Emma: 7 months & 8 months

Um....somehow I missed Emma's 7th month! Boo! :( Sorry, Emma dear! So, here we are - Emma is 8 months old!!!

She is such a light in our lives. Before she was born, we faced a very dark hour in our lives, and were looking forward to the "joy that comes in the morning" season we were sure was to follow.

 Unfortunately this year is continuing to be a difficult one. Such dark hours. I thought that the joy would replace the trouble and pain - but I'm seeing that the "morning season" I wrote about is not something to "arrive" at - but rather a daily experience, through the pain, by God's grace...and our little Emma reminds me of that. So often I go to get her up from a nap, and she greets me with this gigantic grin. It goes straight to my heart & soul, and gives me JOY, and HOPE, and a reason to keep on! (Jesus of course is the only thing worth living for - but she is a gift from Him, and something He has given me to take care of!) Thank You Father, for Emma Bliss!

Emma's personality is just blooming! She has become so very aware of everything and everyone around her. She laughs, grins, is shy etc. - and makes the most adorable scrunched up face! It's like a smiling sneezing face...eyes tightly shut and nosed crinkled. It's almost like she's trying to smile more, and instead get's that face!

She has become VERY attached to Mama, and cries for me/when I go out of the room or she sees me! :) I like it. :)

She sat up right around her 7 month birthday, which is JUST like Patrick!!

She does a little "hand thing" like Nicolas did! Mostly when she's excited or upset!

She has been SQUEALING a lot lately! So loud and adorable!

She pants with her mouth wide open when she is excited about something!

We still can't pin-point the color of her eyes! They change....blue-ish, dark, hazel....who knows where they'll end up!

At 7+ months, Emma had an allergic reaction to banana. She'd tried it maybe 5 times already, but was VERY hungry for them this one particular time. When she finished I turned her around (she had been in my lap) and saw spots around her mouth. I was at once concerned, but wasn't sure if it was something serious yet. I gave her a bath, and noticed a few spots on her belly. Overall though, she was not worse, and the spots on her face seemed to have diminished, so I put her to bed. A few hours later I was checking on her, and accidently woke her up. I decided to ask James to turn the light on so I could check on her, just in case, and when he did I saw that she had gotten a rash on her neck. Upon taking her PJ's off I discovered that the rash was on other areas of her body as well. James and I talked and called the pedi. By the time I was done feeding her, the hives looked worse, so we decided, based on Patrick's reaction as an infant, to take her in to Children's. We gave her some benadryl, and headed off around 11ish pm. Thankfully my dear friend Amanda was here for an extended stay, so we didn't have to wake up the boys/or just one of us go to the hospital.

Emma continued to get worse, but never had breathing trouble. Her neck swelled up pretty nasty, and her poor tummy, ear, underarms etc. were very nasty looking. Thankfully she didn't require epinephrine, but just got some more benadryl, another antihistamine and steroids. Not my fave for her, but she needed something to combat all that.

Needless to say her eating has been put rather on hold!

Emma can OOCH! She does this great swimming motion too - like the side stroke. Combining all that with rolling, she can go where she wants!

She loves to eat books and paper, if she can get her hands on them!

She loves to play, and interact with the boys.

The boys love her!

She is the sweetest baby!

She went on her first vacation to TN in July, and got to go on an anniversary trip with mama and Daddy!! What fun to have one-on-one time with her. She did amazingly, and was just as calm and cool as a cucumber-ready to sleep wherever we put her, hardly ever making a peep about anything. Just happy to play with whatever we gave her, even when up late or missing a nap etc.!

She gets very upset when you take things away from her.

She give kisses!! Big giant open mouth baby kisses! Love those!

She has a great grip. She is strong!

She went through a cuddle phase on our vacation, where she loved to sleep with us in our bed after nursing. It had been awhile since she had done that. It was so sweet and cozy!

She loves to play/tease - especially daddy! He taught her how to play the binky game, and she will all of her own accord put it in your mouth and pull it out! She also likes to kick daddy, and watch his reaction!

She loves to hit/bat things! She does it over and over, and thinks it's the greatest thing ever!

We love you so very, very much, Emma Bliss!! Your bright eyes and giant grin - your sweet, confident and sensing nature are so endearing to us. We are so glad you are in our lives!

Half A Year

Emma Bliss has been alive on the outside for 6 months. Half a year!

She can turn over both ways really well now, and well as mover around in a circular motion!

She loves to hold onto things, and passes them from hand to hand, but mostly puts them in her mouth. If it tastes odd to her, she wrinkles up her nose and makes a disgusted face! (very cute!)

One of Emma's favorite things to do in this month was blow raspberries! so cute!

She loves to watch her brothers, and laughs so much at them. She thinks they are hilarious!

Her admiration of her Daddy is growing more and more! She smiles at him and stares at him when he isn't even looking at her sometimes.

She loves to grab faces and give great big open mouth kisses!

She is still an excellent sleeper, and the sweetest little baby girl ever! She has such a laid back personality!

In her 6th month: She starts rolling/ooching across the entire living room floor! She throws her head to side to side and scrunches her legs/bottom up/under her.

She started turning over in her bed/ooching around in it. She started sleeping on her tummy/side.

She peeks over her bumpers and grins SO cutely when she sees us peeking in her room, or coming in to get her. She also kicks and smiles and talks when we come to get her up from her nap!

She jabbers so loudly! and squeals!

She loves to play with the wipes container and water bottles. She loves loud, crinkly sounds.

She loves to play the piano!

She cries if you take something away from her, and sometimes if you put her down/go out of the room!

She had some avocado! She likes to make a big mess with it, but isn't so sure about eating a lot of it. Not sure if we'll continue feeding her this....trying to determine if she is ready for solids just yet.

She "bats" things or people!

She makes this funny little "gaspy" sound over & over when excited!

Not sure about her eye color yet!

Her hair pokes straight up and is hilariously cute!

People often comment about her hair & her cheeks!

She is off the charts long! 28 inches about two weeks ago, and 16 lbs.

She has two more teeth poking through her gums a little bit! Her eye teeth.

She is the most content & good natured little thing. She still favors being close to someone though. She could ride around in the moby for quite awhile, just sucking on it and not making a peep.

She loves baths!

Totally in love with my little girl! so glad to have her!

She knows her name!

She loves to jump in her johnny jump up, and loves being outside.

Emma is FIVE months old!

Time keeps marching on. Another month of Emma's 1st year has passed! Only one more month and she will have been alive and on the outside half a year!

Emma has been busy this month! Busy watching her brothers, busy trying out new toys & perfecting some new skills - like rolling over!

This past month:
* We stopped swaddling her every night. We still occasionally will use the trick, even during the day, if she crying a lot. But it's not the norm. She is now a "free" little sleeper. I love looking at sleeping babies with their arms up around their little heads! Beautiful moments.

* Emma moved out of our room! :( Wahhh! I miss her. I noticed around the middle of the month that she was not sleeping as well, waking up more often etc.
Before, we had been able to talk, watch a movie etc., and she would sleep through it pretty well.....but she started waking up more while we talked and also during the night, so I tried putting her in her room and she went back to sleeping longer stretches. I was so torn about it, that on the 13th (when she turned 5 months old) I brought her BACK into our room, taking the bassinet part out of the pack 'n play, and put her to bed in it like a "big" girl. It did not go that well. She took a long time to go to sleep, cried, and then woke up later when we came to brush our teeth, go to bed etc. I ended up putting her back in her room that night. We both miss her, and wish she could have stayed longer! It was so sweet to have her there beside me each night. I loved looking at her precious little sleeping face, and being able to check on her anytime, hear her breathing etc. How quickly each phase passes by.

* Emma is turning over BOTH WAYS! Go Emma! When she does it, Nicolas & Patrick are so proud of her, and Nicolas (and P, too!) often gasps and says "Bee Job!" Which being interpreted means "Good Job!" ;)

* Emma got to try out the Bumbo and Jumper-roo! She likes them both, but seems a bit too strong for the bumbo! She really looks like she is going to jump out of it - both backwards and to the side!
I like to see her sitting in it on the table, surveying her brothers while they eat. She loves to play with plastic cups while doing so. She thinks she is so big!

* Emma remains such a bright spot in our lives! She smiles and laughs at us all, and awakens from naps usually with happy coos & gurgles, just playing happily 'till someone comes to get her. And when you do come, she greets you with huge smiles & bright shining eyes (which we STILL can't determine the color on!)

* She went through a phase where she talked very loudly when she woke up. So funny!

* She LOVES toys. Loves to eat things

* The boys love to come up to her crib when she wakes up. When they hear her, they exclaim happily that she is awake, and run to say "hi!" Nicolas often does so, then joyfully tells me "Happy!" Which means, "Emma is happy to see me!" The boys love to report various things to me about Emma. If she is asleep. If she is awake, If she turned over, if she is sad. So cute!

* Emma started bringing her feet to her mouth, playing with her feet etc.! At times she sucks her thumb, too! She sometimes would smack her lips and blow raspberries, too! Very funny and cute

* Still a sweet, cuddly little girl, who we all love greatly! She loves it when people smile at her, and gives great smiles back - often accompanied with a shy little turn of the head!

Baby Bliss is FOUR MONTHS!

How did that happen?
Emma grew up a lot in this month! She made a big switch from "little little baby" to "bigger, more grown up baby."
So sad & so fun, all at the same time! It is sad because it all went so fast. seriously. SO FAST. They only stay teeny tiny for a VERY, VERY short time. But it's fun because we get to see more of her sweet, wonderful personality bursting forth! She is such a precious little girl!

The biggest news of her 3rd month is that she GOT TEETH! Yes, I know! I'm in shock myself!
Our family had been to the arboretum for the 1st time of the season, and I was buckling her up in her carseat to go home. Maybe she smiled at me, or just had her mouth open. I don't know. But suddenly I saw these two little toofers in her bottom gums! I was so shocked! I talked to her about it, and she just grinned & grinned at me! :) That was on march 6th, 2011. Our whole family was pretty excited about that, and I thought it was pretty feminine of her to get her 1st teeth while at the arboretum ;) lol. She had been drooling tons, and perhaps a little more high strung, but really, it was painless teething! (at least it appeared that way!) Amazing! James had told me he felt teeth under there, but I didn't believe him! He was right!

* Emma is much more alert & aware of things going on. She loves to grin & laugh and squeal.
* She has also shown a different side of more infuriated crying at times. So pitiful & funny at times! Poor baby!
* I would say she is still a laid back child though - she is just getting some opinions now :) Like, she doesn't like to eat when swaddled. She wails. For awhile, right after her teeth first popped through, she was more irritable, but that seems to have passed. Perhaps she was in pain as they pushed more of the way through.
* She loves to grab her nightgown or clothes and eat them.
* She loves to eat EVERYTHING. The other day I was holding her at the table and she reached out and picked up a carrot out of a bowl on the table - then started to bring it to her mouth!
* She LOVES water & watching us drink out of clear water-bottles. She shakes with excitement and reaches out for it, with great big eyes!
* She loves chewing on anything and most everything. She "eats" it all with great gusto. She even tries to eat our faces!
* She loves James' hair!
* She loves the boys! She smiles & laughs at them so much - and they at her! They both often exclaim in such sweet voices "AWWW!" When they see her in an outfit, or run in her room and climb up on her crib to greet her after naps, etc. She of course just grins and waves her arms and legs about with glee!
* She makes little "half smiles" that are the cutest, most coy little looks!
* She makes adorable "talking" & "cooing" sounds.
* She rolls on her side. On the 14th (tech. in her 4th month) I placed her on her tummy and walked out of the room. When I came back in she was on her back, and Patrick claims he didn't do it ;)
* Loves toys. Shakes with excitement.
* Doing great in the moby. I think my problems came from positioning. If I put her high enough & tight enough it still works great. I love carrying her that way, and she likes it, too. She looks all around on our walks, then finally falls asleep with her sweet little head laid against me.
* She has the cutest "fuzzy" hair!
* I have a really hard time trying to tell what color her eyes are. They appear to be different colors at times. Blue, Hazel....not sure how they will turn out yet.
* Still does dainty, feminine things with her hands.
* Emma is a very tall little girl! She is off the charts for length, (27 inches) and in the 75th percentile for weight. (15 lbs.)
* Emma eats very quickly a lot of the time. Like 5 minutes. It's amazing, but according to our lactation consultant, she can get a complete meal in that time.
* Still a sweet little cuddle bug.
* Still being swaddled at night and I've used it sometimes during the days as well, when she is having a hard time going to sleep. But more often she sleeps "free" during the day and swaddled at night. Occasionally we will leave her un-swaddled at night or in the morning after an early feeding.
* Still sleeping in the pack 'n play in our room! (although on the night of the 13th, Emma slept all night in her crib, due to an emergency room visit for me. She also had her first stay with baby-sitters, which was also due to the ER visit, and obviously unplanned.)
* She is still sleeping well! Although it changes from time to time, her usual thing is to go to bed around 8-9 and sleep until anywhere from 4-6, then eat and often go back to sleep for a bit more. I am SO blessed!
* She is so much fun, and so sweet. I just love to kiss on her soft little cheeks.
* I absolutely LOVE dressing her up. So fun.

We love you baby girlie! Thanks for brightening up our lives, and filling our home with so much JOY!

My Moby Baby in her Cute Little Pink Coat, enjoying the park last weekend!

Emma is Three Months!

Emma modeling an outfit the boys helped pick out. Thus the various colors and patterns :) We weren't going anywhere that day!

Three months have passed since our little Emma girl entered this world! It always saddens me a little as time goes by, and things from the past grow a little fuzzy in my memory....like Emma's pregnancy. I was thinking tonight about the way she is now, and the way she was in my womb. I can look at her personality now and think to myself "Yup, that's the way she was inside me, too!" So laid back. So "go with the flow" and such a little pounder with her fists & feet when she gets excited! I remember that she would always start bouncing & kicking around after the boys went to bed & James and I were relaxing watching a movie or whatever. I can just picture her in there acting just like she is now, with her sweet little excited eyes!
Of course I am SO glad she is here with us now....I just don't want to forget those things, and am wanting to write some memories to keep.

It's hard to believe it's already been 3 months since E's birth! In some ways it seems like she's been here forever, and in others it seems like just yesterday she was born.
Emma's personality is really changing and becoming more like a real little "person" now, instead of just a little newborn. It's amazing to think of who she is, and watch her becoming that before our very eyes.It is all happening so quickly! Every child grows up faster than the one before them! James and I are both amazed at HOW QUICKLY Emma is growing up!
I feel a different type of bond with little Emma. It's not "more" than the boys - just different. It's amazing how you can feel the difference of girl to girl.
She brings so much joy to our lives!
I love watching her & the boys together. She loves them so much, and they love her just as much! I hope they always love each other, and that she knows how blessed she is to have two wonderful protectors & friends. I want them to be close!
This little feminine, frilly, girly, pink & purple addition to our home is SO wonderful. God has been so good to us!

Things to note from Emma's month:

She LOVES her bed & mobile. When she wakes up from a nap she will often kick & stare.

Emma likes to sleep in her own bed now a lot for naps. Before she would snooze in the bouncer or wherever, but she seems to sleep better now in her bed.
When she gets tired she wants to be laid down w/ her binky and her blanket over her shoulder. She holds onto it with her arms and cuddles it into her face. Then she just goes to sleep. It's amazing!

Emma has made a little chuckle from time to time for the last several weeks, but on January 21st, 2011, Emma really and truly laughed as Patrick jumped around close to her. I had him try several different kinds of jumping, but finally we found the one way that really tickled her. She liked him jumping face to face towards her, and when he did, her enormous, adorable and sweet little grin appeared, complete with some adorable laughs! She did this over and over at Patrick (who was delighted!) and then we got Nicolas to do it too, and she laughed and laughed at him as well (he was also delighted!) They wanted nothing but to do that after-wards, and soon she got overstimulated and tired, and was soon snoozing away. She loves her brothers, and they her!

Emma has been SO verbal this month! She LOVES to talk to people, and makes such expressive faces! Her eyes get all big and light up, and she makes the cutest little looks with her lips! Little "O" faces and such. Just adorable. She usually is kicking madly and waving her arms about wildly all the while, too. When we say something, she will "talk" back to us. SO CUTE!

After her first laugh, she has just kept it up! She loves to laugh at the boys. One day we were all playing ball in the living room, rolling it back & forth, and she just giggled at it all of a sudden! That was the first time James got to hear her laugh!

The end of this month has found her just full of smiles! She loves to make eye contact, and then her whole face lights up and a huge, adorable grin breaks forth on her precious little face!

She still has the most adorable, squish-able cheeks, and people are still commenting on the wonderfulness of them! :)

We are having a hard time telling exactly what color her eyes are. The closest we can say is a dark blue, but we aren't sure.

Her eye lashes have grown a lot this month! I'm very happy to report that she too has inherited her fathers long beautiful lashes! She is just beautiful!

She has the most adorable little "mohawk" hair! :) Most of her hair has thinned or fallen out by now, but her mohawk still stands, and I encourage and love it! :)

This month I've noticed a difference in her sleep. She is becoming more aware of things around her, and not sleeping as soundly out in public, being moved about from place to place etc. But still extremely laid back, and can/does still conk out when out and about....just not for as long or as soundly.

She isn't fitting in the moby as well as she used to. I really want to get an Ergo. She is SO long, and when she's not in a cuddly position in the wrap, it feels kinda awkward. But occasionally when she scrunches up like she did as a newborn, the moby still works well.

She weighs around 15 lbs. now, according to the home scale/home scale method of weighing. She is LONG, and a bit more skinny looking at times than I'd like. She, like her brothers has a big head :) (in size I mean!) In general she is a big, healthy looking baby though, and I believe big for her age. I'm glad to see that her legs are looking more "roly" then the thin little legs she had the first couple of months. Now I just want her belly to fill out more. I think she had a growth spurt up this month.

She still has long, beautiful fingers like her Daddy.

She coos so cutely :)

She LOVES to look at her hands. (one hand in particular - her right.) She holds it up and STARES at it. James was playing with her holding up a toy and after a few times of helping her, it really did seem that she was reaching for it/holding it on her own!! Patrick & Nicolas love to bring out her toys and play with her. P is especially good/sweet at this. He puts the rattles on her hands/feet, and is so nice to her. One night E & James built a block tower together. She loves people to interact with her, and she loves to look at things.

I love to watch her sleep with her arms both back by her head. She especially does this in the mornings after I nurse her in our bed and get up. She is asleep so hard with her arms both straight up, and her beautiful little rosebud lips together, and her sweet little round head! I love to look at her beautiful little face. We are so blessed!

She is practicing the first step to rolling over this past month! She LIFTS her legs/feet up SO high, and turns over sideways. The boys LOVE this, and start doing it with her.

Nicolas still finds her so hilarious. When she cries, Nicolas of course has to to tell us, and his way is to scrunch up his face and make this loud, horrible crying sound :) with a few "Bebe! Bebe! Bebe!"'s put in there, too! so funny and frustrating at times :)

The end of this month has found a bit of a change in her daily naps. They have not been as long. Not sure if this is due to her long night sleeps (still happening, with a few little changes, but still MANY hours of mostly un-interrupted sleep!) or what, because she does seem to get VERY tired, and fall asleep eating. We'll see what happens this coming month.

Emma was slightly sick this past month for the first time. SO scary & sad. She ran a low-grade temp. for one day, plus a little the next. I was so glad when God healed her.

She has gotten more vocal about when she is sad about something, when she doesn't like being put down etc. A little whiny sound, too - especially when she was sick :( So sad.

She is a social butterfly.

Not a huge fan of tummy time. I don't do it that much, either. N finds it hilarious, too, of course.

P & N love her pretty outfits & "hats" as N calls her bows. They are often heard "awwing" over her or saying (P anyways) "Aw Emma, you look so pretty!!!" P called her "Miss Beautiful" one day :)
She is such an addition of grace & beauty and femininity to our home!

Emma had her 1st Valentine's Day, and attended our Church's valentine's banquet with us. She was the perfect, most adorable little angel in her red dress & bow! She sat happily in her car seat the entire time, just needing to be rocked back and forth a little here and there. Such a blessing!

We love you, Emma Bliss!!

Emma is Two Months!

It's very hard to believe that eight weeks have gone by since Emma joined our family! I like the feeling that she belongs here now. We are still working on some transitions, but overall it feels like what would we do without her - which is a good feeling! Amazing how God can weave new people into our lives, filling a spot you never knew was empty. Although, I felt for awhile before I got pregnant with Emma that she was missing....I guess it was God preparing me for her! :)

Emma is growing lots! At her last appointment she weighed 12 lbs. That was right before Christmas, so she could weigh more now.
Emma continues to be such a sweetheart! Still very laid back and content and best of all STILL sleeps all night long! I am so thankful to God for that!!! My mom has always told me I slept through the night from the beginning, and I'm not sure I really believed it was possible - but it is! I know it could change, and if that happens it will be ok. But what a gift it is while it lasts!

Some things to remember about Emma at 2 months:
* Her wake periods have been about an hour. It seems like they might be stretching out longer, but I'm not sure yet.
* When she gets tired, generally all you have to do is get her comfy with her blanky & binky and she conks out. No big crying. It's amazing! She has even taken some of her naps wrapped up on the floor. Very unlike the boys.
*She has become even more alert & smiley! She makes the most adorable cooing sounds, smiles (and tries to laugh!) at us, the boys and even strangers who talk to her!
*She loves to exercise! Shel loves laying flat and madly kicks her legs and waves her arms, all while making the most excited faces!
*She raises her eyebrows in the most adorable way! It's her little "eyebrow thing". Nicolas had a little "hand thing" he used to do. So funny.
*She used to make these sweet little "o" faces. She still makes them some, but I see it less now.
*She is waking up earlier now, then naps about an hour later, and continues this pattern mostly throughout the day. Occasionally she'll go on a big sleep-a-thon.
*She eats about every 2-3 hours. Some mornings she seems to need to eat every 2 hours or so, which I attribute to her sleeping so long at night. And some evenings I'll just nurse her a lot, since I like to just sit and do the computer or whatever ;) sometimes though if we are busy or she is sleeping she will go 4 or so hours between feedings. She is not very demanding about eating still (good and bad!) She can easily be "put off" with the binky - which of course isn't our goal, but sometimes it does happen. But since she is growing out of her clothes I don't think it happens too much!
*the boys LOVE her. We LOVE her. The boys are still working on perfecting the art of being gentle with her.
* She is so feminine and dainty! She acts like a girl. Her crying reminds us of a girl and her emotions. Kinda like "OH! I can't stand it anymore! This is SO TERRIBLE!" She still has this little cry that reminds me of a dog at times. Like a bark. it's funny.
*She makes THE saddest poochy lip. and sometimes cries in her sleep, or makes a sad, sad whimper. That's mostly when her tummy is giving her trouble.
*She is still sleeping in the pack 'n play bassinet in our room. It's a record for our babies to make it this long in our room (at least to ALWAYS sleep in our room. The boys did end up in there a lot due to nursing in the night.)
*Having a feminine, frilly little pink thing around the house is wonderful. She adds so much to our lives, and we thank God for giving us her. She is a most precious gift!