Emma Adelaide's first Christmas

We had a wonderful time this Christmas with so many family and friends. I tried to contain myself and not go overboard with presents, and I must say that I did pretty well. Emma's big present this year was a rocking horse, which she loves. She holds on tight while we rock it and she will give out little squeals and smiles. I also got her her first doll (which she could really care less about), and some other fun "busy" toys. On Christmas Eve we went to Conor's grandmother's house for her annual Christmas Eve reading. Conor's grandmother, Bebe, gave her the most adorable little chair, which she sat on without any problems the entire time Bebe read her Christmas story. We then went to my aunt's house for a wonderful Christmas Eve dinner with family. Emma had a great time with her cousins, Olivia, Katie and Evan (ages 11, 9, and 16 months, respectively).

Christmas Day morning was spent at our home with our little family of three. Conor and I have decided to open our presents after we get home on Christmas Eve, that way we can enjoy some quiet time when Emma is asleep, and Christmas morning can be spent with Emma opening and enjoying her presents. (Santa was great to mommy this year! I got a Wii Fit Plus and a set of golf clubs and a golf bag!) After we enjoyed our Christmas morning at home, we went to Conor's parents' house to continue the Christmas morning tradition. We opened stockings upstairs, presents downstairs, and had a wonderful omelet breakfast. After a short nap at home, we went to my parents' for dinner and opened up more presents. We had some family friends in town for a wedding we were all going to on Saturday, so it was nice catching up.

I know this is a Christmas blog entry, but so much has happened in the past few weeks. Emma is now a full fledged crawler and she will pull herself up on anything that is even remotely stable. While Conor and I were at a wedding Saturday night, Conor's sister and her husband, Sterling and Guga, babysat Emma for us. When we got home, they told us that she had climbed the entire staircase twice!!!!! I know little boys and girls are supposed to be different in their behaviors as babies and toddlers, but this little one is fearless!

Listening very carefully to Bebe reading on Christmas eve!

Evan and Emma with my parents and our good family friend, Olga.

Emma loves her grandpa

Emma getting some lovin' from Grandma

Christmas morning at our house

She LOVES this giraffe. So does our dog who constantly mistakes it for one of his rubbery squeaky toys.

The smile that melts my heart.

Hmmmm... which present should I open next...

Our tree this year was Emma's tree (which is probably how it will be every year from now on). We didn't have any breakable ornaments on it, it was filled with lots of soft ornaments and toys. We thought it was fitting as this was our first Christmas with a little one in the home.

Christmas morning... In case I forgot to tell you, Emma's new thing is blowing raspberries...

This is one of those moments where the parent is more excited than the child. Emma could care less right now about her first doll. I even wrapped her presents in tissue paper so that she would have fun opening them. Yeah, these things really don't matter. Lessons learned.

At Conor's parents' house Christmas Day... we learned that Emma LOVES candy canes. ALOT. I hadn't even realized that she had broken through the plastic and had been sucking on the candy cane for quiet some time.

Conor had the live chicken. I had the cooked chicken. Emma was confused by it all.

Smile! Hanging out with Conor's sisters and our brother-in-law.

Dancin' to Dylan with her Tias...

Happy holidays to everyone and may your new year be filled with many blessings!

Santa!

Today we attempted some Santa pictures. Despite the immediate crying on our very first try, after a break, Emma gave us about 30 seconds of opportunity for some tearless photos, although I think you can still see some of the apprehension in her eyes. Hahaha, she was a good sport though...

I will soon post some videos of all the amazing progress Emma has made in the last few weeks, from standing up in her crib to full-fledged crawling! There is no stopping my little mama now!

Time flies when you're having fun...

When I started this blog I thought I'd be blogging everyday. Then I realized how unrealistic that was. I said I'd do it at least once a week, but that started slipping. Now my goal is every other week. (Even though it's been three weeks since my last update, I'm working on it) These days, time just flies by and before I know it, the weekend is over. Or it's Monday, and then all of the sudden it's Thursday. I guess time does fly when you're having fun. Emma keeps me busy. My real downtime is her nap time, which is about 2 short naps in the morning, and a long one in the late afternoon. I never paid much attention to how long kids should sleep and at what age, etc... but this arrangement we have is working out just fine. Emma has been sleeping through the night since she was 3 weeks old and I'm not going to mess with a good thing. Here are just some of the things that have been going on in our lives in the past few weeks...

A couple of weeks ago we took Emma and our cousin to the Houston Zoo for the first time (well it was Emma's first time). It was Zoo Boo, which is where all the kids dress up when they come to the zoo and there are various activities for them. We didn't dress up our kids, but we had a great time nonetheless...

Here's a pic of the two at the beginning of our day. Don't they look just absolutely thrilled?





Here is Emma and the bird. I just wanted a picture of Emma with the bird. Apparently Conor heard "make it look like the bird is eating Emma". Either way, it was pretty funny. And once again, someone was not amused...



There were definitely more interesting things at the pumpkin patch besides the camera...




For Emma's first Halloween we went to my cousin's house and hung out and watched the trick or treaters go by. Emma loved it, she loved watching all of the kids running around. I can't wait to see her have all that fun. On second thought, I can wait. It will be here before we know it.

Emma the growling cheetah and our Godson the farmer. It was adorable. My favorite part of the evening was the stare down.

Last weekend we had our first picnic at the Williams Tower. The weather was beautiful and we had a great time. It was the first time that Emma had crawled on grass. She wasn't sure at first, but she warmed up to it in no time (see video at the end of this blog entry...)

Being a messy, silly little girl at dinner...

This is what usually happens after a day of lunching and shopping. I wish I could fall asleep and have someone drive me home.

This past weekend Conor had to go out of town. We took a couple of fun shots before he left and I love this picture. I love her smile. Emma has the best time with her daddy. I sound like a broken record, but she is such a little daddy's girl. And I'm completely ok with that. I was (and still am) a daddy's girl. Aren't all girls?

A few days ago I checked in on Emma during her nap and this is what I found. The blanket was on her puppy dog next to her. How sweet of her to share, eh?

Here is a video of Emma getting super excited before our walk. I love the dancin' legs:

Here's a video of our first picnic with Emma. It took a little bit of time, but Emma got used to the grass... she's trying so hard to get moving on all fours. Just a matter of time, Emma!

Soaking it all in...

I cannot believe it's been a whole month since my last post. Today Emma turned 6 months old. I'm looking back at my last entry and her list of accomplishments thinking, "man, that's old news!". Leaps and bounds I tell ya, leaps and bounds. So much happens in a month's time, especially in the first year of a baby's life. One second you're excited they're grabbing their toes, the next, you can't believe they're scooting forward on their bellies. Everyday, I cannot believe how blessed we are to have her in our lives. As those close to me know, I have never been much of a morning person, but now, I can't wait to see my little angel's smile bright and early, every single morning. A couple of week's ago she slept past the usual wake up time. It was 8:00 in the morning, on a Saturday, and she was still asleep. I found myself sitting up in bed, just waiting for her to wake up. Kids really do change you in ways you never imagined. 

Emma now has 2 small bottom teeth, she has started to put her knees under her when she is on her belly (I know she's getting ready to crawl any day now!), and she has started the funniest little habit for the past 2 weeks... she growls. It's like she found out she could growl, and now she is going to run with it. This evening we went to the bookstore, and as I'm looking around with Emma in Conor's arms halfway across the store, I hear a growl. Sometimes her fussy cries turn into growls. I just can't help but laugh. My child is wailing, trying to convey some sort of message to me, whether it's being tired or hungry or just plain irritable, and I'm laughing. Last week one night it was around 11:00 pm or so, Conor and Emma were asleep and I was downstairs in the study. The baby monitor wasn't even on, and out of no where I hear growling. I go upstairs to Emma's room and peek in... she had inched her way to the mirror hanging in her crib (she's obsessed with this mirror by the way) and was looking at herself, by the dim light of her night light, and growling. I had to just soak it in before moving her away from the mirror to get her to sleep again. 

That is probably my anthem... "soak it in". Soak in every minute, every second... this probably explains my obsession with photography. I remember when she was only a few weeks old, I kept thinking to myself, "I wish she could keep this newborn look just a little longer". I knew she would start gaining weight, filling out, and it would be gone in an instant. I always anticipate change, and I have never done well with it. But being a parent, change is something I have learned to get used to, and maybe even embrace. 

I know that there will be many lessons to teach Emma in her life, but there is so much that she teaches me everyday... patience, selflessness, simplicity, uncomplicated, unconditional love. She lets me know that even if I don't know the exact words to a nursery rhyme, I can make the words up and it's just as good. Usually adding "Emma" anywhere in there seems to do the trick, or just making up a song with "Emma" in it (which is what I do just about everyday). She has taught me that a smile really can light up your world. Her smiles are like magic, they're contagious. There is no way, no matter what your day may bring, that you cannot smile when she smiles. She has taught me to slow down... that dishes and laundry and everything else on a "must do" list can wait. That time is fleeting and better spent on the floor next to her, playing with the stackable rings that never get old. She has taught me that no matter how long it takes you to crawl across the blanket to your 'very hungry caterpillar', don't ever give up, you'll get there. And the reward after such hard work is always great. She has taught me that the world is full of wonder if we only opened our eyes and began to appreciate it. This includes the TV remote control. She has taught me that spontaneously dancing with her in the middle of the living room to whatever is playing on the radio can elicit more laughs and giggles than a roller coaster ride, or so you would think. Eat when you're hungry, sleep when you're tired, and play hard. I'd say this little girl's got it down pat. I have a feeling she is going to be teaching me life lessons for a long time to come. 

My cousin, Katie, took this picture. She always manages to get Emma to smile for her. Must be a kid thing.

Mmmmmmmm... pureed organic carrots. It took Emma no time to eat from a spoon. We started off with brown rice cereal, carrots and bananas, now we have moved on to more exotic fare, like sweet potatoes, peas, apples, and pears. 

Always a busy body...

Emma's first time in her big girl car seat. She has no problem falling asleep in this seat during times of extreme fatigue. 

The following are from her 5 month pictures I took at our home...

I love this picture... she fell asleep as she was playing with her mirror. I love that she is hugging her blanket. 

Emma always has a few fingers on the bar of her stroller when we go for walks. And it's usually the right hand, placed there ever so gently.

My little chef.

Last weekend we had breakfast with an old friend of mine, Jeremy, and his girlfriend, Natalie. It was great seeing him and meeting Natalie, it really had been way too long. It was Jeremy's first time meeting Emma.

Sunday lunch at Texadelphia. 

My little blue-eyed bear...

Happy 6 months, Emma Adelaide!!!!