2 Months...

 Our baby girl is growing so much!  I absolutely love seeing her little personality come out more and more each day...and consequently falling more and more in love with her every day as well :)

Weight: 11lbs 15oz

Height: 23 3/4in

Size Diaper: 1

Size Clothes: Newborn, 0-3 months, and a few 3 month outfits (they are still a little too big on her)

Eating: Nurses every 2.5-3 hours during the day.  When I pump and give her a bottle she takes anywhere from 4.5-5 ounces.  She does great with bottles, which I am very thankful for.  She only gets one or two every couple of days, but it is good to know that she will take them when needed!

Sleeping: At night she has about a 7-8 hour stretch, followed by a 3-4 hour stretch.  She is waking up for the first time in the morning pretty consistently at 5:00.  She will go back down for a few hours after eating then, but I would love for that to be pushed back to 7 or so, so that we could just start the day then!  For naps, she takes about 3 full naps (anywhere from 1-2 hours) and a cat nap at night before bath time and her bed time feeding.  I am INCREDIBLY grateful for our wonderful sleeper!!! She sleeps best on her tummy, but at night we still have her swaddled in the miracle blanket and in the rock n' play in our room.  I know she would do fine on her stomach at night, but it makes me nervous while she is still so little.  As soon as she is turning over with more confidence I will feel more comfortable letting her sleep the night on her tummy. 

She has started smiling a lot, which melts my heart!  She will look around, then lock eyes with you and give you a big smile...precious!

She has rolled over from her tummy to her back once.  Watson and I love to cheer her on every time she's tried to do it since that time. 

This little girl is L.O.V.E.D by her big brother.  Oh my goodness he is precious with her.  He loves giving her kisses, laying down next to her, and holding her hand.  He is very protective over her and concerned for her whenever she starts crying.  I hear "Emma cwying" many times a day :)

Emma has set her routine/schedule pretty much on her own.  I am still so thankful for the book, "Spirit Led Parenting" as it has helped to ease my mind so much when it comes to staying on a strict schedule every single day.



Nursing is still going well.  I have had mastitis twice now, so that's no good, but thankfully I was able to get over both bouts of that and *hopefully* will not get it again!  I am just SO thankful that the mastitis was not the same this go-round as it was with Watson.  I feel like Emma and I have officially gotten the hang of nursing...I honestly never thought that day would come :)  Everyone said, "Give it 6 weeks and you will feel better about it, the pain will be gone, and your baby will know exactly what to do."  I'd say that was about right!




And I have to document this...the dreaded day that I came home to my freezer open and had to throw out 21 bags of milk...



Tummy time is hit or miss.  Sometimes she loves it, other times she screams bloody murder. ...think she may be a bit dramatic at times :)



Love this sweet angel to pieces!

23 months...

I had written a full, detailed blog post for this month...but I somehow deleted it, so I will just do a quick recap of W this month...

- Tantrums are in FULL SWING.  Goodness gracious.  I've never seen a child go from being so happy to so sad within 0.5 seconds flat.  Everyone assures me it's just a phase...I'm praying that is the case and that this is a SHORT phase at that :)

- We are working so hard with Watson on sharing.  Sweet thing feels that any and every toy he sees belongs to him and him alone.  We are seeing some improvement in this area, so we hope that will continue!

- W is a very protective big brother.  He loves on Emma so much...it is precious.  Every morning he will come snuggle with her and wants to hold her...for about 10 seconds :) ... but it's sweet, nonetheless!

- I love watching W watch older kids...he is mesmerized with them!

- He would live outside 24/7 if he could.  He loves to explore, play, run, climb...anything he can possibly do outside.  With a newborn in the house, our time outside is much less that it used to be, but we always make sure to get out at some point during the day.  Graham always plays outside with him when he gets home, so Watson LOVES when Graham walks in the door after work!

- W is still very affectionate.  He loves giving kisses, hugs, and cuddling.  I love this about our sweet baby! 

Here is another month in pictures for Mister Watson :)

 

This month we also had some of the best visitors I could have asked for...one of my dearest friends, Briana and her little girl, Ella came in town for a few days.  It was a crazy few days with a 23 month old, 16 month old, and 1 month old!  I wouldn't have wanted to do it with anyone else though :)

 Three car seats crammed in the back of my Volvo...somehow we made them all fit! 

And my favorite picture from their visit... :)

1 Month...

Our first month with this sweet girl has been absolutely wonderful.  I cannot get over how sweet and beautiful she is :)

Weight: 9lbs 2oz

Height: 21in

Size Diaper: 1

Eating: Nurses 10-15 mins on each side.  Will sometimes only take one side, but usually takes both.  Nurses anywhere from 7-8 times in a 24 hour period (every 2 to 3 hours during the day, and every 3-4 hours at night). When I pump and give her a bottle (started one bottle every other day at 3 weeks), she will take anywhere from 3.5-4 ounces.

Sleeping: Seems to sleep more during the day than at night :)  It took a while to get her days and nights straightened out, but I think we have finally accomplished this!  Emma naps a lot during the day in her bassinet, and sleeps at night in either the bassinet or rock n' play.  I will say that towards the end of her first month she is sleeping less and less in the bassinet and more in the rock n' play as she seems to have some reflux issues when sleeping on her back.

Size Clothes: Newborn, 0-3 months

Emma's favorite place to be is someone's arms.  Sweet girl LOVES to be held...and we love holding her so that works out nicely :) 

I started the Moms on Call schedule at three weeks, but am also following the Baby Wise principles within that schedule.  She eats, plays for about 45 minutes, then goes back to sleep.  This is the case for the majority of her feedings, but she also has several times when she will fall asleep right after feeding.  I should note here that though I am following this schedule, I am not stressing about it (anymore!).  A dear friend of my sister..and now a dear friend of mine...told me about a book called "Spirit Led Parenting" which has completely encouraged me and helped me feel a sense of freedom from keeping a tight schedule.  We are definitely keeping a routine, but I am really trying not to worry about keeping an hour-to-hour schedule yet.  This is difficult for my type-A personality, but I am working on it and am so thankful for all that the Lord is teaching me through this book. 

Bathtime is a favorite time of day for Emma.  She loves looking at herself in the mirror while she is getting bathed.  There is NOTHING better than a freshly bathed baby :)

We started doing some tummy time around three weeks.  She does not fuss too much but gets quite comfy and falls asleep most of the time :)  Watson loves to help me keep her awake and try to get her to turn her head from side to side.  When she does stay awake during tummy time she tends to scoot all over the place.  I walked out of the room for just a minute the other day to get Watson dressed and when I came back in her room she had scooted all the way to the middle of her room.  She didn't like that too much, but I was pretty impressed!

I'm not sure if we are dealing with actual reflux yet, but we are definitely dealing with lots of spit up and grunting after eating.  I am hoping that this is just her little body growing and adjusting, but our pediatrician said we will reevaluate at her two month appointment. 

The three week growth spurt created one HUNGRY little girl!  I seriously think she nursed every hour one day....I felt like we were literally connected all day long! 

She loves to stretch out on her back and look around.  It is so fun watching her become more and more alert every day.

We are absolutely head over heels in love with our baby girl and feel beyond blessed to have the privilege of being her parents. 

FINALLY!!!!!

If you have talked to me or Graham at any point over the past year it is almost certain that you have heard about "The Academy."  Every other weekend, for thirteen months, Graham has been attending the Jefferson County Law Enforcement Academy...and finally, FINALLY, after 13 months, several tests, firearms certifications, and a broken back...HE HAS GRADUATED!  I think I am more excited than anyone about this...in fact, I know I am :)  This was a huge sacrifice for both of us, but I could not be more proud of all of the hard work and dedication he put in to this time to become an official APOST certified law enforcement officer in Alabama.  He is still working full time at Student Life, but will continue his work with the Jefferson County Sheriffs Department as a Reserve Deputy Sheriff.  This is a huge passion in Graham's life and has been an incredible ministry opportunity for him.  I am so thankful for the many ways we have seen the Lord work through Graham to minister to the men he works with within the Sheriff's department.

If you're in Jefferson County...don't break the law or you might find yourself being picked up by this handsome officer :)