Happy 9 months!

Emma is 9 months old and we are LOVING this age.  Her checkup this time was quite painless.  No shots, just a toe prick to check her hemoglobin levels.

Emma will have blue eyes, like her maternal grandfather.  She's such a beauty!

Emma is 18 pounds, 3 ounces - 50th percentile; and 30th percentile for height.  She still has a heart murmur, something Brent discovered at 2 of Emma's previous appointments. He neglected to tell me because he knew I would worry myself to death (which I have).  The pediatrician has assured us it is totally fine and nothing to worry about.  She will most likely outgrow it and 50% of all babies have it. But still, I'm a true mother and worry, so keep this in your prayers please!

Trying to entertain a 9 month old while waiting on the doctor....not easy, and I know it's only downhill from here on out!

"If I have to be naked, then I at least want my pretty bib and bow!"

Awesome....crackly paper to play with!"

We are starting to introduce the sippy cup with water and weaning off the bottle.  The pediatrician also gave us some more food ideas since Emma only has one small tooth and seems to want to inhale, rather than gum, food.  Right now, we have tried some organic baby food that's a bit chunkier....she is not too happy about the texture but we keep trying.

Emma's new trick is clapping.  She loves to clap her hands and watch us smile and tell her good job.  She is standing pretty good on her own for a few short seconds and last night turned around and took one small step before dropping down.  I think we have a month or two at least until she walks.

Emma is always very happy.  I sometimes feel guilty about how easy going she is.  She rarely fusses, sleeps great, always smiles, and eats anything.  We feel more than blessed every morning to go get this little smiley faced munchkin.

Another failed attempt at a family shot...but Happy 9 months anyway to our sweet Em-Em!

Fun and frugal Friday!

It was Spring Break at Peace this past week, so I had really been enjoying some quiet time at the office.  I love my students, but sometimes you just need some uninterrupted office time to be productive!  They gave us a half day off Friday, so I decided to take the whole day to myself. As it turns out, Emma had her 9 month appointment Friday too and Brent unexpectedly had to work (it was his day off) so it worked out perfectly.

Miss Emma and I started our day out at Target...a perfect start if you ask me.  We had pretty much gotten all the things on our list when I saw IT.  Sitting just so at the end if the aisle with the other upholstered pieces.  A miniature sized green suede chair with rivet details and all.  I couldn't find a price or tag anywhere. And it certainly wasn't anywhere on the shelves.  I quickly found a nice young man to help me.  As it turns out, it took 2 nice young men and 1 nice woman to finally figure out that the chair had been returned from online, but was missing the feet at the bottom.  They did some digging and scanning to see if they could find a price.  I didn't want to seem to eager, but when I heard that this puppy had "missing parts," all I could see were discount dollar signs.  The man came back to me after a few minutes with the words "deal of a century."  A chair originally $79.99, sold online and returned at $40.96 on clearance.... But discounted further to $35 for the missing feet.  I was grinning from ear to ear.  I pretty much ran to the checkout line and got my treasure into the back of truck as fast as I could before they changed their minds.

"My chair - HA! You BIG people can't fit into it!"

"Thank goodness there's enough room for my friend, Goober."

I must say this chair is perfect.  It not only matches Emma's room, but also our living room.   I haven't decided yet where it will reside but I am super proud of my deal.  We had started to look at getting Emma a small chair or bean bag but all we found were over $100.  I'd say we lucked out for sure on this one!

After our checkup (post to follow), we headed to Raleigh to see Brent and have lunch.  It also happened to be the Hayes Barton Baptist Church Kidzstuff consignment sale.  I'm not sure a bargain hunter like me gets this lucky in one day...but we managed to find some super cute outfits for Emma here.  There were tons of smocked pieces from $3-15 a piece.  I could have gone crazy buying clothes all the way up to a 4T Emma.  But I remained calm and stayed in the 12-18 month range.  I'm certainly regretting it now, wishing I had bought all the cute things I saw in every size.....but we are trying to save and $5 here and there adds up quickly!

Miss Priss wouldn't have anything to do with anyone but her daddy at the office.  This was the face she flashed me when I tried to pick her up so Brent could finish working. 

Emma will always be styling if I have anything to do with it:)

New Babychelle Angel shoes!

If anyone knows of other good sales, please let me know!

Hmmmm...let's see...where to start.  I have been a bit preoccupied lately (shocker, right?!)  Brent was out of town for 5 days...living the hard life in Vail, CO with his buddies.  Meanwhile, I was at home being AWESOME as a single, working mother of a 9 month old.  We survived (thanks to my parents, neighbors, and dear friends the Mitchells) but I am soooo glad it is over.  Emma, who is usually a great baby and sleeper, got an awful cold as soon as Brent left.  She woke up the first night gagging and gasping for air.  It was a total panic moment for me - if it had gone on any longer than the 25 seconds (which felt like an eternity), I would have called 911.  The next night she coughed - ALL. NIGHT.  I almost turned the monitor off so I could sleep.  The next night, she decided to get up 3 times - that's, right, I tried to put her to sleep 3 times before 10pm.  She would fall asleep on me, and then as soon as I put her in the crib, she would wake up, ready to play for another round.  I was so exhausted and feeling physically sick at this point.  Let's just say that when Brent called, it was a rough phone call:)  Work was also really busy last week - lots of off campus meetings, midterms for students, projects due.....so I was so relieved by the time I picked Brent up from the airport.

Life is back to normal now....I'll just make it simple and offer some snippets into what's happening around here.....

We are obsessed with Downton Abbey - we have watched all of Seasons 1 and 2, and are awaiting the arrival of Season 3 from my parents.  We watch at least 1 episode a night - it's quite pathetic.

We have transitioned Emma into a new feeding schedule - I always feel so helpless in this area. I never know what's "normal" and what's not.  Right now, she gets 4 bottles a day and 5 servings of food.  She's happy, and seems to be gaining weight at a good rate, so I won't complain.  I guess Emma will let us know if she's not happy with this arrangement!  And by the way, she eats ANYTHING.  I know I am getting spoiled with this child.  She just opens her mouth and waits for the goods...and she loves whatever it is.  We are giving her little puffs to munch on, but she recently decided that swallowing them whole was the best method....so after a few slight choking episodes, we have backed off.  Any ideas here on how to get here to gum these babies before swallowing???

Emma is crawling all over the place.  She pulls up on everything - and is into everything.  I love this stage.  She also has her first tooth!  I have been a bit nervous about this because she seems so behind in getting chompers, but she now has a lower tooth poking through, and I must say, it was without much fuss (let's keep it this way!)

Recently into TV and cartoons.

Climbing in and out of the bouncy seat...

Standing up in the cart at REI... totally safe, right?  Being the good mother that I am , I was more concerned with getting the picture than her safety.  The blog comes first!

I recently discovered Polyvore and Diptic...I now have no life and am obsessed with creating hypothetical outfits and cute picture collages.  (scroll to bottom if you are new to Polyvore)

Oh...and the 3initals app...because a girl can never have too many monogrammed wallpapers. 

Emma is also increasingly obsessed with her dad.  When he comes home at night, her face lights up and she scrambles to get to him.  When she can't crawl fast enough, she gets upset and starts crying.  It is the cutest thing ever.  He went outside to blow the yard on Sunday, and Emma caught a glimpse of him at the window...she crawled over there and stood at the door - banging for his attention.  She stayed there until he came in...so sweet.

Emma has her 9 month appointment this Friday - I am anxious to see how she is doing!