What a summer it's been

I know, I know, I haven’t blogged lately. This summer is killing me. Killing me. I work long 10-hour days Monday through Thursday, and I come home to a fussy baby who goes to sleep shortly after I get home. I definitely do not get the best of Emma each day. My Fridays off are crammed with appointments, phone calls, and paperwork to get Emma's special little life off on the right foot. Long workdays don’t leave me much time with Emma, and they certainly don’t leave me with much time for anything else…like blogging! But I'm finally able to make time for all of you who love our sweet baby so much. Thank you for caring about her so much.

Last week wasn’t a great week for Emma. She had a lot of trouble breathing…her stridor was louder, she was congested, she choked more, and she stopped breathing every single day but Monday. We think she had some sinus drainage. Doctors have told us she’s too young to have sinuses…I don’t know what they mean EXACTLY by that statement, but she has all the nasal canals, so I think they can get congested. We think a lot of the choking was from this drainage. Her temper really got away from her last week and caused her stop breathing when she started that angry crying.

Emma didn’t have any doctor’s appointments last week. Russell’s parents, brother, sister-in-law, nephew, aunt, uncle, and cousins all went to the beach this week. This is the first time Russell and I haven’t gone with them since before we were married, but we were just apprehensive about taking Emma away from her doctors. So my mom had Emma by herself all week last week, and she loved it. I think my mom slept all weekend in recovery, but she still loved that time with Emma.

Lola is getting better and better with having Emma around, but she’s still pretty attention-hungry. Her Aunt Magee came to visit...Russell and I have always suspected that Lola loves Magee more than us. Lola gave us a bad name and made it look like we haven’t loved her at all:



Lola was very, very sick this weekend. I won’t go into the gory details, but Russell and I only slept for 5 hours Friday night…and it wasn’t because of the 4-month-old baby. Emma had a great weekend, though. She napped a lot, slept for 10 to 11 hours each night, and snuggled with her dad. One thing I'm going to nip in the bud, though, is watching NASCAR with Daddy. My daughter will NOT be a NASCAR fan. You mark my words.

One fun development is that a photographer came through the hospital and took some pictures back in May. She mailed me the discs with a few of the pictures on it. Here are a few of my favorites:






Sleeping in our pastor Stephen's arms...bonding as usual


Snuggling with Nan and Granddad


Being adored by Mama Jane and Granddaddy

Yesterday my mom and Mary Jane took Emma for her 4-month well-child visit. She got some shots and took them like a champ. And she’s also returned to the days of being short and fat. She weighs 15 lbs, 12 oz (85th percentile) and is 24.25 in. long (40th percentile). I know the numbers don’t lie, but does 15 lbs, 12 oz sound like the 85th percentile to you?? I just don’t think it’s THAT heavy for a 4-month-old child. Anyway, it was time for her to eat right as the appointment was over, so they ended up feeding her in the waiting room. Our cute little girl in her beautiful dress with a petite bow in her hair belched like a man and got a laugh out of the other families in the waiting room, as well as from the front office staff. Nice, Emma.

Emma has felt absolutely horrible tonight. I'd like to say that it's the shots and she'll be better tomorrow...but we're pretty sure it's gas. Poor baby. The pain and crying is making it harder for her to breathe, too, I think. And she's so tired...she just wants to go to sleep. She's been throwing up the past two days when she chokes after her bottles, too. So far it's another bad week for poor Emma.

Lastly, Emma has had a problem with the sun getting in her eyes, which is really unfortunate since she likes to be in the car and in her stroller so much. The shades on the car windows can only block so much. Enter Baby Banz sunglasses.


Side note: when Emma sits in her car seat, it pushes her head forward a little, so all her face and neck fat pushes forward; thus, the HUGE double chin, chipmunk cheeks, and pooched-out, pouty lips.