We went to Nana's to let Emslee swim for the first time. Nana had a nice floatie for her and a chair with umbrella. Emslee loved it and we had a good time visiting. Here are some pics:
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
First time Swimming!!
Grandpa came for a Visit!!
The week of Easter my dad came to visit. Emslee just adored him!! Here are some pics of their time together!
9 Months Old (April 23rd)
My little Emslee Grace is growing up so fast (I say this a lot don't I)! Here are some interesting facts about my little girl at 9 months:
*She LOVES to take baths...yep hasn't changed. She loves having water poured over her and kicking and splashing while laying flat on her back. Emslee will try to drink the water and catch it in her hands. I love how she gets this grin on her face when I'm about it rub soap on her and as soon as I touch her with the soap she immediately starts kicking her legs with excitement!
*She has gone swimming a few times and I think she secretly wants to be a fish lol. I think she'd live in water if she could. I'm looking into getting her swim lessons soon.
*Emslee can crawl (as of 8 months and 1 day) and is into EVERYTHING!!!! I caved and got a gate to keep her locked up in her room so that I can actually get things done and not have to keep her out of things. She is also pulling herself up to a standing position all the time and will take steps if we hold her hands. I bet she'll be walking in another month or so.
*Emslee still loves milk, sweet potatoes, squash, all fruits, and mixed veggie dinners. She LOVES To eat and eats 6-8 jars of baby food a day on top of nursing 4-5 times a day and snacking on puffs.
*She weighs 19lbs 8 oz and is 28 1/4 inches long. She grew 2 inches in length since February!
*Emslee can say mom, dada, and bath (well she's said it a few times). She babbles all the time and yes she squeals loudly still! She is giving me back what I'm sure I gave my parents growing up! She's a motor mouth.
*She sleeps from 7pm-6am everyday! Hallelujah!! She also takes 2-3 one hour naps as well.
*Emslee is very strong-willed and stubborn. She will literally kick and scream if she doesn't get what she wants...though not all the time. Hence the introduction of the wooden spoon. She now knows that if she is doing something she shouldn't that I will calmly explain to her not to do it and give her a warning, then if she does it again she gets spanked. This has made a HUGE difference and now just seeing the spoon helps her overcome the temptation to disobey.
*She can clap her hands and wave! She tends to mix up the two (like clap when daddy leaves for work), but she is able to do them well.
*Emslee LOVES (sorry to overuse the word) music and dancing. She dances to any sound that happens in a rhythm or when just happy. Her dancing consists of rocking back and forth (front to back, not side to side). She looks adorable doing it.
*Emslee is also in love with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She watches it every morning and dances along with the music and grunts at the characters. It's cute!
*She is giggling more than she used to, but still not as much as I'd like. Oh well...
*Emslee still has NO TEETH....I have no more to say about this....
*Her favorite toys are her nesting cups, teething rings, musical toys....and now....anything that's not a "toy" that she can pick up and chew on.
*She is wearing clothes from 6 months-18 months. It depends on the brand, but the majority of clothes she wears now are 9-12 months. The 6-9 month clothes fit better in her belly (width) and the 12-18 month clothes fit better in her length.
Emslee Grace, I am so proud to call you my daughter! You have made me a mommy! Everyday I love you more and I can't believe that you are mine! Daddy and I are so blessed that God gave you to us and we pray we train you up in a godly way! Our lives are so much better with you in them and we can't wait to see how you grow in the years to come!!!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
8 Months Old!
-Emslee still cannot crawl forwards. She can however crawl backwards like a pro! It is very frustrating to her that she can't get to the toy she wants and moves farther away from it. She is pulling herself up on furniture and mommy and daddy and can stand for a minute at a time while holding onto something! This is why I think she'll be walking soon! Lord help me!!!
-Emslee is sleeping 11-12 hours a night! This is SO nice for her and mommy!
-Emslee's hair is really starting to grow! It's getting thicker and and so far staying blonde!
-She is babbling all the time now and can say "momma", however I'm not fully convinced that it means me lol. She also loves to fake cough for attention and will mimic you if you do it back to her. She loves the "b" sound and still squeals when excited!
-Emslee is wearing clothes anywhere from 6 months up to 12 months! She wears mostly 9-12 months, but can still squeeze into a few select 6 month outfits. It's crazy to me that she is growing so fast!
-Emslee LOVES to dance now (if you call bouncing up and down dancing)!! Anytime she hears music she likes she will start bouncing to the beat! Mommy and daddy are SO glad she loves music as much as we do!
-Her favorite foods are squash, sweet potatoes, bananas, mixed berries, milk, and turkey. She is slightly orange due to her vitamin A intake lol!
-Emslee still has no teeth and is teething like crazy! I hope for her sake, and mine, that she gets them in soon!
-Emslee's favorite toys are her keys, nesting cups, leapfrog dog, and musical bird. Although she really enjoys playing with the tags on anything she finds!
-Emslee loves to watch Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune (though now she can't because she goes to bed at 7). Seriously, though, she will stop whatever she's doing to watch and so we think she's a brilliant baby ha ha!
Emslee Grace, your mommy and daddy love you very much! We are so proud to be your parents and we thank God for blessing us with you! You are a sweet, loving, and fun little girl!!!!! We love you!!
Monday, March 21, 2011
Water Baby!
If you know Emslee, you know that she doesn't giggle very often. It takes something extra special to elicit a giggle. If you remember the "ripping paper" post you heard her giggle, but she no longer finds that funny. Likewise, while she is giggling over water splashing on her belly, alas it is no longer funny anymore :( At least we have it on camera! I've watched this video at least 10 times and it's the best! I hope one day she'll giggle more frequently so I can stop watching the video and see it live ha ha!
Sleep Training
Emslee has never really been on a sleep routine. It is fully my fault, but I have some "good" reasons why I never started. I nurse Emslee and I have become her "pacifier" (which I said I would never allow to happen). Whenever she would wake up in the middle of the night I would make excuses for her that she must be hungry (breastmilk does digest quicker than formula), having gas pains, teething, etc. The same goes for napping. If she wasn't sleeping it was because she was hungry, not feeling well, etc. Emslee does not take a pacifier. She only took one while we were at the hospital and for whatever reason would not take it once we got her home. I have tried so many times to get her to take one, but it doesn't work. Most people would say enjoy it, because you won't have to break the habit later. I say it sure would make getting her to sleep through the night much easier. Emslee has always made her nap schedule and bed time. We just figured she liked to be up late (10-11 pm). It was always "nurse her to sleep and then HOPE that she doesn't wake up when you lay her down". If she did wake up then I'd have to nurse her to sleep again and try it once more. This is exhausting and most nights led to me sleeping with her on the couch when she'd wake in the middle of the night.
Our trip to North Carolina was a wake up call for me and Joshua (though he never gets up with her at night). Emslee was up a minimum of 4-6 times a night and ended up sleeping with us in our bed every evening. Part of that was she was out of her environment, but most of it was she was taught (inadvertently by me) that when she wakes at night I will nurse her back to sleep. When we visited our friends Brent and Kaylyn for a few days we were amazed that their daughters (one 3, the other a month older than Emslee) went to bed at 7 and slept until 7. Nap times were scheduled and the girls understood that when they were laid down it was time for bed. They fussed a little initially, but gave in quickly, knowing that they weren't getting up. So we asked Kaylyn and Brent what the "secret" was and decided right then and there that as soon as we got home we were changing everything we had been doing! Emslee would no longer be in control of sleep times, we would.
Here is what we do: Emslee goes to bed at 7 and take naps at 9-10 am, 1-2 pm, and 4 (give or take on the times). We have created a bedtime routine where we read her a couple stories, change her diaper, put her in her pjs and then I nurse her. As she's falling asleep while nursing I take her off and lay her in her crib. I have started giving her a little blanket with a lamb attached to it to give her a new sleep association, other than me. Then I kiss her, tell her it's night night time, turn on soft music and leave the room. She cries....and this is very hard for me, but I let her cry.We've done this for 9 nights now and the longest she's cried is 40 minutes. Then she drifts off to sleep. If she wakes up in the middle of the night (which has only happened a few nights), I go in give her her lamb blanket, turn on her music, tell her it's night night time, kiss her and leave. She cries for about 15 minutes, but goes back to sleep. It's all about changing yourself as her sleep association and replacing it with something else (like a blanket, paci, etc.). She is now sleeping 11-12 hours a night and did it from the first day we started! It was like she was waiting for us to just put her to bed and let her sleep.
This has given Josh and I alone time every evening for a few hours before we go to bed and it's been so good for us! Emslee is also a much happier baby! Here is a link to site I read before I started. It was a huge help in addition Bren and Kaylyn!
http://www.sleepthroughnight.com/
Oh, and now I can say I am SO happy she doesn't take a pacifier, because that's one habit I won't have to break lol!
Pretty in Red
Seriously this girl needs to stop growing so fast! She's such a pretty girl (though I may be biased) and I love her so much!!!
Picnic at the Park
This weekend Josh and I took Emslee to have lunch at the park. We had a good time! We also ventured to the library and found out that they have "baby time" on Thursdays with songs/stories/finger plays for babies and I am SUPER excited to take Emslee! I'll post about how it goes :) Here are some pictures from the park!
A Couple of Pictures from North Carolina
We're still here!
Sorry I've taken so long to update...I've been busy and preoccupied with other things. Here are some updates from the last month!
-Josh and I traveled up to North Carolina for his spring break at the beginning of March! We got to visit with my dad and our friends Brent and Kaylyn and their 2 little girls. We had a lot of time to chat and sit around since it rained everyday but 2. We did get to go to the mountains one day, but due to the cold and rainy weather we couldn't see them as it was SO foggy. Bummer! We enjoyed spending time with family and catching up with friends! Emslee had a very hard time sleeping. Thanks to Brent and Kaylyn we learned how to sleep train her and got on that as soon as we got home (see more in another post). Josh's parents let us borrow their van to use on our trip and it was a huge blessing! We were able to take Emslee out to feed her, let her play, and nurse her, yet keep the van moving. We didn't want to make the trip any longer than it had to be (10 hours). She did really well traveling and slept 6 hours each way.
-Josh interviewed for a position at a graphic design company. We were so excited at the opportunity this would give us to pay off debt faster and save up for a home. Unfortunately, they told him that they could not hire him without a degree. He is on track to graduate in December. For now we are trusting God to provide for us and teach us patience. He likes his current job, but it's not a dream job for him and doesn't have any room for growth. We know the Lord will provide him a dream job one day!
-Emslee is growing like a weed! She's around 18lbs right now and somewhere between 26-27 inches long. She turns 8 months on Wednesday and I'll post some more specific updates then.
-I am just enjoying my time at home with her. Being a stay-at-home mommy is so rewarding and such a blessing!
I think that's the major things. Hopefully I'll be a little better about updating more often!
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Who knew ripping paper could be so funny?!?!?!?!?!?!?
Seriously, this is hilarious! A friend had posted a video of a baby cracking up over the sound of ripping paper. So Josh and I skeptically tried it with Emslee. See her response below :)
Monday, February 21, 2011
Keeper of the Home
Let me preface this post by saying that I honestly never pictured myself as a "keeper of the home" or "stay at home mom". All my life I've wanted to teach and knew that I was going to do that even with kids. However, when the Lord saved me, He changed my desires. Instead of desiring to be this amazing teacher (teacher of the year) I quickly desired to be a momma. Though I had the desire, I stayed on birth control for another year or so. That is until Josh and I saw the movie Expelled. During this movie we learned the purpose for birth control and why it was made accessible (check out the movie for the details). So we decided that it was best to rely on the Lord and throw out the birth control. The amazing part about that is that Josh was working at the time. However, 6 months later he lost his job. Did we immediately start preventing pregnancy? No! We actually believed that the Lord would provide no matter what...even if I got pregnant while he was out of work. Not that it was easy to trust and rely on the Lord, but He did prove faithful and continues to do so! Josh was out of work for 11 months and there were many moments I worried about getting pregnant, but didn't. When Josh got his job I was relieved and then amazed a month later to find out that we were expecting! The Lord's timing is perfect and even though I was shocked at first, we were blessed to know we were going to have a child. After all, the bible says children are a blessing and blessed is the man who's quiver is full. Now onto the keeper of the home part...
Lately, I've been thinking a lot about my role as a wife and mother. Honestly, it's hard for me to dwell on, because I often find myself feeling like I should be working to provide for my family. I think it stems from the fact that the first 4 years of our marriage I taught full time and was the major breadwinner for our family. I tend to have a type A personality...okay I do, I really do. I like to be in control of things. This can be good at times, but also a stumbling block for me. Josh, on the other hand, has a type B personality. For me to quit teaching and stay at home, I've had to back off the type A and welcome type B. Josh has had to obviously do the opposite. I have to learn to rely, not only on the Lord, but my husband to provide for us. This is new for me. I'm so used to being the provider or at least a major contributor. As hard as I thought this would be for me, I've actually found it freeing. Giving over the control of our finances to my husband has given me a sense of peace and relief. Allowing him to provide for our family and lead, and stepping back to support/respect and encourage him has ironically given me the greatest freedom. I know that it is because I'm doing the Lord's will. As much as the world says I need to work to provide all these material things for my family, I know that if I have the means to be at home that it is exactly where I'm meant to be. I want to teach Emslee myself and I want to live by my convictions.
I must admit, though, before I had her I thought being at home with Emslee was going to be so easy and I'd have so much free time! Let's just say teaching a room full of 1st graders is way easier than taking care of her lol! I've quickly realized how selfish I am, by having to put aside my needs/wants, to fulfill hers. No matter how many cold meals, missed meals, extremely short showers, never-ending loads of laundry, etc. etc. etc., taking care of Emslee will always be worth it! She is my baby girl and I wouldn't trade her for anything!!!
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Emslee Being Silly
We finally have proof that Emslee's squealing is contributing to our possible hearing loss! Although she normally squeals much louder and more frequently than this! Enjoy!
Friday, February 4, 2011
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Sneak Peak
We were supposed to have professional photos taken back in December, but after 2 rained out attempts, they ended up being at the end of January. Here is a sneak peak of the results...we haven't even seen the rest, but are very excited with these 2!
Sunday, January 23, 2011
6 Months Old
Today my little girl is officially 6 months old....as in half-way to one! Time has literally flown by and it's shocking to me! People always told me that 'they grow up fast', but I never really believed it until we had Emslee. She is truly a joy and we are so blessed to have her! Here are10 facts about her:
1. Emslee LOVES to take a bath. She can be throwing a fit, but as soon as she gets in the water she starts kicking her legs and smiling. I can't wait for her to be able to sit completely on her own and let her play in the tub! I can imagine she'll be a prune when it's time to get her out!
2. Her favorite foods right now are mommy's milk, squash, oatmeal and sweet potatoes. She also loves to drink prune juice. We started giving that to her several months ago when she was constipated and now she just loves to have it! Plus, it keeps her regular lol.
3. She loves to stand up! In fact I think she'll be walking before she crawls. I think that's why she loves her exersaucer activity center so much! It's one of those toys where the baby sits/stands in the middle and they can turn all around in it and bounce.
4. Emslee can roll over both ways....although she rarely does. She hates to be on her tummy, so she usually rolls over to her back. She does like to lay on her back so it is very rare that she rolls over to her tummy. This would be another reason she might walk before she crawls...lol.
5. We just recently learned that Emslee loves to swing! She could sit in the swing for hours just kicking her legs and talking to herself. It's a joy to watch her get so much excitement out of something new!
6. She can almost sit up on her own. She's like a tripod now, but pretty soon she'll be a pro!
7. Emslee will be a great singer when she gets older! That is, I hope she is :) She loves to be sung to and can even sing along (or squeal in delight).
8. Speaking of squealing....Emslee squeals SO loud! I think she's getting back at me for the loud mouth kid I was. She does it when she's happy, tired, and mad. It can be a tad bit annoying at times, but she's so cute doing it! If Josh and I have hearing loss in the future we know who to blame!
9. Emslee's hair is finally growing in and it's blonde. Sometimes if she's wearing pink or red, it looks strawberry blonde. I think by the time she's 2 we'll be able to make a pony or put a clip in it. For now she looks absolutely beautiful in her headbands/flowers. We rarely leave without one and it's a good thing, but she's been called a boy a few times.
10. Emslee is learning the word "no." It's hilarious how when we say it she stops what she's doing and looks at us thoughtfully and then a few seconds later continues with what she was doing. We're hoping she'll relate the word sometime in the near future lol.
I love you so much little girl! You have brought so much joy into my life and I cannot imagine my life without you! Everyday it is exciting to watch you learn and do new things! You are such a beautiful girl and I can't wait to see you continue to grow up! As your name means, you are a gift from God and I am so blessed to have you as my daughter! I love you!!
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Emslee loves...
her FEET! This is how you'll find her most of the time if she's on her back or in her carseat....feet in hands! It's soooooo cute!! Sometimes she can even get them in her mouth! And when she does...she gets very excited! I'm not so sure I'd love to have stinky feet in my mouth, but Emslee would give anything to have them there! :)
A Day at the Park with Nana
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