3 months old!

Emery turned 3 months last Wednesday.  This past month has been filled with lots of talking, smiles and play time and we are absolutely loving every minute!

SLEEP!

Emery started this month (9 weeks) only going 7 hrs at night before waking up to eat.  We thought it was the change from sleeping in the bassinet to the crib, but turns out it was the acid reflux making her uncomfortable.  We elevated her head a little bit (used a wedge underneath the mattress), so that combined with the prescribed medicine has been working wonders!  She is consistently going 9 hours at night, waking up to eat, then going back down for another 3 hours.

As far as naps during the day, when Emery was 10 weeks old I really started trying to get her on a more regimented schedule since I was about to go back to work.  Emery takes great naps on people, but they were never long naps because she startles so easily! 

I started putting her in her crib/pack-n-play for every nap, and it was a long week of going in every couple minutes to put the paci back in her mouth, but she is taking naps now!  We are still working on the eat-play-sleep schedule, as sometimes she'll eat-play-sleep-play-sleep (aka cat naps) in the morning but the afternoon nap for the most part is a good 2 hour nap!  We have started leaving her feet out of the swaddle now as she was kicking them out almost every nap anyways!

EATING!

She is still taking Zantac 2 times a day and Mylanta 4 times a day to help with the acid reflux.  She doesn't have near the amount of spit up like she used to and because of that she eats so much better as her throat is not sore!  Because she started taking in more food every feeding she immediately went to a 4 hour feeding schedule.  It's amazing!  I am still nursing her for about 10-15 minutes per side, which right now is between 4 and 5 ounces total each feeding.

PLAYTIME!

She absolutely loves playing on her activity mat!  She would lay on her back all day if I let her and just kick away!  Tummy time is finally getting better as her neck gets a little stronger!  She still isn't rolling over yet but she is pushing up on her arms lately!  Around week 12, she really started to reach out and grab the toys hanging down from her play mat.  So exciting how she's gaining more control over those arms!

RANDOMS!

- 10 weeks old found her hands and is constantly chewing on them!  She sometimes sucks so hard on them that she chokes herself, poor thing!

- I could literally make her smile all day long.  She is such a happy, content baby! (unless she's fighting sleep of course!)

- She is seriously addicted to the television, especially So You Think You Can Dance :)  We never let her watch it as I'm sure it's way too much stimulation for her, but I just had to get a picture to document!

- Kyle says all of her expressions are just like mine.  We even both squint our eyes when we laugh... I love this next picture:

- Around 11 weeks she started smiling at you when you aren't looking, then as soon as you make eye contact she'll look away as if she's blushing.  So flirty and cute!  She makes wonderful eye contact though and totally knows who her mommy and daddy are :)

- Week 12 she became so aware of her feet!  Puts them together and has them up all the time when she's on her back. 

- Normally on Saturday mornings I bring Emery into bed with Kyle and I to cuddle before her 9:00 feeding if she wakes up early.  This morning they both fell back asleep... too cute!

She seriously loves our bed!

After her 9:00 feeding she's happy and ready to play.  Oh we love lazy Saturday mornings in bed!

 

- She's still holding onto my blue/green eyes and we think they are staying-- yeah!!  On the other hand, her eyebrows are OUT OF CONTROL and with her stork bite in between she seriously looks like she has a unibrow!

- I absolutely love to nurse her in the glider in her nursery and go up there for almost every feeding.  It's so much more comfortable then on our couch downstairs.  This is how Tyson, Puck and Kyle keep us company :)

- Speaking of food... she is turning into a chunky monkey... those cheeks have taken over her entire face and her head is becoming so round!

 SHE TALKS ALL THE TIME!!  Here is a fun video showing how she has her own conversations now :)

And here are my iphone pics for the 2nd half of the month!

 

Is the headband a little too much? haha

It's been a wonderful 3rd month of having Emery here with us.  Man we love her with all of our hearts!

Garlic & Rosemary Pork Tenderloin Recipe!

Kyle and I are back on the boat of trying to eat better-- watch out!  I found this recipe off of my low-fat menu for two from e-meals and it was really good so I thought I would share.

Garlic & Rosemary Pork Tenderloin

Ingredients:

2 lb pork tenderloin, trimmed

1/2 cup light soy sauce

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

8 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbsp dried rosemary

1 tsp pepper

Directions:

Combine pork and first 5 ingredients in large zip lock bag.  Seal and marinate in refrigerator for 8 hours.  Remove meat; place in a baking pan.  Sprinkle with pepper and let stand for 30 min.  Bake at 500 degrees for 15 minutes.  Lower temperature to 375 degrees and bake 20 more minutes.  Let stand 10 minutes before slicing. 

*SO we actually only used the marinade instructions then Kyle cooked on the grill.  Either way you decide, I'm sure it will still taste great!*

Heigh-Ho, Heigh-Ho, It's back to work I go!

I can't believe how quickly my maternity leave flew by.  I still ask myself "What have Emery and I been doing for the past 12 weeks?!"

Last week was my first week back working, so I wanted to give an update on how it's going so far!  I mentioned back when I was pregnant how I had agreed to only go back part time working 3 days a week in the office and bringing Emery to a day care that was nearby.  My commute is just too long to go back full time and have Emery in the car with me everyday in stop and go traffic.  Well the week before I left, my boss pulled me aside to suggest another plan.  God is SO GOOD!

Right now, I am now working FULL TIME, but 4 out of 5 of those days I am working from home!  I only go into the office one day a week (every Tuesday) to be able to attend meetings and get on the same page, and then then other 4 I'm able to still be with Emery.  It has been amazing to say the least.  But wait, it only gets better! 

On my maternity leave I called the daycare and let them know I would only need to use them one day a week.  Well they require a 2 day minimum, so it was back to the drawing board as to what we would do with Emery.  That same afternoon I received an email from my friend Jeneane, who we met through our nwed bible study, letting me know that she has one day off a week from her nanny job and wanted to see if I was interested in her watching Emery that day.  Kyle and I couldn't believe how God provided a solution so quickly! 

So that is our set up!  Every Tuesday, Jeneane comes to our house and watches Emery while I go into work.  It is amazing to be able to keep Emery in a {semi} germ-free environment with all of her own stuff, be able to keep our schedule, and for her to still get individual attention throughout the day.  I don't have to wake her up, stick in her my car, drive for an hour and then drop her off anywhere.  It's truly amazing.

So how did my first day back go?  AWESOME-- I didn't even cry!  I am really enjoying getting out one day a week and being around my girlfriends again.  The day in the office absolutely flies by and before I know it, it's time to go home.  Thank you to everyone who prayed for me my first day back... it couldn't have gone better!

The girls decorated my desk for my first day back:

And as I drove down our street coming home this was my view:

And a close up of Emery and Kyle waving me in!

My days working from home have gone so well too.  Lacey has been taking the work that needs to be approved more quickly, and I'm taking the projects with longer deadlines helping give me a little more flexibility when I can get my work done throughout the day whether it's real early in the morning before Emery is awake, during her playtime & naptimes, or even at night after Kyle comes home.  I definitely would not be able to have this set up without Lacey-- THANK YOU AGAIN for being so flexible!

So that's my work update.  There isn't another word that I can think of besides BLESSED!

Pool time!

We had so much fun at the pool last weekend with Kyle's family!  Oh man how I wish we had a pool in our neighborhood!  We dressed Emery up for the occasion... sunglasses and all :)

Since she absolutely hates to be cold we ended up just sticking her legs in!  After the initial shock of the water she calmed down and actually seemed to enjoy it!

Gunney loves the water!
And more pictures :)
And lastly some of our family :)
Fun day for sure!

Memorial Day Weekend

Ky's parents came down for Memorial Day weekend to visit since his sister now lives in Georgia too.  We had so much fun with them and wished the weekend would have lasted longer!  We had everyone over for a big breakfast on Saturday morning then headed up to the square to see the farmers market and enjoy the beautiful weather.  It also was the perfect opportunity to take some family pics!

 Mike, Rach, Brenda, Ky and Don:

Our fam with his parents:

Rach & Mike's son, Gunney, was passed out!

We went for hikes, had picnics, ate some great meals, were able to go out on a date to go see the Hangover 2-- that was a treat AND went to the pool.  Here is a sneak peak of that post coming tomorrow: 

Thank you Don & Brenda for coming down and loving on Emery!

And lastly, thank you to all the soldiers, men and women, who have made the sacrifice to fight daily for our country. I love how the square puts flags up everywhere as a constant reminder! 

Typical Morning!

Emery wakes up for the day at 9am like clockwork, ready to eat!  When she has a full belly, the true smiles come out!  I love having that sweet time with her in the morning!

During her awake time, we normally play on her mat for a little bit!  Tummy time is becoming more fun as her neck gets stronger, but without a doubt she LOVES laying on her back and taking everything in.  She just adores this one toy and will stare at it forever while kicking her legs like crazy.  (If we play on the mat in the morning I normally have to use the boppy, because with acid reflux she will spit all the milk right back up!)

How's that for concentration!  Her arms are starting to move more and more now too!

Next we normally go on a walk before it gets too hot outside!  And pretty soon she starts to get sleepy...

And then it's nap time!

I am loving that she eats every 4 hours now... I feel like we can get so much more done throughout the day!

Daddy-daughter Date night!

Last week was the first time I left Emery for the night to go spend time with some of my girlfriends!  I had been wanting to see the movie "Something Borrowed" since it came out, so we all met for Mexican and then went to see that!  Kyle and Emery had "daddy-daughter date night" which consisted of eating dinner, going on a long walk in the Bjorn, singing songs (more on this coming later) and napping!  When I came home both were still smiling and having a great time!

I dressed Emery for the occasion and sent this pic to Kyle earlier in the day:

And here is one from when I got home!

 ADORABLE :)