Merry 1st Christmas, Emily!

Hello! We just celebrated Emily's first Christmas! She had a wonderful time (actually, she slept through a lot of it!) but she received tons of nice gifts which we appreciated very much. She certainly is a lucky girl! We remarked several times at how odd it felt to be in the "parent role" instead of the "kid role"- but we are so happy and so in love with our little girl, we couldn't imagine it any other way.

Emily turned 2 months old on December 21. Where does the time go? She is grasping objects and likes to self-soothe a little by sucking on her fist. She's even found her thumb a few times! She also "unfolded" herself and stretches out a lot now, making her look more like a big girl and less like our little baby. She is so alert and follows people and objects left, right, up and down. Also, she is being a bit more generous with the smiles, although the best time to get them is still when she first wakes up. They are so beautiful. I am continually trying to get one on camera, so keep checking back- it's bound to happen one of these days!


Merry Christmas, everyone!

Almost 8 weeks Old!

Hi everyone!
Sorry for the lapse in updates- things are busy busy busy here! Emily is fantastic- she has mastered the smile and it literally melts hearts and lights up rooms when she graces us with one. We are so proud of her! She is holding her head up well when she's on her tummy, and when she's being held straight up she has almost full control of it. She's working on making different sounds and is experimenting every day.

I suppose the biggest news in our house is the decision that we made for me to stay home with Emily, and not return to teaching this year. It was the result of lots of hours of discussion and many reasons- but we both really feel that this is what's best for us all at this time. I will miss my kids at school but am truly excited to spend these precious months with Em and watching her grow up...which she's doing FAR TOO quickly, I might add! Every day she is doing something new--it makes me wish there was a way to freeze her in this age so she'd be my baby forever.

We are super excited for our first holiday season with our princess. We're visiting Paul's family near Christmas and my family will be joining us on Christmas day. Christmas Eve will be spent just the 3 of us and we are going to start our own family traditions...it still seems so amazing that we have become parents and have a little one to celebrate the holidays with this year. I wonder what Santa will bring?

We've got a pediatrician appointment on Tuesday for her 2 month checkup (see what I mean about time going too quickly?) The visit includes some vaccinations so I told Paul he HAS to attend, to console both of his girls. =) I'll post an update on how much our little piggie weighs after the appt.

PS- Lots of people have asked what Emily "needs" for Christmas-- the answer is she doesn't "need" anything! However, I opened a wish list for her on amazon.com and picked out a ton of wonderful children's literature. Little Em is read to every day, so a book would make a fantastic gift. You can use this link to get to the list: http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/P309FHQLMGEY Thanks for thinking of our little princess!