Life as a one-year-old...

...Is not fun. Poor Emerson, since her wonderful birthday, things have gone down hill fast. Her appointment Monday brought 5 shots- two of which were live viruses (chicken pox and the flu). So, due to the shots, she is not feeling well. To make matters worse, mean mommy is still not giving her any milk or a bottle. She is still very angry about this. Then to make matters horrific, she is cutting THREE teeth at the same time. They are all on the top and she is miserable. My normally happy and easy going baby is angry, fussy, clingy and just overall miserable. Life at our house has definitely been better.


Anyways, here are some of the great pics from Saturday. Our friend, Amber, was hired to be the official photographer. I am so glad that we did this because looking back, I would not have gotten any pictures because there was so much to do. They turned out great!

We took some family pics. Eventhough no one is looking at the camera, I thought this was sweet.

Not sure about all these people yet.

Playing with sweet Jaylee.

Yummy cupcakes.

Sticking close to mommy.

Happy Birthday Emerson!

Yummy frosting!

This is great!

New stuff

For those interested, Emerson had her one year check up and she is 18 lbs 8oz and 29 3/4 inches tall. So, still long and lean for sure.

While we were at the pediatrician, he said to go ahead and start her on whole milk. I just gave it to her in a straw cup (since she has such an aversion to the sippy).

Do you think it went well?

Happy Birthday Emerson

A year ago today at about this time I was being wheeled into my room after a very long and exhausting day. Emerson did not want to come out and that turned into a csection where we found her literally stuck inside with the cord wrapped around her neck a couple times. She came out and the doctors and nurses instantly swooned (as I am sure they do with every baby, but it is still sweet to hear when it is yours).

I finally got out of recovery and into my room and I was completely exhausted. Mimi and Steve were waiting for me in my room and my dad and his fiance soon followed. At this point it was after 9pm and I knew that no one had eaten since lunch. I was so tired that I could barely function so I shewed (sp?) everyone out the door to go home and return in the morning.

It was the most wonderful moment when the room was peace and quiet and my night nurse (and new best friend) came in to greet me. We talked, I took drugs and got situated and then someone from the nursery brought Emerson in. My exhaustion was still there, but it was different. I was so overwhelmingly happy to have a moment with my precious baby all by myself. It was the sweetest time. She was so snuggly and precious that I could not stop cuddling her and enjoying her sleeping on my chest. After about a hour I gave in and let the nurse take her back to the nursery so I could get so much needed sleep.

As cliche as it sounds, I DO remember every single detail and emotion about October 25, 2007. I know the details will eventually fade, but they are still fresh as can be. I remember that: I was inredibly calm checking in to the hospital. Every time I saw Emerson's heartbeat distress on the monitor my heart stopped. The amazing feeling of an epidural. The moment that the doctor said I was going to need a csection, I started trembling from fear. When I was wheeled into the operating room Robert Palmer's "Addicted to Love" was blaring over the speakers. The overwhelming sensation of not being able to breath from the doctor pushing on my diaphram to try to get Emerson out. Not being able to stop crying at the sound of Emerson's first cries. And so many more details...

Dear sweet Emy Rae,

I cannot believe that you are one today! Where did the year go? I sit here right now trying to think of something profound to write. Something to explain the emotion and joy I feel from spending a wonderful year with you. So many different thoughts are floating in my head that I cannot focus on any of them.

Mommy and daddy love you more than we can ever show you. You have changed us and made us a family. You are the most amazing little girl. You have such a sweet spirit and wonderful personality. You show empathy to others and love your family and friends.

You have changed so much this first year that it is hard to believe. You are no longer a tiny helpless baby but a big girl who likes to help herself. You love to dance and talk. You love seasame street and your baby. You are a great sleeper and you love books. You love to wave at people around you and you love to swing.

You had so much fun at your party today. The weather was absolutely perfect. All your friends and family were there. You enjoyed your cupcake, but not as much as the cheetos. You played with friends and got lots of hugs and kisses from everyone. You went on the swing and enjoyed being the center of attention. Mommy can't wait to see the pictures!

We have enjoyed every moment with you this past year and can't wait to see what the next year holds. Mommy and daddy love you very much sweet girl.

Weekly pictures

Sorry it has become a habit that I post the weekly pictures late. I just can't seem to remember to do them toward the end of the week. Oh well, better late than never right?

This week was fun and a little uneventful. And by uneventful I mean the same dealing-with-a-toddler-and-her-mood-swings uneventful. No seriously, Emerson is such a blessing and a curse right now. She has the best personality when she is happy and the worst when she is not. Sound a little like a drama queen...hmmmm, I wonder where she gets it from? CFHS girls- stop laughing now.

Her eating habits have changed again. Now she wants nothing. She barely has any milk, eventhough it is in the bottle, doesn't like her previous favorite food- ravioli, and only half eats her "treats". What the heck? Oh well, she will eat when she is hungry, right?


Here is the week in pictures.

Trying to crawl while carrying the phone

Seriously trying to grab the camera

Smiley

I like pumpkins when they are at home

Very mischievousEnjoying her cracker

"No more pictures, Mom"

"That is it. I am done with this"

Hope your weekend is off to a great start.

The pumpkin patch

Emerson made her first trip to the pumpkin patch yesterday. The weather was terrible, rainy, overcast and extremely humid. However, we had the day planned with Meghann and Melanie and if we postponed it we would have missed it this year for sure.

As you can see from the pictures, Emerson was not really a fan. At first, she was NOT happy with any of the situation except riding in the wagon- note to self, Emy needs to get a wagon for her birthday or Christmas. Anyways, when I first put her down next to the pumpkins she freaked out. I am not sure if it was the pumpkin, the hay or the huge Charlie Brown thing behind her.

I hoped it was Charlie Brown and moved her away from him and over to plain pumpkins. Not happy either. Finally I took the road of ignoring her fake tantrum and that worked. I eventually got a semi-smile out of her.

Next we moved on to the "My First Pumpkin Patch" basket. It is intended for you to prop your child in it for a picture. You can see that this did not go over well.

In better news, she wore her tutu the entire time and did not seem care!!!! Yeah! Maybe she will be a tutu girl after all:)

Enjoying the wagon ride

"What is this thing behind me?"

"I don't like the pumpkins"

"Okay, they are not so bad"

Are you kidding me? Is this not the sadest face you have ever seen?

"Seriously, get me out of here mom!"

Hope your week is off to a great start.

Not the best week for pictures

Fun in the kitchen with the blue block. It was her favorite toy that day.

Random pose.
Just cute.
I was trying to take pics in the tutu outfit that is for sale in my shop. She was not sure about the tulle. (Notice she is holding her baby close)
Final decision- Emerson does not like tutu's. This is a problem and could lead to the shattering of my "princess and all things sparkly and frilly" dream.
Cute Halloween outfit with matching clippie.

Finally getting the clippie out of her hair. Another thing that could be a sign that Emerson is not going to be the girly-girl that I would like her to be.

Oooo, an airplane. Playing with the phone in the backyard.

Have a great weekend.

The battle over the bottle

What the heck? Why won't Emerson drink milk from a sippy cup? I have tried to start transitioning milk from a bottle to a sippy and it is not going well. Please keep in mind that Emerson has been drinking water from a sippy for about 6 months, so it is not like the concept is new to her.

It is totally mental. I mean, it is the same milk. If I take it from the cup that she refuses and right in front of her pour it into a bottle, she proceeds to go to town and drain the bottle at lighting speed. Ugh.


I am trying to transition one meal at a time, so we are not going cold turkey or anything although maybe we should. Right now I am just working on lunch. We have been doing it for about a week and it started off pretty good, but now it has gone horribly bad. She FLIPS out when I try to give her milk in a sippy.

Normally, her lunch meal is all big girl finger food and milk in a cup. In our house, the computer desk is right next to the kitchen table and high chair. She takes so long to eat these days that I just let her go about her business while I get caught up with stuff online. The first few days, she would drink the milk when she thought I was not paying attention. Now that does not work.

What happens these days is that after 30-45 minutes when she is clearly finished eating, I go over there and try to give the cup to her and she flips out. She closes her jaw tight so that nothing is going in. Or she will do my favorite where it looks like she is drinking a sip and then you pull the cup away and she spits it all over herself. Nice.

I love that this endeavor is bringing out my childs stubborn-ness which she totally gets from me. I know this is only the beginning of the mother-daughter, butting-heads phenomenon, but I already feel sorry for my parents and what they obviously put up with me back in the day.

Any thoughts?

Random and pictures

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. My new etsy shop has been all consuming (in a good way of course).

So, it is October. I have been looking forward to and dreading this month all year. My baby is turning one at the end of the month. I cannot believe it. Since the beginning of the month I have been super nostalgic. You know, thinking back to the day Emerson was born. She was so tiny and beautiful. She used to love to snuggle and be held- not so much anymore.

On the other hand, she is so much fun now. She does so many cute, and not-so-cute, things. She is definitely at a fun age. It is a hard balance to try to enjoy where they are developmentally while be excited for the future too.

Last week was a big week. Steve took Monday and Tuesday off so we went on some family adventures. We took Emy to the zoo for the first time on Monday and then on Tuesday we went to ride the Trinity Park train. It is an hour ride for $3. You can't beat that these days. We followed that with playtime in the park. On Wednesday we went to the Botanic Gardens for some outside playtime in a change of scenery. We sat by the turtle pond and Emy really liked that.

Here are last weeks pics (and the ones from the week before because I just realized that they never got posted):

Hope your week is off to a super start!