Emmelyn is 4 mo!

On the 25th of April marked Emmers to be 4 mo. We had her well baby appointment today. We had to get her second round of shots which seems to get better each time for both her and mom watching! We couldn't wait to find out how much she had grew! She ended up weighing in at 13lbs 6oz (6 lbs 10 oz at birth) and 23 1/2 in length (20 in at birth). Dr. said she is perfectly in the middle on the charts and he couldn't be happier with her development. He has told me since i have been exclusively breastfeeding her to continue doing so until she is 6 mo. I'm fine with that, i enjoy being her only source of growth. Its very special and rewarding to me. So no baby food until then! He even said to stop giving her dessert ( Eric and i sneak her in a few tastes of ice cream when we get it) He said it may spoil her when it comes time to giving her the nasty bb food...makes sense to us, so were going with it. So here are some new things she has been up to:

About two weeks ago she rolled from her front to back - now that she knows how she wont stop! =)

She babbles : "na na na" "nnnngeee".

She watches Disney movies and Sprout TV with mama.

She kicks her feet in the air to grab toys.

She makes the cutest facial expressions using her eyebrows- i love it!!

She grabs at her toys and puts them in her mouth.

She loves standing on our laps and locking her legs that way. It looks like it hurts but as soon as you try and sit her on your lap after that she cries, so she must like it!

She also learned how to "fake cry" to get our attention...cute, but definitely only cute for a minute at a time! =)

Along with that comes a weird whine she does when she plays. I know she is doing it to just make noise, but to me its a definite whine. boooo.

AND THE BIGGEST!

A little over a week ago we graduated her from the bassinet in our room ,to the crib in the nursery down the hall! This was really difficult on me, she seemed so far away at first. It is the biggest test of will power on Mommy and Daddy's part not to just give up when she is crying at 2 in the morning wanting to put her in bed with us. Even though i suffer now, i know it will bring peaceful nights in the future. So were hanging in there!

That's all that comes to mind for now. I have been keeping track of milestones on this baby's calendar i started when she was born so i guess there is no point to put everything on here. Until next time!!

San Antonio

Over the past few years of living in Texas, Eric and I have had amazing opportunities to go and visit some wonderful places it has to offer. Our most recent trip was to San Antonio. We had a couple and their adorable baby girl join us for a fun filled weekend with our family! The idea was to go to Sea World and play it by ear of what we wanted to do... I'll take you through a picture timeline of how our amazing weekend went...

After a 3 hour drive (horrible traffic) we got into San Antonio around 4pm and got settled into our hotel. We ended up staying at the Lackland AFB Inn ( like 20 bucks a night- can't beat that! WHOOT Air force!) Shortly after we got settled into our room, the other couple Spencer, Marlena, And Ryleigh ( their 6 month old cutie) joined us. We all got dolled up to go out to eat at our favorite place The Melting Pot. If you haven't been, go! About half way through the meal though, Emme decided she wasn't liking dinner anymore so we had to pack it up and leave early (boo, no dessert). Of course after trying everything to calm her down. We know and expect Emme will call all the shots, but the melting pot?? WHY that night?? =) We ended up getting a rain check for the dessert part.. so that'll be a nice date for when Eric gets home at the end of the year. We knew not to be bummed bc we had so much more to do that weekend and that shouldn't put a damper on it.

The next stop was the main reason for the trip! Sea World! Last time we went was with a different couple back when I was 30 weeks pregnant... I was Shamu for sure! This time it was so very special to have Emme in person there with us and to start memories. Another perk to the military life is free things (damn skippy). Once a year, active duty are able to get 3 passes for their families to go to parks for free! We try and take advantage of it and use those sweet deals.

Entrance to the S.W.

Eric showing Emme the Dolphins. We ended up getting a perfect video of her feeding them! In the aquariumBabies + Fish tanks = Love.The Shark tank!!After spending the first part of Saturday at SW we came back to the hotel and crashed.. and when i say "we" i mean- Eric and Emme.The Next stop was of course to visit San Antonio's famous River walk. It was beautiful, but a huge mess getting there! We ended up planning this weekend the same time Fiesta was taking place (for those who don't know, its about a 2 week long celebration and TONS of people go. Its like Mardi Gras for San Antonio). $20 for a parking spot later, we made it to the restaurant! We were able to enjoy the River walk only for a short while. Spence and Marlena joined us about a half hour later. Lame Fiesta.We chose to eat at the Rainforest Cafe and it was amazing! It was perfectly located on the River walk as well. Family picture at Rainforest Cafe. (by the way, Emme did SO much better that whole day - thank goodness)She had so so much to look at in there!
And of course to end the evening, we topped it off with the VOLCANO! Too yummy!! (Hi Marlena in the background!)



So that done does it! It was very fun to spend another great weekend with my family and friends. It's sad to think its one of Eric's last for a while with us...=( but we are trying to live it up as best as we can before d-day.

Emme got her ears pierced!!

"My poor, poor, poor little baby" that's all i kept thinking to myself when i came to the dreadful Ear Piercing.... Only until it actually happened did i realize "Hummm, her shots were worse than this" To tell you the truth the worst part was me having to strong arm her and hold her tightly so they can get it on the first try. Other than that she did excellent. All in all, im glad this expierence is over and i can now look back and remember that Mom cried more than baby did. Im a mess, i know.

Poor Emmers, she doesn't know what's coming her way...

Daddy trying to entertain her while the lady prepares...

Here we go with the first ear...

Now the second...

Beauty is pain my dear. (By the way, she stopped crying before Mommy did)

All better, ready to go home and sleep it off!!

The reason Eric volunteered for Afghanistan....

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Geneology search - Old pictures

Disney Disney Disney!!

So everyone knows that I am the ultimate Disney lover and i couldn't wait to have a baby to share my love of it. We already have her nursery decked out with a bunch of Disney Store stuffed animals. Eric had told me when he was in Iraq that the tahji shops sold discs of the disney movies (alot of them in a set) for a low low price! I was so excited to find this out but a little spectical (quality wise). Eric had one of our good friends Leah who was deployed there at the time and she bought the set and sent it out. They came today and i couldn't be more thrilled (for Emmes sake of course =)). 34 cds! each with 8 movies on it! They are all lidgit movies too! Ranging from Lion King to Rescuers Down Under to Looney Tunes! I am so so excited and we have already got started watching them. We have watched Fox and the Hound and we are now watching Lion King. All in all we are so excited and can't wait to ge her hooked on them like i was! =)

I don't care who you are...

After watching this, you're in a good mood.... (Be sure to pause my music player before watching this video)

Family Trip to Corpus Christi

Eric and I decided one weekend that we weren't going to sit around and mope about the fact that he was going to be leaving to Afghanistan soon. So we packed up an over night bag and packed a few things for Emme..ha, who am i kidding, for an over night trip we filled the car with Emmes necessities! Examples: Bumbo seat, Bouncer, Stroller, Her OWN suitcase, Her OWN Backpack for the beach, Mommy's diaper bag, and finally- her car seat. Needless to say for a one night stay, the car was still filled! We headed out within 24 hours of planning the trip. It was the most exciting thing we have done due to the fact it was so spontaneous- Just the way we like it! After a long 5 hour drive (with a 3 month old-it's long) We made it to our beautiful hotel. We couldn't wait to get onto the beach!We got there at about 2 o'clock trying to time when check-in was, but by our mistake -and when i say "our"- i mean Eric (sorry babe=))... We read the check-in time wrong so we had to wait in the lobby with a hungry Emme for a room to open. I finally had enough of them telling me "Nothing is open until 4PM" so i brought Emme up to the front desk (screaming and all) and just sat her little bottom up on the counter and said "I guess we'll wait". K, so just as a side note Eric and I ALWAYS try and be civil first and if that doesn't work plan B is called "Get the job done". We find ourselves not very patient with a hungry baby in our presence so I'm sorry to say we usually resort to Plan B rather fast.
This is the view from the Front Desk waiting area.

Daddy and Emmers at the Shore. Mommy and her Gal Daddy loves the smell of Emme..sunscreen and all! Having so much fun with Dad!

So much to look at!

In the souvenir shop trying to find a hat that fit. We had no such luck, but we did find a cute picture frame to frame this picture in.Go in for one thing, come out with another!This is our view from the balcony in our room. Nice face, Eric.Another shot from the roomThis is a Navy Museum at Corpus. Eric told me a buncha "interesting facts" about the boat. haha

View from balcony looking in room

Emme testing the water for the first time with DaddyTrying it with Mommy now. She just tried to sit down the whole time.At the Aquarium in Corpus. It was like a mini Sea World

Looking at the Paranas!

I think this is about the time we decided to leave...

This is when we got home, we had to wash the rest of the sand off! My little cutie batootie!

Playing before bed w/Daddy.

So that was the end of our fun filled trip. We both agreed that a weekend away with a 3 month old is long enough to be away from home. She did well with the car ride home, stopping to feed her was a challenge, but I'm pretty confident we have a nice "What to do if this situation occurs" plan. We had tons of fun! We realized trips with kids are a whole different experience than a traveling duo! It's definitely a welcome change, we love our new family.

Emme's First Easter 2009

So today was Emme's first Easter and it has been amazing! We didn't do a basket for her this year. We figure next year she'll be the perfect age to egg hunt! We did however have three different Easter outfits we needed to get her in. So we spread them out between the whole weekend. Her first outfit was this little blue dress...

As you can see it didn't start out to well... But in the end she warmed up. One of these days she'll let mommy dress her and just go with it. Ha. She wore this to her very first birthday party. Her friends name is Vincent and he turned one! Super cute boy!

The next one is a pink polk-a-dot. She wore this one to Church today. She was such a good girl and everyone was in love with her! There is something about babies at church that make moms and grandmas go crazy! =) We think she is something else, and if other people do too, then that makes us happy!

Here is Emme in her car seat before churchHere is daddy and Emmers striking some poses. Daddy looked so Handsom today!

Then you get to Mama and shes done taking pictures. Figures. This is my "happens everytime" face.

Then you have her chillin in the swing after a long day of cuteness! She really is my little doll face.

So there ya have it. The 3 of us spending Easter together for the first time. I am so thankful for moments like these and the memories i get to keep forever.