Barlett Holiday Letter 2009

Barlett Holiday Letter 2009

Hello everyone! Hope the holiday season is going well so far for you. We have been truly blessed this past year. Best wishes to you all in the New Year!!
In January I stopped working as an instructor at Everest College in Fort Worth, Texas. As a last home improvement project, Jon and I got new carpet installed in the house. Jon continued working for the U.S. Census Bureau and traveled for a couple of days in January. Then at the end of the month, his coworkers through us a baby shower in Farmers Branch. In February we continued going to doctor’s appointments and everything was going well. Jon took a business trip to Washington D.C. for a few days. At the end of the month we had another baby shower at our house for family and close friends. March was pretty routine with doctor’s appointments almost every week. Jon and I attended a child/infant CPR class at the hospital and learned a lot about infant and child safety. The countdown continued.

Finally April arrived and my due date came and went. Grandma Mary flew up here to be with me for a couple of weeks while we waited for the big day. My doctor and I decided that I should be induced at 41 weeks. So we checked into Baylor hospital in Grapevine on April 14 and then on April 15, Emily Rebecca was born via C-section. She weighed 8 pounds, 4 ounces and was 21 inches long. On April 18 we checked out of the hospital and went home with our precious baby girl. The following week we took Emily to her first pediatric appointment. During the month of May we had lots of visitors! Everyone was so excited to see the new baby. In June, Jon had another trip to take for a week so Grandma Mary flew up here to be with me and the baby. We had a lot of fun together. Emily was two months old and growing fast.

July was a fun month. Jon and I had a “welcome baby” party on the 11th and lots of our friends came to see Emily. Grandpa Bill and Grandma Aleta came to visit us and let us get out for lunch and a movie. I took Emily to church for the first time. She slept through the whole service! Emily got to meet some new friends – Josh Claus (7 months) and Allison Douglas (3 months) – during a couple of play dates. In August Grandpa Al and Grandma Mary came to visit again. I took Emily to Portrait Innovations for her first photo shoot. She did very well and the pictures came out really good! This month we kind of had our first family get away. Our air conditioner went out and we had to spend a couple of nights at a Holiday Inn Express while it was being fixed. Then Jon took a short trip to New Orleans for a Census media event. He got to enjoy some good food while he was there. In September, Jon travelled to upstate New York to visit his Aunt Jane and cousin, Jim. While he was there, he got the opportunity to scuba dive in the St. Lawrence River with Jim. He also did some hiking and enjoyed some good food. He got to visit his Uncle Paul and Aunt Janet too. While Jon was out of town, Grandma Mary flew up here to be with me and the baby. At the end of the month, we had our first road trip with Emily to Corpus Christi. Grandpa Al and Grandma Mary were hosting a birthday party for our niece, Isabella, so it was a good time to go home. Emily got to meet lots of family members.

In October we took Emily to the Hall’s Pumpkin Farm in Colleyville. Emily’s first Halloween was full of activity. First we took a family photo that morning then went home to carve a pumpkin and get ready for the evening. Emily was a cute black cat. She didn’t really understand what was going on but we took her around the block and got some great candy! November was a fast month. We drove to Llano, TX to visit Grandpa Bill and Grandma Aleta. While we were there, Emily got to meet her Aunt Kristin, Cousin Thomas, and Cousin Kyle. We had a fun time together! Thanksgiving was spent at home in Euless. Then Grandma Mary came up again while Jon was in Washington D.C. for a conference. Emily’s first Christmas was wonderful except for her being sick. Grandpa Al and Grandma Mary drove up Christmas Eve and got to experience a blizzard in DFW! Snow fell all day long and accumulated on the ground. On Christmas day we all opened presents and tried to relax. I think Emily enjoyed all her new toys and especially playing with Grandpa Al and Grandma Mary.

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Catching Up with Emily

Our little black cat with her first jack-o-lantern.

Picking out candy.

Whew! Where does the time go? I'll have to back track a bit. We've been having some problems with Emily not sleeping well at night. All through October we tried a few things with limited success. We'd rock her to sleep and put her in her crib and she'd wail until we picked her up again. Some nights she did this every hour or every two hours. Jon and I were beside ourselves. Only now have we discovered with the help of family and friends what might be bothering her. We didn't have an updated feeding schedule and we didn't have a naptime/bedtime routine. We needed to introduce stage 1 foods and increase the amount of cereal we were feeding her. Finally Emily slept through the night and she started taking her naps during the day. Getting her on a schedule is a lot of work but we're not so rigid. As long as she's fed, she'll sleep.

On Halloween morning we went to have our first family portrait taken. We dressed up for the holidays and did a few shots with a Christmas backdrop. Emily was such a ham! Then we did some casual shots of us together and Emily by herself. The pictures came out great and we can't wait to send them to everyone. That night we dressed Emily in a black cat outfit and took her around the block. It was fun for us but I don't think Emily quite understood what was going on. We met another couple with a 6 month old girl just a few houses down from us. Hope we meet again!

Well, I can't believe it's November already. Pretty soon Emily will have her first Thanksgiving. We're not sure where we'll be but it'll be special all the same.

Emily and the Pumpkin Patch

Picking a pumpkin from the patch.

We're lost again, daddy!

Mommy's little pumpkin.

I'm really spooky!

Daddy's little pumpkin.

Gosh, our little baby girl keeps growing and growing! She's so funny when she starts babbling and laughing. She's curious about everything and everyone. We're still working on her sleeping through the night. She spoiled us for a week when she actually slept through the night. But lately she's been up every two hours at night making Jon and I walking zombies the next day!

Last weekend we all went to the Hall's Pumpkin Patch in Colleyville. It was so much fun. There were lots of pumpkins, farm animals, hay rides and a crazy corn maze. It felt so nice to do something as a family.

Well, since Emily's napping right now I better go put my feet up for awhile!

Emily is 6 months old

Reaching for the frog.

Aleta, Emily and Madeline.

Stretching out in the crib.

Mmmm, cereal!

Time sure does fly. Six months ago today we welcomed our little one into the world. We are truly amazed at how much she's grown and how much she's learned. She spoiled us for a couple of weeks sleeping through the night. But this week's been a different story. We'll see how she does tonight!

Emily likes her exersaucer more and more which is great for us. She loves to stand while we hold her and she loves to sit with support. Her babbles are getting funnier all the time. Every once in awhile she'll sigh really loud as if she's bored. She still loves to watch the ceiling fans turn and she is eating cereal twice a day.

On Tuesday grandma Barlett invited us to lunch. We met Jessica, Aleta's niece, and Jessica's baby girl, Madeline. We met at California Pizza kitchen in Grapevine. It rained the whole way there and Emily fell asleep. I got to the restaurant early so I sat in the parking lot watching Emily sleep. We finally made it inside where Emily was fascinated with everything including my peach iced tea!

Emily's wearing clothes that are 6-9 months and some 12 months. I went on a shopping spree at Babies R Us last weekend to get her some more clothes. It seems that everyone got us 0-6 month clothing and now she's outgrown them. There are a couple of great resale shops where I can get lots of things for good prices. I'm looking forward to shopping for holiday outfits.

That's all for now. I'll blog again soon!

Lil' Pumpkin

Boo-ya!

Our little pumpkin.

I'm so excited for the holiday season this year! First is Halloween and Emily will be a pumpkin - if her costume fits. I bought a pumpkin tshirt at Target and put some green shorts on her and took some photos. It's not her real costume but I couldn't wait to see how the colors would look on her. I'm also looking forward to creating our family memories of the holidays. We're planning to take a family photo in November and use one of the poses as a holiday card. We are so blessed to have Emily in our lives. She's brought us lots of joy!

Corpus Christi Road Trip

Happy 2nd birthday Isabella!

Feeding in the car.

Emily and Uncle Tony.

Grandma and grandpa Rivera with Emily.

Hello all! We did our first long road trip with Emily this past weekend. She did very well. She slept about half of the way to Corpus. We stopped a few times to feed her and change her diaper. When we got into town we headed on over to the HI Express to freshen up before going to mom's house. My brother and his family were already there and getting ready for Isabella's birthday party. The first people we saw were Josie and Michael, dad's cousins. They were so excited to see baby Emily. Then more relatives started to show up for the party. Everyone was just ooing and awwing over Emily. Isabella had a great birthday party.

That evening we headed back to the hotel and got some much needed rest. Sunday we had our free breakfast and showed Emily the aquarium in the lobby. She loved the fish and tried to catch one. After checking out we went to mom's and took some family photos in the living room. We pretty much relaxed until going to lunch at Jason's Deli. After that it was a nice Sunday of football and catching up with everyone.

It was so nice being home with the baby. Mom and dad really enjoyed having everyone there. Now Jon and I are sure Emily will travel well so we'll be heading on over to Llano soon.

Visit with Grandma Rivera

Watching the rain in the morning.

I'm 5 months old!

I love my grandma!!

Well Emily and I had lots of fun with grandma Mary while Jon was away. Even though it rained most of the time she was here, we played a lot and went to a few places like the mall and church. Each morning grandma would take the baby to each window and look outside. Emily loved it! We also gave Emily her first taste of dry rice cereal with formula. She did very well with it. I can't believe my baby's 5 months old now. Time just flies!

Visit with Grandpa and Grandma Barlett

Emily's new Exersaucer

Hi Grandma Barlett!

Having fun

Head to head with Grandpa Barlett

What a pretty watch!

Hi! This past Sunday grandma and grandpa Barlett came to visit us! Emily enjoyed spending time with them and Jon and I got out to do some shopping. We bought Emily a new Exersaucer, a humidifier, an air purifier and a large box of diapers at Babies R Us. We came home to let the men put the stuff together. Aleta and I went out shopping and to lunch while the guys watched Emily. We had a ball!!

Pat-a-cake

I love Eyore!

Look how much I've grown!

Touch my toes!

Hello! Emily and I have started attending pat-a-cake at the Euless library on Tuesday mornings. It's a fun little class for babies and toddlers. It's very interactive and I think Emily enjoys it. I like it because I get to see the other parents with their babies. Plus I get to re-learn all those nursery rhymes! I think Emily likes visiting the library. I hope she'll love to read like I do.

First Family Vacation

Hi again!
I almost forgot to blog about our first family vacation last week. Last Wednesday our A/C went out. It had been getting warmer throughout the day until it was 11 degrees off by the evening! I had called an A/C company and they said they'd be able to come to our house Thursday morning. Jon and I decided to get a room at the Holiday Inn Express in Hurst for night so that Emily would be alright. It was 8:30 pm when we finally packed up a few things and got in the car. Emily's eyes were wide and her mouth was open probably wondering what was going on. She smiled a lot in the car ride enjoying the adventure. We checked in and tried to get comfortable. Jon and I hadn't eaten dinner so we ordered a pizza. The room had a microwave and a fridge so I put all of Emily's bottles in the fridge. She had a bottle finally and dozed off to sleep. Our sleep was restless but Emily slept fine. Our room had two queen sized beds so we put her on one bed surrounded by pillows so she wouldn't roll off.

Jon left early in the morning to check on the house and wait for the repair guys. Emily slept in a little which was good for me. When she woke up I played with her and then got dressed and took her downstairs to the breakfast buffet. She had a couple of admirers in the breakfast area. She especially loved looking at the ceiling fans. I grabbed a few pieces of fruit, a muffin and some coffee creamers and we went back upstairs to wait for Jon's call.

Jon said the A/C was being fixed but wasn't sure how long it would take for it to get cool so we booked another night. That evening when he got back to our hotel room we walked to Italiannis Restaurant next door for some good food. Emily was fascinated with our dinner. I think she's beginning to show an interest in regular food now.

Jon stayed with us until midnight when he decided to go back home and check the house and get some sleep. Emily and I slept pretty well except she woke up at 4:00 wanting to play. But she fell asleep an hour later so that was good. In the morning we went downstairs to breakfast and then I checked out and we went back home to a cool house.

What an adventure! It was like being on vacation and the change of scenery was nice. Too bad we weren't in some exotic location.

Emily's 4 months

My favorite fish outfit!

I can sit up, sort of...

Hello all!

Yep, my baby girl is growing fast. Saturday she turned 4 months old. Yesterday she had her doctor's appointment and got her second round of immunizations. Oh, she really did not like that at all. It hurt me more than it hurt her.

Emily is vocalizing more and likes to hear herself make sounds. She's grasping at things and likes to know what's going on and what everyone's doing.

Last Tuesday I took her to Portrait Innovations to get her picture taken. That was a lot of fun! She did so well. I think we'll go back in November to get a family picture done.

We're thinking about baptizing Emily soon. Tonight's the first baptism class at St. Michaels so we'll see what it's all about.

Ok, looks like I can post pictures again so I'll be posting more for you!

Blogging Again

Hello all! Hope you're still out there. I haven't blogged for awhile but I'm going to get back to it as best as I can! I had some problems posting pictures so hopefully my next blog will have new photos of Emily.
Emily is 3 months old! Time flies when you're having fun. Jon and I just adore her. We love seeing her discover new things like her hands. She holds them out in front of her and clasps them together. She also laughs out loud. When she gets going it's so cute we have to laugh with her. My favorite thing is when she's just had a bottle in the wee morning hours and I'm holding her close while she dozes off. After a few minutes she'll start laughing in her sleep! It's not a loud laugh although it can be sometimes. Emily recognizes us and follows us with her eyes when we walk around. She's also watching us eat. I had a bowl of cereal one morning next to her and she was staring at me and the bowl the whole time.
Our baby is starting to sleep through the night much better. She only wakes a couple of times for a diaper change or a bottle. That's good for us old folks who seem to be sleep deprived zombies some of the time.
I am doing ok. My energy level fluctuates but I'm sure that's due to sleeplessness and lack of exercise. I've started stretching out and doing some abdominal work when I can. And I'm trying to eat healthy and drink lots of water. It's challenging but I know it'll make me a better mom for Emily.
Well that's all for now. Please check back again soon for more pictures of Emily. If you're on Facebook, you can send a request to be my friend and then you'll be able to see more pictures of Emily there.

Love,
Felice

Emily Two Months Old

Where has the time gone? It's been difficult to blog lately because of computer problems and spending our time taking care of Emily and trying to catch up on sleep. Emily will be two months old on June 15 and I just cannot believe it!

Life with Emily is changing all the time but there are some things that don't change - feeding, diapering, and sleeping. She is quite vocal now - cooing and ahhing all the time. She is especially crazy about her crib mobile which I just wound up for the fourth time in a row this morning. She's growing and growing. It's funny to see her expressions and how excited she gets. Our next pediatric appointment will be next Wednesday and unfortunately that's when she'll get her first round of vaccinations. I'm not looking forward to that visit.

Well I'll be posting some pictures soon. Just had a short window to blog this morning. Thanks for checking in!

Emily 6 Weeks Old

At the park with Emily.

Feeding time again!

Wide awake for my photo shoot.

Emily Smiles

Hello again. It's 8:46pm on Friday and I've got the first shift with Emily while Jon sleeps. Jon let me sleep last night so it's my turn to watch the baby. Emily can now smile and it's the most precious thing I've ever seen! She also laughs in her sleep which cracks us up! We've started to put a quilt on the living room floor so she can lay on her back and wiggle all she wants. She kicks with her legs and moves her arms and makes all sorts of noises. She opens her mouth wide as if she wants to talk and she gets very excited when you play with her. I think she's ready for her little gym.

Today Jon's brother, Billy, and his wife, Theresa, came to visit little Emily. We all went to Southlake Town Square for lunch and a short stroll. It was the first time we've taken her out in her stroller so that was fun! Emily did well even though it started to get a little warm. We went into a couple of shops to cool down and ended up at Barnes and Noble where she got a diaper change and a bottle. It was so comfy in there. I wanted to stay for at least another hour. But we headed back home so Emily could nap for awhile.

I'll keep blogging and posting pictures so check back soon!

Emily 1 month old

Hello! Emily's one month old already - time flies! Some of her milestones include being able to smile, laughing a little bit when she's nodding off to sleep, cooing, and eating a lot. She also looks in the direction of noises and recognizes mommy and daddy's voices. In honor of her being one month old, Emily decided to christen me with a diaper blowout! It went everywhere. Ha ha ha! Our latest challenge is getting her to sleep for longer periods during the night. She seems to sleep better in the morning and late afternoon. She's such a joy and keeps us busy with laundry, diaper changes and feedings. And everyone says she looks like her daddy (that's ok). We are looking forward to taking her out in the stroller once the weather gets better. Mommy's just paranoid that she'll catch a cold and get sick. But I guess all babies get sick eventually. She is kind of stuffy right now. The pediatric nurse said that's because she may have excess amniotic fluid draining. C-section babies have that drainage for a few weeks after birth since they didn't get squeezed out the birth canal. So in the meantime I'm using saline drops in her nose and aspirating any mucus I can see. Emily does not like that at all and I don't blame her. I wouldn't like it either.

I'll keep taking pictures and trying to blog when I can. I seem to have my days and nights mixed up like Emily. Luckily Jon helps me out tremendously by letting me rest while he looks after our baby.

Happy Mother's Day

Hope everyone had a Happy Mother's Day! I certainly did. Mom and dad were here this weekend visiting and brought lots of goodies for me and Emily. Jon was especially sweet and let me venture out while he looked after Emily. He and Emily got me a sweet Mother's Day card and a gift card to my favorite place - Starbucks! Last week Emily had a few visitors including my brother and his family, my mother-in-law, and a couple of friends.

Emily had her first tub bath on Saturday and I think she liked it! We enjoyed bathing her. She didn't know what to think of the water but it looked like she felt comfortable. I was so worried she'd catch a cold but I think she's ok.

I can't believe I'm a mom. Dad told me that it'll sink in once she calls me mom. It feels so surreal - nine months went by and now Emily's here. She's such a joy.

Well, I'm taking the late shift watching Emily so I'll try to get some sleep while she sleeps. Thanks for checking in!