Happy Father's Day!

Brian's first Father's Day was calm and relaxing. We spent most of the day doing some work around the house and then went to the driving range to hit a round of balls. Emilia and I surprised him with these pictures that we had done last week. It was difficult to keep them from him because they are just soooooo cute!! We also got him a new Palm since he sat on his other one and broke the screen...






...Brian got himself (and the rest of the family too) a nice big gift, too! He found a great pop-up camper from a guy on craigslist and towed it home last Monday. We are planning some camping trips this summer - to the mountains and the beach. We tried it out in the backyard last Friday night just to make sure everything works and to see how comfortable everything is. The beds are super comfy!! It's got A/C, water and electric hookups, and sleeps 7. Running water and A/C are certainly compatible with my idea of "camping".

6 months old!!

Warning: Long post ('cuz I've been slacking).

A half-year has passed since Emilia was born. Time really does fly!! At the doctor today she weighed in at 13 lb. 3 oz...staying in the 5th percentile for her weight. She's in the 10th for length and the 50th for head circumference. I don't think she has a disproportionately large head but apparently she does.

For the past several days she has been boycotting naps with only a short catnap here and there. It catches up with her, though, and then she sleeps until about 9 or 9:30 am every couple of days. She's just too busy to sleep! She notices absolutely everything that happens around her and wants to be involved in it all. She doesn't want to lay down anymore. She tries to pull herself into sitting even when she's in her carseat. She sits in her stroller and in her bathtub. She rolls to her tummy and pushes up when she's on the floor and likes it even better when I put her down in sitting.
(This is probably one of those pictures that she'll hate me for taking and posting someday but I just think it's too funny! It looks like she's wearing a wig!!)

She just started to sit on her own!! She can stay sitting for 1 or 2 minutes depending on what's going on around her...if she tries to look around she still flops over.



She's enjoying every food that I've given her so far. She loves veggies and fruit!! I've given her some fruit in her mesh feeder and she thinks that is just about the greatest invention ever!

We can now put her hair into a "ponytail". It's great because all the hair on the crown of her head wants to go forward anyway so it goes perfectly into her little sprout!
Update on Lu...she's a homeowner!!! She closed on her condo last Thursday afternoon and she officially has a mortgage now. She's in full decorating mode, and she's got a mosaic of sample colors in each room. Once school is out for the year she'll host a painting party and then a moving party...hopefully she adds in a wine and food party at some point!







We went to PA for Nicole and Chris's wedding over Memorial Day weekend. It was a beautiful ceremony and a GREAT party (as always)!!! The ceremony was outside and they did a sand ceremony to symbolize the joining together of the entire family. The five colors of sand symbolize Nicole, Zack, Nick, new baby Duda, and Chris. We're so happy for them!!

Emilia got to spend the evening with Grammi and they had a fun time going for a walk and playing.

The New Adventures of Emilia Lynn

At 23 weeks old I cannot believe how much Emilia can do! Remember...I'm used to working with children with delayed development. Emilia loves to bounce around in her doorway jumper. I think she would spend the entire day in there if we allowed it.

She's super interested in what LJ is doing and wants to play with him. His idea of "playing" with her is licking all exposed skin. I try to limit that as much as possible, but I figure it's only the beginning of what's to come when she starts running around the house with food in her hands!

She's very into eating as well and has tried lots of different foods. I haven't yet found one that she doesn't like. However, she's had enough with us feeding her and wants to do it by herself. That can only be bad news for what's to come.


She loves drinking out of a cup. She wouldn't take water from a bottle so we had to improvise. She loves it!!

Emilia Lynn is 5 months old!!

Wow!! It's been 5 months since we welcomed our little girl into the world! So much has happened since then. I can't even remember a time without her!

Yesterday was my first Mother's Day, and the best gift from Emi came at about 6:20 am when I went into her nursery and she gave me her big gummy grin from ear to ear!! What more could a mom ask for?!?! I had a wonderful weekend. Emilia and Brian (and LJ of course) also gave me a beautiful bouquet of roses and a gift card for a much appreciated massage. I think I'll treat myself next Sunday when Brian is home and spend a couple of hours at the spa by myself getting beautified (remember that comment about remembering a time before Emilia?)! Brian also took Emi and LJ for a walk yesterday and let me take a nap...that's right, you heard it, a NAP! It was great!! We also went to the driving range a couple of times this weekend, and I got to swing my clubs for the first time since before I got pregnant. I'm a little sore today. We can't wait to head out to a course when we go up to PA in a couple of weeks...no shortage of babysitters up there! Lu watched Emi on Saturday while we hit the range and also while we went to the WMZQ Country Music Fest. We're not the biggest fans of country music, but I AM a big fan of live music. We met up with some friends and had a blast! She also brought me a beautiful bunch of tulips for Mother's Day. Thanks Lu!!






*On the Lu front - I would be remiss not to tell you that she is on her way to buying her first home!! Yeah Lu!!! She has a ratified contract and is waiting for the home inspection and the appraisal before final preparations are made for closing in the beginning of June. The greatest part is that it's only about 1 1/2 miles from our house! Not that she was very far before, but closer is always better!*

Back to Emilia - She has become quite a pro at rolling over (and over). I'll post a video as soon as I can catch her in the act. She's realized that she can get her toys that are out of reach this way, and she'll soon realize that she can actually get somewhere by doing this, and then we're all in trouble! She's on her belly a lot during play time and about half the time that I go get her from her crib. She's trying to sit up all by herself these days and gets annoyed when she can't do it. The Bumbo is a lifesaver! She still loves to play in her exersaucer and discovers new toys on it everyday. We Skyped with Mammaw and Pappaw yesterday, and it was the first time that she was really paying attention to the computer screen and responding to them as they said her name. It won't be long before she's talking back to them!

Addendum to last post...

While I was writing the last post Emilia was busy reaching another milestone. She rolled herself from her back to her tummy in her crib last night!! Brian found her that way this morning comfortably snoozing on her tummy. She was a little peeved this morning when she couldn't figure out how to get rolled over onto her back.

Big Girl...20 weeks old!!

Emilia began holding her own bottle the other night when Brian was putting her to sleep. I couldn't get a picture because I didn't want to disrupt the whole sleep process. He called me up to the nursery and sure enough she was holding her own bottle with two hands and feeding herself!

Emilia and I participated in a typical development in-service at the office about a week ago. She was a little tired and cranky but was really showing her stuff. The 7-week-old baby (to the right of us in the pictures) has passed Emi in the weight department...not surprising (I think that will happen a lot in this first year).



She is getting stronger and stronger every day! She amazes me with how quickly she is developing!!



This is Emilia's favorite past-time lately. She loves to read her books in the bath. Who wouldn't enjoy a warm bath and a good book?...her favorite is "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish".



This is Emi's second attempt at rolling from her back to her belly (I didn't get the first one on video). She's almost over all by herself!

Emilia's Christening weekend

We went up to PA to celebrate Emilia's christening this weekend. We got to spend a lot of time with all of our family and friends. We are so fortunate to have all of these wonderful people in our lives. Aunt Lu and Uncle Mike are her godparents. Mammaw made her christening gown out of my wedding dress and it was soooooooo beautiful. Mammaw and Pappaw threw a great party (as always)!! What a wonderful weekend!






Aunt Vicki and Matt came up for the party. It was wonderful for Emilia to meet them and we can't wait to go stay with them at the shore this summer!!