This post is really just about one book, and also an excuse to play around with some backlighting. My fabulous cousin Macey, a.k.a. EJ's Auntie Macey (who also really loves books), sent us a little book called Otis.
First of all, it is a super cute book. And it is special because it's from Auntie Macey. But what really melts my heart, is that it's about a tractor and Macey sent it to us because it reminds her of my dad (who is a tractor expert). I will forever have a soft spot in my heart for my daddy and I will love sharing this book with EJ.
As I was feeling all warm and fuzzy from my sweet cousin's gift and thoughts about my dad and what a great grandpa he is... I decided to have a little photoshoot. I'd been wanting to play around with backlighting with some sheer curtains I purchased recently for our monthly photoshoots. I'm also a sucker for some momma-daughter pictures and EJ seemed cooperative. And since my cousin is a photographer, I figured she wouldn't mind a post in her honor that combined both :).
She loves looking at pictures and had just started trying to grab what's on the page.
"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
Sorry for the cliche, but can you believe how fast July went! Here are the rest of the pictures for the July photo challenge. I'm happy to say I made it through the month, even if I sometimes got behind on posting pictures. Since this post is mostly pictures, and many of them, I'm putting in a jump, click below to see the rest of the photo challenge pictures.
I started a daily photo challenge toward the end of June, with no pressure to get a picture each day because I joined half way through the month and because it was a busy month. However, come July, I was committed to doing each prompt. Here are the photos for the first half of the month. It has been fun, and challenging. It's good to be taking a picture everyday, especially on boring days that would otherwise not inspire me to pull out the camera. On some prompts, I felt like I had no inspiration and for other prompts I felt like I had no time to be creative, and still other prompts I ended up using my cell phone. But, they are what they are... and here they are.
Day 1: Self Portrait Self portraits always feel a little awkward... where do you look!? This was actually a sincere side glace because I heard something just as I pushed the button (my remote is hiding behind my mug, can you tell?).
Day 2: Busy. This was the first weekday in our house and my first day alone. It was full of unpacking, updating our address and catching up now that we have internet.
Day 3: Best Part of Your Day. Our first official visitors (as in they weren't there to help us move). This was a quicky with my cell phone :)
Day 4: Fun I could have thought of a million different ways to say fun.. but this was the 4th of July, and as such, we were at Blake's family reunion. His family has a big horseshoe tournament and they all think it is tons of fun (there's a trophy and everything).
Day 5: On the Floor Okay, this is on the deck, but we were staying at my parent's house, and there is never anything on the floor. We went to Blake's parents' house that evening and Blake swam with his niece.
Day 6: Chair This is actually an antique monk's bench and the back of the 'chair' rolls up and makes it a table (for prayer, I think). I was going out to take a picture of my favorite rocking chairs, but then I saw this and thought it was more unique.
Day 7: Garden This is my mom and dad's garden. They were smart and rolled chicken wire over their raised beds to keep the critters out
Day 8: Lunch mmm. Grilled cheese on Dave's Killer Bread with a sprinkle of Johnny's Garlic seasoning. A family fave.
Day 9: Big This one was SO hard!! Everything I took a picture of didn't look that big in the end. I'm still not sure I accomplished 'big' with this one, but seriously, this plant is big!
Runner up for big. This is from the ceiling looking down. I had to climb on the top rung of the ladder (despite the warning written there). But again, not sure it really gave the perspective needed to see how big the plant is.
Day 10: Your Favorite Color This was during my hike up the 'big' hill (that totally doesn't look big in pictures) behind our house.
Day 11: Letter When I saw this prompt, this is exactly what I pictured. And I thought it was perfect that on this day we only got one letter. I feel so literal. Others posted pictures of alphabet letters or a box of love letters. When I saw the alphabet letters I thought.. duh! That's probably what they meant! I was glad someone else thought of it as mail letters too ;)
Day 12: Texture This was also VERY hard. I just didn't have my creative juices flowing or my camera at the right time. Now I see all sorts of textures around here. This is sage brush.. the texture of the land without irrigation.
Day 13: Open Wide open spaces. This is from the top of the big hill behind our house.
Day 14: Building We were in farm country in Idaho for my cousin's wedding reception. There are a million unique, old and/or deserted buildings, but this one was convenient on a busy day.
Day 15: Finger Sticky ice cream covered fingers. This is my cousin's daughter (our god-daughter) at the ice cream parlor on a hot day. There was also a pretty funny picture of my aunt giving someone 'the finger' but I thought I'd keep this family friendly.
Day 16: Sign Okay, I'm a cheater. I took this yesterday. But I saw this sign and loved it, so I thought I'd get a little bit ahead. This is a pretty old building in Filer, ID, near where we were visiting.
