3 months old

 

So Emaline is 3 months old.  Time is flying by....I heard lyrics in a song, "the years start coming and they don't stop coming..." Ain't that the truth?

 

Emaline is growing well and is still "larger than average" according to the doctor.  She is 12 pounds 13 ounces and 25 inches long.  She is pretty much the size of a 6 month old!  The doctor commented on how well she was holding her head up and how well she was growing.  That's my girl! 

 

She is cooing and gooing and gurgling and raspberry-ing, especially on the changing table.  She's still pretty mellow, but is certainly starting to make her desires known.  She is starting to have a little bit of stranger anxiety, especially with GiGi and Aunt Michelle...so weird.  She really likes Uncle Leonard, as long as he's not holding her.  But, she is definitely a grandma's girl...no doubt about that!  Grandma gets her smiling and talking up a storm.  She's also able to soothe her when she's upset. 

Grandma calls her "little burrito" because we swaddle  her up!  Daddy calls her munchkin, Gavin calls her "prety gurl", and I call her squirt, bubbles, etc.  We all call her "Em" from time to time which I kinda like.  I'm curious to know what she'll want to be called when she's older.

 

I am enjoying having and dressing a little girl.  I do, however, need a tutorial in bow placement.  Sorry Em! 

 

 

 Love this one!  A picture says 1000 words!

 Emaline's model face

 Her silly face

We love you pretty girl!  Keep growing, baby girl! Oh yeah...I call her that a lot, too!

My birthday, 34!

 This year for my birthday, I was ambushed...or, as some people call it, surprised.  I was standing at the kitchen sink getting ready to cook dinner when these cars just start pulling up in front of our house.  My sister and her family, my mom, and Michelle and Leonard pulled up at the same time.  They all came over for a surprise birthday party.  How sweet :)

Delicious BBQ!  I ate so much!

This was my birthday cake...how fitting!  Look how crooked it is!  It was delish!

Nom, nom, nom! 

 

Thanks for the surprise guys, and making me feel so loved. XO

Father's Day 2012

I was going through my camera and found a couple of pictures from Father's Day this year.  I only have a couple because that day was pretty trying and scary.  The morning was fine, although Gavin had a low grade fever.  We just thought it was a cold.  We showered Dada with presents and made him coffee in his new mug.  Then, we went to Paw Paw Howard's for a BBQ.  Everything was fine until Gavin woke up from his nap.  He had a 102 + temperature.  We hurried him out of there to go home.  That was the start of a 3 week saga of his pneumonia that ended with him in the hospital.  Happy to say that he is just fine now. 

Emaline was the star of the show...

Emaline and Paw Paw.

Emaline was a little fussy that day.  She was sooooo tired, but wouldn't sleep no matter what.  I'll never forget...Paw Paw Howard held her and walked around with her humming "Taps" to her...put her right out!  Guess he's done that a time or two or 12 or 15!  So sweet....

Everyone was dressed similarly, and I was going to get the cutest pictures!!  Oh well, guess I'll just have to take cute pictures for no good reason.

Happy Father's Day to my hubby...the best Father I know!  We are so lucky to have you!  We love you!!!

Big brother

Gavin's life has changed pretty drastically over the last couple of months.  We've been blessed with many new beginnings and plagued with sickness!  But, he handles it with such grace, and I admire him.  He has such a sweet disposition and is so good natured.  His little heart is already so big, and he loves so much!  He is the sweetest big brother!  My only complaint is that he wants to hold/kiss/talk to Emaline too much.  He's really bonded with Jack, too. 

He's still really into cars.  I think it's still his first choice.  But he's also started to play pretend.  I was so impressed when he came home from school the other day with his treasure chest.  He had an eye patch, treasure map, gold doubloons and more.  He was so cute walking around in his best pirate voice pretending to hop on his ship and look for treasure.  He's got a great imagination.  I love the way he walks around "talking" on the phone.  The conversations he comes up with are so funny! And he is pretty hilarious.  The other day my mom fixed him some soup in a big bowl.  He said to her very playfully, "Hey Golini, you serious? I can't eat out of this big bowl! Come on, chief!" 

I haven't taken many pictures in a long time for many reasons.  But today, he just inspired me. 

He actually took this picture.  How cool would it be if he was a photographer?

My little man.  Getting so big.  I love him so much!

2 months old!

Emaline continues to grow well.  At almost 12 pounds, her doctor said that she is an all around "bigger than average" baby.  We'll take that!  She's starting to sleep better and is creating her own schedule, despite what mom and dad want.  She is very opinionated on when she wakes, sleeps, eats and especially when she takes a bath.  She LOVES taking her bathes at night.  She starts to get fussy around 7:00PM until you bring her into the bathroom and get her ready for her bath.  All of a sudden, all is right in the world.  Then, she gets her evening bottle and off to dream land! 

She's also been smiling so much more.  She coos and gurgles and gets so excited!  We love making our little girl smile!  I know I'm partial, but I could just eat her up!!

Balancing act

I never thought that having 2 kids would be easy.  I still don't think it is, but so far it has only doubled the work, not tripled it like most people say.  I think the first 3 weeks were down right masterful! (is that a word?)  Things flowed beautifully to make sure Emaline was taken care of and that Gavin had plenty of attention.  Emaline was growing and thriving, and Gavin was dealing with the new addition like a champ.  I expected nothing less of him. 

These last couple of weeks have been a different story.  Emaline is still growing (really fast)! Gavin has pneumonia and is contagious.  Everyone keeps telling me to keep Emaline and Gavin away from each other and rightfully so...if Emaline gets a fever, it's an automatic trip to the hospital with IV's.  Being the primary caregiver for Emaline, I, too, have kept my distance from Gavin so I don't inadvertantly transmit something to her. So, Gavin is sick and feels  like crap and has a mommy who is very distant.  Gary has been a champ taking care of Gavin and making sure all of his emotional and physical needs are met.  But, Gary went out of town this week.  My mom has been here, and I really don't know what I would have done without her, but I still feel like Gavin needs his mommy (and/or daddy).  He has been acting out...a lot.  I feel like all of my interactions with him are yelling, nagging, correcting or punishing him.  I think it's a combination of feeling awful and not having my attention.  I feel so bad for him.  I wish I could snuggle him and make him feel better.  I wish I had the patience to deal with him and his bad behavior without lashing out.  But I can't and I don't.  Mostly because I have this new little life to protect, but how do you explain that him?  He just sees mommy spending lots of her time in her room with Emaline, away from him.  He doesn't really understand that I don't want him near her.  His little face looks so sad when I ask him to move away from her.  He loves her so much and wants to be close to her and me, especially when Daddy is out of town.  NaNa said it best that..."Gavin will never know life without a sister."  That's sweet.  But, it also stinks.  He will never know life without Emaline.  He won't remember how much fun we used to have when it was just me and him.  He was my whole world and got all of my attention.  Maybe it's a good thing that he has to share his time.  I worried about all of my attention spoiling him.  Maybe he'll be a better person because he had to share his time. Maybe it will boost his self esteem because he gets to teach her everything he knows.  I do know that he'll be ok.  And that things will get easier.  I just always hope he knows that I love him and nothing will ever change that. 

1 month old

Emaline is 1 month old today.  I can't believe it's already been a month...it's been a blur. 

She is really starting to develp her own personality.  I would call her "spirited" because she knows what she wants (and doesn't) and complains until it changes or takes matters into her own hands.  For instance, Dada was laying down on the couch with Emaline on his chest.  She started to squirm and fuss because she was tired of being on her belly.  After a couple of minutes, she decided just to roll over...and she did!  Thank God Dada was awake!  Another time we were getting ready to leave, and I put a new toy in her car seat.  It was a pretty obnoxious toy, but she seemed to like looking at it.  She didn't.  She started to fuss and swat at it.  She immediately stopped fussing when I took the new toy out.

She's really strong. She has already rolled over once and gets really close to doing it again.  If put on her stomach, she will scoot small distances, and she holds her head up to look around for minutes at a time. 

And, she's spoiled.  Really.  I know "they" say newborns cannot be spoiled, but "they" have not met Emaline.  I joke that if you want Emaline to wake up, just put her down in her crib.  Because of this, she has had a little bit of trouble sleeping. I blame her Dada.  When we first brought her home, I would put her down in her crib to sleep.  I would come back from whatever I was doing and go in to check on her.  More than once, Dada smuggled her out of her crib to sleep on his chest. She's picked up after so much as a whimper, most times.  Between the hours of 8PM and 3AM, she can be pretty high maintanence, crying for no apparent reason.  Some nights, I have to sleep with her on my chest to get her to sleep.  Or, I have to put her in her fancy new swing (Mommaroo) to sleep, but only after she's been rocked to sleep!  I think she's finally starting to get her days and nights together because now she's up for extended periods during the day.  Her favorite nap spot is...on me wrapped in her sling.  I am flattered...and exhausted. 

She is a sweet little girl.  She's smiles a lot, especially in the morning, which washes away all bad memories and hard feelings from the night before and makes it all worth it.

She is pretty...but I'm biased.  I have had so much fun dressing her, and it's only going to get worse!  She looks so beautiful in this light pink.  I hope she continues to humor me. 

Happy 1 month birthday sweet Emaline.