Emma's name is pretty straight forward. Emma Noel. Paul picked Emma, and I picked Noel. Anyone who knows me knows I love Christmas time, so Noel was a pretty obvious choice. Now Asher Huckleberry... that's another story.
Since before Emma was born, Paul has begged me to agree to Huckleberry Sawyer as our first son's name. Paul very obviously loved the story of Huckleberry Finn. I vetoed the suggestion. Poor Paul. My biggest concern is that our son would never be taken seriously with Huckleberry for a first name. We compromised and agreed Huckleberry made a good middle name. The Paul could have his "Huck", and I could have a son with a more serious first name.
We never could figure out a name we both loved, and luckily we had a little girl. This time around, I brought up the name Asher Huckleberry. Asher was a name I LOVED while pregnant with Emma, and I still liked the name. Paul wasn't sold. We toyed around with some other names. Tristan Huckleberry, Finn Alexander, Isaac Mikhail... none of them felt right. I kept my heart secretly set on Asher, and Paul still wanted Huckleberry to be a part of the name. When Emma says "hug", it comes out "huck". She came running up to me one night, yelled "huck!", patted my belly and hugged it. Paul and I just kind of grinned. Paul said, "she just called the baby Huck". I replied, "no. She said hug." But the memory stuck. Around week 36, Paul sent me a text. "Asher Huckleberry". I was afraid he'd change his mind, so I told him we would talk about it later. In the end, we both agreed it just felt right.
The meaning of Asher is fortunate, blessing and happy. He is living up to that name perfectly. We are fortunate to have him, he has been a true blessing to all who know him and he is such a happy baby who has made us all happy in return. I have no doubt that his middle name will show up in his personality as he gets older. I can already see the adventures he will have and the trouble he will get into. He's a little boy with a wild big sister. Adventure and trouble are inevitable, and I think it will be perfect!
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Monday, December 27, 2010
Our Family of Four
Adjusting to being a family of four has been easier than I ever thought possible. Emma is in love with her little brother. She just stares at him and says, "baby! Wow!" She wants to hug and kiss him all the time. We try to make sure she doesn't touch his hands or face, though, because she has a cold. Emma has been her normal terror self, but she is not acting out from jealousy. She is just being Emma. But as terrible as she can be, Emma is still my sweet pumpkin pie. She is dancing and singing songs now. She is speaking in sentences, and one of those sentences is "I love you".
Christmas was a blast, but boy oh boy does it last forever when you have a hungry newborn and busy body toddler. We had to open some of Emma's presents for her, because she lost interest. Emma loves all of her new toys. She has a kitchen with a bake set, a tent with a tunnel entrance, a frog night light that plays music and projects stars, a shopping cart, some puzzles and a few other toys. Emma has been "cooking" in her kitchen since we put it together, and she already has a stash of toys in her tent. Every night she sleeps with her frog. She just stares at the stars until she passes out.
Asher either slept or ate through the opening of all his presents. He got several outfits, some toys and a couple of pacifiers. Daddy also got him some hooded towels.
Paul and I both loved all of our gifts. Later in the day, I had a melt down, but Paul let me cry and made me feel better. I was feeling guilty about Asher not having enough amniotic fluid when he was still in my belly. I felt like a failure for being able to tolerate labor without an epidural. Asher's bandages from his circumcision stuck, and he bled and screamed when I pulled them off. I trimmed his nails and cut one of his fingers. I felt like I was neglecting Emma. I was sad about not being able to pick Emma up. Oh I could go on forever about all the things I was feeling guilty over and sad about. On top of that, I was missing my belly and feeling Asher in I was getting cabin fever. We went for a nice long car ride, and the fresh air did us all some good.
Today Asher had his first well baby check, and it went very well. He has gained two ounces, and he is still perfect. Asher eats a lot throughout the day, and he sleeps for about 3-4 hours at a time at night. He rarely cries and mostly just grumbles when he's unhappy. He didn't even cry when he had his heel pricked. Asher doesn't have to go back for his two week check up, as he's already reached the milestones they check for at that appointment. The next well baby check will be when Asher is two months old.
Emma discovered her shadow last night, and it terrified her. She ran all around the kitchen trying to get away from it, and finally ran to Paul to have him pick her up. I showed her how shadows can wave, and she figured out they also give great high fives and fist bumps. After that, Emma decided shadows weren't so bad.
Asher had his first bath since we've been home. He hated it, so I didn't take any pictures. Emma watched him the whole time, and was very concerned for him. After Emma and Asher both got dressed for bed, we went into Emma's room for story time with Daddy. Emma gave us all hugs and kisses, but she gave Asher more love than anyone else.
I really feel that Asher completes our family at this point. I would still love to have more children in the future, but I am very happy with things as they are right now. I was so worried I wouldn't be able to give Emma the attention she is used to. It turns out I was right, but Emma doesn't care. All three of us devote time to Asher that was previously given to some one else. She doesn't get as much attention as she did before, but Emma is perfectly fine with that.
I am sure this is mostly just a long ramble of a post. I am tired and trying to remember everything I've been meaning to share. In just a few hours, Asher will be one week old. I'm not sure how that happened so fast. Time flies by, so I'll go for now. I need to nuzzle Emma once more before I go cuddle and feed Asher. Then I'll crawl into bed with my sweet husband and thank him for giving me such a wonderful life.
Christmas was a blast, but boy oh boy does it last forever when you have a hungry newborn and busy body toddler. We had to open some of Emma's presents for her, because she lost interest. Emma loves all of her new toys. She has a kitchen with a bake set, a tent with a tunnel entrance, a frog night light that plays music and projects stars, a shopping cart, some puzzles and a few other toys. Emma has been "cooking" in her kitchen since we put it together, and she already has a stash of toys in her tent. Every night she sleeps with her frog. She just stares at the stars until she passes out.
Asher either slept or ate through the opening of all his presents. He got several outfits, some toys and a couple of pacifiers. Daddy also got him some hooded towels.
Paul and I both loved all of our gifts. Later in the day, I had a melt down, but Paul let me cry and made me feel better. I was feeling guilty about Asher not having enough amniotic fluid when he was still in my belly. I felt like a failure for being able to tolerate labor without an epidural. Asher's bandages from his circumcision stuck, and he bled and screamed when I pulled them off. I trimmed his nails and cut one of his fingers. I felt like I was neglecting Emma. I was sad about not being able to pick Emma up. Oh I could go on forever about all the things I was feeling guilty over and sad about. On top of that, I was missing my belly and feeling Asher in I was getting cabin fever. We went for a nice long car ride, and the fresh air did us all some good.
Today Asher had his first well baby check, and it went very well. He has gained two ounces, and he is still perfect. Asher eats a lot throughout the day, and he sleeps for about 3-4 hours at a time at night. He rarely cries and mostly just grumbles when he's unhappy. He didn't even cry when he had his heel pricked. Asher doesn't have to go back for his two week check up, as he's already reached the milestones they check for at that appointment. The next well baby check will be when Asher is two months old.
Emma discovered her shadow last night, and it terrified her. She ran all around the kitchen trying to get away from it, and finally ran to Paul to have him pick her up. I showed her how shadows can wave, and she figured out they also give great high fives and fist bumps. After that, Emma decided shadows weren't so bad.
Asher had his first bath since we've been home. He hated it, so I didn't take any pictures. Emma watched him the whole time, and was very concerned for him. After Emma and Asher both got dressed for bed, we went into Emma's room for story time with Daddy. Emma gave us all hugs and kisses, but she gave Asher more love than anyone else.
I really feel that Asher completes our family at this point. I would still love to have more children in the future, but I am very happy with things as they are right now. I was so worried I wouldn't be able to give Emma the attention she is used to. It turns out I was right, but Emma doesn't care. All three of us devote time to Asher that was previously given to some one else. She doesn't get as much attention as she did before, but Emma is perfectly fine with that.
I am sure this is mostly just a long ramble of a post. I am tired and trying to remember everything I've been meaning to share. In just a few hours, Asher will be one week old. I'm not sure how that happened so fast. Time flies by, so I'll go for now. I need to nuzzle Emma once more before I go cuddle and feed Asher. Then I'll crawl into bed with my sweet husband and thank him for giving me such a wonderful life.
Asher's Arrival
At 37 weeks, I was diagnosed with high blood pressure and put on bed rest. I took the time to relax and get caught up on some Netflix. The night of the 15th, I started having contractions every 7 minutes starting around 10:30pm. By 3AM, I was pretty sure we would be having a baby that day. Unfortunately, my contractions stopped around 5AM. At my appointment that day, my doctor checked me, and I had made no real progress. I was still 1.5 cm / 80%, which is what I was measuring at 37 weeks. I was devastated. I really thought I had made at least a little progress after all the contractions. So I went home and continued my bed rest.
On December 20th, I realized I hadn't felt Baby move very much. This was very out of the ordinary. The night before, he had been moving like crazy. I drank cold water, ate some sweets and pushed on his little bottom, and I got barely anything in response from Baby. I called my doctor's office, and they said some one would call me back shortly. After an hour, no one had called me back. Paul and I were getting antsy. We decided to head into town and go to Labor and Delivery to be monitored. While on the monitors, we noticed there was a sudden drop in Baby's heart rate. I had also been having contractions all day, and they were showing up on the monitors every 5 minutes or so. Because of Baby's heart rate dip, my doctor decided to have a biophysical profile ultrasound done. Baby would not practice breathing or use fine motor skills and there was almost no amniotic fluid left. Needless to say, we failed the test.
Paul had to go and pick Emma up from school at this time, and my friend Kelly came to keep me company while we waited to hear back from the doctor. After a short wait, my nurse told me everything looked fine except for the amniotic fluid. It was no longer beneficial for Baby to remain inside, so my doctor had decided to induce me. Not later that night. Not tomorrow. Right then. I called Mom to tell her to pack her bags and get ready to meet her new grand baby. And I called Paul to tell him we would be a family of four sometime in the next 24 hours. I was taken to my room to begin the induction process. Kelly was company for the next hour or so.
On December 20th, I realized I hadn't felt Baby move very much. This was very out of the ordinary. The night before, he had been moving like crazy. I drank cold water, ate some sweets and pushed on his little bottom, and I got barely anything in response from Baby. I called my doctor's office, and they said some one would call me back shortly. After an hour, no one had called me back. Paul and I were getting antsy. We decided to head into town and go to Labor and Delivery to be monitored. While on the monitors, we noticed there was a sudden drop in Baby's heart rate. I had also been having contractions all day, and they were showing up on the monitors every 5 minutes or so. Because of Baby's heart rate dip, my doctor decided to have a biophysical profile ultrasound done. Baby would not practice breathing or use fine motor skills and there was almost no amniotic fluid left. Needless to say, we failed the test.
Paul had to go and pick Emma up from school at this time, and my friend Kelly came to keep me company while we waited to hear back from the doctor. After a short wait, my nurse told me everything looked fine except for the amniotic fluid. It was no longer beneficial for Baby to remain inside, so my doctor had decided to induce me. Not later that night. Not tomorrow. Right then. I called Mom to tell her to pack her bags and get ready to meet her new grand baby. And I called Paul to tell him we would be a family of four sometime in the next 24 hours. I was taken to my room to begin the induction process. Kelly was company for the next hour or so.
We started out with a dose of prostaglandin gel at 6:00pm. I was to lie flat for an hour. Then I would be able to walk for an hour to help me progress, and they would give me another dose of the gel afterward. At 6:30, my water broke on its own. When my water broke, Baby stopped moving again. Walking around was out of the question. I had to drink a bunch of juice, but that didn't help. the nurse decided some IV fluids may be the answer, and that perked Baby right up. I was allowed to walk around for a little while. My contractions were coming faster and harder. Kelly had gone home, and Paul was waiting for Mom to come and watch Emma at the house. I was losing confidence in myself. I cried as I wandered the halls of the hospital. I knew I wasn't going to be able to have the natural birth I hoped for. At 9:15PM, I made my way back to my room just as Paul got to the hospital. I cried even harder when I saw him. The nurse found me and said she wanted to check my progress. She also offered to give me something to help me relax. I had gotten way too worked up to relax on my own. We all could see that. When she checked me, I had progressed to 4cm / 100%. The nurse gave me stadol take the edge off, and I was able to relax for a few hours. Paul took the opportunity to nap. Around 12AM it wore off, and I was sent to walk the halls again. My contractions were unbearable and right on top of each other again. I couldn't go more than a few steps between contractions, and I was nauseous and shaking. I finally broke down and got an epidural, and I was so glad I did! It was 1:00AM, and I was 5cm and in active labor. The nurse figured I might have a little while still, so I tried to nap but couldn't. Paul had no problem in that department. I missed Emma so much. I dozed for a few minuted and dreamed I was snuggling her.
At around 2AM, my nurse came in to check me, and I was 8cm. She said not to get my hopes up, because I still had some dropping to do and progress to make. I knew better. Once I hit active labor with Emma, I was ready to push in a few hours. At 3AM, I called my nurse to say I felt pressure. She checked me, and I was complete. The nurse called for the doctor. I started pushing at 3:40AM, and my little guy was born at 4:05AM. Asher Huckleberry Hancock was born perfect and healthy. He was the best Christmas present we could have asked for.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Thanksgiving
This was our last trip out of town for a very, very long time! I really don't see us traveling with a newborn, toddler, three dogs and all of the required stuff to keep us all happy any time in the near future. We went down to Phoenix for the weekend, and we all had a good time. We spent Thanksgiving with Mom, Sam and Larry. We went ahead and gave them their gifts, since we didn't know what Christmas would hold for us. We decided to get Mom and Dad, Sam and Larry and Paul and Me matching logo shirts and a new board game. Something fun and silly, and everyone seemed happy. We stayed up a little too late playing the game, but isn't that what new games are for?
Emma was a little bit of a monster over Thanksgiving, but she really wasn't napping or sleeping well the entire weekend. So it was expected. We all made way too much food, but it was delicious. Unfortunately for Emma, she didn't taste a bite. All she wanted was Goldfish and pink lemonade. Given that none of the adults were eating very healthy, Paul and I just let her have what she wanted.
Mom, Sam and I decided to forgo the tradition of waking up hours before the sun to hit all the Black Friday Sales, but Mom, Paul and I still got up when Emma did to get a somewhat early start to our shopping. I was able to get all of Paul's gifts, and we only have one more thing left to get for Emma. My little Pumpkin Pie did very well shopping all day, and she even stayed up extra late to go out to dinner with all of us. Emma had her first Oreo and surprised up by promptly opening it and eating all the cream. I guess somethings are just instinct!
Over Thanksgiving weekend, we discovered Emma knows Pat-A-Cake. Since then, we have also learned Emma knows some of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Row Row Row your boat and The Itsy Bitsy Spider. She may not know too many of the words, but she knows enough of the words and melody to make it obvious what she's singing! Emma is also starting to speak in sentences and can say the names of many of her friends at school, family members and animals. The only name she can't quite grasp yet is Biko... whom she calls Guppo... which we all think is even cuter. Dancing has become a favorite past time for Emma. She particularly loves swing music, but if she has her tutu on, she will dance to anything! Emma's favorite animals right now are dogs and elephants. If she sees either one, she will shout out "dog" or "elphan".
Potty training was going very well, but Emma decided to take a week off. Paul and I were to blame as well, since during that time we kept forgetting to ask if she needed to go. In the past few days, Emma has gotten better again. She is waking up with dry diapers and is letting me know she needs to go potty instead of just drinking her milk and going in her diaper. This coming weekend will be a "panty weekend", so hopefully that will help encourage her to go on the potty.
Paul and I are doing well. I was being a horrible person for several weeks, but I finally opened up to Paul about how overwhelmed, tired and sore I have been. I was afraid to break down, because he would think I was weak and unfit as a mother. I have no idea why I would think such a thing of my sweet husband, but I did. The day I finally let it all out, Paul bought us a new mattress topper and me a new body pillow. I can finally sleep for longer than an hour at a time, and it's amazing what a little sleep can do to heal the soul! My bones are still horribly sore, but at least they don't hurt while I am in bed. I am not so terrified of not being able to handle Emma and a new baby, and I am back to eagerly anticipating the joys and challenges being a mother of two will bring. I apologized profusely to poor Paul for how awful I had been, and he has once again forgiven me for being nasty.
We are now as close to being ready for Baby as a family can possibly be. The nursery is ready, and the bassinet is set up in our room. We have enough essentials to get us started, but I am planning a mini shopping spree when Baby is born so I can buy some gender specific clothes, spit cloths, etc. Emma has a very limited notion of what is going on, but I think she will be very excited to have a baby in the house. She loves to visit the babies at school, and she is always very gentle with them. If anything, I think she may be angry with me for dividing my time, but I really don't think she will be mean to Baby. Emma is in love with my belly, which she calls "baby", and she loves to rub lotion on it and give it kisses. Though my little lady can be a monster, she can also be one of the sweetest little girls I have ever known. Even Emma's teachers comment on how lovable she can be. I truly think giving her a baby brother or sister will be one of the best things we have ever done for her and our family. After all, how can a child ever be anything other than a blessing?
Emma was a little bit of a monster over Thanksgiving, but she really wasn't napping or sleeping well the entire weekend. So it was expected. We all made way too much food, but it was delicious. Unfortunately for Emma, she didn't taste a bite. All she wanted was Goldfish and pink lemonade. Given that none of the adults were eating very healthy, Paul and I just let her have what she wanted.
Mom, Sam and I decided to forgo the tradition of waking up hours before the sun to hit all the Black Friday Sales, but Mom, Paul and I still got up when Emma did to get a somewhat early start to our shopping. I was able to get all of Paul's gifts, and we only have one more thing left to get for Emma. My little Pumpkin Pie did very well shopping all day, and she even stayed up extra late to go out to dinner with all of us. Emma had her first Oreo and surprised up by promptly opening it and eating all the cream. I guess somethings are just instinct!
Over Thanksgiving weekend, we discovered Emma knows Pat-A-Cake. Since then, we have also learned Emma knows some of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Row Row Row your boat and The Itsy Bitsy Spider. She may not know too many of the words, but she knows enough of the words and melody to make it obvious what she's singing! Emma is also starting to speak in sentences and can say the names of many of her friends at school, family members and animals. The only name she can't quite grasp yet is Biko... whom she calls Guppo... which we all think is even cuter. Dancing has become a favorite past time for Emma. She particularly loves swing music, but if she has her tutu on, she will dance to anything! Emma's favorite animals right now are dogs and elephants. If she sees either one, she will shout out "dog" or "elphan".
Potty training was going very well, but Emma decided to take a week off. Paul and I were to blame as well, since during that time we kept forgetting to ask if she needed to go. In the past few days, Emma has gotten better again. She is waking up with dry diapers and is letting me know she needs to go potty instead of just drinking her milk and going in her diaper. This coming weekend will be a "panty weekend", so hopefully that will help encourage her to go on the potty.
Paul and I are doing well. I was being a horrible person for several weeks, but I finally opened up to Paul about how overwhelmed, tired and sore I have been. I was afraid to break down, because he would think I was weak and unfit as a mother. I have no idea why I would think such a thing of my sweet husband, but I did. The day I finally let it all out, Paul bought us a new mattress topper and me a new body pillow. I can finally sleep for longer than an hour at a time, and it's amazing what a little sleep can do to heal the soul! My bones are still horribly sore, but at least they don't hurt while I am in bed. I am not so terrified of not being able to handle Emma and a new baby, and I am back to eagerly anticipating the joys and challenges being a mother of two will bring. I apologized profusely to poor Paul for how awful I had been, and he has once again forgiven me for being nasty.
We are now as close to being ready for Baby as a family can possibly be. The nursery is ready, and the bassinet is set up in our room. We have enough essentials to get us started, but I am planning a mini shopping spree when Baby is born so I can buy some gender specific clothes, spit cloths, etc. Emma has a very limited notion of what is going on, but I think she will be very excited to have a baby in the house. She loves to visit the babies at school, and she is always very gentle with them. If anything, I think she may be angry with me for dividing my time, but I really don't think she will be mean to Baby. Emma is in love with my belly, which she calls "baby", and she loves to rub lotion on it and give it kisses. Though my little lady can be a monster, she can also be one of the sweetest little girls I have ever known. Even Emma's teachers comment on how lovable she can be. I truly think giving her a baby brother or sister will be one of the best things we have ever done for her and our family. After all, how can a child ever be anything other than a blessing?
Monday, November 1, 2010
Halloween
This year Emma dressed up as Little Bo Peep. We went to Boo at the Zoo the weekend before Halloween with my mom, dad, Sam and Larry. Emma had a blast. She loved the birds and the farm area. She especially loved the cows and goats.
Emma could have stayed in the farm all day. In fact, she burst into tears when I took her away from the cows. By that time, she was pretty exhausted, so Paul carried her for a little while before putting her back into her stroller. Emma had a blast with her Grammy and Papa. She ran all over the zoo, and Papa did a great job of chasing after her. It was great to see her having such a good time. Dad will be leaving to go back to Saudi soon, and it almost seemed like Emma knew that. She snuggled with him, played with him and was an all around charmer.
On Halloween, Paul, Emma and I went into Flagstaff to trick-or-treat downtown. It didn't take Emma long to get the hang of it. At the first couple of stops, we had to pick out the candy for Emma. After that, she would look at me, run over to whoever had the candy, grab a piece and run away. She had to stop constantly to make sure her candy was still in her basket, even though I kept telling her I wouldn't steal it.
For dinner, we stopped at a pizza place. I noticed Emma still had a dry diaper, so I took her to the bathroom to see if she would go. Sure enough, as soon as I sat her down, she went pee pee. It was her first time going potty in a public place. She is getting so good at knowing when she has to go potty, that I've convinced her teachers to help out with potty training, even though they don't usually start working with the kiddos until they are in the 2 year old room. Anyway, we all had a great time last night. It was an awesome way to spend Halloween.
Some other updates:
Emma is talking up a storm now. She knows exactly what she's trying to say, and we can actually decipher most of it. She is sleeping in her big girl bed now, and she uses the potty more often than not when she's at home. She's even waking up to go potty. Emma has become so self-sufficient it's often heartbreaking at endearing at the same time. The other day, she said, "I yuh you" and gave me a big hug. That was the first time she told me she loves me without being prompted, and I LOVED it. She gives hugs and kisses and says she loves us all the time. We are very excited to see how she is with her new baby brother or sister.
Gambel made it to 16 weeks and even had some of his adult teeth in now. It seems he had a brush with death and made it through unscathed. He is getting very big, and we all (Alpine and Trixie included) absolutely adore him. Emma loves to feed him, and he is pretty much housebroken already.
Baby is doing very well. We had an ultrasound last week. Baby is breech, but that's not really a huge concern yet. Emma was breech, too, until 36 weeks. So there's still plenty of time. Right now, Baby is estimated to weigh about 4 lbs, so we are pretty sure this one will be chubbier than Emma was. I still have no idea whether we were having a boy or girl, but Paul says boy. I think I'll stick with girl so at least one of us will be right. We have a diaper party next weekend, a date to see Harry Potter and a hospital tour the weekend after and after that... it'll be Thanksgiving. Time is going by so quickly, and I don't think it will slow down any time soon. Ready or not, here come the holidays and a new baby!
Emma could have stayed in the farm all day. In fact, she burst into tears when I took her away from the cows. By that time, she was pretty exhausted, so Paul carried her for a little while before putting her back into her stroller. Emma had a blast with her Grammy and Papa. She ran all over the zoo, and Papa did a great job of chasing after her. It was great to see her having such a good time. Dad will be leaving to go back to Saudi soon, and it almost seemed like Emma knew that. She snuggled with him, played with him and was an all around charmer.
On Halloween, Paul, Emma and I went into Flagstaff to trick-or-treat downtown. It didn't take Emma long to get the hang of it. At the first couple of stops, we had to pick out the candy for Emma. After that, she would look at me, run over to whoever had the candy, grab a piece and run away. She had to stop constantly to make sure her candy was still in her basket, even though I kept telling her I wouldn't steal it.
For dinner, we stopped at a pizza place. I noticed Emma still had a dry diaper, so I took her to the bathroom to see if she would go. Sure enough, as soon as I sat her down, she went pee pee. It was her first time going potty in a public place. She is getting so good at knowing when she has to go potty, that I've convinced her teachers to help out with potty training, even though they don't usually start working with the kiddos until they are in the 2 year old room. Anyway, we all had a great time last night. It was an awesome way to spend Halloween.Some other updates:
Emma is talking up a storm now. She knows exactly what she's trying to say, and we can actually decipher most of it. She is sleeping in her big girl bed now, and she uses the potty more often than not when she's at home. She's even waking up to go potty. Emma has become so self-sufficient it's often heartbreaking at endearing at the same time. The other day, she said, "I yuh you" and gave me a big hug. That was the first time she told me she loves me without being prompted, and I LOVED it. She gives hugs and kisses and says she loves us all the time. We are very excited to see how she is with her new baby brother or sister.
Gambel made it to 16 weeks and even had some of his adult teeth in now. It seems he had a brush with death and made it through unscathed. He is getting very big, and we all (Alpine and Trixie included) absolutely adore him. Emma loves to feed him, and he is pretty much housebroken already.
Baby is doing very well. We had an ultrasound last week. Baby is breech, but that's not really a huge concern yet. Emma was breech, too, until 36 weeks. So there's still plenty of time. Right now, Baby is estimated to weigh about 4 lbs, so we are pretty sure this one will be chubbier than Emma was. I still have no idea whether we were having a boy or girl, but Paul says boy. I think I'll stick with girl so at least one of us will be right. We have a diaper party next weekend, a date to see Harry Potter and a hospital tour the weekend after and after that... it'll be Thanksgiving. Time is going by so quickly, and I don't think it will slow down any time soon. Ready or not, here come the holidays and a new baby!
The missing months
September and October just flew by. As is customary of life, things have been crazy around here. After my doctor decided to move and close his practice, I found another. I was apprehensive at first, as I had a previous bad experience with him, but he is turning out to be okay. While Paul was working on a fire sometime in September, I ended up with a nasty fever. I had to suck it up to take care of Emma, but it wiped me out. It broke on its own in the middle of the night, but I still felt cruddy for a while. I also caught a cold with a cough that would not go away. Unfortunately, Emma and Paul were also sick. Emma had the cold first, and was feeling fine in just a few days. It took me about a week, and Paul was sick for several weeks.
By October we were all feeling fine, but we had a surprise in store. On October 6, our neighborhood was hit by a tornado. Our part of Arizona was hit with 8 tornadoes in 24 hours. It had been storming all night, so I didn't sleep well at all. I seemed to be the only having a hard time relaxing. At 5 that morning, the storm seemed to suddenly pick up, and I told Paul I was sick of it. The wind got louder and the house started shaking. I could hear cracking noises, and I was terrified. I jumped out of bed and ran to Emma's room to check on her. She was still sleeping and things seemed to be calming down outside. I stood outside of her room trying to figure out what I should do, and Paul convinced me to go back to bed. We realized the electricity had gone out, so Paul went to find some candles so we could get up and get ready for the day. I was still really nervous from the storm and kept telling Paul that something really terrible had happened. We started noticing the sound of sirens and shouting outside. Paul saw that one of our windows had cracked. I called my mom to tell her something was going on but I wasn't sure what. I said they would hear about Bellemont on the news, and I wanted to let her and my dad know that we were alright. I said I would call when I knew more.
By then, the sun started coming up, and I saw that the back fences had blown over. I was trying to figure out a way to warm some milk up for Emma (she still likes warm milk in the mornings and before bed), but the pilot on the stove wouldn't light. Paul had gotten Emma out of bed, and I went upstairs to get her. We noticed people kept shining lights in our windows, so we knew something serious was going on. I was standing at the top of the stairs with Emma when our back door opened. A man with a flashlight came in and said he was with the sheriff's department. He wanted to make sure we were alright. I said we were fine, and another man walked in behind the officer. I asked what was going on, and the officer said there had been a tornado. The other man was a neighbor, and he said we were very lucky. He was from three houses over, and their house had been completely destroyed. I would later find out that this neighbor, after assuring his family was safe, had gone down the street and turned off every one's gas lines. This would prove to be a blessing. There ended up being four gas leaks in our house, and I am terrified to think of what could have happened while I was trying to relight the stove if the gas had still been on.
At around 6am, Paul and I started wandering around outside to see what damage had been done. Besides a few cracked windows a destroyed garage door and a collapsed fence, we seemed to have thankfully gotten by with a minimal amount of damage. Our neighbors were not so lucky. The house next to ours had lost all of their windows and garage doors, the house next to theirs had lost their roof, and the third house over was almost completely gone. While I was talking to one of neighbors, we saw another tornado touching down. I had Emma, I grabbed the dogs and Paul, and we all hid in the downstairs closet. I decided we had gotten lucky once, and I was not going to tempt fate again. My boss and friend, Cheri, had already booked a room for us in Flagstaff, and I told Paul we needed to get out of the house as soon as it was safe enough to leave the house.
We ended up staying in a hotel for a week while we were waiting for the gas and electricity to be repaired. In the mean time, Paul stayed home from work to get our fenced repaired so the dogs could leave the garage. My mom, aunt, cousin and grandmother came up for a day to help Paul finish the fence and clean up the glass and debris outside. They were a great help, which was much appreciated. The following week, I had to go out of town for work. So back into a hotel I went. The week after I got back, Paul had to go out of town for work.
Our sweet little Emma had a rough time while we were in the hotel, but she felt much better once we able to go back home. By Halloween, Emma was back to her peppy self, but that's another post. I'm pretty sure this one has gotten long enough.
By October we were all feeling fine, but we had a surprise in store. On October 6, our neighborhood was hit by a tornado. Our part of Arizona was hit with 8 tornadoes in 24 hours. It had been storming all night, so I didn't sleep well at all. I seemed to be the only having a hard time relaxing. At 5 that morning, the storm seemed to suddenly pick up, and I told Paul I was sick of it. The wind got louder and the house started shaking. I could hear cracking noises, and I was terrified. I jumped out of bed and ran to Emma's room to check on her. She was still sleeping and things seemed to be calming down outside. I stood outside of her room trying to figure out what I should do, and Paul convinced me to go back to bed. We realized the electricity had gone out, so Paul went to find some candles so we could get up and get ready for the day. I was still really nervous from the storm and kept telling Paul that something really terrible had happened. We started noticing the sound of sirens and shouting outside. Paul saw that one of our windows had cracked. I called my mom to tell her something was going on but I wasn't sure what. I said they would hear about Bellemont on the news, and I wanted to let her and my dad know that we were alright. I said I would call when I knew more.
By then, the sun started coming up, and I saw that the back fences had blown over. I was trying to figure out a way to warm some milk up for Emma (she still likes warm milk in the mornings and before bed), but the pilot on the stove wouldn't light. Paul had gotten Emma out of bed, and I went upstairs to get her. We noticed people kept shining lights in our windows, so we knew something serious was going on. I was standing at the top of the stairs with Emma when our back door opened. A man with a flashlight came in and said he was with the sheriff's department. He wanted to make sure we were alright. I said we were fine, and another man walked in behind the officer. I asked what was going on, and the officer said there had been a tornado. The other man was a neighbor, and he said we were very lucky. He was from three houses over, and their house had been completely destroyed. I would later find out that this neighbor, after assuring his family was safe, had gone down the street and turned off every one's gas lines. This would prove to be a blessing. There ended up being four gas leaks in our house, and I am terrified to think of what could have happened while I was trying to relight the stove if the gas had still been on.
At around 6am, Paul and I started wandering around outside to see what damage had been done. Besides a few cracked windows a destroyed garage door and a collapsed fence, we seemed to have thankfully gotten by with a minimal amount of damage. Our neighbors were not so lucky. The house next to ours had lost all of their windows and garage doors, the house next to theirs had lost their roof, and the third house over was almost completely gone. While I was talking to one of neighbors, we saw another tornado touching down. I had Emma, I grabbed the dogs and Paul, and we all hid in the downstairs closet. I decided we had gotten lucky once, and I was not going to tempt fate again. My boss and friend, Cheri, had already booked a room for us in Flagstaff, and I told Paul we needed to get out of the house as soon as it was safe enough to leave the house.
We ended up staying in a hotel for a week while we were waiting for the gas and electricity to be repaired. In the mean time, Paul stayed home from work to get our fenced repaired so the dogs could leave the garage. My mom, aunt, cousin and grandmother came up for a day to help Paul finish the fence and clean up the glass and debris outside. They were a great help, which was much appreciated. The following week, I had to go out of town for work. So back into a hotel I went. The week after I got back, Paul had to go out of town for work.
Our sweet little Emma had a rough time while we were in the hotel, but she felt much better once we able to go back home. By Halloween, Emma was back to her peppy self, but that's another post. I'm pretty sure this one has gotten long enough.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Good, Bad, Happy and Sad
Good: We are all doing well. Emma is learning more and more words and phrases every day. My favorite phrase is "high bibe" (high five). Our little lady loves to give high fives! Emma is also getting pretty good at running and she eats at a big girl table now. We are just so proud of her every day. Our Itty Bitty One is doing very well. The 20 week ultrasound came perfect, and Baby and I are measuring right on track. My 2 week checks should be done soon, and everything is holding up as it should be. Paul and I are doing very well. He has been working overtime, but we spend time together when we can. I have been very busy at work, but it's nice learning so much and being able to prove myself.
Bad: We just had to spend the money we've been saving for my maternity leave to fix my car, and Paul still needs tires for his car. As far as bed goes, really that's about it.
Happy: We got a new puppy. His name is Gambel, and he's a little sweetheart. Trixie loves him, Alpine is getting better, and he annoys the hell out of poor Emma. The funny thing is that we got Gambel primarily for Emma. The are getting better with each other. Gambel just needs to learn his boundaries. When he's chasing Emma around, She screams and runs away. However... when I put Gambel outside, Emma calls to him and tries to get him to come back. I'm sure in a few weeks or so, they will be best friends. In the mean time, it's fun to watch them working it out. He nips at her a little, and she swats at him. All in all, it's like a little harmless sibling rivalry.
The sad... We lost Lexus on August 14. She was fine Friday evening. She ate her dinner and acted just fine when Paul went out to brush the others later that evening. We think she must have gotten up to go potty and just laid down and went to sleep on the back patio. Unfortunately, she didn't wake up. That morning Paul found her, and it was a horrible, heartbreaking way to start our day. The bright side is that she passed quietly on a nice summer evening. We didn't have to make the difficult decision of when to put her down. She was getting old and her body was deteriorating. It was obviously her time to go, but that doesn't make it any easier to let her go. There will always be a little piece of my heart missing, but that helps to remind me that she was a well loved companion who had a very happy life.
As always, our lives are nothing more or less than typical. It's not always sunshine and rainbows, but that's the way it goes. We are all healthy, and we are happy more often than not. We get sick. We get better. We fight. We make up. We get ahead. We get behind. I truly believe it's the trials that make us stronger and the hardships that make us appreciate everything else. Without the downs, how would we ever know how incredible the views are from up high?
Bad: We just had to spend the money we've been saving for my maternity leave to fix my car, and Paul still needs tires for his car. As far as bed goes, really that's about it.
Happy: We got a new puppy. His name is Gambel, and he's a little sweetheart. Trixie loves him, Alpine is getting better, and he annoys the hell out of poor Emma. The funny thing is that we got Gambel primarily for Emma. The are getting better with each other. Gambel just needs to learn his boundaries. When he's chasing Emma around, She screams and runs away. However... when I put Gambel outside, Emma calls to him and tries to get him to come back. I'm sure in a few weeks or so, they will be best friends. In the mean time, it's fun to watch them working it out. He nips at her a little, and she swats at him. All in all, it's like a little harmless sibling rivalry.
The sad... We lost Lexus on August 14. She was fine Friday evening. She ate her dinner and acted just fine when Paul went out to brush the others later that evening. We think she must have gotten up to go potty and just laid down and went to sleep on the back patio. Unfortunately, she didn't wake up. That morning Paul found her, and it was a horrible, heartbreaking way to start our day. The bright side is that she passed quietly on a nice summer evening. We didn't have to make the difficult decision of when to put her down. She was getting old and her body was deteriorating. It was obviously her time to go, but that doesn't make it any easier to let her go. There will always be a little piece of my heart missing, but that helps to remind me that she was a well loved companion who had a very happy life.
As always, our lives are nothing more or less than typical. It's not always sunshine and rainbows, but that's the way it goes. We are all healthy, and we are happy more often than not. We get sick. We get better. We fight. We make up. We get ahead. We get behind. I truly believe it's the trials that make us stronger and the hardships that make us appreciate everything else. Without the downs, how would we ever know how incredible the views are from up high?
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
A Mile A Minute
Where oh where to begin? I guess the first thing to share (now that the cat's out of the bag) is our happy news that Baby #2 in on the way. As of today, I am just over 14 weeks and officially in my second trimester! My Itty Bitty One is due to make his or her appearance on New Years Eve. What a fantastic Christmas present for us all!
Emma is more of a monster than ever and is all over the place all the time! For the first time in about a week, she finally slept through the night last night. Thank goodness! We moved out of our house in Williams and are now renting my parents' house. I think the move plus more teething (does it ever end) made for some long nights for my Pumpkin Pie. Not to mention, Emma HAS to be attached to my hip at all times. I guess she suddenly realized Mommy is just the most wonderful person ever! Things are starting to settle down a bit now, so hopefully Emma settles down a bit as well.
The one thing Emma really, really loves about her new house is her new giant bathtub. To conserve water (since we had to pay to have it hauled) we were still using Emma's baby tub at the Williams house. Now that we have community water, Emma gets to take a bath in not only a full size tub, but a giant jacuzzi tub! She splashes and squeals and has a fantastic time. She gets a bath every night, and it's really her happiest time, I think!
Emma also really likes having a little yard to play in. She like to dig in the rocks and put them in buckets. She also loves to share her rocks with me. We have a little patch of grass, but Emma prefers the rocks. Go figure. I'm trying to grow some flowers in a little flower bed, and Emma was great help with weeding. She wasn't very happy when I took her shovel, but I made amends when I offered her the weeds I was digging up. She put them all in a little bucket for me. When I have the sprinkler going, Emma likes to go out and stand in the water. And when puddles start to form, Emma is in heaven! Afterall, there's nothing better than splashing in puddles!
Over the long weekend, Emma and I went to Phoenix to spend time with my parents, Sam and Larry. Paul couldn't go, because he was working. Emma got to swim in a pool for the first time, and it did NOT go well at first. By day two, she was doing better, and by day three, you would think she was raised in a pool. She was floating in her life vest, jumping off the steps for us to catch her and I was even able to dunk her under without her freaking out. Progress indeed!
We had been watching Biko and Zoe for Mom and Dad, and Emma and I brought them to their new house over the weekend. It's kinda sad not having them around anymore. I've been begging Paul for a new puppy, and now I really, really want one!
Emma is a little talking machine now! She just turned 15 months, and it's like she finally discovered words! She'll try to mimic just about anything we say (which gets me in trouble from time to time), but there are several that she will say on a regular basis. Emma's all time favorite word (for how many months now?!) is still "uh oh!" She can say "mama" (sometimes "mi mi") and "dada" or "dad". She says "gook" (book) and "zeus" (shoes). She says "hi", and will even say it when you hand her the phone. She says "gog" (dog). Every couple of days there is something new to add, but those are her favorite words. She was saying "help" the other day when her arm go stuck in her shirt, but she has yet to say it again. However, she has yet to get stuck in her shirt again, too. Emma uses her "more" sign language sign when she is eating, and she has her own rendition of the "all done" sign. But it works for us, so I don't complain. She knows to shake her head "no", and she is just starting to nod, but I don't think she quite understands what it means yet. Emma is very good at following commands, like "give the book to Mommy", and she loves to help clean up her play room. If Emma takes toys out, she will usually put them away when she is done without even being told to. We still have our battles with the entertainment center and DVDs, but those are really small issues in my book. though I will admit it gets frustrating to have to pull her away over and over and over...
The funniest thing Emma does right now is chew people out. She will go out of her way to tell her Papa when she is not a happy camper. She will babble in a sassy little tone, swing her hands all around and shake her head. She's also done it to a few strangers while we were out and about. Emma's babbling is almost constant, and I would love to know what she is trying to say!
So basically things are just as busy as ever in Hancock house. Oh! I did have my first night away from Emma. It ended up being only one night instead of two. It went well on my end. I just stayed busy and went to bed early. I did have a hard time sleeping, but it went well for me overall. Emma gave her daddy a hard time at bath time, but she's never really been given a bath by anyone other than me, so that was to be expected. I feel more comfortable going out of town every now and then, and I'm even going to be staying over night for a meeting this coming Sunday night. I think Emma and Paul will appreciate being able to spend some time together without Mommy hovering overhead.
Emma and I both have appointments at the end of the week. I hope all goes well for both of us! I will post again when I get a chance.
Emma is more of a monster than ever and is all over the place all the time! For the first time in about a week, she finally slept through the night last night. Thank goodness! We moved out of our house in Williams and are now renting my parents' house. I think the move plus more teething (does it ever end) made for some long nights for my Pumpkin Pie. Not to mention, Emma HAS to be attached to my hip at all times. I guess she suddenly realized Mommy is just the most wonderful person ever! Things are starting to settle down a bit now, so hopefully Emma settles down a bit as well.
The one thing Emma really, really loves about her new house is her new giant bathtub. To conserve water (since we had to pay to have it hauled) we were still using Emma's baby tub at the Williams house. Now that we have community water, Emma gets to take a bath in not only a full size tub, but a giant jacuzzi tub! She splashes and squeals and has a fantastic time. She gets a bath every night, and it's really her happiest time, I think!
Emma also really likes having a little yard to play in. She like to dig in the rocks and put them in buckets. She also loves to share her rocks with me. We have a little patch of grass, but Emma prefers the rocks. Go figure. I'm trying to grow some flowers in a little flower bed, and Emma was great help with weeding. She wasn't very happy when I took her shovel, but I made amends when I offered her the weeds I was digging up. She put them all in a little bucket for me. When I have the sprinkler going, Emma likes to go out and stand in the water. And when puddles start to form, Emma is in heaven! Afterall, there's nothing better than splashing in puddles!
Over the long weekend, Emma and I went to Phoenix to spend time with my parents, Sam and Larry. Paul couldn't go, because he was working. Emma got to swim in a pool for the first time, and it did NOT go well at first. By day two, she was doing better, and by day three, you would think she was raised in a pool. She was floating in her life vest, jumping off the steps for us to catch her and I was even able to dunk her under without her freaking out. Progress indeed!
We had been watching Biko and Zoe for Mom and Dad, and Emma and I brought them to their new house over the weekend. It's kinda sad not having them around anymore. I've been begging Paul for a new puppy, and now I really, really want one!
Emma is a little talking machine now! She just turned 15 months, and it's like she finally discovered words! She'll try to mimic just about anything we say (which gets me in trouble from time to time), but there are several that she will say on a regular basis. Emma's all time favorite word (for how many months now?!) is still "uh oh!" She can say "mama" (sometimes "mi mi") and "dada" or "dad". She says "gook" (book) and "zeus" (shoes). She says "hi", and will even say it when you hand her the phone. She says "gog" (dog). Every couple of days there is something new to add, but those are her favorite words. She was saying "help" the other day when her arm go stuck in her shirt, but she has yet to say it again. However, she has yet to get stuck in her shirt again, too. Emma uses her "more" sign language sign when she is eating, and she has her own rendition of the "all done" sign. But it works for us, so I don't complain. She knows to shake her head "no", and she is just starting to nod, but I don't think she quite understands what it means yet. Emma is very good at following commands, like "give the book to Mommy", and she loves to help clean up her play room. If Emma takes toys out, she will usually put them away when she is done without even being told to. We still have our battles with the entertainment center and DVDs, but those are really small issues in my book. though I will admit it gets frustrating to have to pull her away over and over and over...
The funniest thing Emma does right now is chew people out. She will go out of her way to tell her Papa when she is not a happy camper. She will babble in a sassy little tone, swing her hands all around and shake her head. She's also done it to a few strangers while we were out and about. Emma's babbling is almost constant, and I would love to know what she is trying to say!
So basically things are just as busy as ever in Hancock house. Oh! I did have my first night away from Emma. It ended up being only one night instead of two. It went well on my end. I just stayed busy and went to bed early. I did have a hard time sleeping, but it went well for me overall. Emma gave her daddy a hard time at bath time, but she's never really been given a bath by anyone other than me, so that was to be expected. I feel more comfortable going out of town every now and then, and I'm even going to be staying over night for a meeting this coming Sunday night. I think Emma and Paul will appreciate being able to spend some time together without Mommy hovering overhead.
Emma and I both have appointments at the end of the week. I hope all goes well for both of us! I will post again when I get a chance.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Busy busy!
We have all been busy busy the past month. Emma has cut all but one of her molars. That doesn't include her two-year molars, though. It has been really rough on my poor pumpkin, but we are almost done with them. We went to Colorado for a wedding, and Emma got to spend some time with her friend, Will. They played together really well for the most part. Seeing our friends again was great, and staying with Seth and Charity was fantastic. Emma is running all around now, and she has discovered a love for dirt... unfortunately. She like to give the dogs treats, and she thinks it's great fun calling herself a "goo grrl", whether she is actually being a good girl or not. Emma is still not saying a bunch of words, but she understands most of what we say. She will say Mama / Mom, Dada / Dad, hi, goo grrl and uh oh on a regular basis. She has discovered a love for shoes and has an unprecedented skill for throwing over the top hissy fits. Kisses are a new thing right now, too. But you will only get a kiss from Emma if you give her a head butt first. If you just try to kiss her, Emma will either turn away or slap you in the face. We are trying to break Emma of slapping and throwing things when she gets frustrated. I'm sure it's just something she'll grow out of. Surprisingly enough, Emma is very good at sharing. If she has a toy or a snack that she is really enjoying, she will offer it to you. If it's a toy, she expects you to give it right back after you tell her how great it is, and if it's food, you are expected to eat it. Her teachers at school are very impressed with how willingly Emma shares everything.
Mom got her job in Phoenix, and Dad has been visiting since mid-May. Over the next few weeks, we are going to help get Mom moved to Phoenix, and we are going to be renting Mom and Dad's house. I am very much looking forward to cutting my commute in half! Dad and Emma have been spending a lot of time together, and Emma is very find of her Grammy and Papa. We even use Skype if it's been a few days since she's seen them. Horribly, we lost little Fredders. I am glad we all got a chance to have him in our lives, and we all miss him dearly. He was always very good with Emma, and Emma was getting to be very good at being gentle with him.
I don't have too many more updates to share right now. Paul and I are very busy at work, but we are both enjoying what we are doing. Next Friday will be my first overnight trip without Emma, but it will be fine. I will miss her dearly, but I think her and Paul will enjoy their time together. All in all, it's life as usual around here. Some days are better than others, but we love (almost) every minute of it!
Mom got her job in Phoenix, and Dad has been visiting since mid-May. Over the next few weeks, we are going to help get Mom moved to Phoenix, and we are going to be renting Mom and Dad's house. I am very much looking forward to cutting my commute in half! Dad and Emma have been spending a lot of time together, and Emma is very find of her Grammy and Papa. We even use Skype if it's been a few days since she's seen them. Horribly, we lost little Fredders. I am glad we all got a chance to have him in our lives, and we all miss him dearly. He was always very good with Emma, and Emma was getting to be very good at being gentle with him.
I don't have too many more updates to share right now. Paul and I are very busy at work, but we are both enjoying what we are doing. Next Friday will be my first overnight trip without Emma, but it will be fine. I will miss her dearly, but I think her and Paul will enjoy their time together. All in all, it's life as usual around here. Some days are better than others, but we love (almost) every minute of it!
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Spring has sprung!
The weather is doing it's typical snow-today-sun-tomorrow routine. Along with that, has come the winds. On the upside, it means summer is just around the corner! We have been spending a lot of time outside, which is making us all perk up and get out of the winter gloom.
We officially have a walker! Emma is walking all over the place now. She's been walking for a while, but she now walks more than she crawls. Her favorite game is Hide and Seek. She could play that game all day! It it so much fun seeing her walk all around. She is getting so grown up. Her grandpa will be coming back from Saudi this week, and he hasn't seen her since September. He is going to be so surprised at how much she's grown.
Emma has decided there is no reason to have a melt down when I come to pick her up from school now, and that is a huge relief for me. Now, she laughs and smile when she sees me. She is also a bit of a flirt at school. She has a little group of boys she plays with all day.
Since her birthday, Emma has gotten two new teeth. I can see she's working on at least two more. She is really learning how to use them. She likes to nibble on her crackers and Honeycombs cereal... a nice improvement from just shoving them into her mouth whole!
I really don't have too much to share right now. Just wanted to give some quick updates. Hopefully I have more to share soon.
We officially have a walker! Emma is walking all over the place now. She's been walking for a while, but she now walks more than she crawls. Her favorite game is Hide and Seek. She could play that game all day! It it so much fun seeing her walk all around. She is getting so grown up. Her grandpa will be coming back from Saudi this week, and he hasn't seen her since September. He is going to be so surprised at how much she's grown.
Emma has decided there is no reason to have a melt down when I come to pick her up from school now, and that is a huge relief for me. Now, she laughs and smile when she sees me. She is also a bit of a flirt at school. She has a little group of boys she plays with all day.
Since her birthday, Emma has gotten two new teeth. I can see she's working on at least two more. She is really learning how to use them. She likes to nibble on her crackers and Honeycombs cereal... a nice improvement from just shoving them into her mouth whole!
I really don't have too much to share right now. Just wanted to give some quick updates. Hopefully I have more to share soon.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Emma's 1st Birthday
We started off Emma's big day by showing her the "big" gift we got for her. We walked her out of her room into the living room where her new castle was waiting for her. She "oooohed" and "aaaahed" and laughed, so needless to say she loved it!
After her morning nap, we went to the Williams Community Easter Hunt. Unfortunately (or not), we missed the hunt, but we still got a toy for Emma. There were hundreds of kids running all around, so we decided to head home and get ready for Emma's party.
Emma's party started at 2pm, so Emma took a little power nap before making her grand entrance in her party dress. We had tuna sandwiches, cucumber sandwiches, turkey and cheese with crackers and fruit to snack on. Emma really liked the tuna, cheese and turkey. After she had her lunch, Emma opened all of her gifts. She got a bunch of new toys and some really cute outfits.
Emma was in a fantastic mood for her party and spent lots of time playing with her guests. Her only mildly unhappy moment was when we gave her her cake. Every time her hand would touch the frosting, Emma would make a horrible face and pull her hand away. We had to stick forks in the cake in order for Emma to even take any interest in it. All in all we had a pretty fantastic day, and Emma seemed to have a blast with her friends and family.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
One week left...
This time next week, we will be celebrating Emma's 1st birthday. I can hardly believe it! In the past few weeks, Emma's walking skills have really taken off. She is all over the place now. He favorite places to walk to are, of course, the most dangerous places in the house. She lives the wood stove and the entertainment center. She thinks it's hysterical when I scold or warn her, but she is starting to catch on to the concept of boundaries. Emma still refuses to use her words, but I'm not at all worried. She knows what we are talking about when we stay things like eat, stop, drink, mommy, daddy and dog. That's good enough for us!
The weather is getting warmer now, so we've been spending more time outside. We've been to the Grand Canyon Caverns, and we hiked for 7 hours through snow to finally see Sycamore Falls. Emma and the dogs are really enjoying the fresh air. We are hoping to take Emma to Oatman sometime in the next few weeks. Paul has never been there, and I think him and Emma will get a kick out of it. Maybe around that same time we will take a day trip down to Fossil Creek since it is getting so warm down there.
Emma is sleeping through the night like a champ now. She goes to bed around 8pm and sleeps until about 6am. She is almost completely off a bottle. We just have a straw sippy with milk and another with water, and she knows to drink from them when she's hungry. We think a couple more bottom teeth will be popping through soon. So far Emma has two bottom teeth and four top teeth. Her smile is a nice toothy grin now. It will be interesting at her one-year appointment to see how tall she's gotten and how much she weighs. She is still skinny enough for her 6-9 month pants to be baggy, but she seems to be getting quite tall.
We now have internet at home, so I will be updating more often. I imagine my next blog will be about Emma's birthday and Easter Egg hunt!
The weather is getting warmer now, so we've been spending more time outside. We've been to the Grand Canyon Caverns, and we hiked for 7 hours through snow to finally see Sycamore Falls. Emma and the dogs are really enjoying the fresh air. We are hoping to take Emma to Oatman sometime in the next few weeks. Paul has never been there, and I think him and Emma will get a kick out of it. Maybe around that same time we will take a day trip down to Fossil Creek since it is getting so warm down there.
Emma is sleeping through the night like a champ now. She goes to bed around 8pm and sleeps until about 6am. She is almost completely off a bottle. We just have a straw sippy with milk and another with water, and she knows to drink from them when she's hungry. We think a couple more bottom teeth will be popping through soon. So far Emma has two bottom teeth and four top teeth. Her smile is a nice toothy grin now. It will be interesting at her one-year appointment to see how tall she's gotten and how much she weighs. She is still skinny enough for her 6-9 month pants to be baggy, but she seems to be getting quite tall.
We now have internet at home, so I will be updating more often. I imagine my next blog will be about Emma's birthday and Easter Egg hunt!
Monday, March 1, 2010
A long month
We started out February with Emma taking her first steps, but it quickly went downhill from there. Emma got a cold that turned out to be RSV. We had to take her to the ER on Valentine's Day, because she was lethargic and had spiked a fever of 101 while taking ibuprofen. We got her perked up, and we were sent home. The following Friday, Emma's ear started oozing green nastiness. Off to the ER again. Paul made the executive decision, because the doctor's office didn't have any openings, and he didn't want to have to wait for her to be seen. It ended up being a good call, because they would have to have admitted her anyway. She was still running a fever, she had an outer ear infection and her oxygen saturation level was dipping as low as 77 while she was napping. The culture from our RSV test had just come in as positive, so Emma had a chest x-ray and received a breathing treatment. We were warned that the breathing treatment might make her irritable. It ended up having the opposite effect. She was sitting in her bed waving at everyone who came by. She was babbling and clapping and making everyone in the hospital fall in love with her. Her oxygen levels picked back up after her breathing treatment, so they let us take Emma home. There weren't any rooms available in the hospital anyway, so we were glad we didn't have to camp out in the ER. Apparently there is a particularly nasty strain of RSV going around this year. We were just lucky that Emma is a healthy baby to start out with. After a couple of days of breathing treatments, Emma was almost back to her old self!
Somewhere along the way, Emma also cut another tooth. She's averaging about a tooth every two weeks, poor kid! Emma also got over her stranger anxiety for the most part. She loves to flirt and dance for everyone, and it is the cutest thing we have ever seen. Emma was very weak after being sick for three weeks, so she really wasn't wanting to walk a whole lot. She is getting much better and stronger and loves to hold one of my hands and walk all over. Emma is still a mama's girl, but I'm not complaining! She has also developed a nasty temper and can throw tantrum with the best of them. I swear she could shatter crystal! I will admit that it's pretty comical. I just try not to laugh when she can see me. She doesn't throw fits very often. It's mostly when she's tired and we are trying to clean her nose or ears.
Emma is starting to hold long conversations with her toys, and it's really fun to listen to. She will babble and laugh and babble some more. Whatever she is saying, clearly cracks her up. I am absolutely amazed at how quickly the past 11 months have gone by. It's amazing watching Emma grow up so perfectly!
We finally closed on our house in Colorado, so it is no longer our burden. That has been a huge weight lifted off our shoulders. Things are going well between Paul and me. The nicer weather, happier baby and less financial worries have all collaborated to lift our spirits. We are very much looking forward to camping season, which is just around the corner. We are also looking forward to Emma's first birthday. I can't wait to take her Easter egg hunting as well. We have a lot of fun planned for this Spring and Summer!
Somewhere along the way, Emma also cut another tooth. She's averaging about a tooth every two weeks, poor kid! Emma also got over her stranger anxiety for the most part. She loves to flirt and dance for everyone, and it is the cutest thing we have ever seen. Emma was very weak after being sick for three weeks, so she really wasn't wanting to walk a whole lot. She is getting much better and stronger and loves to hold one of my hands and walk all over. Emma is still a mama's girl, but I'm not complaining! She has also developed a nasty temper and can throw tantrum with the best of them. I swear she could shatter crystal! I will admit that it's pretty comical. I just try not to laugh when she can see me. She doesn't throw fits very often. It's mostly when she's tired and we are trying to clean her nose or ears.
Emma is starting to hold long conversations with her toys, and it's really fun to listen to. She will babble and laugh and babble some more. Whatever she is saying, clearly cracks her up. I am absolutely amazed at how quickly the past 11 months have gone by. It's amazing watching Emma grow up so perfectly!
We finally closed on our house in Colorado, so it is no longer our burden. That has been a huge weight lifted off our shoulders. Things are going well between Paul and me. The nicer weather, happier baby and less financial worries have all collaborated to lift our spirits. We are very much looking forward to camping season, which is just around the corner. We are also looking forward to Emma's first birthday. I can't wait to take her Easter egg hunting as well. We have a lot of fun planned for this Spring and Summer!
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
First Steps!
This is just a quick little update. Emma took her first steps on Sunday, January 31! The was standing at the coffee table, and Daddy had her walker a few steps away. She turned around and tried walking over to it! Unfortunately, she had a toy in her hand and was unable to grab the walker... needless to say, she crashed! However, she was not discouraged and keeps practicing. Two steps here. Three steps there! In just a few days, she has gotten much better and much braver.
In other Emma news... Emma has cut her top two fangs (lateral incisors), and her top middle teeth will probably pop through any day now. She is doing a little bit better in daycare, though she still has to be pried off of me when I drop her off. I have decided to up my work week to three days. Emma will be in daycare two days, and Paul will have her on Fridays. I am heartbroken to have to be away from her for three days, but I think we both need to learn how to be away from each other. Next week will be the hardest, because I will be working Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, which means Emma will have to go to daycare for three days in a row. Paul and I both have meeting all three days. I am hoping it will help her bond with her teachers a bit better. Paul and I will both be at the same hotel for our meetings, so we will be carpooling on Wednesday and Thursday. Which means... Paul can drop Emma off at daycare and save me the heartbreak! Hooray!
I don't have too much more to say. Emma will be 10 months tomorrow, and I am baffled as to where the time has gone. Paul and I are crossing our fingers that everything is approved my the home inspector so we can finally sell the house before our time runs out. That will alleviate a HUGE amount of stress! We are all three doing well, and we are very much looking forward to Spring and camping and swimming in Fossil Creek!
In other Emma news... Emma has cut her top two fangs (lateral incisors), and her top middle teeth will probably pop through any day now. She is doing a little bit better in daycare, though she still has to be pried off of me when I drop her off. I have decided to up my work week to three days. Emma will be in daycare two days, and Paul will have her on Fridays. I am heartbroken to have to be away from her for three days, but I think we both need to learn how to be away from each other. Next week will be the hardest, because I will be working Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, which means Emma will have to go to daycare for three days in a row. Paul and I both have meeting all three days. I am hoping it will help her bond with her teachers a bit better. Paul and I will both be at the same hotel for our meetings, so we will be carpooling on Wednesday and Thursday. Which means... Paul can drop Emma off at daycare and save me the heartbreak! Hooray!
I don't have too much more to say. Emma will be 10 months tomorrow, and I am baffled as to where the time has gone. Paul and I are crossing our fingers that everything is approved my the home inspector so we can finally sell the house before our time runs out. That will alleviate a HUGE amount of stress! We are all three doing well, and we are very much looking forward to Spring and camping and swimming in Fossil Creek!
Monday, January 11, 2010
Nine months?!
Boy how time flies! Emma started daycare a few days after her 9 month birthday, and she HATED it. She pretty much refused to eat or nap. When I got there to pick her up, she burst into tears and shortly after passed out cold! I guess she was relieved to finally be able to relax and take a nap. Apparently Emma is afraid of the other babies, poor girl. I'm glad she is going to daycare, so she can learn how to socialize with other kiddos. I am pretty sure she will love it in no time.
Emma had her 9 month well-baby check-up. The doctor just confirmed what we already know. She is long and skinny. She is 29 inches (90th percentile) and 17 lbs 9 ozs (26th percentile). We are all pretty sure Emma will be walking in no time. She loves to fly around the house pushing her walker. When we hold her hands to help her walk, Emma would much rather try to run. After having only two teeth for the past three months, Emma has finally cut anther, and we are pretty sure she is working on at least three more.
Paul and I have been going through some hard times, but what marriage is perfect? The one thing we can absolutely always agree on, though, is that Emma is the most wonderful accomplishment either one of us has ever made! We both love her more than annything else in the world.
Emma had her 9 month well-baby check-up. The doctor just confirmed what we already know. She is long and skinny. She is 29 inches (90th percentile) and 17 lbs 9 ozs (26th percentile). We are all pretty sure Emma will be walking in no time. She loves to fly around the house pushing her walker. When we hold her hands to help her walk, Emma would much rather try to run. After having only two teeth for the past three months, Emma has finally cut anther, and we are pretty sure she is working on at least three more.
Paul and I have been going through some hard times, but what marriage is perfect? The one thing we can absolutely always agree on, though, is that Emma is the most wonderful accomplishment either one of us has ever made! We both love her more than annything else in the world.
Christmas
We managed to save some presents for Emma to open on Christmas, and boy did she have fun! We went to mom's house and celebrated Christmas with us, Mom, Sam and Larry. It was nice to have family around this year. We put Emma's presents in a circle around her and let her dive in. Uncle Larry helped when Emma got stuck, but for the most part Emma opened her presents herself. I'll try to remember Emma's presents as best I can.
Graham Cracker: Jammies
Grammy and Papa: Sort and Spin Blender, Playskool stacking blocks, walker
Auntie Sam and Uncle Larry: Bird nightlight
Mommy and Daddy: Rattles / teethers, Nursery Rhyme Book, Talking ball (?)
Grandma and Grandpa Hancock: Poodle skirt and Crawl and Cruise Jungle
Uncle Kevin and Aunt Kisa: Fish rattle and gift card
Uncle Norman and Aunt Kristie: Teddy bear with a blankie
I am sure I am forget some of her presents, but that's all I can remember for now. Santa brought Emma some green beans, peas and puffs for her stocking. All of which are Emma's FAVORITES!
Around this time, Emma started crawling on her hands and knees finally, and she is really working on standing. Emma has mastered waving and clapping, but once she figured out how to do both, she moved on to other things. She pretty much only waves at herself in the mirror now!
Graham Cracker: Jammies
Grammy and Papa: Sort and Spin Blender, Playskool stacking blocks, walker
Auntie Sam and Uncle Larry: Bird nightlight
Mommy and Daddy: Rattles / teethers, Nursery Rhyme Book, Talking ball (?)
Grandma and Grandpa Hancock: Poodle skirt and Crawl and Cruise Jungle
Uncle Kevin and Aunt Kisa: Fish rattle and gift card
Uncle Norman and Aunt Kristie: Teddy bear with a blankie
I am sure I am forget some of her presents, but that's all I can remember for now. Santa brought Emma some green beans, peas and puffs for her stocking. All of which are Emma's FAVORITES!
Around this time, Emma started crawling on her hands and knees finally, and she is really working on standing. Emma has mastered waving and clapping, but once she figured out how to do both, she moved on to other things. She pretty much only waves at herself in the mirror now!
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