Emma's First Play Date

Last weekend Emma and I met two other mommies and babies from our birthing class. Megan and Elle, and Ressie and Brayden. We went out to lunch first, where we ate on the patio and listened to a band play. It was great and Emma was an angel. I think she loved the music and watching all the other people. She even held hands with Brayden! Then we went to the park and walked with the kiddies in their strollers. It was gorgeous weather, a bit warm, but so nice to be out. Here's a few pictures of our fun day out.

Emma's new friend Elle:
Emma's new friend Brayden:

All of us on our playdate!

The Up and Down Obsession of Baby

I was talking with Cyndi, my sister who is very close to having her first baby, about how easy it is to become obsessed with your baby.  Especially when she is as cute as mine happens to be.   I follow other blogs of mommies and friends who I have a feeling can relate.  

It all starts that first time you hear the precious first cry and touch her cotton-soft skin.  The first time she opens her eyes to the new world around her and finds your loving eyes starting back at her.  And the obsession begins.  But before long you're obsessing over feedings, types of cries, sleep patterns, skin blemishes, color of snot, odor/frequency/color of poop, and rate of motor skill development.

Then one day she smiles at you for the first time and you melt all over again.  You are in awe over her super-baby intelligence to figure out how to stick her toes in her mouth.  You brag to your friends and family over her newfound ability to say "da-da." (OK, so she says that to the cat, the tv, in the bathtub, while playing in the car, looking at her blocks, and as she does a summersault while attempting to lunge for her teething ring....but I'm sure she's thinking of her father in every case.)  So the obsession continues.

Of course, there are things that help keep the obsession in check.  When she begins pulling on your hair, shirt, earrings, and bottom lip while feeding you wonder if there's a way to momentarily paralyze her hands.  And when she twists toward the wall and sticks her naked, sticky hiney into the air during a diaper change or stiffens her legs when trying to manipulate her into her pajamas...her cuteness subsides momentarily.  That helps with the obsession.

Yet, all of that is followed by a sweet, sloppy and wet, wide open "sugar" (what we call kisses). Or she'll spray particles of green peas everywhere when she laughs at a funny face you make during dinner time.  Or she'll double over with a big ol' belly laugh at the camera when you try to take her picture.  And the obsession continues.

I dedicate this post to all the other mommies out there who can relate to the up-and-down obsession we have with our kiddies. Especially the following fellow mommy bloggers who have helped give me an outlet to laugh, cry and plain hang in there with the rest of 'em!

• My sister, Cyndi at "Baby Browning's Journey"
  
• Kaycee at "Life As a Mom at 21"
• Jennifer at "New Home, New Baby"
• Nicki at "La Familia Jimenez"
• Michelle at "Her Cup Overfloweth"
  

This roller coaster life of a mom might be tough at times, but I wouldn't trade a minute of it for anything.  Not even for a week long vacation to Hawaii with just me and the hubs...probably....maybe...most definitely not.  :)  

Easter Day and Fashion Statement

Here are some photos of Emma from Easter day. We hope everyone had a wonderful Easter celebrating the Risen Christ! Hallelujah!


Here is Emma all ready for church on Easter.

Here is Emma dressed in her fuzzy bunny pants (with tail on back, too) and her "Baby's First Easter" bib.
Here is Emma and her cousin Aden, who is almost 1 year old.
And, here is Emma in a super cute outfit all the way from England. Thanks Nana! We wanted Nana to see how adorable she looked in this get-up....certainly got the cutest kid award at daycare.

Easter Pictures

Hi all. Here are the pictures I took of Emma for her first Easter (and six-month pics). We went to the arboretum here in Greensboro last weekend when the weather was so gorgeous. Enjoy!

Poor Kid

Emma went to the doctor today for her routine 6 month check up. Good news is, she is up to 25 inches long and 15lbs 12oz and the doctor was very pleased with her progress and said all looks great. All, that is, except her ears which were both INFECTED! We were absolutely shocked. She didn't have any symptoms and had not been extra fussy or anything. Poor kid.

To top that, she got three shots and is dealing with her first case of diaper rash (thanks to a little bit of diarrhea that might have something to do with the ear infections). She was about as pitiful as one kid can get tonight. I think it was the shots mostly, which gave her a low grade fever. The same thing happened with her last round of shots. I feel funny saying so, but the up side to her not feeling well is that the cuteness factor is HIGH! She cuddles so close, nuzzles into your neck...and tonight she nearly fell asleep on her changing pad while we got her ready for bed. Usually she fights getting dressed for bed because she's so ready for her bottle. Poor, poor kid.

"Six Months - I MADE IT!"

If Emma could talk, I bet that's what she would say...and this (above) is the face of excitement she would make (too . She turned SIX MONTHS old today. I truly, honestly, cannot believe that she is already one half of a year old. On one hand it still feels so new and like we're getting used to everything. On the other hand it feels like our precious girl has been part of our lives forever. And now, in just another SHORT six months she'll be one year old. Wow.

Here's a quick (maybe) update, followed by LOTS of pictures from this week and today. So, now six months old, Emma is a pro at sitting up! She also rolls from her belly to her back AND her back to her belly. Every now and then she acts like she wants to crawl when on her belly but as she gets her knees up she just tips over to the side instead of thrusting forward. Maybe next month. She is WONDERFUL at playing now and laughs and smiles all the time. She seems engaged by her toys, passes toys between both hands, will hand toys back to us, and EVERYTHING goes into her mouth. Speaking of that, she is definitely teething, but no teeth just yet. The past several weeks have been interesting trying different foods. So far, she has had sweet potatoes, green beans, peas, pears, peaches, squash, oatmeal cereal, and just tried bananas today. She seems to like everything. Only downside is that we've had some trouble with - um, shall we say - staying "regular." But we're working on it. She's still sleeping pretty good, although she's started waking up for a bottle once a night sometimes. We think it's growing spurts....although she's still a little bitty thing. We're excited to see how much she weighs at her 6-month check up on Monday. She seems so petite and compact to us.

Now here's LOTS of photos.