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!

Emily two weeks old

Can you believe that my baby's two weeks old?! She's doing very well and I'm having fun dressing her up. Jon and I are both figuring out sleep schedules. I know we need to sleep when she sleeps but it's so tempting to catch up on housework and play on the computer. Tonight I'm letting Jon sleep as much as he can since he let me sleep last night. He'll be going back to work on Monday so I may have to camp out near the baby at night so he can be well rested for work. We actually have an air mattress set up in the office which is next to the nursery.

Anyway, Emily's beginning to smile! If I can only get a picture of that. It doesn't last long but it makes us laugh. She's had some rough times this week with wetting the bed (I've got to check her diaper more often) and spitting up but she's slept for 2 to 3 hours at a time. I'm breastfeeding her and supplementing with formula. I think we overdid the formula and that's why she spit up. Emily loves to go on car rides - it really puts her to sleep. Also, she has had a couple of cases of the hiccups which freaks Jon out because her whole body "jumps". She prefers sleeping in her crib in the nursery to sleeping in her pack and play crib in our room.

In the early morning hours when I'm feeding her or just holding her I end up watching a lot of weird tv shows/infomercials. But when she sleeps I sleep either on the couch or in the office so I can be near her. It's hard sleeping for two hours at a time!

Emily Photos

Hello! Thought I'd post some photos of our little Emily. She's doing well and keeping us on our toes. Today we took her in for a weight check at the HEB Breastfeeding Center. She now weighs 8 lbs, 3 oz. She had lost a little bit of weight since birth but now she's going back up. She still seems light when I carry her. My doctor cleared me to drive but I still need to take it easy. So yesterday I went to Babies R Us to get a few things. I was surprised at how much I missed her while I was out!