Tummy Time!!!

We finally enjoy tummy time! Yea! And I of course had to take pictures, she looked WAY too cute!!

All Smiles

Emory has been having "real" smiles since she was about 4-5 weeks old. But until the last couple of weeks we had to work VERY hard to obtain one. Now they seem to come so much easier. I get a "good morning mommy" smile every morning. It makes my day!!

(new post below)

Chillin'

Since the napping strike, I have been letting Em take naps where I can get them...

The nursery floor...

Kate's couch...

The Boppy...

Or the Papasan Chair...

Now some of these naps only last 10-15 minutes, but sometimes I get lucky and she will take a 30-45 minute nap. Basically I have learned to utilize my time VERY wisely!

A Work in Progress

Guest room before...

After.

Nursery before...

After. There are more pictures but they are on another blog entry.

Our Room before...

After.

Living Room Before...

Dining area...China cabinet and a new table to come.

Still working on getting things up on the walls. We plan to move this furniture upstairs, it's really too big for this room.

Kitchen before....

Breakfast area before...

After.

Since we moved into our new house friends and family have asked to see pictures. I promised I would get a few up after we had unpacked all the boxes and had finished the repairs. Well, the last box was unpacked the night before Emory was born and I haven't really had a chance to get the ENTIRE house straight in order to take pictures.

We closed on the house January 2, 2008 and started repairs immediately. Chase ripped out all the carpet and the painters started working. After the carpet was in...we moved. The guy that lived there before us smoked in the house and he must have done it constantly because the WHOLE house smelled like a cigarette butt!! My advice, if you smoke, which you shouldn't, do it outside your house!! We had to have EVERYTHING painted, walls, baseboards, door frames, walls, and ceiling! It was all stained yellow!! Not to mention the carpet had to ripped out and replaced! I wanted to ask the guy if he saw the damage it had done to stuff outside his body, what he thought his lungs looked like!! Sorry that's the nurse in me! I haven't taken any pictures of the bonus room above the garage but we didn't have that room painted, so there isn't anything to see. Sorry some of the pictures are so dark.

We still have lots that we want to do but we are doing one thing at a time. We are trying to focus on the inside now and we are going to re-landscape next spring! One project at a time!

Night Out on the Town

Ok, so it wasn't really a "night out on the town" but Chase and I did spend our first evening away from Emory this past weekend. We had a wedding to go to in Birmingham on Saturday, so my wonderful parents, Nita and Papa, kept Emory for us. I think they had a great time keeping Emory, until the first feeding, but I think Nita resolved the problem quickly, and Chase and I had a great time out just the two of us. I must say though, it is very strange being out without Emory when I have had her by my side for the last 10 weeks. Chase and I were able to hang out with friends that we had not seen in awhile and had a wonderful time. It made me miss Birmingham that much more!!!

Transition

This isn't really as much a transition for Emory as it is for me. For the past 9 1/2 weeks almost 10, Emory has slept in our room in her bassinet. Last night I decided that she needed to start sleeping in her crib in HER room! I don't think she really cares, but I do. The strange thing is, that before she was born, Chase was the one that insisted that she sleep in the room with us. I had reluctantly agreed and said that it would only be for 6 weeks tops! Well, 6 weeks came and went and she was still sleeping in the room with us. She doesn't bother us when we sleep so I wasn't planning on moving her until she slept through the night. I know, I know...that could be awhile, but I was hoping it would happen before I went back to work. Seeing as how I go back to work in three weeks, yuck, I thought it would be a good time to move her into her crib! I only checked on her about 10 times before we went to bed! Part of me thought that maybe she would sleep through the night, she wasn't bothering us, but were we bothering her? Apparently not, she slept from 9:30pm-3:30am, which she has been doing for a few weeks now, then woke up and wanted to eat. Yea, mommy time! I have to admit...I didn't put her back into her room, I missed her. It's sad I know, but I had gotten use to her sleeping in the room with me. Maybe another night! :) She even took a nap in there this morning for an hour! Yea, maybe the nap strike is over!!

Friends

Chase and I have been able to meet wonderful friends since we have lived in Nashville. Most recently we met Kate and Baxter and Laura and Brad. We met at our childbirth education class back in February and have been friends since. At the end of February Laura and Brad had Owen, eight weeks later we had Emory and almost two weeks ago Kate and Baxter had Garrett. Emory now has her choosing of boyfriends!! One 8 weeks younger and one 8 weeks older! Yesterday we were able to finally get them ALL together for the first time. Owen and Emory have met before but didn't really notice each other. Yesterday they kinda noticed each other for the first time! It was very cute. Garrett is quickly catching up in size to both Emory and Owen and he's only a week and a half old!! We are all looking forward to many more play dates and of course LOTS of pictures!!

Talk Time

This is my first attempt at putting a video on here so bare with me. My dad asked me the other day if we had any videos of Emory, I told him we had a few but I think it was a hint to put one on my blog. She isn't doing much but "talking" these days, but it is SO much fun to hear her. Sorry it isn't of her face. Once she sees the camera, she stops talking and tries to figure out what that thing is in her face! I will try and put more videos up as they get more exciting!

2 months

Emory was officially 2 months old on Friday June 13th. We have had a great last month. She is beginning to "talk" more and laugh and smile. I am greeted every morning by the sweetest little smile. It makes every day wonderful! Today was her 2 month check-up. That wasn't as fun! She got 5 shots (apparently they don't mix at this office)! Needless to say she was slightly traumatized! She did ok with the first shot and then after the second one she looked at me like I was the meanest person in the world for letting them do that to her! Broke my heart! However, I did not cry, which actually surprised me, I thought I would! So go me. HA! Emory was a trooper though. She only cried, cried for a few minutes then she would do her "I'm annoyed" cry every once in a while. I guess she was remembering how horrific it was! On a better note, she was 24 inches long, putting her in the 90th percentile for height/length, and 11lbs 5 ozs, which puts her in the 70th percentile for weight! She is getting so big. And now it makes sense why I am having to put my 2 month old in 3-6 month clothing just for the length! She's 2 flippin' feet long! I was looking at her pictures from the hospital the other day and I can't remember her being so small. (Not that she was that small to begin with). She is currently "sleeping it off" which is good because the other alternative is a fussy baby! Luckily the mean ol' doctor doesn't have to see us for another two months unless we need her!

Bottle Time

Yesterday was our first attempt at trying a bottle. I know I have waited a long time to introduce a bottle but I didn't really have the need. I still haven't left her for longer then two hours so I am always there for feeding time. However, next weekend Chase and I have a wedding to go to in Birmingham. Nita and Papa will be keeping Emory so now we have a need for a bottle. Chase and I didn't want to have to rush home from the wedding even though it is going to be very hard for me to be apart from her. I will probably call a few times!! Just a warning Mom and Dad! Plus, since Emory was born the only thing that Chase hasn't been able to do is feed her, and since yesterday was Father's Day, I thought it could be a "gift" for him to be able to feed her. Anyway, we tried a bottle first at her 1pm feeding. Well, apparently we waited too long and she was NOT a happy camper! After we finally got her calmed down, our nerves were shot and we didn't want to try again right then, so I just nursed her. We attempted again at the 4pm feeding. She thought we were trying to choke her with the bottle nipple and she wouldn't take it. She got mad again and so I calmed her down again. 30minutes later, the milk was the "right" temp for her and so we took out the pacifier and stuck in the bottle...SUCCESS! Third time's a charm! Now we can go to the wedding on Saturday and Nita and Papa will be able to feed Emory. Plus, now I know that my child won't starve while she is a daycare while I'm at work! She also took a bottle at her 7pm feeding without any problem! Yea!

Happy Father's Day!

Emory Father's day morning wearing her "Daddy Loves Me" pj's.

In our backyard

My attempt at getting a family picture. I wasn't very good!

Chase's attempt at getting a family picture was MUCH better!

Emory with part of Chase's gift.

Aren't I the cutest thing ever!!

Chase's first father's day went very well. We didn't do very much but lie around but we still had a great time hanging out with our little family. Emory woke up early Sunday morning before Chas was awake. She and I left the room quietly and went to get breakfast started, orange danish rolls, his favorite, and get his gifts together. For his first father's day, Chase didn't want anything big so Emory and I bought him a new Bible because he still has his Teen Study Bible that is falling apart and framed three pictures from the beach trip. The idea is for him to take the pictures to work to hang them there! We will see how long that takes! After church we came home, took some pictures, ate lunch, then lied around for a few hours. Unfortunately Chase had to mow the grass on father's day. The evening was concluded with watching a movie...Mr and Mrs Smith. It was very cute! Happy Father's Day Chase! Emory and I love you very much!!

Nap Time

Nap time seems to have become a thing of the past. Emory is convinced that if she sleeps, she will miss something!! At the beach she slept like a champ! Every time we were down at the water, be it pool or ocean, she slept for at least two hours. It was great! She even slept better at night while we were there. She would go to bed at 9pm, sleep until 4 or so, eat then go right back to sleep until 7 or 8! But not since we've been home!! The other morning she woke up at 8:30am and was awake until 1:15. She tried to nap but the longest she slept was 15 mins and that was while I was holding her. If I put her down, she would wake up. The only way I finally got her to sleep was to put her in her car seat and drive around. Now granted I did need to run a few errands but I can't drive around every time she needs to take a nap! She did end up sleeping until 4pm, which aloud me to do some much needed housework since my in-laws were coming to town. Today however, she is napping...I think I figured out the trick...keep her up all night! HA! Well not all night but we did have a long evening last night with John and Nancy and Dean and Martha (family friends). We went to dinner and then walking around the Opryland Hotel. Emory was wonderful the whole time. She really enjoyed looking at everything while we were at dinner and loved riding around in her stroller at the hotel. I was sure that she would fall asleep in the car on the way home...NOPE! Awake and alert! She ate at 10:30pm and I thought again, that surely she would go to sleep now! Apparently she was too worked up to sleep. She was in a great mood...playing and laughing, but sleep was not on her agenda. She finally fell asleep at midnight while I was quietly walking around the house (everyone else was asleep of course). She slept for 6 hours and then was awake again and ready to play! She must have exhausted herself because she has been asleep now for an hour and a half in her bassinet!! Yea! A nap. Now she sleeps when I don't have anything to do! Yesterday the only way I was able to do housework was to put her in the sling carrier and cart her around with me! Hopefully we have gotten back into a nap routine! She tends to get a little cranky without sleep!

Sailboats

Before our trip Mandy found matching outfits for the babies to wear while we were at the beach. We found them in the Pottery Barn Baby catalog and thought they were too cute to pass up! And about the bow, generally speaking I would not put a bow on her, however, if one more person calls my sweet daughter a boy, I'm going kick someone!!!

Family Photo Shoot

Of course while we were at the beach we had to take the opportunity to take family pictures on the beach. It took us two nights to get all of them because it was SO windy the first night and of course the babies have a very short attention span!! There are pictures of Mandy, Cole and Payton but apparently Katie didn't see the need to include them on my CD!