Emily in a Pumpkin Patch!

Yes, I know. It's been a week since I posted and all of you are wondering what has happened to us. We have not been abducted by aliens or joined some weird cult. My best friend, Laura, came up to visit and we've been busy having a good time and playing with Emily! (And doing some shopping, of course!) We came down to WV yesterday to visit Laura's parents for a few days -- and to go "trick or treat-ing"! We did get some good candy for Emily -- aaw, who are we kidding -- it's for us! :) Hope you enjoy the pictures of our little pumpkin!

3 Month Pictures!

We finally chose which pictures we liked of Emily's 3 Month Pictures (which we got taken a little late -- woops)! Hope you enjoy them! :)

I can almost sit up on my own . . . almost!

5 Months Old!

I am 5 months old today. I'm laughing and smiling all the time and am a very happy baby -- as you can see! I've discovered my hands and just saw my feet for the first time a few days ago -- they're pretty fascinating! :) My dog, Nora, and I have started playing together too. Nora tickles my feet with her nose and then I kick her back -- it makes me giggle! :) I'm still sleeping around 12 hours a night and taking a few naps during the day as well. And I eat rice cereal about twice a day and am enjoying it much more. I barely spit up any on my bib -- I'm getting so big!

I went to a playdate today with my twin friends Madeline & Mallorie. We don't get to play together much because they're so much bigger than me, but Mom says that will change in a few months when I start crawling and sitting up on my own. Nevertheless, I had a good time! It was a nice 5 Month Birthday! :)

Aren't I Adorable?!

I love the sweater my mommy knit for me -- and doesn't it look great on me?! :)

We Love Cedarville!

And A Few More Good Times With Good Friends . . .

More Good Times With Good Friends . . .

5 Year College Reunion

That's right -- it's been 5 years since we graduated from Cedarville University and in a lot of respects it feels like yesterday and like 15 years all at the same time! We drove down yesterday morning and met up with my cousins, Christie & Adam. We went out to lunch with them and had a great time -- allowing Adam to finally meet Emily -- aren't they cute together?! We went to the Oasis Cafe, a favorite place for Christie and me while we were students there --it must have gone under new ownership because it was quite disappointing -- but did provide many laughs and a load of entertainment! :)

After lunch we met up with a bunch of our college friends at the soccer game and then went to the "Reunion Dinner". We had a fantastic time reminiscing and catching up with what everyone has been up to. It was the first time a lot of them were able to see Emily and she of course "wow-ed" them with her flexible and pleasant personality! She was smiling and laughing the whole time -- you never would have guessed that she had only taken 2-30 minute naps during the day! She is such an angel -- we're so blessed!!

Then after the dinner we went to stay at my college roommate's (Amanda) parents' house (Mike & Colleen Mariage). They opened up their home for us and our friend Ben to stay at and even provided a delicious lunch for us today. We had a great time chatting after church and just talking -- it was a perfect end to a great weekend!

We got home tonight around 6:30pm and are now sitting down to relax a little before the week begins! Emily is such a trooper when it comes to traveling and is SOOO flexible with her scheduling! She adapts to everything really smoothly and was just amazing this weekend -- I just can't say it enough -- we are so blessed (in many, many ways) to have her! :)

Just Having Fun!

First Time with Solid Food!

Tonight was Emily's first time eating Rice Cereal -- as you can tell, she got more on herself than in her stomach. She didn't seem to enjoy it too much but did like sitting in her new highchair -- even though it was so huge for her (we had to prop her up with a towel to prevent her from sliding to the side)! It's hard to believe how tiny but "grown-up" she looks in that chair! Time is going by too fast!!

4 Month Check-Up

Emily had her 4 Month Check-Up today and did great with the vaccination shots! She cried a little but not half as bad as last time! She weighed in at 12 lbs 13 ozs and 25 1/2" long (45% and 90% respectively). Dr. Joyce said she looks really good and we shouldn't have to "worry" about her weight gain anymore. In fact, she said that we can start Emily on some baby cereal 2-3 times a day. I had started giving her straight formula (instead of fortifying my milk with formula, like I had been doing) because since she got her teeth I couldn't breastfeed her anymore (she's a biter!). The formula doesn't seem to stay down as well as my milk and now she's just chewing on the bottle and playing with it more than eating from it. So, hopefully feeding her cereal will help everything all around! :)

Her next Check-Up isn't until 6 Mos (December) and she'll have 3 shots then. It's hard to believe how big she's getting and she is just so much fun -- I wish you call could see her now. She's laughing, and staring at her fingers, and recognizing voices, and playing with us -- it's just so much fun! :) This past week, my dad was grabbing her toes when she would swing towards him in her swing. Once he would touch them, she'd pull them back towards the swing and giggle. It's so adorable!!

Well, that's about it for now. Hope you're all doing well! :)

Fun with Grandpa!

A Swarm of Bees, Maybe?!

We woke up this morning to find Nora's face swollen (one eye nearly swollen shut and her mouth twice the size it normally is). We couldn't figure out what was wrong with her until we started to examine her and found some bug bites around her head and body. We ran her over to the vet this morning only to discover that her tongue was swollen as well -- that might explain why she wasn't eating or drinking like normal! The vet thinks she was "attacked" by a swarm of bees sometime over the weekend and had a bad reaction. She's doing much better now with some benadryl but it was pretty sad this morning. You can kind of see how swollen she was in this picture. Poor little thing!