Where did October go?

John and I were talking the other day and he looked over at me with a very serious look on his face. He said, "You know Monica, I don't know where October went. Emily was born and then it was Halloween." This couldn't be more true. I know that I spent everyday of October with my sweet girl, but it went by too fast. I went back to work this last week, and even though it wasn't my favorite way to spend my time, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Now, don't get me wrong, I didn't enjoy it by far, but if every week goes by as quickly as this last one did, it will be Christmas and then Spring Break and the summer will be here before I know it. I am just not excited about the first 8 months of Emily's life passing that quick.

I put away all of her newborn clothes and most of her 0-3 today for safe keeping just in case I need them for baby #2 (a while from now!) and I couldn't believe she fit into some of those clothes! We measured her Friday and she is 23 1/2 inches long and I am guessing 13 pounds. I am not an expert weight guesser, but I am sure I am close. We go on the 19th for her 2 month check up, so I can't wait to see what the doc says. Aside from the fact that I am taking that day off and I get to spend it with her!

For Halloween Emily was a flower. She was okay with her costume until she caught one of the petals out of the side of her vision and she freaked out. Good thing I had another Halloween outfit on underneath. She wore her "I'm Batty for Daddy" shirt the rest of the Trunk or Treat at church. Here are a couple of pictures from Halloween.

I am taking a deep breath and gearing up for the next few weeks. I am hoping that they go as smoothly as this last one. Thank you everyone who prayed for me this last week!

1 Month!

Emily was officially one month old today. I can not believe that I have been a mommy to a precious little girl for that long. It has been a huge challenge and learning experience, but I wouldn't trade any of it for the world. She is up to 11lbs now and is completely filling out her 0-3 month clothing. Emily is determined to hold her head up and gets super frustrated when she fails. We love her so much.

We have been through what was diagnosed as colic, acid reflux and her first diaper rash in four short weeks. I think we have all that under control now and we are starting to wean her off nursing and easing her into liking the bottle so when I go back to work in two weeks it is an easier transition for her. I will still pump so she will get breastmilk, but I think Paula (the babysitter) will appreciate it if we start this process now!

A local church here has a pumpkin patch every year and I wanted to take Emily out to get some pictures of her. We went out Saturday and I know she was only 4 weeks, but I still had to try!

Self soothing.

Not happy and letting Mommy know it!!

More self soothing.

Daddy is trying to create a shadow to make her not cry.

This is how we ended up!! Asleep on Daddy's face.

So John and I decided that we would just buy a few pumpkins and try again the next day at home. This is what we got.

Emily is such a blessing!

Two Week Appointment

Today Emily had her two week appointment with the pediatrician. At her first appointment the doc said she had dropped to 8lbs. Today she was up to 9lbs 10oz!! She has also grown a quarter of an inch! I thought her clothes were starting to fit tighter, but I didn't think she put on that much weight. I feel like I should have been able to see her grow. She had her PKU test where they had to prick her heel. She did wonderfully. She didn't cry until the end and even then it was because she was bored, not in pain. Now, at her two week appointment we will see if she is as brave with her shots.

I also talked to the doctor about Emily's crying fits. She said she was pretty sure it was colic, considering you can't really diagnose it. She reassured me that we are doing a good job since Emily is growing so well and is looking so good. She also said we just need to have patience with Emily, so if you have any extra patience lying around, send it my way! I hate hearing her cry, knowing I can't do anything about it.

My Little Model

Yesterday I received a request from my sister for more photos! I decided that I should try out the new camera John gave me and reacquaint myself with PhotoShop. This is what we came up with yesterday. I guess you can say these are her two week photos, but I can definitely not see myself keeping up with a weekly photo collection.... I could be wrong though!

1 Week Old!

We spent most of our day today napping together on the bed. It is so nice to be able to just lay with her and love on her!

This week we had our first pediatrician appointment and the first thing the doc's assistant said when they walked in was 'Oh she is so fat'. Emily lost 11oz since her birthday, but she is still our little chunk. The appointment went great and there are no complaints.

Instead of giving a play by play of our first week together, I thought you would like to see the person our little girl is becoming in pictures.

Sleeping with mommy on the bed today. She was probably more comfortable that I was!

Hooded towel!! John kept calling her his little Jedi. lol.

Our little chunk is eating 3 or 4 ounces most of the time. When she can't have food, she chooses her fingers.

Since I started pumping, Daddy loves being able to feed his little girl.

This is from the day we came home from the hospital. Can you believe how much she has changed?

Emily is Here

Yesterday at 9:14 am Miss Emily Elizabeth joined the Higgins family. She weighed 8lbs and 12oz and was 21 inches. The doc said I made a good choice doing the c-section because her head was 14 1/4 inches around and the cord was around her neck twice. But she is here, chunky and perfect. We have a few pictures now we would like to share and as soon as we get home, there will be plenty more!

Setting In

This morning during church I started thinking about how much my life is going to change in a few days. I can't believe that I can now say 'Emily will be here on Saturday'. My time for this event is no longer measured by weeks and I don't have to use amounts of days. I can just say 'Saturday'.

I don't think it has really sunken in what is exaclty going to happen. I say I am excited because I know I am. I say I am nervous because I know I am, but I am not entirely sure what emotion I am actually feeling. I am not sure if that makes sense. I have spent the last nine months getting ready for Emily and the last year wanting a baby. Now she will be here in a few days and I am not sure if I am ready. I have watched so many of my friends change into some of the best moms I have seen. I know I have a strong support system to help me out, but right now this is me. I have had them to focus on and see that they can do it. Now it is coming down to me and my ability to be a mom. I have to take all the advice and the answers to my inumerable questions and actually put them to the test.

I am happy to become a mom and start a new life with my family. I am ready to venture down this new path. I am ready to have the family I never had. I am also ready for the feelings to sink in. I am ready to actually experience the emotions I know I should be. Right now I feel like I am watching myself go through these things. I feel like it is too good to be true. This is too surreal to me and I want it to feel more real.

36 Week Photo Shoot

Yesterday John and I went to our last sonogram appointment and the beginning of our weekly checkups for Emily. The sonogram was to measure and see if her growth was steady and if the c-section was still a good idea. She is seven pounds now and is predicted to be 8.5. I know that this is a sure thing, but I sure don't want to underestimate her size and something go wrong in delivery. I have no doubt she is a large baby after the way I fe

el carrying her around all day! The sonogram tech kept commenting on how chubby her checks are and how round her belly is. They even showed us a fat roll on her belly. She still has her head full of hair from last time. I was born with a bunch of hair, so I guess she will follow in my footsteps. Her pics came out great for her being so far along and smushed down in the canal, ready to come out. But here is her chubby little face.

I also pretty much finished the nursery. I have a few small projects to finish (like the E that will hold her bows), but for the most part, it is complete. I can't believe where it started and where it ended up. I love to go in there and sit in the middle of the floor and just imagine how the room is going to change in 17 days.

On August 16th, the Sunday before school went back, my good friends at church threw me and Emily a baby shower. It meant so much to me that they took the time to help start me off on the right foot. I wanted to say a huge thank you to all those who came to the shower and the hostesses.

I am in my second week of school and eeking along from weekend to weekend. The kids are behaving about as well as I can expect them to and the administration is back to their old tricks from last year, so really not a lot has changed from last year. I just keep telling myself 17 days until my life changes for the better. I can't wait!

New Date!

John and I went to see my OB today to discuss Emily and how 'healthy' she is. After telling my doc that she is 5 pounds, 2 ounces and her head is in the 90th percentile, she suggested that maybe we might want to do a c-section. She didn't push, but she went through the complications for both and John and I decided to better safe than sorry and schedule a c-section for September 19th. The 19th is turning out to be mine and John's special number; he proposed June 19th, we got married May 19th and now if all goes as planned, Emily's birthday will be September 19th. We are excited and feel good about our decision, but anyone out there who has had a c-section and wants to tell me what to expect, the information would be much appreciated!

Sonogram

Today we had our 32 week sonogram. My doctors are still confusing me regarding how far along I am. Anyway, while we there I had two things I wanted to accomplish. I wanted to know if she was actually a girl (I am a paranoid person and have been having dreams of taking a little boy home in a pink dress) and I wanted another 4D pic of her face (hoping that her dadddy would like this one). Well, I got one out of the two (still a girl!!), so I was satisfied. Emily is already head down and facing my spine and would not move. The more the tech tried to move her, the more she stayed put. She was also being stubborn about letting me see the girl parts; she had one foot covering what I wanted to see and the more the tech moved my tummy, she pulled the other foot up to block it as well. This just lead John to say that she is just like her mommy. Great. The tech also told us that she has a head ful off hair. Not just some, lots. John said it looked brown, but everyone knows how that is just wishful thinking since it was black and white.... because of course I saw red! Emily is already 5 pounds 2 ounces which means if the due date is right and she continues to grow like she is supposed to, she will be around 8 and a half pounds, which is huge compared to the other babies being born the my church friends. I go see my OB on Thursday and we will discuss how big she is and might be and whether or not I can deliver her. She isn't a really huge baby, but we never talked about my limit and if I have one. We will see Thursday!

Since she was not in a position for good pics, I don't have any new ones of her, but I do have my 33 week photo.

Nothing else too exciting is going on, just trying to get ready for the school year. I go back on the 18th... eek!!

Baby Shower!

This last weekend I traveled to Prosper for a baby shower my good friends were throwing for me. It ended up being one of the best weekends ever. I brought Paula with me from Lubbock and I had friends drive in from San Antonio, Granbury and Royce City and of course my family that drove in from Abilene and Tyler. It meant so much to have everyone there! Thank you so much.

Paula made some of the most delicious food, Angie had some great games to play, Pashe opened her beautiful house to the occasion and Rose was there to make it all go smoothly. It was great!

A picture of the presents table after I got to open everything. I just want to say THANK YOU to everyone who helped fill this table up. How wonderful the people are in my life are truly represented by the amount of stuff on this table!!

This is me with my four hostesses. Angie, Rose, ME, Pashe and Paula. I really need to break that bad habit of tilting my head in pics!!!

One of the games we had to play (well I got to watch) was use a whole roll of toilet paper to make a diaper. So we had four pairs (mommies and babies) and the mommy had to make a diaper on the baby. This is what I had to judge from! I had to go with the only pair who actually followed the rules and used all the toilet paper.

I have such amazing memories of this occasion and over 100 pics from it!! But I can't post them on here. So if you have all the time in the world and want to see them, they will be on facebook! Thank you all so much doing this for me!!

The Last Few Weeks

These last few weeks have been pretty fun-filled and eventful. First, John and I took a trip to San Antonio that was supposed to be work-related, but because of the brevity of 'required activities' I decided to take John with me for a mini-vacation *mostly* on the school's dollar. We spent five days melting and sweating in San Antonio and we got to eat lots of yummy food. Any weight that I have gained during th pregnancy, I feel like I sweat off while walking around downtown San Antonio. This is proof that I was melting!!!

While we were in San Antonio, we had to see Rose and her brand new house!! I got to spend the night with her, go shopping in San Marcos (of course spending too much money!) and then out to eat at Chuy's. I love Chuy's! It is my staple everytime I go there. I bet Rose is going to get tired of taking me there!

While standing outside of Chuy's after dinner, I thought I would get my 27 weeks picture. I have gotten really bad at taking these! I could not stop laughing hysterically. The whole process ended up with me crouched on the ground laughing. I was the after dinner entertainment for people leaving the resturant. John thought he needed to document this shining event in my life.

Here is the best one out of the bunch for my 27 week photo.

During these last few weeks, John and I also had new carpet installed. I told John that I feel grown up now... I guess it makes sense to me that only grown ups buy new flooring. I don't know. But to me it was a necessary step in the process of getting ready for Emily. I wanted new carpet for her to drool on.

Pashe also came down for a few days. It was so good to have her here to run around with and watch FRIENDS with. lol. I wish I was closer to all my friends. Next weekend I will get to meet up with all of them for the shower they are throwing for me. I can't wait to see everyone!

Nursery Weekend

John's parents came down this last Friday night to help paint the nursery... and my hallway. In less than 24 hours we/mostly them re-did the hallway and the nursery. Yesterday evening when John's parents left we had a new hallway, foyer, and nursery. I am so appreciative of his family.

For an early Father's Day gift I gave John a compound miter saw. He was got to use that to cut the crown molding for the nursery. He kept coming up to me saying thank you thank you thank you with a huge smile on his face like a kid at Christmas.

The carpet will be installed June 23rd and we will *hopefully* get the crib and dresser the weekend of July 11th when I am in Dallas. I can't wait to see it completed!

John putting texture on the walls.


John painting the pink stripe.


Far away view of the finished wall.


Up close shot of the wall. I am so proud of the work they did and so appreciative of my in-laws for always being there to help us.