Update on the reflux

I wanted to post to let you all know how Emma is doing with her reflux. She's such a trooper but still in a bit of pain after eating so we're doing the best we can to make it all better. After a few weeks on Zantac we decided to start her on Prevacid. So far it's been alright aside from the projectile vomiting after I gave it to her yesterday. She decided she didn't like the taste and wanted no part of it! But what's a little more laundry, right? We're going to keep her on it for a few weeks to see if it helps.

A lot of you ask about Cooper these days. He's doing great considering how much less attention he gets now. He's running with daddy a few days a week and keeping busy pestering us to go outside. We taught him to fetch his leash and Dave's shoes when he wants to go out and he thinks by bringing the shoes he'll get to go every time. It's really funny but after a few times it gets a little old. I'll have to take video of him doing it (now that I know how), it'll crack you all up.
I came across some pictures of Cooper as a puppy, isn't he just precious!




Dave's mom, aka Grananny, is still watching Emma 4 days a week. She takes the train from Fredericksburg each morning (45 minutes away) and always comes in with a smile. We can't even express how much we appreciate her and her time and know that Emma is already very fond of her grammy. We love you grannanny!

I mentioned this in my last post, but we had a bit of a run in with the rain last week. Our old townhome is showing signs of age and we had quite a bit of water in the house from the basement door and front window. We're stumped about the front window and have no idea where it's coming from. We're thinking it may be the window seal or a crack in the mortar somewhere so we're going to get an inspector out here to pinpoint the problem.

We did a lot of work on our home before we moved in thinking we were going to sell it. I am just amazed at the before and after pictures:



We're dying to renovate another home nut it's just not in the cards right now. We're hoping maybe in a few years we'll find a small bungalow here in Del Ray to fix up. Emma might be able to hold a hammer by then so we'll see... :)

Love to all!

My First Mother's Day

I'm a few days late but wanted to wish all the mommies out there a belated Happy Mother's Day. Mother's Day is so much more meaningful now that I am a mom and I was blessed to share it with my wonderful hubby and my precious little girl.

This Mother's Day was a day I will never forget. My hubby made it so special and wonderful - he let me sleep in until 10:30 am (woo hoo), cooked me a very nice breakfast (eggs!) and gave me the most beautiful necklace (bling bling). He worked so hard around the house (vacuuming and cleaning up after our mini basement flood), and cooked me the best pasta dinner (thanks to Nikki and Mark Flanders for the recipe!). He's such a wonderful husband and I can't wait until Father's Day so he has a day like I did.

Here's miss Emma on Mother's Day before we went shopping... such a happy baby!



watch how she reacts to hearing me say Daddy...



We're planning fun things this summer. We're first headed to Pennsylvania to visit with Dave's granddad on on our way up to Michigan for Memorial weekend. Most of my family get to meet Emma for the first time and I am sooo excited to introduce her. Of course we'll have to pack our best outfits to prance around Lansing in :)

In the middle of June we'll be headed to northern WV to meet up with my best friend Nikki, her husband Mark and their little man Drew (he's 1). We're going to Wheeling which is a small town near the border of Ohio almost exactly half way between our houses. Dave and will be celebrating our 3 year anniversary that following week and I couldn't think of a better way to share the weekend before than with friends we adore. I've been friends with Nikki since 5th grade and always look forward to the weekends we get to see each other. A few years ago we went to Martha's Vineyard. We had a blast eating yummy lobster dinners, drinking lots of wine and touring the island.


After that we'll be headed to Sunset Island NC for a week in the beginning of August. It'll be a working vacation, but it's a great place to unwind and get away from the stresses of working from home. If I had my way I'd live on the beach, but it just so happens I have a job and can't do that yet. Shucksy darn.

Well, baby and daddy are upstairs waiting for me so I better get. It's bath time!

Love to all!

It's sleepy over here!

As a mom and fan of my little one no matter what I thought I'd let everyone know that my baby is the bestest baby in the world! I hope you're sitting down... she's sleeping almost 10 hours at night now! Daddy and I can hardly believe it and wake up often to make sure she's still breathing. Well, mommy does, daddy likes to sleep. :) Her schedule for the last 2 nights includes a bottle with rice at 10:45, a tight swaddle in her SwaddleMe and sleepy time until 8:30 am!!!!! Wow what a difference a little sleep makes to a working mom and a really crazy busy life!


Wanna know what's even more fun than baby smiles? Baby laughing. Oh man does that send waves of "I can't possible love her more" feelings all through me. She started laughing about a week ago and I do everything I can to make her laugh now. Cooper does a great job to get her going. She sees him and lets out a giggle, it's sooooo dang cute. He loves her to pieces too, they make such a great pair. I try and try to get good pictures of them together but one of them usually doesn't like to cooperate. As you can see, someone is sleeping in this one...


Emma is the light of our life and we are so in love with her smiles, coos and just downright cuteness. She's learning every day and never ceases to amaze us with her personality, alertness (is that a word???) and ability to make our hearts melt. She's making strides all the time and growing so big. I'm sure she's well over 12 lbs now but I don't dare get on the scale for fear I'll never want to put on a bathing suit.


I took this video of Emma this morning holding a teething ring - what a doll! I'm getting better at this video thing, but unfortunately I took it sideways and I have no clue how to flip it. Next time I'll be sure not to flip the camera!



Emma loves her daddy. Every night they watch TV together (I know, bad habit). He gets her all snug in arms and before long she falls fast aleep. So cute!



Did I mention she likes to sleep? I just love this picture. Not only is she just darling, but she's wearing my favorite sweater. I hate that it has to go in a box soon...


We went to Fredericksburg this past weekend to celebrate Grammys and cousin Katie's birthdays. The girls loved on Emma...

Here's her sleeping again... Sheesh!

Granddaddy got to love on her too...

Now this next picture deserves a posting in itself but since I am so bad at posting these days I have th throw it in where I can. If it were it's own posting I'd call it "Grandpa went to Bike Week and I got this awesome t-shirt!"

Grandpa and Grandma Doerr (aka Grandpa and Grandma Harley - since grandpa drives one) went to Bike Week in Daytona this year. On their way back they stopped to visit. Emma got some presents. Here's her doting the onesie grandpa picked out for her. If you can't make it out it says "My Grandpa rides a Hawee". She likes it.... mommy loves it!


Well, I need to work now, although I would love to be out back enjoying the weather (75 and sunny!). Love to all!!!

long awaited update

I know, I know, it's been a while since I have posted. I wish I could be more on the ball - I realize that for some of you this blog is how you keep up with us since I am TERRIBLE at calling you back! That and everyone loves pictures!

Emma had her two month check up on the 11th and there is sooo much to report. I hope I can get it all in before she wakes up! Her naps are minutes rather than hours and it makes for a pretty hard time writing a blog sometimes!

At our check up she had 4 shots (dang vaccines), weighed in at 10lb. 10oz - that's 4lbs more than her birth weight and is now measuring 23" which is 4" longer than her birth length - sense a pattern??? 4 seems to be her lucky number.

The doctor laid her on the table on her belly and lo and behold, she showed off and rolled over! Dr. Thompson was very impressed since babies tend to do that around 4 months old. She was also very impressed with her ability to hold her head up with complete control - go Emma!

Daddy has been working with her every night to strengthen her abs. He lays her on his knees and pulls her up by her hands. She's not a fan of laying on her back unless she's on her play mat or eating so she loves when daddy does this! He also stands her up and she holds all her weight on her little legs, also something that she's excelled at - most babies don't do that until three months. I'll brag, she's been holding her weight for over a month now! Go Emma!

Her reflux is finally more under control. After much hesitation we put her on Zantac to stop the sour taste and throw up after feedings. She's much better now and shows a lot less pain. We also have her on Rice cereal (mixed in her milk) twice a day to keep her food down. She's a big spitter-upper and the doctor recommended we try it. It seems to work very well, two less burp cloths a day that I have to wash!!! Go Emma!

Gra-nanny (I still chuckle when I say that!) takes her on long walks and she conks out each time. She's also fond of naps in her carseat after the walk - it's the only time I can get her to sleep for more than 45 minutes at a time! This week she's slept in her carseat twice for 2.5 hours, once after a car ride with daddy and once after a big long walk. I hate leaving her in it but if it helps her sleep I'm all for it. Go Emma!

We've officially outgrown our newborn clothes and I am so sad. I hate putting them away, especially this little sweater I have - I adore it and hate to see it packed up :(

I follow a blog of a woman that had quads 8 months ago and she did something last week that I thought was great. She listed facts about herself that most people don't know. Well, I'm not going to bore you with that now for me, but it's an easy way for you all to get to know Emma. So, here goes:

Emma wakes up at 3:30 in the morning to let out a few farts then falls back asleep. It cracks me up.

She goes down after her 10:45 feeding and sleeps until 5:30 (minus the farting time)

She eats every three hours during the day - a typical schedule is 5:30am, 8:15am, 11pm (rice), 2pm, 5pm, 8pm and 10:45pm (rice).

She loves to lay on her changing table and kick.

I call out and show her the character on her diaper every time I change her. She smiles at Elmo every time.

She still sleeps in a bassinet in our room at night but naps in her bed, the swing or the carseat.

Her eyes are still blue and her hair, although very thin, is light brown. She has a lot of hair at her neckline and Dave calls it her rattail.

Cooper likes to lick her baby lotion after a bath. She doesn't like it very much.

Baths are now fun. She wiggles a lot but she smiles a lot more now. She hates getting out though, she's like her mom and hates to be cold and wet.

She gets tons of lint in between her toes. I clean it out while she's nursing - she wiggles.

When she poops you can hear it around the block.

She goes through about three outfits a day and without fail poops on the nicest one.

She gets hangnails.

She loves to be sang to - she really like the song "Maybe" from Annie that I sing to her all the time.

We've just started giggling.

Her hands are almost alway clenched. She collects lint in there too.

Everyone says she looks like her daddy. Very few people say she looks like me.

The nurse called her "Cheeks", that was her daddy's nickname when he was a baby (correction, he says he was called that for almost 10 years)

She plays coy - when you say hi she'll smile and turn her head and close her eyes - what a flirter!

We cheer when she lets out a big burp - funny we can't do that as adults!

She smiles in her sleep.

She sleeps with her eyes open, sometimes all you see are the whites of her eyes and it creeps us out!

Copper is extremely jealous of Emma. He gets himself wedged in between you and her whenever possible.

I cried more than Emma did when she got her shots.

She's still being swaddled at night - not quite sure how we're going to ween her from that. She sleeps best that way.

She sleeps through the vacuum, even when it's right next to her.

I'll try to post some updated pictures soon - maybe after dinner. Love to all!

Happy Birthday to me...

Yes, it's my birthday and we just got back from dinner out at our favorite restaurant, Cafe Asia. We invited Scott, Dave's brother, ate lots of yummy sushi and as promised I am now sitting down to post more pictures of Miss Emma. I've got tons of new pictures so you're all in for a real treat. I just can't stop, she's too cute not to capture on film!

We started the day with a heart melting moment: daddy and Emma asleep in the big bed:

I just think it's the cutest thing ever! What a doll! And for daddy to be all snuggled up next to her, what a vision! If you're a mom I'm sure you appreciate moments like these captured on camera.


Here's mommy and Emma tonight after dinner:


I say this often, but she is growing right before our eyes. I can hardly believe how big she is and each day something new happens that makes us so proud to be her mommy and daddy. Like Friday, she was having belly time with Dave on our bed and she started leaning to one side. Next thing we knew, she was on her back with streams of tears running down her face. She was terrified at what she had done, but we just smiled. Our wee one had just rolled herself over. Today we tried again and if a still picture can do it justice, this is Emma rolling herself over again:
She's on her Rainforest play mat, which she loves. She's really taken to looking at all the animals and blinking lights. Cooper loves to get right down there with her sometimes and together they may catch an episode or two of Oprah:

Yes, they are both looking at the TV, which is to the left in that picture. How cute is that!!!!

We have tummy time every day now and Emma is doing really well at keeping her head up. She's so proud of herself.


It's pretty exhausting on your tummy , so, she relaxes on her mini Bobby afterward and lets out a few good smiles...

We had a bath this morning, which was much needed after she peed on herself :) She really likes baths now, but getting dressed afterward is way more fun!


Grammy has been a big help to us and she's especially good at getting all the burps out, thanks Grammy!


After a good burping we're back to smiling again!


And, last but not least, here's Miss Emma in her new vibrating rocker that Uncle Scott gave her. She just loves it!

Well, I'm off for some quality family time. Daddy and Emma are patiently waiting for me while I caught you all up on her toothless grins and daily activities. It's been the most wonderful birthday and I am so very lucky to get to share it with my husband and precious baby girl.

A new addition to the family

Hi there. Something was in the water last May in my family because not only were we blessed with Emma, but now there's another little dumpling. Welcome Avery Grace, my cousin Scott and Jen's new baby girl. She was born March 28 at 1:35 am

Jen and Scott came to visit us here in DC for New Years, the second year in a row for Scott. Jen and I sat back sipping Grenadine (who's idea was that anyway?) as the boys wallowed in their Guinness (or whatever the heck they were drinking). Things are surely going to change this year! In any case, congrats to Scott and Jen - we can't wait to meet little Avery!

Emma is growing so fast I can't keep up with her. She's now holding her head up during tummy time which is right up there on the cuteness scale with her smiles. She's so confident and grins from ear to ear when she makes eye contact. I just have to take a picture, it's a heart melter.

We're growing out of our Newborn clothes, which makes me sad. I've tried to stretch them as long as I can but she's not digging not being able to stretch out. So, on they go to the storage bin for girl number two, if there ever is one. Dave is confident the next baby will be a boy - check back in a year or two and we'll see if he's right.

Dave's birthday is Saturday so everyone be sure to call and harass him - he'll be the big 33! I can't say much, mine is Tuesday but I'm only going to be 32, so there! Big plans for Saturday are to have some friends over for a BBQ. It'll be a tight house but fun nonetheless. It's really gotten us motivated too, which is great - we have new sod in the front yard and the cabinets are screwed in in the kitchen! Go Dave! Now I just need to hire a maid to clean the house before then and we'll be all set!!!!

Happy belated Easter!

I hope everyone had a great Easter. Dave, Emma, Cooper and I went down to Grammy and Grandaddy's house "aka Camp Grammy's" for a few days. Aunt Su, cousin Katie, cousin BethAnne and Uncle Scott were there too. Aunt Su loved on Emma almost all day on Sunday which allowed me to have some free time, and much needed time at that!


When the girls arrived Beth Anne went right for her favorite place, in Granddaddy's lap. Her and Bill had a nice long conversation about how he would be more handsome if he had on a tie. Before we knew it Bill had gone upstairs and put on his most favoritest froggie tie. Notice that he's wearing a polo shirt!!!


Emma doted her new Easter outfit on Sunday. Just take a look at my little French bébé! I just laugh every time I look at this picture - it makes me think of the Sweedish Chef from the Muppets!!!!





She laughed the whole time I was taking pictures, just look at that precious face!!



Katie and Beth Anne had an Easter egg hunt in the front yard but couldn't help being goofy before hand.

Emma is growing like a weed and changes so much every day. She's so animated and laughs on cue which just makes me melt. Sometimes when I'm feeding her she'll pull away and look at me with her big blue eyes and just smile so big, even at 2 in the morning! As tired as I am and as bad as I want to go back to bed I just can't be upset with that face.

We're still breastfeeding and I'm proud to say that it's like second nature to me now. I am so glad I stuck with it through the hard time, it's so rewarding and I look forward to that time with her. Did I mention it also saves us like $25 a week!!! At the rate she goes through diapers I take every penny I can get!

Have a great week - more pictures to come!