Easter

I just realized I hadn't posted anything about Easter yet. Our family went to Ackerly for the weekend. It was a very nice visit and we spent Easter Sunday at my uncle Mike's house. It was so nice of him and Judy to have us all over. Emory got spoiled by Gramsy and Papa Reg and then got even more spoiled by Judy with an Easter basket, eggs of her own, and presents.

Nana made Emory's Easter dress. It was absolutely beautiful. Everyone was very impressed by Nana's handi-work. She was completely adorable. Here are a few pics from the weekend.

The family before church.

Emory in her Easter dress...thanks Nana.

Look what the Easter bunny brought.

Into everything!

Happy Easter!!!

9 months

I have put this off partly because of lack of time (and energy) and partly because I'm not ready to accept the fact I have a 9 month old. We did not go to the dr for a 9 month appt because we were there a week earlier to check Emory's ears. Dr Wiley said her ears looked much better and is hoping that with preventative meds she will make it to summer without another infection. Once summer hits she will be at home with me and hopefully stay well. I was quite nervous about this appt because I just knew we would have to have tubes. So I can't remember her exact measurements. She weighed 15 lbs and 6 oz and they didn't tell me the height. She is still little, but that doesn't stop her from accomplishing all of her milestones.

She is now crawling on all fours and can get where she wants to go pretty quickly. This causes a few problems of getting things out of her reach and no matter how clean the floors are, she can find the littlest fuzz, dirt, etc and get it in her mouth before we're able to stop her. Oh well, so is life! She started a new class at daycare. She is now a Wallaby. This was a very hard transition. She bonded so much with her previous teacher that drop-off was never a problem. Now I think it's a combination of beginning separation anxiety and not used to her new teachers yet. I am still very pleased with her daycare. They take great care of her and even gave her homework this week. They are beginning to teach sign language so our homework was easy since we have already started that at home.

She has become very independent. She doesn't like being fed her baby food. She would rather eat something that she can do all by herself. This poses quite a challenge because she has a VERY sensitive gag reflex so meal time is quite eventful. Makes it lots of fun eating out too...I usually spend my time cleaning up a "mess" before I can finish my meal.

Emory has thankfully started sleeping through the night. She goes to bed between 8 and 8:30. She will sleep until almost 6:00. This is a huge improvement and I will take every little bit of sleep I can. She has begun to suck her thumb (not my choice). I try to give her the pacifier, but she takes it out and throws it on the floor and goes straight for her thumb. Luckily it's only in her mouth until she falls asleep and then it falls out. Hopefully that won't be a habit we have to break.

She has started liking Bible class again and is tagged the "talkative" one. Emory is quite the talker. She can be very loud (which scares some of her friends) and talks almost non-stop when she in that kind of mood. Where did this come from???? Certainly not her mama or daddy. She can say mama, dada, baba, papa, but is not saying it to the appropriate person quite yet. She has also started this waving thing which I can't figure out if it is trying to get something she wants or if it is mimicking what she's seen for so long.

What a fun adventure we have been on for the last 9 months!! There are times that I am frustrated and tired (especially through this teething time), but the joys and love overcomes those few frustrating times. Emory is our precious little princess. We love you E!!!

*I could only get one video to post. So sorry!!

Spring Break

Aaron, Emory and I went to Missouri for the beginning of Spring Break. We met Aaron's parents at his grandparents house. We all had such a good time and it was so good for Grandpa and Grandma to finally meet Emory. It was a little cold so we didn't get out and do too much, but Emory had a good time showing off for everyone inside where it was nice and warm. Emory also got to meet the sweet lady who lived down the road from where Aaron used to live. She had just celebrated her 90th birthday and still lives on her own. All the little old ladies and little old men at Grandpa and Grandma's church loved having a little one to keep them entertained. We had a great time, as always.

Grandpa had a bad accident on Wednesday (after we left on Tuesday). He was trying to pull a calf from a mama who was having trouble. The mama cow broke loose and knocked him over and then step on his chest. He has three broken ribs and a bruised lung. He spent several days in the hospital, but is now back home. We hope that he is doing ok, but he isn't the type to slow down so we hope he doesn't over do it.

To finish off the week, my mom came and stayed for a couple of days so that I could study for my orals exam (which I PASSED...YEA). While she was here we went to the zoo with Sarah, Grace, and Morgan (and Nana and Aunt Kim too). Emory didn't care too much for the animals that blended in, but she loved the giraffes, the water for the turtles, monkeys, and zebras. We look forward to many more trips to the zoo.

On friday Emory went home with my mom for a night. Emory was great and I was able to get A LOT done. I'm sure there will be many more meetings half-way. We had a great week and now we're ready for summer!

7-month

I figured I better hurry up and post Emory's 7-month happenings before she turns 8 months. She has been so much fun. Just when I think it can't get any better, she goes and starts doing something else and makes it even more fun.

She is rolling EVERYWHERE. She can get any where she needs to go and rolls to get there. She really wants to be crawling but it's just not happening yet. I'm enjoying the limited days of the some-what mobile days. She can say "da-da" which she says constantly. Her daycare teachers told me yesterday she has a best friend in her class and the two girls chat away. They said the girls will talk and talk and then start laughing at each other. They also said the girls will not go to sleep if they can see each other (their cribs are next to each other). I love that she's so social and will go to anyone about 90% of the time. Her chatty nature sometimes causes problems in church, but there's enough other babies to kind of drowned her out.

She loves fruits and will tolerate almost any veggie. She still is not liking any kind of "table" food that has a different texture. She is taking a 6 oz (sometimes less) bottle every 4-5 hours. Our sleeping patterns cannot get on a schedule because of sickness.

Poor baby has had 2 ear infections this month. She was off antibiotics for about a week before we had to go back to the dr. So we're still on antibiotics, but hopefully this will be the last of it.

We are traveling to Missouri this weekend to see Aaron's grandparents...the longest trip Emory's ever taken. We'll see how it goes and I will post about our trip when we return.

I am looking forward to Spring Break, but will spend the majority of it studying since I will be taking Orals the week after. I am finally finishing up my masters and so glad to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm ready to have my life back. :)

Pictures will have to come later...computer is not cooperating.

6 Months

We took Emory for her 6 month check-up a week or so ago. She is doing great and now able to start even more things. She weighed 14 lbs and was 24 3/4 in long. Dr. Wiley said he wasn't concerned about her size, she was just petite (with a big head). She is still in the 25th percentile for her height and weight and 50th for the size of her head.

Oh the things she is up to now are endless. It is so much fun watching her now. She loves sitting (yes completely sitting) on the floor playing with all of her toys. Of course she loves play (or "eating) everything. Measuring spoons and cups are some of favorite and anything that makes noise or that she can tear up will keep her attention more than anything else.

She is able to eat stage 2 baby foods now and Dr. Wiley said to start introducing her to different textures. She DOES NOT like this change. If something of a different texture hits her lips she either holds her mouth open until it falls out or she gags...sometimes to the point of throwing up. So we're backing off that for a little while and will try again later.

She LOVES playing with her feet. As soon as the socks come off, the feet are in her mouth. She's even so good that she can get one little toe in her mouth and suck away.

She is sleeping about the same. She will go down around 7:30-8:30 and sleep for a while. She still wakes up once during the night, but now has no set time she wakes up. She will then sleep until 6:30 or 7 (which I think is caused by having to wake up for day care every day). She has gotten much better about putting herself to sleep and waking up some during the night and going back to sleep without me getting up.

Emory is into EVERYTHING. She is very busy and never still unless she is sleeping. She is constantly grabbing things and trying to get anything she can. She loves talking to her Gramsy, Papa Reg, and Uncle Justin on Skype. Although it is quite tiring for me since she is so busy and constant.

All in all, we are having a GREAT time. She is our blessing and we thank God for her everyday. She brings so much fun, love, and entertainment to our lives.

4 Christmases

A quick recap of our insanely busy month of Christmases. We started in December with Aaron's cousin's wedding on the 12th and have been going non-stop until today. The weekend of the 19th we spent the weekend with Aaron's siblings, their families, and Mom and Dad for Christmas #1. We had a great time watching the 4 girls open lots of dolls, clothes, and toys of all kinds. We also had a chance to watch The Blindside which was an incredible movie. Here are the girls, as you can see Emory loves watching her cousins.

We were with my mom, dad, and brother for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (Christmas #2). Abilene got a boat load of snow on Christmas Eve and it looked as if we were going to be stuck in Abilene, but we finally made it to Ackerly at just the right time. Here Emory with her Papa Reg looking at the snow.
Christmas morning was amazing. I had no idea how much fun it was opening presents with a little one. Watching her "open" and literally try to eat her presents was so much fun. She got LOTS of toys and of course most of them make lots of noise, but she has begun sitting up while playing with them so we'll take it. :) Emory posed for almost every picture after opening her presents just like she was supposed to. Here are just a couple of pics from Christmas morning.

The next day (Saturday) we had Christmas #3 with my mom's side of the family. It was so good to have everyone together, but always a little sad that my grandmother is not well enough to attend anymore. Lots of food, games, and fun had by all. This was the best picture taken with my camera of the cousins.

Finally came Christmas #4 with my dad's side of the family. Every year we meet up in Dallas and enjoy a whole weekend with the ever growing number of family members. We were up to 33 this year with everyone being able to come. This is a picture of just cousins, spouses, and kids. SO MUCH FUN!!!

Needless to say we are truly blessed by the family we have and the closeness we all share. We have thanked God greatly for giving us the loving families He did and remembering those who aren't as fortunate. May God bless your family.
A quick recap of our insanely b

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.