How could I forget?

My Favorite

Happy Girl

Sleeping with Mia

Look at those muscles!

Bumbo success!

Apparently something was funny

In deep thought

Baby Mullet

As you can see in other pictures Emerson appears bald but, don't let that fool you. She still has her long hair in the back. Her hair is falling out. :( So I suppose I will have to hold off on my dreams of these bows.

3 Months Old

Today Emerson is 3 months. Yesterday her cousin, Avery was born making them a day short of being 3 months apart. Pretty cool, huh? We can't wait to meet her! 

Emerson has changed so much. She becomes more interactive every day and we get to see her personality forming. So far she is still pretty laid back. She enjoys just hanging out with no hoopla. Just chatting with her or reading a book makes her super happy. She loves to just hang out in my sling and take everything in. The other day she laughed for the first time at her Daddy. We won't hold that against her though, we all think he is funny looking. :) New this month she is starting to turn in circles by kicking her little legs. She is constantly moving but luckily hasn't rolled over yet. She has also discovered that she has hands and they are very 

yummy. She tries to put both fists and her paci in at the same time. Her mouth is constantly making bubbles and she is stuck on sticking her tongue out all the time. In fact we did a photo shoot today and she stuck her tongue out for the first hour. (Those pics to come soon, we only took a 100).  But, to give you a taste of how cute our little chica is look at her reaction when I sang Happy Birthday to her. 

Help, please

I'm thinking of opening an etsy shop. Not that I have anything to sell at the moment but I want to buy something. I might end up selling things later so my user name would be my shop name. That means it needs to be good. I want something quirky, fun, and different. So feel free to post your ideas in the comments and they will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Just call her Roo

I couldn't resist adding these. She looked too cute. I usually carry Emerson in a carry hold in the sling but decided to try an upright position since she can hold her head up pretty well. She loved it. We took the dog out and she was amazed by the trees and sunshine. It was pretty comfy too. 

Growing like a Weed

To show Little Emerson's change in size I thought I would do a comparison. These pics were taken when she was about 2 weeks old I believe.

These were taken today at almost 3 months with the same attire. The little hat barely fits on her head. The pants are about just right now. A few months ago they were rolled up and still raised up to her armpits. 

Just think in a little while she might look like this. Scary?!? Who is that kid anyways? ;)

Momnesia

I was reading a fun post on a blog I sometimes follow and it's hilarious. Maybe some of you Mom's can relate to forgetting the discomfort of childbirth. For some reason I can't really even remember the pain level anymore except for the pushing stage. How did that happen? 24 hours of labor, (21 of which were drug-free), not that the epidural did a whole lot since the pain I remember was at the end. Haha. Even after all that I still absolutely want an all-natural birth for baby dos. So yep I have momnesia where memories of labor are all cheery. But, I suppose that is a gift so we can all go on to get pregnant again without hesitation.  An adorable baby at home doesn't hurt either. Although I in no way have baby fever and do not plan on it for a good while. If you care to read the bit on Momnesia go here.

Our Weekend

I made little Miss Emerson a dress but it happened to be a tad too short and now it's a stylish tunic. As you can see by the pictures I think she really likes it. I must say she looks very pretty in orange and it made for the perfect outfit to her first concert. Bethany Dillon was awesome. It wasn't too weird to bring a baby along. The concert was very intimate and only had two guitars. Emerson slept through the whole thing so I guess it was the perfect lullaby. If you want to see the rest of the pictures from our weekend go here. Blogspot uploading is far too slow and I have no patience to upload 3o pictures. 

We're off for now.

All three of us our making our way to the Conover area for two days. Little Emerson, Aunt Reba, and my self are heading to the Bethany Dillon concert. Mark will be hanging around. :) Perhaps we will have some fun pics to add Sunday.

A little add on

Mark requested this photo be added. So here you go. Enjoy. 

Eye Color Predictor

For some reason I've been obsessed with what the color of Emerson's eyes will be.  Since I have forgotten basically everything from AP Biology I turned to my friend google. You can go here to find out your future child's eye color probability.  So Emerson has a 18.7% chance of having blue eyes, 31.2% green, and 50% brown. But if Mark and I had 6 kids (Scary!) 3 would have blue eyes, 2 green, and 1 brown. I don't really get that prediction given Emerson's statistics. But, oh well. It's all in good fun. 

Emerson's mood swings

I think I know you!

Yep, you make me happy!

Mom, you are very entertaining!

Wait,  you are definitely scary!!!

You put me in baby jail!

Not me Monday

So I decided to participate in not me Monday which is sourcing from MckMama's Fun Blog. The idea is you can admit all the things you have done in the past week without feeling bad about it. Here it goes.

~I definitely did not undercook a hard boil egg. Then I did not think it was a good idea to put that egg in the microwave to finish cooking it. The egg did not completely explode, sounding like a bomb, forcing the microwave door open, definitely not!

~I'm absolutely not still sitting here at lunchtime without brushing my teeth. Never!

~I did not accidentally pour water in the coffee maker in the coffee grind spot creating a pool of coffee sludge.

~I don't cringe when people kiss Emerson out of fear of yucky germs and the swine flu. Absolutely not! That would be crazy.

~ I never give my baby a paci so I can surf the internet for a few minutes. Nope, never!

~ I definitely did not turn my dining room table into a craft disaster area. 

Happy Mothers Day!

A year ago today I would have never thought that I was soon to become a mother. But, this year I have been very blessed to have Emerson come into my life. "Mommyhood" has been more than I could have ever imagined and the best job I've ever had.  I'm so glad to have little Emerson. I'm looking forward to the coming years and many more babies. Don't tell Mark that! ;) My sweet husband got me a necklace with Emerson's birth stone on it, which is amethyst. I also scored some yummy Brueggers. Anyways Happy Mothers Day to all the mommies reading. By the way Emerson is wearing my baby outift in the picture. 

Top Baby Names

Rank	Male name	Female name
1	Jacob	Emma
2	Michael	Isabella
3	Ethan	Emily
4	Joshua	Madison
5	Daniel	Ava
6	Alexander	Olivia
7	Anthony	Sophia
8	William	Abigail
9	Christopher	Elizabeth
10	Matthew	Chloe
11	Jayden	Samantha
12	Andrew	Addison
13	Joseph	Natalie
14	David	Mia
15	Noah	Alexis
16	Aiden	Alyssa
17	James	Hannah
18	Ryan	Ashley
19	Logan	Ella
20	John	Sarah
21	Nathan	Grace
22	Elijah	Taylor
23	Christian	Brianna
24	Gabriel	Lily
25	Benjamin	Hailey

The social security site finally released the top baby names for 2008.  I was very interested to see if Emerson had gotten popular. If you know me I don't like to be like everyone else because I'm just weird like that. So obviously I wanted my child to have a name that not everyone else had. As a matter of fact my criteria was a name not in the top 100. Something that was interesting, not common, but still very cool. I think Emerson is all of those things. But, when the NICU nurse named Amy told me her daughter's name was Emerson (weird, huh?) I sorta freaked that I had picked a trendy name. So I have been stalking the social security site for the past few months to see the fate of my first born's beautiful name. In 2007 the name was ranked 312. So drum roll please. This past year in 2008 Emerson is only ranked 290.  A bump of 22 spaces. Not showing a trend of widespread popularity and complete overuse like the name Emma. No offense if that is your kids name. Friends really gave that name a boost. To show a little perspective Esmeralda, Fatima, and Genesis are all more popular than Emerson. I don't know about you but I don't know a single person with those names. So now I can relax and forget about my fear of becoming mainstream. I love, love, love her name and I hope she does too. :)

2 month old development

Your 2-month-old: Week 2

How your baby's growing:

If your baby is sleeping through the night (five or six hours at a stretch), you're one of the lucky few. Most 10-week-old babies still wake up in the wee hours. But even babies who aren't sleeping through the night at this stage should be sleeping and staying awake for longer intervals rather than cycling back and forth so much. Your baby will probably have two to four long sleep periods and as many as ten hours of awake time in 24 hours.

An interesting note: Whether your baby is a night owl or a morning lark, a long sleeper or short sleeper, that pattern will probably stay the same throughout childhood.

Your baby is growing stronger every day. She may now be able to lift her head, chest, and shoulders off the ground when she's on her tummy. Your Superbaby will look so proud and happy while she's "flying" this way. If she's especially strong, she may be able to push herself up using her arms while lying on her stomach.

* Emerson has been doing push-ups for almost a month now. We're in trouble! But, we are definitely part of the "lucky few." Emerson sleeps a long stretch at night!

It's poll time!

I figured it was time for a fun poll since I hadn't done one since the gender precition. So to the right please vote for who you think Little Emerson looks like. If you don't vote for me I will be seriously offended. ;)

My Mommy Tips

I figured I would share some of the things I've learned in my first two months. I know my experience is extensive and you will be majorly impressed with my knowledge. :) So here it goes. Take it or leave it. 

1. Only get hand-me-downs or clearance clothes for your little one.  Their clothes will either get destroyed beyond belief or never worn.  So why pay any significant amount of money on it. This is why Target clearance is my friend. 
2. Hold off on the big baby purchases or borrow from a friend. Who knows if your baby will absolutely love your $100 swing or scream bloody murder. Try someone elses' out before you invest.
3. Stock up on burp cloths. I mean really really stock up. Infants have more fluid than you can imagine in their little bodies.  Oddly enough I never even thought of buying burp cloths before Emerson was born. I think pregnancy zapped my brain power. I only have 8 and she can easily go through them in one day. I'm not exaggerating. 
4. If you want to sleep with or close to your baby do it. Don't worry about what others think. Why stay up half the night when you both could be snoozing?  After all it's only western cultures who have created this phenomena of children sleeping in their own room. The countries with much lower SIDS rates or where it's even unheard of practice safe co-sleeping. Take Hong Kong who has the highest % of co sleeping. They also have the lowest SIDS rates. Coincidence? I think not. SAFE SLEEP SHARING
5. Invest in a baby carrier or snag a used one. This has been a lifesaver. We have a $5 snugli from a consignment sale and have used it almost every day. I can take Emerson to the grocery store or walk the dog and still have free hands. This is especially essential for those kids who hate their carseats. Emerson, please raise your hand. I wish I had put some money into a Moby Wrap because I know now Emerson would have loved it. If anyone wants to throw one my way that would be cool. 
6. Don't worry about sleep schedules right now. My kid slept until 9:30am and is already taking a nap. Am I going to wake her? Ummm, no! She is obviously tired. Follow their cues and you'll be fine. I know I can say this now since Emerson is a super sleeper at night. I use to worry about how long her naps were and timing. But, once I let go I feel so much better and she rarely keeps us up at night. Maybe twice.  So if someone tries to wake up your passed out baby take them down quickly. Possibly using some silent Kung Fu as to not make a lot of noise. I'm just kidding but you get the point. 
7. Own your role as parent. A lot of people will give their two cents but you are the one who is in control. 
8. Don't make plans too far out. Who knows what you will be doing in a year or two. Take it day by day. 

Prissy Little Sleeper

Our sweet baby

I did not pose her like this. She is just that cute.

Appalachians Little Fan

The alumni association was kind enough to send their newest fan a tshirt. Obviously they didn't get the memo that I had a 5lb baby not a linebacker. Although she pulls it off rather nicely. I can't wait until she can attend her first game. Although she went to a several in utero last fall. 

Diaper Rash I hate you!!!

Emerson has had a persistent diaper rash that won't seem to go away. We've given up baby wipes, soaked in baking soda, used mylanta, and I've started drinking rice milk. Yes rice milk. How they make milk our of rick I'll never know. But, now I have to stop dairy completely. That means nothing, not an ounce of cheese! I don't eat much meat so I love some cheese and I really enjoyed my bowl of chocolate ice cream last night. But if it will kick diaper rashes butt I'll try it. So goodbye dairy for now. I'll miss you. Tear.

Being Green

I knew I was pretty earth conscious but, I guess I can add one more thing to my list. :)

http://www.llli.org/Release/GoGreen