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.

Val and Adam visit!!

After over a year of not seeing her beautiful face in person, I was finally able to give Val a big ol hug! She and Adam came home to visit for Thanksgiving -- we had a lot of great times hanging out while they were here. She even extended her stay a couple weeks! They got to Aiken and surprised me at work :) (This was at 30 weeks.)

28 week update

I don't have a lot of new updates as of right now. I did have my 28 week appointment on Tuesday and all is well! I passed the glucose screening (thank goodness!), so that's one less hurdle. I have to say, this whole pregnancy thing hasn't been bad at all... knock on wood! At the appointment, Emma Kate's heart rate was 150 and the doctor was "pretty sure" she is head down (as she's been for a while... again.. they "think"). It's been so much fun feeling and SEEING her move around in there. Sometimes I catch myself stop what I'm doing and just watch. I now see what everyone is talking about when they say they miss being pregnant once the baby is born. It's such a neat experience! I don't, however, see how people go through it 18+ times like that crazy TV show on TLC :) I haven't been taking belly pics like I hoped, but here's one as of 28 weeks.

I have strangers ask me on a daily basis how far along I am, when I'm due, or if I'm having a boy or girl :) One day, I actually encountered a lady at Target who felt the need to point out to me that "I have a baby in there." No joke. She actually pointed at my belly and told me "you have a baby in there." Shocked... I just said "yes. I do..." And she just giggled and walked off. Oh, man.
We've been busy working on the nursery but it's not complete yet. The changing table is in place and we've got the crib all set up with the beautiful bedding!

 I decided to get crafty and have painted a few things for the walls. I will post pics once I get the room a little more organized. Promise :)

Happy Halloween!

Being that our neighborhood is somewhat new, we weren't surprised when we had ONE trick-or-treater all night long. A few nights before, we had a few people over for chili, carved pumpkins, and were finally able to use our burn pit! Here's a pic of our front porch -- we love our pumpkin on the door (thanks to Rachael and Chris!)

23 week ultrasound

We went to the doctor for a clearer ultrasound on Friday (23 wks 5 days). They measured Emma Kate and said she is measuring a week smaller. Hopefully that means she'll be petite :) She weighed 1 lb 3 oz! Her heartbeat was 146, doctor said it's normal for it to lower slightly as she progresses. We were able to sneak a peak at her in 3D... couldn't tell who she looks like yet but she sure is a cutie! I'm not the best at scanning the pics but here's an attempt. The side profile in 2D...