8 months!

Well I better get this 8 month post done before Emery turns 9 months Sunday…geez. It completely slipped my mind. Emery is any easy fun all smiles baby girl. She is really blossoming into her own. She loves to play with her brother more than anything else in the world. Loves to crawl/chase him around. When Cole comes fast at her she starts laughing and crawling as fast as she can to get away. It’s adorable. I just love the sweetness that she radiates. Its hard to not be happy around her. We love this blue eyed girl so much!

 

 

- Emery has been standing up on her more and for a longer period of time. It happens most of the time when she doesn't realize she’s doing it. Once she does she slowly squats down and crawls. There has been a step forward a few times but I think we still have at least a month till she’s confident enough to take more steps. 

-She is still a peanut, just hit 17 pounds last week. 

-Most of her winter clothes are big on her but she’s seems to finally being growing too big for her 6 month clothing. 

-Emery talks a lot, its most just noises and of course Dada 

-She has learned to clap. And loves doing it. -Can hold her bottle but doesn't do it all the time. Still needs help. 

-She’s a good little eater. Three meals a day with a mixture of baby food and finger foods. Hands down her favorite finger food is pizza and butternut squash. 

-A big fan of the kitty cats and tries to pet them whenever they are close. 

-Has two teeth still, and seems to be teething again. Can’t see or feel anything so it’s going to be awhile. 

-Her hair has really come in and it’s pretty blond. This has made her look so grown up. 

-She still wears bows and headbands with no compliant. I’m hoping this continues.

-Loves all her brothers toys which she inserts into her mouth right away.

 

I promise to do a better job next month with an update on what Emery’s up to! Its been the fastest 9 months of my life. And I’m loving it!

 

Emery is 7 Months!

Since Emery will be 8 months next week I figured I better do a 7 month post before it’s too late. Mom fail. Let’s move on. This month went by faster than any month since Emery came into the world. Life these days is busy and we keep both kids on a very regular schedule which keeps us close to home. And I’m ok with that. I don’t want to wish these days away , because they are the ones we will always remember. All of us together making memories, Emery has certainly made this family whole. She is a very happy little girl and I love watching her grow. My sweet little girl I love you more and more with each beat of my heart.

Here's what she's up to these days,

- Is eating 4 bottles a day, and three meals a day!

- Weighs in at 16 lbs 5 oz (at 7 months 3 weeks)

- She’s a little peanut, depending on what brand it ranges from 3-6 months, 6 months and some 9months (carters).

- Is sleeping from 6:45pm to 6:30am.

- Is taking three naps. One short one early morning, One mid-morning and then one late afternoon.

- She is wearing size 3 diapers (target brand)

- Is on the move at all times. Crawling , pulling up and even some cruising . She does not like to be held very long. She’s little miss independent and most content when she can move all around.

- Can say Dada and lots of squeals

- Greets everyone she knows with a huge smile. She is defiantly more hesitant around strangers than her brother was at this age.

- Everything is inserted into her mouth.

- Loves being naked and bath time.

- We started finger foods, hands down favorite thing is cheerios. Still working on mastering to get other foods in her mouth.

- She is so inquisitive and really takes in all that is going on around her. She's soaking up the world around her like a sponge. Especially whatever her brother does.

- Loves to interact with her brother. Whenever Cole gives her direct attention she just smiles and laughs. He is hands down her favorite person.

- Enjoys reading as long as she can touch the book.

-Loves the kitty cats. She is always trying to pet them and chase them.

- Her hair is really starting to come in and its blond.

- I'm guilty of calling her Em all the time. Cole does too as well as Emmy. Dada still calls her Emery.

- Still has only two teeth but the drooling has picked up again so I think we have some more coming.

Emery we are so proud of your accomplishments already...so be it they are small you my girl will move mountains. When you were diagnosed with hip dysplasia and put into a brace till 3 months old we just figured you would be a bit behind physically, well you have shown us sweet heart to never assume. You can do anything my dear and I believe it!

6 months old!

Emery,

You turned 6 months old two weeks ago and it seems you are on a mission to grow up! So much has happened in the last month for you. You are officially crawling. There is no stopping you now. You are pulling up on everything. I believe the whole crawling thing is fun for you but your real goal is to stand. You crawl to anywhere that you could possibly stand yourself on. I have learned to embrace all this mobility but this has to be one of my least favorite things. You pull up and just let go. It scares me so much. You have knocked your head a few times , I hope this stage passes without to many boo boos.

 

You have two teeth now. They seem to be driving you crazy. You are not a cranky baby so I know your teeth must be bothering you. Its even affected your appetite some days. I hope after this second one brakes through you will get brake till your next few.

 

Right before you turned 6 months old you started saying Da Da. 

It’s cute and mostly comes out when your frustrated and can’t pull up on something. You mainly do this cute high pitch screech and laughing to communicate with us. And of course lots and lots of smiles.

 

Your favorite person is still your brother. You love to watch him and terrorize him now that your crawling. He is good with you most days and is learning to share his toys. He is always fast to try and get you to stop crying by making funny noises and it usually works. Cole always gets the best belly laughs out of you. 

 You are a daddy’s girl. You light up every time you see him.

 

 

You took your first really bath in the big tub. And you loved it. Your brother joined you of course. 

You’re doing great with solid foods, you seem to prefer vegetable over anything else. Squash, Sweet Potatoes, Peas are a few of your favorites. 

You like it when I sing to you. Wheels on the bus gets the biggest smiles. 

Your sleeping great a night. 12 hours. Naps still seem to be a challenge. But I think that has something to do with teething. You take three naps a day but its work to get you to sleep more than one nap that’s longer than 45 min.

 

 

 You have your 6 month checkup Thursday so I’m not sure how long you are but you weigh in at 16 lbs. You are in sizes 3-6 months for some dresses but most clothes it’s 6 months.
**** Update- your check up this week- at 6 months 3 weeks- 15lbs 15oz (38%), 25.5 inches (28%)- your a little peanut :) ****

I just moved you up to size 3 diaper. There I tad big but you have room to move!

 

Can’t wait to see what the next month holds for you.. You amaze me everyday. You are such a determined sweet little girl. Love you!

5 Months!

Emery, 

When I found out I was pregnant with you, I envisioned another little boy on the way. I was a boy mom already and loved it. Your brother stole my heart and I just loved the idea of another sweet little boy. I mean what was I missing out on with not having a girl? SO MUCH! You are the perfect addition to our family, your sweetness and adorable smiles bring so much joy to us all. Of course the obvious, I love having my little shopping buddy by my side and indulging in the baby girl clothing. The bows. The shoes. I get more excited dressing you than me. A bit crazy…yes I know. But really it’s just the difference in your personality it’s so girly already. And I love it! Of course I love you and your brother just the same and with all my heart it’s just two different special bonds. I’m so blessed to have you as my daughter.

 

Here’s what you’re up to these days… 

-Love to sit and can do it for a while on your own. Such a strong little girl. 

-Smile ALL the time 

-If we lay you down on your back you roll within a seconds, you love rolling around. 

-Speaking of rolling to your belly, you are now on all fours. I mean rocking on all fours. OMG! I don’t see you crawling just yet but I fear within the next month. 

-LOVE standing in your jumper/exesaucer thing 

-Hands are always in your mouth. Lots of drool but no sign of teeth can be seen. 

-No words yet, lots of adorable baby babble 

-Weighs in at 15lbs 

-3-6 month and some 6 months clothing. Size 2 diaper. 

-Has started solids in the past 3 weeks and is really digging it. One of your favorites is sweet potatoes. 

-You eat solids twice a day and have four bottles each 6-7oz. 

-You think everything your brother does is amazing and funny.

-Loves bath time 

 

This month we finally figured out the whole sleeping thing. The day your turned 5 months (as recommended by your doctor) we turned the monitor volume down and let you figure out how to soothe yourself back to sleep at night. It was hard for me. The first night was the worst. 30 minutes. But you did it. And every night following got shorter and now not at all. We were obviously enabling you at night. Helping you sooth yourself. Cause within a week you were sleeping 12hrs straight all by yourself. This change is amazing for you and us! Your napping has improved as well. You are generally on 3 naps a day. Little girl you just needed some tough love to work it out on your own. Phewwww! 

It’s hard to believe almost half a year has gone by already, things are moving so fast. I need a pause button. I love you sweet Emmy! 

xoxo, 

Mama  

4 months old!

Sweet Emery girl you are 4 months old now. You are a bundle of joy and sunshine.

 

 Here is what you’re up to these days;

 - You have 5 bottles a day at 6oz.  At times I feel like we are making you eat, you don’t scream for food. I’m wondering if your just waiting for the real food to pig out.

 - You love to sit and stand. You are no a mission to be independent. Your little eyes grow so large and you smile so big when you get to do either.

- You enjoy tummy time and in fact have started to move a few inches forward.  I’m a bit nervous about this…you need to slow down.

- Just recently you have started hanging out in the jumperoo. You really seem to enjoy it. Which is great cause you were never a real fan of the swing.

- You talk so much, I think your just trying to keep up with us all.

  

       

     

      - You smile so much and are generally a very happy baby. 

   

       - You love watching your crazy brother run around and look in awe and wonderment at him.

- You take 4 naps a day, generally it’s a cat nap early morning right after you wake up then two longer naps then a cat nap around dinner time. I wish you were down to just three but this will happen in time.

- The past 2 weeks you have been going through a bit of sleep regression.  You’re learning so much and are so alert to the world around you. Thankfully it seems to not be every night but we ready for you to get back to 10 hrs of straight sleep on the regular.

- Your bed time is around 7 pm most nights, some nights a bit later depending on how long your dinner cat naps is. You take your bottle in your room with either mama or dad. We read you book then rock you for a bit before putting you down to sleep.

- We have recently stopped swaddling you.  With this we have discovered you prefer tummy sleeping.  I was nervous at first to let you, but you sleep so much better on your tummy unswaddled.

- Your wearing 3-6 month clothing and some 6 months. And have moved into a size 2 diaper.

       

- You weigh in at 13lbs 9oz and just a little over 24 inches long. (50% for both) 

       

- You love your Dada and get so excited to see him. A daddy's girl in the making.   

      

- Your a grabbing hold of pretty much of anything within arms length. And then try and insert it into your mouth. Mama's hair included. :)

- Your rolling from belly to your back all the time. 

- Your drooling so much, I believe we have some teeth making there way. 

   You have truly brought so much joy into our lives and I just can't imagine life without you my sweet little girl.

 

3 months!

 

Emery,

 Holy hell how can this be? You are my sweet little baby who is just so happy and content! Here’s what you’re up to these days; 

You are all smiles and get so excited when anyone talks directly to you. Your eyes get big, you kick your legs and smile. I love it. 

The one thing that really upsets you is really loud noises and if you stay up past your nap or bedtime. You let us know loud and clear that your tired and need to be asleep. Trying to gauge when that window of sleepy and just dame overtired has been a challenge for this mama. But I think we’re getting better at it every day! 

I just love the sweetness you ooze. Mama loves being able to dress you in adorable dresses and of course bows too. You seem ok with it now so I better get my fill in of it before you say no more mama! 

You love to snuggle. If you had your way you would nap on me, sleep with me at night and life would be grand. But it just can’t be baby girl. You take about 4 naps a day still. I would say half of them are in your crib. It’s a work in progress. 

As for night time you’re doing great, generally you sleep 9 to 10 hours straight. You wake around 430, eat, then go back to sleep. Most of time with mama. I can’t handle CIO yet so till I can muster up enough strength for it you will have sleep time with me.

  Blowing bubbles all the time 

You are growing so fast. Somehow you seem to be on the slightly long side. You don’t get that from me sweetie. You are now in 3-6 month clothing. 

Your favorite thing to do is sit up. We can’t leave you alone when propped up because you try to sit up on your own. I mean really your 3 months old lady this nonsense needs to stop. It’s too early for you to being trying to do this! 

You seem to enjoy tummy time now that you have no harness, your rolling from tummy to back. 

Just like your brother you’re a talker. You seem to have lots and lots to say. I guess you’re trying to keep up with your fast talking brother. 

You laughed for the first time the night before Mama and Dada left for Mexico. A belly laugh. Nothing better than that. 

 And above all your favorite thing to do is watch your brother. I imagine your watching him thinking what on earth is this crazy boy talking about! ha

 

I just simply adore you and love watching you blosoom. I just wish time would slow down so I could soak it all in!  

Emery's Birth Story

To start her birth story I need to start a few days before. I was starting to think she wasn't going to come on her own. At my last appointment the doctor had said she couldn't see me going longer than 48hrs before going into labor but there I was 72 hours later and no baby. In fact that Saturday I really wasn't having any contractions at all, we had a very laid back day just hanging around the house. The Ervick's invited us out to a local Japanese steak house that night for dinner, the little boys loved watching the cook do his thing and the big boys were enjoying some sake. I will always remember Hubs turning to me and asking if he could have another sake shot...I said of course I'm not going into labor tonight. Ha famous last words. We put Cole to bed as usual then Hubs and me watched Superbowl coverage. Still no real contractions as I headed for bed. It was 10:45 pm, I had just gone to the bathroom and was getting into bed when I had extreme pressure. It stopped me in my tracks. As I stood there I felt a small gush of liquid, looked down and my underwear was all wet. Did i just pee myself? Or was that my water breaking? I had just gone to the bathroom it seemed very odd to me to just pee myself but at the stage it was not impossible. Right then Hubs had walked into the bedroom and I told him what had happened. Right away he said Sarah, it was your water! I was not convinced, it wasn't a huge gush and I was having zero contractions. Finally after some convincing I called my doctor to tell her what had happened, she said they wanted me to come in and check. Honestly if I wasn't already 4cm and the hospital wasn't 40 minutes away I would have never called. I called my parents who came over right away, and as I got myself dressed I had another small gush that left me all wet again. I think it was then I realized this might really be happening. Hubs, my mom and me made our way to the hospital in the snow we arrived a little after 12am, still i was having no contractions just pressure. As they examined me the doctor on call said she didn't think my water had broken. Huh? She said she had to perform another test to make sure she was right and left the room. I almost started to cry then, I felt so silly. I had made us come all this way in the middle of the night. I told Hubs I'm sorry and just as I did I had a major contraction. I watched the monitors and saw baby girl's heart rate dropping. The contraction lasted what felt forever and as it did her heart rate kept dropping. The nurses hurried back in and asked me to switch sides and gave me oxygen. As the contraction when down her heartbeat went back up. Thank god. But this was more then they needed to see to confirm I would be staying and having my baby. As we made are way to our labor and delivery room I was feeling anxious. They said they wanted to wait a few hours to let baby girl recover from that scare before they administered any pitocin. By this time it was 1:30 and I was terrified. No sleep and I was going to basically be induced in a few hours. Induction didn't sit well with me the first go around and the idea of doing it again ...well it made me want to cry.

We got comfortable in the room and attempted to get some sleep. And this is when Ms. Emery decided she was going to show us who was in charge. As my husband slept on the couch the contractions started coming. And hard. My mom helped me breath through each one. I tried my best to focus and breath through them. I think in my mind I couldn't believe this was happening, my body was actually doing it all on its own. It hurt yes but I was doing it. After an hour and a half I woke Hubs up. Told him it seems my water had actually broken and now the contractions were coming regularly. I think we were both shocked, she was really coming on Superbowl Sunday. I wanted to hear if I had progressed any before getting the epidural. When the doctor came in at 4:00am she said I was a six and 100% effaced, it was then I finally said bring on epidural. I told my mom to call my sister and tell her to start the drive from Richmond.

The lovely Epidural was administered and wouldn't you know just like last time...I felt faint and my blood pressure dropped. It was a scary 2 mintues and the Doctor had to administer medicine to counter act with epidural.  My first reaction once I started to feel better ...I will not be getting that done again. I don't know if its the straight shot of medicine but my body did not react well both times.  It did however give me some relief from the contractions, I could feel them every so slightly on one side but I was happy about that. With Cole I was numb...I couldn't feel anything and it really made pushing hard for me. So I was excited to be able to feel something but that it was not to painful.

We watched the morning news and of course Superbowl coverage as I labored , at some point my sister got there and then my mother in law. As they ate bagels and talked I was starting to feel some pressure. I told my mom and she said I should have the nurse come in and check me. I was laughing and talking away no way was it time to push, I said I would wait till the nurse came back in and checked me to tell her. 10 minutes later the nurse came in and to everyone's surprise it was in fact time to push. Folks it's no joke how quickly things move with the second child.

I told my sister to grab the camera and my make up bag. Yes I'm that vain. I at least wanted to brush my hair and put some blush on, these pictures would be with us forever! Once that was done it was time to push!

This picture makes me laugh every time I see it....My sister putting on my makeup and Cam "helping" too.

Wow what a difference this time, I could actually feel Emery moving down the canal with every push. It was such an amazing feeling one I will forever remember  The nurse on duty was awesome she really helped make progress fast. I knew things were getting close when I felt the burning sensation and with one last push she was here, the doctor told me to reach out and I took her and placed her my chest. It was surreal , my daughter was here and she was perfect.

Baby girl looked so much like her older brother it was crazy, but we all determined she was more "girly" looking. I held her for over the next hour before letting anyone else hold her.

 It was such an amazing experience and I feel so lucky it all went so smoothly. Just like that we were a family of four and she was the perfect addition.