Thankful for my "village"

This week I have been particularly thankful for the "village" that helps us raise our baby girl. Emily enjoys one on one care at her Grancy and Poppy's house on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, but grandparents deserve a vacation every now and then! Don and Nancy left Wednesday night for a trip to Texas to visit Jennifer. Wednesday they watched her half a day and Janice Dunn was initiated into Emily caregiving that afternoon.Today, Nan came from Bowling Green and spent the whole day with Emily. On Monday, Jeremy is going to watch her half a day and Chelsea is going to babysit 4 hrs. in the afternoon. I was prepared to call in at work if we didn't have any options, but thankfully everything is working out splendidly! I am glad for my Mom to know more of Emily's personality and to see all of her latest accomplishments! Janice hasn't been able to hold Emily for more than 5 min. since she was born so I was so happy she could keep her a few hours on Wednesday. Chelsea has been a wonderful, reliable babysitter and we are glad that she is on our list of friends and family who can help. Just wish my sister and sisters-in-law lived closer because we would love for Emily (and us) to see them more.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day fell on a Sunday this year. We dressed Emily up in her cute little red dress and a little Valentine bib for church. She was too cute! She enjoyed a few little toys from us (teethers, plastic balls with spinners inside them, and a stroller toy). Nan and Pop visited us on Saturday night. They brought Emily the most adorable book that was customized just for Emily. It lights up and sings a song so of course she loves it. She also got a new bath toy which we haven't tried out yet. Grancy and Poppy got Emily a new pink dress from her favorite store and a homemade ribbon toy. We all have noticed how Emily LOVES to chew on tags. It is hilarious to see how she can find the tag on any toy or blanket and then that it promptly goes into her mouth. Grancy put together a little square piece of polar fleece fabric and then sewed multiple colored ribbon "tags" all the way around the edges. Emily loves it. We are blessed to have such thoughtful grandparents!

Since my Mom and Dad were in town to babysit, Jeremy and I enjoyed a Valentine's night out on the town with a few other couples. Saturday evening we ate at Asiatique and dinner was wonderful. We all must have enjoyed one another's company because we ended up staying almost three hours! Here's a few photos of Emily!

Six months old!

Emily is six months old today! I pray that the next six months don't go by as fast or my baby won't be a baby much longer. Today was a regular work day for me, but I was extra happy to get home today because it was my fourth day in a row to work since I also worked this entire weekend. How I would have loved to "only" work four days in a row last year, but now it is so hard to do it and be away from her. Of course there is also a lot more work to do with baby care so it isn't like I'm ever really off. (I daydream about a day at the spa with a mani/pedi and full body massage. sigh.)

Anyway, I digress. The purpose of this post is to just say, "I love my little family!" Tonight, Jeremy and I took the time to play with Emily in our bed for several minutes before putting her to sleep. She squealed and laughed and "talked." We worked on rolling over and sitting up and laughed at how she would just topple right over if we bounced the bed too much. Of course, she didn't mind to be toppled over and would just look at us and smile that huge toothless grin that has us both head over heels. Tonight I had planned to rock her to sleep and just hold her for a good long while. Well, in true six month fashion, Emily was just too interested in me to fall asleep in my arms. She played with my hair, my necklace, and my bra straps. Then, she had a time trying to rip my nose and lips off of my face. Every now and then, she would rest her head on my shoulder and sign a contented sign, but then she would remember, "Oh yeah, Mom is still here and I can harass her." She even played with her paci, took it out of her mouth and stuck it in mine. That one cracked me up because she hasn't ever done that. So, I got plenty of quality time with her this evening, but I didn't get to rock her to sleep. I ended up, lying her down on her belly and she was pretty much out by the time I left the room.

Milestones

Emily has been right on track so far with her milestones and we have thoroughly enjoyed seeing what she does next! Here are a few of the ones she has mastered so far!

1. Holding head up and turning it right or left. (a few weeks old)

2. Smiling (6 weeks. Smiled regularly at 7-8 weeks.)

3. Found her hands to mouth (11 weeks)

4. Found her toes with her hands (3 1/2 mon.)

5. Rolled over belly to back (3 1/2 mon.)

*No one saw Emily roll over the first few times. We would come back in the room

and she would have changed positions!

5. Toes to mouth (5 1/2 months)

6. Sitting up unsupported (5 1/2 mon. in tripod position for a few seconds and sitting up well this week at almost 6 months.)

7. Eating solid foods. (5 1/2 months)

8. Sleeping through the night. Slept 8 hrs. straight on Oct. 3rd. Now Emily usually wakes up 0-2 times a night between the hours of 8 pm and 7 am. She usually doesn't need a night time feeding anymore so Daddy settles Emily back down if she wakes up in the middle of the night for a quick diaper change and maybe a pacifier. I take the morning "shift" and feed Emily when she wakes up for the day.

Emily is almost 6 months old. She's been really healthy so far which I attribute to mommy's milk and Grancy and Poppy keeping her out of daycare! She has had her first stuffy nose and cough this past week, but no fever. We've been using her humidifier and saline nose drops. She's slept normally and she has been in her usual mood. I did notice that she didn't eat as much of her solid food for a couple of days so maybe she wasn't feeling good then. Anyway, I haven't taken her to the doctor because so far she doesn't seem to need to go. Next week she gets her 6 mon. shots and I'll have Dr. Lehocky check her out then unless we go sooner because of worsening symptoms.

Today Jeremy and Emily came to visit me at work at Southern Indiana Rehab Hospital. It was a nice treat to enjoy their company over lunch and some yummy Quizno's hot subs. There wasn't that many people working today so a lot of my work friends didn't get to see her, but the ones who did couldn't believe how much she has grown! Emily hasn't been to work with me since she was just a few weeks old. Jeremy manages Emily well as the full-time Daddy on my weekends, but he said he was REALLY tired by 3-4 o'clock and couldn't wait for me to get home!