Emma's New Tricks and June Pics!!

Emma is at such a fun age right now where she's learning to do new things everyday and her cute little personality is really starting to come out.  Here are some videos from the past week or so of her!!

Also, I finally got together and uploaded my photo's from June. We had a busy month which included a week long visit from newly retired Grandpa, a visit from Mimi, and a trip to New York City to visit with Pop-Pop and Uncle Chris. Link to many many photos is below.

Click here for pictures from June 2010

Emma Crawling!!



Emma having fun in her jumperoo!!



Emma playing copy-cat with Daddy....this is the cutest thing!!!

Videos from the Summer Thus Far...

Ok, I haven't posted any videos in awhile so here are a bunch!!  The kids are getting so big!!  I hope you all enjoy them :)

Jack and Emma - June 2, 2010 - Jack is 2yrs & 2 months, and Emma is 5 months old



Here's Jack and Daddy rough-housing in the kitchen - June 7, 2010



Here's Daddy tickling Emma's neck and making her laugh..so cute - June 19, 2010



Here's Jack on our ride in the car to New York City!



Jack and Daddy at the 4th of July parade in Skippack. Jack loved the parade and clapping along to the music!



Emma eating her bananas...yum! - July 5, 2010 - 6 months old

May 2010

Well, our big project for the month of May was getting the pool open!!  What a fiasco!!  Neither Chris nor I realized it was such a science experiment to do so.  You have to get the water balanced just right which took us forever!!  We finally got it right on Memorial Day weekend.  The pool looks amazing now and we have used it quite a bit and are looking forward to lots of swimming the rest of the summer!  In May Emma also tried out rice cereal for the first time!  She wasn't too sure at first but ate like a champ once she got the hang of it.  We also had a visit from Pop Pop which was so much fun!  Below is a link to pics from May.  Enjoy!

Click here for pictures from May 2010!

Baby Emma Slideshow

I tried out a new website today to make a little slideshow.  Didn't take long at all and turned out pretty well.  Here it is!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Happy 5 Month Birthday Emma!!

Dear Emma,

Today you are 5 months old!!  I can't believe how fast the time has gone by.  It seems like just yesterday you were still in Mommy's belly and Mommy couldn't wait for you to be born.  You have grown so much in the past 5 months. 

At 5 months old, you are a very happy girl most of the time with lots and lots of gummy grins and if Mommy tickles you or Daddy makes funny faces you have the cutest little laugh.  You also tried out your Jumperoo a few weeks ago and love to play in that.  Your big brother Jack loves to bounce you up and down in it but we have to remind him not to do it too hard! 

You are still breastfeeding at 5 months and we recently started giving you a little bit of formula each day too.  At first you didn't like the formula but now you are perfectly happy to take either the bottle or milk from Mommy. 

You are pretty much sleeping through the night.  By 8pm you are tired and ready for bed.  Mommy wakes you around 1am to eat then you usually wake Mommy around 6 or 6:30am to eat then go back to bed until 8:30 or 9am. 

We also gave you some rice cereal and prunes for the first time over the past month!  You weren't too sure you liked them at first but quickly would finish the whole bowl!!  However, the rice cereal ended up causing you some unpleasant constipation issues so we've decided to wait another month or so before trying the rice cereal again ;)

You also love to roll all over the place now.  If Mommy puts you on the floor to play, within minutes you're on the other side of the room!  You also like to put everything in your mouth but your favorite is still your thumb which you've been sucking since you were only 2 weeks old!! 

Mommy loves you so so much my sweet baby girl!! Please don't grow up so fast ;)

Love you forever and ever,

Mommy

Having fun in your Jumperoo!!

So much fun you fell asleep!!

April 2010

Well, we had a very busy month in April. We had Jack's 2nd birthday party which was a big weekend for us. Grandpa, Mimi and Uncle Chris (and his new girlfriend, Jessica) all came to celebrate with us. We had a big party and Jack had so much fun with everyone!! We also celebrated Easter. We went to Nana's for a nice dinner, had an Easter egg hunt at the neighbor's house and dyed Easter eggs. One of the best parts of the month of Easter was Uncle Herb and Charlotte's visit. They were here for 3 weeks from Australia. We had a lot of fun spending time with them. Here are links to a lot of photos from April. I will post again soon with photos from May. Hope everyone is well!!

April 2010 Photos

Uncle Herb & Charlotte's Visit

Jack's 2nd Birthday!!!!

Well, my little baby boy turned 2 this week! How bittersweet!! It doesn't seem all that long ago when he was born and now here he is a big 2 year old boy already!! Jack had a great 2nd birthday. Mommy, Daddy, Oma, and Emma all took him to his favorite place, the Strasburg Railroad! We had perfect weather that day...lots of blue skies, sunshine and warm temperatures! We made the long drive to Lancaster and when we arrived we decided to walk around for a bit and look at some of the shops. Jack got some special treats of course! Then we went on the train ride. It was packed but Jack loved the ride and passing by the other trains. He especially liked when we would go over a road at the "crossing" as he says. He likes the gate that comes down and the blinking lights and bell! After our ride, we walked around some more and looked at some of the parked trains...we even caught a glimpse of Thomas in his shed and had to explain to Jack that he was sleeping! After all this, everyone was starving and Oma treated us to dinner at the Olive Garden. Then we had to make the long drive home and Jack fell fast asleep after his busy day! It was a great 2nd birthday and the celebration is going to continue into next weekend when we have his big party!!

Click here for pictures of Jack's Birthday!!

February & March

I haven't posted in awhile but have still been taking lots of pictures! We've had a busy past few months. I finally went back to work on March 1st but enjoyed my 2 months of maternity leave! We had a bunch of snowstorms this winter but this past weekend we had a taste of spring and loved it! I got a new Nikon SLR camera last weekend that takes amazing pictures...it was so worth every penny! I love it.

We are also getting ready for Jack's 2nd birthday in a few weeks! On his real birthday we are going to take him back to the Strasburg railroad...we can't wait!! His party will be on April 10th and we're looking forward to having everyone there to help us celebrate.

Emma is doing great and getting bigger everyday. She has started cooing and smiling a lot!! She had her 2 month checkup a few weeks ago and was 11 lbs, 2oz and just over 22 inches long!!

Below is a link to a lot of new pictures. Hope everyone enjoys and we're looking forward to seeing everyone soon!!

Click here for pics from February & March!

Videos of Emma!

Here are a number of videos of little Emma. She is doing great and will already be 4 weeks old on Tuesday! The time has gone by way too fast!


Emma when she was first born...just minutes old!



Jack LOVES his baby sister!



Emma hanging out in her crib



Emma loves getting her hairwashed like she's at the salon! Too funny!



Emma just found her voice and started cooing...what a great sound!

Emma Sally has arrived!!!

Emma Sally, January 5, 12:52pm, 7lbs, 6oz, 20 inches long!


We are soooo happy to announce that our sweet baby Emma Sally has finally arrived!! I had an induction scheduled for Monday January 4th at 9pm. The doctor decided the previous week that if I didn't go into labor on my own before Monday evening, that we would induce since my blood pressures were going up and down. He said it was best to just get the baby out rather than risk me getting pre-eclampsia again. When I first went in my BP was high but I knew it was just nerves. The doc started talking about possibly putting me on magnesium sulfate if it didn't go down and then I started really getting nervous. She said she'd run some labs and see how they were. Thankfully they came back ok and my BP ended up returning to normal. They started the induction and by the middle of the night I was starting to feel some contractions. In the a.m. they let me get up and shower and then I got back in bed to start the pitocin to get the contractions to be stronger and more regular. Got my epidural around 7:30am or so when I was about 3cm. It was awesome...the contractions were starting to get pretty painful and with the epidural I didn't feel anything. By late morning I was starting to feel pressure in my bottom with every contraction and from my first labor, I remember that was the sign it was time to push. The nurse checked me and I was only 5. For the next 20 minutes I kept feeling the pressure and she said let me just check you again and I was 10 and ready to go. I couldn't believe I went from 5 to 10cm in 20 minutes!!! I then had to wait for another 20 minutes or so because the doc was in the OR doing a c-section...I was going nuts...I didn't really have to push but was just anxious to deliver! Finally the nurse said the doc would be in in a few minutes so I could start pushing. I only pushed for 13 minutes and into the world came our sweet Emma!! The doc got in the room about 2 minutes before she was born! Recovery went well and we came home this past Thursday. I feel great since being home and overall feel like I have much more energy and am glad to not be pregnant anymore!

Since being home we have just been spending a lot of time being together as a family of four! Jack loves his baby sister! When he first saw her, she was in her swing and he ran right over to her and wanted to hold her. He loves giving her lots of hugs and kisses and always wants to hold her. He likes touching her and pointing out her nose, eyes, hair, etc. We have to sometimes remind him to be very gentle though!!

Below is a link to a lot of pictures we've taken over the past week. I have a few videos and promise I will post them soon. Hope you all enjoy and we can't wait for everyone to meet our sweet little girl!!

Click here for photos of our baby Emma!

XMAS 2009!!!

We had a great Xmas this year! I was worried that I'd miss it because the baby would decide she wanted to come out Xmas day but here I am 4 days later and still pregnant! Jack got sooooo many presents...he is definitely one very spoiled little boy!! He got lots of cool toys, trucks, books, clothes, and art supplies! Chris and I also made out well with lots of gift cards, picture frames, and new rugs and pillows for our new house!

We weren't sure how Jack was going to react Xmas morning. We've been talking with him a lot about Xmas and Santa and how Santa brings toys and presents. So Xmas morning we woke up and asked him if he thought Santa came and he said "Toys?" Then we had him walk out of our bedroom and check out the tree. Here is a video of his reaction...definitely not what we expected! Guess he was a bit overwhelmed!!



Jack's big gift was his Thomas the Train table! It took Daddy and Uncle Chris about 2 hours to setup on Xmas Eve. Jack was sooo excited when he saw it! Here's a video of him "opening" his gift!!



Click here to see all our pictures from Xmas Day

A Day Out With Thomas!

On December 4th we took Jack to the Strausburg Railroad for a special event called 'A Day Out With Thomas'. They hold it a few weekends a year and the REAL Thomas the Train is there for everyone to ride. It was really busy but they had it very well organized with trains leaving every 1/2 hour all day. The actual train ride is only about 20 minutes long. They also sell any and every type of Thomas the Train stuff you can imagine from the toy trains to clothes to books...the list goes on and on. Needless to say we had a great day and Jack absolutely LOVED it. We will definitely go back again next year!!

Click here to see all of our pictures from our Day Out With Thomas

Sears Pictures!

We went to Sears portrait studio last weekend to get Jack's pictures taken. He's now 19 months old and we haven't had any taken since he was a year. The girl assigned to us to take our pictures was beyond awful but luckily the manager came in and took over and we ended up getting some pretty decent shots. The whole thing from beginning to end took 2 hours because the girl we got was so bad. The manager ended up giving us free pictures for next time though. Anyways, here is a slideshow of some of the shots from our session.

Halloween!!

Despite the rainy weather, we had a great Halloween this year with Jack! He dressed up as Elmo, his favorite Sesame Street character. We got him all dressed in his costume and had him look at himself in the mirror. He couldn't stop smiling! Then we took him out trick or treating. We only went to about 6 or 7 houses as Jack was pretty slow taking his time looking at all the different houses and their Halloween decorations and pumpkins. He was really trying to figure out what we were doing and what was going on but as soon as we got to the door and the people put out the bowl of candy, he didn't hesitate! He reached his hand right in and grabbed handfuls!! Smart little guy!!

Click here for more Halloween pics!

28 week ultrasound!

This past Monday, I had a 28 week ultrasound done. I am having extra ultrasounds this pregnancy due to my pre-eclampsia when I was pregnant with Jack. The doctors are making extra sure that everything is okay and the baby is growing well. She looked great! The technician took lots of measurements of the baby and can tell she's about 2 lbs, 11oz and is in the 56th percentile for weight so she's right on track! Here are the pics they printed out for us to take home.


The image on the left is the baby's face, she's laying on her side, looking right at you. You can see her eye (the little round black circle) and a chubby cheek right below it. The image on the right is her profile. She's laying on her back looking up.


Image on the left is baby on her back with her mouth open...the round thing right above her open mouth is her hand. Image on right is another profile pic with baby on back looking up.


The technician double-checked the gender for us...yup, it's still a girl!!

Fun in the new House and the Phillies!!

Jack getting ready for bed in his big boy bed!


Sitting on the front porch

Playing with the pumpkins

Playing in the yard while Daddy rakes leaves

Jack has been having fun getting used to his new house! He loves having the whole downstairs as his playroom and he has a big boy bed. He's done great sleeping in his own bed...Mommy or Daddy lay with him until he falls asleep and he'll stay there the whole night (yayy!) He also loves having a big yard to run around and play. Oh, and he's been enjoying watching the Phillies in the playoffs! He even says the word "baseball" when it's on TV but it comes out more like "ba-ba-ball". Here are some pics from the past week or two.

Oh, no, I can't watch!

Yayy! They did it!

Doing a celebration dance!

Our New House!

Well, after a long wait and a lot of work we are finally moved into our new house and we love it!! We had settlement on September 29th and officially moved in this past weekend. In between, we did quite a bit of work to the house...painting, carpet cleaning, hanging up blinds. By "we" I mean mostly Chris! He really worked hard to get everything ready for our big moving day and then getting everything organized and put away once we moved in. The house looks great and we can't wait for everyone to come and see it. Below is a link to a photos of the new house.

New House Photos

Linvilla Orchards

Last weekend we took a trip to Linvilla Orchards in Media, PA. They have lots of orchards there where you can pick different kinds of fruits depending on what is in season. The big thing this time of year is apple picking. We didn't get a chance to pick apples this trip but are planning to go back. The day we were there they had an arts and crafts festival going on. Lots of people had tents set up selling all kinds of home-made things like paintings, jewelry, woodwork, and hand-knit clothing. Linvilla also had all their Halloween things out...a huge pumpkin patch and Halloween decorations which Jack had fun running around in. They also have some animals there...lots of chickens, ducks, horses, and goats. Jack's favorite thing there though was the little train ride they had. Jack and Mommy went on first but when the ride was over, Jack wouldn't get out of the car. He stayed sitting very firmly in the corner shaking his head and saying "No, no." I of course had to take him out since other people were waiting for their turn but Daddy took him on one more time after that...what a spoiled boy!! We had a fun day and are looking forward to going to a similar place next weekend called Merry Mead Farms.

One Last Trip....

We decided to take one last trip to the beach last Sunday. After a very rainy Saturday, Sunday was suppossed to be great weather, so we decided to take one last trip this summer to the beach! We got up early and drove down to Ocean City, NJ. It was much less crowded than when we were there in August!! We spent a few hours on the beach and Jack had a great time playing in the sand and running in and out of the water. We then walked up and down the boardwalk and of course, had to take one last spin on some of the rides. It was a great day! We will miss the beach over the winter but can't wait to go back next summer and Jack can show his sister how much fun the beach is!

Strasburg Railroad

Yesterday was a gorgeous day and we decided to take a trip to Amish country and ride the Strasburg Railroad. What a great day!!! Jack has been very interested in trains lately so we thought he'd really enjoy this. He was absolutely fascinated with the train! We started out in the car right behind the engine...he loved looking at it and especially when they blew the whistle! It was a great ride through the farms and Amish countryside. When we got back to the station, we got some lunch and then looked around the shops. Of course we had to get Jack a few treats from the train ride! We got him a little toy train, a train whistle and two train books...he's been having a blast with all of them!

Click the link below to see all our pictures from our exciting day!

Strasburg Railroad