Just for Fun

I put Emersyn back in her Christening dress to take some pictures in her room.  Aunt Kim sent Emmie and Maddie these adorable personalized quilts as baptism gifts, so we got them in the shots.  Maddie is always  my little assistant when we take pictures.  For some reason though, she's always in her PJ's and then wants to get in too!

Emersyn's Baptism

We had Emersyn baptized this past Sunday and it was a wonderful celebration.  The week leading up to her baptism was a very tough week as I mourned the sudden loss of my coworker and close friend Kelley, my boss Suzan's daughter.  As I hugged Suzan at the service, I'll never forget her words, "Go home and hug those little girls and never stop hugging them."  I will try every day from here on out to take her advice and honor Kelley's memory by not taking life for granted and appreciating the blessings that we have in Madeline and Emersyn.  It was very nice to have a celebration of life at the baptism and we do feel so blessed!

 

Emersyn is 4 Months....Wait, Make That 5 Months!!!

It is so hard to believe that the last time I posted pictures, Emersyn was 3 months!  It was funny to read what I wrote just 2 short months ago.  Little Emmie has become quite the chill, easy, happy baby.  So much so that I wish we could freeze time at this age.  I feel like with Madeline, we were always looking ahead to the next phase like starting solids, crawling, first tooth, walking, etc.  This time around, I know all those things will come way too quickly and before we know it, Emersyn will be 4 years old!  Emmie continues to be easily entertained by anyone and everyone, but especially by Maddie.  Her smile just melts our hearts.  It has been a pretty crazy few months with lots of ups and downs and Emersyn has been the bright spot through it all.  She is sleeping through the night, sometimes more than 12 hours.  Maddie loves her baby sister and says often and spontaneously, "Mommy, I'm so glad I have a baby sister."  Here are some random pictures from the last 2 months.

The Princess and the Pea

 Here are some pictures from our Halloween. It was pretty uneventful, but nice. I barely made it down the street before turning around and taking Emersyn home to bed because it was cold and late. So Chris continued with Maddie and she really loved trick-or-treating this year. Madeline was Belle (after changing he mind a few times) and Emersyn wore the same Sweet Pea outfit that her big sister wore 4 years ago. It was just too cute to not use again. So yes, together they were the Princess and the Pea!  Let's play a game:  I've inserted 2 pictures of Madeline.  Can you figure out which ones?  Answer at the bottom!  Hint: We didn't have as nice a camera 4 years ago.



Answer:  Pictures 4 and 6 are Maddie!

"You Belong With Me" (and apparently Maddie belongs on stage)

This video will never get old for us to watch. This is by far the "song of the year" in our household. Maddie loves the whole Taylor Swift CD, but really loves this song in particular. She knows all the words and loves to dance to it. The CD came with a DVD of videos and she loves watching this song's video too.  One night, Chris caught her on video in rare form. 

Now, I must also explain why it's even funnier to us because of what she's wearing. She is wearing Disney princess PJ's that shrunk when they were washed and, as you can see, are a little snug fitting. The PJ's were bought by Grandma Mary the day that Emersyn was born. Maddie stayed with Grandma while we were in the hospital and they went shopping. Grandma thought she was buying her play clothes, not realizing they were PJ's. So the next day when they came to visit us, Maddie wore her new "outfit." She walked in the room and Chris and I knew right away that she was wearing PJ's. Chris called his mom out saying, "those are PJ's Mom" and we all had a good laugh about it and continue to laugh every time she wears them.

So now onto the videos! I had to separate them into three different videos because of the length.  I'm not sure where Maddie learned some of these moves.  I mean, I know I could shake it back in the day, but I certainly don't dance like this around the house now!  I've had to start telling her to not shake her booty so much, that it's inappropriate since she's a little girl.  And she's wearing the glasses because Taylor wears dorky glasses in the video.  Hopefully someday she'll be a member of glee club (show choir) like Mommy!  But for now, we'll just have dance parties in our PJ's :)

3 Months Old!

Emersyn turned three months old today and so the 4th trimester (as they say) is over!  It's been a roller coaster these past 3 months with highs and lows.  Emersyn was an easy breezy baby the first month (as was Maddie) and then she had some feeding issues (reflux, cow's milk intolerance, etc.) which made her more fussy (as was Maddie).  We seem to be over the hump now and feedings are going much better.  She is still a bit unpredictable at night, sometimes only waking up once, and often waking up 2-3 times.  But her little personality is coming out and the smiles make it all worth it and help me deal with being sleep deprived.  She has really started to take everything in, especially her goofy big sister.  Maddie is finding new ways to make her smile each day and she is so sweet to her.  Emmie continues to grow, but hopefully her rapid weight gain is slowing down a bit.  She has gained about 8 lbs. since she was born.  Here are some pictures from the last week or two and you can see how deliciously chubby she is!

Sitting pretty in the bumbo!

Sporting their UD shirts, courtesy of my coworker Abbey (a fellow alum)

Wearing a beautiful gown with her name embroidered  (a gift from my dad's college buddy Dabber and his wife Marcia)

At the butterfly pavillion at the Smithsonian in DC.  It was so cool!  See the one on my head?