Saturday, November 19, 2011

Three Months Old

Happy Three Months to our beautiful, perfect little girl!  It has been so much fun to watch our little girl during her third month.  Although I probably sound like a broken record from month two, she is still just absolutely an angel.  This month we have definitely started seeing more of a little girl coming out of that sweet baby.  She is constantly "talking," scooching, and chewing on her hands.  She's doing great holding up her head and has even spent a little bit of time in her bumbo seat.  Emily went on her first vacation this month (which I will post about later,) and she did a great job on the five hour car ride!  Emily is such a perfect, sweet little mama's girl and we couldn't be more in love.  She is my little best friend and sidekick.  Here are a few highlights from month three:
  • Pumpkin Patch:  We visited the pumpkin patch for her first time and had a blast!  We can't wait to go back next year.
  • Mommy's Birthday: Mommy turned 30 years old!
  • Halloween: Emily got to experience her first Halloween and dressed up as a cat in a costume pieced together and partially homemade by mommy.  
  • Social interactions: Emily has become so much more social this month!  She is constantly smiling, laughing, and cooing.  There is nothing sweeter.
  • Chewing:  Emily began chewing on her hands alot in the past couple of weeks.  They stay wet most of the time.
  • Grasping:  This month Emily began really holding on to her rattle as well as her little Papagator and her Ellie pacifier.  There isn't much cuter than watching her actually know what to do with her hands.
  • Found her feet:  In addition to playing more with her hands, she's also found her feet and reaches out to hold onto them when she is on her back.
  • Scooching:  Anytime Emily is sitting up, she does her best to scooch herself down.  I can't wait to see when she will start really moving.  She's constantly pushing her feet against whatever is around her.  She's such a strong little girl!
  • Eating: Emily has moved from eating every three hours to every four except for at night, when she usually goes about eight hours or so.
Emily didn't visit the doctor this month, but I did all of her measurements at home.  She is still wearing a size one diaper which she has been in since she was about six weeks.  Her weight is now 12 lbs, 6 oz (40 %,) length is 25 1/4 inches (100%,) and her head is 16.2 inches (75%.)  Still tall and skinny!  Keep it up, angel baby!


Can you believe how big she's getting?  What a little girl!  She looks so cute in this picture with her new BFF Papagator.  And again, for your viewing pleasure, the many faces of Emily.  She was definitely trying to lick the cupcake on her shirt.


Emmylou,
Everyday that I wake up is the greatest day of my life now that you are here.  There is nothing in the world that I love more than you!  Your daddy and I love just spending time staring at you.  There is really nothing more fun and we can do it for hours.  You are our sunshine and we love you more than life!
Mommy

A few more pictures from month three:
Meeting her Great Great Uncle Charlie
Spending some time on her tummy
Smiling at Mommy
Kisses from Mommy at the Pumpkin Patch
Hanging with Aunt Kimmy at Starbucks
Happy Halloween!
Getting adjusted by Dr. McDaniel
Christmas Card Photoshoot on her third month birthday

Friday, November 18, 2011

Just wanted to remind you to blog about Tiny Prints for your free Christmas cards.  I was contacted by one of their employees last night, so it is totally legit!  If you want awesome Christmas cards like the ones below, it will totally be worth your time.  You can save up to $150 just by taking a moment to blog.  I'm having a hard time deciding which card I would pick out, but I'm really loving all of these:





Of course I can't tell you which one I'm choosing.  You'll just have to check your mailbox to find out!

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Tiny Prints Christmas Cards Giveaway

Although I'm extremely depressed that my maternity leave is coming to a close, I'm super excited about something we are doing this weekend.  On Saturday morning, we are having Christmas card pictures taken for the very first time with our little family of three!  To make it even better, we're also taking pictures with my whole family- Mom and Dad, Brett and Rachel.  And to top it all off, one of my very best friends in the whole world is taking them!  She has taken a ton of pictures of Emily and they have all been beautiful.  If you're interested in family pictures, she has a limited number of spaces still available and it's a bargain at $100 for a session, which includes images.  If you're interested, let me know and I will get you her contact info.  The photo below is one of my favorites she has taken.


With the upcoming photo shoot in the works, I've been researching Christmas cards.  I'd planned to design them myself, but the reality is that I won't have time to do it.  So imagine my surprise when I came across this amazing deal this morning!  I've been a big fan of Tiny Prints for the last several months.  Their new Christmas line is so fun and colorful and I am really excited to order our cards from them once we get our pictures back. 


Right now, Tiny Prints is offering an awesome giveaway.  If you blog about their company and their sweet products, Tiny Prints will give you 50 free holiday cards of your choice!  Can you believe that?  So, get to blogging!  After you've blogged about the company, fill out this form and you will be contacted later by a Tiny Prints rep.  It looks like you can also mention them on Facebook or Twitter if you're into that kind of thing.  You can thank me later.  I just hope you don't pick out the same ones I do!

Friday, November 11, 2011

Happy Birthday, Papa!

Today is another one of the most important days of the year in our family.  Not because it's Veteran's Day (although that is important with several veterans in our family,) but because it's my daddy's birthday.  I have the most wonderful dad in the world.  He is kind, hard-working, non-judgemental, reasonable, wise, faithful, committed, giving, focused on others, thoughtful, funny, loving, and a servant.  Actually, he's alot more than that, but I don't want to take up the entire blog entry with adjectives.  :) 

There are many things that I admire about my daddy, but here are just a few.  First of all, he has been a faithful and loving husband to my mother and a devoted father to me and my brother.  In a world where so many kids don't have good examples of what a husband and father should be, my dad is absolutely amazing.  He has always provided us with everything we needed and almost everything we wanted. ;-)  He would do anything for us and is constantly helping us with things that we need because he can do pretty much anything.  He's a handyman and a gardener, which means he can fix anything inside or outside of the house and make it not only function, but look beautiful as well.  Because he can do anything, people are always needing his help and he is always willing.  He is also a wonderful son and son-in-law, serving, loving, and respecting his parents and in-laws and never complaining about it.  He has served as an elder in our church since I was 15 years old, which is exactly half of my life.  How many other kids can say that about their dads?  He has devoted a huge part of his life to the church and has dealt with many difficulties with grace and a Christ-like attitude.  Where many would have given up and quit, he has been completely committed.  He has given countless hours serving the Lord and the people of his church.  Even before he became an elder, he served as a deacon and spent many hours taking care of the church grounds, running sound, and tons of other things.  My daddy has worked at the same company for 37 years, which is something that very few people can boast.  He is a valuable asset to his company and he is a faithful employee, which says alot about him.  He was committed enough to his children's education to pay for our college at a Christian university, something that has been a huge sacrifice on his part and something for which I will be forever grateful.  If there was one thing I could say to sum up my daddy, it is servant.  I believe this is one of the greatest things you can be, as it is a fulfillment of the greatest commandment, loving the Lord with all of his heart and loving others as himself. 

I have been so blessed these last few months to see him as he has become a grandfather.  This has been one of the greatest joys I have known since Emily was born.  My daddy was and is a wonderful daddy but is already an even greater grandfather.  He loves his little girl so much and she loves him, too!  He can always calm her down and loves making her laugh.  Daddy and Papa, we love you so much and we are more appreciative of you than you will ever know.  It is a blessing to be your daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter!

Meeting Emily for the first time

In love!

Bringing us home from the hospital

Visiting Papa at work

Snuggling with his girl

Papa can always make Emily smile!

Happy Birthday, Papa!

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Tummy Time!

I try to be a good mom and to be completely honest here, I think I'm doing a great job.  Most of this is probably due to my really amazing baby and the mercy of an even more amazing God, but regardless, Emily and I are jiving really well together.  One of my great downfalls, however, is tummy time.  I'm not good about doing it.  To be honest, I can probably count on two hands the number of times I've sat down with the little one to work on tummy skills.  It's not because I don't want to, it's just because she generally doesn't like it.  Also, she spits up when I lay her flat after she has eaten and by the time her tummy has settled enough to play, she's asleep.  So, our moments of tummy time, or even jungle gym time, are no more than once a day.

I've gotten a little bit better about it lately, though, and we're doing tummy time for about three minutes every day.  (Tummy time is important for babies to strengthen their neck and to encourage rolling and crawling.  In the past, it wasn't necessary due to babies sleeping on their stomachs, but now, due to stomach sleeping being a risk factor for SIDS, babies are sleeping on their backs.  Therefore, we do tummy time.)  The past few times we have done it, she has started to get really good!  She has always been pretty strong, which is why I think she's doing well despite lack of concerted effort.  She has been putting weight on her legs/pushing off since she was about a month old, which is more like a three or four month milestone.  She's been holding up her head pretty good for a long time, as well, although she still bobbles a bit.

The other day we snapped a few pictures of Emily during tummy time.  She was doing so good and we were so proud!  During today's tummy time, she was actually pushing up with her arms.  I can't believe my baby is getting so big!


Wow!  My head is staying up!

Look at me, Mom!

I can go even higher!

Okay, one more picture.  But only one!

I'm getting kind of tired.
Told you so.
What's the big deal?

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Emily's First Halloween

Although Emily isn't really old enough to Trick or Treat, we didn't want to let mommy's third favorite holiday pass by without a little bit of celebrating.  Emmy wanted to be a kitty cat for Halloween and who were we to tell her no?  We went to visit daddy up at work during the afternoon.  Everyone up there loves it when Emily comes up to the office.  How could they not?

Daddy and his sweet little kitten

Look at that tail!

Cutest kitty ever

That evening, we went and Trick or Treated at Mimi and Papa's house as well as Grandma and Grandpa.  Instead of asking for treats, though, we gave them out!  Our little kitten was a bit tired by the time we set out for the festivities, but that didn't stop us from having fun!

Trick or Treat!

Sleepy kitty

Worn out from all the excitement