Emma Update--4 months

Favorite things to do: Kick her legs, get attention, scratch things, make noise (herself or with anything she can get in those little hands!), touch everything, put everything in her mouth, grab her feet, smile, laugh, play in the water, grab people's mouths and noses, see what's going on and be a part of everything. Favorite things to play with: People (she'd rather have someone playing with her than anything else!), grocery bags or other bags that make lots of noise, bouncing in her bouncer or swing, toys that rattle or make noise, her feet, blankets, whatever mom or dad have in their hands. She has the prettiest smile and her hair is getting a lot longer. She went to the doctor yesterday and is in the 50th percentile for both height and weight. She's now 24 inches, weighing 13 pounds 5 ounces. Emma spends more time with her dad and grandma now that her mom is working a little. She has done pretty good with this, but is always a little anxious for mom to return so she can eat.

Independence Day

For our 4th of July this year, we spent some time up in Logan. It was awesome! It's always great to see family up that way. Emma even had a good time and did rather well. Here is a picture of her with all but 2 of her cousins on Jake's side of the family. Aren't they a good looking bunch?!? We were glad to see them.

Emma met her cousin Peter for the first time. He and his parents live out in Virginia, so we don't get to see them very often. It was fun to see how much he's growing up! Emma seems to enjoy getting a kiss from a cute boy a little too much..

Here's Emma with her Grandma. They make a lovely pair!

Then we went on a hike up Bells Canyon on Monday. Emma did well. Even when she couldn't see a thing. She slept all the way down.

It was a great weekend. We had a barbeque, fireworks, hiking, tennis, badminton, sleeping in, cafe rio and lots of family.

Swimming!

We've taken Emma swimming a few times in our community pool. She sure doesn't love it, but she doesn't hate it either. Here are a few pictures from the first time.

A picture update

I haven't posted on here for a while. I thought I better do it now or I'll get behind. We have some fun trips coming up in the next few weeks, so I'll be moving on. Just for a quick update, my brother and his wife had their baby. Just click the link for pictures and more info. Super exciting. We're so glad Emma will have a cousin so close to her age. His name is Porter and we're looking forward to meeting him in a few weeks at Lake Powell.

As far as our home, there haven't been many changes. I'm still looking for a part-time job. I've had some leads and some interviews, but nothing has come through yet. Emma is still keeping us busy and laughing. She is standing up when supported now and also started laughing this week. We LOVE it and do all we can to hear it often! She's so cute. Check out how she's growing..

This picture is just like my baby picture (on the same blanket from my mom.) If I had a scanner, I'd put mine up here so you could check it out. Maybe I'll add it sometime when I'm at my parents. Take note of the super cute slippers from her favorite not-quite-aunt, or so we hope..

This is a family picture from her baby blessing. My Grandma Pope made the beautiful blessing dress.

This is Emma all dressed up for her close-by Grandma's birthday. A dress of her favorite color. She looked so pretty!

Emma doing her classic stretch. This always makes us smile. I'm so glad I caught such a cute one with the camera! We love the hat from her Watson cousins!

This is Emma doing one of her favorite things, hanging out with dad.

This is one of the many "getting ready for Lake Powell" moments. Such a cutie!

Her close-by grandma always has a new toy for her at her house! This is the latest. We're excited she can already touch the ground. Hopefully she won't go anywhere for a while though.

We're doing well and enjoying summer. It sure is flying by!

12 weeks old

Today Emma is 12 weeks. She celebrated by falling asleep on her own last night and sleeping 8 long hours!

Being a Mom

I probably haven't talked a lot about all the good things I have found with being a mom. I spend a lot of time talking about how it is so much harder than I thought it would be and how Emma is such a hard baby! Well I have been thinking the last couple days about how awesome it is to be a mom. I've always known I am blessed to be one and that Emma is an amazing blessing to our family, but it's way more than that. Watching her learn new things or seeing her smile back at me over any little thing is so much fun!! I tell her about 50 times a day how cute or pretty she is because there just doesn't seem to be another way to tell her how she just lights up my life with the things she does. It is also amazing to me how deeply I'm affected when she starts really crying. If there is something I can do to ease her pain, I want to do it as quickly as I can. She can whine all she wants and that's just different, but when she screams in pain, I listen!

My favorites: I love to teach her, make her smile, watch her playing with her dad, watch her different faces and expressions, hold her close, and see her learn new things. I also love learning new ways to help her.

All the things a new mom should know!

I have been so lucky to have time to research how to help little Emma and everytime I find something new I get so frustrated I didn't know it earlier. Why don't babies come with a manual suited to their make/model? It sure would make parents' lives easier. Well I am now a wealth of information and am passing it on in my small way.

Dunstan Baby- this is an awesome DVD (available at the local library) that talks about babies' reflexes and how when they put a sound to these reflexes, it makes a certain noise. It talks about 5 different sounds to listen for to distinguish what a baby needs. However, it is only applicable in the first 3 months. I think by that time you have an idea what they are telling you anyways.

White noise- babies love the sound of vacuums, fans, blowdryers, etc.

Happiest baby on the block- this talks about five ways to soothe a crying baby quickly using the five Ss: Swaddle, Side/Stomach, Shushing, Swinging, and Sucking. This is available in a book or DVD format (also available at the local library.)

Baby massage for releaving gas.

Swings and Vibrating bouncers are a must!

Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child- this book talks about the importance of getting enough sleep. Some concepts I didn't know are that if a baby sleeps well during the day, they'll sleep better at night and if you keep a baby up too long they go into a fight or flight hyperarousal mode in order to stay awake and then it is much harder for them to get to sleep. Also, a young baby needs to sleep after a maximum of 2 hours of being awake. This book talks about the different ages and how their sleep should look at that point. It also explains common problems babies face in a medically backed way that makes it really clear. This has been my favorite source of information, with the internet being a close second.

The Towle Method of Colic Relief- This was harder for me to find online. If you have a cryer, let me know and I can forward this to you. It basically talks about how to avoid a colic crying episode. If you feed a baby until they are 100% full, they have a lot of pressure in their poor belly and are unable to burp up the air efficiently and instead will push it out into the intestines leading to hours of discomfort. If you have a "windy" baby, feed them less more often and only until they are about 3/4 full. This means extra feedings and more difficulty establishing a routine--at least for me--but much less crying!

Blogs are a wealth of applicable information!- Babywise is another great guide for parenting. It talks about routines. I haven't been able to implement this fully yet with Emma's poor eating habits, but you can search for babywise blogs and get tons of first-hand experience from experienced moms! Just an example. Search blogs for first-hand experience from moms who know.

And I'm sure there is more, but that's all I can think of right now. I am also amazed at how much of this stuff you kinda just figure out on your own. Best of luck to all my friends and family who are joining the new mom club! It's quite a journey!