Emmy: Three Months Old

I've come to terms with the fact that I am completely incapable of posting Emmy's monthly updates on time, but at least I'm posting, right?

My sweet girl is 3 months and 2 weeks old now. (The photos are from when she was right at 3 months.) Here's her sweet smiling face:

She is smiling a ton and even gives us some giggles every now and then. She seriously loves her brother. She loves watching him and really lights us when he talks or sings to her. It's the best. This is what Emmy has been up to this month:

• We went to the Ghouls at Grassmere with friends. She dressed as Cinderella and Fisher was Buzz Lightyear. 
• Emmy, Fisher and I went to Cheekwood's trick-or-treating together. Fisher was Buzz again and Emmy was a pumpkin. Precious.
• On Halloween, she went Trick-or-Treating for the first time as the most adorable turtle you've ever seen.
• She got to meet our wonderful friends, the Behms for the first time this month! We went to Gentry Farms and had a blast (even if she slept most of the time.)
• She continued to go to Mommy Fit Camp with me on Mondays and Wednesdays as well as Mom's bible study on Thursday mornings. She does great at both.  
• She and I went to sit in The Ellen Show's red chairs in Nashville to try to win tickets to the show. We didn't win, but it was a fun little mommy-daughter adventure. 
• She loves tummy time! She seems really happy looking around while laying on her belly, but of course gets tired after a bit. 
• She's rolled from her belly to her back a few times. (Although, that really may have happened sometime in the past couple weeks...after she turned 3 months.)

So far she's still waking up once a night to nurse, but goes right back to sleep with no trouble. The only sleep trouble we have with her is putting her down at the beginning of the night. A lot of the time we end up putting her in the pack-n-play to fall asleep so she doesn't disturb Fisher. She tends to fight going to sleep at the beginning. 

Her are a few more photos from this month:

Until next time...

Emmy: Two Months Old

Emmy is two months old! Well, she's been two months old for a couple weeks now, but I'm just now getting the chance to update you all. I don't know if you're aware, but life is a little busy with two kids.

Emmy's personality is really starting to appear which is so much fun. She gives us lots of smiles, loves to look around and coos at us more and more. She really seems to love her brother. He gets smiles from her all the time. It melts my heart every single time. 

This month Emmy...

• was dedicated at our church. Her life verse is Ephesians 3:16-17. "I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong."
• was left with babysitters for the first time.
• had her first bottle.
• started joining me at Mommy Fit Camp for outdoor "mommy-and-me" exercise. (She's a great supporter.)
• made her first trip to Memphis.
• went on her first zoo trip at the Memphis Zoo (where she basically slept the entire time.)
• went to her first pumpkin patch/farm (where she basically slept the entire time.)

Man, I adore our little family. What a wonderful addition Emmy has been!

Until next time...

Emmy: One Month Old

Emmy is now one month old! It's hard to believe that she'd been a part of our little family for more than 5 weeks already. The transition has been much smoother than I ever could have expected. 

She now weighs 9 lbs, 6 oz (born at 7 lbs, 3 oz) and starting to have more alert time. Her big brother loves her dearly and they are doing great with their shared room. (Thank goodness!) Emmy is an excellent sleeper and only wakes up once or twice a night. If she eats well at her late feeding around 9:30pm, then she typically doesn't wake up at 4:30am and then is up again around 7 or 7:30am. If she doesn't nurse as well at her last bedtime feeding, then she wakes up sometime in the 1 or 2 o'clock hour and then again around 5 or 5:30am. 

We still haven't decided who she looks like, but she does have more hair than Fisher did as a newborn and it even has a little bit of a wave to it. I'm crossing my fingers that she'll look like me or at least have a bit of my natural curl. We'll see!

Here's what Emmy looks like at 1 month:

Such a precious face, right? Stay tuned for our delivery story.

Until next time...

There's Another Baby on the Way: 40 Weeks Update

She's coming today!!!

At my check-up on Friday, I was dilated to a loose 3cm and was still 70% effaced. We did a membrane sweep to try to get labor started over the weekend and although I did have an increase in contractions, there wasn't anything consistent. I did lose my mucus plug yesterday so I think she'd be coming pretty soon either way, but with my increased discomfort and feelings of nausea, I don't think I could stand to wait any longer. Therefore, we headed off at 5am this morning to start inducing labor. Woohoo!

We'll update (via Facebook, I'm sure) everyone as the day goes on. Please pray for a quick, safe and healthy delivery for me and my sweet baby girl. We can't wait to meet her!

Alright, here are my FINAL pregnancy photos!

Until next time...

A Quick Craft Project: Welcome Door Hanger

To take advantage of my last bit of time before having a newborn in the house, I decided to tackle a super quick and easy craft project this week. I found some inspiration via Pinterest for a new "wreath" for our back door and made my own version which I love. 

Here's what inspired me:

Found on ahomefullofcolor.com

Found on bourbonandboots.com

I love the unexpected use of this wooden "stump" as a welcome rather than the typical wreath. I also love the idea of utilizing chalkboard paint on this project, but since our back door is already a dark color, I didn't want to cover up the light color of the wood. Instead, I opted to keep the natural wood exposed and used acrylic paint to create my design and welcome message. 

Here's my version:

I really dig it and best of all, it was so incredibly easy to do!

Until next time...

There's Another Baby on the Way: 39 Weeks Update

39 weeks and, man, am I ready for Emmy to arrive. 

At my last visit on Friday, I was still 2cm (a "loose 2"), but I am now about 70% effaced which is at least some progress. I hope that I'll have some continued progress this week and potentially go into labor on my own, but in case that does not happen, we made the tentative plan to strip my membranes at my next appointment (this coming Friday). If that doesn't push me into labor then we'll be inducing on Monday, August 11th. It's so nice to have a "deadline" in sight, but I still really hope we will go into labor on our own prior to Monday. 

Brent and I enjoyed our last official date night this weekend. Fisher even slept over at the grandparent's so we had a kid-free house for the evening. It was so nice to have some time together and enjoy each other before our lives change and become even busier. We are so excited for Emmy to be joining our family, but we know keeping each other and our relationship a priority is very important for our family's health. 

I've been off of work now for a week which has been wonderful. Fisher was out of school last week so we got to spend a ton of time together. He started back to school today (in his new 2 year old room!) and I had an abnormal surge of energy which helped me accomplish a ton of household chores and such while I was home.  I'm hoping this extra energy/nesting is a sign of labor coming around the corner. Fingers crossed!

However, if there's still no baby by Wednesday, I'm treating myself to a mani and pedi while Fisher is in school. It'll be a relaxing distraction since I'm in that constant state of wondering when she'll come. Wondering and waiting...not so much fun. Mani and pedi...fun! Brent and I are also going to go out for a lunch date on Wednesday or Thursday to cash in some of our last alone time together before the baby arrives.

Here are my 39 weeks photos. (As you'll notice, I finally got my hair cut! I had been dying to get it cut and it was one of my to-do's before Emmy's arrival.)

And here's a shot of Fisher because he wanted to "take a picture too".

Until next time...