Well. Needless to say, July got away from me. So instead of a few posts you're getting the whole month in pictures and snippets. The exceptions being the 2nd of July, which somehow got its own post and our beach trip which deserves it's own post!
My aunt and uncle on Bainbridge Island have an annual 3rd of July party on their waterfront. The city across from them does fireworks on the 3rd so it's a pretty complete evening. Blake and I realized though that we were lucky to get away with bringing a little one. She was pretty happy to sit and play with rocks until bedtime but next year would probably be a different story and more than one kid... seems highly unlikely! We enjoyed ourselves while we could though!
Getting ready.. the first time she discovered my make up bag.
Just doing a little cleaning! She looks so little here!
This was how she spent the evening of the 3rd :)
And Happy 4th of July. We celebrate with lots of food, swimming and a horseshoe tournament! Most of which I don't really participated in ;). This 4th was much more enjoyable than last year in which everyone but me held my tiny new baby. This year I either welcomed the break or enjoyed watching her splash and play.
Watermelon eating water babies. These two were inseparable from the water and from the melon.
Meeting her step, second cousin, born about three weeks after her.
The evening of the 4th, we introduced her to sparklers! She thought they were pretty cool and her facial expressions cracked me up! She was pretty good until the end when she started waving it wildly. Eek.
Getting a little wild
Already asking for another one before this one is done.
We were home for a whole week and at some point (I can't remember which day) our good friends the Beasleys came up!
Feeding the Chickens
These sweet big kiddos are dear to me, I watched them a ton before college and during
breaks. I love seeing them with my girl :)
On my porch swing, one of my favorite places.
Visiting the animals.
And a few random photos from the rest of the month...
We have a few months left in this house, and that means only a few months left to enjoy the yard and, oh ya, get all that spring yard work done! It was tricky to get it done last year being pregnant, but this year Emerson can look on from the outside.
She tolerates sitting near us while we weed, prune etc. provided I find something to distract her. For awhile that was some toys on a blanket but you know, toys get old fast.
So really, this post is an excuse to post pictures of my sweeties :)
I confess that I'm still justifying the daily occasional indulgence because I'm nursing. Be it ice cream, an extra slab of butter or a second helping of lasagna... it's for the baby. I told myself this had to stop after six weeks. And then again at two months. And then again at three months. Now she's almost four months and here I am with 5-8 fluctuating pregnancy pounds on my hips and there's no excuse. I didn't just have a baby so it's okay to be chubby still...that was four months ago. Now where's the butter for this popcorn? I'm eating for two after all.
I confess that I sleep in. Man do I sleep in. For awhile I was really good about getting up with Blake and getting things done but lately I'm a ridiculous night owl and fortunately my girl sleeps late... and so do I. I know I kind of confessed this before, but it bears repeating. I have slept until almost noon the last three days and once until almost three. Unless I have a good reason to get up before her, I basically don't. Every week I resolve to stop this and of course this week is no different, yet again I'm up late and I already know that in the morning I'll have completely forgotten that sentiment.
I confess that I once sucked a booger out of EJ's nose with my mouth. I'm here to tell you that it was GROSS. However, the thing was HUGE and surely going to block her airway if it went down instead of out. She could hardly breathe to nurse! I had to do it. Our nose sucker thing stinks and I keep meaning to search for a better one, but obviously I haven't yet. Also it was really far away. I'd be pretty hard pressed to do this again (really, it was pretty gross), but I will say I don't regret it. It was a monster booger.
"Children are a blessing and a gift from the Lord" - Psalm 127:3 CEV
This pretty much sums up our three months as parents. Emerson Jane is such a joy and blessing to us. She wakes up with a smile (and a stretch) and lights up when she sees you. I know in so many ways, this is the easiest parenting will ever be...and we are soaking it up and enjoying every sweet second of it!
At three months Emerson is weighing in at 15 pounds even and is 24.75 inches long! She is a great sleeper at night for the time being and usually sleeps for six and half to eight hours (it's so great!). She does take some time to wake up still, but usually once she sees your face she's all smiles and ready to socialize. She still takes cat naps during the day, but we do usually get at least one good nap in. She also blesses us with being able to fall asleep on her own. If I catch her when she's getting drowsy and do a little soothing, I can lay her down and watch her drift off. I hope she retains that skill!
One day, Emerson just decided that sitting upright and looking around the room is her favorite. She doesn't like a slight recline, she likes to sit up (with help). I first noticed this during a grocery shopping trip. She was in the wrap/carrier (the baby k'tan - love it!) with her head on my chest and she started getting fussy. She usually falls right to sleep in that position so I pulled her head and arms out to see what was up. She immediately started looking all around and was calm... she just wanted to see what all those noises were! And she hasn't stopped looking around since!
She is still working on her fine motor skills, she's great at grabbing what comes along like her dress, a blanket or my hair.. but she's still trying to get those hands to grab smaller things like toys. Her gross motor skills and strength is improving. She rocks tummy time now (she used to hate it) for about 5 minutes and she's standing (with help obviously) for longer and longer every day. She is also really enjoying her voice lately and just talks up a storm! She's a social butterfly and will smile and talk to just about anything with a face (her glow worm, her reflection in the mirror etc). It's the cutest thing ever. She's so tickled to look into your eyes and pour out her heart, and she concentrates so hard at it! Here's an example (she starts talking almost half way through.. sorry I don't know how to edit).
We have also enjoyed her giggles! I was making dinner one night and I thought she was upset, I look over and daddy has her giggling away! She'll giggle for him over the littlest things, while I have to get lucky. ;)
Emerson also loves her baths. She's a water baby! Usually once a week we take a big girl bath together and that's her favorite. She grins as soon as her feet touch the water and loves to kick her feet and stand up.
She is on the last snap of her newborn all-in-one diapers and is growing out of 0-3 month clothes. She's even growing out of some 3 month clothes and into most 3-6 month outfits. It's funny, the older she gets and with each new skill she discovers, the less I'm sad about how fast she's growing and the more I look forward to who she'll become. I'm surprised by that but I just love seeing what tomorrow brings. Sure I look back at those newborn videos and outfits and think about how fast it's going, but truly I enjoy 'today' each day and can't wait to see who she'll be in two weeks, two months and two years.
Oh.. I guess I've forgotten to comment on her hair! So far she's a definite red head! She has her daddy's hair and skin. My mom also had red hair as a kid, so she could be getting it from both sides. Apparently I was born with red hair but it slowly grew in blond and by six months I was pretty blond.. so the jury is still out on the official red head/ginger status. I think it will stay, it's a different red than mine was as a baby and it's getting redder as she gets older.. but we'll see. We love it though and hope it stays :).
We just love our girl to pieces! I could watch her sleep forever, but I love being there to see her face light up when she wakes up too. She's just such a blessing!
And without further ado.. the barrage of pictures! I literally took 750 pictures this time.. oops! First, I was trying to get them to turn out better and I think I've been unhappy because of exposure, so several (hundred) shots were taken in triplicate with exposure bracketing, and then there were several burst shots to get that smile etc.. and extra pictures trying to get some with both of us. But mostly, she was just so darn cute sleeping.. and that's where the bulk of them came from.
Telling stories
My favorite outfit :)
More stories
Trying to get a picture or two together... it was tricky!
As close as we got :)
I love her lashes and cheeks!
And I love her little hands :)
Playing in the shade
It is finally getting cool enough for us to enjoy some time outside!
Bath time! She's going to out grow this tub soon.. I'll miss it!
She LOVES her Peter Rabbit!
"I love Lettuce, french beans, radishes (and being naughty)" - Peter Rabbit
