One month old and NYE

Miss Emily turned one month old last week!

I can't decide if I want her to hurry up and get bigger so we can start playing and interacting more, or if I want her to stay tiny forever.

We took some pictures of her with a her Ugly Doll and with her sister Sydney so we can compare her size in relation to both each month. Here are my favorite shots.

Love those funny faces!

Baby's first pair of jeans

A rare moment where I am wearing makeup!

Sad face

Wearing my New Years tutu, as one does.

For New Years, Katie and Tyler came to town. We left Miss Em with her grandparents and went to dinner with the Scarbroughs and Leslie and Paul. I was nervous to leave Emily for the first time, but by all accounts it went well and she got to have some bonding time with her Grandma and Grandpa, who love her very much. 

After dinner we picked her up and headed back to our house to watch the ball drop. Didn't the New Years Eve broadcast used to be a good show, with popular artists performing? Last night's show was awful.

Emily slept from when we picked her up until after 1 a.m.. I couldn't help but think of all those wasted hours where we could have been sleeping too!


2012 was an amazing year for our little family. I got a much needed new job, we bought our dream home, and we welcomed the most perfect angel ever created. It almost seems as if life can't get much better! We are looking forward to everything 2013 has to offer!

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Emily's first Christmas

So much for updating weekly! Time just got away from me last week with the holiday busy-ness.

Even though she had no idea what day it was, Emily had a big Christmas visiting with family.

On the Sunday before Christmas, we drove to Bowling Green to meet Michelle, Sam and Ryah for lunch (or is it dinner - which meal starts at 3pm?! :))

Emily wore her Santa pants that my brother in law, Tyler's, mom sent to her. Though her outfit was adorable, her attitude was not! She cried all through the meal and Mikey and I took turned scarfing down our food and then walking her around trying to comfort her. I must say, Cracker Barrel was the place to be with a screaming baby - everyone was very nice to us and to her!

On Christmas Eve we went to my parents house.

Hanging with Grandpa and Grandma.

We had our traditional Christmas Eve meal of appetizers and junk food - awesome as always. Leslie, Paul and Shannon came over and Emily was given the sassiest pair of boots I have ever seen.

Leopard, feathers and sparkle - oh my!

She also got some other cute clothes,and a picture for her room.  We decided that we would begin a tradition of getting her one of the same present each year and we decided it would be snow globes. So we got her a pretty little globe with a Christmas tree in it and we are going to have it engraved with the date. She may not care about her snow globe collection for many years (kids probably don't get too jazzed about that sort of thing) but someday she will.

 Mikey and I didn't really get her anything else this year - for one thing, everything in her life is brand new in the past month! - and also, it is really important to us to find ways to teach her gratitude for what she has (not yet, obviously - we just want to teach her to sleep more than 3 hours right now, but we are building on future holiday traditions!). We have talked about future Christmases and how we want to handle giving her gifts - knowing that she will get tons of presents from family members, and not wanting her to be spoiled or over come with "stuff". I saw something recently that suggested getting your kids "1 thing they want, 1 thing they need, 1 thing to wear and 1 thing to read". That sounds like a good idea to me! We will see how it goes - I may look back on this post next year from behind a mountain of plastic joys and junk and laugh at myself!

On Christmas Day, we headed to my Grandaddy's house to see the rest of the family (and we were about 2 hours late thanks to a start time miscommunication). Everyone was excited to see Emily - I walked in first without her and I might as well have been a ghost! :)

She started the party off right by having a major diaper blow out all over her Great Aunt Laurie. Whoops!

Hanging out with Great Aunt Susie.

We made a project that I saw on Pinterest and thought would be a cute memento of her first holiday season. I kind of messed up the first attempt at stamping the words (I used a lower case j instead of an i - oops) and had to paint the bottom green, so it wasn't exactly like I wanted it to look, but still cute I think. Her toenails still have traces of green paint on them.

Aunt Katie got her a First Christmas outfit. So cute!

And the rest of these are just some cute photos that I took and wanted to share.

Hanging out watching TV with Daddy

Attempting to suck her thumb - almost got it!

This is all her loot from the shower Mikey's work threw her - holy cow, that's pink!

Whooo is the cutest baby in an owl onesie?!

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Daddy of the year

I know I am way behind in posting, and I still have to document Christmas and Emily's one month birthday, but this post needs writing first!

Emily is a lucky little lady in many many ways, but she most definitely hit the jackpot in the Daddy department. 

Not that I am surprised - I always knew that Mikey would be an excellent Dad. One of the things that motivated me the most to keep trying when it seemed like children might not be in our future, was knowing that some kid somewhere just needed to have Mikey Smith as his or her Daddy. Seeing other dads with their kids at hockey games made my heart ache for Mikey to have that someday.

And now she is here, and I was right - he is amazing at this! The love he shows his little girl every single second makes me so excited for the relationship that they will have throughout her life. She couldn't have been given a better example of what a real man should act like.

A few quick "brags" about his awesomeness (it is there every minute of every day, but these stand out)

- One night last week, when he could tell I was particularly exhausted, he moved her basinet out to the living room and slept on the couch next to her, handling all the diaper changes and bottle feedings so that I could get uninterrupted sleep.

- Today he is hanging out with her downstairs in the basement watching football all day. (I'm not feeling well - allergies I think - and he is letting me rest). 

He will probably say these things are no big deal, and I know he is glad to do them, but it means the world to me!

This looks like the beginning of a beautiful friendship! Can't wait to see what the future holds for these two!

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Learning My Lesson

Sometimes I am really dense. One of my biggest flaws is that I have a tendency to "speak too soon". So when I told everyone "Emily sleeps great, she rarely ever cries", I should have known that I was setting myself up for disaster!
My poor little booger has not been a happy girl the past few days. (Today is much better so far - but again, it is only noon, so let's not carve that in stone!)
We think maybe she has some reflux issues going on. We have checked with Dr. Google and that seems like the diagnosis that most matches her symptoms - arching her back, crying out in what seems like pain, wanting to nurse non-stop, only sleeping in our arms - as soon as we lay her down on her back, she wakes up and screams. She doesn't spit up (much....knock on wood) and she was gaining weight at her last appointment, so I don't think the Dr. would do much for her at this point, but we are keeping an eye on her.
We are trying a few things to help her out - holding her upright for at least 30 minutes after a feeding...which is super fun at 4am...- letting her sleep in her car seat again so she is at a slight angle and not flat on her back - and we got some Gripe Water last night that seemed to help.

Yesterday we had Emily's professional newborn photos made my our friend Evin (here is her blog - I will post again when our pics are ready). She is so talented - she photographed Katie and Erin's weddings - and as soon as we got pregnant, I knew I wanted her to do the newborn photos. Emily behaved wonderfully while Evin was here, and I just know she got some great shots.

Here are a few NON professional iPhone pics to hold you over until then...

Those cheeks!

Sydney would like to remind everyone that she still lives here, thank you very much.

Finally some stuff on the walls in the nursery.

Emily and her bestest friend - Mr. Giraffe

My belly button stump came off!

Awesome birth announcement print from Aunt Katie.

My goal is to update this blog at least once a week with the latest from around here (and plenty of pictures, since I know that is what everyone is looking for anyway) Everyone....ha ha, listen to me acting like there are thousands reading this. 

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No news is good news

Waving hello!

Sorry for the lack of posts over the last few days - nothing much to report other than eat, poop, sleep, repeat. That is by no means a complaint though. For a worrier like me, same old same old is PERFECT! Fewer worst case scenarios to Google that way....

So far our morning has included a few feedings, a few diaper changes, and lots of sleep (for Em, not me). And yes, I Googled "can a newborn sleep too much". Shut up.

And I swear, Pampers has some sort of kick back program worked out with the babies that we don't know about - this kid is going through some diapers! Twice already today she has messed up a clean diaper as I was getting her dressed after a change! Little stinker - literally...

Emily and I are currently in our first full day totally alone. My mom came to stay with us a few days last week, and Mikey has a ton of time off that he has to use before the end of the year so he has been around quite often.

Grandaddy Mike came to see us. I think it is fair to say he is smitten.

We have had several other visitors as well (but I didn't get pics of everyone - sorry!). 

Erin and Adam came over for dinner and snuggles.

Parker and Emily - seems like yesterday when Parker was this little!

Last Saturday, we headed to Coolsprings for some "tag team" shopping. We took turns running in to stores while the other one waited in the car with Emily. With the crowds and the flu bug running rampant, we aren't quite ready to get her out in public yet. It was a long day and I think she had enough of the car seat by the end of it - she cried most of the way home. Poor bug.

Mommy and Em, pre-shopping

And now some random photos from my phone... (if anyone is interested in seeing EVEN MORE photos, you can go to my Flickr stream)        http://www.flickr.com/photos/59724898@N07/

Sleeping Beauty

Contemplating the meaning of life

Sleeping again - do we see a theme?!

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At Home with Emily

A bunch of photos from the past few days at home..... (not in order, cause I haven't figured that out yet!)

Emily had her first pediatrician visit today. We were so proud of ourselves for getting all three of us showered, dressed and out the door in plenty of time. Of course, we then went to the wrong office (this practice has 3 and we forgot to ask which one our Dr is in when we made the appointment) so we were about 15 minutes late for her appointment. Oh well, we can claim new parent brain and get away with it for a while! 

The lobby was packed with other people's germy little kids and a little boy coughed right by her head, but thankfully they called us back almost immediately so she didn't have to mingle with the common sickies for long.

The doctor said she looked perfect (duh!) - she has gained 4 ounces and is right on track to be at or above her birth weight by her two week appointment, which is what they want to see happen with all newborns. He saw no signs of the slight yellowing that he mentioned when we left the hospital. We were very happy to hear that baby girl is doing well so far!

All tuckered out after a successful trip to the doctor

Wearing my new outfit from Aunt Michelle

I think it is plain to see that she is extremely advanced, intelligence wise - she held her own paci while she watched tv with Daddy last night.

'Sup y'all

She got her 2nd bath at home on Sunday and we washed her hair for the first time by ourselves. And as we stood there admiring how scrumptious she looked in her froggy towel, we heard the unmistakable sounds of a big ol' poop happening. Thank goodness Mikey is a genius and suggested putting a diaper on her immediately, so she was wearing one when she went. At least she was totally fresh and clean for about 30 seconds!

Her honorary Aunties Allison, Heather and Shanna got her this swing and she loves it. She had been sleeping here for several hours when this picture was taken. It also plays lullabies and MAN those things work! I was taking a nap while Aunt Katie watched her the other day, and the sounds of those soothing tunes made it almost impossible to get out of bed!

Just a swingin

She loves sitting in her Boppy and just hanging out with us.

I have always heard parents say that you have to do whatever it takes to get your baby to sleep. Well, this is what it takes so far! She didn't like just being in the pack n play by herself, so we put her in the car seat so she would feel more secure. But we don't trust the dogs enough to leave the car seat on the floor, so this was our solution! And it works! I would mention her sleep habits, but I know as soon as I put them out there to the world, it will jinx things and so I will just keep that to myself for now.

Miss Ryah came to meet her new cousin this past weekend. She loves her so much and wanted to hold her all the time! She also wanted to "squeeze her" but we talked her out of that. We promised that when Emily is two, she can squeeze her all she wants. I can't wait to watch these two grow up and play together -I know Emily is going to worship Ryah. And Ryah has already promised to teach her how to do flips (gulp).

Tio Sam was holding her and Ryah decided she needed another blanket and a reindeer.

These next few pictures kind of make my stomach turn, but what can I do? I sure can't dress her up in UT gear, since they are dunzo. And it makes Mikey happy so I will have to learn to deal with it. Ugh, my poor baby!!

UGA fans

Sydney is a fan too, but she is too fat for her shirt now.

She makes red and black look good.

Cousins!

I will admit, before I had her, I was totally weirded out by the idea of nursing. I was willing to try because it was best for her, but I was really apprehensive about the whole process. I can't even tell you how much I enjoy it though! She makes the sweetest little noises and faces, and I get to just hold her and stare at her pretty face. She almost always falls asleep when she is done, and I have force myself to sit her up and burp her -I just don't want to disturb her when she looks like this!

Post feeding milk coma

Katie got us this adorable frame and we finally got a photo in it. I love how it turned out!

And in case you were wondering, my sister is the best sister ever. Sorry to all the other sisters out there. She drove here from Atlanta in the middle of the night for the birth, despite having only been home about 24 hours from her Thanksgiving visit. She spent the night with me at the hospital on the most uncomfortable looking bed. She cooked and did laundry and loved on Miss Emily, even though her allergies were making her feel awful. We will never be able to say thank you enough for everything. We love you Katie!!



Tomorrow is Mikey's last day at home with us and we are all dreading his return to work. Why oh why didn't we win the lottery!? He is a great daddy - as if there was any doubt that he would be - and he takes such good care of his girls (all 4 of us, counting the dogs! and his boy, Wally). 

Emily's birth day

Has it really only been four days? In some ways, it feels like she has been part of our lives forever. It definitely feels like she is right where she belongs!

So going back to the night / day she was born.... (sorry if I get wordy here -I want to remember it all and it's my blog, so there! You can skip ahead to pictures if you want, I won't mind)

As I already posted, I went to my doctor on Monday for my 39 week check up. I had been up for hours the night before, just feeling not quite right, and I was just sure she would say that it was the beginning on labor. But she didn't, and we agreed to induce the following week if nothing happened. So I went to work, came home and made dinner, and went to bed - all the while still feeling just not quite right.

About 9:00 I started cramping even more and feeling like I needed to pee non stop (sorry if that's TMI - I just sat here trying to think of a better way to say that and then I realized I am about to talk about cervical dilation and pushing - so "pee" will be ok!). So anyway...about 10:30 I went out and told Mikey that I thought this might be something and we should start monitoring contractions. So we busted out the iphone app and started tracking, as I walked in circles around the house.

About 11:30 we decided that, with a 45 minute drive to the hospital, we would rather go ahead in and be told to go home, rather than stay here and not make it in time. So off we went, with Mikey trying so hard to be helpful and ask me what I needed and how he could help, and with me biting his head off and just wanting silence. (Sorry Babe!)

Got there, got admitted, got my arms mangled by a nurse trying to find a vein, got to listen to everyone comment on "Wow, those contractions are really coming one right after the other, aren't they?" while I tried not to punch someone in the throat. Seriously, I could barely catch my breath between each one before another one came. I got my epidural when I was around 5 cm dilated and I have no idea how anyone does that naturally. 

After the epidural I was feeling fine and I was dilating so quickly that the nurse was commenting that I might be able to eat breakfast, meaning that the baby would be here by then. Meanwhile, Katie was driving at warp speed from Atlanta. The new nurse came on at 7am and burst our bubble a tad, by saying that the first nurse was maybe a little too generous with her dilation estimates. Oh well. By this time, my parents, sister and cousins Leslie and Erin had arrived and we visited a while and then sent them to the waiting room while we tried to sleep a little. My arch-nemesis, the blood pressure cuff, prevented that by inflating every time I would start to doze off. Jerk.

About 9:30 am, the nurse came to check me and said we would start pushing. She warned that it could take a couple of hours and I thought "yeah right". Stupid girl. So I pushed and then I pushed and then I pushed some more and nothing was happening. The nurse said the baby was not moving under the pubic bone. She called for the doctor and when Dr. Dunn came in she had me push a few times for her, then said we would push for another 20 minutes and if nothing happened she would have to use the vacuum.

Forty Five minutes later she came back (gotta love Dr. time) and it was time to get serious. She tried one vacuum and it came off the head, so she tried another one. Then she tried the forceps. Then she started asking which operating rooms were available for a c-section. That was when I lost it. I was SO tired, and so frustrated with myself for not feeling like I was pushing "enough" and I really didn't want a c-section because I wanted to hold the baby skin to skin right away. And I also didn't want one just for the reason that I couldn't do what I was supposed to do and push her out. If there had been a medical reason for it, I would have been disappointed but ok with it. 

It's funny how the feelings from infertility never really leave you. As irrational as it may sound to someone who hasn't been there, I spent so much of the past 2.5 years being disappointed in myself and my body for not being able to do what it is "supposed to" do. And that all just came rushing back to me - we had made it so far and yet here I was, failing again. (and exhausted and full of drugs and hormones!) My doctor was awesome though. I truly believe she kept trying to get the baby out because she saw how upset I was and how hard I was trying.  For as much as I am glad I couldn't see what was going on down there, I have this mental image of Dr. Dunn with one foot on the end of the bed, bracing herself and yanking the baby out!All of a sudden, I could finally feel something happening. Mikey was hanging over the side of the bed right by my head, with tears in his eyes and he said "This is it" and then one more push and there she was! 

Actually, the nurse and my doctor forgot that we didn't know what we were having, so they didn't announce it. So Mikey and I were craning our heads all around trying to see "the parts". I really can't believe I have a little girl! It is what I have always wanted, and I would have loved a little boy just as much, but I can't lie - I am ecstatic to have a daughter. 

And now what you have been waiting for, a few pictures!

Action shot!

Vacuum + forceps = cone head!

Our first (blurry) photo

This got really long, so I will write more tomorrow and share more photos of her first few days at home.