Teddy's Newborn Photos

Once again, we had the fabulous Tami from Lorene Photography take Teddy's newborn photos! Teddy was a champ and let us take some awesome pics (even though it took a while to get him to sleep in some of them). And, he only had one accident! Haha. Here's his newborn photos, taken at 10 days old. Isn't he the sweetest?!

Hello There! + 20 Weeks with the Gummy Bear

Hi there! Remember me??? It's been almost 5 months since I've written anything on this 'ol blog and I have to say I've missed it! I'm not saying I'm back for good, but hopefully I'll be posting a little more often than every 5 months! 

Let's see, what's happened in the last 5 months...? Well... Emerson turned ONE! Zach is half way through is first year of residency! Two of Zach's sisters got engaged! We made it through the holiday season in one piece! The Seahawks just made it to the Super Bowl AGAIN! And................. We are expecting Baby No. 2 (fondly referred to as the Gummy Bear)!!! It's been a busy 5 months and while the first trimester was rough with Emerson, it has been equally exhausting if not more with the Gummy Bear. I thought being pregnant was tiring enough but being pregnant with a one year old running around is flat out exhausting. At least I haven't been nearly as sick with Gummy Bear. 

Wondering why we call it the Gummy Bear? Here's your proof! :)

This was our 9 week ultrasound and I was so amazed that it looked like a little gummy bear! With Emerson our first ultrasound was at 8 weeks and she just looked like a little bean/alien. This little guy was already growing arm and leg buds! So awesome.

We just had our 20 week ultrasound and got to find out that we are having a baby BOY!!! We are so excited! I'm still a little in shock because whattheheckdoidowithaboy?!?! :)

I had a feeling that it would be a boy this time around just based on how different this pregnancy has been already. I wasn't as sick in the first trimester (and halfway through the second) as I was with Emerson (thank goodness!). I've been wanting more salty foods instead of sweet. My skin has been freaking out - very dry and my complexion is not great. I remember my complexion was amazing with Emerson. And some other little things that have just been different that I can't remember right now. :)

Since I'm already so behind on this pregnancy with my weekly bump photos and my interviews, I thought I'd do a little catch up! I doubt I'll be up for doing them every week like I did with Emerson (how nice it was to have all that free time!) but I'll try to keep up every few weeks.

20 Week Interview

How far along? 20 weeks

Baby’s size? A banana! 

Days until next doc appointment? 10 days

Total weight gain/loss? Last appointment I had a net gain of one (after losing a bunch of pounds from a 24 hour bug)

Maternity clothes?  I busted those maternity pants back out over Thanksgiving and haven't looked back! :)

Stretch marks?  Probably, I've lost count at this point.

Sleep:  Sleeping well since I'm so exhausted these days. Trying to go to bed early on nights that the Bachelor isn't on. :)

Best moment this week: Feeling him kick and become more active - by far my favorite part of the entire pregnancy.

Movement:  Significantly more this past week! It's the best!

Food cravings:  No cravings, but definitely not feeling the sweets. Salty foods all the way this time around.

Anything make you queasy or sick?  Some smells... like perhaps changing dirty diapers on a certain one year old... (gag)

Have you started to show yet?  Definitely. I feel like I "popped" a lot earlier this time around. I guess it's like they say that your body kind of already knows what to do. 

Missing anything?  Having more energy.

Gender: Little man!

Labor signs?  None yet

Belly button: Innie

Wedding rings on or off?  On

Happy or moody most of the time?  Mostly happy, but definitely very emotional.

Weekly symptoms:  Just tired.

Looking forward to: Getting the house organized and the nursery together. Which means also getting Em's big girl room ready too! 

Now taking name suggestions too! Boys names are hard so let me hear what you've got! (Except for Logan Michael because my father in law has already worn that one out... and that will definitely NOT be his name) :)

DIY Latch Board for Emerson

I'm back with a quick and fun little DIY project for all the little ones out there! I first saw this idea a couple years back on my favorite blog, Young House Love. At first when I saw it, I had no idea what it was - a bunch of hinges and latches on a board? Huh? Well, that was before I had a kid. And now that Emerson is here, I will do anything and everything to keep her occupied. New things are always welcome since she has the attention span of about 1.5 minutes (please share any other cool ideas you have for 11+ month olds)!

STEP 1: PICK OUR YOUR HINGES

After work one day I picked up Em and headed straight to Home Depot to pick out some latches. I spent so long in the aisle (Em fell asleep) picking out a good assortment of different latches, hinges, and handles in varying finishes. I basically tried to find the cheapest ones (some of those are expensive!) that had a lot of movement, would be fun to un-hook/re-hook, and weren't too sharp for Emerson to use. I think I spent about $30-40 in total on latches. 

STEP 2: BUILD YOUR PLATFORM

We had some leftover wood scraps laying around from our headboard and console table projects, so I commissioned Zach to build me a little platform after laying out all the hinges and latches where I wanted them to get a good idea of how big I wanted the platform. I think it ended up being about 2 feet x 1 foot.

STEP 3: SPRAY PAINT (OR PAINT) YOUR BOARD

I'm kind of obsessed with this color lately - Tropical Rain Forest from Valspar. It's bright and vibrant and almost like a kelly green, but with more teal. I love it.  A couple coats and it was good to go! Maybe we should have just left it as a platform for Em! :)

STEP 4: LAYOUT & ARRANGE YOUR HINGES

Layout your hinges to get a good idea of what you want the board to look like before you start screwing in everything. As you can see, I played around with it quite a bit. Also, make sure to keep all the nails and screws close to the hinges so you don't lose them or get them mixed up!

STEP 5: SCREW IN YOUR HINGES & LATCHES

Pretty self explanatory. I started using the power drill, but it was running out of batteries (always happens right when I want to work on a project). Using a regular screwdriver seemed to work better, though since it didn't split the wood as much. I added a little piece of pom pom trim I had leftover from Emerson's pom pom curtains I made for her nursery to add a little texture. I also added the E wrapped in twine which is actually a pin on letter for Christmas Stockings, but it was a little too heavy for our stockings to hold the weight. It fits perfect on her board!

STEP 6: ENJOY!

Emerson seems to like it (off and on when she is in the mood). Her favorite part is the doorstop. She loves flicking it to make it go Boing! and after each time she claps! It's so cute. She also loves the wheel. I love that it is substantial and will take a lot of wear and tear over the years. Check out my instagram feed for a cute video of Em having fun with her Latch Board!

Have you made any fun baby toys lately? Or, do you have any suggestions for awesome toys that your baby loves? One of the reasons I wanted to make this, is because it's made of non-traditional items, and these days it seems like that is all Emerson wants to play with! She loves the bottom drawer in the kitchen filled with (safe for baby) kitchen utensils! It's her favorite. So I'm hoping she will like this for years to come!

Emails to Emerson

Disclaimer: I totally did not come up with this idea. I got it from Google. Do you remember this commercial?

I just watched it again. And cried again. Like lots of tears. I loved this idea from the first time I saw it. So great. When I was pregnant with Emerson I decided to start the same thing... get ready for some mushiness.

I started writing things down in a journal about my pregnancy so I could remember these times, along with my weekly(ish) posts about my growing bump. But it was getting harder and harder to remember all the little details and to find the time to sit and write things down monthly (or even weekly if I remembered). I remembered the commercial and thought, Duh!, I should start an email account for Emerson so I can send her quick notes whenever I have a minute. I could send her photos and videos in real time so she could have a timeline of her life to read through one day. I gave the email address to Zach, too, so we could both share memories of our life with her. 

It's been one of my favorite things and makes me so happy that she will have all these memories to read back on one day (assuming we still have email by then!). While I was pregnant, I sent her an email when I felt her kick for the first time. When we found out that she would be our daughter. Random videos of her moving in my belly. Since she has been born, we've sent her a ton of photos and videos - sometimes once every week or two, sometimes three in one day. Videos of her rolling over for the first time. Sweet and funny pictures of her being a goofball. Little notes about how we are in awe of the little lady she is becoming. It's so much fun and I'm glad I can quickly put my thoughts down and send them off to her whenever I get the chance. It's very informal and has worked so well for me. I also like that Zach can email her so she can get his perspective too, and it's all right there in one place. 

Once she is grown, maybe on her 18th or 21st birthday, we will give her the email address and password so she can read through her email "scrapbook." I can't wait to give it to her. Personally, I think it would be so cool to have, so I hope one day she thinks the same. 

Now I'm going to go look through my own baby book that my mom brought over a few weeks ago! Part of it is actually a "baby calendar" where there are stickers and notes throughout for different milestones. Another great idea that I might keep up for the next one! Especially since it's so hard to remember years later when they started walking, talking, etc. 

What do you guys do to keep track of all the memories and milestones? Traditional baby book? Email account? Calendar? Shutterfly photo book? Do share!

Five Months

Month five was so much fun! Miss Emerson got increasingly active this month and it was so much fun being able to interact with her more. Her little personality is coming out more and more and she is awesome. Very happy, curious, determined and focused at times, silly and smiley, definitely a good eater, and just all around fun to be with. Love. Her. To. Pieces.

She is such a happy and easy baby! We are so lucky and I'm so glad I get to be her Mama. Here's some 5 month highlights (get ready for a photo-heavy post, people):

- Loves to stand up while we hold her. No more sitting, just standing. She's such a "little girl" already. I often wonder what happened to my baby! She'll probably be walking before she crawls. Haha. Pleaselordno.

- Loves to laugh at Daddy and all his funny noises. Her favorite is "muahahahahaha" 

- Hates tummy time but finally rolled over from front to back! The first two times she was with Grandma Vonnie while I was at work (worst part of being a working Mama, and I'm saying it doesn't count. Ha!) but did it for us a couple days later. Then she didn't do it for about another week or two. Finally I was able to catch it on video! 

- She realized how soft the puppy's fur is and loves to pet them. The puppies like it too... at least Buster does. Em really loves to pull on their fur. And ears. And poke them in the eyes. Luckily, they are super chill and put up with all her "pets."

- She is such a happy and giggly baby! It's so much fun and makes me SO happy. She's amazing and always has a smile on her face (or at least an excited open mouth). She loves to lay the open mouth slobber kiss on you (even though she has no clue what she's doing) and loves doing her classic "hungry tiger" face. 

- She started sitting up more on her own. We kept a pillow behind her for a while and she would just sit there and play with her toys. She's also getting really good at reaching out for toys. And Mommy's glasses. And Mommy's mouth. And Daddy's stubbly chin. Basically everything. 

- We thought she might be teething because she is always grabbing our fingers, pulling them straight to her mouth, and then chomping down on them. She's also been drooling a ton. But no teeth yet! 

- We switched to bottles only soon after Christmas. I'm still pumping and she's getting breastmilk, but just not straight from the source. :) It was getting hard on me to balance pumping and nursing and honestly she was getting heavy and it was getting hard to hold her while nursing. Love me my chunky baby! Pumping is hard work, but it's been working well doing the full time pumping. Plus, it's nice to know how much we are actually feeding her (although I still have no idea what's "right") haha. 

- Her legs are moving constantly and I'm already betting on her becoming a soccer player!

- She found her toes! I've been waiting for this moment since she was born because I think it is so cute. And honestly, I'm kind of amazed at how flexible they still are at this age! She munches on them and holds them and it's just so darn cute.

- Grandma taught her a fun game (that was a sarcastic fun)... she now loves to do "zerberts" or "blowing bubbles!" It was super cute at first and we were so proud that she could actually start mimicking us! Fast forward a couple weeks and we are constantly getting spit blown in our faces. Haha. Ok, it's still pretty cute. Thanks Grammie!

- She started holding her own bottle. It's not every time, but most times she will start out holding it. Again, where is my baby?! Already wants to be a big girl.

- We started sleep training. Best. Thing. EVER. Read more about it here.

- Em started going to daycare! It was a hard decision, but ultimately working from home was not working from me. Without having extra help there while I had to work it was unrealistic for me to get anything done without have to make up hours at night, which I hated doing. Especially with tax season coming, it was not going to work. Now she goes to daycare three days a week and it has been great. We were so glad to find some part time day care since Gramma Vonnie watches her Mondays and Tuesdays still. The first week was the worst, but when I picked her up after the first day and saw how happy she was (seriously, does this girl stop smiling? The answer is yes. but usually only when she is hungry or tired. :), it gave me a huge sigh of relief. Her "teachers" are great and love her (how could they not!). She had no problem being dropped off (not to the stranger danger phase yet) so that made it easier, too.  So far so good! 

- We took our first trip to the doctor because of a cold (bet you didn't see that coming after she started daycare). Haha. It actually got to me first! It was just a stuffy nose and cough, but I took her in to get it checked out. I'm really paranoid about the coughing... but it turned out to be just a cold thank goodness. But that also means you can't really do anything but wait for it to pass (which will probably be never since she is in daycare!). 

Four month check up! This was before all the shots (four to be exact).

We got a visit from Auntie Kim (visiting from North Carolina) and Auntie Shan!

Someone got spoiled over Christmas...

Classic hungry tiger face.

Baby selfie. Not really.

She also found her tongue and gets in modes where she just keeps it out. Especially when Grandpa is egging her on. :)

New Year's Eve party animals.

Baby-zilla!

She's a pretty cool chick.

Did I mention she hates tummy time?

Cheering on her Grandpa's favorite team! Go Ducks!

Hipster Baby.

Did I mention the drool? :)

She loves her puppies. She especially loves to watch Brody. She is fascinated with him, even when he's across the room.

She also loves to fly!

So close!

Loves to stand.

That smile. 

This was after day one of daycare. Love my little nugget! 

 

Hungry. Tiger. All. The. Time.

Someone captured this sweet moment of Emerson and her friend Avery at Avery's baptism. Hearts were melting. 

Stinker. 

She has so much fun with Grammie every week!

Bath time with Daddy is always fun...

Seahawks were awesome this season! SUPER BOWL CHAMPS!!!! We watched the NFC Championship game and were super stressed the whole time! Luckily Sherman made the play of the season and we won! Sorry Forty Whiners... :) Go Hawks.

It has been such an awesome season seeing her grow! I have to say, since Emerson was born, the Seahawks have been awesome! I think she is the best good luck charm! :) Below, Em at 2 weeks and 21 weeks - same jersey!

And for your viewing pleasure, here are some quick videos!