Two Months Old Today!

Emmy is two months old today! I can't believe how fast time is flying! She is getting so big and really turning into a sweet little baby girl.

So here is what she is doing now:

-Weight: 9lbs 7oz (20%)

-eating every 4 hours during the day, about 5oz at each feeding

-until this week (when Mommy tried to force a "rigid schedule"...which didn't work) sleeping from about 10 until 6ish, and getting in the bed with Mommy around 4

-smiling and reacting to what is going on around her

-cooing a little bit

-really enjoying tummy time now! in fact, if it is near nap time she likes it so much she will scrunch up and go to sleep

-getting much better with the pacifier, which makes Mommy very happy :)

-loves being bounced (really fast and hard I might add) in her bouncy seat

-starting to like the swing a little more

Emmy gets lots of hugs and kisses from her big brother and sister and enjoys watching them play and laugh together! She is changing so quickly and I just love trying to guess what she will be doing next week at this time! She is awake more and more during the day and loves laying on her back to play with me or Drew and Ellie!

Here is Drew loving on his baby sister...

And here is Ellie reading Emmy a story.

Love to all!

This too shall pass

Emmy is totally kicking my butt for bragging about how well my older two kids slept. God is truly trying my patience and last night he was REALLY trying me! I am not sure why I tried to mess with her little schedule because prior to this week she was doing...well, at least ok. Waking sometimes around 4ish but going back to sleep in my arms until around 6. Not too bad. Well I decided (don't ask me why) that she needed to learn to put herself back to sleep. After not one but TWO nights of crying for 90 minutes, I caved. Put her in the bed with me on the third night and she slept until 7. So yesterday I figured that I would try to feed her more and give her a "dreamfeed" around 11pm. Well she was a joy to be around yesterday but after about 4pm yesterday she was not awake much at all. So, of course last night around 2 she wakes up ready to look at us and wants to play. I guess this is what they mean when they talk about baby's getting their days and nights mixed up :( So from about 2 until about 4ish, we tried (not so successfully to put her back to sleep). Tried in my arms, in the bouncy, in her little basket and the list goes on and on. She would fall asleep in my arms but when I went to put her back in her basket, she would wake up. Finally around 4:30 she fell asleep in my arms and slept until 7. What's a mommy to do? A sleepy mommy with absolutely no sense at all right now!!! Have you ever had a total meltdown at 4am? Liked cried until you had a headache kind of meltdown? Ugghhh! That was me last night!

So I have to remind myself each and every day (or night for that matter) that THIS TOO SHALL PASS! I know that this "no sleep phase" won't last forever and it is so hard not to get mad. But she is so tiny and I do love her so very much and I know it will pass. Since we are not going to have any more children, I keep telling myself to slow down and enjoy each moment of Emmy as a baby. This is a little more challenging at 2am than at 2pm! But just as I think I can't take it anymore in the middle of the night, she falls asleep in my arms and there is just no better feeling than holding my sleeping girls tightly in my arms. So tonight at 3am when the rest of you are dead asleep, know that I will be telling myself "This too shall pass" and loving every minute with my baby girl - even at 3am :) I think it is one of the most important concepts to grasp as parents - the stresses that sleep create for us, or feeding, or potty training, or learning to share, or hitting/biting/kicking, or driving, or college and the list goes on, all of this "issues" that our children challenge (or stress us out) us with, they are all temporary. So just remember (especially when you are stressed) that this too shall pass!

Love to all!

The faces of an Angel

I'm smiling at you!!!!


Now I am frowning at you!!!


Emmy has been an absolute joy today! She has been giving me little smiles all day long, has been more alert and I am loving every minute of it :) No ground breaking news around here, just business as usual. I have to say, being at home with three little ones there is never a dull moment and there truly is lots of laughter in this house! Not a day goes by that my kids don't do something that just makes me cackle (is that a word?) For instance, today Drew and Ellie were picking at each other (they have a love/hate relationship - playing wonderfully or fighting like cats and dogs) and Ellie was hitting Drew. Of course Drew was screaming and Ellie with sly eyes kept hitting. I said "Ellie do you want me to pop your bottom?" She looked at me, head hung, eyes cutting straight through me and walked over to Drew and clunked him on the head. Now, do I really think that popping her bottom is going to do a bit of good? NO. However, I have a four year old watching my every move and making sure that I follow through with my promises (or threats in this instance). So I give her a little pop on her bottom. She drops her head and Drew says "Yeah!!! That's what I'm talking about!" I thought I was going to keel over and DIE of laughter! Too funny!

Yesterday, Sam and Nanny came to visit! From what I understand (I had to work) everyone had a good time and there were no major meltdowns! Here they are together. Not sure why no one has on clothes and Drew still has on pajamas because I think they came around lunch time, but I didn't ask any questions.


I have been trying to get a good picture of all three kids together. No luck yet but here are a few that turned out ok! Do you know how hard it is to get three children to behave, look at the camera and smile? All at the same time? IMPOSSIBLE!

Bad angle in this one...


Bad lighting in this one...


And bad spacing in this one!!!

Guess I'll keep trying!

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer!

Love to all!

Cry It Out :( and Tummy Time

Emmy is getting bigger and stronger each and every day - and so are her little lungs! Wow, can she wail when she wants too (like around 3:30am last night!). She has been a very good little sleeper for us so far, but sometimes will wake up around 3 or 4am. So I have been just scooping her up and letting her sleep with me until it is time for her to eat her morning bottle - like around 6ish. Well, we decided this weekend that when she wakes up in the middle of the night we need to let her cry it out and put herself back to sleep. Since our house is often like musical beds, we wanted to try and condition Emmy early to soothe herself back to sleep. She doesn't wake up in the middle of the night every single night, just once in a while. So I figured, how bad could it be, right? She cried for 90 minutes last night! Is that even POSSIBLE!?!?!?!? How in the world can a baby cry that long without falling asleep? Since Emmy is still in our room, I put her in the bathroom with the door shut and the fan on so her crying wouldn't keep us awake. No luck - her lungs work quite well! Kevin migrated to the bonus room and slept on the couch and I stayed in our room (pillow over my head) and listened to her cry (tear, tear)! Now I did not let her cry for 90 minutes straight, I would go in and soothe her every so often, but I never dreamed it would take this long! Just as I thought she was falling asleep and I would start to fall back to sleep, she would start up again! I wanted to pick her up so bad, but for those of you familiar with the "cry it out" method you know that picking up your baby is the one and only thing you are not supposed to do. Not even after 90 minutes of crying! I think that Ellie and Drew may have a new competitor for the hardest head in the family ;) Hopefully tonight will be better - I've got earplugs!

During the day, Miss Emmy is beginning to look and act more and more like a baby each day! The "brand new baby" stage is fading away and she has periods of time for an hour or so that she is awake and is not eating or crying - this is great progress! She is beginning to like tummy time a little better and getting stronger each day!

Working all day tomorrow - hope my ear plugs work ;)

Love to all!

Lakefest 2009

Between my 9-6 shift on Friday and my 9-6 shift on Sunday we enjoyed Lakefest 2009! Of course I raced home from work on Friday to make it downtown in time to hear the band and congregate in the Wachovia parking lot with people I had not seen in years! This is by far my favorite part of Lakefest and I really enjoy catching up with old friends. So I made it home, got the kids fed and dressed, packed the diaper bag, changed clothes and walked out the door just as the bottom fell out and drenched us all :( We ventured downtown in the rain, very confident that the storm would pass - an hour later and soaking wet, we end up at my Mom and Dad's house. Oh well, maybe Lakefest 2010 will be a little drier!

We did enjoy great company and good wine with friends and family - enjoyed ourselves so much that I forgot to take pictures on Friday night! Here are a few from Saturday night.

Saturday morning we went downtown and walked the streets to see the crafts. Drew got a "spitting lizard" and Ellie had ice cream (more ended up on her face and clothes than in her mouth)!

Drew jumped on the "jumpy thing"

And Ellie rode the slide with Mama!

They ended with a train ride!

Although the weather wasn't the greatest, a good time was had by all!

Love to all!

Back to Work

That's right...it has been 6 weeks already! I can't believe it either. So, I went back to work today and it was great! Kevin stayed home with all three kids, all day long, all by himself! And he did great! The house was still in one piece and much cleaner than I have it on most days. When I called this morning around 10ish to check on things, the response was "Oh it's great...piece of cake" and then the call to my cell phone at 8pm tonight was frantically saying, "I can't get her to stop screaming!" but when I walked in the door at 9:45pm all was calm. Then I noticed the two gashes on Kevin's knees. "What in the world happened?????" Kevin explains that he fell down the steps outside... WITH EMMY IN HIS ARMS! Hence, he broke his fall with his knees to keep Emmy from hitting the ground (or concrete - I was afraid to ask). Glad he waited until I got home to let me know about that one!

I missed all of the kids but can honestly say that it was nice to get back to work - I love my job and getting back into somewhat of a "routine" will be good for all of us!

So everyone always tells me how much my kids look like Kevin, and they do. He can not deny any of our kids. Can you "Name that Baby" by these photos? (Don't look at the clothes on them - thats cheating ;)

Love to all!

Water, Water, EVERYWHERE!

We have conquered our fear of the water...well, Drew has and Ellie has no fear and I am quite positive would dive right in if we let her! Last week, Drew took swimming lessons and did GREAT! We are so proud of him. His teachers, Paige and Kyle, were wonderful and had the paitence of Saints! So here are a few pictures from last week:

Drew blowing bubbles...


and practicing on the kickboard...


and playing around in the water...


This is a HUGE improvement from last year and we are so happy with how much he accomplished in swim lessons last week! He picked up diving sticks, floated on his back (with a little help), worked on kicking his legs and using his arms, and jumped off the side of the pool holding Mr. Kyle's hands. He did great!

Now we just need to start working with him on swimming in water that is over his head!

Ellie worked on swimming with "TeeTee" this week too!



We spent one day at the lake with Nanny and some friends.


Ellie played in the sand (by playing, I mean dumped the sand all over her head)


REALLY dumped it all over! We are still getting sand out of her head and that was a week ago :)

Played with Liza!

And Emmy stayed happy as long as she was fed (that girl likes to eat!).

Happy Wednesday!

Love to all!