4 Months Old!

Our baby girl is growing up so fast. Josh and I say that to each other atleast once a day. Everyday brings something different. She has learned to do so many things this past month. She laughed for the first time a couple of days ago. It was such a sweet sound to hear. I tried to get it on video but once I got it out, she was more interested in looking at it. She has still only rolled over once but I'm sure she will start doing it more very soon. She loves to sit up. She doesn't have the strength to sit up by herself yet but she will sit on your lap all day long if you let her. Emma also loves to stand up. She can stand up for a long time while you hold her hands. Santa brought her a leap frog table for christmas and she can stand at it by herself and play a little bit. She has also learned to hold onto things and bring them to her mouth. Yesterday she grabbed on my finger and brought it to her mouth and starting chewing on it. It was absolutely the cutest thing ever. I think she is probably around 14 lbs now. I'm not too sure. She is still in her 3 month clothes too. She fits into her size 1 diapers but just yesterday we decided to try the size 2's because at night she has been waking up wet because the size 1's just can't hold it. So we are hoping the size 2's will help. Emma has also started sleeping in her crib. She is on her 3rd night right now. She went into her crib the first night with no problem. She slept the entire night. It didn't bother her one bit. I think she might be going through a little growth spurt now. She is eating constantly it seems like. I can definetly tell that she is ready to start eating some food. She goes for her 4 month checkup in a couple of weeks and I'm sure her doctor will start her on some cereal. I can't wait to start that next step in her life. I'm looking forward to all the messy faces and food everywhere.....not to mention the killer diapers. Josh and I went to look at high chairs last night and found the one that we like but we didn't get it yet. I think she will really enjoy sitting up at our level when we eat dinner. Within the past few weeks, Emma has also started crying real tears. It breaks my heart to see those tears roll down her cheeks. She still is a pretty happy baby though. She gets extremely mad when she's hungry and she also fusses a little when she gets sleepy but other than that, she doesn't fuss too much. She has started teething already so hopefully that won't be too much of an unpleasant experience. Everyday seems to bring something new. She is the most amazing little person ever and I love watching her change and develop her own little personality. She has our heart and we both love her so much.

Our Little Love Bug

Emma in her new little hatNow that she has found her fingers....they are always in her mouthShe's so beautiful


This video got taken sideways for some reason...ooops...but its so cute, I just had to share it with you.

Mortimer the Moose

Emma got Moritmer the Moose for Christmas. This is the first toy that she has shown any interest in. If you sit him in her lap, she will pick him up and bring him to her face. She absolutely loves this moose!!

Baby Einstein

Emma got the Discovering Water Baby Einstein DVD for Christmas. Since she loves to watch t.v. so much , I decided to put it in and see what she thought of it. She watched it for about 5-10 minutes. She started smiling once she saw the little crab walking across the screen.

Emma's First Christmas

Josh and I absolutely loved spending Emma's 1st Christmas with her. I had to work Christmas eve night but luckily I was able to get off a little early so that I could wake up with them on christmas morning. Emma is only 3 1/2 months old so she doesn't understand anything but it really was a special time for us. We opened up all of Emmas presents. Ofcourse, she would rather play with the ribbon. She got a lot of 6 months+ toys because she isn't too interested in much right now and they are toys that she can play with for a while. After opening up presents with Emma, we went to my mom and dads house to have breakfast and open up gifts. Josh and I got a digital picture frame and some other cool stuff. We were so excited. I had been wanting one for so long. After leaving my mom and dads house we went to Josh's aunts house to have lunch with his moms side of the family. Then when we left there we went back to Josh's parents house to open up gifts. We didn't go to the Joyners as planned because we were all absolutely exhausted. I had worked christmas eve and I also worked christmas night with hardly any sleep. I didn't want to sleep throught christmas day. So Josh and I decided to come home and get everything cleaned up. We put together Emma's toys and also put pictures on our new digital picture frame. It was nice to just be at home on Christmas night and relax. I feel like Christmas definitely flew by this year. It seems like just yesterday it was Thanksgiving. But I'm kind of glad that the holidays are over. Next year will be so much more fun because Emma will be walking around and playing. She can also open her own gifts. I can't wait. We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Musical JungleSam opening up a presentMom and Dad got an Emma mug! Mom opening up a presentJosh got a new watchLook what Santa left for Emma! Our Christmas treeCookies for Santa

Teething

Out of all the days to start teething, Emma started on Christmas morning. Josh and I had been seeing some white spots for the past 4 or 5 days so we knew what was coming. But yesterday morning, she was so fussy and we finally can feel a little tooth coming. So we started the tylenol, orajel, and teething tablets. On top of teething, she was so tired yesterday because she just couldn't get a good nap. So around 5:00 we were planning on going to the The Joyners, but decided to just go home so everyone could get some rest. As soon as we got home, Emma slept like a rock. Hopefully it won't take too long for this tooth to come through.

Rolling Over

Emma has finally learned how to roll over. This morning I put her on her tummy to play for a little while. I was showing her how to roll and she was getting a little frustrated with me so I had to quit. After a few minutes she was kicking and squirming around and then just rolled over. She only did it once so I never got a video or anything. She was so shocked when she looked up at me. She didn't have any idea what she just did. It was so funny.

Emma Visiting Santa

Here is a very short video of Emma sitting on Santa's lap.

Santas Little Helper

After searching everywhere, I finally found Emma a little Santa Hat. It is SOOOOO cute. Don't ya think? I wasn't going to put the last two pictures but once Josh saw them, he made me. Emma's new trick is sticking out her tounge. She does it ALL THE TIME. Sometimes, if you stick yours out at her, she'll stick hers out. And the last picture is one that I got right as she was getting ready to fall over. She can't sit up yet on her own so I have to try and hold her up as I take pictures. It makes for pretty silly pictures though. Christmas is only 6 days away!!!!!

Santa!!

We took Emma to Oak Hollow Mall last night and we finally got to see Santa. We got there early and were able to be third in line. Emma did AWESOME!!! She really liked the mall because there are so many things going on and so many lights. She mostly just looked around the whole time. I sat her down on Santa's lap and she just looked at us. I didn't get a good picture with my camera but we did buy a picture. I haven't gotten it scanned yet but as soon as I do I'll post it. Even though Emma had no clue what was going on, I'm glad that we have this memory to look back on. This is her first Christmas and I want to make sure that 20 years from now, she will be able to look back on this and see all the things that she did. I'm really looking forward to next year. We are going to go to "Breakfast with Santa" that Murphy in the Morning do every year. It will be so much fun. I can't believe Christmas is only 1 week away!!

Cute Pictures

I haven't posted any pictures of Emma in a week or two so here are a few pictures of our little love bug. She is getting so big. Don't ya just wanna squeeze those cheeks!! Sooooooo Cute!!After she just got done eating Emma playing with Cheyenne Emma getting some daddy sugarTwinkle Twinkle

25 Years....& Still Going Strong

Tonight was mom and dads 25th Anniversary party. It was alot of fun. We all ate and had some cake, and then we had a little toast. Ofcourse, I cried like a baby. But it is so rare to find a love like my mom and dads. They have been together a lot longer than 25 years, and theres not a doubt in my mind that they will be together forever. The most amazing people in the world-My mommy and daddyThe CakeDaddy getting ready to put cake all in moms face!Katie....being her normal crazy self

3 1/2 Months Old

Well, I haven't blogged in a little while so I thought I would let you all know what's been going on lately. I have been back to work for two weeks now. It has taken some time for the 3 of us to settle into a routine but now we are used to it. It is so much harder seeing the babies in the NICU after having a baby of my own. Josh has been doing a great job with Emma at night. She is sleeping from about 9:00pm until about 6:30 am. Then she'll get up to eat and then she go back to sleep until about 9:30 am. She has put herself on this schedule. Josh and I have used the "sleep when your sleepy, eat when your hungry" method. It has worked like a charm. She sleeps anywhere and everywhere and she eats about every 3-5 hours. Just depends on whether she's napping or not. She is getting so big too. I feel like she has doubled in size since she was born. She is still skinny and long but she does have a little baby chunk to her legs and cheeks. I just love to squeeze her. And FINALLY she is getting some more hair. There is definetly some coming in and it's getting fluffy too. She has developed such a big personality over the last couple of weeks. She loves to talk to us and play.....especially with her daddy. He is definetly her favorite person. No one can make her smile like he can. She loves to sit up and look around. She will sit on daddys lap and watch t.v. all the time. If she is awake, she doesn't want to be laid back anymore. She wants to get up and see the world. She still has her cold. She has had it for almost 2 weeks now. It is mainly just in her nose. But it hasn't bothered her. She's not cranky or anything....she just needs to sleep in her swing so that she is sitting up enough to breathe. We had planned on moving her into her crib when I went back to work but since she's been sick we haven't done that yet. But as soon as shes better, she'll start sleeping in her own room. I don't think it will be a problem. She will sleep anywhere you lay her down. I can't believe she is 3 1/2 months old already. Pretty soon she will be getting teeth and eating food. The older she gets, the more things we are able to do with her. We can't wait until next summer when we can go swimming, go out on the beach, and even take her out on the boat a little bit. Last summer, I wasn't able to do much because being pregnant in 90-100 degree weather is miserable, so I'm looking forward to playing in the pool with Emma. So thats about all that's going on with us. We are just taking it day by day and enjoying being parents. Tonight, we are going to my mom and dads anniversary party. It's their 25th anniversay next Wednesday. Then Sunday we are going to mom and dads house to make Christmas candy to give to everyone. We atempted to take Emma to see Santa last night but it was little too crowded and it would have been time for her to eat by the time we got to see Santa. So I'm thinking we might take her first thing Sunday. Hopefully we can do that before it gets too close to Christmas. The lines are only going to get longer. I hope everyone has a great weekend. Only 12 days left till Christmas!!!!

Christmas Pictures

Josh and I took Emma to get her Christmas pictures done last week at Portrait Innovations. They have a package on pictures that is just too good to pass up. She did GREAT. It helped a lot having Josh there. She tends to smile at him a lot more than me. I think the pictures turned out awesome. We are taking her to see Santa tomorrow night so I'm sure we will get some great pictures then too. I am so excited about spending her first Christmas with her.

Update

Emma still has her cold. I think she might be getting a little better though. Wednesday night Josh let her sleep in her big swing so that she could be elevated some.We elevated her bed, but she was more comfortable in her swing. She slept from 10:00 pm until 6:00 am, which is good considering she doesn't feel that well. We still have the humidifier going too. It seems to help her alot. Her cold doesn't seem to be affecting her any during the day. She still smiles and talks to me all day. Hopefully we can get the whole family better soon. We are all tired of being sick.

Emma's 1st Cold

Well, Emma officially has her first cold. With Josh and I both being sick, I knew it was just a matter of time before she got sick. We have had the humidifier running all day. She is just laying around right now. It has been about 5 1/2 hours since she has eaten last. [very unusual for her] But she is just so tired. She didn't sleep much last night which may be why she is so tired. She is so congested that you can tell she is having a hard time breathing. It sounds very raspy too. We are going to let her sleep elevated tonight, hoping that will help. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. Colds are hard on their little bodies. I just want her to feel better soon. [that includes the whole family]

Back To Work

It's about 3:40 a.m. on Wednesday morning and I am once again sitting at my desk in the NICU. It is my first night back at work since Emma was born. Walking into the unit tonight was so strange. I felt like I didn't really know what I was doing. For the past 12 weeks, my days consisted of feeding, changing, bathing, and playing with the baby. It's hard to come to work now and see all these babies here. Having Emma has given me a whole new perspective on what these babies and parents are going through. I am going to continue to work 3rd shift and Josh works during the day. We have chosen not to put Emma in daycare. So yes, that means that I will not get very much sleep because I will need to take care of Emma until Josh gets home from work. There have been so many people who have told me that I won't be able to do it. I keep hearing that this won't last very long. But my nanny[my moms mom] raised 4 kids and still worked 3rd shift full time. If she can do it with 4, then I can do it with 1. Although daycares are great for some people, I just want to be with Emma. I don't want to miss anything of her precious life. I want to see her crawl for the first time, and take her first steps. Working third shift, lets me work when she is sleeping and maybe then, I won't miss so much during the day. I am not oblivious to the fact that it is going to be hard. But I have put faith in the Lord that he will guide us through this and help me. He isn't going to give us any challenges that we can't handle. Sure, I'm going to be a little tired, but it's worth it to me to be able to be with my baby girl during the day. Also, I have family that is more than willing to help me when I need it. I am going to do the best job I can do. Being back at work is defintiely alot different. But it makes me feel good to know that my husband is at home taking care of Emma. I haven't really stressed going back to work because I know that the only thing it would do is make me sad. I'm not looking at being back at work as a bad thing. I see so many parents who are with their kids every day that get stressed and sometimes are so frustrated with their kids that they can't enjoy the time they spend with them. I look at going to work as kind of taking a break for myself, and a time to collect my thoughts. Although I love being with Emma and Josh, I have definetly lacked time for myself in the past few months. And, yes, I know what you all are thinking....once you have a baby, you'll never have time for yourself. But that doesn't have to be true. I think that you should always try to take a little time for yourself. I think by being able to have time to yourself, you are able to be more patient with your children and really cherish the times that you are with them. [these is just my ramblings....take them for what they are] I recieved a phone call from Josh around midnight.[I told him to call me when she got up to put my mind at ease that she was doing ok] He was up feeding Emma and he said that she was very congested and was having trouble sleeping because she couldn't breathe that well. Hopefully she will be able to sleep through the night and then we can decide in the morning if she needs to go to the doctor. Josh has been sick for the past week or so and I got sick from him a couple of days ago, but I'm hoping that Emma didn't catch this too. It is Josh's first night by himself, and I feel so helpless that I'm not there to help him, but I know that he can handle it. But please keep Emma in your prayers. Hopefully this isn't the start of her getting sick.

3 Months Old!

Yesterday, Emma turned 3 months old. She has grown and changed so much. She is about 12 1/2 lbs and 23 1/2 in. long. She is holding her head up all the time and she likes siting up and looking around. She is more aware of what is going on around her too. She has also started showing some interest in her toys. She still just doesn't know what to do with them yet. She is still eating and sleeping great. She eats about 5 oz every 3-4 hours and is sleeping through the night most of the time. Sometimes she is hungry and wakes up to eat but then goes right back to sleep. She had been on a different formula for about a month now because the regular formula was too hard on her stomach. But past week I tried switching her back to the regular formula and it made her tummy hurt. Thats why she was so fussy on Thanksgiving. So she is now back on the gentle formula and is feeling much better. She loves to sit and watch t.v.....especially football with Papa J. I can't believe our baby girl is already 3 months old. Time is just flying by.

The Joyner Christmas Tree

After Josh and I got home from the beach yesterday, we went to my mom and dad's house to help decorate their Christmas tree.

Toes In The Sand

This weekend, Josh and I are at Oak Island. We are having so much fun so far. Josh, Uncle Sam, and I took Emma to the beach for the first time. The weather is beautiful and I really wanted her to see the ocean. I'm sure she will love it as much as we do. Toes In The SandUncle Sam & Emma Emma & Uncle SamEmma flying aroundEmma & MommyDaddy giving Emma kisses