Miss Emma has had a good few days. Her new tooth hasn't bothered her too much since it really came through on Thursday. We had a great, semi-relaxing weekend, and Emma got to see a lot of people! She went to a cookout, a picnic, church, and hung out with some friends at our house for the Auburn/Clemson game. Of course, a lot of these events on her social calendar happened during the late afternoon and evening - Emma's prime fussy hours. That being said, she did pretty well. A little cranky, but she gave our friends some great smiles!

Emma visited our Sunday School class and behaved herself. She really wished that our friend Zack would have paid more attention to her, though - she stared and smiled at him constantly, even when he wasn't even looking at her. Then at our church's Sunday night picnic, Emma wasn't really smiling at anyone until she saw our friends' son, Wells...and Emma's face lit up. More proof that she loves men.

Today Emma had 2 big appointments - she went to speech therapy first this morning and ate carrots. She loved them. I may eat my words (ba doom chhh), but I think she's going to like most foods. She enjoyed Zantac in the hospital, which most babies hate apparently. Here's a little shot of her sitting in her Bumbo seat (which Russell affectionately calls The Bimbo) waiting patiently for her applesauce.



Her other big appointment was her 6-month well child visit. She weighs 18 pounds, 4 ounces and is 26 inches long. Her length is average, and her weight is in the 85th percentile because of all that rice cereal with which we have to thicken her formula. The doctor isn't worried, though, because that's very common for babies. However, the mathematician in me thinks, well if that's very "common," then she wouldn't be in such a high percentile...whatever. If her doctor gets concerned, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

I don't know what's "out" right now because I don't have seasonal allergies. Ever. In my life. But I think something's getting to me here lately. I know ragweed is kinda high right now, but it's never affected me before...ANYWAY, I was so excited to come home and get on some comfy clothes and just hang out with my Emma. She was excited about it, too. She was happy to snuggle next to me on the couch to play with one of her toys while I started the blog. And this is what we ended up with:



Her busy day really wore her out!

I'm getting a little sad that Emma is getting older - I am now constantly taking clothes out of her dresser and her closet that no longer fit her. I know that this is inevitable. Actually, it's not that she's getting older and bigger that makes me sad...it's that her clothes are so stinkin' cute that I hate that she can't wear them anymore!

Many of you know that we banked Emma's umbilical cord blood (UCB). Her UCB contains stem cells that can serve sooo many purposes. Stem cell research is really controversial right now because the general public basically assumes that stem cell research uses aborted fetuses - that is NOT what stem cell research is about! Stem cells are smart cells that take on the properties of other cells and replicate them. The most common and significant uses of the cells that I've heard of so far are to cure cerebral palsy (you heard me, CURE it - at Duke) and to cure cancer. Yes. Cure CANCER. UCB specifically has great success at replicating nerve cells, which is why we banked Emma's cord blood. This was not cheap, but we just felt that God was leading us to do this. (There's a long spiritual story that accompanies this decision that gives me chills - there are no coincidences, only God. You just can't deny that God is present sometimes. I won't go into it here, unless somebody wants me to.) Anyway, I've recently found out that there may be some treatment (closer than China, which is the only place doing it right now) that is treating SB kids with UCB stem cells. It still hasn't been done yet, but I believe it will be very, very soon. So I ask...beg...plead for your prayers - that this stem cell research will work and that SB children on this side of the world will have a chance at walking! Before we would consider getting into any of that with Emma, we have to get her throat issues (swallowing, eating, choking, aspirating) under control. Perhaps this research will lead to something that will help Emma in that area, too.

It's here!

The day we've been anticipating for a very long time - Emma's first tooth came in yesterday (Wednesday). While Emma was pitching a fit on Tuesday, for obvious reasons, I could see the ridge of one of her bottom middle teeth. I couldn't feel it, but I could see it. Overnight on Wednesday it popped out! So now Emma keeps running her tongue over it - hilarious. All this teething talk makes my gums hurt because I'm vividly remembering what it felt like to get my braces on and how sore my gums were every time the orthodontist tightened them.

Emma is still loving her applesauce, and she starts on carrots on Monday during speech therapy. She has combined physical therapy and occupational therapy on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and that has been going well. She's now going to a smaller facility that is just WONDERFUL. I think the only downfall is that they work Emma to death. They love on her a lot, but if/when she starts crying, they still keep pushing on with the therapy. After they figure out that she's not going to stop crying, they'll stop the therapy, but I'm wondering when they will realize that Emma either cries and doesn't stop or doesn't cry at all. Once she gets started, just throw your plans out the window.

Emma is now a bobblehead by choice. In the last couple of weeks, she has discovered that she can swing her head back and forth, and she enjoys this fun, new motion. For some reason, she was really enjoying doing it after being tickled.



That's it for now - not a lot of quantity, but really good quality - FIRST TOOTH! YAY!

Our little Tiger's growing up

Miss Emma had a big day today - she ate baby food for the first time! Because of her swallowing issues, her speech therapist wanted her to start eating baby food in a therapy setting to make sure everything goes ok. If you've ever seen Emma, you can tell she has NO problem with enjoying her food...physically being able to swallow it is the problem! But today she really enjoyed her applesauce and did well eating it, so she now gets a little applesauce every day. Next week, we try carrots.

Emma was all smiles today and laughed a lot. In our next home, we're going to have to have an atrium with indoor trees. She loved these at the hospital today before and after therapy - I'm pretty sure an atrium or a sunroom could become a great babysitter. Emma kept gazing at the trees with her mouth hanging open and was fascinated by the light coming through all those bright green leaves. Our little treehugger adores being outside, even if the outside is actually in.

Emma tailgated with us again this past weekend and was a real trooper. She had a blast and was such a good little girl. She flirted with all the men, especially our friend Brad. I blogged last Saturday that every time Emma smiled and I pulled out the camera, she stopped smiling. Well that all came to an end this past Saturday because she couldn't stop smiling at Brad, even though he pulled out his phone and snapped a good one of our chubby Tiger. Her first picture smiling - finally (and again, ONLY because she was flirting)



Here's another shot of her tailgating with her cousin Mason cracking her up. I'm not really sure exactly what he was doing or saying to make her giggle, but he really had her going. Mason is almost 3, and he is so good with "Baby Emma." He pats her on her head a lot and kisses her arms and legs. Precious.











Here's a little more tailgating fun!





Aunt Kathey and Emma



Z and Emma



Mason and Uncle Wuss - love this one. Could be Russell's son, I think - all those Young boys look alike, though, so no surprise there.

My parents just recently returned from Paris, so we were keeping their dogs at our house, with my friend Magee's help. Although they are small, it was a real zoo at our house with the 3 dogs, Emma, me, Russell, Magee, and the random assortment of friends and family who helped keep Emma. Normally, my parents' sweet, precious little Maggie isn't all that crazy about our dog Lola - Lola is a little wild and just bowls right over Maggie in order to get to toys, etc. Every once in a while, 3-pound Maggie snaps at Lola, and 14-pound Lola backs down big time. But last Sunday afternoon, everyone got a good nap: Emma cuddled up to her daddy, and Lola and Maggie put aside their differences to snuggle as well.

One for the books

I'm writing this blog at 6 am - wow. I am a morning person...once I'm out of bed for 5 minutes. If I can finally get myself out of bed, then I actually end up trying to do too much and am late for wherever I have to be - just ask Russell, it makes him CRAZY. So I'm going to try to do a quick blog entry before I have to get ready for work!

We have really enjoyed the last few days of pleasant weather - Emma has been walked in her stroller for the last 4 days, which she (and therefore, we) couldn't be more thrilled about. Last night, my dear friend, Magee, and I were playing with Emma on the floor, and she rolled over from her stomach to her back for the 2nd time ever. She's enjoying playing with her toys more now, and she is reaching for them better. She's a little delayed in this area compared to other 5 1/2-month-old babies, but her 11 out of the first 12 weeks of her life spent in the hospital set her back JUST A BIT (insert emphasis and sarcasm here). Still, Emma gets bored and wants to spend most of her day walking around seeing things. It's not so much that she wants to be held, she just wants to GO! I will be very thankful when she has enough trunk control that I can put her on one hip and also be able to carry her in her little backpack carrier or Moby wrap a better way. Here's Emma in her jogging stroller, wondering what in the world that bug net is:



So yesterday she spent day #3 with Daddy while my parents are in Paris. They had a great, albeit busy, day together. Here's something comical, though: my parents' dogs, Maggie (3.5 lbs) and Mollie (7 lbs), are staying with us. Russell took all 3 dogs (Lola included, weighing in at a whopping 14 lbs) AND Emma to my parents' house so that he could go to the dentist while Mama Jan watched all 4 "kids." Russell pulled into the driveway and here comes sweet Mama Jan across the street. She loved on Emma immediately while Russell went into my parents' house. Their security alarm went off, and Russell typed in the code...wrong code. Tried again...wrong code. So then the sirens went off - you know, the REALLY loud ones that alerts the whole zip code that someone is breaking in (or forgot their alarm code). He called me to ask me what the code was, and I couldn't remember on my first 2 tries. I got it on my 3rd guess, but it was too late. The security people called, and you have to give them a password that's different from the alarm code, which, of course, we didn't know. But Russell explained everything to them and that was it. (Actually, now that I think about it, I think I may have an idea of what the password is...Note: ask parents what password is.) Everything seemed to be ok until Russell went to the dentist and Mama Jan was at the house with all 3 dogs and Emma...and the cops showed up. No screeching sirens or anything, but here's a woman who doesn't live in the house with a baby who isn't hers and who also doesn't live in the house, with 3 ankle biters barking and going crazy. Luckily the cops were very nice and understanding. It's almost been 24 hours, and no one's been arrested...yet.

So after all that insanity, Russell's day calmed down and he had a wonderful day with Emma, napping on the couch and doing fun things like that. Hopefully they'll have another wonderful day together today, and then Emma's in for a treat - 2 days with Mama Jane (her biological grandmother, not to be confused with Mama Jan, her "adopted" grandmother)!! God has blessed our family tremendously - with so many people who love our little girl and with His loving hand that has been placed on her; she is doing so much better than a lot of doctors and nurses thought she would.

Emma's first tailgate

Today wasn't exactly Emma's first Clemson game, but it was her first tailgate. Thanks to my fantastic father-in-law, we were able to tailgate from 11:30 to 6:30 with a tv, satellite dish, and high-powered fan. Beautiful. The weather was great under the tent and in front of the fan. So great, in fact, that even after the game itself started, all our tailgating friends and family starting trickling back to the tailgate spot. Who can blame them? Cold drinks, food, the game on TV, a tent, a big shade tree, spacious camping chairs...and sweet baby Emma.


Emma was all smiles all the way to the game until, of course, I pulled out the camera. Then this was all I could get of her. Then I started feeling carsick looking down at her trying to get her to smile and manipulating the camera...and neither one of us was smiling at that point.




One of Emma's brief catnaps - notice the fan blowing back my hair...ahhh, now that's tailgating.




Being silly with Uncle C.




Enjoying the view from 6 feet, 4 inches - much higher than the view from Mommy's shoulder.




Getting some love from Miss Allison - one of those friends to whom we might as well be related.




Emma got A LOT of love from Allison today - not to be confused with Aunt Ally.



Speaking of Aunt Ally, she and Mama Jane took Emma to Tiger Walk in her stroller. Apparently she enjoyed it - Emma LOVES her stroller and loves being outside. We all probably would love to be outside, even in this heat, when someone pushes us around and keeps us a fan on us all day. She even had a portable fan to blow on her in the stroller.

God has blessed us tremendously. So many doctors didn't think Emma would be doing this well at this point in time...but they didn't know Emma. We have no idea what's ahead of us, but God sure does love our family enough to bless us with a fun and beautiful day with this precious little girl:

Nice and steady

It's been 2 weeks since I last blogged, and I've definitely heard from a lot of you that I need to get on the ball! Thank you, thank you, thank you for caring so much about our family. What blessings you all are.

Let's see...where to begin...I believe I last blogged that we were going to Bristol. It was very, very fun. We were only 2 of about 200 people who got to sit in the grandstands in the middle of the track. Only about 200 of 160,000 people got to sit in the infield, so we were very fortunate. We ate some great food, enjoyed the pit tours, relaxed under the Verizon Wireless VIP tent, and got complimentary scanners to listen to the drivers. Don't get me wrong - I really enjoyed myself, but I'm not exactly going to jump at the chance to go to another race sitting in the stands. I hear the other great place to enjoy a race is from a box - maybe that will be my next trip :) Here's a great memory from Bristol:



Gotta love NASCAR.

While we were at the race, Emma stayed with my in-laws in Honea Path. She went to their church and finally met in person so many of the people who have been loving her and praying for her from afar. Emma tells me it was a great weekend.

Last week was crazy busy (as is this week) for many reasons. Life with a 5-month-old is just nuts anyway, but Emma has a few more needs than your average 5-month-old. For example, she has an average of 4 appointments per week. During the day, she sometimes she stays at my parents' house and sometimes at ours, so I feel like I'm constantly packing her to go somewhere. Any of you with kids know that you have to do your best to prepare for anything and everything! Russell and I stayed at my parents' house for most of last week because I was working much closer to their house than my house. So we all moved out of the house for a while! In the midst of the temporary relocation, Emma had a good visit with Dr. Troup and some good, impressive therapy sessions as well. Dr. Troup feels good about Emma - I can't really say that he feels good about her progress because not a lot has changed...but at least she's not backsliding. His main fear, as I have posted before, is that he'll mess around with Emma by decompressing her Chiari malformation and unnecessarily cause her to take some backwards steps because she's still so young. So we're moving forward with a CT scan at the end of September and a follow-up visit with him at the beginning of October. We're just taking it nice and slow, steady as she goes...

If you'll remember, there was a lot of discussion about having MRI's of Emma's brain and spine. She'd have to be intubated for these, but she doesn't have to be for the CT. (Side note: Dr. Troup said she'd only have to be still for a couple minutes for the CT scan. Good luck with that.) The procedures can look at the same thing, but the MRI shows a lot more detail, and the images can be manipulated a lot more. So I guess Dr. Troup wants to compare this CT to a very old one and just see how things look now. One thing he DID comment on with confidence is that Emma's legs are really fat. He called them hams, actually.

I think Emma picked up a cold at Dr. Troup's office. She started getting really snotty mid-week last week. To be sick, she has been in a GREAT mood. Her eyes were watering, she choked more, and she didn't sleep well AT ALL for 3 nights. But overall, she's been a very happy baby. I really wish we could have gotten a picture of this, but the lighting was bad: Russell got her out of bed on Friday morning, and she smiled up at him with a huge toothless smile, so happy for her daddy to be getting her up...and her face was covered in dried boogers. Maybe it's only cute when it's your own child, but I can just imagine her innocently and happily grinning at her dad, totally oblivious to the crusty gross stuff on her face.

Even though she was sick, Emma had a good week. We were ready for a nice, relaxing weekend...and then the AC broke on Friday. We realized it was broken at closing time on Friday, so we were kind of stuck. We were all sweating it out, but only Emma got to hang out in her underwear and nothing else for 16 hours straight. You wouldn't believe how much we got accomplished on Saturday morning before 10:15, just trying to escape the sauna that was our house. We took Emma to Honea Path to hang out until we got the air fixed at 7:00 Saturday night. So far, it's still working...

This week has been ok - another reason life has been crazy is because of my job. Summertime is always the busiest time for us. Being out with Emma made things a little more difficult, and my coworker and friend, Leigh, has been taking care of her mom. Leigh's mom has been suffering from Alzheimer's for 12 years now (I think it's 12 - sorry, Leigh, if I got that wrong), and things have gotten really, really bad for her lately. So Leigh and I have been barely holding it together personally and professionally...I'm just ready to take a big, deep breath and feel like I've gotten something accomplished - at work, at home, somewhere. Leigh's mom passed away yesterday, August 31, at the age of 63. Please remember her family in your prayers. We all have the tendency to believe that after an extended illness, the recovery period for the family of that person is quicker...but I'm not so sure about that. I believe that God is the only one who can provide us with true peace, and I pray that He grants His peace to Leigh quickly and powerfully.

This weekend begins football season - Go Tigers! My parents are in Paris for the next 11 days, so Russell, my mother-in-law, and I are taking turns taking care of Emma. Of course, these 2 Saturdays that my parents are gone fall on two Clemson home games. My in-laws took the plunge and purchased a generator for our big ole tailgate party, so now we can power more than just a tv and a satellite dish. It is ONLY because of the generator that I'm considering taking Emma to tailgate on Saturday - the generator will power a giant fan that I'll be blowing on our hot-natured baby. I love all of you that we tailgate with, but I've got news for ya: the fan will be blowing on Emma. If you want to enjoy the fan as well, you are welcome to hold her while sitting in front of the fan. If she just gets too terribly hot, our wonderful Aunt Kathey has offered us the key to her house that is just minutes away from Death Valley. I'm totally ok with not going into the game, just as long as Emma is happy and comfortable underneath the tent and the trees.

Ok, I'm practically going cross-eyed now that I've tried to catch you up on our crazy, crazy life. Time for bed - I'll try my best to blog sooner next time.