Look Who's Crawling!

I knew the crawling clock was ticking and that this day would soon be here!  Emily has been "army crawling" for months already, and frustrated for about the same amount of time that she wasn't more mobile!

Then, on November 14th, she got up on all fours!

Last week, she gathered the courage to raise her right arm up in the air a couple times while up on her hands & knees one day.  That's when I knew our time with a baby who stays on near her play mat was limited.

Well, the wait is over!  Emily officially crawled for the first time!

Want to see our girl in action?  Here she is!

Of course such an occasion called for some photos with her little milestone card!  These photos are getting harder and harder to capture, but here they are!  She was so proud of herself!  Or maybe I'm just projecting.  ;)  She was definitely happy though!  And I am one proud mommy!!!

6 Months Young!!!!!!

6 MONTHS ALREADY!?!?!

I can't believe how quickly time has just flown by!  Our little girl turned 6 months old this past Saturday!

Here's a quick video of the half-birthday girl!  :)

Emily has changed so much since her last monthly update!

• On 11/12, she weighed over 16.5 pounds (73rd percentile), was 25.75 inches long (54th percentile) and had a head circumference of 41.5 cm (29th percentile)!
• Started eating solids!  She loves her oatmeal in the morning for breakfast and her sweet potato puree!  She leans forward to get the spoon in her mouth, and we can't feed her fast enough!  We tried avocado once too but she wasn't a fan -- we will try it again though!
• Celebrated her first Halloween!
• Met her Great Aunt Nancy & Great Uncle Gary for the first time!
• Has been practicing her "up on all fours" maneuver in preparation for crawling!  She does this really cute thing that Shep has named her "frog leap", which is a little like the baby version of the "downward dog" yoga pose, and gets excited when she thinks she's getting somewhere!
• Hates having boogies cleaned out of her nose, but also doesn't like having boogies in her nose.  Go figure.
• Loves being cuddled for a little bit with her head on my shoulder when she wakes up.
• Still not sleeping very well -- waking up several times per night and taking ~3 x 30-40 minute naps a day.
• Loves grabbing my lips with her hands.  Shep likes to joke that's her way of telling me to keep quiet.  ;)
• Kicks her right leg around while I'm holding and feeding her.
• Is sleeping {mostly} in her crib for naps and nighttime!
• Can sit up with support, but doesn't sit still long enough to really balance all on her own!  She'd much prefer to stretch out onto her back or belly!
• Loooooooves her Sophie teether, and putting anything she can get her hands onto into her mouth!  ...Except a bottle or pacifier.  ;)  She especially loves chewing on the plastic books she has.
• Laughs when I sing "The Wheels On The Bus" and "Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes".
• Gets SUPER excited when Daddy comes home from work, and smiles when she hears his voice on speakerphone.
• Loves kisses from Mommy:

• Finds a way to get her limbs stuck in her crib, despite the mesh bumpers we have:

Is getting a little tired of the paparazzi woman who keeps following her around taking photos of her in all her cuteness:

• Is still very amused with trying to get under the couch:

• Newly fascinated with looking at and grabbing my fuzzy slippers and socks on my feet.
• Has experienced some pretty chilly days!

• Started making an adorable little smirk that causes her to look even cuter than usual, which I didn't think possible!

• Gets bed head just like her Mom!

These past six months have been some of the most tiring, but most exciting, of our lives.  Though we wish we could slow time down and soak in all of Emily's adorableness forever and ever, we can't wait to see what the next few months have in store for us!  This little girl is growing up way too fast!

You Made Me a Mother

I saw this video last winter, when it first aired as part of an advertisement.  It may be a commercial, but the message is so true.  I cried the first time I saw it, when I was pregnant and dreaming of meeting my baby one day.  Now that Emily is 4 months old, it resonates even more with me. Today I got the happy news that the world has 2 new babies to love -- one is a friend's and one is my cousin's.  In celebration of these new babies, and another friend's baby due to arrive any day now, I wanted to share the video.  To all the babies and mommies out there -- enjoy!

Link: http://youtu.be/gZq62c82-h4

To My Emily, who made me a mother..... no words could ever express how blessed I am to have you in my life.  Yours forever, Mommy

14 Weeks New!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

{August 28, 2014}

14 weeks already?!?!  How did that happen so fast???

Emily is teething, big time.  She shoves her hands into her mouth every chance she gets, and while it's adorable to watch, I feel bad that she's so uncomfortable.  We have a bunch of teething rings and toys for her, but she prefers her little fists and fingers, or sometimes chewing on a wet washcloth or her burp cloth.  Her reflux is also acting up this week, which I think is exacerbated by the additional saliva from her teething.  Needless to say, she has been a bit more fussy than usual, poor baby.  She's also had some trouble sleeping during her daytime naps.... though she seemed to be doing fine here:

Sigh . . . my heart just melts at the sight of her.

She has gotten even more vocal this past week, which is adorable to hear.  Here's a little video of my baby girl; aptly entitled "Emily's yellaugh" because it's hard to tell if she's laughing or yelling!  ;)

We took a short ride in the car over the weekend to the store to try to get her a little more used to her car seat.  While she didn't scream to the point where she stopped breathing {which she has on two prior occasions}, she was NOT happy about being in that car.  And we only drove about 2 miles!  :(

In Mommy news, I finally got my hair cut for the first time since the end of March.  That haircut was looooong overdue -- I feel 5 pounds lighter!