Thank You Uncle Dean!

She loves, loves, loves her new drawing table. :) Thank you so very, very much. I cannot tell you how wonderful this is going to be for her!

Merry Christmas 2011

Merry Christmas!

Somehow we survived Christmas Eve, thank goodness. On Wednesday, Emma had vomiting and had to stay home from daycare. By Thursday, the vomiting was gone and she had diarrhea all day, poor thing. She was a trooper through the whole thing. But by Friday night/Saturday morning, Mommy and Daddy had the virus she had brought home. Daddy started vomiting at midnight on Friday night/Saturday morning, and I started around 4:30am. He was done vomiting by noon but was completely wiped out from no sleep. He and Emma took me to urgent care by 8:30am (they open at 8am and had already had 4 cases similar to mine) and they gave me an anti-nausea shot and some IV fluids. Despite that, and repeated doses of the med, I kept throwing up what little was in my stomach until about 8pm last night; the diarrhea has slowed down for me now. Even water wouldn't stay down yesterday. Poor Emma -- both parents were lying on the couch in a stupor. We barely had the energy to change her diaper and feed her. But she mostly self-entertained and didn't destroy too much of the house. I'm proud of my baby girl for handling it the way she did. Ugh... it's the sickest I've been in probably 12 years.

This morning we're mostly recovered. We got up and opened gifts, and spread them out through the day. She got a lot of presents -- with her birthday so close to Christmas, there's a LOT in the house, but we plan on taking 80% of the gifts and storing them in her closet, and then bringing out something new every month (and putting something back in). I'll try to list all the presents here (birthday and otherwise) later so I can remember them all for thank-you cards! :) But in the short term, thank you every one for your generosity! She's had a fabulous day.

New Favorite Blankie

Thank you to Grandma Maurine, Jen and Steph for the *gorgeous* blanket! She already loves it so very much. I have a video to upload at some point soon.

Where's Emma?


Peek-a-boo!!

Pictures!

We had a really nice day today. Emma went and visited one of my facilities again, and had a great time with the staff and residents. She got a little cranky at one point because she was hungry, so we went ahead and ate in the car, then ran our errands. We also stopped by the office to drop off my paperwork and she could show off to the gals there. She's amazing me every day with new things she does!

Here she is earlier this week in her high chair, thank you Aunt Dianne and Cousin Debbie!



And into the mouth the monkey goes! :)

Emma's Glow Worm

When Uncle Dean visited us in Washington, DC, he brought Emma a present -- RattleWorm's more self-assured cousin, GlowWorm! She really loves that GlowWorm, she'll smile and calm down when it plays (of course, she won't do it on camera, but I tried!).

Picture Post!

For fun!

Rattle Worm is a gift that Uncle Dean sent us. She *loves* her some Rattle Worm!! He's her morning buddy, and speaks to her with a southern accent. Poor Rattle Worm has some self-esteem issues since he has no arms, and no legs, and no mouth... LOL. I'll get a video of it later to post, as she finds it hilarious.


This is the most adorable outfit that Ms. Leslie at one of my facilities got Emma. Here is the rear view! It makes for a good reason to have her do tummy time (so Mommy can get pictures



And the front view! We really love the outfit, and it's so nice to have on a hot day like it's been.

Here's Emma, kissing and playing with her Easter bunny that Grandma and Grandpa Lewis sent. She loves the bunny! Especially since the bunny has developed a French accent and seems to fight with Rattle Worm over who gets to kiss Emma the most. She absolutely gets a kick out of that. Again, it's a MUST video moment that I'll get!

Still Sick...

So not much of an update again. We're ALL so sick! :( Poor Emma... she's not as bad as the first cold she got, but Daddy & I are feeling terrible. I can't breathe through my nose at all. Luckily, tomorrow is my "Friday" of the week and hopefully we can all spend the weekend recuperating. And enjoying this very spring-like weather we're having!

I do have pictures, and I think even a video to upload, so hopefully you'll get to see my little sweet pea again soon! We also have a huge thank you to send to Grandma and Grandpa Lewis for the two packages that arrived today, and to Aunt Ann who also sent a package! She's going to be spoiled for Easter. :)

Our "One Thing" for This Weekend

This weekend we're going to work on (1) getting her to nap in her crib, instead of on Mommy, and (2) drink from a bottle of breastmilk. I've already pumped for the morning (10oz!) and saved one back to experiment with today. We tried it but she wasn't very interested -- is it wrong for me to be proud of her for spitting out the bottle nipple?! :) At the moment she is napping in her crib and has been long enough that I could shower, download some pictures, and do this post. We'll see how long it lasts.

Today's pictures!

Emma's outfit today! T-shirt is courtesy of Grandma Snoopingmother, and pants courtesy of Ms. Beth.



Emma's snuggle blanket, thank you Mary from Cincy! It's absolutely gorgeous and adorable.



Oh -- and she's slowing down on the poo. Yesterday she had two big ones in the morning and a small one mid-morning, and nothing else the rest of the day. So far today she had a BIG one at 6:30 this morning and that's it. Hopefully this is an indication of a maturing GI tract and not an indication of the vaccinations moving through her system and then she goes back to 5-6 poos a day later.

The Grouchy Ladybug

As part of our bedtime routine, I'm reading Emma a story. We've tried a few different ones, but so far, "The Grouchy Ladybug," by Eric Carle, has been the one that works to put her to sleep.



Poor Grouchy Ladybug.... wants to fight everyone, but they're just not big enough. :) By the time we get to the last page, she's out like a light. HUGE thanks to snoopingmother, who sent us this book!

Happy Valentine's Day

Our Valentine's Day outfit...



How cute are these socks?! These are from Cousin Debbie, thank you!

Bibs Galore

While Emma was being entertained by the mobile, Mommy decided we needed a bib fashion show. We've got so many! This is all we were able to photograph before she got tired of Mommy's antics. :)

These two are from Cousin Debbie.





This one was from Grandma & Grandpa Lewis.



This one was from our friend Mike in Florida.


Can't remember who got her this one.


And last, but not least, one from Dean in MD.

Clean Baby

With her outfit from Auntie Mims!

Pictures

While Daddy has her...

Wearing the hat that Auntie Mims sent before we went out for our walk!



Emma is a member of Team Monster, rawr!! LOL. :)



She actually has been really good today -- only 3-4 crying fits, and easily calmed. Happy One Month Old!!

Better Day

Quick post while I have both hands!

HUGE thank you to everyone on here who gave me some great suggestions and support. Emily & Jess, I've been drinking more and the headache is gone! Feeling much better. We tried the miracle blanket and re-tried the wrap, and she's doing better. I've also been eating better, which has helped.

To my friend Mary in Cincy -- we finally watched "The Happiest Baby" DVD you sent us and THANK YOU! OMG, seriously? Totally worked. I mean, we were already doing the "shushing" and swaddling part, but the other stuff was amazing. We bypassed most of the 10:30 screaming fit she usually has. Mommy actually got about 5 hours of sleep (all together) last night.

We went for a walk today! Yes, Mommy has *finally* figured out the stroller. So we put on the little hat and mittens that Mims sent us, got bundled up, and Mommy & Emma went for a walk. The sun is kind of shining and it's not horribly cold (36 degrees). We walked for 30 minutes and came home for her lunch. It felt SO good to get fresh air and be outside, and Mommy's mood is muchly improved!

We toured one daycare yesterday, and hopefully will have another one to tour tomorrow when I can get that scheduled. It wasn't as bad as I was thinking in my head, so even though it's costly, Mommy thinks it'll be ok. AND they had openings. *whew*

Ok.... someone wants to walk around (she's in the wrap against my chest right now), so I'm going to do that. But again... thank you, everyone! I can't tell you how much it helps to hear the experienced Mommy advice!

Emma In Her Swing

Emma finally getting some use out of her swing that Uncle Dean sent!

Pictures Again!

It's been a few days since I posted.... Miss Emma is doing great, and although we're still not in a "routine" as such, she does have some recognizable patterns of behavior. Mommy and Daddy are still adjusting, and doing the best we can!

Some notable things:

*Emma went to visit Mommy's work office this week twice to meet everyone and thank them for the beautiful flowers!

*Mommy and Daddy went out to eat lunch at a real restaurant WITH Emma and she did great! She's still sleeping much of the time, so it was relatively easy. This time. :)

*We're doing better with tummy time! She doesn't seem to mind (pictures below of the "After" Tummy Time) and she loves the blanket Aunt Sandra sent that works perfectly for tummy time.

*Mommy and Daddy got her insurance card today and it really sunk in that she's ours... we get to keep her, and she'll be with us for a long time. It feels very adult-ish!

*Mommy looked at the bills on her insurance website from both the delivery, recovery and the D&C the week later, and about fainted. OMG. Even with insurance, it's going to be a LOT more than I anticipated. Luckily we saved and saved and saved for this, so we're ok. (I won't go into a rant about the healthcare industry at this point and the obscene amount of money they charge for things).

Ok... enough chatting. Onto the cuteness!


Just hanging out with Mommy... thinking *very* hard about something! :)


After tummy time, just playing. This is a knit blanket that Great-Aunt Sandra sent us, it's absolutely gorgeous!




Extreme Close-Up!! :)


Fell asleep on Daddy.... wore herself out, I think!


After our Fourth bath on Monday (the 10th). She's getting better with baths, there was no screaming this time.


Sleeping with Grandma Miller's blanket -- Mommy tried to get the hat on, but she wouldn't cooperate, so we just posed it with her. :) Thank you for the cute hat Grandma!!


And with the blanket, bonnet and matching mittens that knit and sent. They are gorgeous -- how adorable is that little bonnet?!


Daddy and I agreed that we still need to do the fashion show with some of the outfits that Grandma Miller and others have sent, so that's still in the works. But for the moment, hopefully this will do.

Test Results

My hemoglobin is back up to 9.6, yay!! I think by the time I have my follow-up appointment on 1/27, I should be back to "normal." Still taking the iron supplements twice a day, and the antibiotics until the 13th.

Grandma Miller sent a box of just super-duper adorable clothes that I think used to be mine. After I do a load of laundry, I think we're going to have a mini fashion show and take a load of pictures. Daddy still has to download the pictures from Aunt Ann's trip so I can get some of those up here too.

It's snowing and gorgeous out -- I'm half tempted to get Emma all dressed up and in the snow suit that a friend gave us, and take her out for some pictures.

Thank You!

Whomever sent the wonderful diapers that we had registered for on Walmart.com, thank you muchly! There was no name in the packing slip, and no indication of who sent them... but we really appreciate it. Hopefully I'll figure it out at some point!

Random thing to share: Little Emma is sleeping on my chest right now -- we were doing skin-to-skin time and she got very comfy. It's too adorable. Daddy would take a picture, but Delilah is sitting very comfortably on his lap and doesn't want to move, lol!!! We're a happy family. :)

While She's Sleeping

Daddy and Emma are both sleeping, so I thought I'd do a brief update on several things. First of all, I'm feeling better. I'm still having some painful cramping here and there, but that's part of the medication that I'm on to reduce the size of my uterus and there's only two pills left to take, so hopefully that will be gone tomorrow. Thanks to Aunt Ann, I'm almost fully rested and ready to face the next challenge!

Second, we started on cloth today and I'm proud to say that since 9am this morning, all she's worn is cloth! We started with the Little Lions AIO (All In One), and then we've just used prefolds and covers. The jelly roll is working better than the angel fold (yay! Thank you Jess for that suggestion!), and although I'm probably a little over-active with changing (we've gone through a LOT of cloth so far), I'm getting the hang of it and Emma is doing better with it. Our next ONE thing is to teach Daddy how to do cloth. :)

Third, it's hard to believe that my little one will be two weeks old on Monday. Daddy goes back to school next week, and I'll be home alone with her two days out of the week. It's not that much, but enough to make me think harder about how I'm going to spend my time with her! I'm thinking as many naps as we can fit in, and I want to start reading to her in the evenings again. We'll see how it goes.

In the short term, here are a couple of pictures....

I love this little outfit! She's wearing a prefold with a Bummis cover underneath it.


Flowers that my colleagues from the APA Task Force sent -- I'll be seeing them in May in Washington, DC, and Emma will be coming with us. Tons of fun!


These are the flowers that my work sent -- just gorgeous, and the vase is unbelievably cute.


Last, but not least, the flowers that Grandma and Grandpa Lewis sent for us. They were delivered at the hospital, and have a cute balloon tied to them.

Loads of Pictures

Enjoy! We're leaving in about 10 minutes for a Mommy doctor appointment, since I'm still not feeling great.

From yesterday... I love this outfit. She's wearing cloth diaper underneath!


Also from yesterday... I think the swaddlebees all-in-one is a little big yet.


My first wrapping job! At least it held her in, lol...


And this is her, all snuggled in. She slept for an hour and Mommy ate lunch with BOTH hands, yay!


Our wonderful friend Mims sent this gorgeous hat/scarf/mitten set (in addition to a lot of other things!)... isn't she adorable?


And her little bunny! Thank you Mims!