The Year of 2014 - Life in Instagram

It should come as no surprise to you all that our year revolved around the birth of our first born baby. Our little girl Emma. She flipped our whole world, and this blog, upside down and for the better. I'd like to do a recap of all the fun things that happened in 2014 and of course some of my favorite posts from the year as well.

January

January we heard our baby's heartbeat for the first time! It was such a magical sound and none anyone can describe. Those little bumps of sound are the most magical thing! I also shared a really cute baby shower gift and a nice bean soup recipe. I also made plans for our upcoming gender reveal party also.

February

February we found out that we were having a baby girl, and also threw a party for our family to let them in on the secret also. I made lots of cute things for that party also, that I of course blogged about in the coming months.

March

We announce her name Emma Jean and the meaning behind why we chose it. We also packed up our tiny apartment to move in with family to save some cash for her arrival, but I posted about our little apartment too.

April

April was a big month for us. We bought a vehicle to transport our little one in and we started our labor classes, which meant that the time was nearing and I had my mini panic attack! I also shared my plans for her future nursery and all the projects that I wanted to do.

May

In May I was showered by all my wonderful friends and family with gifts galore for baby Emma. My mom's and cousin did amazing work. I also had my very first Mother's Day and it was such fun!

June

June was a whirlwind month of prepping and planning for lil Emma's arrival. Our neighbor gave us a wonderful preview of our little ones face in a high def 3D ultrasound. We did a mini maternity shoot and my hubby took some pretty amazing photos. We packed our hospital bags, and ran amuck just having daddy and mommy time before her arrival

July

July we welcomed our precious angel into the world and talked about my labor and delivery story. We celebrated Independence Day and just enjoyed being parents to a perfect little girl.

August

In August we took our first long roadtrip out of state to visit family. We were home bodies for most of the month though, just learning how to be parents and we loved every second.

September

We welcomed two more little girls into our family with the additions of my nieces Kaitlynn and Evelyn. We took lots of photos of Emma and soaked in every bit of time I could before I returned to work.

October

October we took our first trip to the pumpkin patch and found the perfect pumpkins! Mommy and grandma also made Emma's first Halloween Costume and we experienced her first Trick or Treating outing also. We also moved into our own apartment again and started becoming a family of three (with a fur baby) again.

November

Emma celebrated her first Thanksgiving and learned how to play cards also. She rolled over and had many new experiences this month!

December

Since we are still in the midst of Christmas recovery I haven't even looked at our photos yet. We went and saw Santa and got the BEST Santa photo ever! We went on our first ever Disneyland trip and celebrated Hanukkah as well. Our first Christmas was special and we are excited to share all that and NYE with you also. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas/Hanukkah and look forward to sharing everything with you all in the New Year!

Love to you all from The Kimball Family

New Home Tour - Main Living Room

I figured I would do a mini home tour, since we recently moved into our new apartment. I know it's not a house, but every place that we can live as a family is home to us and I would like to document Emma's first official living space for posterity. Since our main living space is the only one that's completed....and the only reason it is was because we needed to put up Christmas decor, we shall start with that space.

Our front door opens into our kitchen and main living space which houses our dining table and desk. While it's not ideal to have three spaces in one large room, it has to work for us. Our kitchen is the largest one we have had and we LOVE it!

We have a bar area, and lots of counter space for cooking. While the appliances could use some work, and the laundry area is in the kitchen, it is super functional and we can utilize every square inch. I need to find some decor for the upper cabinets....they are too plain right now.

Once past the kitchen your in our living space. Which has our television sitting area, dining room and office. I did straighten up for the photo's, but since we are still in the midst of unpacking there's paperwork on our desk and randomness all over. Please forgive any oddities.

Most of our furniture is hand-me downs but we make it work for us. I love our counter high dining table, although it may not work for us once Emma starts eating solids. Behind the table is our desk and work area, where all this magic happens. We have two hand-me-down Lay Z Boy recliners that my hubby loves....around the corner across from the couch sits our media center and GIANT tv, that's not pictured.....honestly those aren't pretty to me. Also the hubby got a wall mount so he needs to install that. Any tips out there for hiding cords for renters?

These guitars were my fathers guitars. The acoustic one is signed by various country artists and he won it at an auction. They will always have a prime spot in my home....and so will my piano, when I have room for it.

The complex offered to paint one wall for free so I picked the "blue" color. Honestly its a cool grey, but I think it works well with our decor and I really like the way it looks.

We love blankets in this home and most of them are homemade quilts and afghans made by my mom. It the winter we love to snuggle up under them and have huge stashes in our closets and trunks. We will never be cold!

Since we are in the age of gallery walls, I knew I needed to incorporate on the large wall space by our front door. I didn't want it to be the same as the one in our last apartment. I knew that I wanted to have it be special and have some significance to us, so I made a "patriotic" wall. I pulled together various pieces that meant USA, in our eyes and pulled it together with some gold elements. I used photo's from our travels around the country, pictures of us, a photo of my dad in his Air Force uniform, classic cars, martinis and of course a map of the United States.

I have been on the hunt for a unique map of the US and I was finally able to find one. I discovered the Fulcrum Gallery website and they had tons of different types of art including different maps of the world and have a whole section for "Art of Places." Once I selected my print I could choose whether to have it framed, put on canvas, or just sent as the print. I chose to have it framed to be cost effective, but I think that it would have been really nice on canvas. While their matt color selections were a little limited, I was able to find one that worked well with the print.

Since all the work is done in the good ole USA and done by a person and not a machine, it took a little time for production and shipping, but it was worth the wait for a quality piece. I was impressed with the paper back finish, the hangar system was wonderful also. It was nice to not see a cheap hangar or a wire, but a real art hangar. It was super easy to install as well as my hubby stated since he did the hanging. Also included were felt backers on the bottom of the back to help from scratching your wall, and a signed sticker assuring quality American craftsmanship. Perfect touch for this patriot lover!

While the amount of prints and art pieces on the site can be overwhelming, I think that the Fulcrum Gallery has something that everyone will love, at any budget. I will be shopping there again. Keeping money and jobs here in the USA is important to me and I am glad to have found a retailer their sticks to those values as well. Good job! Head on over if you need a gift for the holidays or an empty spot on your wall that needs filling. Walls are meant to be filled with meaningful art.

I was sent my artwork in exchange for my review. All opinions are my own.

Watch Emma Grow - Month Five

Month five in Emma's life has been very rewarding. We are getting into the swing of things living in our own place again. Juggling the schedules, making dinners and being able to spend quality time with our little girl has been the main focus. We are almost done decorating her room, although she still sleeps in our room....most of the time in our bed, but more on that later.

Emma started talking, I mean not using words, but trying to figure out sounds and playing with her tongue to see what different sounds made. We started making the dadada and mamama and bababa sounds to her in an attempt to get her to start to learn sounds. She squeals and grunts and makes all sorts of noises including loud giggles and belly laughs which warm my heart to hear! She's mastered the art of rolling from back to tummy and vice versa and has found her feet. She can be seen grabbing her socks or bare foot and trying to put them in her mouth. Warning Gross Alert: When getting ready for her last doctors appointment, she was playing with her feet while I was changing her diaper. She grabbed both feet and shot poop just as I was about to place the diaper over her booty. Needless to say she has great aim and I had a lot to clean up.

She loves toys that sing or talk, and loves to be on the floor playing or reading a book. We will read in mommy's lap or lying on the floor, squealing at the pictures and trying to grab the book. She still loves music and has started to sing back with you. Singing or certain songs calms her instantly and most of the time puts her to sleep when she's fighting sleep. The teething is in full force and we are soaking through bibs left and right. Even though her gums are bothering her, she is still a pleasant and happy baby. Teething rings only work for so long before she gets mad and throws it. Her playmat is another favorite place to be because she loves to swat and eat all the hanging toys. This is where she got the hang of rolling over. Such fun to watch her excitement.

Last Month Stats:
Weight: 12 lbs 10 ozs (23%)
Height: 23.75" (26%)
Head: 16.5" (73")

Eat: Breast is best. I'm still pumping every two hours at work, if I can get it in....most times its about 2.5 hours. When I am with Emma it's whenever she wants it. I offer at the two hour mark and most times she will take it. When I am not with her she eats between 8-10.5 ozs so she still needs those night feedings, which is fine with me. I am looking forward to starting her on solids, but I just love spending that quality time with her.

Sleep:
Ahhhh her sleep habits, how they changed. I really think she hit the four month sleep regression coupled with daylight savings time, we got a double whammy. She was falling asleep super easy by putting her down on the bed or co-sleeper. Now with us being in a new space we needed to get back to our system before....we changed it up on her and she let us know that it wasn't happening for her. So usually I feed her to sleep in our bed and gently rock her until she's completely out and I put her in her co-sleeper. This is usually at 8:30pm. She will stay asleep until about 11pm-12 and then I feed her and unless I am wiped out will put her back in bed. The rest of the night is fair game and usually I just pull her into bed for her to eat and we both fall back asleep. I love snuggling with her, but some nights its hard and I don't get a lot of sleep....I should feed her normal and put her back into her own bed so we can establish a nighttime system....it's a matter of just doing it. Here's her updated schedule:

7:30am - Wake/Diaper Change
8:00am - Breast Feed
8-9am - Playtime
9-10:30ish am - Nap
10:30-11 - Bottle Fee/Breast Feed
11-12:30 - Playtime
1pm - Bottle Feed/Breast Feed
1:30-3ish pm - Naptime
3:30-5pm - Playtime, mommy gets home and feeds. We eat, read and sing.
5-6pm - Final Nap
Between 730-745pm she gets bathed, then lotion and pj's then we read a book or two or three. Then if she hasn't nodded off yet I rock her asleep. I feed her most often right before she goes to bed.
11pm-12am - Dream Feed

Diapers: We moved up to size two diapers and have almost gone through our stash from my shower! It's been really nice not needing to buy diapers. Still love the Pampers brand diapers and wipes. We also still love our Desitin for diaper rash.

Milestones to date:

Bringing her home: July 2nd (1 day old)

First Bath: July 4th (3 days old)

First Holiday: Independence Day (3 days old)

Held Up Head: July 11th (1 week old)

Lost Belly Button: (8 days old)

First Walk (2 weeks old)

First Smile: (3 weeks old)

First Trip: Lake Tahoe/Carson City (5 weeks old)

Found her hands: (6 weeks old)
First Swim: (6 Weeks old)
Laughed Out Loud (12 Weeks Old)
Rolled Over: (3 Months Old)
Found Her Feet: (4 Months Old)

Here's a photo dump from month four:

Playing in our room with Daddy and Uncle Jaye

Daddy, there's fuzzies on your face

Tummy time

I love my feet!

Sleepy snuggles

Learning to play cribbage with Mimi

Sitting in my walker at grandma's!

Talking and playing

Teething rings are yummy