Merry Christmas!

That's not our official card, but just a little peek at my favorite picture from our latest photo session.  My BFF Kaylane took some beautiful pictures of our family about a month ago.  Here are a few more of our favorite shots.

Four Months!

It's hard to believe that our darling Emily is already four months old.  Four months sure doesn't sound like much, but it's amazing to see how much she is changing and turning into a little baby girl rather than a newborn.  The fourth month was absolutely wonderful and filled with so much extra fun because of the Christmas season!  This month she has begun playing in her Exersaucer, reaching for toys and anything else in front of her, sitting in her Bumbo without any extra propping, laughing alot, and standing pretty well with just a little assistance from us. ;-)  Here are a few highlights from this month:

• First vacation:  We took Emily on her first road trip to Fredericksburg and had a great time.  
• First Thanksgiving:  Although she wasn't able to enjoy and of the yummy food, she did get to experience her first Thanksgiving and the most thankful Thanksgiving of her parents lives.
• Getting Stronger:  Emily has begun sitting up in her Bumbo, playing in her Exersaucer, and sitting/standing pretty well with assistance from us only to help her balance.  Of course, she can only stand for a few seconds, but it's amazing how strong those little legs are.  
• DROOL!:  Drool is a constant in our lives these days.  She began chewing on her hands last month and it has only gotten more and more this month.  Her face is constantly wet with drool.  No teeth yet, but they can't be far behind.
• First babysitters:  Mommy had to go back to work this month, so she spent her first few days away from mommy and daddy.  Although it was difficult for me, she had a great time! 
• First Christmas light pizza night:  No pictures exist to document it, but this year was Emily's first time to accompany us on our annual pizza and Christmas lights night. 

We visited the doctor on her birthday and we have a healthy girl!  She weighed 14 lbs, 2 oz (60th %,) was 26 1/4 inches long (98th %,) and head was 16 1/4 inches (69th %.)  She is wearing three month clothes and is still in a size one diaper, but definitely needs to move up. 

This is so much fun to put together each month.  She doesn't look like she's grown that much since three months, but she's grown an inch and gained two pounds.  Her face definitely looks older, though.  And once again...

Emily, you are absolutely amazing, incredible, and perfect.  But those words don't even begin to describe what you are to your daddy and me.  You are God's precious gift to me and I will spend the rest of my life loving you.  I can't express the joy that you bring me and how my heart melts when you smile at me.  You are the funniest, happiest, cutest, sweetest baby that has ever lived.  I love you more than life!

A few more pictures from month four:

Cute picture with her BF David.

All dressed up for church

Hanging out with Auntie KK

Playing in the exersaucer like a big girl

Ready for church

Snuggling in our bed.  This was such a fun night!

Checking out that baby in the mirror

Christmas lights

Riding a moose, obviously.

Love of my life.

As precious as it gets.

Visit to Santa

On Saturday Mimi and Papa went with us to take Emily to see Santa Claus at the Bass Pro Shop in Grapevine.  We got there at 9:30 thinking that we would be first in line, but by the time we got there, we were already at a one hour wait.  We killed some time by looking around at all of the fun stuff and went to stand in line at 10:00 for our 10:30 assigned time slot.  Emily did great with Santa!  No smile, but no screaming either, so we considered it a success.  After the picture with Santa, she and her daddy rode the carousel.  It was a wonderful morning and a great memory that we will have for a very long time to come.  We can't wait to see Santa again next year!

Mommy's best friend

 

Snuggle Bunny

Emmy and Jolly Old St.Nicholas

Emmy and Mimi.  Sad we didn't get a picture of her with her Papa!

Doing what she does best these days

Riding the reindeer carousel with daddy

Grapevine Christmas

Christmas has always been a fun time of year for me and this year with Emily has been just twice as much fun as any year before.  We met up with our friends Brian and Emily and their son Evan to go visit Grapevine Main Street and see their Christmas light display.  Brian and I go back all the way to his birth, pretty much and he is one of the smartest people I've ever known.  He moved off to New York to go to NYU and become a rock star lawyer, meeting Emily (also a rock star lawyer) while he was there, and they have just recently moved back to Texas.  Anyway, no trip to Main Street is complete without dinner at Esparza's, so we made that our first stop.  After dinner, we walked over to the park area where they have a light display that is synced with music.  It was so much fun!  It was just cool enough to have to bundle up, but not miserably cold.  Emily wasn't 100% sure what to do with everything, but I think she had a good time.  I'm sure her favorite part was the Christmas tree singing "Mr. Grinch."

Evan and Emily.  This was her expression most of the night. :)

All bundled up and ready for the lights.

Me and my baby girl.

Evan dancing in the gazebo.

Something was very surprising.

Such a precious little angel.

Emmy and daddy

Our little family

The Johnstons

Thanksgiving

Emily's first Thanksgiving was just wonderful.  This year we celebrated Thanksgiving with my Dad's side of the family at my parents house.  It was full of lots of food and family and thankfully very low key.  The most exciting part of the day was when Lucas decided to take advantage of the Black Friday deals and go stand in line at Target for four hours in the cold to get a TV.  I thought someone had snatched Lucas from his body and replaced him when he told me he was going to go willingly stand in line to shop, but $300 flat screen TVs will do that to a man, I suppose.  I'm really glad he did it, though, because it has been a good catalyst to get our front living room made into more of a room and less of a furniture storage area. 

Here are a couple pictures of Emily in the cute Thanksgiving outfit I made for her.  It was the first thing I made with the new sewing machine I got for my birthday/graduation.  Pinterest inspired, of course!

Emily's First Trip

The weekend before Thanksgiving we took Emily on her first road trip.  The destination was Fredericksburg, TX and the purpose was for FUN!  We hit the road around 11:00 am and stopped in Waco for lunch.  We rolled into town around 4:30 and went straight to the house we had rented for the trip.  It was a really cute little place with enough room for all of us- our little family, Dad and Mom, and Brett and Rachel. 

The long weekend consisted of shopping, a little bit of relaxing, and ALOT of eating.  We hit up all of the yummy spots in town, including (but not limited to) Mamacita's, Hondo's, Fredericksburg Pie Company, West End Pizza, Porky's, and more.  It was all wonderful.  The shopping was great too, as usual. 

The last time Lucas and I were in Fredericksburg was right after we found out our little one was a girl and we had lots of fun shopping for her.  This time, we had lots of fun shopping with her!  Although we didn't take as many pictures as I would've liked, here are a few.

Hanging out with Uncle Brett

Wishing she had teeth so she could've shared Mommy's chocolate pie

Shopping is hard work!

Sunday night at Hondo's on Main

Mom and Dad waiting for the live music to begin

Brett and Rachel at Hondo's

Getting back to the basics of life

 

Sweet baby in a diaper.  This look is rare!  Baby is almost always fully dressed with a bow!

Emily's first trip was a big success and we can't wait for the next one!