Visitors

Last week Emily, Keidra and Ryder came to visit! Keidra is a little mama, and wanted to hold and play with and mother Emme the whole time. It was so cute!

They brought Emme some super cute bows. Emily has an etsy shop where she sells them, so I'll have to get the name of it so you can all check it out! Here are some pics of Emme wearing one of the flower bows the next day.

{The shock of the flash}

{The love of the camera}

Date Night

Last week before we saw the pediatrician, they had Chris and I fill out a long checklist, asking about baby milestones, frequency of diapering and feeding, etc. We were doing great, answering yes to every question on there...until we got to the last one.

It asked if mom and dad had had any alone time since baby was born. Chris and I both looked at eachother and thought for a minute. Weird. We realized we hadn't had a date in over 2 months!

So last night Chris's parents were sweet enough to watch Emme while Chris and I went on a real date! We got her all packed up with tons of extra diapers, clothes, blankies, burp cloths, etc, and handed her off to Chris's parents. We'd only gotten about half a mile away from their house when Chris looked at me and said, "Do you think we should call and see how she's doing?" And he was dead serious. And no, I didn't let him call.

{A quick snapshot in front of the movie theater. Chris was in too much of a frenzy to let me photo-document anything else, lol.}

I think Chris had a harder time leaving Emme than I did! We hadn't even gotten out of the movie theater before he'd dialed his mom's number already to check on her. And we ended up grabbing Cafe Rio and taking it back to the Spencer's to eat it so we wouldn't have to be gone so long.

Emme did great, and prettymuch ate and then slept the whole time. It was so nice to leave her in capable hands so we didn't have to worry. And so nice to get out by ourselves! Thanks again, Stan & Kathryn!

Emme At 2 Months

Now that Emme's getting big, we're going to start monthly pictures instead of weekly. That doesn't mean you'll be seeing any less of Emme, though. Just less of the bunny. :)


Emme's enthralled by her hands. Sometimes she tries to shove her whole fist in her mouth. And sometimes when she gets a taste of it, she makes this face... (does it taste bad?)

At her doctor's appointment last week, she was 24" long (65th percentile) and 10 lbs 2 oz (35th percentile). So she's a string bean, which explains why her waist still fits newborn clothes but her length fits 3-6 month clothes! (And also why the poop just seeps right out of the legholes of her diaper still. Stinkin'chicken legs!) Oh, and don't worry, she peed all over the table at the pediatrian's.

The doctor also told us we could let her sleep through the night and we don't have to wake her to feed any more. Now she sleeps between 8 and 10 hours a night! It's glorious. Mommy and baby are so much happier when we get good sleep.

Emme also rolled over this week! She was laying in the family room for some tummy time, which she doesn't love. She was tired so she was letting her arms rest and just arching her back and neck. She somehow swung her weight with her feet and rolled over all on her own! I was the only one who witnessed it, and Chris didn't believe me at first! I've been trying to get her to do it again ever since, and always with the video camera, but we're still waiting.

{My little twinkle toes.}

We've also been working on a little sleep training with Emme. She sleeps fantastic at night in her crib, but during the day she only wants to sleep on me, in the bouncer, in the carseat (when I'm running errands) or in her swing. She'd never slept more than 15 minutes in the crib during the day until this week.

But I had a big breakthrough today, and she slept 2 straight hours in there this afternoon! I've been using the Shuffle method (where you stay in there with them until they fall asleep), and I had to swaddle her wild arms down (which she's hated since birth). But it's working so far! Baby steps are good.

Emme At 8 Weeks

Oops! I forgot to post this earlier. Here are the 8 week pictures of our little ray of sunshine. This girl just gets cuter and cuter every day.




I haven't talked about it much on here, but for the first little while I had to take Emme into the doctor's office once a week to have her weighed because they didn't think she was putting on weight fast enough. We were told by the nurses when we left the hospital that she was down two ounces (which would have put her at 7 lbs 14 oz), and when I weighed her at 9 days she was 7 lbs 4 oz. The doctors were understandably concerned about a drop that big. ("Does she eat every 3 hours? Has your milk come in?")

Yesterday I found our discharge papers from the hospital, as well as her vaccination chart I'd been looking for two months for. (Chris -- "Oh, I thought I told you I put them in the laptop bag?" Umm, no. You didn't.) (However, in his defense, there is a lot going on the day you checkout of the hospital.)

The papers list her discharge weight at 6 lbs 14 ounces. That would mean she was down A POUND AND TWO OUNCES. Yeah. Big difference, and also an easy mistake on the nurse's part. (Perhaps they should have been more concerned about such a large drop in the hospital? But she didn't nurse well there, and also had a traumatic birth.)

At any rate, that means her weight gain since then has been perfectly fine. Ugh. Such a big weight lifted off my shoulders! Nothing quite like worrying that your baby is malnourished.

Resolutions

Okay, so I'm a little slow posting resolutions for this year. But better late than never.

Here are the resolutions I made for 2009. These four things were written on a sticky note and stuck to my file cabinet at work where I could see them every day. I did pretty well until I realized that one of them sort of contradicted two of the others, ha ha!

• Go to the gym 3x per week -- I did great on this until the morning sickness hit, and then again when the doctor's orders to rest hit.
  
• Make weekly meal plans -- I did pretty well on this until the morning sickness hit, at which point I couldn't even open a refrigerator, let alone cook a meal. Chris survived on hot pockets and frozen pizza for who-knows-how-long last year.
  
• Get down to xxx lbs before I get pregnant -- Check!
  
• Get pregnant -- Check!
  

Here are my resolutions for 2010. A lot of these goals just became more difficult with a baby, because my time is not my own anymore. (Chris asked me the other day if I was ever going to cook dinner in something besides the crockpot. I told him yes, as soon as I grow another pair of arms so I can chop things while holding the Bambina.) So I think prioritizing my time will be the key for me to be able to do a lot of these things.

• Work out 3x per week -- It's hit or miss whether the Bambina will be content in her bouncer long enough for me to do a workout video in the morning. Some days all we get in are 8-Minute-Abs or a few Wii Fit games while she hollers. And who knows if I'll ever see the inside of my lovely gym again?
  
• Make weekly meal plans -- If I remember to sit down with my cookbooks before nursing, this shouldn't be too hard. Having room in my shopping cart for groceries after I get the Bambina's carseat in there might be.
  
• Learn to bake breads with yeast -- I admit it, I have a phobia. And it's time to face it! My mom is the queen of homemade breads and rolls, so I'm not quite sure how I ended up so backward.
  
• Read more books -- I have thoroughly enjoyed nursing so far because it forces me to sit still for 30 minutes a few times a day (and night) and I'm catching up on lots of lost reading. (If anyone has any good book suggestions, let me know!) I've decided to dedicate my morning feeding reading to scripture study. What a perfect way to make sure I fit it in every day!
• Keep up with couponing and deal-blogging -- It's hard to find time with both arms free with which to deal-blog and cut coupons, but I know if I stop blogging the deals I'll stop shopping the deals. And with me only going back to work part time (scary!), I really want to keep up on it for my own peace of mind.
  
• Spend under $100/month on groceries -- In 2009 I averaged $85/month for all groceries and household items. Some months were more, some months were less. I know this will take more effort with a baby than it did last year, but that's my goal for 2010. I'll be chronicling my progress here.
  
• Sew more and craft more -- I'd love to get my office clean enough to set up my sewing machine. I've stumbled across lots of crafty sewing tutorials around the blogosphere that I'm dying to try out. Mostly baby things, of course.
  

Baby's Legs

Today we were getting dressed and we decided to try out some Babylegs on the Bambina's little chicken legs. I think they're finally starting to plump up, because the Babylegs actually stayed on! Plus she's been keepin' her business in her diaper better lately. (We've been having trouble forming a seal around her legs with the dipe because they're so skinny! Ten packs of newborn diapers and counting.)

Our camera has a red light that goes off before the flash, and Emme LOVES it lately. It's fabulous because it makes for great pictures when she looks right at the camera! The first time it goes off it catches her by surprise, but the second time it makes her smile.

The Movies

Earlier this week I took Emme to the movies. As you all know, I missed opening night of New Moon by just a hair. I wanted to see it so badly before it left the big screen, but I knew I couldn't leave this little gal at home while I went. So we bundled up and went to an 11:30 AM showing together.

There were like 10 other people in the theater. (Seriously, don't these people have jobs? Who goes to a movie at 11 in the morning on a Tuesday? I mean, besides me of course...) I sat on the back row with my hooter hider around my neck, ready to nurse the Bambina for two hours straight if that's what it took to get through the whole movie.

To my surprise, she slept through the entire thing. Despite how loud the movie was, she napped better there than she does at home! (Perhaps because it was super dark?) At any rate, our first movie experience together was delightful. I'm thinking we should probably hit a few more while she's at this easy stage!

{Me and Emme, each with our own versions of the "Oh-My-Gosh-I-Love-New-Moon!" face.}

P.S. Loved the movie!

Smiles

A full tummy makes for a happy girl.

Family

We took some pictures with the grandparents/great-grandparents and the grandkids after Christmas. I love how Preston is picking his nose in this one, ha ha!

Stan & Kathryn with the grandkids.

Grandma and Grandpa Peacock with the grandkids.

Grandma Jean holding Emmeline Jean.

I remember when grandma and grandpa Peacock came to the hospital to see Emme when she was born, Grandma Jean was soooo excited. She walked right in the room and announced to the nurse who was checking some vitals that this baby was named after her. The nurse thought it was so cute. Every time we see her she just loves to hold Emme.

Hannah & Emme

Hannah and Emme are the only girls on the Spencer side of the family, and they're outnumbered by the boys. Before Emme was born, Hannah and I made special matching bracelets, just for the two special girls. No boys allowed! :)

Here are some pictures of Hannah and Emme wearing their bracelets together. They're pink of course, and you can't see in the pictures, but Hannah's has an "H" charm, and Emme's has an "E."

Emme At 7 Weeks

{It looks like she has her arm around her bunny, lol.}

Emme has found her arms these days. She'll flail them wildly when she's excited, rub her eyes when she's tired, and drape one across her forehead like she's chillin' while she eats. It's too cute.

She's also found her voice. In the morning when we have our morning feeding and I set her on the changing pad, I'll talk to her or sing while I change her diaper. She is so happy and smiley, and she'll get so excited like she has all this pent up energy just bursting to come out -- and then out comes a little coo. I can ask her questions and talk to her and she responds with coos. It's adorable!

The other good news these days is that Emme is sleeping in her crib at night! Chris and I sleep so much better and so does she. I feed her at 10 PM, once in the night, and then again in the morning -- and that's it. I never even have to go back in to put the binky in her mouth, she just sleeps like a log and I actually have to wake her up for the middle-of-the-night feeding (per the pediatrician's orders). I think once we get the go-ahead to let her sleep, she'll sleep right through!

Emme's Photo Shoot

Our friend Jen is a photographer, and she came to our house and took photos of Emme at 3 weeks (including the one we used for our Christmas card). We got the rest of them back recently and they turned out fabulous! She did such a good job at capturing Emme while she was alert, I was so amazed. Jen also does other photography sessions -- you can check out her website here.

Emme At 6 Weeks

I hit the smile jackpot on Saturday when I took Emme's six week photos. This girl is all smiles lately! She wakes up in the morning all sweet and happy, and when I lay her down on the changing table she just smiles and coos at me. Such a cutie pie!

Happily Ever After

Once upon a time, the mommy and the baby were snuggling in the living room...

Then the baby did this, ALL OVER the couch.

Then the daddy did this.

Then the baby did this.
(Because pooping on dad's couch is oh-so-funny!)

Then the mommy did this.
Then they all lived happily ever after...


...until later, when the mommy asked the daddy what he used to clean the couch with. The daddy responded with "water."

???

Water? Doesn't daddy know that water is not a disinfectant?

Then the mommy cleaned the couch again. And then they all lived happily ever after.

THE END