Christmas Photo Shoot

My sister Amy took some photos of Emme and I on Christmas day in her cute little Christmas outfit.

Christmas Festivities

We had a lovely Christmas this year with our new little family. We spent Christmas Eve with the Spencers, where we ate dinner and opened presents from the grandparents. It's so much fun watching all the grandkids get so excited!

Christmas morning we stayed home and made breakfast, and opened presents by ourselves. Here is a picture of what Chris asked Santa to leave in his stocking this year. Go figure.

We brought Emme out and set her in the bouncer in front of the tree, and she was a happy camper while we opened her stocking and her presents and showed them to her.

When Chris opened this one, he said "...and you got some tights and a chew toy!" Emme responded by telling her dad that she is not a dog -- those are teethers and not chew toys.

{Look at her look at Chris! She just loves her dad.}

Emme sitting in her bouncer with her adorable present outfit on.

All of the edible contents of our stockings were non-chocolate this year (due to the gassy nature of our child)...

...including the hot pockets and taquitos.

Later that day we went to the Spencers for brunch. Emme's asleep in this picture because her naps got all out of whack with all the excitement on the 24th and 25th.

That evening we went to the Pace's for Christmas dinner. And Emme finally woke up, just when it was time for her to go to bed. :)

{How adorable is her little Christmas outfit!?! Thanks, Grandma Pace!}

All in all, we had a wonderful Christmas, and we loved being able to spend it with our families. We can't wait for next year when Emme will be big enough to help open presents and get excited about toys! When we reflect upon all the changes that have happened in our family this year, we feel so blessed and so full of love. What a wonderful year it has been! We look forward to all that lies ahead for us in 2010.

Emme At 5 Weeks

She was a little cranky-pants today when we took her 5 week pictures, because her nap/sleeping schedule got all out of whack with all the festivities on the 24th and 25th. Oy. But she's still a cute little munchkin. I can't believe she's five weeks old already! I don't notice how big she's getting until I put her in the swing (which she LOVES) and realize she can hold her head up in it now. When we first tried her in it, we had burp clothes propping every side of her head because she had no control. Now she's a champ! It's crazy how fast they grow.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas, from our little family to yours.

Noise

I have a niece and nephew who HATE loud noises, so I just assumed most babies didn't like them. Every time I blow dry my hair, I've been closing the door to the bathroom so it doesn't scare Emme. But I recently learned that Emme LOVES noise, and LOVES the sound of the blowdryer. I can set her in her bouncy seat on the bathroom floor and she'll just stare at me contentedly until I'm done blowdrying. It's fantastic! I've been able to actually "do" my hair almost every day lately!

Now if only my makeup were louder...

Smiles!

Emme has started smiling more and more these days! It's hard to catch on camera, and I usually only have my phone camera handy when it happens. But it just makes me melt.

Emme At 4 Weeks

Emme in her adorable Christmas outfit, with her adorable 'poof' hair. She's like a big present! With a big adorable bow! Once we got her in this outfit we realized we don't have a red hair bow. Shocking, I know, considering how many stinkin' bows this girl has!

The week Emme was due, my mom took me shopping like every day, to get my mind off of that fact that I was still pregnant and overdue. We found this little Christmas present outfit and this adorable giant stocking that week. She looks so tiny in the stocking!

My Sleeping Beauties

We had Emme's pictures taken today! I can't wait to get them back and see how they turned out. She was such a good girl during them -- wide awake and everything. As soon as the photographer left, she and dad crashed on the couch. Being adorable is exhausting.

Spencer Par-Tay

Yesterday we had the Spencer birthday celebration for Chris and our niece Hannah's birthdays. We had a yummy spaghetti dinner and a beautiful butterfly birthday cake for dessert. It was fun to get to visit with the whole family for the first time since Emme was born. She loved having lots of arms willing to hold her.

{The birthday boy and girl}

Chris got some Utah gear (his favorite), sausage (also his favorite) and a cool new GPS to use in the car. He's very excited to try it out. Happy birthday, Chris!

Emme At 3 Weeks

Emme wasn't too happy when I woke her up to take her 3 week picture. But she's getting so big, and she's changing so much that I had to do it. Plus she's wearing her cute headband from her friends Tate and Grace!

I've been feeling really claustrophobic at home these days. But with Christmas coming up, I feel like I have a lot of things to do to be ready still. I had an errand I had to run this week, so I got the diaper bag and everything all packed, and then as soon as Emme was done eating, I put her in the carseat and we were out the door. She was a champ! She doesn't love getting in and out of her carseat, but once she's in it, she loves riding in the car and riding in her stroller. We ran our errand successfully, and Emme slept the entire time. So now I have a little bit of confidence that I won't be home-stricken forever. I just need the snow and sicknesses to go away so I can take this little chica out more. :)

Visitors

Yesterday the Bambina's cousins came to visit her! It was nice to have visitors come to us, since we don't get out of the house much these days, on doctor's orders. They couldn't get over how small she was, and how tiny her hands are. Emme was awake when they first came, but she fell right asleep when Wade and Hannah and Logan held her. She loves them already!

The Wade man.

The girls! I forgot to get a picture of it, but Emme was wearing her special cousin bracelet that matches Hannah's. These girls are going to be such good friends!

How cute is this boy?

Our sleeping beauty.

The Baby Pain Scale

I was going through my pictures from the hospital yesterday, and I found this little gem. It was drawn by my 15-year-old brother Stuart, on the whiteboard in my hospital room.

He is wise beyond his years.

Emme At 2 Weeks

I finally captured a smile on film! Truthfully, this was more of a grimace and a yelp of "Mom, I'm falling over!" But you didn't hear that from me. :)

I can't believe how big this little chica's getting. She gets more beautiful every day.

Poop at the Pediatrician's

On Monday I took the Bambina to the pediatrician solo because Chris was back at work. I was feeling pretty good about myself after we got there on time, with both of us fully dressed and presentable. (Not bad for my first solo outing, right?) Until they took us back to a room.

{My little mouth-breather. And yes, that's spitup on the collar of her nightgown. A story for another day.}

They asked me to strip her down to a dry diaper. I began taking off the Bambina's clothes and matching headband as the nurse asked me questions. As I did so, we both heard the Bambina "fill" her diaper.

I knew from my short motherly experience with this chica, that she wasn't done filling it. But the nurse was waiting on me to get her changed so we could weigh her in. So I thought I could get in there and change it really quick before she "finished."

Not so.

As soon as I set her on the examination table, took of the soiled diaper and reached for the wipes, the Bambina attempted to finish what she had started. I was mortified. There was poop everywhere. I tried to cover her bum back up until she was done, but that just made it worse.

I kept apologizing to the nurse, and she kept telling me "it happens all the time." But that didn't really make me feel any better. Neither did watching her pull out her haz-mat gloves and supplies while she deodorized and disinfected the entire room. Ugh.

Baby: 1
Mommy: 0

It's a Good Day

I'm 10 days post-partum and I'm wearing my regular old pre-pregnancy, pre-swelling shoes!

And, I cut the Bambina's fingernails today without drawing blood.

It's a good day.