Watch Emma Grow - Month Eleven

Back to my old tricks of getting posts out late, but two in one week! Praise the lord! Yea I know.....this whole blogging thing has taken a back seat to the mommy/working thing so my time is limited. We have been having such fun with lil miss though it's worth it. I have so many posts I want to write, yet the time passes by. Have any momma's found those extra hours yet?

Lets get down to why your here. To hear about miss Emma's 11th month of life in this crazy world. So much happened in May that its kind of a blur. Emma was baptized in the Catholic faith at the beginning of the month, she helped celebrate her Auntie's graduation from Vet school, we went to the zoo, we celebrated Mother's Day and had a ton of craft projects and naps and snuggles along the way. Her baptism was so beautiful and was a great day, I will have to do another post just on that. We also went to the local strawberry festival and took our first trip to the beach.

She's become quite the social butterfly. Loves to chatter up a storm and dance with her toys. I think it's the cutest thing when she babbles on. She's getting really good at standing up on things and holding her balance and she's really quick to walk along furniture. Blitz speed on the crawling also. One second shes one place and I blink and she's in a whole other location. Still not yet walking but it's coming up really soon!

Speaking of the social butterfly...we have deemed her first word to be dog. It doesn't quite sound completely correct, but we know she saying dog, mostly because she sees and points to the dog. It's so cute to see how excited she gets to see familiar people, especially mommy and daddy. I makes my heart swell to know how much she loves us. She also loves to give open mouth kisses. A slobbery wet kiss is all good when it comes from your loving baby!

She cut another two teeth so we now have a total of 8 out of the 20 baby teeth we will get. At her 9 month appointment, her pediatrician said she was cutting molars and she's been pretty irritated with those bad boys. I wonder when they will make an appearance.

She loves to sort. Toys, blocks, anything. Sort sort sort. Playing with the pots, pans, tupperware etc. is the most fun thing ever! I think we need to get her a child set of pots and pans so I don't have to constantly be washing my dishes! Lol

9 Month Well Check Stats:
Weight: 17 lbs 3 ozs (30%)
Height: 27" (24%)
Head: 17.5" (60%)

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

Eat: Emma has loved everything we have put in front of her for the most part. She especially loves pasta and fruit. Any and all fruit. Veggie's are good too, but FRUIT! Same eating schedule as last month...she breastfeeds in the morning, then eats solids and either the breast or a bottle before her nap, has lunch and breast/bottle, then another a snack and the breast/bottle after her second nap, dinner with us before her bath. Then she nurses to sleep and through the night. If she seems hungry she gets either a snack or the breast/bottle whenever she wants. I try to get her to eat as often as possible because of how active she is becoming.

Sleep: On and off. Most nights we get a stretch from 10-11pm til around 3am which means mom gets a good chunk of sleep also!

Diapers: Size three's.

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)
Crawled: (Army: January 16th - 6 mo; Normal: March 17th - 8 mo)
Sat on her own: January 7th (6 Months Old)
Ate Solid Foods: January 7th (6 Months Old)
First Vacation: Florida March 9th (8 Months Old)
Stood on her own: March 8th (8 Months Old)

And for the monthly photo dump!

Being Baptized

With Auntie/Godmommy!

Strawberry Festival Stuffed Strawberry

Family Time at the beach!

Baby toes in the sand for the first time

Balloons are fun with cousins!

Toys galore and were going to play with a makeup bag.

First birthday photo shoot (for the invitations)

Water bottles are so FUN!

As are tupperware!

Psh...standing is easy mom!

Yummy Quesadilla!

I love those blue peepers!

Fun time at the LA Zoo!

Pinterest and Parties

Oh Hai! Long time no speak. Why? Because I have been crazy busy with an almost toddler, a baptism party and planning Emma's first birthday. Things have been just a smidge crazy in our house, and I have been going in circles in my head making lists and trying to figure out everything that needs to happen for the birthday.

The expectation that Pinterest has put on us mothers to create cute and adorable and handcrafted parties has made me a crazy woman once again. Why did I even go online and look up inspiration photos for this party? I put together lots of items in my board and thinking to myself that I got off easy because I picked an easy theme. HA HA HA ha. (insert sarcastic laughter) I my head doing a 4th of July inspired BBQ was easy. But now with all of my "inspiration" I am feeling the stress. I think I say this with EVERY party I do. Why why why do I do this to myself? After a couple of crafting weekends under my belt, invitations out and decisions made I am feeling better and we will hopefully be able to enjoy this upcoming weekend as a early birthday celebration for me and the hubbies first Father's Day.

What's a post without a couple of craft updates (Pinterest inspiration), and a Pinterest fail!

The hubby and I painted this wooden pallet as a flag inspiration. It was a fun project that we did together, and it can be used as decor on our porch, when we have one.

Again, I saw this inspiration on Pinterest and had to do it because it was so cute. They are firecrackers made out of pool noodles and some wire decor. They were hung from the ceiling in the pin, but our location has vaulted ceilings and I cannot do that, so they are going to be table center pieces.

There's no first birthday without a highchair banner. I took inspiration from two separate pins and blended them together. Excuse the blurry image of Emma, but I LOVE this thing! It was so fun to make. I also made some "sacks" for sack races. Hopefully I can come back and do another post with all the fun things I am planning.

I promised a Pinterest fail didn't I? Well, in all my glory of ideas I plan on making Emma's smash cake. I have some cake decorating tools so I thought that I would practice. Here's my inspiration:

Source

Seems simple enough. I emptied a couple of large cans of chicken and baked my cakes to have a small little three tiered cake. I then died my frosting using liquid food coloring....mistake one, it wasn't even red or blue. Then I used my horrible tool and started frosting.

NOT EVEN CLOSE!

I kept trying and it wasn't working so I eventually just ended up with this:

I was so frustrated that I had a mini meltdown and cried in my hubbies lap. I eventually calmed down and once at work asked a coworker if she had better decorating tools. She brought me an arsenal and I practiced my roses on a plate.

Much better. I feel a little more confident that I can pull off the cake now. All I need is some gel food coloring. Pray that I don't die of frustration before the party! Happy Monday!

Watch Emma Grow - Month Ten

Hi ho there! I made it just in the first half of the month! Go me! Life this month wasn't too hectic, but I say that and look back and realize just how much we actually did! We celebrated her first Easter, but other than that it has been life as usual.

This months big thing was practicing standing. She stands up with the assistance of anything. Then she started to let go. Only for a couple of seconds and then longer and longer. I feel like she is going to walk very soon. She's in major exploratory mode. Crawling into and under everything. Loves to play with shoes (ew! I catch her quickly and redirect) and also loves to crawl over to the case of water and pull them out.

She loves the dogs in her life. I mean, so excited and bangs on the door to get their attention if they are outside. She has started to call out to them, either "buh" and points as Shelby walks by or she says "duh" and I am taking that as dog. When we ask where Shelby is, she looks for her. However she is not fond of the face licking or when Shelby hits her in the face with her tail.....it's ok mommy doesn't like that either. Her favorite times of day are still morning time/play time and bath time with daddy. She HATES getting dressed. Too much to do and see, "ain't nobody got time" to get dressed.

She started the stranger anxiety this month also. People she doesn't know well are a no go. She clings to the hubby or myself in fear. Poor little thing. She also has a mild case when I reintroduce a new toy that has eyes. She gets a little scared, but then realizes that its a toy and grabs it and hugs it. She's so sweet. Her favorite toys are stacking blocks, and books. She loves to look at the books, but not sit and read just yet. and when mommy tries to stack up the blocks she knocks them over before I am done.

She definitely recognizes daddy and myself and gets so excited when we pick her up after work. She throws her arms excitedly up and down and then crawls over to my lap and gives me her version of a hug....face buried into my shoulder. I love it so much! She went to her first friends birthday party, the Large Cat reserve and mommy got her act together and got her birth announcement posted in the paper. I guess it was a big month! Lol

9 Month Well Check Stats:
Weight: 17 lbs 3 ozs (30%)
Height: 27" (24%)
Head: 17.5" (60%)

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

Eat: Here's her new eating schedule, since our pediatrician gave us the big food go ahead. She can eat everything except nuts and honey. Seriously, this child has loved everything we have put in front of her minus zucchini. She especially loves pasta and cheerios. Anything that she can feed to herself is a plus! Here's her eating schedule....she breastfeeds in the morning, then eats solids and either the breast or a bottle before her nap, has lunch and a bottle, then another a snack and the breast/bottle after her second nap, dinner with us before her bath. Then she nurses to sleep and through the night. If she seems hungry she gets either a snack or the breast/bottle whenever she wants. I try to get her to eat as often as possible because of how active she is becoming.

Sleep: I haven't even tried with the transitioning. As long as we are all sleeping, I don't mind her in our bed or if she wakes. As long as she's happy and healthy that's all that matters to me.

Diapers: Size three's. The Huggies little movers are good for crawling, but I still love my Pampers Little Snugglers.

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)
Crawled: (Army: January 16th - 6 mo; Normal: March 17th - 8 mo)
Sat on her own: January 7th (6 Months Old)
Ate Solid Foods: January 7th (6 Months Old)
First Vacation: Florida March 9th (8 Months Old)
Stood on her own: March 8th (8 Months Old)

And for the monthly photo dump!

Crinkle Nose!

Messy Moo!

Rocking out to her piano

Pinata's are COOL!

My little "My Little Pony"

Tigers and peacocks at the Cat reserve

Laundry baskets are fun

Ill take the filet please!

Thoughts on Mother's Day

As Mother's Day approaches I find myself getting really emotional. Thought's run through my head thinking about my first official Mother's Day and the special meaning behind that day. In the past did I think of myself as a "mother" to our puppy, yes. Did I truly understand the meaning of that word until last year. Absolutely not. I did not officially become a Mother until July 1st 2014. It was the single most glorious and exhausting day of my life and I wouldn't trade it for the world. If you'd like to read about Emma's fist days into the world please check out here and here. What I thought I would do is just write down my thoughts of what I think a Mother looks like, to me. How I choose to be a mother to Emma.

A mother thinks of her children first. I wake up in the morning and glance down at Emma as she nurses and I cannot wait for those beautiful blue eyes to open and for her to look up and smile at me. Her smile just makes my mornings so bright! I think of her all day long at work, and resist the urge to text a million times a day just to see how she is doing. When I pick her up, all I want is to snuggle, and cover her with hugs and kisses. Her meals are planned before mine, her sleep schedule is what matters more than me time and just watching her play is fun to me. My heart swells when she crawls over to sit in my lap, it fills with joy when she gives me the wettest of kisses and it just explodes when she buries into my shoulder to snuggle and hug me. Her little voice saying "mama" is the sweetest sound I can hear.

I think about the future. How I will raise her to be a responsible adult, a kind teen, and a fun loving child. I always want her to know how much I love her.....so much that it spills out of my eyes....on an almost weekly basis (hormones much?) I want her to feel secure with herself emotionally and physically. I want her to be fearless in her learning and ability to try new things, but I want her to be cautious as well, but not overly cautious.

I want her to be kind to her peers, to people from all walks of life, and to be respectful of the country she was born into. I hope she's a patriot and respectful of the world that she lives in. To be kind to the planet and all creatures in it.

I want her to know that the things I provided are not sacrifices. I housed her in my body for nine months, I embrace the changes to it and am glad that I can nourish her still with breastfeeding. Sleepless nights, snuggling and those nighttime feedings were/are totally worth it to make sure that she grows big and strong. The "me" time that I had is now "mommy and me" time and I wouldn't change it for the world.

My life has completely changed and for the better. I want to be a better person for her. To provide her with an example of a woman that she could become, a wife she can be, and a mom. I am not perfect, nor do I pretend to be. I just would like to provide an example of a kind and respectful person. I find myself correcting how I do things or say things just to be a better example for her. I want to provide her with consistency and a happy household always.

I fear that I am rambling so, all I can say is that this Mother's Day I am blessed to be the mommy of a wonderfully beautiful baby girl and with all my heart I can't imagine my life to be any better right now. She is my life, she is my world, she is my everything.

Happy Mother's Day

Watch Emma Grow - Month Nine

I have been really behind this month. It's been crazy because I have been planning Emma's baptism and just trying to enjoy every free moment I have with her because she is really growing up WAY too fast. This month was huge as far as development goes.

The biggest thing that we did was we went on our first real vacation and our first flight to visit her Grandma Lady in Florida. It was jam packed and I still need to do a post all on that! She had so much fun and met all her Florida family. It was a great time!

Before we left for Florida she started pulling herself into a standing position. Just out of nowhere, here she is standing! She's so strong that she's been able to stand without assistance, but not confident. Since she figured out how to stand up, she also figured out how to crawl on her hands and knees. Before she was just army crawling on her tummy, but now shes on the move! She will crawl out of her room and look for me if I leave to use the restroom or to get something really quick. We think she will definitely be walking by her first birthday.

Due to all this movement, we had to retire the co-sleeper and put her crib in our room. We tried a couple of nights in her room, but it didn't really fly. So we have her crib in our room and at least try to put her in it for a portion of the night. She still wakes to night nurse so most of the time she still sleeps with us. But I am trying.....I promise.

She cut two more teeth also. Her central incisors. That makes six in four months! Over-achiever? Maybe. She loves to talk and sing. Always babbling along, like any normal girl. I love listening to it, and always answer back and try to have conversations. I have been bad about reading to her, but she's in the stage of wanting to eat the books instead of sitting with me and looking at the photos. I try to point things out when I get an opportunity, before she grabs the book and tries to take a bite. Haha. We sing the alphabet and count things, and I point out the colors of everything. She loves watching her "movies" also. I let her watch one Baby Einstein in her jumper every otherish day. She hears that song and instant smile. She will watch the entire 30 minute episode!

9 Month Well Check Stats:
Weight: 17 lbs 3 ozs (30%)
Height: 27" (24%)
Head: 17.5" (60%)

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

Eat: We are on the same eating schedule, but we keep introducing more foods. We have tried lots of fruits and veggies, a little pasta and rice, some cheese and as always oatmeal is a staple. She breastfeeds in the morning, then eats solids and either the breast or a bottle after her nap, has a snack and the breast/bottle after her second nap, dinner with us before her bath. Then she nurses to sleep and through the night. If she seems hungry she gets either a snack or the breast/bottle whenever she wants. I try to get her to eat as often as possible because of how active she is becoming.

Sleep: Still not sleeping through the night, but I am ok with it. Not every child does as I have read. We bond in those nighttime feeds and I love it. Most nights she co-sleeps with us so she gets that bonding time with us. As I said above we are trying to transition, but I do not want to do the CIO method, so any advice is welcomed.

Diapers: Size three's. The Huggies little movers are good for crawling, but I still love my Pampers Little Snugglers.

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)
Crawled: (Army: January 16th - 6 mo; Normal: March 17th - 8 mo)
Sat on her own: January 7th (6 Months Old)
Ate Solid Foods: January 7th (6 Months Old)
First Vacation: Florida March 9th (8 Months Old)
Stood on her own: March 8th (8 Months Old)

And for the monthly photo dump!

Loves her exersaucer at grandmas

Big bow, don't care!

Measuring spoons are yummy at G.G.'s

First time in the airport, watching the planes

In the cockpit of our first airplane!

Meeting Grandpa Bobby

And Great Grammy

There's too much commotion to eat mom!

Lunchtime with Daddy

She loved the swing.....I promise!

Boyfriends galore!

Crib in our room, mommy has a hard time getting in and out.

New dress made by grandma's best friend

Family walks