Watch Emma Grow - Month Seven

Sorry to be so late with this post guys. The month has just gotten away from me. Our little girl has just been moving and grooving. Just going through developments. This month we conquered the art of sitting on our own! It's been glorious for her because she can play and play and then topple over. She thinks it's hilarious. We army crawl around and get up on all fours. Rocking back and forth means it's coming, but we haven't fully crawled yet. Mommy and daddy are waiting on baited breath......**need to secure bookcase to wall and get cabinet door closers** She also loves her walker at grandma's and her jumper at home. Anything where she can work her legs she loves it. Her jumper is right in front of the television also, so we try and play her Baby Einstein DVD's when shes alert enough to care.

We started solid foods too! It was glorious to watch her figure things out. She makes the MMMM noise when she eats her oatmeal, loves banana's and sweet potato. She tends to make a huge mess, but its fun to play with our food right? We're doing a mixture of puree's and BLW and she's really good at picking up the food with a pincher grip!

Something less than fun, but a milestone none the less. Emma caught the flu for the first time. Waking up at 4am to a crying baby with a 101 degree temperature was so not fun. We gave her some Tylenol to cut the fever and the next day took her into the office. After being prescribed Tamiflu, we were well on our way to feeling better, until she coughed in mommy's face and gave it to her! We got another tooth, her right lateral incisor, and the left has been on its way out for a couple of weeks. Cue the drool and fussiness, but she tends to take the pain relatively well. We do give her Tylenol when she has a rough day just to soothe the pain. Cold teethers help also.

Bath time is still her favorite time of the evening. She eat solid foods while we eat our dinner and then off to bath with dad. She squeals and kicks and thoroughly enjoys all her toys. Our pup loves to watch her play, but when she gets too rambunctious in the tub she gets worried and tries to rescue her. After bath she gets nakey baby time in her room before its time to fall asleep. She found herself in the mirror and loves to "play" with the baby in her room. She giggles and hits the mirror and tries to figure her out. It's just precious!

This Month Stats:
Weight: 16 lbs 1 ozs (27%) Follow up flu booster

Last Month Stats:
Weight: 14 lbs 7 ozs (20%)
Height: 25.5" (38%)
Head: 17.25" (84%)
Updated weight: 15lbs (24%)

Eat: Still going strong with the breastmilk. I'm still taking the supplement and can pump between 11 and 12 ounces over three sessions. With the introduction of solids it's hard figuring out when to feed her solids and still give her the breast enough. I always try to feed her the breast before any solid foods so she will continue to breastfeed. Usually it's what she wants anyways. I will offer the breast every two to three hours. More often than not she will take it.

Sleep: Ahhhh sleep. Some nights I get a glorious three hour span....maybe four....not very often. Naps are still ridiculous. She's sticking to a two nap schedule and she likes it like that! Honestly if she's not asleep past 4pm....but no later than 530....she is a beast at 7pm. So tired and cranky! But what can we do. We try to keep her on a schedule but it just isn't fail safe! Nighttime is better. She's usually asleep by 8:15 and will stay asleep until about 10-11pm when she wakes. I nurse her back to sleep and shes usually ok until about 2-230am. Most nights its up in the air whether she wakes a million times or not....damn teeth!

Diapers: Sill in size twos. Back to Pampers! YAY!

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: July 27th (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: Sept 25th (12 Weeks Old)
Rolled Over: October 28th (3 Months Old)
Found Her Feet: November 2nd (4 Months Old)
First Teeth: December 3rd (5 Months Old)
Sat on her own: January 7th (6 Months Old)
Ate Solid Foods: January 7th (6 Months Old)

And for the monthly photo dump!

 

In the walker, cruisin

Beauty in the morning

Yum, sunglasses

First taste of oatmeal, runny and all over my tray and bib!

I'd say it was a sucess

Sitting up unassisted!

Mohawks before bath

"Who's that baby in the mirror?"

Supervisor Shelby

Army crawl!

Holding her own bottle

Loves her wonder wheel

And her jumper!

Baby blues!

"Animal pant prints out control!"

Imitating daddies hair

I'm so excited!

Emma's Nursery Tour

We finally finished Emma's nursery yesterday. I am so excited for this room everyone! We both painstakingly selected each item and hung each piece in its proper place. I searched and searched for the perfect bedding and crib for her room. Something modern and pretty. I found it at Babies R Us and instantly fell in love with the grey and white look!

The artwork above her nursery were gifts from my baby shower and I made the yarn sachet for Emma's Valentine's Day Shoot. I wanted a feminine safari look without going overly babyish. I hated all the traditional nursery bedding that was at the baby stores. I found the bedding at Pottery Barn and got just the quilt and pillow sham. The rest of the set wasn't me at all!

The dresser matches the crib, and I love the chrome pulls and the grey changer on top. I found the chevron changing cover at BRU. Considering that greys are so hard to match, I was glad that everything coordinates so nicely.

In keeping with the safari look, I found the graphic metal giraffe, metal Emma letters and pinboard all from Pottery Barn. The pinboard was originally a table top piece, but I attached hangars to the back and voila....wall piece! It houses her pins from her trip to Disneyland, but I plan on attaching some photo's also.

I made a large hanging mobile that is in the corner between her crib and dresser that she can see from both locations. I didn't want anything traditional yet again, so I found something I liked and DIYed my own. Underneath is where I store her quilt that was a Christmas present, the white blanket that we take her monthly photos on and the horse that she got for Hannukah. This little chevron grey box was supposed to house her stuffed toys.....but lets just say that the cradle my uncle made me is now where it all gets stored now.

We thrift-ed a glider and it houses a throw pillow and baby quilt the my mom made her for my baby shower. Next to the glider is a little storage cabinet, and the chalkboard that we used for our bumpdates....yes it still has her birth stats...daddy wont let me change it until her birthday. If you recall from this post, her bookcase used to be black. We spray painted it grey, and it was the closest match to the crib that we could find, but I think its a pretty damn good match!

Her bookcase houses all her small toys in baskets, books, and various decor. I had a little bit of a book addiction!!! I have since stopped purchasing for a bit!

And lastly, one of my favorite things, besides all the other homemade items, is this piece. My mom made this for me and it hung in my room for many many years. She had it re-matted and gave it to Emma for her room.

There you have it. Our little one's room.....it's totally perfect for us and we spend lots of time snuggling, reading, and playing. We are blessed that she has such great place to call home!

Links:

Crib: Babies R Us

Quilt: PB Kids
Sheets: Walmart
Elephants: Etsy and PB Kids

Dream Letters: PB Kids (similar)
Elephant Canvas: Etsy
Dresser: Babies R Us

Changer Top: Babies R Us

Changing Pad Cover: Babies R Us

Giraffe: PB Kids

Emma Letters: PB Kids

Pin Board: PB Kids

Mobile: DIYed

Glider: Thrifted

Quilt: Gift
Chalkboard: DIYed

Bookcase: Thrifted
Elephant Bins: Home Goods

Emma Blocks: Gifted

Our Little Valentine

My hubby and I aren't very big on the big V-Day. I mean lets be serious, why should we only show each other how much we love one another on only one day out of the year. I'd rather celebrate all year and on other occasions than this over priced Hallmark holiday.

I know I am behind on the recaps....like Christmas and NYE, but these photos were just too cute to not share right away. I did a little styled shoot with miss for Valentines Day.We had such fun taking her photos that I got a little carried away. I even bought adult knee socks to make into leg warmers!

She got this cute onesie at the hospital that says "Sorry boys, I can't date til I'm 30!" It was super perfect and she wore the below outfit all day.

I love this below photo because it looks like she is having a conversation with her puppy. We were trying to distract her from eating the mailboxes, but it didn't work.

After her nap and a long walk with the pup, we headed out to the mall to get some new outfits. We are doing a family photoshoot next weekend and I needed something new. Since it's going to be at an old oil place we decided to go a little country. Darin got a new seersucker shirt and Emma got a a shirt and a pair of sunglasses from H&M, which she promptly put in her mouth. We all took a nap and ordered a pizza. It was a perfect day for us! I hope your weekend was great too!

DIY Drag Along

Before Emma arrived I had these vast plans of making a million little items for her. I planned parties and her nursery, but my energy and time fell by the wayside and she arrived with not a thing made by her mommy. I was quite sad. I had started a diaper bag, but it never got finished, and it still sits at my parents waiting for velcro and snaps.....such is the life of a parent.

A couple of months ago we were at my parent's house and we went into my mom's quilt store. I was in utter amazement by the adorable fabrics that the owner stocks her shelves with and quickly fell in love with some pink and teal graphic fabric to make a small little blanket for Miss Emma, or a "Drag Along." A mini blanket that can be taken in the car or just to snuggle with. At the same time I bought
the fabric for this quilt I also made her. Honestly my child didn't need another blanket, but mommy needed to make her something and that's where this little project came into play. Read below for instructions on how to make this adorable little carry along blanket

What You'll Need:
(9) 8.5"x 8.5" squares of fabric
(1) 25"x 25" square for backing (Minky)
(4) yards Rick Rack

Directions:
1. Ideally you want to have a minimum of (5) different fabrics for this project. Layout your fabric until you have a pattern you like. If you want to have custom embroidery done, start with that first. I chose to right set my embroidery on my center fabric. Since my baby girl's nickname is my "lil birdie" that's what I went with for my added touch. Sew your 9 squares together into (3) rows of three and then sew each row together until you have completed your blanket top. Make sure to press your fabric seams to one side to nest your seams easier.

2. Flip your blanket top and minky fabric so that right sides are together. Round your corners using a round tool or whatever you have on hand (a bowl works nice.)  Pin your ric rac so that the center falls on the edge of your fabric top. Place your minky right sides together on your fabric top and pin in place.

3. Sew a 1/4" seam around the entire edge, leaving a 4-6" opening for turning. Turn your project and press your seams flat. Pin your turning opening inside 1/4" and sew a 1/4" top seam around the entire blanket.

4. Place your baby on it and admire your work! Completed blanket size 24"x 24"

See, she really did need another blanket, just so I could take that cute photo of her! Love my lil birdie! Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below! Original pattern by Suzanne Zingg.