Pictures!

Ok, here are some pictures from the last couple of months! Enjoy!! (Emily having fun on Christmas Day!)

(She decided she wanted the camera. Guess she didn't want anymore blackmail bath time pictures taken of her (: )
(Making a complete mess and having fun doing it!)

It's Cruising Time

Emily started cruising this week. Now she is really into everything! For the few that may not know what cruising is, she is pulling herself up and walking around using furniture and other objects around the house to balance herself. She can now make it around the entire perimeter of our loft. She starts in one corner and uses the end table to pull herself up then starts moving towards the love seat. Then she is around the corner and on to the couch. Once she makes it to the end of that she turns the corner again and cruises along the pack and play to the other love seat we have. Then she gets upset because there is no where else for her to go after that. She is quick too and gets quicker everyday. Her balance is improving daily as well. Today she let go of the end table and, without wobbling, stood there for about 30 seconds before slowly putting her hands back on the end table.
She has not pushed anymore teeth through. She still looks like a little vampire. I keep trying to get a picture of her teeth right now, but she won't let me. She just throws a little fit every time I try.
She also made it through Nate's recent flu without catching it. We both lucked out there, but Nate pretty much quarantined himself in our bedroom in an effort to keep us from getting sick. It must have worked because we came through unscathed.

And now it's getting late. More updates soon! (Hopefully some pictures too!!)

Thanksgiving and Christmas

Emily's first official Thanksgiving was in Madison this year. Nate's whole immediate family was there. We barely had enough room for everyone around the table! Most everyone pitched in and contributed to the food for the day. Emily had a blast getting so much attention from her uncles. She just loved them getting on the floor and playing with her!
Next up was Christmas which we held at our house this year. Unfortunately, I had a cold but we still had a good holiday. My mother came up on Christmas Eve and spent the night with us. She was there in the morning to have our traditional cinnamon buns for breakfast and to open presents with Emily.
Nate had to work but was allowed to go in late, so instead of having to be on duty by 6 am he had to mark on at 9 am. That let him be around for the present opening as well.
Nate's parents and brothers showed up a little after noon, and there were more presents to open. My mom left for my brother's house shortly after and my dad and his girlfriend, Annie, arrived around 4. And then there were more presents to open. Emily was completely spoiled! Who needs Santa when you have grandparents!!
Emily slept through the actual Christmas dinner, but was awake by the time we had dessert. Oh, and it snowed! It started in the afternoon but you really couldn't see it. In the evening it really started to come down, bit it actually snowed on Christmas! I don't think I have ever seen it snow on Christmas. Too bad Emily is too young to remember it.

I know, I know...

Ok, so I know it has been over a month since I have posted an update. Sorry about that, but with Thanksgiving, having to put my sweet Bailey down, turning 30, and Christmas it just hasn't happened. I keep thinking that I need to and then my next thought is the pictures and videos that I want to post and I put it off. It's not hard but it takes some time.

So much has happened with Emily too. She is changing so much. For example, she is crawling forward now, she can pull herself up (sometimes just to her knees and sometimes all the way up to her feet), she likes walking around the room using my fingers to balance her, she is eating a few real foods, and she has cut two more teeth. They aren't the two that she was supposed to cut next according to everything I have read, but who says she has to do it like everyone else, right? Oh, and she now weights 16 lb 10oz.

I will post more details, pictures, and videos soon. And, I will try to be better about posting as things happen. ;)

Bailey

So I didn't really post much this month. I kept meaning to and life just got in the way. We have been busy visiting family though. We have been to my dad's house and spent time with him for his birthday. We went to my mom's and had an early Thanksgiving with her, my brother and sister-in law, my dad and Annie, and our good friends Kelly, James, and Katelyn. We also went to the Norfolk Zoo and the opening of Winter Wonderland while we were there.
Last week we went to Nate's parents house for the real Thanksgiving with his family. We went to visit Nathan and Kara while we were there and watch his family make apple butter. Bailey traveled with us to all of these places.
I know this blog is about Emily, but I have another baby that I am grieving over today. So forgive me this post about Bailey. She was 6 years, 9 months, and 17 days and yesterday evening around 6 pm we had to put her down.
It's funny how attached we become to our furry friends. She was not just our pet, she was a member of our family. Our first baby. The loss of her in our lives is more than we ever expected. It is the true loss of someone so close to you, someone you have loved and nurtured, taken care of when they were sick, and taught right and wrong too.
I can still remember the day we picked her out as ours. I always told everyone that she really picked us. And she did. She followed me and made it very hard for me to look at any of the other puppies. It was as if she was saying, "I am your dog, you are my people, no need to look at the rest of them." Nate always said it was me she picked, I was always her favorite.
I can remember the day we brought her home. She threw up on my lap. :) She was never fully happy unless she had both Nate and I with her. I have no memories in my current home without her.
In the end, the decision to let her go was mine. It's the hardest decision I have ever had to make. I know it was right for her. It was her time. But knowing that it was right didn't make the process any easier.
Wherever you are Bailey, I hope you are happy. I hope that you know how very loved you were and still are. You will always have a special place in our family.

Katelyn and Emily

This is Emily and Katelyn at my mom's house for an early Thanksgiving.

6 Month Well Visit

Emily went for her 6 month appointment this morning and everything went very well. She now weighs 14 lb 10 oz (25 percentile), is 25 in long (25 percentile), and her head is 16 3/4 in around (50 percentile). Yes, she has a big ole head. :)
We can now also expand upon what she is eating as no allergies have shown up with the first foods! We are excited to try different things with her.
She received her first vaccine today, which I was nervous about. (You heard me right, her first vaccine. We decided to delay them and in some cases not give them at all.) I was waiting for her to start screaming and my heart to break. Thankfully that didn't happen, maybe because she only received one vaccine today. (She only received the DTaP today.) She did cry, but by the time she started it was over with and we were able to distract her really quickly. I am really happy with they way we have chosen to do the vaccines that we are doing. Only having one today definitely worked in our favor. Having a whole series of shots would not have been fun because this girl can scream when she wants to.
The rest of the day we kept thinking that she was going to have a bad day due to side effects of the shot, but it never happened; another thing that I think having only one shot versus a series of them helped with. So, her first shot is down and we all survived. Yeah!
Now if this darn tooth would finally pop through we would be all good. We can see it, but it is just hanging out right beneath the skin. Hopefully soon!