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 :)

Memorial Day Weekend...

We stayed here in town for Memorial Day weekend rather than going to the lake like we usually do...but we still had a blast spending time together as a family and enjoying being outside!

The kids played at the Andersons one day during the weekend and had a BLAST.  To say that there were three sleepy kiddos that night, would be an understatement! 

On actual Memorial Day we ate lunch at the Andersons and had a combined celebration lunch for my birthday, Graham's graduation from the Academy, and Reynold's graduation from Samford getting his MBA.

Unfortunately, Reynolds was not able to attend his graduation from grad school due to Hampton having to have last-minute surgery that same day.  Dad was not going to let him miss out on the experience of receiving his MBA hood, though...so he came up with a little plan.  He talked with Dr. Westmoreland at Samford and was able to work out a mini-graduation ceremony on this day.  Dad walked in with his Samford trustee garb on and was able to present Reynolds with his cap, gown, and hood.  After a very stressful few months for the Andersons, it really was a special moment!  We are so proud of Reynolds and excited for what is ahead for him!  

Sweet Abigail and Manna

Mom and Mel...love how much they look alike in this picture

Me and Mom...SO incredibly thankful for this woman!!

Me, Graham, and the brace :)

22 Months...

I have been horrible with blogging lately...hence the reason I do two or three posts at a time.  I'm trying to get caught up now so that I can get back on top of things and post on time each month! 

This month was filled with last minute errands and projects to get ready for Emma to arrive...and then she did arrive, which pretty much took up the rest of the month :) 

I will do a more detailed post for W in his 23 month post, but here are some pics from month 22 :)

Cousins at Target...this is not the best picture, but I post it just to document that they can sit by each other and Watson not be hitting Hampton or screaming.  We are working on their relationship - I am positive they will be best friends one day :)

Sweet baby taking a nap.  I always thought he stayed under his blanket because he is usually under it in the morning when I go get him, but apparently that is not the case! At least not during this nap..

Watson LOVES birds and just cannot understand why they run away when he runs towards them...

Catching up on some emails

I'm not sure how he ended up in just a diaper with his socks and shoes still on...but he sure doesn't seem to mind! 

I didn't think this boy could love bath time any more... until he was introduced to bath crayons.  He LOVES them.  I, on the other hand, do not.  Do not be fooled by the "washable" label on the Crayola box of bath crayons...they are near impossible to clean off of the tub!

Watson loves the sidewalk chalk.  ...okay, maybe I love it more than he does, but he plays with it a little as well :)

A little afternoon snack

I love when Watson sits like this in the car.  Such a little old man :)

Taking care of a little yard work

Dinner with Poppa.  I was going in to labor as I took this picture!

Cuddles with Nannie.  W still sleeps in his crib, but we have this bed in his room as well for when he is ready to transition.

Water table fun

What a nut :)

This smile melts my heart :)

Introducting...

Emma Carolyn Hill

May 2, 2013 at 10:28pm

7lbs 0oz

20.5in

Isn't she beautiful?!  :)  

A short recap of the day she was born:
First of all, I really wanted to go in to labor naturally without being induced...for some reason this was very important to me!  I wanted to do this with Watson, but ended up having to be induced at 39 weeks because I was measuring behind a good bit.  This time, however, I was determined to have that "this is it!" moment from either my water breaking or contractions.  Well...I made it to 39 1/2 weeks and I. Was. Miserable!  I went in to see my doctor and as we began talking about things, I ended up scheduling an induction for the next morning.  Pretty much she said that because I was already at 4cm, if I wanted to ensure that I would get an epidural and if I wanted to ensure that Graham was not cutting the cord on the side of the road, I better go ahead and be induced.  That was ALL it took to get me to agree to that!  She did say, however, that she would not be surprised if she saw me that night (she was on call).  Well, after that appointment I went to my parent's house to pick up Watson.  I was there for maybe 35 minutes when I started cramping really bad in my lower back.  I wasn't sure if it was contractions or not because she had checked me at my appt and I thought that maybe that was just causing me to cramp.  It was almost 5:00, and since I live at the other end of 280 from my parent's, I decided I better stay at their house just in case it did turn in to contractions and I needed to get to the hospital without 280 traffic!  About an hour later, I had no doubt that I was in full blown labor.  I called Graham and told him I needed him to get to my parent's house as soon as possible!  He was in Mountain Brook at the time, so luckily he was close and able to make it there pretty quickly.  In the meantime, I called my doctor and told her I was headed her way.  This was about 6:30.  We got to the the hospital and they were already prepping a room with everything they needed (apparently my dr had warned them that my babies come QUICKLY once they decide to come!)  When we got there, I was at 5cm...which is where I stayed for the next little while.  I got my epidural about an hour after getting there (which was wonderful..I did not have to endure contractions long at all!)  They actually ended up starting me on pitocin to get things progressing because I wasn't moving past a 5...but after that I quickly progressed to a 9...and then about 2 minutes later I was at a 10 and Emma was coming!  Luckily my dr was close by so she came in there and a few pushes later our sweet Emma was born in to this world at 10:28pm!  And let me just tell you...this girl made her presence known!  There was no one...probably in the whole hospital :)...doubting whether or not her lungs were nice and strong!  Even all the nurses were laughing at how loud she was.  I was laughing then...but since have stopped laughing so much at that unique quality of our little girl :)

All ready to go! 

Right after sweet baby was born!


I'm pretty confident she already has her daddy wrapped around her little finger :)

 
Mana and her fourth grandchild! 

 
Emma meeting Poppa for the first time


Emma's #1 fan! 

Mel - so thankful she was able to be with me when Emma was born!

Watson meeting Emma for the first time.  As you can see, he was much more interested in her paci :) 

Uncle Alan - so glad he could be here to meet his niece and spend some quality time with Watson!

Nannie loving on Emma.  Can't wait for her to come back and spend more time with her grandchildren!

Melt. My. Heart.

Ready to go home!

She did great nursing in the hospital.  It was hard, but she only dropped down to 6lbs 8oz...so that was not near as much as they had expected, which showed that even though I was having difficulty figuring everything out, she was at least getting what she needed.  I was blessed with incredible nurses while in the hospital who were a HUGE help when it came to nursing.  Needless to say, due to the awful experience I had with Watson (you can read about that in another post), I was nervous to try and nurse again, but determined to make it work.  Along with the health of our baby and her relationship with Christ, this is what I prayed about most during my pregnancy!  So far, things are going well with no sign of all that I experienced with W.  We continue to pray that this will be the case for the duration of my time nursing her!  



The first couple of weeks were a rough transition for sweet Watson...to say the least.  Poor baby did NOT like sharing his mommy...at all!  Any time I would go near Emma or pick her up, he would pitch a fit...which made an already hormonal and emotional me that much more emotional!  I felt so torn.  I wanted to badly to comfort Watson and assure him that he was not losing his mommy, but at the same time there were basic needs that Emma was needing...that only I could meet!  Graham was a HUGE help in all of this as he would take Watson on errands, walks, and just give him extra special attention.  After those two weeks it was just like a switch turned and W was perfectly okay with having Emma around.  He did...though...call her a puppy for a while.  :)  He now loves her so much and is very attentive to her.  Any time she cries he wants to let me know and then runs to take her a paci...and in his own loving way shoves it in her mouth :)  He also does not like for both of us to leave the room or go to the car without her so I have to assure him often that we are not going to forget Emma...we are just going to another room or putting him in the car first :)

We are truly loving life as a family of four..it was a crazy start (did I mention that Graham broke his back in FOUR places a few days before Emma was born?!) but things are beginning to settle down and we are loving our new normal :)

Easter...

Since I am incredibly late in posting this...I will just post some pictures from our Easter this year. 

It was a wonderful day getting together with family and celebrating our risen Savior!

Easter morning - checking out his Easter basket!


All dressed up and ready for church!

Cousins.  (How adorable does Hampton look in this picture?!)

Telling secrets :)

My wonderful parents.  So blessed by them!