All grown up

Last night, John was holding Emmy and I just realized how much she had grown in just the last week or so. She looks like a baby now—not a newborn anymore, but a real baby that will eventually be a child. When she is taking her bottle and I am feeling especially nurturing, I will rub her little head while she eats. Usually my hand kind of cups part of her little head but last night, I realized that I had to hold my hand differently to fit of her growing noggin. She will lay in my lap kind of leaning against my arm while she is eating—almost like she is kicked back watching television or something. Last night, she was fussy as she got into our little position and couldn’t really get into her niche. It suddenly dawned on me that it was because she didn’t fit in our little niche anymore—it was uncomfortable to her now. Already! She is already outgrowing me!!

I am going home tonight and getting out the video camera, even if is just to video her sleeping. Or crying.

Emmy's Rough Morning

Bless her heart. This morning, I got up to feed her the first bottle of the morning and was still quite asleep. I got the bottle out of the fridge, took the nipple off and heated it up and then we went back to the couch to dine. When I went to put the bottle in her little mouth, formula went everywhere! I guess the nipple fell out of the ring when I took it out and I just poured formula directly onto her little face, all over me and the couch! Poor thing, she just looked at me like, are you kidding??? What was that??? She recovered pretty quickly though. We went to a hot wing festival but only stayed about fifteen minutes. Even though we slathered her with sunscreen and had a wide brim hat on her, I was afraid she would burn. We ended up just coming home and trying out the bumbo seat. That was the success of the day.

Daddy's home! Daddy's home!!

John has been out of town all week for work and we actually made it! I was afraid we might not make it alone but we did. However, we are so very excited for him to get home today. I think he might have missed her a little bit.

Morning Glory

Usually Emmy gets up around 2 and eats and then we get up for the day around 515. But this morning, she woke up at 2 but wouldn't take her bottle and went back to sleep really quickly. I am hoping this is a sign that she is getting ready to start sleeping through the night. All fingers and toes crossed! She was hanging out in her bouncy seat this morning while I was getting ready.

Two Short Months

The little girl is two months old now. It seems like she has been a part of our lives forever and I can't imagine not having her around now. I can't imagine sleeping in my bed beside John either but that is another story. For now, there is little Emmy in between us. And we wouldn't have it any other way. She is smiling a lot now--it's just adorable. As cute as that is, I can't fathom what her first words are going to be like. When she is sleepy, she still likes to pump her fist directly up in the air--her Skynard tribute. We always know when she is really content because she holds her little fist against her cheek. But the best way to really tick her off is to put on her belly for tummy time. She can be in the best of moods and will absolutley scream like a madwoman in just a matter of seconds.

She wasn't too thrilled here either. Luke seems to be saying to her, "just be quiet for a minute and they will take these hats off, I promise!"

WalkAmerica

The March of Dimes WalkAmerica is here again and we are walking!!!!

www.walkamerica.org/taradburton

Earth Day

With Earth Day being during April, all of the magazines I get have had articles about what you can do to by proactive during Earth Day. As a joke, I bought us and my friends with kids this dolphin fountain thingy. It helps the environment since you don't use those disposable Dixie cups.
Then I bought this:

My hybrid car: the Toyota Prius. I drive a lot now that I am taking Emmy to the sitter and to me to back to work and all. On one tank of gas, I got 400 miles and when I refueled, it was 8.2 gallons! I love it! The car is a techy geek's dream!

The Tiniest Tater Tot

What a silly goose she is!! Emmy has hopefully grown out of the colic. I think the soy formula helped her tremendously. She has gone from having the crying spells every night to maybe only three nights a week, so we are thrilled. But the smiles! The smiles are the best. She just started that this week. We can pump her little legs and she just grins or you can blow raspberries to her and she smiles with the best of them. Just as I was so confused as to where she got her long legs, because it certainly didn't come from me or John, I am confused as to where she got her chipperness in the mornings. She wakes up and has to eat immediately but then she just lays there so content and smiling. Maybe it's just that she is laughing at John trying to keep his eyes open at 530 in the morning!

Back to the Grindstone...

I went back to work on Tuesday and we seemed to have all survived. John has of course been back at work for the past five weeks but it was quite a challenge to get us all up and ready and out the door by 645. That puts me setting my alarm for 515 and actually getting out of bed at 530 or so. But, Emmy being Emmy, likes to eat around 4am so, if we are up for 45 minutes to an hour, there really is no point in my going back to sleep. Tuesday went really well—for me anyway!—she woke up right after I had gotten out of bed to start getting ready and John got up with her and feed her and then got ready so we were out the door at 630. She totally skipped her 4am feeding that morning but then on Tuesday she was ready for it again and then on Wednesday, I just got up at 330. I had convinced myself that this was going to be a challenge and I would just get used to it—after all, millions of women do this everyday. However, I don’t care who does it, I am going to ever get used to getting up at 330 in the morning. Today was much better and she ate at 2am and then slept until 6 with her daddy. John and I both stumbled to the car this morning with our eyes barely open—surely we will be a little more used to it next week and won’t be quite as tired!

We are really happy with her sitter on the positive side. I take her to West Memphis to the sitter a friend of ours uses for all three of her kids. Gabby, Coen and Grace all go to Missy and when Rebecca recommended her, I felt like I really had to give it a shot—all three of those kids turned out perfect! It is a lot further for me to drive, it ends up being 70 miles or so each day, but I feel really good about it, so it’s worth it. And, all the Winter kids get to see Emmy during the day and Rebecca gets to see her when she picks up and drops off her kids—of course Emmy is the first one there and the last one to leave.

She seems to be saying, Where in the world are we going now???????

Lots of firsts...

Emmy has had lots of new and exciting things going on as of late. Here she is with Luke before we went to shop for the day. They have been shopping together before but this was their first photo dressed the same.
Here is Em's first St. Patty's day. She couldn't have cared less if I tinted her food green.
Here is our rock star on her way to the baby sitter for the first time. We both did well.
John and I were considering a coffee table but decided a Baby Einstein play mat was much more fitting for the living room. Here is her first experience on it.

It's tough being one month old

Here are pictures from the one month old's festivities last night. Obviously, she tires easily.

Month 1 of the Rest of our Lives

Today is our sweet Emmy's one month birthday. She has had quite a busy month. I was so lucky when she got here that I felt so good and she was such a good baby, that I was able to take advantage of the time off from work and really get out there and get some things done. Now, we are cut back a little on our excursions since Emmy has a touch of colic. It is absolutley heartbreaking to not be able to help her when she is screaming all afternoon and evening. It is wild since all morning she sleeps and when she does wake up, she is just adorable but the afternoons, well, that is another story. She looks more and more like John everyday, especially now that she is making her own little faces. I tell John that she looks so much like him when she is screaming--when he is singing in his band, he has remarkably the same facial expression. I am sure that there is a photo of him somewhere singing, I need to find it and compare. I am sure he will be thrilled with that.
Already she has changed so much and is getting so big. Her little face and body are filling out--just like Mama and Daddy-and she is so alert. She is just the most precious thing ever. THIS is why everything that has happened in the last 15 months did. We just love her more than we ever imagined we could and John is a better Daddy than I ever could have imagined he would be--and I knew he would be good! This child brings out the best in all of us--there is no doubt she has a little of Momma in her. Well, maybe a lot.

Shoes

I guess it is a Wynne thing since no one knows what I am talking about when I mention these shoes, but Emmy has her personalized shoes now. I had them when I was a kid, and of course, still do, and I ordered Emmy's online and they just arrived. How stinking cute?

My new dishwasher

I know I was bragging about my fabulous 'new' dishwasher but it has gotten even better!!! No longer is it avacado green--it's black to match my other stainless and black appliances.

OH MY GOD

Okay, the kid has colic. Officially has colic. We start screaming and pacing and screaming and rocking and screaming and swinging around 430 each afternoon and continue through until about 11pm. I knew that we had had it too good to true with the wonderful delivery and the wonderful recovery and the wonderful baby with the wonderfully shaped little head and sweet disposition. Oh my God. The worst of it is when she will quiet down for about four and a half seconds and you get this little shimmer of hope that it is over and then she starts back up at full speed. One night the swing works and the next night, she hates it. Her poor little head is purple where she is screaming at full force. The damn dog is so confused that she is eating paper for goodness sakes!

Teaching Mama

I was afraid that Emmy was too small for her swing, she is only three weeks old after all!, but she loves it! Last night in hour three of the screaming, I told John to get the swing. He cranked it up as high as it would go and she quieted down immediately. We were tempted to let her sleep in the swing all night but decided that it was not proper to do so. Here we are in our swing with our boots on.

Teaching Daddy

Well, Emmy is not only showing me the lay of the land, she is showing Daddy too. Last night she took her bottle (finally!!!!) and he proclaimed that Mama was now obsolete and Daddy was back to the top of Emmy's favorite list. I think he might be right. He is so good to us and really is helping in every way he can. The other day, he asked me if he was supposed to be washing all of our clothes in Dreft. I told him that was not really necessary but he has been washing our towels, his clothes, etc. in the world's most expensive laundry detergent. Emmy and I are so lucky to have him.

Emmy's first trip to her Alma Mater

We made a quick trip to Fayetteville Wednesday night so that Daddy could go to the game. Emmy was a champ on the drive but did have a couple of little fits along the way. She was better than anyone could expect of a two week old though, so I was thrilled. Of course, mean Mama took her out in the cold to get her photo made in from of Papa's name on the senior walk. Neall and I did it when we were kids and Emmy got to do it too. Here she is in her first Fayetteville experience. Then, we went to see Grandma Jackson in Lonoke on the way back. Of course, all were smitten with the little one.

Officially a Mommy

This morning started with my tummy hurting like crazy. Of course, about the same time that I got up to spend an hour or so in the bathroom, Emmy was hungry so she spent a lot of time in the bathroom with me, in her carseat on the floor. I am sure she was thrilled with that.

We went to the Baptist Hospital to look at YET ANOTHER BREAST PUMP. I realized that I can buy one for what it will cost to rent one for three months. Of course, there is the fear that I will buy yet another pump that won't take care of us. I have two (a cheap electric and a manual) that are sitting in bags worthless to anyone. You can't return or reuse them so they are just sitting there pointless. But if I rent a pump to just see if I like it, I have to buy the start up kit for $55 so it's just weird all the way around. Then, Emmy had her two week check up and the little one is growing like mad! She weighed 7 lb and 15 oz and was 20.5 inches long--she gained 13 ounces in two weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!! My little piggy.

I wanted to wait until after her appointment to take her to the office to meet my coworkers so we went this afternoon. Of course everyone thought she was adorable. Just before I left, I went into my boss's office and as she was holding Emmy, she just pooped away so she suggested I change her before I left. I even put down her little changing pad on her couch and took off her little outfit and diaper. And then she pooped projectile onto me. And the couch. My daughter crapped on my boss's couch. It was all over my jeans and her clothes. I had to take her clothes off and she rode home in her diaper wrapped up in a blanket. Oh my God.

I love this kid.