things so now its on to wrapping!

Emma is getting bigger and bigger everyday. We are heading to her 6 month (wow) appointment in the first week of January and I can't wait to see how tall she is and how much she weighs. She is drinking about 6 ounces of formula about 4 times a day with maybe two smaller 2 - 4 ounce bottles thrown in there after she eats her baby food. I thought it would be fun to post our typical routine!

5:30AM: Emma wakes up in her crib and talks to herself until Mommy can pull herself out of bed to go get her. She is pretty consistent with when she wakes up with the random 4:30AM or 6:00AM wake up thrown in there.

5:45AM: Normally I get her out of her crib and we snuggle for just a few minutes as she wakes up and gets used to the lights, etc. We then get a clean diaper on and head right for our first 6 ounce bottle with our vitamins in it. It usually takes her about 15 minutes to polish that off, then it is off to the bathroom in her pink, bouncy chair while Mommy and Daddy get ready for work.

6:45AM - 7:15AM: I usually try to head out the door by 6:45AM so we can be at daycare by 7:00AM but that usually happens about twice a week. Its normally about 7:00 or 7:15AM when I actually get out of the house haha.

8:00AM - 8:30AM: This is usually the time frame when daycare will feed the little ones that are on cereal and baby food. Emma will eat her cereal and container of fruit (the past few days she has eaten the whole thing), then she follows that up with a small 2 - 4 ounce bottle and usually passes out for a good 3 hour nap!

12:00PM: She usually wakes up around noon and has her next 6 ounce bottle, plays for maybe an hour to an hour and half and then goes back down for nap number 2! We definitely got a sleeper!

4:00PM: Time for another 6 ounce bottle and playing until Mommy or Daddy pick her up from school!

6:00PM: By the time we pick her up, gather all her things and head home its about 6:00PM and we usually get settled and have our next round of baby food, which is more cereal and a veggie! Then its play time before heading to take a bath!

6:30PM-6:45PM: Bath time pretty much ALWAYS follows baby food time because she is such a mess!! I think I should start feeding her IN the bath. :)

7:00PM: BED TIME! Bath usually only takes about 15 minutes or so (20 if she is in a really good mood and wanting to play) then its usually another quick 2 - 4 ounce bottle and she is passed out! She sleeps through the night until about 5:30AM and we then rinse and repeat!

Then it's time for Mommy and Daddy to get started on all their nightly chores like, washing clothes, cleaning up dinner, getting bottles ready for the next day, etc. That's pretty much our life! So far, Emma has tried Bananas (not a fan), Peaches, Pears (loves), Prunes (loves) and Sweet Potatoes. I think tonight though it might be carrots or sweet peas for the first time!

She is getting so big that she can sit up now! At least for a little while haha. She can only do it if you put her in the, what I like to call, tripod position, but she is usually good for about 15 - 30 seconds! It's adorable! I often wonder what she is thinking during that time...I wonder if its like viewing a whole new world!

Peaches, Sweet Potatoes & Pictures!

Hi All! Wes, Emma and I had a pretty good weekend and we hope you did too! Nothing too exciting, just some Christmas shopping, present wrapping and relaxing! I still have some last minute Christmas shopping to take care of so I am thinking about taking a half day because the malls and stores are just WAY too crowded on the weekends to get anything done. We can't believe how fast Christmas is coming!

Last week, Emma had her first taste of peaches and wasn't a big fan! She thought they were okay but nothing to write home about haha. So before yesterday, Pears and Prunes were tied for first but I think Sweet Potatoes took the championship last night! Emma LOVED her first taste of vegetables and at almost the whole can in one sitting! This week, we also started to send some cereal and fruit to daycare so she can have her breakfast with her friends between 8:00AM and 8:30AM, then she can have her cereal and vegetables at night before bedtime. She is getting so big I can't believe it!

I told myself that I wasn't going to go crazy for Christmas either but that was a big FAIL too! Ha! I was all set with just a few things the past couple of weeks but I headed to Babies R Us this weekend for some more bottles and new bathing stuff and ended up getting several more things! Oops! Oh well...it's only your first Christmas once right! We took a few pictures with my first "studio" set up which consisted of an ironing board, a white bed sheet and a few Christmas props haha! Very professional huh? Here are a few pictures that we got!

Bananas = Fail! Prunes = Success!

We have learned a valuable lesson over the past few days. Emma is NOT a fan of bananas (and neither is her digestive track for that matter) but she LOVES, I repeat, LOVES, prunes.

Even more proof that I swear I gave birth to an old lady. Ha!

Tonight is a new fruit night...so we will see what she thinks about peaches!

A Great Weekend & A Bad Morning!

We had a great time this past weekend and started our first big family tradition (hopefully). We went for the first time ever to actually go cut down a Christmas Tree! I think what made this so special for us was that neither Wes or I have ever done this before with our families, so it was just something fun and new that we could make our own.

The weather was pretty questionable when we left the house Saturday morning. It was about 40 degrees and rainy and Emma was pretty fussy from her cold. Needless to say, we were expecting a rough trip and just thought "hey, won't this be a funny story to tell Emma when she is older. We can tell her all about how her first Christmas tree cutting was miserable. Haha." It actually turned out to be the contrary (which is an even better story to tell). We drove for just about an hour to a tree farm and by the time we got there, Emma had a good nap in the car and the rain turned into huge snow flakes! So we packed up Emma in her hat and gloves and strapped her in the Baby Bjorn (which we use all the time now and Emma loves it..thanks Aunt Leslie!!) and off we went in search of the perfect tree! It didn't take us too long to find the one we wanted and Wes had it cut down in no-time flat. We bought a new tree stand, and tied down the tree to the top of our car and off we went!

A few lessons learned from our first Christmas tree cutting:

1. Laura should wear boots, not sneakers. Boy my tootsies were cold and wet by the time we left!


2. Wes should bring thicker, water repellent gloves and a change of clothes for the ride home! Laying on that cold, wet ground made for a chilly ride home!


3. Make sure we have rope to tie down the tree! We were assuming they would give us some, but nope! Luckily, we had a few bungee cords in the back of the explorer but shew!
   
4. If a tree looks medium size in the field, it will look extra big in the house! Ha!

We brought the camera but didn't get too many shots since my hands were full with Tiny and an umbrella and Wes was busy chopping down the tree. Here are a few pics from the website though to give you an idea! It was so much fun! They had hot chocolate, tracker rides, fresh wreaths and so much more!

On Sunday, I left Emma at home with Daddy and had a day with the girls! Mimi, Aunt Mary and Lauren and Dana and I all headed to a dinner theatre for a local production of Annie! It was fabulous! The food was great and the show was even better!

That brings us to this morning, which unfortunately, wasn't so great! Wes and I woke up absolutely freezing to find out house a chilly 58 degrees because our heat cut out in the middle of the night! Poor Emma was frozen solid! So Wes is working from home today awaiting the repair man. To top it all off, Emma still has a cold and has a lot of mucus that she tends to choke on. So right after I was done feeding her, she sat up, coughed a few times, then choked which made her BARF everywhere! Even though she only drank 4 ounces, I swear 5 or 6 came out!! I was soaked from head to toe!! YUCK!! But, leave it to our happy little baby, she was smiling and giggling not 5 seconds later!

Beware - Emotional Alert!

It must be the holidays that is doing it to me, but I have been feeling so emotional and sentimental lately about having Emma in our lives. Maybe it is because the holidays are all about being with family and maybe its because for the two years it took us to get pregnant, each holiday was bittersweet because we both were dreaming about having our baby with us. We kept thinking, maybe by Christmas, or maybe by Easter, or maybe by 4th of July and so many holidays came and went, with no little one to share them with. Until now!

I can't even put into words how excited I am for Christmas this year, and it's not just about Christmas Day but about all the traditions that we can't wait to share with Emma. Everything from driving around and looking at Christmas lights, to putting up a little tree in her room, to opening presents (or her just trying to eat the paper) to going to cut down our Christmas tree for the first time ever. I look at our Emma Kathryn and already can't remember what our lives were like without her. I feel like for all those years, a piece of me was missing and it was just waiting to be filled by Emma. One of my favorite times of the day is in the early morning when she wakes up and the house is quiet and its just Emma and Mommy rocking in her chair while she is having her bottle. With her little fingers wrapped around mine, her chunky little legs stretched out across my lap, her bright blue eyes just looking around her room soaking it all in, and that big smile that comes across her face and just lights up the room. I have actually found myself tearing up a few times lately during our special morning time, just thinking about how long we waited for her to be in our lives, and how every moment and heartache was absolutely worth it.

Last night Wes and I were talking as Emma was snuggling in Mommy's arms, that we can't believe she is 5 months old already. Although that doesn't seem like much, it will only be in the blink of an eye that she is walking and talking and turning 1, then 2, then 18! Wes was saying that he can't wait for her to talk and to walk and to tell us things. Sometimes when she is laying in my lap, I look down at her little teenie tiny feet and just imagine that before we know it, those little teenie tiny feet are going to be big enough to be walking around in Mommy's high heels and how I am not ready for that day to come. I'm not ready for her to learn to walk, I'm not ready for her to learn to talk, I'm not ready for her to eat real food, I'm not ready for her to go to school, I'm not ready for her to start sports, I'm not ready for her first date, or for her first driving test, or for her first prom or homecoming. I'm not ready for her to go to college, or get married, or go off on some worldly adventure that I know one day she will ask for. I'm not ready for any of it, and I'm not ready for her to turn 6 months and start sitting up all on her own and I'm not ready to put away even more of her clothes because they are too small. I'm not ready for her to grow up but can't do a thing about it. If I could just keep her this age, I could guarantee she would never have her heart broken, or that she would never get hurt, or ever worry about her away from us in college, or out late with friends or that she won't need me anymore.

Even though I wish she could stay 5 months old forever, there are also so many things that I can't wait to teach her and tell her. I can't wait to tell her how lucky she is to live in America. I can't wait to teach her about the world (at least how much I know about it) and how we are so fortunate to live where we do. I can't wait to teach her about life and science and math and history and animals and the environment. I can't wait to take her on vacations and go boating, and teach her how to eat crabs for the first time. I can't wait to show her fireworks and the ocean and the snow and mountains. I can't wait to teach her about kindness and respect and God and about her grandmother that passed away before she was born. I can't wait to show her how to make cookies and cakes and teach her how to ride a bike and how good roses smell. I can't wait to help her pick out her wedding dress. I can't wait to teach her to be responsible, independent and to not take things for granted. Most of all, I just can't wait to show her, every single day, how much she means to us and tell her that I have no doubt, that she is the reason I was put on this earth.