Hooray for Sleep!

As of today, Emrey has slept 12 hours each night for one whole week! Needless to say, we are all very rested and happy! She is also on the verge of rolling over, as you will see below. Although she enjoys sitting in the bumbo seat we got for her, she seems to like the simplicity of watching the fan from our bed and hanging out on her changing table ( where we have in-depth conversations about life). She is making the cutest noises and sounds, but becomes silent the minute I bring out the camera. She is definitely much more inquisitive and curious these days and doesn't seem to miss a beat. I have started signing to her (although it's early), but hopefully she can start to pick up on some of the more repetitive signs. She is such a joy and brightens our days like nothing else.

Emrey can grab things!

This week, Emrey has begun to grab at and actually hold onto toys and objects. I've started placing toys with her in the stroller when we go for walks, and she actually plays with them! In honor of this accomplishment, we have a few short videos detailing this huge developmental milestone! :) She is also going to sleep much better, usually around 7:30/8 and sleeps until 6 or 7 (sometimes still waking up a little earlier).

We love this dress, made with love from Nanna

Thank you for this toy Jenna, Emrey loves it!

Some of her stroller toys

Rodeo!

Joel, Melissa & Blake at the Rodeo

Emrey at the Rodeo. There was a lot to take in!

We've been busy over the last couple weeks. We had the Kings visiting from South Carolina. While they were here we went to the annual Rodeo that takes place in Houston, which is quite an experience! Emrey has been busy, growing and hanging out with her friends (see below), attending the rodeo and celebrating St. Patricks Day. She slept through the night (9-7) for the first time this past week (12 weeks). She is entranced with her hands and loves that she has learned to grasp things with her pincher fingers. She constantly either has her hands in her mouth or is grasping at whatever she can get her hands on.

Hanging out with my friend Rowan

Hanging out with Tommy

Happy St. Patrick's Day
We went to watch Dad play ultimate and then went over to Rowan's house for dinner.

First attempts to ride Bailey

Happy Birthday Emrey

It's hard to believe Emrey is almost 3 months old! Today, we got all dressed up to go out to lunch with some friends. I took advantage of the opportunity to have a mini photo shoot with Emrey and her chair...I think I got a little carried away...



So grown up!

This is fun!

Below are some more recent pictures of Emrey playing in her "baby gym", and generally enjoying life. Although it's starting to warm up down here, we are still getting out for our daily walks (hopefully soon to be runs) and are enjoying the beautiful weather while it lasts.

Cousins!

What a fun week! The two cousins Anna + Emrey had a blast this week... (Well, the parents had a blast watching them anyway). Here I am, with the Monday morning blues :( Betsy's flight got delayed so we got an extra day with Anna and Bets, which was really nice, although, I'm sure Josh and Brian are missing them horribly! We had such a great time together, (both cousins and sisters) and talked a whole lot about how we can live closer together so that times like this happen more than a few times a year. Anna is beautiful, with a contagious smile and HUGE cheeks! She loves to dance and we think Betsy should definitely sign her up for ballet or tap, as her legs are always going! During this week, Emrey learned a lot from her cousin, including finding her hands and sleeping a little bit more! (thank you Anna) Emrey is 8 weeks old and consistently sleeping from 9 or 10 until 5:30am! This, we love and can't wait until she is able to go longer, but for now, we'll take this! Finding her hands has been great, as she often inserts them into her mouth, rather than needing the pacifier. Emrey continues to babble and find new words, cooing and experimenting with her voice, it is adorable! And we could not resist the bows one day...pretty hysterical.

Bathtime

Aunt Sarah and the girls

Don't make too much fun of a new dad's excitement!

Day/Night Confusion Over?

At 4 am, she is wide awake, hence she comes into our bed and is coaxed back to sleep for a few hours!

Well, at 7.5 weeks, Emrey is beginning to get it! For the past two nights she has slept from 10 - 4am, giving us a whole 6 hours of consolidated sleep! She has significantly decreased her evening "fussiness" too. Not sure if this is here to stay, but for now, it's pretty nice, and I am feeling much more rested. She continues to be more and more social and even yesterday, was trying to put on a smile for me, through her tears.

She's still sleeping a lot during the day, and is beginning to fall into a very loose pattern, but is still pretty unpredictable. She is talking up a storm, making the cutest cooing and aweing noises. Ellis and I (okay mostly me) can sit there forever listening to her make these noises and experimenting with her voice. Sometimes, she makes such a loud noise that she frightens herself!

Finally fitting into Becky's beautiful hat! Thank you!!!

Below are some very sweet pictures of Ellis and Emrey, as well as a video of her making these adorable noises, enjoy!

I have my dad's eyes, along with everything else :)

Father/daughter bonding (and giving mom a break)!

Baby Coos!!!

Adventures in Colorado

Beautiful views of Breckenridge from Keystone... Skiing with Matt & Amy- What a great day :-)

We just returned from Breckenridge Colorado, where Ellis attended and presented a paper at the "G & Ski" conference. Emrey was a great traveler and slept most of the way on both flights. I of course, was anxious about traveling and germs, but so far, she seems to be healthy and did great while we were there. She is growing so quickly and as you will see, is filling out quite nicely :)

We got to enjoy snow, and Emrey got to meet the King grandparents, who were willing to babysit in order to make skiing possible! We also met up with a college friend of mine and Emrey got to meet her little boy, Caleb. We are settling back into life at home and trying to wade through the piles of laundry and bills that accumulated while we were gone. Here are a few pictures from the trip.