Oh yeah, she has teeth too! :)

 And she sits and plays with her toys like a little kid. And scrambles off her blanket to try to play with the dvd player and things like that. It's all happening so fast, it's hard to keep track of!

A bittersweet moment-

If you haven't heard- our life has just gotten quite a bit 'easier'! For the last couple of weeks, Emmy has been sleeping really well. The trick was dropping her third nap, which was usally around 4:30 while I made dinner. So now, instead of making-dinner-time being a relaxing time for me before Bron gets home from work, it's Emmy's last hour before bedtime and she's a little cranky. But it is so worth it:) Bron gets home, spends a little bit of time with her, then we put her to bed between 6:30 and 7. And we have evenings free together. She wakes around 10 to nurse, then sleeps till 5 or 6 or sometimes 7. Hallelujah!

Last night, Bron and I were having our weekly "date night", which lately means just talking on the couch and drinking tea after dinner, and Bron not working on the house. And we started to hear some Emmylou cries from up in her room. We ignored them, sort of. She shouldn't have been hungry or anything. But eventually, we gave in, and look what we beheld as we opened her door- ! It was the strangest feeling to see her standing on her own like that. She probably figured 'I'm 7 months old today, it's time I start standing in my crib', hehe. Like true first parents, we ran to get the camera, which made her cry a little harder. ;}

 

 

 

Loving the mornings,

I am so thankful for Bron! As I mentioned a few posts ago- getting up early, even after a harder night with Emmy, is just so good for me. Bron has been waking me every morning around 6:30- an hour or so after he wakes. I try not to think about how much sleep I just got, and I get out of bed and make my way downstairs to the coffee Bron has made ready for me. And then, I can have my time with the Lord on the couch with my coffee and heated blanket. It really is my favorite part of the day, even though 10 minutes before I get there, I may not have a hard time believing it.

Emmy wakes within an hour, and she is at her cutest in the early morning. She sits in her seat in the kitchen and does cute things while Bron and I have breakfast together.

And now of course, Emmy eats breakfast with us too! Here she is this morning, with remnants of her egg yolk and avocado breakfast all over her face. She loved it. Oh, and I promise- egg yolks are a really good first food for babies! Google it. :)

Another nice thing about Emmy in our life is that I now have a partner in crime for trying to get Bron to not leave as early for work. Here she is trying to keep him from putting his shoes on and getting out the door.

I love getting up early and starting the day this way. I love that I can be with Bron before our very different days begin. Lately I tell him that I wish he was just going out into the field, and he would be back in the kitchen in time for lunch. But that probably won't be for many years.  I think all this time alone, wishing we lived on a farm and not in our city home is making me a little wierd. :)

Speaking of our city home, you may not know- but Bron is doing alot of renovations around here. He recently knocked a wall down to open up our dining room, -without any help! Someday in the not too distant future, Bron will post about all he's doing. We're really excited!

We definitely have a 6 month old!

Everyone told us that the first six months would be the difficult part, and that after that each month would get more fun. And we are definitely feeling like that will prove true for us:)

Some new things to report-- She is crawling like crazy..well more like an army crawl to be exact,hehe...and the days of leaving her to play on a blanket contentedly with a few toys are over. But that's okay with us- she is at such a fun stage! She had her first big belly laugh last week. And we are beginning the fun of feeding her solids- starting with little bits of avocado this week. I am hoping to make her foods myself, though I know some people may think I'm crazy!, but it will be fun for me.:)

 Also this week, she has a little tiny piece of a tooth peeking through.

She is beginning to seem like such a little person. It's so fun to see her little personality coming through. She is definitely a happy and chatty little girl - and just so pleasant to be around these days. I'm always texting Bron during his work day, things like - 'Emmy is being so cute today!'.

 We figured out that she has issues digesting dairy and egg-whites, which I would eat lots of every day! But not any more. But that too, is okay. She seems to be fussing less since we made that change, though it could  also be her age and teething not as bad as before? Anyway, instead of spitting up like every 5 minutes, she spits up just a couple times a day. A very welcome change in my daily life:)

No, we are still not sleeping through the night, if you're wondering. But Bron and I are getting the hang of an evening routine with her, so things are a little more predictable. So thankful for advice and wisdom of more experienced moms who've helped!


Update- here is Emmy with her first taste of avocado. We have since aquired a highchair and a baby spoon, don't worry:) The back arch at the end is another new talent.

Emmy loves Hawk!

It was Christmas at our house today!

 We're looking forward to spending Christmas with family so soon! We'll leave tomorrow after church to stay with Bron's family till Christmas morning. We'll see mine later that afternoon. We had our own little family celebration today. The video pretty much sums up Emmylou's first Christmas. 

 

Last year we were given a few 'Our First Christmas Together' ornaments. This year it's 'Baby's First Christmas' ornaments, hehe.

 

 

Bron and I are officially parents of a 5 month old- so unreal! It's been almost half a year since she was born.

Alot has changed within this past month. Some fun things- like Emmy growing in cute-ness and zany-ness. She is rolling over like crazy- we had to move her pack/play down to the next level. And she is reaching for things, and for us- which melts our hearts.

But a much less fun change has come, and it's basically been the theme of the month- she has become a really bad sleeper! I know this is normal for babies, but it's a whole new world for us. From about a month old, Emmy would sleep long stretches every night from about 10pm till 6am. It was glorious. Now I realize how spoiled we were. You may have heard my laments over her naptimes- and those are getting alot better. But the nights haven't changed. She is up EVERY NIGHT, at least twice. Lots of ladies at church comforted me that she is probably going through a growth spurt. That would make sense.

It is hard for me, but the Lord is giving me grace. And Bron is giving me grace too.

She always wakes around 4:30, I feed her, and go back to sleep. Bron's alarm goes off at 5. He comes back at about 6:30/7 and asks me if I'd like to start my day. I am faced with the decision each morning, to sleep in with Emmy till about 10 or 11- which is always my gut reaction of course...
or to wake up and have a few minutes with Bron before he goes to work, and then to have coffee and my quiet time before Emmy is up.

I am realizing that getting up at that point is the best option!( I don't like being a slave to coffee,-I haven't been drinking coffee at all for the past couple years, but it is a necessary evil in my life right now.) I can take a nap later in the day with Emmy if I need to.

I am just a happier person when I start my morning before her;when I can be with Bron before. .Most of all, my soul needs to be refreshed in the Lord. 'The joy of the Lord is my strength'- so true to me these days. Especially this past week, when the world seems like such a dark place. I am writing now on a day where I did sleep in. And I'm typing this out as 'a note to self'.

I have memories of my mom, always up before all of us, with her coffee and Bible at the kitchen table. And I can remember my Dad using his break time on the train to read his Bible, while his conductor took a nap.