Wordless Wendesday - I Don't Like the Pumpkin Patch!

Wordless Wednesday - Ready for Halloween

Wordless Wednesday - Sitting in the Bumbo Chair

2 Months Old!

Emily is 2 months old today!

The time really has gone by so fast and she's grown up so much. At her 2 month check-up she was 24.5" long and 10 lbs, 8oz. She's grown 4 inches since she was born (crazy). She was in the 97% for length and 50% for weight. No wonder clothes don't fit her right!

This month Emily.....

• Started smiling all of the time - she's a happy baby!
  
• Started "talking" and making lots of sounds
• Got her first "real" bath and loves it! I think bath time is her favorite time of day
  
• Started to sit in her Bumbo chair
• Took a couple naps in her crib (still a challenge)
• Went to the doctor two times
• Was diagnosed with reflux but is getting so much better with Zantac
• Started to outgrow her clothes
  
• Met more of her family members

Happy 2 Month Birthday, Emily Kate!

Show Us Your Life: Team/Tailgate Friday - Go Frogs and War Eagle!

This Friday's Show Us Your Life theme at Kelly's Korner is Team/Tailgate post. I went to TCU and Brad went to Auburn, and I feel the need to show off both schools.

TCU Horned Frogs

TCU doesn't even compare to Auburn when it comes to football fans - but I'm proud of my school. And they are ranked in the top 10! These are pictures from various seasons.

After every game, win or lose, the team comes to the student section and sings the Alma Mater and fight song. Here they are after winning the Liberty Bowl in 2002 (I think?).

This is after the homecoming game last year. The floating, paper head is of my friend Rebecca. She couldn't make the trip to Fort Worth but we made sure she was in all of the pictures.

This is my brother before a game several years ago. He was so proud of his sign - I think it got him on ESPN.

Auburn Tigers - War Eagle

If you've never been to an big time SEC game - it's a MUST. I've been to 4 Auburn football games, 2 in Auburn and 2 bowl games. The city of Auburn is just amazing on game day. It's so much fun. I'm sad that we won't be taking a trip out there this year :(

This is my first Auburn game. They played Wisconsin in the Capital One Bowl in Orlando.

Second Auburn game, first game in Auburn. Brad and I with Aubie before Tiger Walk.

Tiger Walk. Before each game Auburn fans line the streets and the team walks down the street handing out high fives.

I just love this van. It plays the Auburn fight song.

Game Day was at the Auburn/LSU game last year. Here's the bus behind us.

Second game in Auburn. Look at all of that orange behind us. This was last year at the LSU game. It was such a good game but had such a sad ending.

Don't worry - Emily has outfits for both schools. I even found a TCU cheerleader outfit for her at a consignment sale ($8). Last week she wore her Auburn gear, this week it's TCU.

Just a onesie?

I learned something new about myself this week: it bothers me to take Emily out only wearing a onesie. She either has to have a diaper cover or pants on with the onesie. If we are hanging out around the house - I'm fine with just the onesie. But once we go out I think she needs something else on. It doesn't matter how cute or plain the onesie is - pants are required.

Why? I have no freaking clue. But it just bothers me. I didn't realize how much it bothered me until this week. I pulled out a really cute onesie, got Emily all dressed and we started our day around the house. After a few hours it was time to go out and run errands. All of a sudden I found myself looking for something to put on her legs only to discover we didn't have anything that matched. I was really bothered by this. I looked through the closet and all of the drawers only to come up empty handed. GRRRRRRR.

Don't worry, I didn't make her change outfits. I took her out with naked legs but I didn't like it!

My strange requirment has proved to be a challenge for little Emily. This little girl is very long and skinny. Pants don't really fit her right. Anything that fits around the waist (newborn size) is way too short. Poor little girl looks like she's wearing highwaters all of the time. And diaper covers that come with dresses - there's not really a point in putting them on because they are just going to fall right off.

I'm starting to give into the idea of BabyLegs. They've always seemed a little strange to me but I'm beginning to understand why they are around (and there are some cute ones out there). Maybe I'll invest in a couple of pair.

Wordless Wednesday - Our First Picture Together (4+ Years Ago)

2 Appointments in 1 Week?!?!

It looks like little Emily has 2 doctor appointments this week. I don't think either one of them is going to be fun. Poor little thing has been screaming every night from about 7:30 - 10:30pm for the past month. Last week she started screaming after each feeding and spitting up almost to the point of throwing up (it was coming out of her nose) after each feeding. Her screams weren't the hungry, move me or put me down screams - they were the painful, shrieking screams.

Thursday I called to schedule an appointment with the doctor. But I called at 4:55 and I was told I had to call back Friday morning?!?! I called Friday morning and spoke to the nurse. She talked with the doctor and gave me a call back. The doctor's guess (without seeing Emily) is some reflux. I was given a few techniques to try over the weekend - hoping it would help her feel better - and told to call back Monday morning. I was to feed her every 2 hours (that's tough) for 10 ten minutes, burp her every couple of minutes and her keep upright for 30 minutes after.

So that's what we did all weekend. The spitting up/throwing up improved. She only had 1 big incident over the weekend - lots of little ones. But the screaming continues. The mornings are pretty good (lots of smiles) but as the day goes on it gets worse and worse. I called the nurse back this morning with an update. She scheduled an appointment for tomorrow morning. Hopefully we'll get some answers tomorrow and Emily will feel better soon.

Friday morning I have to take her back for her 2 month check up and shots. The nurse decided it was best to leave that appointment in place because if the doctor does have to put Emily on medication it will be a follow-up. So, poor little girl has to go to the doctor twice this week.

In good news - she napped in her crib for 30 mintues today and when she woke up she wasn't screaming. YAY!

War Eagle!

Emily is ready for the Auburn game tonight. The game will be on during prime screaming time but tonight she'll be screaming for Auburn to win. Her Daddy sings the Auburn first song to her often and expects her to sing it with him very soon.


I'm still trying to catch a good smile on camera. This is the best one so far.

Don't worry - she's cheering for TCU to beat SMU, too. Next week she'll be wearing her TCU shirt. We have to split up her cheering time between schools even though one is ranked in the top 10 and the other one isn't.

Show Us Your Life - Baby Gear

Each Friday one of the blogs that I read (Kelly's Korner) has a feature called "Show Us Your Life". Kelly selects a theme for the week, anything from wedding dresses to recipes, and her readers are encouraged to create a blog post sharing their life. I've been following Kelly's blog for awhile now and finally decided to participate.

This week's theme is Baby Gear!

In the 7 weeks that Emily has been around there are a few items that have been a life saver for us:

Kiddopotamus Swaddle
For us this is a lot easier than using a regular blanket. The swaddle calms her down and has helped her sleep at night. We only use it at bed time - not for naps. Last night was the first she broke out of the swaddle. I think she's starting to get annoyed with it - but it's been great for 7 weeks.



Swing
Emily was not in love with the swing for the first few weeks but that has all changed. Now she LOVES the swing. It's one of the only things that will calm her down during one of her nightly fits and she loves to sit and watch the mobile.


Baby Journal
I was given a Baby Journal as a shower gift. It's such a simple concept but it's come in so handy. There is a spot to write down the time you last fed and on what side, when baby had a wet and/or poopy diaper and a spot for notes. It's just a simple excel spreadsheet, one for each day, but it's been so helpful. I don't have a picture of this one.

Baby Instructions...

Every parent will tell you they wish their child came with instructions. I never really knew how true that was until Emily arrived. There are so many books out there that think they are the long lost instruction manual everyone is looking for. Funny thing is - they all say something totally different but promise you their method will work for your child.

One says feed your child any time she cries - no matter how long it's been, another says wait exactly 3 hours (no more, no less) before feeding and another says wait 2.5 - 3.5 hours and feed her only if she's showing signs of being hungry. One book says every 3 hour cycle should be eat, activity, sleep and baby should be awake for 1.5 hours and sleep 1.5 hours of the cycle. Another book says activity, eat and then sleep.

And don't even get me started on rocking vs letting her cry herself to sleep; letting her cry or comforting her when she cries. Is carrying her in a sling or letting her fall asleep in the swing okay? And what about swaddling - should you swaddle your baby at night? If so, when do you stop? Read 3 different books and you'll get 3 very different opinions.

Confused yet? I know I am.

So now what... what should I do? Well, we've tried a lot of different things and we still have a baby who loves to scream her little head off for about 2 hours every night. Emily eats every 2.5 - 3.5 hours, she's awake a good part of day, she gets good naps and is happy and alert during the day (unless we are in the car, then she screaming). So according to all of the books she should be happy all of the time.

I call B.S. on all of the books! As Brad said last night, "Not one of those authors has met Emily."

I've decided if I want to rock Emily to sleep, I will. If I want to swaddle her until she's 3, I will. I'm going to do what I should have done a long time ago - raise my child the way Brad and I want, not the way a book says to.

Now if you'll excuse me - my child is crying and I'm going to comfort her (and I'm not going to feel bad about picking her up when she's crying).