2 Months Already?!

Everyone told us to enjoy every second because it flies by...boy were they right! I can't believe our little princess is already two months old!! She is all smiles these days and is doing really well holding her head up. Tummy time is definitely not her favorite thing but will tolerate it a little bit better if she is more on her knees with her Boppy pillow. She is pretty much sleeping through the night-we put her down around 9:30 or 10 and she typically sleeps until 6. It is so nice to get a good 8 hours of sleep again! She gets a little fussy in the evenings but given that that is really the only time that she cries, we'll take it! She still loves bath time which usually puts a stop to the nighttime fussies. This past week she has decided that she likes to watch TV. It all started with Dancing With the Stars-she didn't take her eyes off of it. Today she sat in her swing in front of the TV watching the Astros! She is a great eater which was dramatically helped today when we changed her to the medium flow nipples instead of slow. Before, it could sometimes take her 45 minutes to eat. Today, just 15 or 20 minutes! Mommy and Daddy are learning slowly but surely!

She looked so cute this morning in the new dress that Jerry and Janet got her!

She thinks she is pretty big sitting up on Mom and Dad's bed while we worked out!

She loves for Shawn to hold her up to either stand or sit on her knees.

It is a shame she is not a happy baby!

A Few Firsts

This past weekend marked a few firsts for our little Em-her first road trip, first trip to the farm, first time at GranSan's house, and first Easter! We headed to Shreveport on Thursday afternoon and the trip there was a bit rocky. She screamed-notice I did not say cried-she SCREAMED the whole way there! The only time she wasn't screaming was when she was out of her car seat when we stopped to feed her in Nacogdoches! When I took her out, her hair and clothes were soaking wet from sweat because she had cried so hard! After we got Thursday behind us, we had a great weekend. It was definitely an adventure learning how to pack with a baby AND a dog. Before when we went to Shreveport, we packed one bag for the two of us put Maggie in her kennel and off we went. Those days are definitely over-we looked like we were moving to Shreveport, not staying for a weekend! It was so fun taking her to see everyone. We were disappointed that Jaf, Shell, and the girls weren't there but she got plenty of kisses from my mom, dad, Jon, Dondi, Nate, Bailey, Jerry, Janet, and Patsy-not to mention everyone at church! The trip home was much better-she didn't start crying until we got to Houston, 10 minutes from the house!

GranSan had so much fun spoiling Em-complete with an Easter basket!

Dondi and Nate stopped by right when we got there-unfortunately it was time to eat so she wasn't her usual smiling self...sorry Nate!

Bailey couldn't wait to hold Emerson-she was so good with her! Too bad she is 3 1/2 hours away or we would have us a good babysitter!

Can you believe Nate and Bailey were ever this little Jon?!

Robin, John Ryan and Nora came to meet Emerson on Saturday.

Nora Jo and Em will be life long friends!

All decked out in her Sunday best! The bib stayed on until it was time for pictures!

The first of many happy Easters together!

I am sad that I don't have any still pictures of her with Jerry and Janet-it is all video!

FINALLY!!!

After 5 weeks and 1 day, Emerson's cord FINALLY fell off! The next night she got to take a real bath in her tub. She was too cute-she absolutely loved it! She had gotten kind of fussy about 20 minutes before bath time so I was a little worried that the first bath could be a disaster but as soon as I sat her down in the tub she was completely calm! She didn't start fussing again until about 5 minutes after I got her out-we'll definitely be taking longer baths!

She completely zoned out and just relaxed the whole time!

She has always liked to have her hair washed but it was even better when combined with a bath!

This is the life!

Look at that belly!

Hodge Podge of Pics

It is hard to believe that our little one is already a month old!!!! She went for her checkup this past week and has grown to 10 pounds and 22 1/2 inches! She had to get her first shot which I am pretty sure was harder on me and Shawn than it was on her-she hardly cried at all. I have been having so much fun with her during the day and we are now working to get her on a more regular schedule. By taking more scheduled naps in her bed she seems to be much more content when she is awake. I had some random pictures to post so I just lumped them all into this post.

Swaddling works miracles for her. She can be crying and as soon as we swaddle her she is perfectly calm. We can put her in her bed awake and she doesn't make a peep and goes right to sleep!

She is quite the lazy eater! It is a wonder we have made it to 10 pounds given that this is how she is every time she eats!

She hates being on her tummy but seems to tolerate it a little longer on her boppy. Her dislike of being on her tummy led to her rolling from her tummy to her back when she was only a week old-we have the video to prove it!

Uncle Jeremy got to come for a visit and brought lots of hugs and kisses from New Mexico!

I love just hanging out with my daddy!

I am slowly but surely getting things done in her room-I was pretty excited with how her name turned out!

It is so fun playing dress up with little girls-especially when they have enough hair for bows!

So Much Fun!

Everybody has told me from the time I found out that I was pregnant that time would fly by when the baby got here. They weren't kidding-it is so hard to believe it has already been two weeks and Emerson has already changed so much in those two weeks. We are having a blast with her! She has such a fun little personality and, we may be a little biased, but she gets cuter every day. I of course am having so much fun playing dress up with her. It is becoming very dangerous to go anywhere that carries kids clothes...I can't seem to go anywhere without buying more clothes!

Somehow she covered her own head with the blanket during her nap!

Meeting the Big Sis

It was the cutest thing ever when Emerson was introduced to Maggie for the first time. Those of you who know Maggie know that if you are holding something that she is interested in seeing or having, she is not exactly what you would call gentle about getting to it! We let her in the kitchen and Bonnie was holding Emerson. Maggie went over to her and raised up real slowly on her back legs and just balanced there where she could see her and smell her(she didn't jump!). She just automatically knew that this was something she had to be careful with. From that first smell on, she was attached! Shawn got down on the floor with Emerson and Maggie would just carefully lick the back of her head-too cute! When we went back in the living room, we let Maggie stay in the kitchen, where she knows she is supposed to stay. Before long, she came sneaking around the chair and over to the couch, kissed Emerson on the back of the head and then turned and ran really fast back to the kitchen before she could get in trouble! It looks as though Emerson is going to be well taken care of by her big sis!

"Dad, do we really get to keep her?!"

Sweet Kisses

"Grandma, I can't see good!"

ITS A GIRL!!!!!

Much to our surprise after our Monday appointment, I went into labor on Tuesday evening. When Shawn got home from his very last basketball game of the season, I told him that it was probably time we head to the hospital because my contractions were already about 3-5 minutes apart. We got to the hospital about 10:30 and were admitted at midnight. GranSan and Aunt Janet got to Houston at 2:00 a.m. for the big event and precious Emerson Leigh Brooks made her appearance at 10:32 a.m. on Wednesday. People have always said that you can never understand how much parents love their children until you become a parent yourself-that is so true. When she was born and I heard the words "it's a girl" I knew our lives had been changed forever. It was more emotion than I knew what to do with! She is absolutely perfect-she weighed 8lbs 5ozs and was 21 inches long. She has a head full of dark hair and a beautiful complexion.

Love at First Sight!

Our First Family Photo

"Why me Lord?"

Daddy's Little Girl

GranSan & Janet were right outside to hear the first cry

Papa and Grandma agree that she is perfect!

It's so good to be home!!

End in Sight!

Well, yet another Monday appointment has come and gone with absolutely no change whatsoever! I didn't let myself get my hopes up too much this week but thought that there was at least a chance that things had progressed a little bit since I was at least having contractions over the past week...no such luck! We went ahead and scheduled an induction for next Wednesday if the little one doesn't make his/her appearance this week. I am going back in next Monday to see if anything has changed. If it is still the same, we will go in next Tuesday night to get things underway but if I have progressed some we will wait until Wednesday morning to head to the hospital. One way or another, next week we'll finally know what this little one is!!

Baby Brooks Update

My weekly visit was this morning and definitely less eventful than last week's visit! We had an ultrasound first and she estimated that it is already 7lbs 3oz! It was really hard to see much on this ultrasound because the baby has gotten so big not much can fit on the screen at one time. The baby has definitely dropped down quite a bit. After the ultrasound I saw the doctor and thanks to bed rest I had lost a pound or two and my blood pressure was back down. I hoped this would mean no more bed rest but he said that since it was working let's stick with it! He said that it doesn't have to be strict bed rest but to stay off my feet as much as possible. I haven't dilated at all yet but he said that all seems to be right on track!

Bed Rest Time!

Well, looks like I am officially done with work until I go back from maternity leave! God has an amazing way of working things out. Shawn has not been able to make most of my appointments because of work and he wasn't supposed to be with me at today's visit. My appointment was originally scheduled for 10:15 this morning but they called and had to reschedule me for 4:00 because Dr. Giannotti had a funeral to go to. Because they rescheduled, Shawn walked in the door about 10 minutes before I had to leave and went with me. This visit my blood pressure was up along with the swelling in my feet and ankles so Dr. G said that it was definitely time to call it quits for work and that it was bed rest time for me. Just to be on the safe side he sent us over to labor and delivery to have lab work done, as well as to have my blood pressure monitored a little more, and to monitor the baby. After an hour they said that all looked good and I was able to go home. Shawn was very relieved that with all of this going on he was able to be there. I go in for a follow up blood pressure check on Wednesday morning and then if all looks good its back to my regular Monday visits. For now it looks like I will get plenty of rest and get to watch plenty of movies. Shawn just gave me an inservice on hooking our laptop to the TV so I can download movies from Netflix! Any suggestions?!

Peanut

I found the cutest outfit yesterday for the baby-I couldn't pass it up. Ever since our first ultrasound our little one acquired the nickname "Peanut" from Larry, Bonnie, and Mikala. I could not believe it when I saw this little outfit!

Ultrasound pic that inspired the nickname (7 weeks)

I can't wait to put this on "Little Peanut"!

Project Central

Shawn and I have been busy little bees during our time off. I guess we think we aren't going to have much time to get projects done before too long! :) In the spring we hope to landscape around our patio but before we can do that we needed a step off the front of the patio. Shawn tackled that project and it turned out amazing. I can't wait to see it once it is surrounded by the landscaping. While he was outside doing that I had projects going inside for the nursery. While much of it will have to be done once we find out if it is a boy or girl, I wanted to get as much done beforehand as possible. I made the table toppers for the side table-if it is a boy I will just use the bottom one which is navy and white but if it is a girl I will put the smaller pink and white stripe one on top. I also got the curtains hung but rather than making two sets of tiebacks, that is one project I am saving for later. The tiebacks are going to be white for a boy and light pink with small white polka dots for a girl. It is definitely all starting to come together! Hard to believe how little time is left!!!

Why is it that, without fail, projects take way longer than you ever imagined they could take?!

It was A LOT of hard work but the step turned out better than either of us could have pictured! I was beyond impressed!

It is hard to tell from the picture but the top square is a very light pink and white stripe.

The room was looking SO plain to me before...the curtains help but I am ready to get some things on the wall!