Family Wedding

My older brother got married on August 17th. Ironically, they also got married at my parents' house and they had also known each other for many, many years. I can remember finding out that his new wife liked him way back when he was in high school! Here are some pictures from that weekend... it might be true that Emerson kind of stole a little of the spotlight from time to time ;).

Rehearsal and dinner:

Proud grandparents :)

Wedding Day

My mom and my brother headed up the isle

EJ during the ceremony

This is how Theresa and her dad made their entrance - in her dad's mudding Jeep!
The crowd loved it, it was very fitting for them :)

My dad saying a prayer

Vows

My parents

:)

She loves her Grandpa

Cutting the cake

Their cake was so awesome. Also very fitting. The horses look like their horses,
the dress is very close, they have a red barn (love the little hay bales) and my brother
always wears a black hat and carries a gun. It even tasted good!

Toasts (my younger brother giving his best man speech)

First dance

Father daughter dance 

At our wedding the DJ played the wrong song for our first dance,
so my brother had their DJ play our song for us and gave us the floor.
(He also played the wrong song for a few seconds - but as a joke)

EJ joined us

Group hug :)

The bride (my new sister-in-law!) was gorgeous, the ceremony wasn't too long, the food was super delicious and everyone had a great time! And best of all, my how happy they are!

Two Months

In some ways it seems like Emerson has been a part of our lives forever, and I feel like she should be older than just two months... but then I look at pictures of her only a few weeks ago and see how much she's grown and changed and I think it's going so fast.

This month has been fun. We're getting smile after smile and lots of those sweet 'coos' and 'goos' that mommy, daddy and grandparent's can't get enough of. She's just such a sweet baby. She has a few really long (an hour or so) and alert awake times a day but still sleeps a lot. She is generally pretty happy when she's awake but will fuss just a bit as she gets tired or hungry. People that are around her for the first time usually comment that she's so quiet. She does cry on occasion, although not on a daily basis. She also pouts some when she is getting worked up into a fuss and it's probably the cutest thing you've ever seen.

At her 2 month appointment she weighed 13 pounds, 1 ounce and is 23 3/4 inches long! Greater than the 90th percentile for both! She is wearing 0-3 months, 3 months and even some 3-6 month clothes and we graduated to the next snap on her diaper shortly after her one month post. It seems like any day now we'll be on the last snap of her newborn diapers.

Emerson still takes her sweet time waking up and is sleeping 5 or more hours per night. She's also started really looking at things around her and tracking sounds very well. She sure seems to know my voice and face over others and I think she saves her biggest smiles for me. She LOVES her fists, especially the right one and the jury is still out if she'll start sucking on her thumb or fingers, but so far she doesn't like it when that happens. She's also getting really good at aiming her fist at her mouth, but she does miss on occasion and hits herself in the head ;). She already has a little attitude and makes a huffy noise when she's displeased - like when she bonks herself. She grabs at things around her, but doesn't try to bring them to her mouth, however, if they're in her hand and she wants her fist, they might come along.

We call her Emerson or Pumpkin for the most part, but sometimes EJ and the variations of Pumpkin - Pumpkin Pie, Sweet P, Pumpernickel are a few - and of course the usual sweet girl, sweetheart, lovey-dove etc.

They say that the six week mark is a milestone for breastfeeding and general routine etc., and that has been true for us. It was right about then that she started seeming less breakable and more predictable. Part of it is that she was just a little more stout and much less dainty from that point on, and also we have learned her a little better. We feel pretty blessed by our sweet and happy Emerson Jane!

And now be prepared for a million pictures of her! On a photographic note.. I'm frustrated by these photos.. there's something about the lighting in our room that makes funny pictures. These need some editing, but I'd better just get this posted for now!

I can grab my dresses

and they come along when I find my fists

Although it isn't her favorite.. she's getting pretty good at being on her tummy.

And she's good at trying to eat what is below her too.

She loves to lay and kick and tell you stories

"Man I love this fist"

Chubby hands

I realized I'd better get a picture of her in her
'born at home' onesie (a gift from our midwife) before she outgrows it!

Sand in Her Toes

We spent the weekend at the beach for our anniversary. We were considering leaving Emerson with my parents for either the night or for dinner, but as it turns out, bottles aren't her favorite thing.. so my parents just came with us for the whole weekend (if she'd stayed with them they would have brought her down and joined us then). We had fun introducing her to the beach cabin and to all of our favorite places at the beach. 

Her first time in the sand before we left

 

What is this stuff.

'I'm not sure about this...'

My dad and Blake went fishing with Blake's dad, uncle and cousin. This is their share of the haul. Blake caught the biggest fish (the massive Chinook Salmon in his left hand). They also brought in 25 crab! Can you guess what we had for dinner!? Crab! It was super tasty, and we still have some left to freeze etc.

That's a lot of crab!

We introduced her to Adelaide's (we almost named her Adelaide) and enjoyed a latte. We didn't find a cookbook that we needed, but we'll be back in September and will get one then. We're thinking we might add to our tradition and pick out a children's book every year too. 

Decaf or not, these people can make a great latte!

She fell asleep while we searched for our books. I don't know how she sleeps like that!

We also introduced her to Jack's country store, but she slept right on through it. That evening we measured her and added her height to the trim at the cabin. She wasn't the shortest or youngest mark, Blake's cousin Emma was there when she was 20 some days old!

Grandma thought she needed a bath and the bathroom sink was just the right size.

 Later that night, we snuck away and had a dessert date while grandma and grandpa babysat.

I'd like you to think that we shared that... but you just can't see Blake's

Across from the cabin, I just thought it was pretty and the light was right. 

The traditional cabin shot as we head out. It was a fantastic day!