Happenings Lately- September

Emerson and I made our first road trip all by ourselves! We went all the way to Elgin, OK to visit my family, a seven hour drive.

I was really nervous about doing this all by myself. The logistics of eating and making pit stops seemed like a nightmare, but Emerson did great. We only had to make a few stops for him to eat and get a diaper change, the rest of the time he slept. Some crying was involved, but it was short lived.

Naps on Grammy = spoiled

These two were so happy to see each other once we got back home.

The next week we had good friends from Oklahoma come visit us, the Bolitho family. Michael and Jesse work for the same company (in different states unfortunately), and we lived in the same towns in Oklahoma for a few years before we moved to Houston.

We had a great time seeing all of them and wish they would move here! (I hope you are reading this Kirby ; )

Calen, their oldest son, turned three years old while they were here, so we had to have a party of course!

We also went to the Children's Museum, which Emerson loved! Well, as much as a 5 month old can love anything I guess. He stayed alert the whole time and did very well sitting in his stroller, which he normally doesn't do.

"It's my first visit!"

His favorite were the mirrors.

Kind of blurry, but love his goofy face in this one.

The only pic of all four of the kids. Emerson wanted to play with them.

On another note, I have been thinking a lot about the upcoming holidays, and I am getting pretty excited to share them all with Emerson this year!

We still don't have his Halloween costume, not sure what he will be yet, but I am sure he will look cute : )

I have started putting together his outfit for Thanksgiving. Thanks to Carter's and Aunt Molly, we are almost done with it.

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble

Five Months Old: It's All About the Mouth

Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING goes straight into Emerson's mouth these days. He especially loves my hair and fingers.

Teething is also in full force, probably another reason why he puts everything in his mouth. Unfortunately we have no teeth to show for it....not yet anyway.

Sitting up by himself is also something new this month! He sits up tripod style and can only hold himself up for a few seconds, but he is getting better and better at it.

 

Here is a breakdown of his activity this month:

Sleeping: It is still hit or miss on sleeping through the night. He usually will wake up around 3 a.m. to eat and then wakes again around 5 a.m. just talking away. That is too early for me to start the day so I usually just treat it like a night waking and feed him and rock him back to sleep. One time he slept ALL night long for a whole week, I couldn't believe it, but now were back to the usual wake up times. I hope sleeping through the night becomes a more permanent thing soon.

We hit a rough patch this month with naps. He would fight naps and then would only sleep for 20-30 minutes. But thankfully we are back on track now. Emerson has never been a long napper, but at least he now is taking 45 min-1 hour naps again. He still naps 3-4 times a day and is only awake for about two hours in between naps.

Eating: I decided to skip the rice cereal phase and plan to just wait until he is six months old to start solids. His first food will be avocados, then bananas, then I have no idea : ) There are so many rules to follow!

Activity: Emerson got a new toy, a jumperoo! He wasn't too sure about it at first, but he now likes it. He still only likes to play with one thing for about 15 minutes at a time. I thought with age he would learn to play more by himself, but I am learning that it's just part of his personality. He gets bored easy, and he loves to be held by his momma.

During tummy time he can raise himself really well and he kicks his legs, a sign that crawling is in our future, yikes!  When you lie him on his back, he automatically wants to sit up so he tries so hard to raise himself up. He looks like a turtle on his back : )

Doctor visit stats:

• Weight: 16 lbs (ish)
• Height: Unknown
• Other: No doctor appointment this month, but we did have to make several trips to the surgeons office. I am afraid we have a new bump : (

Bald head shot.

Likes, dislikes and other milestones:

• Went to a playgroup with church friends.
• Grammy and granddad came to visit.
• Went to first OSU football game.
• Went to Mother Goose story time for the fist time at the library.
• Caught him sucking on his toes. He loves to grab his toes.
• He has figured out how to take his paci out, but gets mad because he can't put it back in.
• Loves to play games such as Peek-A-Boo and Tug-O-War with his blanket.
• Loves to put my hair and fingers in his mouth.
• Started to rub his eyes when he is tired, so cute.
• He can smack his lips. I try and tell him to blow kisses when he does it.
• Blows spit bubbles!
• Sat in a high chair at a restaurant for the first time.
• Is starting to recognize his name.
• Emerson and I took our first road trip without Jesse. It was scary for me, but he did great. He slept a ton.
• Does not like it when I leave the room.
• Still wears size 2 diapers.
• Wearing 6-9 month clothes.

Such good friends with his whale buddy.

Things to look forward to:

We are traveling to Knoxville to see Gramma and Pops! Jesse and his dad are going to a Tennessee game while Gramma, Emerson and I hang out. He will also get to see his Aunt Molly and Uncle Jonathan, and get to meet Uncle Evan for the first time.

Look how big he looks in the rocker! He is growing so fast.

Confessions of a New Mom

I...

• Still sleep with my pregnancy pillow (body pillow).
• Sometimes miss being pregnant...and then I remember how uncomfortable I was, never mind.
• Still take naps when Emerson sleeps.
• Got so used to wearing new clothes when I was pregnant that I now want an all new post-pregnancy wardrobe.
• Have found a miracle weight lose program where I get to eat whatever I want and shed pounds every week. It's called breastfeeding. 
• Find myself singing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" to myself even when Emerson is not with me.
• Sometimes rock  myself to sleep out of habit.
• Look forward to bedtime. Hurry up 9 p.m.!
•  Am getting used to eating with one hand and doing laundry, and cleaning...
• Have checked on my son to make sure he was still breathing while he was asleep.
• Am going bald! Well, not completely bald yet, but definitely have bald spots. No one tells you that you will lose all your hair after having a baby.
• Get excited to go to Babies R Us and see what cool toys they have.
• Am not as excited to start solids like I thought I would be. There are too many rules! 
• Love my son more than I ever thought possible...especially when he pouts, it is just too cute.

An Orange Kind of Weekend

There was a lot of orange in Houston last weekend as the OSU vs. Mississippi State game was in town. This was my first OSU football game in three years! And of course it was Emerson's first football game ever :)

The game wasn't pretty at first, but we pulled out a win.

My parents also got to come and spend the weekend with us, so we had a great time.

Hope everyone else enjoyed their Labor Day weekend...hope it was laborless.

Go Pokes!

I love Emerson's face in this one. He looks like a little doll : )

Watching pre-game stuff with daddy.

Sedona Family Vacation, 2013

Our 2013 family vacation started out by landing in Phoenix AZ in 116 degree heat! I didn't think it was possible to get any hotter than here in Houston, but I was wrong :)

Thankfully our final destination, Sedona, was cooler. The evenings were especially pleasant.

Here are a few highlights from our wonderful trip!

-Emerson took his first plane ride.
-Went to the Grand Canyon. Emerson's first national park.
-Toured an old Mining town.
-Went off roading in our rental car (hmmm, not the best idea in my opinion).
-And of course spent a lot of time with family having fun (we were there for a family reunion after all).

Enjoy the many pictures!

Emerson's first time to fly in an airplane.

Spending time in an old ghost mining town, Jerome. The town was tucked away in the mountains and had beautiful views.

Dinner at a great local joint with the entire crew on Saturday night.

Cousins!

Emerson and Neya. Neya was two weeks older than Emerson, so they were fun to watch interact.

Four generations.

A bad idea...

We took this road and after three miles decided to turn around. I guess I should say, Kim and I were ready to turn around, and Jesse and Mike wanted to keep going.

Got a few good pics though.

Family reunion time.

 

It was a little overwhelming for Emerson, but the kids didn't seem to mind all of his screaming. I loved his little family reunion shirt : )

Time for the Grand Canyon. Wearing his little outfit that his Gramma made him.

On our hike to one of the best views of the Grand Canyon (in my opinion). It's kind of a secret location that Jesse and I found last year, not many people know about it.

The best part, no rails!

Jesse, Emerson and Pops.

Family photo time. I will never get that close to the edge with Emerson ever again. I was nervous the whole time.

Just got done swimmin'

On the floor at the airport waiting to head back to Houston. Probably not the cleanest place to put a baby, but he was happy so I let him be.

 

Word of advice for anyone traveling with a baby on an airplane, change their diaper BEFORE you get on the plane. Lesson learned : )