Our Little Girl's 1st Birthday!

The day that I found out I was having a little girl, I tried to imagine what she would be like, what she would look like, what she would want to be when she grew up. When Emma was born, I honestly felt like that was when my real purpose in life began. I was put here to take care of this little girl and give her my love. She was absolutely perfect. All I could do was just look at her. I was so overwhelmingly happy that Josh and I brought this little girl into the world. This past year has been by far the best year of my life. Emma has brought us so much joy and happiness that I don't think I could even describe it. Seeing her grow from a baby to a toddler has been amazing. Josh and I were so ecstatic when she first learned to hold her head up. And now we've gotten to see her learn to sit up by herself, crawl, and even walk. Emma has been such a great little baby. Josh and I been blessed with the fact that she is easy going and will pretty much go and do whatever we want to do. Ofcourse, she has her days like everyone else, but then Josh just says..."she's being like her mama". :] That little face of hers melts my heart everytime I look at her. I love the way she scrunches up her nose when she smiles and the way she slobers all over my cheek when she tries to give me a kiss. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful little girl. I can't believe she is already a year old. This year has flown by so fast and even though it makes me really sad, I'm also excited to see what the future has in store for her.

Emma's birthday party was so much fun. We had a big swim party and also a cookout. Alot of people came to help us celebrate. Emma had a great time diving into her little cupcake. She also got some great new toys and also some money for some new fall clothes.

Emma opening up her presents with daddy

Emma's own little cupcakeEmma's castle cakeyummy hotdogs and hamburgersEmma playing in the pool with one of my best friends BirttanyEveryone playing in the poolEmma got a new shopping cart from Nana and PapaEmma's party balloons...we got 30 of them...and you should have seen us trying to get them in the back of the car when we picked them up....Josh wasn't very happy with me for ordering that many.

Big News!

Please forgive me.....I have just realized that I haven't told you all yet that..........

EMMA IS WALKING!!

I have been trying to get a video to show you but everytime I pull the camera out, she gets so excited and walks to fast and falls. Emma took her first steps back in June and has just been doing 5-10 steps at a time since then. But last week she starting walking pretty much full time. She still toddles and is kind of unsteady but she loves to walk. She gets better and better everyday! I'll try my best to get some good video of her soon!!

Playin' & Being Silly

Emma trys to get the camera everytime!!Emma is learning how to CHEESE!One of her favorite things is the cap that comes on the laundry detergent....she carries it all over the living room

What a face!!

100 Years of Magic

Oh my gracious. I can't tell you all how excited I am. I try to go to Disney on Ice every year and this year will be no different. We didn't go last year because Emma was only 3 months old but I do plan on taking her this year. I think she will sit through most, if not, all of it. This year they will be doing 100 Years of Magic and they will have scenes from 18 different Disney movies. How awesome is that? Just so you guys know, the tickets go on sale tomorrow (8/28) at 10am. Make sure you get tickets early so you'll get good seats. They will be at the Greensboro Coliseum Dec. 3-6. I CAN'T WAIT!! I hope Emma loves it as much as I do.

Poor Emma

This past Friday, Emma started acting like something was wrong with her. She just wasn't herself. She would scream all day, and would not let me put her down. She would even fuss for a while before going to sleep.....which is not Emma at all. Then Saturday, Sunday, and Monday she was so irritable and fussy. Friday, she wouldn't even eat anything. She would take a bottle but thats all I could get in her. So I decided to take her to the doctor today and just make sure everything was ok....especially since her birthday party is coming up on Sunday. I didn't want her to be sick for that. The doctor said that she has pharyngitis. Which is basically a really sore throat. It was really red and very inflamed. She is also trying to cut 4-possible 5 teeth all at once!! No wonder she is in a bad mood. So the doctor said to keep giving her motrin every 6-8 hours and that will help the inflamation in her throat go down and also help with those teeth. We had noticed that her top gums were swollen but never thought there would have been 4 or 5 trying to cut through. I hope and pray that they pop through so that Emma can enjoy her birthday!

10 Weeks!

Today I am 10 weeks along. Only 30 more weeks......wow, 30 weeks sounds like a long time right? But it will go by so fast I'm sure. So far this pregnancy is going great. Not much sickness at all. Everynow and then I'll feel nauseous or get sick but this is NO WAY near like it was last time. Everyone keeps telling me we are having a boy.....I guess we'll have to wait and see. I went to the doctor today for a checkup. He did an ultrasound and said that everything looked great. We could even see the little peanut in there moving around. They also weighed me today and I had lost about 5 pounds. My blood pressure was a little low but it was normal for me. I will go back for another ultrasound in a couple of weeks. He also told me that I would be scheduling my c-section in December. They usually do it about 3 months before you are due. I will have my c-section sometime in the 39th week....depending if I go that long. The doctor said that since Emma was so big at 37 weeks that this baby will probably want to come early and if that happens we will just come straight to the hospital and have a section then. We will also be finding out what we are having the middle of October. I can't wait.

Emma's Birthday Invitation

I wanted to show you all Emma's 1st Birthday invitation. I had to block out the address and phone number. I am using pink and orange as the main colors for her party. I am SOOOOOO excited. Only 2 more weeks!!

CHEESE!!

Hot Dogs and Smores

Today, we went swimming at my mom and dads like we do most weekends. For dinner we decided to cook some hotdogs over a fire and after that we had some smores. In theory, it was a great idea. But I don't think anyone realized how HOT it was going to be trying to cook the hotdogs. I think maybe next time we will wait until this fall or winter. It was fun being outside and only using our hands to eat.

Daddy and Josh cooking some hotdogs

70 Years...

This past Thursday we celebrated my nanny's[my mom's mom] 70th birthday!! We went to Red Lobster and she didn't know we were all coming so she was so surprised. I don't eat any seafood but the chicken tenders were great! :] Emma did well too, especially for being in the restaurant for 2 hours.

She was a little embarrassed when the cake came out and we all sang Happy Birthday!

She's such a goober!

I'm Totally In Love......

with my new PURSE!!!

This was Katie's purse that she only used a handful of times and she didn't want it anymore so she gave it to me. I have been wanting this same purse for about a year now....so needless to say, I am ecstatic. It is the Dooney & Bourke Giraffe Hobo. I haven't had a new purse in so long....and if you know me....that is a big deal. But I guess once you start having kids...it's low on the priority list. So anyway....THANK YOU KATIE!!!!

Best Thing Since Sliced Bread

Emma LOVES the Backyardigans. I'm so glad that I found atleast 1 show that she is interested in. Sometimes during the day if we just need a little break, I can sit Emma down on my lap and she will watch an entire 30 minute episode. And if she is really in the mood, she will even try to "dance" a little bit. As soon as she hears the theme song come on, she drops what she's doing and is glued to the t.v. Maybe we should invest in some Backyardigan DVD's for beach trips!!

VBAC?...or not?

I went to the doctor this morning for my OB Interview. Ya know...the one where they tell you how much it's going to cost you, do your health history, and give you all sorts of information. When it comes to the cost of delivery and maternity care, c-sections are always going to be more expensive. So when discussing how much I would owe them today, the lady asked me whether I wanted to have a VBAC(vaginal birth after cesarean) or if I just wanted to go ahead and elect to have a scheduled section. This is a decision that has always been on my mind and one that I have thought very long and hard about. There are risks to both of them and also pros and cons. So I just needed to figure out what would be best for me.

Risks for VBAC
*tear or opening in the uterus
-if a tear occurs that would probably require a blood transfusion, may cause damage to the uterus requiring a hysterectomy[im way too young for that!!], damage to the bladder, blood clots, and in some cases even death.
*risk to the baby after VBAC are brain damage and also death. 1 out of 10 babies will suffer brain damage or death

Pros for VBAC
*faster healing time after delivery
*quicker return to normal activities
*lower financial cost
*less chance for complications from surgery



Risks of a Cesarean
*blood loss requiring transfusion
*more scaring
*infection
*injury to organs
*problems with anesthesia

Pros of Cesarean
*no tearing or episiotomies
*ability to plan delivery
*avoid risks of VBAC



So after going over all these things I have made the decision that I will have an elective scheduled c-section. My doctor agrees with my decision. He says unless I'm one of those people who just "have to push out a baby or they'll just die"...then a c-section is the safer, smarter choice. To be honest, there are several people who have said to me that I'm not really a mom until I've had to push out a baby or that my delivery with Emma wasn't painful because I wasn't in labor. I try not to let those things hurt me because I feel as though making the decicion to do what is safe for myself and my baby is "being a good mom". I don't need the pride in pushing out a baby. If thats not what God planned for me, then I'm ok with that. I just want my babies and myself to be healthy. So I'm glad that this decision has been made. I was going back and forth about it and really wasn't sure until today. But I guess the good thing about all this, is I can plan everything and everyone will be able to be there this time when I deliver.


I also scheduled my next ultrasound for Sept. 2!

Emma & Cheyenne

One of Emma's favorite things to do is ride in the little pink car at mom and dads house. She would sit in it all day if you'd let her. Cheyenne also loves to push Emma around in it. Yesterday Cheyenne wanted to push Emma all over the driveway. It is so fun to finally see them old enough to play together. What a face!!Emma checking out whats in the trunkShe even likes to push her backwards! Cheyenne loves to chase Gracie around the yard