4 months

It's sad when Aaron checks the blog and comments that we need a new update. What can I say, it's been busy! We went for our 4 month check up a few weeks ago. Emory was 12.5 lbs and 23 1/2 in long. That makes her in the 25th percentile for both. Her head however was in the 50th percentile. Poor thing has a big noggin, but still adorable all the same. The dr said she looked great and was ready to start cereal. Here are some pics from her first eating experience. You can see it in her face how much she loves it. She has gotten much better since then and has tried sweet potatoes (which she loves), squash, and bananas.

Things she is doing at 4 months:

- eating between 3-6 oz every few hours

- bedtime between 7&8 ad sleeping until 4:30

- squealing when happy

- arching her back when mad (which we're trying to keep from becoming a habit)

- not liking Bible class, I'm not sure what changed this but she usually has to be held the whole time which makes her the trouble kid in class (oh great look what we have to look forward to)

- LOVES, LOVES, LOVES her hands - in fact I have to wash them every few hours or they start to smell

- loves anything she can grab and put in her mouth, but gets mad when the whole thing doesn't fit

- enjoys anyone talking to her and she usually responds with a great big smile

Although it's going by too fast, it's so much fun to see how much she changes and learns everyday.

Looking back

This time last year Aaron and I moved into our new house. We had wonderful help from my parents and got it done pretty fast. The very next weekend we found out we were pregnant. We were going to The Eagles concert in Dallas with some friends and I took a test that morning. We of course didn't want to tell anyone at first, but told our parents within the week. We bought them an Eagles CD from Emory at her first concert. (of course we didn't know at the time it would be an Emory)

What a roller coaster that followed that. We ended up in the ER after a few weeks and they thought we were miscarrying only to find out the next day there was indeed a baby with a very strong heart beat. Now we have a precious little girl that completes our world!!!

Emory will turn 4 months old this week and I will post her stats after her appointment on Friday. Can't have a blog without a picture...so enjoy!

Trick or Treat

We had our church's Trunk or Treat last night. We had lots of people from the neighborhood and lots of church members come. It was very successful and lots of fun. Emory didn't scream when we put her costume on like she did at Sear's the other day. It was quite confining and a little too warm for her, but she didn't fuss too much and ended up falling asleep through most of the trick or treaters. We plan on visiting Nana and Papa's house and a few school friends on Saturday. Just to show off, certainly not for any candy because I DON'T need it!

Emory is changing SO much. She is quite the little talker these days and is not quiet about it at all. When she talks she'll start off as a soft little coos...it quickly progresses to a shrieking shout. It is ADORABLE!! She loves to sing along with her favorite songs and laughs all through The Wheels on the Bus. I'm afraid we're going to be in trouble very soon when she won't stop talking. It might be her curse for life.

She is lifting her head up from her car seat and bouncy seat. She does not like to lay down anymore and certainly not to go to sleep. She tries to get up any time you lay her down or put her in a chair. She loves standing on your lap and sitting up (with support of course). It will be a blink of an eye before she's sitting up all by herself. She is enjoying her time with Nana and Nana is equally enjoying it. She will begin daycare the week of December 1st. I know she'll do great there too. She has been such an easy baby that I have told Aaron not to expect this for the next one. I can't wait for the next milestones, but for the time being we're enjoying the stage she's at now. SO MUCH FUN!!

ACU Homecoming

What a great time we all had this year at Homecoming!! It was definitely a change of dynamic in our group this year. A lot of Aaron's old club friends and my old dorm friends are still close friends. We were able to have everyone over for burgers Friday night and had a wonderful time watching the kiddos play. My friends have the cutest friends for sure!! We enjoyed the parade, the Ag dinner, the game (where we lost), and just hanging out. I really miss all my college friends and I'm always glad when they come into town.

Weekend of family, football, and remembering

Last weekend Emory and I went to Lubbock for Race for the Cure and the Tech football game. My family has been doing the Race since my Aunt Janet passed away almost 8 years ago. Janet lost her battle with breast cancer after the 2nd round hit. Janet was such a wonderful and brave woman. She fought hard and always kept a positive attitude. She is truly missed, but we are thankful for the legacy she left behind. This is always such a special time for us to get together and remember her. It was Emory first race so she had to dress the part.

Some of the "racers." Just to clarify, we do the 1 mile "fun run" not the 5K.

We also made it to a Tech football game. It was great and Emory did a great job. I think if it is constantly loud she gets used to the noise and can sleep through it. We made it til the last 5 minutes or so when it started raining. Lots of fun!

It was "Pink Out" Jones Stadium. Very cool to see all the pink in the stands. Here's my parents and Emory and I ate the game. My parents have great seats for their season tickets.

Emory loves her Gramsy.

The Going Band from Raiderland made a breast cancer ribbon during their performance. I am very moved by the support everyone shows for such a great cause.

To all those brave women fighting this fight and all those families who has lost loved ones, my heart goes out to you.

Catching Up

Well it has definitely been a very busy month, but we have been having a GREAT time. On the 18th I celebrated my birthday with Aaron and Emory at a weekend in Fredicksburg. We had a great time of eating, shopping, and relaxing. We did take Emory to Luckenbach (Aaron had never been either), but Emory did NOT like the motorcycles that were out there so we stayed for maybe 10 mins.

That weekend Emory also celebrated her 2 month birthday. We had to get a 2 month picture at 2:15, but she was hungry at that time and was not in the mood for pictures. I can't believe how big she's getting. She is changing every day. She loves sucking on her fist, in fact she tries to stick the whole thing in her mouth. She is holding her head up like a champ. She's a little social butterfly and loves to be around people and have everyone talk to her. If she can't see what's going on she gets very upset. She has just been an absolute joy!

We have also been to an ACU football game. Emory did not like it very much. The crowd startled her every time ACU scored so we ended up leaving before it was over. ACU did win and are still doing great. Looking forward to Homecoming next weekend and spending time with old friends.

I have also started back to work. I love my new position and have a lot to adjust to. I have to adjust to being away from Emory. She is doing great with her Nana (Aaron's mom) and I know she will do great when she starts at Zion Lutheran's All God's Children in December. Sherla is great about sending me pictures and keeping me informed about what goes on during the day. She's spoiling me and Emory both. At my job I am having to adjust to a new role. I don't have a classroom anymore and working in the office area very closely with the principal and instructional coordinator. My job is kind of hard to explain, but I have tested or interpreted data of tests for all of Kindergarten through 3rd graders. I have put all those grade levels in a group for an intervention time and have come up with intervention for most groups. I am the "go to" girl when it comes to interventions. I also have to keep up with all the paper work. Since students now have to have documented intervention before getting referred to special ed, I have LOTS of paper work to catch up on. Before I started this position the principal and IC had to do all the documentation and there weren't any interventions. Since they didn't have time to do it all, there is a lot for me to sort through, organize, and catch up on. It's a great way to use my master courses information. I am LOVING it.

This picture the morning I started back to work...she looks upset to be away from me, doesn't she?

Getting close to month 3 for our little girl. Time flies by with lots of fun things in store.

New this week

Emory is changing more and more every day. This week she's been a little mover. She will scoot almost off her wedge pilow at night. She wiggles until she's turned sideways on the floor or couch and she's turning to her side. She has also found her hands and her poor face is taking quite a beating. She loves to grab her cheeks or try to grab her eyes when she gets tired. It's very cute, but hopefully she won't start leaving marks. :)


She has also started sleeping in her crib. She will start off in her crib and sleep for 4-5 hours then I am too lazy to carry her back and forth so after she eats I put her back in the cradle in our room. Last night she woke up at 2:30 to eat and then at 4:00. I knew she wasn't too hungry so I kept putting her paci back in and got tired so we got in the recliner and she slept until 6:30. That means if I was back at work so would have only ate once during the night. Since I'm still about to sleep in, she got up twice. Not bad!! I've heard big changes comes at 2 months and since she's 2 months on Saturday hopefully we're already starting to see the changes.



Aaron also got a chance to baby sit on Saturday. I ran to Dillard's and Drug Emporium. I called him after Dillard's and she was screaming. He said he was going to fix a bottle so I went on to D.E. When I got home they both gave me "the look." Emory had milk all over her and was in her swing. Aaron said the bottle kept leaking on her. I use the Dr. Brown bottles and he hadn't put in the insert. (I've made the same mistake when I forgot the insert while out.) Anyway, good news...she survived and so did he! :) He also took her to his parents while I had my church Bunco group at the house. They did great then too. So I think she'll be able to make it when I go back to work, which we're not talking about yet.

Here is Emory taking a nap in her crib.

Here is the finally product of Aaron's rocking horse. He did the making and I did the painting. He found some places he didn't like so we decided we would give this one away. (That sounds bad, like we give away our rejects. It really does look good and even I couldn't even tell his "mistakes.") Since this was a practice, we'll both get better.

I just thought Emory looked so cute on Sunday for church. Thanks Rach for the dress, we needed something warm on a rainy Sunday.

Labor Day weekend

What a wonderful way to spend Labor Day weekend. My brother, Justin, and his girlfriend came into town on Friday as well as Mom and Dad. Justin and Kendall didn't get in until late Friday night, but we were able to lounge around Saturday morning and take our time getting ready for our trip to Lubbock. It was really good to see Justin since we hadn't seen him since the day Emory was born. She adored him and laughed and "talked" to him the whole weekend. It is wonderful to see how she interacts with people now...she loves to smile and "talk" to anyone that will talk to her.

Saturday we made a trip to Lubbock. We all met up with my cousin, Carla, who just started school at Tech and my cousin, Kristi, and her daughter Hayden for lunch. The rest of our crew went on to Tech's opening game. Aaron and I went shopping and to visit more family. We had a great time and maybe on the next trip we will brave the game.

Uncle Justin bought Emory a Tech onsie. Do you think he might be trying early to get her to be a Red Raider???

What can I say, we're a Tech family!!

This is just a cute outfit my dad bought her in support of Dad's cattle habit! It's so cute. If you can't it has the Old MacDonald song written around the collar and sleeves. It also has a little tail on the bootie! Adorable!!It just so happened that there were several visitors at Ackerly's church on Sunday. My life-long friend, Hollie, (middle) and her brother and sister-in-law were all at church visiting. Here's a picture of the three of us. Emory, (7 weeks), Cy (14 weeks), and Joey (12 weeks) It was so good to finally meet the two little ones.
Today we also made a trip over to my college friend, Amy's, house to meet Noah. Noah was born 2 days after Emory and he was just as cute as could be. Emory is going to have friends everywhere she goes. So fun!!!

Fun Times at Gramsy and Papa Reg's

A couple of weekends ago we made our first trip to Ackerly. My mom and dad didn't think that 2 days was quite enough of Emory so my dad came to get Emory and I on Thursday and Aaron came on Friday. We all had a great time and got LOTS to eat. Emory met everyone at my mom's school, all the lovely people at Ackerly CoC, my hair lady, the Addison family, and Aunt Hallie. We also made a visit to Aunt Terrye's so she was able to see her again and meet Uncle Steve. We were all quite exhausted by the end of the weekend but it was so much fun.

New things Emory is up to:

-showing her little temper(written first only because she just threw a fit getting her diaper changed)

-liking bath time a little more

-outgrown almost all of her newborn clothes and fitting into more and more 0-3 month clothes

-lifting her head up for much longer

-smiling with a smile that lights up her whole face (just melts your heart)

-going without eating for around 5-7 hours in the evenings (sometimes 8-1, 9-3)

-she loves her gym, swing and bouncy seat

-staring at anything with lights

-looking at books

We are haing so much fun together and aren't doing too much. I am trying to savor the times I get to just hold her and love on her all day before I have to go back to work. We have a wonderful weekend planned of family time. Justin and Kendall are coming to Abilene on Friday then we are all making a trip to Lubbock for the Tech game. I don't think I'm quite ready to take Emory to the stadium so Aaron and I will find somewhere to catch the game on TV. I am looking forward to a weekend of family. :)

Our First Month

We can't believe that it has been a month since we welcomed our precious Emory into this world. I can't get over how much Emory has changed over this past month. Last Wednesday was a big changing day for her. Emory's umbilical cord finally fell off that day and the change began. She was wide awake on the way to church so we decided to take her to her own class that evening. They said she stayed awake the whole time, but wasn't too interested in the whole thing. Other changes that came: she's getting chubbier, going longer between meals, losing her baby hair, and smiling more and more. I got in the car after church and began complaining to Aaron about how quickly the changes are coming. He laughed at me and is already preparing himself for handling my emotions on the first day of Kindergarten. haha...like he's going to be so calm.

We also gave Emory her first bath the next day. She HATED it. She screamed and cried the whole time. I think the shock of the water was a little too much for her. It was a traumatic experience for all three of us. I'm happy to report that her next bath was slightly better. I'm hoping that she will get more and more relaxed with each bath...maybe one day she will even like them.

Enjoying our time

Well I have definitely loved the past 2 1/2 weeks. I can't tell you how much fun motherhood has been for me. We have been getting out more and it's getting a little easier every time. We made it to church on Sunday. She did great and everyone definitely thought she was adorable. She was even introduced for her first time visit. That night our friend, Aaron Watson, was having a concert at the Paramount Theater. It was a perfect event to bring Emory to. Since it was a family show, it was great. I didn't ever think of the noise level until I was holding a 2 week old. It didn't bother her at all and she slept through the whole thing.

We had to get a picture with Aaron at her first concert. Kim, he was a little nervous about holding her. Do we need to keep bringing her over for him to get his practice in before little Jolee arrives? :)

She is growing and changing more and more every day. It makes me sad that she's already changing so much, but makes me excited about what the next day brings.

My How Time Flies

We have definitely had a busy week. I could not post all the pictures of our visitors, but we have had lots of friends and family that just could not wait to get their hands on precious Emory. All aunts and uncles (except Jerry) has made their way for a visit. Several cousins and great aunts and uncles have come. I'm sure the rest will be here as soon as they can. We did make a couple of outings this week. I've been starting to get a little stir crazy. Aaron and I went to change our insurance stuff and go to the chiropractor. We only had to stop once and let Emory eat. Mom and I went to Dillard's and Target to find some pants that would be small enough to fit Emory. It has not been so easy. She's too long for premie clothes and the newborn clothes are huge on her for now. We have gone on a walk, but mainly have sat around and watched Emory. Waiting for a sneeze, a hiccup, a groan, anything little thing.

This is the first time I have been completely alone with Emory and I think we're going to make it. My mom left yesterday which was harder than I thought it was going to be. My emotions now are worse than they ever were while pregnant and I had a hard time watching my mom leave. Not that I don't think we can handle things without he, it is just definitely one of the moments in your life you just want you mom. Which makes me think about many, many years down the road I will have the opportunity to return the favor for Emory. Thanks Mom for coming and taking care of us. We already miss you and are ready for you to come back.

Pali has had a hard week adjusting to the new way of life. We did introduce her to Emory the other day and she did very well. Aaron finally let her in the house this morning while no one else was here and she could be calm. She did fine then too. It will take a little while to make the complete adjustment, but at least it's a start.

Emory and I were both exhausted last night. While we both (or all 3) enjoyed our company and really wanted everyone to be here, we both felt just about like this about 10:00. Today we have been able to get some much needed rest and caught up on some things that have been put on hold for a week of spoiling.

I can't not say enough how much I have enjoyed this week with Emory. I still look at her in awe. In awe of how much I love her, in awe of how beautiful she is, and in awe that she is actually our's. :) Thank you for allowing me to brag and go on and on about the best week of my life.

First night and day

The first day we spent most of the time at the hospital. Emory came back to us at 8:30 and stayed the whole day. It was great. Aaron's mom came up early and my parents and Justin and Kendall came up shortly after. We had several visitors throughout the day. Emory's doctor, Dr. Wiley, came in and said she looked great and as long as she was eating well we could go home that day. My dr came in and was mad that I had Emory without him, but he heard that everything went smoothly and I could go home as soon as I felt like it. I played it by ear until about 2:00 and decided that we both felt so good we decided we would be more comfortable at home.



We never dreamed this premie outfit would fit, but it fit just perfectly. It probably won't last long, but she'll wear it as long as possible.

We had our wonderful nurse take our picture before we left. The nurses at Hendrick are truly amazing. They went over and beyond to make us comfortable and answered all of the questions of the anxious new parents.

I know this picture is sideways, but I don't want to go through the trouble of changing it. This is her going home outfit. The dress was made by one of my teacher friends. It is so cute and beautifully done. The blanket was a gift from my good friend, Mendi. I'm so excited to finally get to use all the great gifts we've received.

One of the few times she was awake.

The first night was a little rough. She slept from 11:00 until 2:00. At 2:00 she ate and then was WIDE awake. She was quite restless and fussy. I tried changing, burping, rocking, etc and she just didn't want to be asleep. At one point, she was screaming, I was singing, and Aaron was snoring. Probably the typical noises that will be heard in our room at night. :) She finally went to sleep around 7:00 and we all slept until 8:30. It will take a while to get the whole sleep schedule down and get used to what she needs when, but we will get it. It's already getting better. Even at 4:00 a.m., crying her little eyes out, she's still the most precious thing I've ever seen.