Happy 8 months!

Here's what's happening with Emily at 8 months:

 - She wears mainly 6-12 month clothes, but can still fit into several 3-6 month clothes.

 - She can say "dada" and pretty much says it all day long.  I don't let it hurt my feelings though because I know she doesn't associate this word with Shawn yet (although he will tell you otherwise).

 - She waves (only she waves towards her body instead of away).

 - She's out of her plastic whale bathtub and now takes a bath in the big tub.  She would try to pull up in the whale, so Shawn spent more time trying to hold her down than getting her clean.

 - She is now in a big girl carseat.  We still use the infant seat in Shawn's car, but she was getting too heavy for me to be able to carry her into daycare in her infant seat, so I now have a convertible car seat in my car.

 - She never sits still!  I feel like we just can't keep this girl entertained.  She's so busy and into everything.

 - She eats 3 meals a day, fruit and oatmeal for breakfast, veggies for lunch and veggies and rice cereal for dinner. She also eats a little bit of table food.

 - She can drink out of a sippy cup.

 - She can feed herself puffs (although sometimes she has trouble when they stick to her hands).

 - She can pull herself up on her little piano.

 - She has definitely found her voice.  She rarely is quiet. 

 - She's still not crawling, but she's so close.  She can get up on all fours and rock back and forth, but as soon as she tries to move, she falls on her tummy. 

 - She gets frustrated very easily and has very little patience.  When she's hungry and sees her bottle or food, she wants it now!

 - She still doesn't have any teeth.

Daddy / Daughter Day

Today ended up being an unplanned Daddy/Daughter day.  I came down with a bad stomach bug late Saturday night and ended up spending most of the day today in bed.  But Shawn was so great today.  He planned all kinds of fun stuff for him and Emily.  They started the day off at Lowe's (one of their favorite places to go together), then headed to the grocery store to buy me some soup and saltines.  Finally, Shawn blew up Emily's pool that had just arrived and the 2 of them spent some time splashing around in her "whale pool."  I was able to work up enough strength to go outside and take just a couple of pics.  I was so sad I missed all the fun, but I know it was a good day of bonding for Emily and her Daddy.

Emily's new tricks

Today, I was finally able to get a few pics of Emily performing her new tricks.  She only seems to pull up on her little piano.  I think it's the combination of it being the perfect height and also because she wants to see what's on the back. 

And here she is showing how she can drink out a sippy cup.

She's just looking cute in this one.

So grown up

Do you ever have one of those days where you think to yourself gosh, i feel like such a grownup today?  Today was one of those days for me.  Shawn and I spent the afternoon meeting with a lawyer to work on estate planning.  We're taking a trip to Boston at the end of September and it got us thinking what if something were to happen to both of us, what would happen to Emily?  This way we know she'll be taken care of and our wishes will be carried out.  It's just so weird to think that I'm only 28 years old and I'm working on a will!

And because Emily is the reason we are doing all this, of course I had to post some pictures of her.  So here are some random pics I took of her today. 

Soooo close to crawling!

A year ago today. . .

Exactly one year ago today, Shawn and I found out we were going to be blessed with a baby girl.  I remember the day so well.  I had anxiously been waiting since our appt. 4 weeks earlier when the sonogram technician told us she "thought" we were having a girl, but continued to tell us not to run out and buy anything because she would confirm it at our 19 week appt.  I had spent the last month trying to not get my hopes up.  I had been so sure all through out my pregnancy that I was going to have a boy.  In fact, I thought I was just destined to have all boys, as Shawn comes from a family of all boys.  Don't get me wrong, I would have been very excited to have a boy, but I think deep down a lot of women hope for a daughter.  I remember patiently waiting as the sonogram technician checked all the organs and body parts to make sure everything looked like it should.  This was by far the most important thing!  When it came down to it, as long as the baby was healthy, we would be excited no matter what the gender was.  But as soon as she asked if we wanted to know the sex of the baby, we both immediately said yes.  She started drawing something on the screen and a few seconds later, I realized it was a bow.  When she confirmed it was a girl, the biggest smile came across my face.  I turned to look at Shawn's face and I knew I saw a little bit of disappointment.  Just like every woman hopes for a girl, every man deep down wishes for a son.  So I expected this.  But I knew a few hours later, he would be sooo excited to know he had a baby girl on the way.  I wore a huge smile all day.  There's was nothing that could bring me down.  Knowing I had a healthy baby and baby girl, at that, was the greatest feeling ever.  Not even the speeding ticket Shawn got that day, that he told me about after we found out it was a girl by the way, could ruin my day.  I joked with him at the dr's office saying "when would you have told me about your speeding ticket if we had found out it was a boy" and he said "I wouldn't have told you."  :)  It was a great day because it was the first day we could start calling our baby by her name.  From then on, it was Emily this and Emily that.  I look at her 1 year later and I say with certainty that both Shawn and I wouldn't have changed the outcome of that day for the world.  We were blessed with a beautiful baby girl that has been the joy of our lives.   I couldn't imagine my life without her.  We love you Miss Emily!

She just amazes me

Apparently Emily is learning a whole lot of new tricks from the older kids at school!  Tonight as Shawn and I were eating dinner, we looked over at Emily and she was pulling herself up on her little piano.  She made it all the way up to her feet.  I couldn't believe this!  I hadn't seen her do this ever before or even attempt to pull up.  I was so excited and nervous for her at the same time.  I just couldn't believe she was doing it.  She only did it once (so I wasn't quick enough to grab the camera), but I think that's because I changed the position of the piano on her.  I was so afraid it was going to fall down on top of her. 

After a little while of playing, Emily started getting fussy, so we brought her over to the table.  Shawn was holding her on his lap and we were giving her puffs (oh, she now LOVES puffs and they are pretty tasty too, I must admit)  After she picked one up and put it in her mouth, I started clapping for her.  Next thing I know, she's copying me and bringing her hands together too.  Where did she learn this stuff???

Finally, her last trick. . .she can now drink out of a sippy cup.  She totally knows what to do.  Right now we're just filling it with water, but when you hand it to her she knows how to hold it and put it right in her mouth to drink it.  Isn't she amazing!?  I sure think she's pretty amazing!  :)

A week on the big side

Emily made it through her first week on the older side of the infant room.  I think she really likes it.  She's been so happy each night.  She's learning lots of new things.  At the end of her first day, Shawn was told to bring in some puffs as well as a sippy cup.  I guess all the other babies eat puffs and when Emily saw them, she wanted some too.  She apparently reached over and took one of the other babies puffs and just popped it in her mouth.  Her teachers were all surprised when I told them she had never had puffs before.  I'm happy that they are also working with her on using a sippy cup.  She now has some water in her sippy cup with each meal. 

They are also trying to get her into a nap schedule (this is what I've been waiting for!).  The next room that she'll move to (around the time she turns 1 or so) only allows the kids to have 1 nap, so that's what they try to work towards in her room now.  When they come over from the younger side of the room (where they can sleep whenever they want) they still get to take 2 naps for a little while, but they will slowly start to wean her to just 1 nap early afternoon.  I'm hoping we can start getting her into the nap schedule at home too.

We also had another exciting change this week.  Emily now has a big girl carseat in my car!  She still fits in her infant seat, but it was getting so hard for me to carry her in it anymore.  The big carseat is so much easier.  I can just carry her into daycare now.  So now the infant seat stays in Shawn's car and the big seat is in my car.  We'll get a big one for Shawn's car when she outgrows her infant seat. 

Here she is in her big girl seat.  I've already found a cover for it that I want to order.  This one isn't quite girly enough for Emily.  :)  Oh and pardon the red cheeks again. . .this is at the end of the day and by then her cheeks are all red from constantly chewing on toys.

Finally, Emily has started getting up on all fours in the last day or so.  She'll get up and just rock back and forth before finally falling on her tummy.  I just know she is sooo close to crawling.  We're keeping the video camera close by as I know it will be soon.  I'm just hoping the first time happens at home and not at daycare.  I don't want to miss it.

Happy Father's Day

We've had another busy weekend.  We made all the rounds this weekend, trying to celebrate Father's Day with both set of dad's.  We started out celebrating with my dad yesterday.  We went over to my parent's house and enjoyed an afternoon of swimming followed by a yummy dinner.  I didn't take any pictures yesterday, but we had a great time.

Today we went down to Burleson and celebrated with Shawn's dad over at his brother's house.  We also made a quick stop to wish Shawn's stepdad a Happy Father's Day as well.  It was a busy weekend and all I can say, is we are all worn out!!

Shawn celebrated his first Father's Day today.  Emily is so lucky to have him as her Daddy.  He's always willing to get down on the floor and play with her and she always has the biggest smiles for him.  I love watching the two of them together. 

This is what I had Emily dressed in this morning when Daddy woke up.

Swinging over at KK and Joe's house

I had to get a family pic (we hardly have any of all 3 of us)

Fun with friends

Today we spent the afternoon with our friends Tommy and Jenny and their baby girl, Aubrey.  Aubrey and Emily are only about 4 1/2 months apart, so it was fun to see them together.  We started out meeting up for lunch at Uncle Julio's.  It was Emily's first time sitting in a hich chair at a restaurant and still one of the few times in a restaurant at all.  Up until now, she hasn't been too happy sitting at a restaurant.  But she did great this time.  Shawn had to hold her in his lap for about 10 minutes, but other than that, she was perfectly happy just sitting in her high chair and watching the guy make tortillas behind us.

Waiting patiently to leave

Sitting like a big girl in a highchair.

After lunch, we headed back to the Terry's house and took the girl's swimming at their community pool.  They have a seperate pool that's only a 1 and 1/2 feet deep and it's all covered.  So it was perfect for the girls.  Emily loved it.  She just sat and splashed.  After about 10 minutes though, Emily was pooped and started getting cranky.  She needed a nap.

Back at the Terry's

Emily trying to give Aubrey a hug

All ready to go swimming

Trying out the kiddie pool. . . it was cold!

Trying out the big pool. . .this is when Emily started getting tired.

The boys with their baby girls.

It was a fun day with friends.  I'm looking forward to watching the girl's grow up and play together.

That's just how I roll

Emily is a rolling machine.  She's all over the place!  She may not be crawling yet, but she's definitely mobile and doesn't ever just sit still.  She will roll from the living room into the kitchen and she gets super upset when anything gets in her way.  They say she does this at school as well.  She will roll all over the room until she gets stuck under a crib.  Here she is on the move.

Slow Week

It's been a slow week at our house.  Once again, Emily is sick.  Right now it seems to just be a cold, but there has been a stomach virus going around school, so I'm really hoping she doesn't catch it.  You can tell she just doesn't feel well though.  Our normally energetic girl wants to just sit and cuddle with us now.  I hate seeing her sick, but I'm loving that she wants to be held.   As the months go by, the more frustrated I become with how she's always getting sick.  I realize it's just a part of being at daycare, but it makes me struggle with the idea that if only I had found an in-home daycare or decided to stay home full-time, then maybe we could have prevented all these illnesses.  I know in the long-run she's building up immunities, but it's just sooo hard to see your baby sick so often.  I'm really hoping this first year is the worst.  I can definitely say, I've been sick more times since she's started daycare, then I think I have been in my whole life. 

This is Emily's last week on the younger side of the infant room.  She was supposed to move to the older side several months ago, but then one of the mom's that had a baby on the younger side decided to stay home, opening a spot back up for Emily to stay.  I'm glad she was able to get a few more months on the younger side and learn how to become a little more mobile.  A few months ago, I was sad to hear she would be moving up, but now I think we're both ready.  She needs more room to crawl and explore and the older side will provide that.  I still can't believe how fast my baby girl is growing up and she's not going to be in the youngest class anymore. 

On a side note, I crossed a huge milestone this week.  I am finally able to fit back into my pre-pregnancy pant size!  I felt like it took way too long.  I've never had to lose weight before, so it was definitely way harder than I expected.  I still have about 4 lbs left to lose to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight, but I feel like I have finally crossed a huge plateau.

Emily

A Daughter's Gift

When I imagine

the life you will live,

I think of the pleasure

your presence will give.

I see the joy your smile will light

and the wonders you’ll weave

when your dreams take flight.

I feel the hope

that will grow with your grace

and the difference you’ll make

to each heart you embrace.

I imagine your life

as I know it will be;

for, my daughter, you’ve given

all this to me.

-Author Unknown

First time in the pool

This afternoon we took Emily over to my parent's house to swim in the pool for the first time.  We couldn't wait to see how she liked it.  Since she loves bathtime, we assumed she would love the swimming pool as well.  And we were right.  She loved it.  For a while, she was happy just floating around the pool in the little boat my parents have.  We stayed in the pool until her little feet were all pruny.  I'm so happy she liked the pool.  We'll be making many more trips over to swim this summer.  She was exhausted after swimming and fell asleep in Shawn's arms.  For the girl that rarely takes naps, we were surprised, but after all being out in the sun does take it out of you.

All ready to go

Swimming with Papa

Driving the boat

Rockin the shades

Working on her tan