2009 Was Quite A Year!

As 2009 is coming to an end, it's amazing to look back and realize just how blessed we have been this past year. . .

Not only did Shawn and I celebrate our first wedding anniversary in March, we also found out we were expecting! 

And in October, we got the most amazing surprise of all when Emily Joy arrived 3 weeks early.

2009 is a year I will never forget. And although it will be a hard year to top, I look forward to seeing what 2010 has in store for us!

Happy 2 Months!

What's happening with Emily at 2 months:

 - She weighs 10 lbs, 2 oz (25-50%) and is 22" long (50%)

 - She now smiles and "talks".

 - She's happiest in the morning when she first wakes up and during bathtime.

 - She's wearing 0-3 month clothes.

 - She's much more aware of what's around her.  She loves lights and fans.

 - She's still eating 3-4 oz. every 3 hours.

 - She's still sleeping in 3 hour increments (although we've started making some progress on this in the last few days).

 - She can hold her head up pretty well now.

Emily's 1st Christmas

This Christmas was a special one because it was our first Christmas as a family of 3.  Our day started off pretty early when Papa Mike and Catherine came over to our house around 8 am Christmas morning.  We enjoyed breakfast and opening presents. Around 11 we headed over to my parents house (Mimi and Papa's house) to open more presents with Kevin, Julie, Lauren, and Natalie.  Later that afternoon, we all headed over to my cousin's house for even more presents and Christmas dinner.  Emily slept through the majority of her first Christmas (we think the medicine she's on makes her sleepy), but she received a lot of nice gifts!!  She got a house, lots of cute clothes (we may need daddy to build another closet!), a tea set, several baby dolls, a stroll along walker, an umbrella stroller, a piggy bank, bath toys, books, a learning puppy toy, ornaments, a shopping cart cover, a playmat, baby einstein dvd's . .  .and the list goes on.  Even though I know Emily won't remember her first Christmas, it's one that I won't ever forget.  This year just made me even more excited for the years to come!

'Twas the Night Before Christmas

Emily was quite a lucky girl this year.  How many people can say their first Christmas ever (in Texas that is) was a white one?  This year for Christmas Eve we bundled her up, braved the snow and headed over to my cousin's house. 

Talking Up A Storm

In addition to smiling, Emily has also found her voice and started "talking".  The morning is her happiest time and she loves to coo especially while she is on her changing table.  Here she is "talking."

Doctor Visit

As most of you know, Emily is quite a fussy baby (although many of you don't believe us because she's usually on her best behavior when we travel).  Well, this past weekend and the first couple of days of this week her crying has gotten even worse.  Monday was the worst!  Normally, she would always cry at night, but Monday she seemed to cry the majority of the day.  She's also started to fuss while we feed her and then arch her back afterwards.  This isn't something she's always done, so we decided to take her into the dr. to see what we can do for this.  They diagnosed her as having a combination of colic and acid reflux.  So now we are trying gripe water for her colic (this isn't a prescription, but the dr. said some parents swear by it) and also zantac for her acid reflux.  I'm hoping this is the cure all!  I'm also hoping this may help her sleep better.  The last few nights she's been sleeping all night in her swing.  I know this definitely isn't best case scenario, but it's where she sleeps best (although still averaging only 3 hours at a time) and to keep me sane and get some sleep myself, I've been okay with this.  And well if this doesn't work, I guess we'll just hold on to the notion that this should work itself out the older she gets.

Fun in the Bumbo

Now that Emily can hold her head up pretty well, I thought I would bring out the Bumbo seat to see what she thought about it. 

She didn't know what to think at first. . .

Then she saw the fan and started to smile. . .

This isn't so bad. . .

Actually it's kind of fun. . .

Okay, now she's tired and realized she could rest her head on the side.

Christmas Brunch

This morning, Shawn, Emily, and I headed off to our second family gathering of the weekend.  We had a Christmas Brunch with my side of the family.  After another rough start this morning for Emily, she napped most of the time we were there.  Apparently all these family gatherings are just wearing her out and making her a bit cranky.

The 12 Days of Christmas Have Begun

Shawn and I joke that each year the holidays turn into the 12 Days of Christmas because between both sides of the family, we have so many gatherings.  This year is no exception.  Tonight we had our first family gathering in Burleson with Shawn's side of the family.  Emily had a rough night and spent quite a bit of the time crying (her fussiness is still an ongoing issue that we're trying to solve), but she still received many nice gifts and we had a great time visiting with family.

Date Night!!

Thanks to Mimi and Papa, Shawn and I had our first night out alone since Emily was born.  It was such a nice break to go out without her (even though I did miss her) and even more importantly, get a full night's rest.  Thanks Mimi and Papa. . .Emily told us she had a great time!!!!!!

Such a big girl

Emily is finally starting to fit into her 0-3 month clothes now!  I'm so excited as we now have a much larger selection of outfits to choose from.  The pants are still a little long, but we make them work,  Here she is modeling one of her big girl outfits complete with matching shoes and headband  (gotta accessorize, of course)  :)

Bedtime Routine

Now that Emily is 7 weeks old, I decided it was time for her to start sleeping in her crib in her own room.  I was hoping this would help her sleep longer each night as she never seemed to be a huge fan of the cradle.  So last night, we started a bedtime routine.  From now on, around 8:00 we will give her a bath, put her jammies on, give her a bottle, read her a story, then put her to bed.  Up until now, Emily has gotten in the habit of only falling asleep if someone is holding her or if she's in her swing.  Well, obviously this poses some difficulty for bedtime.  Last night we decided to put her down awake, but tired, and see how she would do.  After an hour of non-stop crying (this is with us going in every so often to comfort her), I gave up and rocked her to sleep.  This didn't take long as she was exhausted, but I'm still hoping this doesn't become part of the routine.  Maybe she's just too young still to let her cry it out??  She continued to sleep in her normal 3 hour increments throughout the night.  I was hoping the crib would make her sleep longer, but I guess she's not ready for that yet.  Each time she woke up to eat, I had to make sure she was asleep before I put her back down.  I'm hoping as the weeks go on and we settle into the bedtime routine, she'll start to recognize that it's bedtime and start going down easier.  One can hope anyways. . .

Emily got to open 2 of her Christmas presents a little early.  She got a new mobile for her crib and a nightlight for her room. 

Emily and Daddy trying out the new bedtime routine.

All Smiles

Just last week, Emily gave me her first smile!  It was so exciting to see and it melted my heart.  It's so fun finally getting some expression from her. . .besides crying!  She doesn't give her smiles out easily though and I've only gotten a few. . . Shawn is still waiting for his first smile.  Unfortunately, I haven't been quick enough to capture one on camera, but as soon as I do, I'll share it.  I can't resist posting a recent picture of her though.

Galleria Shopping Trip

Last Friday, me and Emily headed over to the galleria for a fun day of shopping with Kara and Hudson.  Emily was so good and slept through most of trip which allowed me to get some of my Christmas shopping done.  Here's a few pictures that Kara took of Emily and Hudson.