My Sweet Emily Ann

We are Moving!

2010-10-19T15:38:00.000-04:00

I have started a new family blog. So be sure to check updates there. I will no longer be posting on this blog.

http://lightningboldts.blogspot.com/

2 Years old!

2010-08-22T07:33:00.000-04:00

Emily is well on her way to being a full blown two year old. All of a sudden she has become a little bit more independent, decisive and can I say attitudy???? This kid has had more temper tantrums the last week than she ever has in her entire little life. We are being firm though.
She has gained a new sense of independence that I find somewhat sad and somewhat comforting to know that she is developmentally on track. She has to bring her baby doll with her everywhere now, along with her purse filled with sunglasses, cell phone and baby pacifiers. It really is the cutest thing.
Emily has also become more decisive, especially when it comes to food. She used to eat whatever she we put in from of her, but last week she barely ate dinner. I admit that one night last week she did have a bowl of ice cream for dinner. Granted, she is teething HARD right now. I can feel molars coming through. If she doesn't want something she howls "nooooo".

She is obsessed with Yo Gabba Gabba. Every morning she wakes up and as we pass the living room says "Party party party on" Meaning she wants to watch her show. I don't really know why she calls it "party" except that they dance and sing. She has never been one to sit and watch TV so I am taking advantage of these little TV breaks here and there.

Almost two!!

2010-07-24T15:16:00.000-04:00

Okay let me just start off by saying I suck at blogging! Sorry for no updates in over a month! Summer has been pretty hectic so far with birthday parties, vacations and just everyday life.
I can't believe my little peanut is going to be two in about two weeks. She has really blossomed the last 6 months. Things she has learned the last couple months:

-successfully drink from an open cup
-successfully eat from a fork and spoon
-sit in a chair without falling
-put her shoes on and take them off
-Help getting dresses and undressed
-Can walk up and down the stairs holding the rail
-Points to picture or object when called by name
-Can name her body parts

I am planning a Yo Gabba Gabba birthday party. Picking out the cake is going to be so much fun! I have a ton to choose from. This website has so many possibilities!! Gabba Friends

As for decorations, Yo Gabba Gabba party decorations are only sold on-line and a little expensive for 25-30 people!
Therefore, I went to Target and they had a bunch of solid color decorations so I am going with the blue, orange, red and yellow plates, cups and cutlery. I will also be getting multi-colored balloons and table cloths.

For the kids, I will have the kiddie pool and I bought THIS at Target for $8!!

For her birthday, we bought her this Step 2 Arctic water table

And this Fisher price Bubble Mower. She will love to "help" daddy mow the grass!

I might cave and get her this slide as well. She absolutely adores the slide everywhere we go. I have had zero luck at garage sales and people don't respond on Craigs List.

A few recent pics!

Holy word explosion

2010-06-10T10:10:00.000-04:00

The last few weeks Emily has started repeating pretty much everything Adam and I say (which means we need to watch what we say!) She learned how to say cow last week and loves to point them out when we pass them on the way to the mall. I will be driving and all of a sudden she will belt out "COW!" and "Mooooooooooooooooooooooooo" follows. It is so cute. I really need to get this recorded because it really is adorable. She likes to say this over and over too, no matter where we are. "Cow. Moooooooo" "Cow. Moooooo"

We are also entering the temper tantrum stage. She will throw herself on the floor and roll around if she doesn't get exactly what she wants at that very second. I have learned to just walk away. She will get over it.

I want to start operation no paci....again. It seems like everytime I decide to take it away, she starts teething and there is no way I am taking that away when she is teething. She needs some comfort. Maybe next month.

Here she is eating ice cream. She LOVES ice cream!

Lilac Festival 2010

2010-05-22T19:30:00.000-04:00

Adam had off today so we ventured over to the Lilac Festival! Unfortunately the lilac trees/bushes had already bloomed. The lilacs were sparse. We did happen to find a couple trees!
We got some cool photos of Emily sitting on these giant benches which are part of theThe Benches on Parade all around Rochester. Pretty cool!

21 months old

2010-05-12T19:27:00.001-04:00

My goodness. In less than 3 months Emily will be TWO! I really can't believe it. The last 9 months flew by faster than the last year. She is talking up a storm. Here are just a few of her words:

Milk
Bottle
Cereal
Cupcake
Yogurt
Marshmallow
Bear
Kitty cat
Monkey
Momma
Dada
Papa
Joe (great-grandfather)
Grandma
Abby (cousin)
upstairs
Book
shoes
socks
stroller
car
truck

I am sure there are more, I just can't remember all of them!!

Her favorite foods lately have been:
chicken nuggets
pasta with red sauce
cereal with milk
bananas
mandarin oranges
Peanut butter sandwiches
coca pops (sorta like mum mum's, but much bigger!)
Tuna fish sandwich
hot dog
carrots drizzled with butter

Her hair is getting sooo long! Although you can't really tell how long it is unless she takes a bath! It is almost in the middle of her back.

Finger painting

2010-04-20T07:09:00.002-04:00

IMG_1196
Originally uploaded by LightningBoldt82
We did finger painting for the first time over the weekend. When I first squirted the paint onto the paper, she took her finger, scooped some up and put it in her mouth! Good thing it is non-toxic!
She had a lot of fun once I showed her how to make hand prints and pretty soon she made a beautiful collage :)

Black and White

2010-04-14T07:09:00.001-04:00

IMG_0819
Originally uploaded by LightningBoldt82

I took this a couple days ago on my new camera. I am still trying to figure out all of the settings, but I think this shot came out pretty good! Now if only I could remember what settings I was using.

Ergo Baby Carrier

2010-04-06T08:00:00.001-04:00

When I was pregnant with Emily, I purchased a Baby Bjorn because everywhere I looked someone had their baby in one. It was popular two years ago. Now after using it, I hate it. Emily isn't even 20 lbs and the thing kills my back and my shoulders. Then I did some research and found the Ergo baby carrier. I am trying to sell my Bjorn, but since everyone has one of these, it is very difficult to get rid of.
So I am trying to win an Ergo! You can try and win too!

Check out the giveaway site, Braggingmommy here:

http://www.thebraggingmommy.com/2010/04/03/ergobaby-carrier-review-and-giveaway/

Easter 2010

2010-04-05T21:17:00.001-04:00

Emily had a great Easter this year. She really got into the Easter egg hunt at her grandparents house. She looked so cute in her easter dress!

Hiding places

2010-03-29T09:59:00.003-04:00

Emily has found a new hiding place. Thankfully she doesn't have that many! She discovered this yesterday as she was taking out my pots and pans. She realized she could climb in when it was pretty much empty. Oh boy!

She went back to it after I got her dressed and ready for the day.

Does she look ukranian here??

Pretty eye lashes! Lucky girl.

Shoes

2010-03-20T09:53:00.001-04:00

Emily LOVES shoes. My shoes, Adam's shoes and her shoes. We have our shoes lined up by the door when you first come in. They typically don't stay there all lined up neatly. She usually has to try all of them on and eventually they are scattered all over the house. One sneaker could be in the kitchen while the match is in my bedroom. I go through at the end of the night and line them all back up.

She is really good at getting them on all by herself too!

New Camera!

2010-03-20T09:13:00.006-04:00

For my birthday I got a new camera. After hours of research I decided on the Canon Powershot XS20 IS. So far I love it, but I have a lot of learning to do!

Here are some shots I took of Emily yesterday when I went to pick her up from my mom's house.

Not happy that it was time to come in the house.

Weight update

2010-02-25T16:47:00.000-05:00

Emily went to the doctor office yesterday for her 6 week weight check. Drum roll please...........she now weighs 18 lbs. 9 oz!

I am so happy she gained some weight. There was no concern about her head measurements. Yay!

She is still rear facing in her car seat. At this rate, she will be rear facing until she enters kindergarden!

Chips

2010-02-22T19:30:00.000-05:00

Emily went into the chip cupboard in the kitchen and grabbed the tortilla chips. She then went back to her chair in the living room and started chomping down on them.

I step out to put a few dishes in the dishwasher and came back to this:

I went to get the vacuum cleaner and Emily started doing this:

She took a few chips and went back to her chair. Silly kid.

Pics from the weekend

2010-02-01T22:12:00.000-05:00

We stayed home this weekend. It was just too cold to venture out and we both needed some relax time. The week was crazy!

She took my vitals

Went shopping around the house

horsed around with daddy

Served us dinner (haha, not really) Someone has a habit of leaving dishes and glasses on the end table ;)

Caught up with a good book

Awww poor baby stubbed her toe

Emily's first Dinosaur BBQ experience

2010-01-24T08:11:00.000-05:00

Yesterday my mom, aunt, Emily and I went to the Dinosaur BBQ for lunch for some slathered smoked ribs and chicken. Emily was having a clingy day and was pretty much glued to me at the restaurant. I tried many times to get her to sit in her high chair but she cried and cried. I didn't want to disrupt everyone in the restaurant so I kept her on my lap.
As soon as my ribs and chicken came she started digging right in! She ate some scalloped potatoes and then grabbed a rib off my plate! She started chowing down, ripping at the meat with her teeth. She LOVED it!
I caught it on camera too! Here are a few shots from the restaurant.

17 months-Weight issues arise once more

2010-01-19T11:16:00.000-05:00

I feel like this is a never ending battle. My child has such a difficult time gaining weight! Mainly because she seriously doesn't stop moving when her little eyes are open. When I say she doesn't stop, she doesn't stop! She is running in circles around the staircase located in middle of the house or jumping off her anywhere chair or pulling all of my plastic storage bins out of the cabinet drawer or pushing around her doll stroller.

At her last appointment, she weighed 17 lbs 6.5 oz. The week before, we had to go in to see the doc due to a double ear infection and she weighed 17 lbs. 4.5 oz. So she did gain 2 oz in a week, BUT the doctor is still worried because she has been stuck at 17 lbs since November.

The doctor is also worried about her head growth. Her head hasn't grown since November either. The nurse measured her three times and then the doc mesured her twice. Pedi said that is could be that she has a small head or it could be something else. I am trying not to freak out. I mean, both my husband and I were small kids and really, we have smaller heads so of course she isn't going to have some large melon head. Also, she had her 18 month appointment 2 weeks after she turned 17 months. We are missing two weeks of growth here!!

We have to go back in 6 weeks for a weight and head circumference check.

I am going to fatten this child up! Here is what I am going to try:

-Fixing her pasta for meals twice or three times a week

-Kefir smoothies- Kefir is a cultured, enzyme-rich food filled with friendly micro-organisms that help balance your "inner ecosystem." More nutritious and therapeutic than yogurt, it supplies complete protein, essential minerals, and valuable B vitamins. Plus, 8 grams of fat per serving!

-Cream cheese filled cheerios for snacks

-Adding avocado to pasta sauce

- She already drinks organic whole milk- about 15-20 oz per day

- Bread and butter with meals

-French toast with double egg

If anyone has some ideas, I would love to hear them! She is not a big meat eater and refuses eggs unless they are in other foods.

In other news, she said "bear" last night when we pointed to a bear. Awwwwwww :o)

Pics

2010-01-17T14:35:00.000-05:00

Look! I found a huge box!

A look back at 16 months

2010-01-05T11:15:00.001-05:00

The last month has just flown by with Christmas and new Years. Emily is really blossoming into a little toddler with quite an attitude! She knows what she wants when she wants it.

She will stand by the fridge and point to either the fridge for milk or the freezer for an ice cube. She loves to suck on ice cubes in her mesh feeder. It is great for teething and also great for getting liquids into her tiny body.

Words: "dada" (for both mom and dad), "no", "yes", "cheese" (usually when I am taking a picture of her), "kitty", "woof" (for dog), shoe, and when she wants something, she will point and say "ya ya ya ya ya".

Teeth: 8 teeth including one molar fully through and one that just poked through a few days ago. She is teething like crazy right now. At one point, we saw blood in her mouth from agrivated gums.

Sleep: Emily is a great sleeper. She will go to sleep around 8:30-9pm and usually sleeps right through. She wakes up typically between 8-8:30 am. Last month she went through a phase where she wanted to fall asleep while laying on me other wise she would scream and yell "dada" (both DH and I are dada). It lasted for a couple weeks until We just put up with the crying for a few nights. Now she is back to going to sleep on her own with no complaints.

Food: Emily is typically a good eater. She eats a good size portion of whatever we give her, especially pasta with tomato sauce. He favorite foods are bananas, pasta, chicken nuggets, hot dogs and peas. She LOVES peas. She would eat them at every meal if I let her. Also carrots and bread. She is not to keen on meats, but will eat an occational hot dog or chicken nugget. We tried pulled pork last week and she liked that, of course with bread. I sneak protein in by feeding her those Gerber Graduates ravioli stuffed with pork or beef. She refuses to eat eggs or deli meat.
She is learning to eat with sppons and forks. Sometimes she actually gets food into her mouth! Emily refuses to eat a meal without a spoon or a fork. That is a good thing right?

Clothes: She is in size 18 months with plenty of room to grow. She has long legs so her pants fit in length but the waist is always huge so I have to roll them, even with the adjustable waist pants!!

Christmas Photos!

2009-12-12T19:09:00.000-05:00

Here are a few Christmas pictures I took a few weeks ago of Emily.

Baby Gear I love

2009-11-19T20:54:00.002-05:00

I have been meaning to do this post forever! Better now than never!

Graco Quattro Tour Travel System in Deco. I love love love this! The car seat is a Safeseat, which has now been renamed the SnugRide 32. My daughter actually still fits into this seat. It was easy to transport from car to stroller and from house to the car and so fourth. The 90 degree sun shade helped for those sunny days on both the car seat and stroller. The base is easy to install as well.

The stroller is a tad bulky and heavy at 25 lbs, but it has plenty of room for DD with snack tray galore, beverage tray for mommy and it reclines all the way down for napping. I also love the huge storage basket underneath. I have no problem getting in and out of Gymboree, which is such a tiny store.

Graco Safeseat/Snugride32 Install

Fisher Price Rainforest Bouncer. The only way I could shower when Emily was a wee infant. I would plop her in this thing and she was mesmerized for hours! (not really, but you get the idea)

Avent Bottles. Sadly, I eventually had to go back to work and Emily started on bottles. These were OK, I mean it is a bottle. They did have a leak issue. I had to make sure the nipples were correctly aligned in the cap or milk would be everywhere.

Medela Pump in Style Advance. This pump was great until the motor died. The customer service was excellent though. They had another shipped to me overnight. In the meantime, I still had to pump so I bought the pump below.

After I started using this, the Medela Swing, I couldn't go back to the Medela PISA. The suction on this pump was different and I *think* my body got used to this. I couldn't get milk out using the PISA. I loved this pump. It was smaller and took batteries for travel. I could stick this into Emily's diaper bag no problem.

Tiny Love Gym. Emily also loved this for the first few months before she was mobile. I wouldn't get this new. They cost a pretty penny. I picked mine up used at a consignment store for $20.

Hooter Hider. I loved my Hooter Hider for the first 4 months until my daughter went on a nursing strike and I was hooked up to the pump. This was great for the mall, restaurants or even family gatherings. Now I didn't have to find a bathroom (blech) or a dressing room.

Tiny Love Mobile. Emily really enjoyed gazing up at this everyday. If I had to keep her entertained for a second or two, I would stick her in the crib, turn this on and she was happy as a clam. I still have the musical part on her crib. She listens to it daily.

Fisher Price Rainforest jumperoo. This was a hit in our house once Emily reached 4.5 months old. The toys and lights kept her entertained and she really got her exercise jumping. At first, she was a little short. We put some books underneath her feet.

Maclaren Volo stroller. This stroller is great for quick walks around the neighborhood or crowded places where the Graco won't fit. I love the storage underneath and comfy (long) handles. The handles are longer than on an ordinary cheap umbrella stroller, which is great. I am not slumped over pushing the stroller. I also love how light this is. It is easily folded and even has a shoulder strap! When it is not in use, it hangs up in my basement stairwell.

*Currently we are not using this stroller., ALL Maclaren strollers have been recalled and am waiting for the replacement part.* You can find out more about this recall here: Maclaren Stroller recall

Britax Marathon. I have to say, I am in love with Britax. The seats are solid and comfy. Sure they are expensive, but I believe you get what you pay for. Britax seats have a lot of safety features other seats just don't have.

This seat in particular can hold an infant rear facing 5-35 lbs and forward facing 35-65 lbs. Emily will be in this seat until she is in Kindergarden at the rate she is growing. The install is a bit tricky if you have never done it before, but thanks to youtube, it can be easily perfected.

Britax Rear facing install

Britax forward facing install

Last but not least, the Baby Crack Machine! It is really called the Homedics Sound Spa. The ultimate white noise machine will keep babies (and parents) sleeping through the night. Emily still uses this.

Chicco Polly Highchair. I really love this highchair. It features 7 different height settings which I use all the time depending on what table we are eating at (we have a pub style table and a regular style table). Sometimes I put it all the way down to the lowest level so Emily can get a different view. It also features a recline for little babies and two seat pads., which makes cleaning a breeze. I can just pull it off, rinse it and out it back on. The tray is nice too, and comes with two additional tray inserts, again for easy cleaning. The one thing that I don't like about this high chair is that there are a few tiny crevices that tend to get clogged with food, but nothing a toothpick can't get out.

It has a very compact fold (which is also easy once you get the hang of it). I never fold mine up, but used to when we lived in the apartment.

Infantino Shopping Cart cover. I have a love/hate relationship with this. I like that it keeps germs away from my daughter, but it doesn't roll up nicely for storage and usually I have to re-thread the harness back through. It can also be used at restaurants on those sticky highchairs.

Graco Silhouette swing in Deco. Emily loved her swing and I never had any issues with it, despite the horrible reviews on BRU. I love the sleek design the most.

JJ Cole System Bag. I really liked the design of this bag. It had a lot of great pockets for bottles, pacis and such. It was a little on the small side so I had to be selective on what I really needed to bring when going out. I really loved the attached changing pad that had a pocket for wipes and diaper cream.

The Bad: I went through two of these diaper bags in less than 15 months. The first time happened when Emily was 2 months old. The seams starting pulling away by the zipper. The second time happened a few months ago and the zipper actually broke.

Their customer service is excellent, replacing the bag each time free of charge. The last time, I actually requested to get a different bag. I now own the Tote bag and so far, no problems!!

Items I found useless and a total waste of $$$

1. Bumbo seat. Emily used this about 10 times before she figured out how to "pop" out of it.

2. Diaper Champ. This was great in the beginning when the poop didn't stink too bad. I can't even put poop diapers in it anymore. I don't think any of these "odor eliminating diaper disposal systems" actually work. Let's face it, poop stinks. Your best bet is to save your $$$ and reuse those plastic grocery bags you get each week at the store.

3. Cutesy little burp cloths. They were too small and I ended up wearing most of the spit up. I started using cloth diapers (prefold) instead.

4. Boppy. I hated it for nursing. I was so uncomfortable and just made it awkward. It was good for tummy time or sitting up time before Emily could really sit on her own.

15 Month Appointment

2009-11-19T18:39:00.001-05:00

Emily had her 15 month doctor appointment yesterday morning. Here are the stats: 17 lbs and 30.5 inches long (OMG, we can still use the infant car seat in Adam's car!). The nurse had a terrible bedside manner and I was < > this close to saying something to the doctor, but I got distracted by a scared Emily.

I decided to refuse the H1N1 vaccine and delayed the MMR. The doctor seemed a little surprised (and annoyed) that I wasn't jumping for joy when she exclaimed they had the vax in the office.

I am just not comfortable with my daughter getting this. Not enough research and I don't like how it has been heavily rushed into production. As for the MMR, we are delaying until she is 18 months. She got 4 shots today. That was enough.

We have a talker!

2009-11-12T20:26:00.001-05:00

Last week Emily's babbles started to sound like real words. She has been saying "yeah yeah" for a few weeks now when she sees something she wants. Last friday she started sating "kitty kitty kitty" when she sees my parents cat, Sparta. She can also say "Daddy" "Momma". So fun!

And apparently, she is fluent in text too ;o)

Stroller giveaway

2009-11-07T11:26:00.000-05:00

Lately I have become obsessed with entering blog giveaways. I entered to win the new Jeep Wrangler g-Edition stroller. I entered for it here.

Gift Cards

2009-11-04T14:04:00.000-05:00

Lets just say I am terrible with gift cards. I usually hold on to them for at least 6 months before I decide to use them. Then I can never decide on what to buy with them so they just sit and hang out in my wallet until I decide to clean it out every so often. Then when I go to use them, I usually have a weird remaining balance and I don't feel like shelling out cash so again, it just sits in my wallet.

These are the ones I dug out today with when I received them and what their remaining balance is:

Pottery Barn Kids -Given to me at Emily's shower in June 2008: $8.21
Wal-Mart- Given to me at Emily's shower in June 2008: $4.50
Macy's- Christmas 2008: $2.60
Gap- My birthday March 2009: $14.69
JoAnn Fabrics- No idea!!: $3.87

I think I may just have to go shopping!

Pumpkins! Apples!

2009-10-22T17:08:00.000-04:00

Awww Family picture at the pumpkin patch

I love this puzzled face. "ummm what are all these orange balls??"

"Why hello there my orange friend"

"Just my size"

"Can I take this one home Daddy?"

At the farm we went to, they have these teepees set up. All around the inside of the teepee are carved jack O' lanterns. It was pretty cool.

From a few weeks ago at the apple farm. Emily enjoyed throwing the "balls" around to see if they would bounce.

Pro pics!

2009-10-14T20:45:00.000-04:00

We had Emily's first ever professional photos that were not done at a studio at a department sore. I knottie/nestie friend who lives in the same town does a wonderful job. We went to Perinton Park here in the village. Here are some "teaser" pics.
I can't wait to see the rest in a few weeks!

A few videos

2009-10-06T20:08:00.004-04:00

Wish List Wednesday

2009-09-23T15:10:00.000-04:00

I am jumping on the bandwagon of Wish List Wednesday I have seen on other blogs I follow.

Now that I own a home, I have actual floors to clean like the white laminate in the kitchen and the gleaming hardwood floors in the living room, dining room, hall and master bedroom. The swiffer I have just isn't cutting it and I really don't have the time to pull out my mop and bucket every few days for the kitchen.

So, I want a steam mop!

LINK

For Emily, the Fisher Price Animal Farm. She loves animals. When we go for walks and see a dog, she gets all excited and does a "hmm" sound, like it sparks her interest.

Farewell to summer

2009-09-07T08:20:00.000-04:00

Emily sure did a lot for her second summer. But really this was her first summer to really enjoy it. Last year she was asleep for most of it or swaddled up snuggling with mommy or daddy.
Lets see....what did she do?
The local zoo
Took a trip down the Erie Canal on the Colonial Belle
Niagara Falls
Lilac Festival
Fairport Canal Days Festival
Local beach before it got smelly
Rode on the Mary Jemison on the Genesee River
Garage sales with Mommy

I am sure there is more, but of course I am having a brain freeze.

Alas, here are some pics from last week.

We had a Lobster dinner. Emily enjoyed playing with the carcass.

Playing with her future cousin's clothes. She has an obsession with clothing on hangers. She likes to carry them around on the hangers, swinging them. She is such a girl.

Sometimes I just love dressing her up to not match.

She was making a grunting noise like this was so hard to push. Too cute!

What a great idea!

2009-08-22T23:17:00.001-04:00

She made a play kitchen out of an old TV entertainment center.

You can see it went from old entertainment center to awesome play kitchen Here

Summer fun!

2009-08-22T11:32:00.000-04:00

Posing with Grandpa.

Eating Abbotts Custard!

Ummm don't take that away mom!!

Prancing around the front yard

Makin' waves in the pool

Trying to get a drink!

Happy Birthday Emily!

2009-08-11T22:31:00.006-04:00

Emily turned One on 8.8.09! She woke up in an excellent mood and was a happy kid the entire day. She must have known it was her day to shine.

She took a great nap before all the guests arrived at 1 pm for her party. We invited about 75 people and had about 55 show up to our new home. We had a cookout with BBQ chicken, baked beans, potato salad, fresh fruit, orzo salad and my MIL's famous rice. The food was delicious!

Then it was time for cake. I made a ladybug cake and a giant cupcake that was almost the size of Emily! I think it was bigger than her head for sure. It took me about 5 hours to complete the cakes from batter to the frosting from scratch. Emily dove right into the cupcake as we sang Happy Birthday to her. Then I gave her a smaller cupcake to "smash" into. She ate the entire thing, frosting and all. She is just like her momma; loves her sweets!! Check out the video!

She LOVED it!!!

When it came time for gifts, she could care less. She got a tiny folding chair that she practiced getting in and out of for the duration of the gift opening. She took a few dives and the crowd let out some gasps. Emily just giggled. Daddy was supposed to be watching her :0).

Then at about 6 pm after everyone left, my mom, cousin, aunt, Emily and I went to the mall for a shopping excursion and then we stopped at Cold Stone for some Ice cream, as if we didn't have enough sweets that day! We didn't get home until 10:30 pm! Emily was awake the entire time, having a blast.

My little dare devil

2009-07-28T07:27:00.004-04:00

She loves to climb all over her PB Anywhere chair. Sometimes she even attempts a jump!

My little Jedi Knight in training.

Or even the ottoman. She climbed up this herself, stood up and laughed at me.

Almost took a step and a trip to the beach!

2009-07-03T07:55:00.004-04:00

The past week, Emily has been standing all on her own for about 15 seconds at a time. Last night she was so cute. I wish I videoed it though.

She was standing and clapping at the same time while of course her goofy parents were cheering her on. I was so sure she was going to take a step but it was about 9:45 pm and she had a long day. Maybe this weekend!! I really think she is going to walk before her first birthday. Both Adam and I walked at 9 months.
Tuesday we went to the beach for dinner at Cheeb urger Cheeburger and then took a spin on the historic carousel that was built in 1905. When we arrived, the carousel was closed for new riders so we had to wait. Once the carousel started, her eyes got really wide and she stared at the carousel the entire time it was going round and round. Once it was our turn, we went to find a horse. I tried to put her on the horse by herself and she wanted no part of that so I got on and put her in front of me. She was so cute as she held on and was singing to the music as we went round and round. She loved it!!

She sorta took her first step right at the end.

10 Months!

2009-06-10T19:44:00.004-04:00

Emily was 10 months old as of 6/8/09. She spent that day exploring her new house!! We had our house inspection and she enjoyed bouncing around in her new room with plushy carpet. She didn't care much for the hardwoods downstairs though. Our close date is July 10th so we need to start packing!!!
Emily is so close to standing on her own and she is really cruising around the furniture now. She has discovered the cabinet doors and after she was found pulling out all of mommy's pots and pans along with some other things she shouldn't be touching so on went the locks.
Emily is a big hand clapper now. Whenever she is excited and happy, she claps and claps and claps! It is the cutest thing.
We started giving her more table foods. Her favorites are deli meats, shredded cheese, mixed vegetables, noodles and of course cheerios and puffs. Last night we gave her some ground beef that we used for tacos and she loved it! I wish I snapped a picture because her entire face was orange.
We take her in for her cardiologist appointment on the 25th of this month. I am not that worried. After the initial shock wore off that something might be wrong and some reassurance from family and friends, I think she will be just fine.
Then in about a three weeks she goes back to the pedi for a weight check. She weighed 14 lbs 4 oz three weeks ago and since then I have been trying to fatten her up by offering her food/bottles more often. I noticed that if she is overly distracted, she will not drink a bottle so before we go out anywhere, I make sure she has a full belly. She seems to have gained some weight as her clothing is starting to get a tad snug.

9 Month Stats and a small scare

2009-05-18T16:11:00.002-04:00

Head circumference: 42.0 (5%)

Height: 28 inches (55%)

Weight: 14 lbs 4 oz (5%)

Yeah she is a tiny peanut. The nurse was not overly concerned because she looks healthy but still wants her to come back in 6 weeks for a weight check. We are going to start giving her more table foods (cheese, pasta, veggies, deli meats) to try and fatten her up a little. We tried yogurt a few weeks ago and she liked that and yesterday she had some rice and ate it up. There really isn't anything she doesn't like. She is such a good eater.

The nurse was checking her heart and I knew something wasn't right when she checked it and checked it and checked it again. She didn't want to alarm me and wanted the doctor to come take a listen. He said it wasn't much of anything but called it a new innocent murmur. We are going to the cardiologist for the final say. I am trying not to freak out about it! I am sure it is really nothing. She didn't have this at birth.

Trying not to freak out.

Flower Photo Shoot

2009-05-16T10:00:00.004-04:00

I took some photos last week at the Lilac Festival. I used a photo enhancing software called Picnik. They look professional (I think).

9 Month pictures

2009-05-12T20:29:00.004-04:00

At her first Red Wings Baseball game! The weather was horrible though. It dropped to 54 degrees and there were 35 mph winds! We got hooked up with a suite and Emily enjoyed exploring.

She loves to stick her head in the fishbowl and "sing"

Here she is sucking on real Salmon. It was frozen and she liked the numbing feeling on her gums.

9 Months old

2009-05-12T20:18:00.002-04:00

Yet another month has passed and she is getting smarter everyday. I really can't say she is getting bigger because frankly she is still a little peanut! She never stops moving which I think is a big reason why she is not gaining as much weight as other babies her age. I mean seriously she doesn't stop moving! She is crawling or trying to climb on anything at her level.

We go to the doctor next week so I will add her stats then.

Milestones/habits/etc.

*Crawling and pulling up on furniture

*Crawling super duper fast

*Likes to clap her hands

*Waves if someone waves at her

*Likes to suck on her index finger while pulling her sleeve over mouth/nose

*Fully sleep trained after a few months of wakeful nights. She goes to sleep all by herself. Classical music helps soothe her to sleep or back to sleep.

* Loves to eat cheerios, bread and bananas. Not too fond of the "puffs" I have two different flavors- sweet potato and apple cinnamon. She does like the veggie pinwheels though.

*Laughs when we say "NO" in a stern tone. (oh boy on this one)

*Loves to go on walks.

*Loves animals, especially doggies and kitties. She squeals in delight when she sees them out and about.

*likes to roll a ball around the floor and chase after it.

*Not fond of the sippy cup. I made the mistake of giving her carrot juice without adding a "no spill stopper" and it ended up down the front of her soaking her bib, her onesie and her diaper.

*When she drinks her bottle (which she refuses to old herself) she covers her eyes with her hands or pulls/rubs/twirls her hair.

Random pictures

2009-04-30T20:25:00.005-04:00

A few random pictures because she is just so stinkin' cute!

I took her to the beach last weekend when we got a remarkable 85 degree day. She really didn't care for any of it. She didn't like the sand, the water and I took a nice walk on the pier and she screamed the entire time. She was not happy with me.

She didn't like the swings.....

We took a weekend trip to Niagara Falls a few weeks ago. We visited the falls of course and the Butterfly conservatory and the botanical gardens. Unfortunately the gardens were not in bloom but it was still pretty an we took advantage of the scenery.

8 Months already?

2009-04-14T18:35:00.005-04:00

It feels like just yesterday that we were anticipating Emily's birth! It is still fresh in my mind. I look back at pictures and it is almost hard to imagine that my crawling, babbling happy 8 month old was once my tiny 6 lb baby.

Last month she learned how to pull up on on couches, toys and just recently can cruise from ottoman to couch and back to snag a remote or piece of junk mail that is in her reach.

She loves to rip up paper. I call her my little paper shredder. Give her a newspaper and she will be happy for a few minutes. Luckily she hasn't learned to put it in her mouth yet! I am sure that is coming though.

Emily had a little stomach bug a few weeks ago which she lovingly shared with us, her Grandpa and her second cousins. She lost some weight. She was 13 lbs even two weeks ago. Lately this week she has been upping the food intake going from 1/2 jar of food to eating a whole jar at a feeding and I think I am going to have to up her milk bottles from 4 oz to 6 oz. She has been wanting to eat every two hours.

I have been weaning myself as pumping is getting harder and harder. I have trouble letting down and I just don't feel like dealing with the frustration anymore. I couldn't get anything out this morning and didn't bring my pump with me to work. By the time I got home, I was ready to pump and only pumped 5 oz. total. I have been doing 1/2 breast milk and 1/2 formula for a few weeks now. I still have a pretty good freezer stash. I think I have enough BM for another month.

I know eventually Emily will be on formula only. I really wanted to make it to a year of breast feeding. With the nursing strikes and pump issues, I just don't see how. I am almost OK with it.

Emily has been home with me for the past two weeks as I was looking for a new job. She has become increasingly attached to me. Especially when we are out in public or at family gatherings. She clings to me and screams if I try and hand her off to someone else. I can't even enjoy church service because she screams the entire time she is in the nursery room. I can hear her through the thin walls and it breaks my heart so I end up staying in the room with her. She would be too disruptive if she was in the service with us so that is not an option unfortunately. Now that I am back to work, I am hoping that this attachment issue settles down. Emily apparently cried for 15 minutes after I left her with her great-grandparents this morning and when I came to pick her up, they handed my screaming baby over to me. They had a friend over and she didn't approve.

Emily has not been sleeping as well as she used to either. She used to sleep all through the night from 10 pm-7 am. Now she has been getting up at 11 pm, 1 am and 4 am. We have been letting her cry it out when we put her down initially because the Ferber method just didn't work. Every time I would go into her room to settle her, she would just get more upset and would start the process all over again. It would take an hour or more just to get her to sleep.

Now she is not napping after 5 pm and goes to bed at 9 am. I think once we get back on a schedule, she will get better. I hope she gets better.

This week she has started saying "da da da" adding to the "ma ma ma" sound she was already making.

By the Grace of God

2009-03-05T11:39:00.004-05:00

We were in a car accident last Sunday. Dh was driving, I was in the passenger seat and Emily was in her car seat in the middle of the back seat--right where she is supposed to be. we were on our way to church at about 9:30 am. We were going down a main busy road, but it was pretty quiet this particular day. We were running a little late and decided I would pump in the car. No big deal, I do it all the time.

We were heading up to an intersection--not a busy one. The light was green. We had the right of way. This maroon Saturn decides to try and make a left turn in front of us and she didn't make it. DH slammed on the breaks and we tried to swirve, but not too much because there was a car in the lane next to us. We were going about 25-30 mph as we hit. I just remember looking at DH like "what do we do now??" and then looking at the car as we hit.

It was weird. I was like slow motion. Hard to explain. I saw the window crack and the airbags deploy towards me and all of a sudden lots of powder and it smelled like gas and burning metal. The airbags did not hit us. I heard a "poof" like we hit something. It fels as if we were in bumper cars and we just slammed into another bumper car. My ears were ringing. The rang for a few hours after the accident.

DH pulled the car out of the road and onto a nearby plaza. I frantically got out of the car (my door would barely open) and ran to get Emily out of the car. She was alsleep through the entire ordeal. She only started crying when I was panicking to get her out. I thought the car was on fire so I wanted to get her out as soon as possible.

The girl who caused the accident came running over crying yelling "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry" I was livid and just didn't care if she was sorry or not. I started yelling at her. "What were you thinking??!!" "You could have killed my child!!" She thought we were slowing down and that she could make the turn. I was so mad.

Three cops and an ambulace came.

The ambulance guys were very nice. One young guy and one older guy. The older guy just loved Emily. He wanted to take her home! She got a perfect bill of health and she got a "feel better bear". She loved it.

My mother came to the scene to help us. We had to get everything out of the car and stuff it in my mothers small compact car.

We got home and called the insurance company and we had a rental by noon.

Geico is our insurance company. They have been great. We are getting $5400 for our beloved Infiniti (gawd we loved that car) and Emily has a brand smankin' new Graco Safe Seat Infant seat.

Thank God for protecting us. Objects can be replaced, but the people you love can't.

Pics of my little lady

2009-02-17T17:10:00.004-05:00

Here are some pics from the last week. Enjoy! This first one was taken on Valentine's Day. I love the smile.

Free fallin'

Emily in her little tutu

Emily and mommy

6 months pic

Car seats

2009-02-12T16:34:00.003-05:00

I bought Emily her second car seat today after finding a great deal on a Britax Marathon. Funny thing is, this is the one that we registered for and now it is on clearance for $179 with free shipping! They are $279 full price.

I am so excited. She won't need to use it for another 6 months, but it is worth taking advantage of a great deal. They are the safest car seats on the market in my opinion.

Also, I will be keeping her rear facing for as long as possible. Babies need to stay rear facing until they are a year old AND 20 lbs, but recent studies and the Amerian Academy of Pediatrics now suggest that keeping them rear facing until they are 2 is even safer.

Here is an insert from the Carseat.org website:

Safety experts and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend that children remain
rear facing as long as possible and never travel forward facing before they are one year
old and also weigh at least 20 pounds. This reduces their risk of serious neck or spinal
cord injury and lifelong disability. All new convertible seats available today allow
children to remain rear facing until they weigh 30 pounds or more, depending on the
model.
Babies have heavy heads and fragile necks. In a crash, an infant’s soft spinal column can
stretch, leading to spinal cord damage if he is riding facing forward. The baby could die
or be paralyzed permanently. This is true even for babies who have strong neck muscles
and good head control. The neck bones are flexible, and the ligaments are loose to allow
for growth.

This video was enough for me.

6 Months!

2009-02-12T16:13:00.006-05:00

I cannot belive that my sweet little baby is 1/2 a year old already. Time has gone by so fast. She is such a sweet little girl and both DH and I are so blessed to have her in our lives. I thank God everyday for her. She is precious.

We went to the doctor yesterday. She is a whole 13 lbs 1 1/2 oz and is 26 inches long. She is low in percentiles for both height and weight, but she is gaining steady so the doctor is not worried. When she has parents who were barely on the charts themselves, Emily shouldn't expect to be "normal" according to the charts.

Usually DH takes her to the doctor and this was my first time taking her for a well baby visit. We were both fine until it was time for those shots. The nurse stabbed her little legs so fast, it took Emily 5 seconds to realize that she was in pain! She started screaming and I quickly scooped her up in my arms as soon as the nurse was done. It took her a while to calm down. There was no way she was going into her carseat after that! I had to carry her, the diaper bag and the car seat out to the waiting room. She let me put her in the seat shortly after and we were on our way back home. As soon as we were on the road, she was asleep. She slept for 2 hours!

Emily will be crawling shortly, I am sure. She has learned that rolling can get her places. Last night I put her at one end of the living room and about 15 minutes later, she had made her way t0 the other side of the room! She managed to take her socks off and bring a few toys along with her, dispursing them throughout the room.

I loved staying home with her yesterday. It was fun to be able to play with her and just take it easy mid-week. I wish I could do that everyday. Maybe someday soon.

First Ear Infection

2009-01-27T17:11:00.002-05:00

My poor baby! It started Wednesday night. We gave her bananas and she was up every 1-2 hours screaming with terrible gas. No more bananas for Emily for at least a month.
Thursday night was not any better. We had to rock her back to sleep and finally by 3 am decided to just keep her in the bed with us. As long as she was sleeping close by, she was fine.
I thought it was the bananas still in her system. She had no fever and was fine during the day.
Friday night came and she was beyond miserable. She had a fever of 100.7 so I gave her some Tylenol and we went to bed. I woke up early Saturday morning and took her to the doctor. As soon as the doctor checked her ears, she started screaming.
She is now on amoxicillan two times a day. She doesn't like the medicine. It is raspberry flavored. What ever happened to bubble gum?
She is doing much better and sleeping through the night again.

Cereal!

2009-01-11T13:35:00.005-05:00

On 1/8 Emily got her first taste of solids. We tried single grain rice mixed with breast milk. She didn't know what it was and frankly, didn't care! She didn't take to it well and kinda hates it. We give it to her for breakfast and then for dinner. She just spits it back out of her mouth. We only give her a tablespoon at a time, and she barely finishes that.
I really thought she was going to like it, because she LOVES to eat. I even tasted it. Not too bad. It is sweet from the breast milk. Maybe once she learns how to "chew" it and swallow, it will get
better. I am trying not to get discouraged over it or think something is wrong with her, because I know it is normal. I just hope she isn't like this with veggies too. I am all about veggies and I want her to be too.

Baby's 1st Christmas!

2009-01-07T22:00:00.004-05:00

Lets begin on Christmas eve. After doing some last minute shopping at the local mall, which is funny because before Emily, I had all my shopping done and gifts wrapped and under the tree weeks before Christmas. This year, time just got away from me.

I spent Christmas eve afternoon watching The Duggar marathon on TV while wrapping almost all of t

he gifts. That evening, we headed over to my mom's house for a yummy lobster and steak dinner. DH is a great cook and the lobster came out perfect. Emily watched from her exersaucer as we ate. She was busy trying to pull her bow off her head. Then it was time for presents! This is Emily opening

her very first present from her grandparents.

She was more interested in getting the paper in her mouth more than anything. She was so bored after we finally got the gift open as you can see from the picture. She got some onesies, outfits and a gift card to BRU!

After gifts and dessert we headed home for the night. We were all exhausted, especially DH who worked all day long. Emily was

out before we hit the road.

She slept great that night and was up at 8am. We got her out of the crib and went to the tree. This was the first time she sat up all on her own! What a great accomplishment for her.

We opened a few

gifts with her and then opened ours. We got her some paci's, a "O" ball, which looks more like a dog toy than a baby toy, Fisher Price Laugh and Learn activity table and Fisher Price gum ball machine. These toys are for 6 months and up so pretty soon she will enjoy them.

That morning we went to my side of the family for more gifts and food. In the afternoon we headed over to DH's side of the family for more gifts and even more food!

Emily did fairly well with everyone wanting to hold her and just being shuffled from house to house all day long. She

is such an easy kid I tell ya. At the end of the day, we were all ready to snuggle into bed.

Emily's 4 month stats

2008-12-18T16:34:00.002-05:00

Emily went to the doctor yesterday for her 4 month check up. She is growing and is very healthy which is great news! Every parent wants to hear that their kid is healthy and on the right track.

Weight: 11 lbs 12 oz
Height: 25"
Head: 39 cm

Soooo she is light for her age, tall for her age (75th percentile and has a smaller head than most babies (10th percentile). Tall and skinny just like her daddy and mommy!

She also got another round of shots, which she did well with. There was no need for Tylenol afterwards and she slept great last night. She came to see me at lunch and she was her happy go lucky self.

Merry Christmas!!!

2008-12-18T16:26:00.002-05:00

Emily's first time in the Jumperoo

2008-11-11T21:42:00.002-05:00

This was the cutest thing ever! This was her first time in the jumperoo and she started giggling as soon as I put her in it.
I think she liked the sensation of bouncing up and down and she really liked the music and toys. After about 5 minutes in the seat she fell asleep!

2 Months old!

2008-10-15T14:39:00.003-04:00

Emily is two months old already! I cannot believe it. Time went by so fast!

She went to the doctor and her new stats are:

9 lbs 11 oz

22 1/2 inches long

She was 6 lbs 8 oz and 19 1/2 inches long when born so she is growing right along! I knew she was going to be at least 8 lbs because she grew out of all her newborn clothes a few weeks ago.

Milestones the last few weeks:

Week 4: Learned how to put her legs up in the air and roll to one side (so cute!)

Week 5: smiled (really) for the first time

Week 6: rolled from her belly to her back

Week 8: giggled when talked to

Week 9: Starting to recognize her name

We are having a little trouble with breastfeeding now that I am back to work. She takes the bottle fine which is great, but when she is really hungry she gets really impatient when the milk from my breast is not coming out right away which makes her cry and pull off. This makes me cry because this is one way we bond together and I don't want it to end! She usually will refuse me during her 6-7pm feeding so I have to go pump while Adam feeds her a bottle. She has no issues if she gets up during the night to feed. Who knows!

Introducing Baby Emily!

2008-10-04T11:32:00.003-04:00

I know, I know I have neglected this blog for about 9 weeks now. I have been enjoying every minute with my little girl!

Emily Ann was born August 8th 2008 at 2:06pm. She weighed 6lbs 8 inches and was 19 inches long.

I will post the birth story someday. I just don't have the energy right now!!

Anywho I have to go back to work Monday. I really loved staying home with Emily for 8 weeks. I am very sad and depressed that I have to go back to work. I have been balling all week long just at the thought of leaving her and going back to work. Even commercials that play over and over again during the day bring a tear to my eye (I know, so freaking sad).

Monday will be so hard, but at least she will be in good hands. My MIL is watching her Mondays and Thursdays. My grandparents will watch her Tuesdays, Adam will have her Wednesdays and my mom will have her Fridays. Phew!! It beats daycare.

39 Weeks and 3 Days Pregnant

2008-08-07T14:03:00.003-04:00

I am 100% effaced

My cervix is 3.5 cm dilated

Baby is at -1 Station in my pelvis.

Hospital bag, diaper bag and pillows are packed in the car and the car seat is installed.

Any day now we will get to meet our little girl! Adam is getting so excited, he cannot wait to finally hold her in his arms. We go to bed each night as if this is the last night of "just us" and then we smile in excitement.

The nursery is finally finished!

Nursery Update

2008-06-25T14:20:00.003-04:00

Here are some recent pictures of how the nursery is coming along. In the beginning, I had no vision or any idea as to what I wanted. I just knew I wanted it to be bright and cheerful. I think I accomplished that!

The bedding is from Pottery Barn Kids from the "Mia" collection. I also got the pink panels from PBK on sale for $8.99 a piece! Now that is a bargain! I just need to get some room darkening mini-blinds, these let too much light in.

The changing table was given to us by someone I used to babysit for. I think it goes nicely with the rest of the room decor.

We have a dresser coming, a family friend has an antique dresser from her mother. The dresser top needs to be sanded and refinished and it needs new knobs. I am thinking pewter knobs. The dresser is a dark espresso color.

The bedding on the twin bed is from Pottery Barn. I had this before on the bed so no change there, but it does seem to go nicely with the rest of the room. I would like to get the "Mia" quilt for the bed so she can have something new.

As you can see, baby girl needs no more clothes!! She already has more outfits than her mommy!

Or shoes for that matter!

Baby Showers Galore!

2008-06-25T13:55:00.005-04:00

I had my first shower thrown by my wonderful mom on June 14th. We did not get many pictures because we were too busy doing other things! But my friend Beth gave me a few shots. We were very blessed with all the great baby stuff we got. It was a great day!!

Beth, me and Amanda
My Mother-in-Law and two sister-in-lwas threw me another shower on June 21st. Again, we were soo blessed with all the stuff people got for our new addition. Here is a picture of my MIL, me and my mother.
Pictured is my MIL, my SIL Melissa, me and my other SIL Sarah
Here I am opening some gifts. The pretty favors are on the mantle behind me. I heard that the hosts spent a lot of time working on these and they came out so pretty!

Me little neice Abby was so cute playing "peek-a-boo" with one of the presents and with her Aunt Melissa. She was such a doll that day!

Hello 3rd Trimester!

2008-05-12T10:20:00.002-04:00

Wow. Today marks the beginning of my 27th week which also marks the first day of my 3rd trimester.
The first trimester went by fast, mostly because once I found out I was pregnant, I was already 5 weeks along! The second went by pretty slow (14-26 weeks). I am sure this trimester will go by fast just because we have a very busy spring summer with weddings, my baby showers, birthdays etc. August will be here before we know it!
My "first" Mother's day was very nice. My wonderful husband got me a cute card expressing how excited he is to be having our first baby. I got a rose at the restaurant we went to and at church people were wishing me a happy mothers day! It is good to know people see that I am pregnant and not just "getting a little bigger in the front"
I also fear that people think I am some knocked up teenager because I look so young. When I go to the mall, people look at me like I have three heads. I have started to dress up a little more and throw on some makeup when I go out and that usually keeps the weird stares to a minimum. I also try to flash my sparkly wedding ring whenever I get the chance!
I hope all the moms out there had a wonderful mother's day yesterday!

99 Days and Counting

2008-05-06T09:45:00.002-04:00

99 days until we get to meet our little girl! The time really has flown by. It seems like yesturday that I got a positive pregnancy test!
I start my 3rd trimester on Sunday at the 27 week mark. Crazyness! My belly is definatly a pregnancy belly now! It had a major growth spurt around 24 weeks and since then, it has been getting harder and harder. I can also feel her more and more each day. About once a day it feels like she makes a full body turn and it is the most uncomfortable feeling so far! I cannot feel it from the outside, but I sure can from the inside!
She also enjoys doing somersaults and punching/kicking me at 3am most mornings.

The nursery is coming along slowly. The crib is up and I have started organizing the closet. I also have a cute rocking chair in the nursery which will come in handy during those early morning feedings! I am still trying to figure out where I want things in the nursery though.
We also have a twin bed in there which takes up space but I also don't want to take that down either. If we have guests over they will need a place to stay and I don't want to subject them to the couch!

I also picked out some wall letters for her name. I will probably wait until I have the bedding set up to pick colors and paint them. Not that they can go on the wall until she comes home anyways because the name is under wraps until she is born.
I will post some pics of the nursery in progress soon!

23 week Update

2008-04-18T10:20:00.004-04:00

I am 23 weeks and 4 days pregnant and couldn't feel any better!

I am getting more sleep at night and my energy level has gone back to normal. I am hoping this lasts a while!!

Our little girl has been happily moving all around and kicking me for the past month. She has been on a pretty normal schedule, being very active in the middle of the night and also around 8-10am, then again in the afternoon around 2-4pm. It is a great feeling to know that she is doing well. Although, she has managed to find my bladder and enjoys kicking it like a kickball!

She doesn't mind it when I place my hand on my belly, but when my husband tries to feel her kicks, she stops! As soon as he removes his hand she starts kicking again. It is funny how even in the womb babies favor certain touches. She also has been kicking like crazy every time I am driving. Maybe she doesn't like the vibrations.

I go to the doctor on the 22ND of this month for my 24 week appointment. Her heart rate was at 160 BPM at 20 weeks which is good. It is supposed to start getting slower now that her organs and such are all developed.

I found the perfect bedding for her nursery! I always thought I would get Pottery barn Kids bedding, but their stuff from the winter months/early spring didn't catch my eye and seemed a bit boring. I want something that is bright and colorful. Most of their stuff is white and pastelly. BUT I went into the Pottery bark Kids store this week and fell in love with this set. It is called "Mia" and looks much more vibrant in person than on the website. I love the pinks greens and oranges mixed with polka dots!

A Comment

2008-04-07T10:10:00.002-04:00

This has been bothering me all weekend and I have to vent my feelings. What better place to vent then on my blog?
Friday night as co-worker was leaving she yelled "Now don't have that baby over the weekend!" with a chuckle. I just looked at her and said "That really isn't funny, if I had the baby, she would not make it"
I know she meant it to be funny, but I took offense to it. That really was not funny at all. She replied "oh I had no idea, I guess that would be really bad".

I t was not funny to me maybe because I have been following a woman's blog who lost her twins at 23 weeks and how devistated she is by all this, or maybe because it really isn't funny at all. There is nothing funny about giving birth early or even losing your baby.

I couldn't stop thinking about this all weekend. What would I do if I lost my baby? I have no idea. I know life would go on, but how would I deal? Probably just like the woman who lost her twins. I know several woman who have had a miscarriage or several miscarriages. Somehow they find the courage to go on and keep trying for the baby they have always longed for.
That saddens me that this woman lost her babies. I read her blog and cry every time. This deep sadness comes over me and I want to reach through the screen and give her a hug.

Here is her blog if you want to read.

http://bustedbabymaker.blogspot.com/

I don't know. I just had to post this.

20 weeks and it's a....

2008-03-31T10:33:00.004-04:00

GIRL! We are having a little girl! I had an ultrasound on Tuesday, March 25th at 2:00pm. Let me tell you, drinking 16 oz. of water and not being able to go to the bathroom for 2 hours while the ultrasound technician presses on your belly is not fun and highly uncomfortable..but it was soo worth it to be able to see my little baby moving around inside of me.

We got a few ultrasound pictures, including a 3D/4D one of her tiny little face! ( I think she looks like my Husband!) I love to just look at them thinking that soon she will be in my arms!

We also got a DVD with a short video of the ultrasound.
I have only gained about 6 lbs throughout this pregnancy and the doctor is pleased with that. You usually gain about 25 lbs, any more than that is not necessary. I have not been working out or anything and it is all in my belly area, luckily I have not packed on the pounds in my butt! At least not yet!!

Week 14 Update

2008-02-15T10:12:00.003-05:00

Week 14:

I am rearing the end of the 14th week. I am 14 weeks and 4 days along. How time flies...but yet it can't come soon enough. I am counting down until the big ultrasound at the end of March. I think to my self 5 weeks? I can do five weeks..but then I think back to 5 weeks ago and I was only 9 weeks along and that seems so long ago!

My morning sickness has practically vanished and my appetite is coming back. The smell of fish still makes me want to vomit but other than that I am back to eating all the normal stuff--even Chicken which I had a huge aversion to since I got pregnant.

My sleep is getting better, still getting up for potty breaks but I am not getting up starving or uncomfortable. I am sure that will change though as I get bigger!!

I am a planner and want to plan the nursery and get it all ready. We already bought a crib and even had Adam set it up. We got a great deal on Craigslist. This crib is a $500 crib and we got it for $150! It is better quality than those at Babies R us or Target. The people bought it at a local baby boutique in Pittsford a few years ago. The one thing that I really like about it is that it's made out of real wood (not particle board or veneer) and it is made in Canada, not China! Amen to that!

Now my search continues for a dresser/changing table to match.

Week 12 Update

2008-02-02T09:32:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it has been 12 weeks already! Today I am 12 weeks and 5 days. The baby is the size of a Plum.

The way that the doctors measure this is by the first day of your last period. Seeing how I am regular and have a 29 day cycle I am right on target! (The Dr. agrees). My Expected Delivery Date is August 12th. My nephew Benjamin was born on August 11th!

We went to the Doctor's on wednesday for a belly check. I didn't meet with my regular doctor because she was not there that day (boo!) but the Doctor I had check me out was great. I really like my doctors office.

We got to hear the heartbeat on a machine called a Doppler. He basically puts this very sensitive microphone up to my belly and chases the little baby around trying to find it's heartbeat! I was reassured that everything was fine. Adam said it sounded like a bad radio station and wasn't sure what he should have been listening for! He is excited about the baby, I think when he sees the ultrasound it will be more real to him.

I am still having morning sickness, but it is now coming in waves and not everyday which is good. Hopefully soon it will be gone for good! The prenatal vitamins and the DHA-Omega 3 supplement I take don't help either so I have been taking it before I go to bed.

I have grown out of my regular pants (so sad) back at 9 weeks and am in full maternity pants. I can still wear *some* of my shirts, some are too small now or feel uncomfortable because they don't sit right! Old Navy had a big sale after Christmas and I got tons of stuff for when I am more pregnant. Maternity pants are so comfy, I don't think I will want to go back to zippers and buttons!

My mom also had a field day at Kohls and got me even more stuff! Thanks Mom!

2008-01-11T18:19:00.000-05:00

2008-01-11T18:18:00.000-05:00

I'm Pregnant!

2007-12-14T14:00:00.000-05:00

Yes. This is true. I am Pregnant. It still feels weird to say it, not that I have been lately as it has been under wraps since we found out on December 6th.

I am never late. I was officially late on December 6th. I had a digital test laying around (a few months ago, I thought I was pg, false alarm) so I got up on Thursday morning and tested. I was expecting it to say "not pregnant" but when "pregnant" jumped on the screen in less that 30 seconds, I couldn't believe it. I was so in shock. I was in shock the entire day. I went to Target and got some cheap non-digital ones and tested in the bathroom at work on my lunch. Sure enough a pink line came through. It was becoming more real!!

I told Adam that evening and he was in shock too.

I went to the Doctor on Tuesday December 11th to confirm it. When the nurse told me it was positive I said "Yeah I know, I took two pregnancy tests already!"

You can expect this blog to contain a lot about my pregnany journey.

December 18 Week 5: I have officially started morning sickness. I feel as if I will spew at any moment. All I want to eat are carbs and I am having an aversion to meat.
I also have to make frequent stops to the bathroom at night, usually at 11pm, 2pm and 4pm. I am also very tired. I come home at night and just veg on the couch next to my darling husband!

I will post the POAS (pee on a stick) pictures later.