My lIttle Valentine!

Emmy has had a big Valentine's week! She started and ended it with her boyfriend Benjamin. Benjamin's parents are dear friends and we've already decided they are getting married. Ben was due a few weeks after Emmy but they had an in-womb meeting and Ben decided to get here a few weeks early and Emmy said she's go a little late so Ben could be a little older. It worked out and now they're too cute! Here's Ben already trying to put the moves on my daughter. It's the old "yawn and stretch move." Man they learn early! Blake's already got his eye on him. Today we were honored to be there as Ben was baptised.

Emmy also had a big 2 month photoshoot with Caroline. Betsy and I decided that we just NEEDED to have them take pictures together so we put them in their custom made Caroline's Closet tutu's (http://www.betsyandcollin.blogspot.com/) and took them to Portrait Innovations.

I went with the intention of just getting ONE package that cost $9.99 but you can see below, the pics were just WAY too cute to only get one. She cooperated SO well that I had to get a bunch! Open mouth smiles on camera only come along so often! Here are a few of my favorites. (there's a WHOLE lot more at the top of the blog) SO if anyone wants a picture I have 500 of them =)

For Valentines, Emmy was spoiled rotten. Watch out Benjamin, she's already got the bar set very high. Dejo and Leslie started it out with a Valentine's Princess Heart and Lannie and Boppa gav her a cute little purring Valentine's Lion. Valentine's scavenger hunts are a big tradition for the Sansom family. Mom always made them for us growing up and as a tradition, we'd wake up on Valentine's morning for a fun scavenger hunt with little treats. So my sister and I have made them for our boyfriends (now husbands) for years. This year Gigi and Pops gave her her first Princess scavenger hunt. She got a cute heart-butt outfit, a book, and an Elmo that kisses! Here's Emmy and Elmo looking kinda gansta... that's how Emmy rolls.

Then Emmy and I made her dad a "Spidey themed" Scavenger hunt. Emmy gave her Daddy an Ed Hardy watch with flaming skulls. Nothing says, I love you daddy like flaming skulls =)

Hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's day! Emmy says she loves you!

Moving Right Along...2 Months and Counting...

No Bumbo...No Fire...No Problem...

Emmy Bear is 2 Months Old!

Emmy Is SO Over It!

Aunt RaRa and I took Emmy on a quick trip to the mall today to run and pick up some pictures and go to two other stores. We were there literally less than an hour and a half. Emmy is not the biggest fan of the mall, like we said before, but I was HOPING we could make it in for a run-in-and-run-out trip. I was checking out and Emmy started fussing. Like a good Aunt, Laura rocked the stroller and tried to give Emmy her pacifier. She looked at her Aunt, couldn't even be bothered with spitting the pacifier all the way out, and just left it there in protest. She had been laughing and talking all day and this is what we got...

Is she my daughter or what!

Smiles...and a Surprise!

Kristen is bound and determined to capture Emmy smiling and cooing on camera. She tries and tries and tries...and had thus far been unsuccesful until earlier this week. Watching the first video, you will see what makes all the early morning feedings and screaming fits and dirty diapers all worth it. The first 30 seconds are adorable!

Then, of course, Daddy got a hold of the video camera. And in spectacular fashion, my little girl shared a little smile and a big surprise with the two of us. I guess she has taken on characteristics of her Daddy other than just his good looks. She certainly is special! REAL SPECIAL! The action happens towards the end of the clip.

I_N_D_I_A_N_S

This weekend Emmy ventured back to the reservation for her first trip "home" to Port Neches! Our new friend Kate is almost ready to make her big appearance and we had to go deliver the rocking chair to Michelle for her baby shower. Michelle is the pretty one in the pink in the middle (and Kate is in her belly.)

Emmy got to meet a lot of the Port Neches crew. Pops and Dad brought her back towards the end of the shower (so they didn't have to do "girl things") to meet everyone and Emmy promptly fell asleep. We finally took a picture with Aunt Betsy and Caroline since Mom and Betsy didn't actually look like complete and total poop this time! There was real makeup on!

Then we ventured back to Great Aunt Mary and Uncle Stan's house for a little (YUMMY) gumbo and to meet the rest of the Port Neches fam, cousins Tiffany, Lane, and Elise. Dijo and Leslie even brought Emmy her first valentine!

Also, in preparation for her future modeling career... Emmy would like to unveil... BLUE STEEL!!!! If you're wondering what the hell that means, rent Zoolander, then don't blame me for watching it... =)

We've also instituted naked play time. It's an Emmy favorite! It goes something like this...(1)throw the blanket on Emmy while you are standing up. It must cover Emmy's face. (2) Emmy squeals and kicks it until it's all the way off. (3) Repeat. For some reason this is MUCH more fun when you're naked!

Emmy also learned how to hold her rattle and shake it! With a few bonks to the head now and then...


The rest of the week we've been just kick-kick-kicking, blowing bubbles, and smiling (which I STILL cannot get on camera) Kick-Kick-Kicking makes you pretty tired after a while!


If at this point you're thinking, "Man, this child spends a lot of time on the floor by herself" we PROMISE that this her favorite place to be, besides of course the diaper changer on the pack and play...wierd child! Good thing she's SOOOOOOOOOOO cute!

Uncle Sean, P.A.

A Message from Emmy...

Uncle Sean got accepted to PA school! Now Mommy can call him at 4 in the morning when the pediatrician won't answer =) Hooray Uncle Sean!!!

Big Girl Bath!

Emmy took her first "big girl" bath last night!

You can tell from her look JUST how successful that was...I'm afraid she's gonna get her momma's "eye tone..."

Emmy says..."______________"?

My Little Piglet

Every once in a while we capture a photo or get a video of our darling little girl, and she is cute, she reminds us of a piglet. Yeah...a piglet...Her face is filling out and she grunts at night trying to go to sleep. Adorable! See the video...about the 30 second mark...

Yummy Emmy's Hands, Tummy Time and Aunt Lauren

Another day, another night at our best friend Caroline's house. The girls were down on the floor for some playtime, cute as always. Last time this happened, they held hands. What would they do for an encore!? Sure enough sweet Caroline (bum, bum, bum!) started reaching for Emmy's hand their mommies starting giggling about how sweet it was! Caroline would do it over and over again just reaching out and trying to pull Emmy toward her, re-confirming over and over agin their best friend status. Then we started to notice that Caroline started leaning closer and closer and drooling just a little bit more... It didn't take us long to realize that Caroline felt Emmy's hands were something extra yummy she wanted to nibble on. MMMMM...Emmy's hands! It's still cute!

Tummy time is something that you're supposed to do with little ones so that they can learn how to hold up their heads. Like outfits, Emmy HATES tummy time. But for some reason, she doesn't mind a little boppy leapfrog. She just can't seem to get past that faceplant. This is how we end up after two minutes of "tummy time." Then see break a heart face for what happens next...

Finally, thanks Aunt Lauren for visiting us on your birthday! (We promise to be more fun next time). The B.B.'s reunite!

Break-a-Heart

Emmy has started doing so many things over the past few weeks. Smiling is my FAVORITE one. Yesterday out of nowhere she also picked up something we call the "Break-a-Heart Face" in Sansom lingo.

Of course I can't get a smile on camera, but I can get this...

Now you see why it's called Break-a-heart. Such a poor poor little baby girl... =)

You're My Best Friend

Yesterday, I arrived home from work to find both Caroline and Emmy upset and crying as their mother's worked to calm their fears and soothe them back to normal. I tried to help Betsy as she busily prepared Caroline's bottle, but until she was fed, there was no making her happy. Then, after the dust had settled, the girls were placed ever so close together and something amazing happened. I will let the video tell the tale, but it is apparent even at 1 and 6 months of age, the girls are already best friends.

Milestones

Emmy's had a big couple of weeks! The biggest thing (and I'm almost afraid to post it!) is that she went 6 hours between feedings at night...two days in a row!!! Everyone reading this, knock on wood three times RIGHT NOW! Mom is a new person after getting to sleep for longer than an hour and a half at a time. We're hoping that we keep this up! How amazing would that be! Here's Emmy contemplating if she's going to be nice to Mom and sleep again tonight.

She also started smiling and cooing! I worked every day for a month talking to Emmy and asking her to smile at me and she got to the point where she would almost do it. Then of course Gigi and Pops came over last weekend and she smiles for them right away. Then she smiles for her Daddy three times. She made me wait last...little stinker. It hasn't been documented with a picture yet, but we'll get it on as soon as we can.

We went to our first playgroup with Aunt Betsy and Caroline. There were a lot of cute older men there so we had to get dressed up cute. Play is kind of a strong word for what we did, but they invited us back anyway! I think she was just playing hard to get.

Poor Emmy has her mom's chicken legs and unfortunately she also doesn't have a butt (NOT from her Mom) so that means that all clothes are simultaneously too small and too big. Everything's short and wide on our little string bean. We made it work and rocked our short sleeve shirt on a 40 degree day. All the other kids at the paygroup were in turtlenecks, sweaters, and

courdouroys... oh well... CPS didn't come, so I guess we're ok.

I also decided I would join the Bow-Head club. She's gotta have something until we can have a real bow! Here's a pic of where the bowhead (or maybe scarf?) spent most of the time it was on her head, or guess I should say neck.

We also got dressed up for a big lunchdate with Aunt Rara. We went though the Chick-Fil-A drive through. Hey, baby steps....As a general rule, we HATE outfits... A lot of screaming is usually involved when we wear one.

We went on our first trip to the mall to get our one-month birthday pics taken (yes, I'm obsessed with pictures) and I ran into Macy's to exchange something. Yeah, we're not quite ready to go to the mall yet. It was a LOOOOONG five minutes for me and the lady doing my exchange. You'll notice a repeat of the bowhead, but it's the only one we have and after that trip to the mall, it might be a while before we get another one!

The great-grandparents Maw Maw and Paw Paw and Great Aunt Jane also came for a visit!

We've got one special trick that we're working on. She's pooped out the back of her diaper on the last six outfits. I'm not quite sure how the physics of it works, but she's manages to get it halfway up her back, and she' really good at it. We're going for the world record on "Consecutive outfits pooped at least halfway up the back by a newborn in a 24 hour period". Somebody quick, call Guinness...

I also just packed up all the newborn diapers and newborn clothes. She's such a big girl we've grown out of both! I know one day I'll look and won't be able to imagine that she was this tiny. Don't worry, I'm cherishing every moment! =)

Moving Right Along...One Month Old...

A picture is worth a thousand words...

Emerson's 1st Christmas...Part 1

Twas the night before Christmas,
and strapped to her car seat,
Emmy was not stirring,
no longer "Kick Kick Kicking" her feet.

Our baby was held by Pops, Lannie and Boppa with great care,

In hopes that little Emmy would have a smile to share.












Our child final settled all snug in her bed,
while visions of her next feeding danced in her head. Kristen in her sweat pants and I in my briefs,
knew silence was golden and so was any sleep.

When out in the living room GiGi struck such a pose,
delivering numerous Christmas gifts for our dear Emerson Rose. Out of the spare bedroom we struggled to rise,
stumbling, bumbling and rubbing sleep from our eyes.

The Holidays

No. I have not forgotten about my child. The little one has been enjoying the holidays for the first time and we have been busier than ever. Guess it is a blessing that I have had back to back short weeks and no school so that I could spend some quality time with the peanut. So my absence from the blog has been part tired, part busy...but all necessary. As for Christmas and New Year's, Emmy was the star! One SPOILED star! The grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, great aunts and great uncles went overboard making sure that her transition to the world was celebrated with an overload of gifts. Kristen and I filled up the Tahoe with clothes, and toys, and chairs and a number of other things that the little one will one day use. As for now, she only enjoys the swing. THANKS AGAIN LANNIE AND BOPPA! Sometimes I don't know how we can get along without the swing! But seriously, we appreciate all that she has received. She will use and cherish each and every gift and the people that gave them to her.

New Year's Eve was celebrated without much fanfare. Caroline, Collin and Betsy spent the evening eating, drinking and enjoying the unending fireworks displays that our neighbors so graciously shared...don't they know that babies hate loud noises...At one point, both of the girls got hysterical, crying because they wanted to eat, or they didn't want to eat, or because they were tired, or because they had dirty diapers. The parents looked at each other and realized that New Year's Eve would never be the same. Collin...just think one day down the road when we are celebrating New Year's and are worried sick about our daughters out and about with their friends. A restless night of crying does not seem so bad now, huh...

Please note the green dress in the picture to the right. She hated it...but she's cute in it...so she's wearing it...

Thats How the Pros Do It!

Just when you began to think that Kristen and I did not care about our baby, that we did not take enough pictures, that we did not want the rest of the world to see our daughter...we decided to have a pro take some shots of the little one. Our beautiful little girl had her first (of several I'm sure) professional photo shoots. And while she acted like a newbie (peeing on Mom once and one of the props another time) the shots really show how special she is to Kristen and I. I have copied them over from the photgraphers website so you can see them easily, however, if you go to her blog and comment about the photos , we will get a free 8"x10" of our angel. All we need is ten comments so help us out! (Under the pic of emmy in the tutu, click on the purple link that lists how many comments we have.)

http://www.krisevansphotography.blogspot.com/

Let me know what you think of the pics. If you know me, you already know my opinion.

One Week and Counting...

Time is flying by! Emmy is already one week old!

We went to the pediatrician this morning (12/18) and she's growing perfectly! She's already grown a half inch! That makes her 21 inches long and puts her in the 97th percentile for her length. She's gained back almost all of her birth weight and is right at 7 lbs; the 25th percentile for her weight. That means she's offically a string bean!

We live life in three hour blocks. Feed for an hour, clean up, stare at the wall for 30 minutes untill you wake up and realize you've been staring at the wall for 30 minutes, and then have have 30 minutes to do something productive. I never understood why they give new mommies a sheet of questions to ask themselves. One of them is "Have I eaten today?". I always thought I'd remember to eat, but now I seem to look up and it's 2:30 in the afternoon!

Emmy has decided that she's a party animal and wants to sleep all day and stay up all night. Her and GiGi have been having lots of tea parties at 1 a.m. GiGi went home last night and let Blake and I have a go at it alone for one night. After about five hours of straight screaming, we asked GiGi to come right back. Thank goodness for GiGi!

Emmy is already starting to try to hold her head up and is getting to where she can keep it up for a few seconds. We're playing on our mat and kick-kick-kicking (at 3 -5 a.m. when we're awake and she's not screaming)!

This weekend we'll get ready for Christmas and for taking our newborn pictures on Monday!

I'm WAY behind on calling people back, so I PROMISE that if you've called I'll give you a call soon!

A Day of Firsts

Kristen and I finally took Emmy home yesterday afternoon. After three nights at the hospital, we both welcomed the chance to stretch our legs at the house. I really just couldn't wait to sleep on a real bed again. The bed I got at the hospital was much like a mat a child sleeps on at mother's day out or in kindergarten. No wonder kids don't like naps. I hated that thing. The Sansom clan welcomed Emmy home and Kathy stayed the night. This was GREAT! I got to sleep. Feeling great today! Mom crashed after I got up. Even in her sleep she is all about the baby, snoring loudly enough to provide vibration that soothed our new daughter as she slept.

After a few more cycles of sleep, poop, eat, it was time for Emmy's first bath at home. Now from previous posts and ultrasounds we were well aware that my daughter was a bit of an exhibitionist. Bath time only goes to prove that theory. Even in the dead of sleep, naked on a bath mat, my daughter took the time to let us know that she was indeed a girl. It seems I really am going to have to keep an eye on her.

Kathy is going home tonight to give Kristen and I go at it alone this evening. Another first. Wednesday, I go back to work and have to take my last final of the semester. I should perform great on that exam...real great...