Llama Drama, Ags Lose, and Pops

Emmy had a big weekend last week. Mom is just a little late posting. We started off on Thursday with a big trip to the zoo!Caroline and Emmy jumped in the Tahoe and we drove all the way to the med center to get to the zoo to meet some of Betsy's friends in her mom's group. We started out with the giraffes and elephants, which Emmy was overall unimpressed with. She was WAY more interested in sucking her fist, which is pretty much all she does all day now. So we headed over to the children's zoo for some exciting goat petting (blah!) and to meet the other mommies.

In the kids zoo they have a bunch of basically farm animals for the kids to pet. We met up with the other kiddos and I took Emmy out of her stroller to get a closer look at the animals and see if maybe these were more interesting than her fist. Everything was fine through the donkey, minature ebu (huh?) and goats, but when we got to the llama all hell broke lose. Emmy does NOT like llamas. She started screaming hysterically. Maybe it's their luxurious eyelashes or lovely buck teeth, but something about them just doesn't settle with her. As soon as we stepped away the screaming stopped. Then I made her look at them again (just because I'm mean like that) and she started screaming again!!! Make a note of that: no llama rides at Emmy's bday parties. After a fe minutes of hysterical "Llama Trauma" Emmy decided to take a nap. So basically we drove all the way down to the zoo to spend five minutes looking at elephants, five minutes screaming at llamas, and an hour taking a nap. Oh well, at least we got a picture with an elephant butt!

On Saturday we headed out to Emmy's first Aggie event! The Rice/A&M baseball game at Minute Made. Whoop! Emmy got all Ag'd out in everything we could find with A&M on it (including the A&M hightops that Dejo bought threee years ago for Christmas to tell us we needed to have a baby). Emmy decided she needed to sing the National Anthem too, so if you heard some wailing accompaning the song, it was her. The child does not like to sit down. Boppa and Lanny got baby duty and Mom and Dad ate peanuts and watched the Ags lose... booo

Then on Sunday it was Pops birthday party! Emmy bought him a fun coffee maker. As an extra birthday present Dad got to play with Emmy as long as he wanted with no baby stealing! Happy Birthday Pops!

The Funny Frog

Emmy finally likes her bouncy chair. The thing is crazy with a bubbling waterfall, lights, a bobbly toucan, and a moving animals. She could care less about most of it except for one red tree frog that bobbles up and down. That tree frog is HILARIOUS!!!!

Never Say Never

Yesterday Betsy, Ann, and I decided that we just HAD to go to the outlet malls to look at the baby stores. So we piled Caroline and Emmy's car seats in the Tahoe and met Ann there. Now the Tahoe was supposed to be our "baby car" but it's really a crappy one. Especially since we opted for the cooler captains chair rather than the bench seat in the second row. We had to cram the two strollers in, push them forward, slam the trunk and hope they didn't fall out. Anything we bought had to be able to be crammed into a tiny hole or it wasn't coming home

So we all met up with our three strollers and cute babies and headed out shopping. It was Mommy central there because almost everyone there had a stoller. After a couple hours of shopping we decided that everyone was ready to eat. So I said, let's all just pile in the Tahoe and feed the babies and then we'll go eat. Brilliant idea except we had two carseats and two strollers. So I gave Ann and Betsy the front seats and I was going to climb in the back row and everything was going to be great. Well that was a fine idea except we also had two strollers and a wiggly screaming baby that doesn't make climbing over carseats into the back row exactly easy.

Long story short: I had Betsy shut me in the trunk while I sat Indian style in between the folded up back row seats and we just kind of left the strollers hanging out in the parking lot. One of them tried to make a run for in and Betsy had to jump out and get it out of the middle of the lane. I'm sure Ann and Betsy had some nice conversation while I pondered what exactly it felt like to get kidnapped. My butt fell asleep about five minutes in but besides that it was really kind of ok. I was glad someone didn't decide to come up and see why there was a person shut in the trunk of my car. They would've gotten a liiiitle surprise!

Conclusion: If you would've told me three months ago that I would have someone shut me in the trunk of my car to breastfeed my child in public I would've told you were crazy and then ran away. Guess you can never say never.

And no there are no pictures to accompany this post, but here's one of Emmy looking like a little snowboarder. Soo cute!

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.