Heads up!

Emma has been doing this pretty much from day one, but she's really getting good at holding her head up. Here she is showing off her skill!

I also caught her smiling. Even though it was in her sleep and she didn't mean to. This was a few days ago but I'm just now getting around to posting it. Sorry it's a little blurry.

At times, she will fall asleep with her eyes open which is a little strange to watch. It's sometimes difficult to tell when she's awake and asleep. A few ways to tell she's really sleeping: her breathing is faster, her eyes move more rapidly and sometimes go in opposite directions (eek!), and she makes the most adorable facial expressions. We've caught this on video but can't save it here for some reason. I was a little concerned about the whole sleeping with the eyes open thing so I googled it and found out it's pretty common (up until a certain age). Weird!

First of many....

I decided that yesterday was the day. It was time for Emma to sport a bow! And that she definitely did :)

1 month old... already!!

I can't believe Emma is already one month old! She has been such a joy!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Patrick had the night off, so we were able to spend our evening at home and had a delicious meal (cooked by him, of course!) It's so nice to have a yummy meal without having to deal with the restaurant crowds from time to time. Patrick and Emma got me a beautiful ring that was part "push present" and part Valentine's gift. It's a garnet stone, which is Emma's birth stone. I absolutely love it! Here's our real gift to each other...

Doctor's checkup

We took Emma to her 2 week check-up and she still looks great! She weighed 6 lbs 13 oz (1.5 oz away from her original birth weight). She had not gained any more length yet (still 20.5 inches) but there's still lots of time for that! I was curious to know her percentiles -- she was only about 10-15% for weight (little squirt!) but was above 50% for height. So all we really know at this point is she might take after her daddy's build (thank goodness!)

Just some cute pics

First stroll around the neighborhood

Adorable onesie from Stump -- says "Patty's My Daddy" (Patty is an old nickname of Patrick's)

Wide awake :)

Sleeping Beauty ;)

Friday night TV buddies

Great-grandparents came to visit!

Mom and Pop (my dad's parents) and Grandma (my mom's mom) all came to the hospital for Emma's birth but were only able to see her through the nursery window. They came at the time the nurses were doing all of the tests in the nursery, so they were disappointed they weren't able to hold her right away. They came over to the house once we got situated and were thrilled to hold their great-grandbaby!

1 week old

We had a great but exhausting first week getting adjusted to having a baby in the house. We are lucky that we have both set of parents in town to help us!
I think Emma has settled in and feels quite at home :)

 Patrick's parents even got Emma a birthday cake!

We had Emma's first doctor's appointment the day after we got home. She had gotten down to 6.6 pounds which the Dr said was normal. He said everything looked good with her. The mild case of jaundice he saw while at the hospital had pretty much gone away already!

Welcome to the World, Emma Kate!

(Sorry for being really late at updating, I've been having issues with my blog for some reason.)
Since I've been so behind --- here is the last picture before Emma arrived. This was taken at 39 weeks.

Now for the fun stuff!
After being induced at 3am (technically started at 4am), Emma Kate arrived at 11:28am on January 24, 2012! She weighed 6 lbs 14.5 oz and was 20.5 inches long. She also was born with a head FULL of beautiful hair! The first thing the nurses and I said was "BOWS!!" :)
I couldn't have asked for a better experience. The entire staff that helped bring her safely into this world and the nurses who tended to us during our stay were amazing. I only experienced severe pain for a short time until I was able to get an Epidural. What a relief that was! Here are pics of our precious daughter during her first few days.

Love at first site

 Bath, hearing test, etc. --- with the entire clan of grandparents, great-grandparents, friends, etc. watching through the window

 Look at all that hair! It was about an inch long and already growing over her ears and down her neck!

Getting her all dressed to go home

 Car ride home

Due Date is here!

Today is Emma Kate's due date! So far, it doesn't seem like she's going to be making her debut on her own... so I will be induced on Tuesday morning (January 24th) at 3:00am! I am SO ready for that time to come, but I can feel my nerves starting to kick in. I've always thought about the "pain of child birth" since I was a little girl. I just keep trying to tell myself that women go through this every day and all will be OK. Prayers are greatly appreciated! I will get some pictures of our sweet girl up here as soon as I can!

Emma Kate's Nursery

I finally remembered to take pics of Emma Kate's nursery. The lighting isn't the best so they look a little dark. My mom and I had a lot of fun trying out our artsy sides :)

 I made these mirrors and will never ever attempt anything this time consuming again!

 We picked out the fabric and and mom sewed this fake clothes line. I love how it turned out!

We also free-handed the owls and birds in this and cut them out onto scrapbook paper.