Continually Learning

It's funny how much you think you know about being a parent until you actually become one. Mike and I continue to be amazed at all of the things that we worry about now that we never realized would be a concern. For example, how much food Emma is eating, how much sleep she is getting, how to wrap her up good enough to actually get her to sleep, how many bowel movements she is having, Oh No is she getting teeth, is she still breathing when she is sleeping so quietly, and on and on. Well I am happy to report that we continue to find things that worry us, but we are also finding some things that have really helped. There are also many things that I wish I would've known or had 4 months ago. So after struggling to get Emma to sleep in her crib lying down my sister in law suggested that we double swaddle her which has really helped for awhile, but she has become so strong that she just wriggles herself out of it. So we decided to invest in a swaddling blanket for her and it has been working so well so far. Also, we had a couple from our ward come over for dinner on Monday and they have a daughter who is the same age as Emma who has been sleeping through the night since she was 4 weeks old. She sleeps for 11 hours. How awesome would that be. Emma slept for 8 1/2 hours one night but that must have been a fluke because she usually averages 4-5 hours before waking up. I guess the key to their success has been "Baby Wise". I heard about this book before I had Emma, but never read it. We are seriously going to be looking into it now and hopefully it won't be too late. She had sure gotten into some bad habits and it would be wonderful if she could fall to sleep on her own. Sorry to all of those who are bored by all of this baby talk, but as a stay at home mom this is what I think about and have to talk about. Anyway we went to Emma's doctor on Monday and she is doing so well. She now weighs 13 lbs!!! I can't believe how chubby she is getting. She is also in the 50th percentile for weight and height when compared to most 4 month olds. This is really great since her gestational age is really 3 months. The doctor says she is developmentally on target for the 4 month range which is so great to hear. She had to get some yucky shots, but she did pretty well. Well Emma just woke up from her nap and so I better end this and go get her. (So I just went to get her up from her nap and wouldn't you know it she managed to get herself out of her swaddling blanket as well. Hmm I guess we'll continue to learn by trial and error:)

Emma at 4 Months

Emma at 1 Month Emma at 4 months

Emma at 1 monthEmma at 4 months


Emma at 4 Months

It's amazing how much Emma has grown in the past 4 months. As we were looking back at pictures you can really tell. She is finally getting chubby little arms and legs and she has such fun facial expressions now. I can't wait to see what she's going to look like in another month. She is just growing up so fast. So I also had to post this picture of the baby elephant at the zoo. He was born 4 days before Emma. I think he has her beat in size for sure. :) It was really fun to see the baby elephant interact with his mom and trainer at the zoo. Pretty cute. So Mike finally got the samples that he has been waiting for for 2 weeks. It was really exciting until he realized that he didn't have enough and then the machine that he uses is "down" AGAIN. Seriously the machine is down more often than it is working. So needless to say things aren't going as quickly as Mike would like, but hopefully they'll pick up soon at least for his sake. He's getting stir crazy, but Emma and I sure don't mind having him around.

Keepin Emma Entertained!

So we have noticed since being back in Ohio that Emma is sure a social butterfly. We think she did so well in Utah because she had so much to look at and do. She loves seeing and being with new people. We have been trying to keep her more "entertained" lately so that she is not just stuck at home being bored. It is nice because it gets us out and going as well. This past week, as Mike mentioned in the last post, we were able to go to the zoo as well as the Metro Park. The Metro Parks are these really nice state parks were they have walking and hiking trails, ponds and rivers for fishing, playgrounds, picnic sites, etc. They are really nice and well maintained. Anyway we have been meaning to go forever but have never gotten around to it. We went for the afternoon and had a picnic and went for a walk. It has been nice being able to spend so much time with Mike this summer. Once his research starts up again we won't be so lucky so we have to get our time in while we can.:)
We had a really nice day at the zoo as well. Emma did pretty well. It's always fun to see all of the animals and just take a nice day to be together as a family. We decided to get a season pass. You may wonder why we got a season pass when we are hoping to be moving in December. We decided it would be worth it to get Emma and "Mom" out of the house for awhile and when you get a pass to the Columbus Zoo you are able to get free or discounted tickets to most of the zoo's across the U.S. We decided that once we move we would hopefully still be able to use it in that way as well. So hopefully we'll get our moneys worth.

Setbacks

Well, I thought that I would be super busy with my research once I got back to school. I have an intense 3 week experimental design that I was hoping to start up once we got back from our Utah trip. When I got back I found out the vanilla samples that we ordered before we left for Utah, were never shipped. Yesterday, I found out that one of the analytical machines I'm using is down for repair for another week. So, I've had to push things back at least two weeks. The good news is this gives me plenty of time to write the 80 page introduction to my thesis that is expected of me. As writing a thesis is very tedious and boring, I've also found time to go to the zoo (Amy will post some pictures later I think), backup our entire hard drive, and write this blog post.

Our Utah Trip

So Long, Farewell...

So we had a WONDERFUL vacation to Utah and are finally back in Ohio. We had such a good time it has been hard for us to come back. We didn't realize how much we missed being with family all of the time. We were able to do so much and see so much of our families. It really was nice. Thanks to all of you for setting aside the time to spend time with us or letting us stay at your homes, we really appreciated it. Emma had such a fabulous time. She is soooo social and we love it. We just need to make sure to let that great quality shine even though Mike and I are both a little socially shy. It is amazing to see how much she has grown in the past month. She is smiling all of the time and starting to laugh. Her giggle is so cute and she can always put a smile on my face. Emma did pretty well on the flight home and slept for 8 hours last night. I was a little worried about her when I realized I hadn't woken up with her in the middle of the night. I guess we all have a little jet-lag.

Today was quite the adventure. It was such a nice morning that Emma and I woke up and went for a walk. After getting ready for the day Mike discovered that our car wouldn't start. We had to get someone to come and jump start it for us. After the car died 3 times and having to have 3 jump starts we decided that it was probably time for a new battery. After getting a new battery as well as stalking up our bare kitchen cabinets I realized that I had a message from Mike. He had called to tell me (3 hours prior) that he didn't have anything he could work on up at campus yet and asked if I could come and get him. Needless to say he didn't have a very productive day just sitting in his lab for 3 hours with nothing to do. I better turn my phone off of "silent" mode eh?

So we are slowly getting back into the swing of things, but it may take a little while. Once exciting thing is that I am going to see Harry Potter tomorrow. Woo Hoo. I'll let ya know how it goes.

Fun in Utah

So we have been in Utah for a week and a half now. It is crazy to think that we will be here for another 2. Emma has been doing great. She has her good and bad days, but for the most part they are good. We were so blessed on the plane ride because Emma did soooo well. I couldn't have asked for better. I was so sure that we would be the couple that everyone gave dirty looks too because our baby was ruining their flight, but she hardly fussed at all. We think she has really enjoyed all of the new things and people that she is seeing. I has also been a lot of fun because Emma is smiling a lot now. It just warms our hearts to have her smile at us. What a cutie.

So far we have gone to Adams wedding, spent time with our parents, went to the Pierce family "campout", and attended Ammons baptism. We have some more visiting to do as well as the Sharp family campout so we are definitely keeping ourselves busy. It has been a little crazy driving back and forth but we are enjoying the time to visit with family. It has been so long. I just might not want to leave. We have been horrible at taking pictures so hopefully we'll get a little better and will have some fun pics for our next post.