Pool party!

Even though we're still in school, Summer has been here for quite awhile now.  We've had a really warm Spring here in Texas and although it has its down side, there are plenty of perks as well.  This week, we finally decided to take advantage of the warm weather and head out to the pool!  On Sunday afternoon, we filled up a little pool for Emily because the real pool wasn't ready yet.  She definitely liked it, but because of her love for the bathtub, I expected a bit more excitement.

The pool is okay, but I'd rather play with these bubbles.

This fish tastes GOOD!

Mom, put this on our blog so everyone can see how cute I am!

Tonight, the real pool was finally ready to go.  After we dinner, we donned our suits and swim diapers (well, Emily donned that,) and we jumped on in.  She absolutely loved it!  At first she held on pretty well, but as soon as we put her on the steps, she was in her element.  She stood on the steps and splashed and just laughed and talked.  I think it's safe to say we have a little water baby on our hands!  We can't wait for our swimming lessons in July!

Mom, this bathtub is BIG!

I can SWIM!

Nine Months

It hardly seems right that our baby girl is already nine months old!  She is growing up so quickly and she is turning more into a little girl and out of a baby.  This month saw a few new things, but mostly it was just continuing in the things she had begun during month eight.  It was an easy month, which was certainly welcome after the craziness of last month!  We made it through with no sicknesses for Emily (although Mom, Dad, and Mimi had strep) and no more car accidents.  Thank goodness!

• More teeth!:  This month we welcomed teeth five, six, and seven.  I didn't think anything could be cuter than Emmy's gummy smile, but it turns out her toothy smile is right up there!
• On the go:  She has perfected the art of crawling, pulling up, and going from standing back to sitting.  She is into everything and she loves to be standing up most of all.  We bought her a walker thinking that she would enjoy that, but she hates to be contained.  At the beginning of the month she still toppled over every once in awhile when she was sitting and playing, but she rarely falls over anymore.  Her balance is improving and I think we may have a walker or at least a stander by the end of month ten!
• Weaning:  I had fully intended to breast feed Emmy at least until her first birthday, but this month she began to wean herself.  She still breast feeds first thing in the morning, but it is very rare that I can get her to BF any other time.  Even the morning feedings are short and sweet much of the time.  She began refusing her night BF right after her eight month birthday and hasn't looked back.  I think the bottle just must be more efficient and faster.  Our girl is VERY independent, so this doesn't surprise me at all. 
• Big girl food:  Towards the end of the month, Emily perfected her pincer grasp and now loves to feed herself.  We had been giving her rice puffs and yogurt melts for a couple months, but we had to put them in her mouth.  Now, she does it all by herself!  In addition to those baby snacks she's been having for awhile, this month she fed herself cantaloupe, mozzarella cheese, bananas, and macaroni.  She also eats cheerios at Mrs. Leslie's house.
• Talking:  No official first word yet, but she says "mama" fairly often.  We just don't think she's completely making the connection yet.  She babbles all. the. time.  She also loves to "sing."
• Independent play:  Emmy has gotten much better at independent play.  Although she'd rather be crawling around exploring, she often sits and plays with her toys and books on her own.

This month, Emily is measuring 19 lbs 9 oz (65th %,) 31 inches long (97+%,) and her head is 18 inches (80%.)  She is still wearing a size 2 diaper and her clothes are 6-9 months.  She wears a size 2 shoe.

 I love her funny face:

Emily Elizabeth,
Each month as I write you this little note, I think that I am just telling you the same thing over and over.  And I am.  I am telling you that I love you more than I ever imagined, more than seems possible.  You are the little love of my life, and I never thought I could love any little person the way that I love you.  You are the best thing we have ever done and the biggest blessing of your daddy's and my life.  I will love you forever, no matter what.

Daddy and Emily with Ella, the birthday girl.

Lots of teeth!

Playing puzzles

Mommy and Emmy at Ella's birthday party

Jaw clenching face brought on by tooth #7

Yum!

Four generations- Emmy, Daddy, Grandma, Great-Grandma

Splashing our feet in the pool

Our little family

Up close and personal

Mother's Day dinner with Maw-maw

Happy Mother's Day - a little early

While coming up on Mother’s Day this weekend it’s natural to be thinking about your mom.  I’m very excited my mom and grandma are actually going to be here to visit this weekend.  It’s the first mother’s day in a long time that I’ve been able to actually be with my mom.

However, that’s not what I’m thinking about today.  I’ve been thinking about the new mom in my family, my beautiful wife.  She’s been a mom for almost 9 months now.  For someone with so little experience, she sure is doing an awesome job.  She takes care of our little girl constantly.  She’s always thinking ahead to what her needs will be tomorrow, next week, or even months from now.  She reads books and articles to try and stay ahead of Emily’s upcoming changes so we’re not surprised by anything.  She wakes up multiple times a night just to peak at her on the monitor and make sure she’s still breathing.  She’s always responsible for making sure she’s eating healthy.  She gets the privilege of praying with her every night as she feeds her before putting her to bed.  She sings to her every night before putting her to bed.  She takes her to the babysitter every morning before going to work and picks her up immediately afterwards.  She takes the time to play with her, love on her, cuddle with her, read to her, and educate her.  She never lets Emily leave the house without a bow on her head and perfectly matching clothes.  She’ll give up sleep for her baby.  She’ll get puked on, pooped on, peed on, sneezed on, and spit up on for her baby.  She willingly sacrifices any free time she has for the benefit of her family.  She’s been a mom for nine months and already deserves the mom of the century award.

Our little Emily is too young to understand how incredibly blessed she is to have the mom that she does.  She doesn’t yet comprehend how much her mom loves her and cares for her.  Emily doesn’t even have the words yet to express any feelings she has for her mom.  But, I know for sure if she could understand those things right now she’d have nothing but love and admiration for her mom.  I know if she could verbalize those feelings she’d have so many loving things to say to her mom.  Since she can’t say those things, I’ll have to say them for her. 

Thank you for loving our little girl so selflessly.  Thank you for teaching me how to be a parent.  Thank you for all you do for our family every single day.  Thank you for showing Jesus to our little girl.  Emily is so blessed to have you as a mom.  You will be such a great role model to her for how to raise her own children.  I love you so much and it’s obvious that Emily does as well.  I know I’m a few days early, but Happy Mother’s Day. 

New mommy

Bath time with mommy

Snuggle time with mommy

Santa pictures with mommy

Mommy taking care of a sick Emily

I love my mommy!

Checking In

These days when I take the time to do a blog post, it's typically to chronicle a particular Emily Event that has happened recently.  I thought today, though, that I'd just post a bit about what's going on in other areas of our life.  It seems that I'm constantly mini-blogging this type of stuff on Facebook, but have neglected to record it here.  So...let the rambling begin!

Biggest and best news first, we have decided that as of June 5, my job is changing to stay-at-home-mom!  Although I love so many things about my job, and although our lifestyle is going to change a bit, the decision was an easy one.  Even on the toughest days, there is nowhere I would rather be than with my Emily.  It's kind of funny that I earned my masters degree only to have a baby and quit my job, but it's totally worth it.  I do intend to go back to work someday, and when I do, that degree will come in handy!

Speaking of degrees, Lucas is THIS close to being finished with his.  He only has a couple of classes left to finish his bachelors degree in Information Technology.  Through hard work, sheer brilliance, great management skills, and the Lord's favor, Lucas has a great job without having a four year degree.  He basically decided to get this degree just to have it, so that a lack of degree would never be able to keep him from future job offers.  I am so proud of him for working so hard all day, then coming home and working hard in the evenings.  He rarely takes a break and I am so blessed that he loves me enough to do such a great job providing for our family.  This time next year, he will officially be graduated and we will be doing some major celebrating!

Another big thing that's going on in our life right now is that we are looking for a new church.  We love our church home, The Branch, and have been very involved there for the past seven years.  When we moved to our current city four years ago, the drive was a bit far, but nothing we couldn't handle.  After Emily was born, though, we began to realize that it just wasn't working for us anymore.  Although we could still handle a 20 minute drive on Sunday mornings, we realized that we needed a community of people who lived closer to us that we could do life with.  We had spent the last year with a group of people who all lived literally two minutes apart from each other.  Being with them helped us to realize how important it was to have that.  Also, we have been so blessed with a sweet couple and their kids who live about five minutes from us and have become like family to us over the last few years.  We knew that if we wanted to grow other relationships like this, we would have to find a church home closer to where we live.  For the past month or so, we've been visiting around.  We aren't totally sure yet, but we are hoping to know something by the summer.  It's very sad to be leaving our home, but we feel like this is what is best for our family.  While we're sad, it's also a little bit exciting.

Well, it's late, and this mama is tired.  I'll leave with a couple pictures from last weekend's family birthday lunch for my Uncle Andy.

Picking flowers with Mimi and (Great) Grandpa

Self portrait with Daddy

Chow time!

SO silly

Emmy and Mommy