She's finally moving

Well, she's a little late, but she's finally starting to crawl. We've all been waiting holding our breath and yesterday we were playing in my room and I kept moving her toy and she finally went for it. She's been getting in the crawl position for awhile now, but she would just start to roll to wherever she was trying to go. Now, just since yesterday she's pulling herself all over. I've turned into the biggest sap and I started crying I was so happy. She's just so much fun I can hardly stand it.

She's back to normal again and stopped with the clinging and screaming when I put her down. She'll cry for a couple minutes at bedtime, but then she's out. She's eating lots of regular food now and everyday we try something new. I'm home with her everyday now and I've never enjoyed my life as much as I do now. It's honestly like everyday is Christmas. I can't wait for her to wake up and as soon as we go into her room her face lights up into the biggest smile and we just laugh. On the weekends Brandon goes and gets her the first time she moves which is usually around 6:45. Then they watch sports center and I try to sleep for another 45 minutes.

Emma-Grace loves the other kids that come over and when I'm carrying her and the little ones are crawling around she laughs like crazy. It's so cool watching her interact with other kids. You can see thoughts racing through her mind and she looks all serious, then she just busts out laughing. Her favorite things to do are going for walks in her stroller, playing with Stewart, and seeing new things. She's so easy to take places because she's facinated with everything that's around her. I love her so much, I'm trying to talk Brandon into another one, but it's still going to be awhile. Other than that, all is well. 9 month check up is in a week.

More teeth are coming

Oh my, it's been a rough week. My little eg has been extra clingy and a little hellion at night. Getting her to sleep has been easy as always - then about an hour into her slumber she wakes up screaming and it takes me a LONG time to get her back down. Everyone has told me about these hylander teething tablets so I'm going to try those out.

She's been getting to the point it seems like she's about to start crawling. She can get up on her knees, but then she falls over. How babies don't have constant concussions, I don't understand. I'm pretty sure my heart has stopped several times. She can pull herself up just about by herself. I think she's going to be a late crawler and an early walker. She loves to stand and she loves chasing Stewart around. When she's crying, he is the only thing guaranteed to calm her down.

I have to say that for the first time since becoming a mom, I'm really having fun. I was so afraid the first few months about EVERYTHING it was hard for me to enjoy her. Now, Brandon and I are just in heaven. Every night seems to bring something new. She is such and amazing gift. I have a lot of friends that have dealt with infertility and miscarriages and I have to say from personal experience that when you finally get your baby - he or she is well worth the wait. I cannot imagine my life without my little eg.

I've fully launched my in home daycare. I am SO excited! So far my kids are part time and we have a baby starting in October. The days the kids are here are always my favorite days. Emma-Grace loves being around other kids and I have so much fun. I feel like I'm a kid again and I forgot how much fun it is to play!

Aside from the teeth, things are going really well. Life is as good as it can get. I'll post some new pics soon. Oh, last thing - we're now in the big girl car seat. She officially grew out of the baby one. We went with the Graco convertible 65 I think it's called. It's rear facing up to 40lbs. We went to the fire department to have them make sure I installed it properly. I seriously want a minivan, but Brandon said no way. The firemen said the Honda Odyssey is the safest vehicle on the road. And it has SO many cup holders! I'm going to get one one day....

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Here come the teeth...

Well we're now at 6 months. EG is growing like a weed - she is over the 95% for height, 95th for weight, and 95th for head size. She is 28 inches long and 19lbs! She's so cute with her little fat rolls! Her teeth are coming in and she is miserable. She's been much fussier than usual, but the two bottom ones have just about broken through so hopefully she'll get to feeling better soon.

I know I've been really bad about updating this, but I'm going to do better. We have been so busy with life. We actually found new homes for Max and Morgan (our big dogs). I was crushed, but they are both doing really well and very happy. They just weren't getting enough attention and it wasn't fair for me to keep them around just for when I had time for them. They are such people dogs and now they both live with people that can give them the time they deserve.

The waiting tables didn't really work out so I'm back in the insurance world - sort of. I'm working about 15 hours a week doing some prospecting, admin, and miscellaneous things for two great agencies. I'm also watching a couple kids a few days a week who which is so much fun!

EG is eating everything now and loves making big messes. She's usually covered head to toe when daddy feeds her. She has just about grown out of her carseat so we're off to the convertable ones. She just started sitting up this week which was crazy to see. For the 4th we're doing a low country broil and all of EG's baby friends will be her so we should get some great pics. Life is finally starting to settle down and get more routined which I love. More to come on the blog soon...

Rolling, rolling, rolling....

We have hit the big milestone and Emma-Grace is rolling from her back to her front and her front to her back. It is so funny because as soon as she rolls to her stomach she starts these high pitched screams that make everyone laugh. She definitely has a temper and lets you know when she's not happy. Our days are so much fun together and it's incredible at how much she changes everyday. We got her a highchair that attaches to our regular chair so she sits with us at night for dinner and eats whatever we feed her. I think I've given her just about everything and we haven't had any allergic reactions so I'm going to start making her baby food as soon as I run out of the cases I bought.

My last day of work was April 30th and now I'm waiting tables a couple nights a week at Ted's Montana Grill so I get to spend all day with my little EG which is the greatest thing in the world. Brandon is adjusting to his nights alone with her and I have to give him a ton of credit. He is an awesome dad and really does a great job with her. She gave him a tough time the first night I was gone, but I think she was just testing him. She's starting to get where she will scream (not cry - actually just let out these high pitched screams) if you aren't paying attention to her and then she smiles as soon as you start looking and talking to her.

She loves playing with the dogs and I can tell she's definitely going to be an animal lover. Since we already have 3 dogs I'm hoping she'll never need to ask for a puppy, but we'll see. Stewart lays with her whenever she's doing tummy time and he puts his paws on her arm as she grabs his hair. It's so cute and funny. She is constantly pulling herself up into the sitting position and she stands and tries to take steps. When she's on the ground or in her crib she moves all over and aside from the mile heart attacks I get realizing she's moving now, it's so cool to see. She's also starting to push up on her knees which makes me realize crawling is not too far down the line.

Her cousin Tyler came over to see her and they had a great time. She sat on his lap and he was so good with her. This summer we have a lot of fun things planned and we can't wait for her first day in the pool! She loves the big bath tub and she floats all over so I'm thinking she's going to be a swimmer like me, Sam, and Christine were.

She sleeps like a champ and on Sundays when Brandon and I have our pajama day, she joins right in. She will sleep all day with us if that's what were doing or if something cool is going on, she'll stay up to join in. She is such an easy baby. We still have our morning cuddle time and it is like Heaven to have her lay in my arms and be able to hold her little hands. I thank God so many times a day for her and I never take a second of this gift for granted. She is such a miracle and our family has never been so happy.

Today I have to go to work early so the Nicoletti girls are babysitting (with Jen, her godmommy) and it's so funny because I can remember babysitting them when they were her age and now they are watching my daughter! Time sure does fly.

4 months, 1 week and two days

Since I have been meaning to do this for awhile, I'll start it out by telling everyone everything that has happened over the last 4 months, 1 week and two days. Emma-Grace was born on December 23, 2008 at 11:42 pm. She was 7 lbs, 14 oz and was 20 1/2 inches long. She had jaundice so spent her first week in this world on a light table. I was a nervous wreck for the first oh, 8 weeks and honestly remember very little about those first few weeks. Since her 8 week check up EG has been in the 95th percentile for height, weight, and head size. She is a BIG baby, but the doctor has assured us she's not fat. At her 4 month check up she was weighing in at 16 lbs, 7 oz and is almost 26 inches long! She laughs now which is the cutest thing I have ever seen! She loves to stand up and sit up. She has also started this screaming thing which is absolutely hysterical. She rarely cries and instead when she is frustrated she lets out these random screams at all different levels. It makes everyone crack up.

She sleeps now from about 10 pm til 6 or 7 in the morning. When she wakes up I pull her in bed with me and Brandon to cuddle - and I KNOW - we're going to regret it in a couple of years, but I don't care. She is so cute and cuddly and both of us love having our mornings in bed with her. During the day she takes a 1 -2 hour nap in the morning, stays up for an hour then sleeps for about 3 -4 hours in the afternoon. She wakes up around 4 and then aside from maybe a 30 minute catnap is up til 10.

I quit breastfeeding at 7 weeks because both of us were miserable. She was really fussy, gassy, and spitting up all the time so we switched to Soy. We did that for about 6 weeks then went to Gentlease and she's been perfect ever since. She almost never cries and still spits up, but not nearly as much.

We've been doing cereal since 12 weeks and we would have done it sooner except Brandon thought I was talking about cheerios and totally opposed it until I asked him what he thought I was talking about when I said I was going to be giving her solids. Once I explained cereal was something you put in the bottle he was okay with it. Boys are so funny.... We just started Carrots and Sweet Potatoes and she does not like Sweet Potatoes. Tomorrow we will try squash....

She is rolling 95 percent of the way over from her back to her tummy. Normally I think they go the other way first, but she HATES tummy time so she's probably not as strong in that area as she should be. We get about 4 sessions in for a few minutes a day which is probably not enough, but we're doing the best we can.

She doesn't really like the bumbo seat all that much, but we still try it everyday. Her thunder thighs seem to get caught in it and she just doesn't look comfy when she's in it.

We introduced her to the big dogs last weekend. Max is our rottie and loves her. He licked her like crazy and Stewart our pekengese kept trying to attack him. Morgan, our shepard, was sweet as always but wasn't that interested.

We went to church for the first time with Emma-Grace 3 weeks ago and she loved it! She was totally into the music, but fell asleep during the talking. Brandon and I took her to the Gwinnett Braves Tuesday night and had front row seats. She was perfect and seemed to really enjoy watching the game

We're so lucky to have so much help so close. EG has her grammy (my mom) that comes over almost everyday. They love each other and have lots of fun together. Grampy (my dad) comes over every Saturday for his workouts and EG time. He loves just walking around holding her. Aunt Sammy comes over a lot and is such a great aunt. Aunt Christine is very special. Although not much bigger than EG, she is very important to me and EG is lucky to have her. We're both hoping she doesn't move to CA because we can't imagine not seeing her whenever we want. Nana (Brandon's mom) is wonderful with her too and EG loves sleeping with the little doll thing that looks like a towel with a head on it that Nana got her. We also have G-mommy & G-daddy (Bradon's stepmom & dad) and everytime G-mommy comes over she brings EG special treats. Aunt Gwenna and Uncle Pete are so much fun. EG loves hanging out over there and we're secrectly hoping that Aunt Sarah and Uncle David will jump on the baby bandwagon soon so EG will have another cousin to go 4wheelering with. Aunt Jen and Aunt Elly (pronounced OnTelly) come over weekly and have been amazing! Aunt Kelsey comes over and picks up EG like she's already had 20 kids. She is probably the only non-relative that doesn't have kids that I would ever be able to leave EG with. And then I have my preggo friends that we all went through our first pregnancies together and all have babies that are 6 weeks apart - Aunt Jen & Aunt Shana. EG has two cousins - Tyler who's 5 and Danielle who's 12 weeks. Aunt Leslie and Uncle Brian love playing with EG and have lot's of great baby tips! Aunt Olivia is going to help diversify EG and we always have lots of fun with her. I feel so lucky to have so many friends and family that live so close. It is such a gift and a blessing.

Brandon and I have never been happier. He's been an awesome father and takes EG as soon as he walks through the door (unless of course she has a dirty diaper or needs to be fed). I haven't quite figured out why men's stomachs were not designed like women's and it seems to be an impossible task for them to handle poop. Life is so good and the wait was DEFINITELY worth it.