7 months already!

Where did May go? Miss Emily is 7 months old! 

She has been so happy and I feel like we have finally started to figure her out....just in time for her to change again.

She is taking longer naps, sleeping better at night (still getting up once to eat), and is doing really well with PT and her helmet.

She turns around in circles on her belly and scooches backwards, she hasn't quite figured out how to go forward yet but I think it's right around the corner and I'm not sure if I'm ready for it!

She still has one tooth on the bottom and from what I can see, it looks like her two front top teeth are about to come in.

We have had a lot of fun this month and we can't wait to see how she changes in the month to come!

Is it really only Wednesday??

It's been a long week already....bullet points it is.

*  Emily had her 6 month appointment yesterday.  Girlfriend is big and healthy, so I'm a happy mama.  She weighs 20lbs 13oz (holy), 29 in long (off the charts), head circumference of 44 cm (totally normal).  Shots are the devil, you'd think in today's day and age they could figure out how to make them all oral instead of stabbing my baby in the leg 3 times.

paper on exam tables...best toy ever.

*  Anyone else watching the Bachelorette??  I can't quit, it's a problem.  The first episode is always the worst. I feel so uncomfortable when they interview all these men (with shirts off, sitting somewhere pondering life, etc.) and when they all meet her for the first time- they say the dumbest things...party DJ guy, magic slipper guy, huge egg guy- are you serious??  Why do they think these are good ideas?

*  We bought Merlin's Magic Sleep Suit (thanks to Shannon!) and that thing is a MIRACLE.  Emily has pretty much slept through the night since we got it (knock on wood, right now).  Only problem is, I got the biggest size- which is supposed to be for babies ages 6-9 months up to 21 pounds....um, Emily is almost 21 pounds and I will cry when she grows out of this thing.  Anyone super handy with a sewing machine that wants to try to re-create this magic suit??

how cute is this??

*  I got to see one of my blogger besties, Danielle, last Friday.  I met her amazing baby girl and we had a great time catching up and gossiping.  I think I said "I don't remember Emily being this small!" about 500 times. We will get out to see you and Carlia this summer- I swear!!

Emily did not want to cooperate

*  We have been spending lots of time outside and it makes Emily so calm and happy.  We just throw down a blanket, grab some toys and she is good to go for a couple of hours. Thank God for nice weather.

Mother's Day

I lost my mom the week after Mother's Day in 2007.  Mother's Day was the last time my siblings and my parents were all together, we celebrated in her hospital room, I got her chocolates shaped like little mice.  It was a good day.  Since that year, Mother's Day has been painful for me, a day of remembering and wishing my mom was still here.

This year the pain was a little less.  This year I focused on Emily and being a mom myself for the first time.  My first Mother's Day began with the sound of Emily 'talking' on the baby monitor.  I got up quickly and quietly so Steve could sleep and I could have a moment alone with Emily.  I went in her room and she kicked her feet and gave me the biggest smile, like she knew it was a special day for me.  I picked her up and squeezed her, she leaned her head back and put her little hand on my face, and I cried.  It was the best moment and I will never forget it.

Steve woke up shortly after and handed me three cards.  One from him, one from Emily, and one from "Honey Badger".  Oh my husband, he never disappoints.  They got me a gift certificate for a massage, facial, and pedicure.  And he said to me, "You always take care of us and now we want you to take care of yourself".  And I cried again.  It was surreal to be sitting on the floor with two people that I love more than anything in the world opening Mother's Day cards.  Then we had brunch with Steve's parents and spent the day outside planting flowers for my mom.

It was a wonderful day.  I am blessed and grateful.

a totally mushy post about why I love you all

I love you guys, I really do.

I am so happy I found this place and all of you...and here are a few reasons why.

From IVF to reflux to sleep deprivation- you are always here for me. I was overwhelmed with the amount of people who took the time to get samples of neo.cate for my baby girl when they didn't have to.  I have gotten great tips and advice from so many people around the world. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it.

I have made some amazing friends here that I email or text just about every day.  I talk about all of you to my husband, I show him pictures of your babies, share who has finally gotten a BFP and I tell him who is going through an IVF cycle (he might think I'm crazy for being attached to people I've never actually met). 

I got my first real mother's day card in the mail yesterday and wouldn't you know it was sent by one of my blogger besties, D.  I actually got tears in my eyes thinking about how we came to know each other and what a great friend she has been to me.  I love you D, you have become a best friend to me and I appreciate the card so much.

Then I got an email from another blog friend who had wonderful news that she chose to share with myself and another blogger.  I am more than thrilled for her and I'm honored that she would chose to email me with her news. 

This group of bloggers have become like family to me.  I come here when I have a problem I can't solve, a milestone to share, or just to vent and you are always here with something nice to say. I wish I could meet you all and give you each a huge hug.

Thank you.

 P.S. this upbeat post is brought to you by sleep.  Emily slept for 12 hours last night only waking once to eat at 4:30am.  Hallelujah.

weekend in the sun

We had such a great weekend.  The kind of weekend I wish I could bottle up and save on a shelf.  The sun was shining, Emily was smiling, and Steve and I looked at each other multiple times and said, "can you believe we have this little girl?"  Even when things are rough and Emily isn't sleeping, we are still grateful that she is healthy and she is here with us.

We went to a cookout at a neighbor's house

Emily took her first trip to the zoo

And she got a swing!

A percfect weekend all around!

*Sleep/reflux update: Emily still didn't sleep the greatest this weekend but thankfully Grandma took a night shift for us and we got some much needed sleep on Saturday night.  Emily is starting to refuse her bottles and I think it's because she knows the reflux pain comes after she eats.  We have been able to give her oatmeal without a problem.  She slept for 11 hours last night only waking up to eat at 3am and with some reflux pain at 5:30am. 



Sleep is overrated....right?!

Emily has never been a great sleeper, especially with naps.  She would nap for 30 minutes and that was it.  No matter what I did, she would not go back to sleep.  But she would sleep mostly through the night.  She was easy to put down and would sleep soundly until 1 or 2, eat a bottle and go back to sleep until 6.

Those days are over.  Emily is not sleeping.  Not at night, not during the day.  Unless you count 20 minutes at a time every 3 hours during the day and with one of us holding her all night long...this is not our idea of sleep.

She has started crying as soon as I take her in her room. If I go to lay her down in her crib she tenses up and screams at the top of her lungs.  We have tried to let her cry it out and this escalates to the point of no return.  We have tried the swing, the rock and play sleeper, co-sleeping, putting her down drowsy, awake, asleep, and all of our tricks from the newborn days and they all end the same way- with screaming.  The only way she will sleep is laying on our shoulders.  I am at a loss, I can't figure this out.
Is it the helmet, teething, separation anxiety, reflux?  I have no idea but we.are.tired.

Steve is especially tired because I've been sick and he has been taking her all night for three nights.  Amazing husband I have.

We took her to her pediatrician this week to make sure nothing was wrong with her ears and they are all clear.  Her tongue has a brown-ish tinge in the back and he thinks this could possibly be blood from her reflux and he is sending us to Children's Hospital to get an upper endoscopy to see if she truly has reflux or if there is another problem. 

As always, I am all ears to any suggestions anyone has for getting her to sleep- give me every trick you've got.  And if anyone has been through an upper endoscopy with their little one, what can we expect?