Playing Catch-Up!

Hi everyone!

Emily was baptized on Sunday, April 27 in Parkersburg by the priest who married Paul and me. The ceremony was lovely and we had brunch afterward. Thank you SO much to my parents for the brunch- the food was incredible and it was so nice to enjoy everyone's company. Also, thanks to my mom and Em's Auntie A for her christening dress...I LOVED it! So beautiful! Emily was given many wonderful gifts which we appreciate so much. I can't wait to get a shelf put up in NC so we can display all her pretty new treasures! (This shelf will be high on the wall to prevent unauthorized access to these pretty, shiny things!)

She has been trying new foods- we have added green beans, oatmeal with bananas, peaches, and tonight we're trying prunes. In the Gerber 1st foods line there are 5 fruits (applesauce, bananas, peaches, pears, prunes) and 5 veggies (squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, peas, and green beans). We have tried all 5 veggies and she loves ALL of them, and seems to like the fruits too. I have started giving her one container at lunch 3-4 days per week and one container each night. I'm not sure you can tell from the photos but this girl's getting some cheeks! It seems all these additional calories are making her a plump little lady- her leg rolls are so cute! (She'll kill me one day for this, haha!)

We drove to Jeffersonville, Ohio last week to see my friend Adrianne and her daughter Wynn. The girls are 3 weeks apart (Emily is younger) and it was so neat to watch them interact!

In other exciting news, Emily is now in a "big girl" car seat! I couldn't carry all 15lbs of her and 12lbs of infant carrier so she is now sitting pretty in an Evenflo Triumph DLX. This thing is HUGE- I have a lot of room in the back of my SUV but this is putting serious constraints on my backseat area. Once she is one year old we will turn it around to forward facing. I think that will be a lot easier- right now if she drops her paci or something I have to pull over, stop the car, get out, and help her-- no more just reaching back while I'm driving. Sounds great for these long trips in the next few weeks, right?


Emily and I are going back to NC next week so there may be a slight delay in albums but don't worry...I'm always snapping pictures! :)

6 Months Old!

Hi Everyone!
Miss Emily is getting SO big-- today she turned six months old! I have been fighting the "weepies" all day thinking that every day from here out there are fewer days between her getting to age 1 and the end of Babydom...how sad! I do have to say, though, that six months old is proving to be a REALLY fun age. :)



Emily has discovered her feet and is now quite intent on getting those little toes into her mouth, a feat she has yet to accomplish but I feel she will soon. Anytime she lies on her back she flips those legs straight up and starts pulling on her toes...Paul jokes sometimes that she's going to pull one off!

She has also mastered the Roll Across the Floor technique to aid in her mobility. She goes back-front-back and front-back-front with ease. Most of the time, though, she rolls onto her back and goes right for the toes, which interrupts her progress a little.

Emmy is getting quite a lot of arm strength and has been pushing herself up a lot. We really feel like our days are numbered before she is really mobile and is causing lots of trouble! She has also begun "pre-crawling" which looks a lot like humping the floor... if she would only put some weight on her knees she would be off and going!

She had her final well-child visit with Dr. Jay last week. We have been SO very fortunate to have such a wonderful pediatrician and have truly appreciated Jay's concern for her (how many doctors call their patient's families at home to check on them?) We are very sorry to leave Dr. Jay but perhaps when we return to H-town he will be an attending (hint, hint!) Thank you for everything! :)

At her visit she tipped the scales at 15lbs 3oz and was 25 inches long. She's growing at a steady rate but is a petite baby...but since neither Paul nor I are particularly big people (height or weight-wise) we aren't worrying yet.



Another really fun aspect of daily life now is baby food! Emily has so far not met a food she didn't like, and is getting increasingly excited each night when it is time to eat. Tonight was hysterical- she slammed her right arm repeatedly onto the tray, kicked her feet non-stop underneath the tray, alternately took a bite and sucked her left thumb, smeared peas and carrots ALL over herself and the tray, and got extremely vocal and boisterous when it wasn't coming fast enough. Paul and I both see so many characteristics in her that WE had as children and had prayed she wouldn't get (stubbornness, impatience, willfulness, quick temper). God has such a sense of humor!

Emily has also decided that babbling is the cat's meow-- she is constantly saying "mama', "dada", "bla bla", "na na", "ba ba", etc. Occasionally she'll throw in a raspberry or two (or three!) along with it and that REALLY cracks her up- she thinks she is truly hilarious...and most of the time, she is!





She got to spend some time about a week ago with my good friend Melissa's little boy, Logan. Logan was born 3 weeks before Em and when I visited her in the hospital and held him she went crazy in my belly-- like she did not want me holding another baby. Today, Logan is 23lbs and (I think!) 28 inches tall....Em looked like such a shrimp next to him!

Emmy survived the move quite well and has been surprisingly resilient during the many transitions over the past 10 days or so (at one point she had slept in 3 different places in 3 days!) The new house in NC is coming along nicely- I got about 80% unpacked before we got too lonely and headed back to WV to see Paul. We'll be going back down again in a few weeks. Here in WV we are all adjusting to apartment life and life in a MUCH smaller space...we are just glad this is for a limited time, that's for sure!

Growing Up!

Hi everyone!

Things have been VERY busy the last few weeks! Sorry for the lack of posts but I've been keeping the albums flowing and I know that's what you're here for anyway! :)

Emily is growing so much every day. She is showing her personality so much more and it seems like she will be very strong-willed (read: stubborn). She is very vocal now, and will get very fussy if no one is paying attention, or occasionally if Mommy goes out of sight (thank God we don't have too many of those days!) She can blow raspberries and has started babbling. Perhaps my biggest thrill came two nights ago- Paul and I were playing on the floor with her and Paul kept saying, "Mama, Mama, Mama" to her. Em looked at us and said right back, "MMMMMMMMMMMMMama!" Of course Paul and I both started laughing, screaming, crying (ok, I was the only one crying) and then she said it again! Now I know, I know...it didn't have anything to do with me and she wasn't calling me by my name, but STILL! It was the most precious thing ever.

She is getting mobile and has also discovered her feet! I help her "practice" crawling each day by putting toys out of reach and putting her on her belly. It takes some time but she gets herself to the other side of the blanket and gets to the toys! She is also SO close to sitting independently. Cross your fingers that she is doing it before her 6 month pictures (hey, a Mommy's got to set goals, right?!) :) She is also rolling both directions but has yet to roll front to back to front or vice versa...in time, I'm sure!

We have introduced foods as well. So far the winners are (in order of preference):
sweet potatoes
squash
carrots
rice cereal
The rice cereal should probably not even be on the list because she hates it so much. She will take a little and eventually ends up blowing a raspberry with it on her tongue, which sends it flying. Nice! We have been doing one new food per week and she has yet to experience any sort of reaction or sensitivity (knock on wood). She is very funny about the food and gets quite angry if we take too long in loading the spoon. She wants it all, and she wants it yesterday! My plan is to finish sweet potatoes this week and move to peas, green beans, and mixtures of veggies (like peas and carrots, sweet potatoes and green beans, squash and peas....yuck!) before we go to sweet things like fruits. I have a very hard time fighting my sweet tooth and I want her to experience all different types of tastes before we get to the sweets, just in case she inherited that!

Thanks for checking in on our girl. We will be busy with the move for the next 2 weeks or so but I will keep the albums updated...rest assured! :)