27 month Update

Time is flying by and I don't want to forget any of Emmy's precious 27 month innocence...

Besides growing like a weed, she is also developing her little (BIG) personality.  It's not a surprise that she is rather headstrong (it was pretty much a genetic certainty.)  She thrives in the "helper" role.  Give her a task, and the girl doesn't walk, she RUNS to do it.  Cleaning spills, stirring food creations, finding lost items, she's all over it.  The one trouble with her helpfulness is that she doesn't think that I can make dinner without her, which is only further complicated by the fact that our kitchen chairs are on casters and she can open the fridge on her own.

While she is tantrum-prone mostly when I am preoccupied or when she is tired or hungry, she is otherwise a very happy little lady.  She seems to favor her daddy's extroverted personality and jumps at the chance to "see friends."  She is initially shy in new situations, holding onto my leg, but typically warms up after a short time.  She is excitable, self-confident, remorseful and tender-hearted.  She is sensitive to the feelings of others around her, always checking to make sure that everyone is ok.  She has the memory of an elephant and gets lost in her story-telling much of the time (so do we.)  I'm not sure how many times Nick's family has heard about the haircuts Molly and Darla had over a month ago; and every night when we open her devotional, our page is marked with a note Mimi left us during our trip home last Christmas.   Emmy talks about "Mimi's letter" nightly.  Pretty incredible how much the "little things" matter to little people.  She is appreciative and is quick to say "thank you."  My favorite is when she thanks me after changing her dirty diaper.  I will always cherish her response when I told her that we were going to go get ice cream for snack a couple of weeks ago.  She looked at me in disbelief until I told her to help me find her shoes.  Then she started jumping up and down, pumping her fists in the air, squealing "YAY!"  It was like she'd just hit the jackpot.  I hope that genuine appreciation never changes.

We're not really sure how Emmy survives on the little food that she consumes, but I am a firm believer in you eat what you're given or you go hungry.  Most nights she opts out of dinner without so much as a bite.  She's a sturdy little thing, so obviously it hasn't negatively affected her growth.  The best breakfast she's eaten in a long time was a homemade cinnamon roll.  For lunch, she'd eat a truck load of turkey pepperonis, cubed cheddar cheese and canned mandarin oranges or pears in juice.  Snack favorites include air-popped popcorn, goldfish and Welch's fruit snacks.  For dinner, she loves beans, rice and pastas (to borrow Emmy's term.)  Much like her Mama, Emmy will do just about anything for some chocolate.

She remains a rockstar sleeper with one up to three hour nap a day (typically noon to three.)  Bedtime usually falls around 7:45PM and she sleeps until any where between 7 to 8:30AM.  She is still in her crib, and loves it.  She hasn't shown any interest in climbing out, but, because we know it's coming, the kit to convert her crib to a toddler bed is in transit and should be here any day now.

She most loves painting body parts and leaving imprints on paper.  Her favorite color is green, with purple as a close second.  She loves listening to music and headbanging to it.  It's really adorable watching her try to keep up with Lady Antebellum as they sing "Need You Now."  She's still a Katy Perry fan, and also enjoys Adele.  Emmy loves Caillou and Dora something fierce, which remains my go-to if I need to feed Hannah and Emmy's losin' it.  She takes wonderful care of her "babies,"  who usually have similar timing for the same needs as Hannah.  Mickey always "has a dirty diaper" when Hannah does.  She can sing her ABCs, but doesn't recognize the letters yet, except for "I."  She can count to 10, and can get to 20 with some help.  20 is her favorite number, probably because we cheer each time we count to it. ;)

Her ability to express herself verbally has truly exploded lately.  She's a little sponge.  Nick and I get such a kick out of her antics.  Lately, if we tell her "no" to one of her requests, she repeats herself, very slowly, as if the only reason we said no was that we are a couple of idiots who couldn't understand her the first time.  Another one of my favorite new Emmy-isms also occurs when she wants something: She comes up me, pulls on my pant leg so that I'll kneel in front of her.  She then, very gently, puts the palm of her hand on my cheek, looks me squarely in the eye, and calmly says, "Yook-a-me, Mama.  Dora."

Other favorite phrases:
"C'mon, I show you!"
"Hear sumpin'?" (while cocking her head to the side)
"Mol-Mol, Dala own food!" or "Mol-Mol, Dala dat's EMMY'S" (when they try to steal her food or stuffed animals).
"Dada/Mama doin'?"
"Dada see bugs??" (while opening her mouth in preparation for brushing her teeth...Emmy believes that there are bugs that show up in her mouth before bedtime that must be brushed away, it makes brushing her teeth a tad more doable.)
"Mama.  Dora.  Clicker here.  Press buttons." (As she stuff the remote control in my hands, points to the buttons and commands me to turn the TV on to Dora.)
"Mama says NO OPENING!" (Said while holding onto her treat in the grocery store.)
"Helpa Mama!" (used interchangeably when she wants to help me cook or if she needs me to help her out of whatever bind she's found herself in.)

Just Three Words...

HERE GOES NOTHING

So, Nick mentioned awhile back that we should cloth diaper our children.  I laughed at him.  I told him that when he started doing the laundry then I'd consider it.  The discussion was shelved.

Fast forward to last fall...During a visit to Kris' house, Andy, the garbage aficionado, saw me throwing away a soup can.  He stopped me dead in my tracks and told me that it went in the recycling and not in the garbage can (where I was putting it.)  I am out of practice with sorting trash because we don't at our house, there isn't any recycle service in Clarksville and I'm too lazy to drive our recyclables to a center on the other side of town.  Admittedly, I lied to Andy when he asked me what color our recycling receptacle is.  I told him green.  Since then, I have been really ashamed of myself for lying and for my substantial carbon footprint, of which I'm newly aware.

My personal contribution to the destruction of planet earth has been weighing on me, especially as I have been polluting it with even more disposable diapers since Hannah's birth.  During a chat with my girls' beloved pediatrician, Dr. Seawell, I mentioned that our contribution of diapers to the landfill is pretty staggering.  She asked me if I'd considered cloth diapering.  Long story short, she was in the same boat as I (except for the 4 year old recycling nark nephew part.)  She'd used disposable diapers for her older child and cloth diapers were no where near her radar as she prepared to give birth to her second child.  After a friend insisted that they really weren't as complicated as they seemed, Dr. Seawell gave them a go, and has never gone back.  Her argument was a compelling one.  I figured if my children's doctor was able to carve out time for it, cloth diapers really must be do-able.  I left the appointment with Hannah's clean bill of health and a mental checklist of all that I needed to learn about cloth diapers.

During naptime that day, I waded through the flood of information on the internet and decided on the Bumgenius All-In-One Freetime diapers.  If nothing else, the name gave me confidence that this new venture wouldn't be all-consuming.  The major selling point was that they are just like disposable diapers except they are washable (and way cuter!)  There aren't multiple pieces to keep track of as it's all sewn together, which, I've read, is appealing to cloth diapering skeptics.  Because of the super intuitive design, I can use the same 21 diapers for Hannah until she is potty trained.  Not to get too gross in my detail, but in the way of poop, because dealing with it was a leading concern of mine, breastmilk poop is water soluble and cleans easily in the wash.  Once Hannah starts solids, there are flushable liners that I can place inside the diaper so that I don't have to handle any more poop than I already do.  Prior to my research, I had awful visions of dunking diapers in the toilet.  YUCK!  Another major selling point was that I don't need to be laundering them everyday.  Obviously, once Hannah is using less diapers a day, my stash will go further, but for now it'll probably be about three times a week.  Not too bad!  

Additionally, the financial ramifications are incredible, especially if we cloth diaper multiple children.  I have read that, on average, a family will spend $1500 on disposable diapers per child.  With my calculations, I would say that's not too far off from our "investment" (If you could even call it that.)  To furnish my stash, along with 2 wet bags to keep the dirty diapers in, a travel wet bag, and the recommended laundry detergent, my initial buy-in was $425.  I'm pretty excited about this.  It's pretty much all I can think about.

We are now a week into the new diapering regime, and it's gone smoothly except for just one unanticipated issue....Emmy insists on wearing them, too.  I can't say that I blame her, they are so much cuter than her disposable duds.  The good news is that we have very few "new" diapers going to camp out in the landfill for the next 500 years, the bad news is that I am a cloth diaper laundering fool.  I am thinking that potty training our eldest is right around the corner....

Aren't they pretty??

2 months old!

Sweet Hannah is two months old! How is that even possible?!  Although it feels like she's always been here, it's so hard to remember life without her.  She now weighs 10 pounds 8 ounces (41st percentile), is 22 inches tall (36th percentile), and her head circumference is 38.5 centimeters (47th percentile.)  She took her shots like a champ at her well-baby check-up and then proceeded to sleep constantly for the two days following (I was starting to get a little worried, but then she woke up.)  Everything looks great!  We learned that she does have an oblong hemangioma measuring about an inch and a half by half an inch on her lower back.  It is a bright red, slightly raised lesion that will raise a little more by her first birthday.  By her second birthday, it will begin to shrink and should be gone by the time she goes to kindergarten. Dr. Seawell assured me that it causes her no discomfort when she lies on her back, which brought great relief!  How very special it is that she has tangible proof of where God kissed her.

As for sleep, we moved her into her nursery two weeks ago and the transition has, luckily, been a smooth one!  Poor baby was having trouble resting peacefully in our room during the day with all of the hustle and bustle going on around her.  It's been really nice not to have to tip-toe around our room for fear of waking the baby.  We have begun the "Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child" sleep training program that we did with our world-class sleeper, Emmy, and so far, it's gone pretty well.  Hannah's notorious for cat naps during the day while we are at home, but sleeps exceptionally well for long periods of time in her carseat carrier while we run errands on Emmy's school days.  I can't be sure, but I'm fairly certain that Emmy banging on Hannah's bedroom door and violently jiggling the door knob might have something to do with the abbreviated naps.  We might need to focus more on training our eldest...  Nighttime sleep is going very well.  In the last week, I have been putting Hannah down to sleep around 8 or 8:30 and she will sleep until 6!!! After her first feeding of the day, she's usually back down for another couple of hours!  I am so grateful that we are falling into a sleep routine! I'm sure I've just jinxed it by making that statement.

Emmy has been a bit more gentle with Hannah lately, which is a huge relief to us.  She still can't be trusted to be near Hannah without close supervision being that her latest fascination is to attempt to pick Hannah up. :-/  Since Hannah's reliable sleep pattern is developing, Emmy and I have been able to share significantly more quality time together, which is a really good thing.  She is trying her very hardest to "play" with Hannah, whether that be coloring pictures, playing dress-up, baby dolls, or teaching her to clap and sing songs.  It's funny to watch.  Especially the coloring.  Emmy, very confidently, grabs Hannah's hand, stuffs a marker in her grip and then proceeds to guide her hand on paper.  Hannah has been completely entranced watching her big sister, not to mention throwing some big grins her way.  I think they like each other already. :)

Developmentally, Hannah started smiling a couple of weeks ago!  I first got her going by saying "Hellllllloooooo Hannah!" Now, all I have to do is smile at her and she offers one up easily (provided she's rested and in a good mood.)  She has also begun cooing and making squawking noises! It's music to my ears!  She's had fun passing the time by moving all of her extremities around with great enthusiasm and likes to "push off" my hands when I press against her feet.  She is now more aware of her grip as well and, I have, inconsistently, found her "holding" things.  Yesterday, I found her clinging to her pacifier, and today she was holding up her skirt. :-P  She's doing a wonderful job holding up her head, and gets a look of great satisfaction when I pull her to a sitting position while we play on the floor.  Now we're just working on her stamina! She's rapidly morphing from a newborn into a playful baby...

                                       

Trying to take more self-portraits with the girls so that they don't think they grew up without a mother.

Same outfit, pose and age... :-P

Cowgirl Emmy

Aunt Cindy gifted Emmy her very first cowgirl hat!  It happens to be her first legitimate, non-diaper hat, and she LOVES it!!

A different kind of playdate

I have been so blessed to have some really wonderful girlfriends here in Clarksville.  There was a large group of us army wives that connected up not long after we got to town.  We have enjoyed many late nights consuming good food and large quantities of wine while our hubbies were deployed.  We reunited this past weekend when Sara and her sweet Claire came for a visit from their new duty station in Florida.  My how times have changed...

L-R: Molly & Willa (5 months), Stacy & Madelyn (3.5 months), Kristy & Noah (2 months), yours truly & Hannah (2 months) & Sara & Claire (1 month)...Post-deployment baby boom at it's finest.

Hannah & Claire getting to know one another

Babies, babies, everywhere!

Hannah and her new friend, Noah.

Just Three Words...

RAINY DAY PLAY

It was a dreary, drizzly day outside; and just as wet inside our house.  Emmy had some fun playing with bubbles in the kitchen sink.  The good news is the "mess" actually left my kitchen a little cleaner than it was before.  After Emmy Girl made an impressive dent in our soap supply, we transitioned into a good old fashioned game of dress-up...

Loving Emmy's tutu!

Emmy forcefully gave everyone a tutu to wear.

Some photos from other recent play days:

Hannah got roped into playing with Emmy's babies.

Emmy helping Hannah to "color piture."

Emmy wanted to hold Hannah, so we made her sit on our bed to maximize the padding.

Emmy insisted on brushing Hannah's "teeth."

Tennessee Primaries

To fulfill my civic responsibility and promise to my dear Grandma Odell, I went and voted Republican today.  It took us nearly two hours to get out of the house and ten minutes to get from the car to the polling station; but Hannah, Emmy, Emmy's monkey leash "backpack," Emmy's Elmo backpack, Emmy's baby doll, Emmy's jacket, Emmy's fruit snacks and three sippy cups joined me to the polling booth.  How could I possibly ever be lonely with such an entourage?  As a somewhat funny side note, the sweet old ladies checking me in had to do a double take when they looked at my not-too-shabby driver's license picture.  I informed them that it really was me, and that I had just taken it in my pre-child days when I still had time to shower.  They threw a pity nod my way and then started in on stories about their grandbabies.

Later that night, Emmy returned to the polling station with Dada, immediately following our finding that Nick is, indeed, registered to vote.  (I'm not sure what happened, but I got unfavorable results in my earlier internet search for his designated polling station.  I'm still surprised--flattered, really--that he took my word as truth and didn't recheck the results until I told him that there was a chance I could've made a typo.)   Despite arriving with a significantly lighter load the second time around, all of the volunteers remembered Emmy.  Surely they were impressed by her devotion to the election process.

Those stickers were hard-earned.

Psalm 118:24

"This is the day the LORD has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it."

I'll come clean and admit that I don't rejoice in every day that the Lord has made; there are lots of days I wish to be over as soon as they start.  With that admission out of the way, I will say that I am still rejoicing in yesterday; which is why I feel so compelled to document it.

There wasn't anything particularly extraordinary about the day, other than everything seemed to go my way.  Nick woke up to cuddle with Emmy on the couch and let me sleep in after Hannah's first morning feeding.  I haven't stumbled out of bed at nine o'clock in a very long time.  Then, I got to chat, UNINTERRUPTED, with my favorite sister for a whole thirty minutes.  This is a rarity considering at least one of our five children is usually in need of something while we gab.

After wrapping up our gossip sesh, I got to enjoy a yummy waffle breakfast with my three favorite Horns.  It was over breakfast that I realized that something truly spectacular had come over my Emmy.  She was behaving like a perfect ANGEL.  "Please," "Thank you," and "Okay, Mama" were flying left and right, even when they weren't really the appropriate responses.  I knew I'd have been a fool to correct her.  She was more agreeable than I could ever hope for her to be.  So much so, that Nick and I questioned if she wanted money or something (which was silly because she has no idea what money is.)  We shared many grins over her head throughout the day as our two year old cheerfully agreed with our every request.  I'm not even exaggerating this time.

Nick took Emmy to Lowes to gather supplies to tackle the house repair projects that have lingered on our to-do list, and my sweet baby Hannah allowed herself to sleep in her crib for a whole hour!  I had time to clean up the house and climb on the treadmill for my initial assault on my post partum muffin top.  During the girls' afternoon naptime, I had time to finish a blog post, shower (AND blow-dry my hair), and take a nap with the dogs while my handsome hubby slaved away on the projects outside.

Emmy took a whopper of a nap, as did Hannah.  After which, we went outside to play and cheer daddy on as he worked.  We actually did cheer Nick on, it went a little like this:

Me: "Emmy, let's cheer for Dada, 2, 4, 6, 8 who do we appreciate? Dada! DADA!!  Ok, now say it after Mama...2..."

Emmy: "3"

Me: "4"

Emmy: "5"

Me: "Well, if nothing else we're practicing counting and making Dada laugh...6..."

After our outdoor play time (Hannah napped beautifully in the Ergo so that I could actually play with Emmy girl,) I hit the ball out of the park with a new recipe.  I know it might not be great for his waistline, but man, it stroked my ego to see Nick go back for three helpings of buffalo chicken tacos!  

After tucking Emmy into bed last night, Nick, Hannah and I sat down with a bottle of wine, chocolate and some "borrowed" episodes of Californication.  The cherry on top of my wonderful day was that my sweet Hannah gifted me six straight hours of sleep.  I would be grateful for just one thing to go smoothly in my day, but this all was more than I could have hoped for.  Thank you LORD for giving me that day!

Emmy, still wearing her helmet from yesterday, helps Nick measure our warped deck railing.

After I told her not to touch Dada's pliers, Emmy enthusiastically skipped into the house to find her play dough scissors with which to "fix" the gate instead.

I can't stop staring at my baby girl.  Since my memory is too poor to memorize each line and freckle on her face, I am doing my best to get them on "film."  I want to always be able to recall her seven-week-old beauty, because I know it'll change next week.

Weather Day

We were so fortunate that our severe weather preparations went unused yesterday.  We pray for those who didn't fare so well :(.  It was five years ago to the day, that we bared witness to the devastation following the category EF4 tornado that hit Enterprise, Alabama.  It touched down just a mile from our newlywed home.  The memories of that storm are still crystal clear; it was then that we learned that you don't mess with Mother Nature.  After stepping outside to the unseasonably warm weather yesterday morning, I packed up my girls to raid Target for an emergency stash to stock our "safe place." Given the weather reports of the incoming inclement weather (which rated a 9 on the scale of 0-10 for risk of tornadic activity,) Nick's boss sent everyone home at lunch time to hunker down with their families.  It turns out the worst of the storm bypassed us entirely, but we sure did enjoy our unexpected weather day together. :)

Daddy and all his girls.

The clouds rolling in.

The weather was disconcerting all day...The temperature reached a high of 78 before the cold air arrived.

Hannah contentedly cuddling with Dada (she fell asleep shortly after I took this photo).

Safety first for Emmy! (Truthfully, she had no idea about the weather, she was stoked that Mommy bought her a new helmet for her tricycle yesterday.)  We passed the time making some super yummy chocolate candies (thank you, PINTEREST...again!)

Unbeknownst to him, Nick was participating in Emmy's game of dress-up.

Judging by the photos, it looks as though Nick slept the whole day, but he didn't, only part of it. ;)  The same could be said for Hannah.  She was awake for the better part of the night. :-/