9 month checkup

Happy 9 months to Emma Kate!  Brett & I took her last Monday for her 9 month wellness checkup.  To bad for us, Emma Kate's doctor, Dr. Leon was not there. She is also pregnant with a boy due in March.  She has diffcult pregnancies so she had to take off until after her baby is born. I wish her the best for the rest of her pregancy & for a good delivery.  It makes me even more thankful for how good both my pregnancies have gone thus far.

Emma Kate was such a great girl at the appointment.  We had to wait 45 minutes until the doctor FINALLY came in. She was such a trooper, even though it was her naptime.  She played with the tissue on the table, played with the big mirror on the wall, and ate some snacks while we waited.  Thank goodness Brett was there to hold her & keep up with her on the table because she is quite the wiggly one now.

EK's 9 month stats:
Weight: 18.9 pounds  (50%- same)

Height:  27 inches  (25%-same)

playing with the mirror & of course looking at herself

Storyime with Aunt Barbie

Aunt Barbie came to see the baby girl last week.  She was reading books with EK in her lap!  They were both too cute I had to snap a few pics. :)

Emma Kate on the move...Crawling!

(8 1/2 months old)

Emma Kate has been pretty close for a week to crawling. She has been getting on all fours and moving her arms or legs, just not at the same time. Then, Thursday, January 14th she offically crawled!  Aunt Barbie and Lolly were over visiting when she crawled across her mat to get a toy Aunt Barbie was dangling out in front of her.  Since then she's been on the move!  She is not only crawling, but wanting to pull up on everything like the ottoman, her stool, and even on us.  I thought we would have a chance to get used to her crawling before the whole pulling up on things started...guess not. It's kind of like peek-a-boo when she sees us on the other side on the ottoman. She is so cute & tiny crawling around on the floor. Brett did do some babyproofing around the house this weekend.  By no means though, is our house totally "babyproofed."  I must admit I'm a bit scared & nervous now because as she's becoming more mobile I'm becoming less mobile as I just entered my 31st week of pregnancy! Here are some pics. I'll figure out how to post the videos later.

She loves Nash!

pulling up on her puzzle stool

fun stuff!

And now let's check out this bookshelf...

EK crawled all the way from our living room to the front door...quite a trek.

Emma Kate & Nash at the front window/door...so cute!

Two Little Baby Teeth

It happened...on December 31st Emma Kate woke up with a tiny white cap showing on her bottom gum.  Her first tooth was coming in!  She was a little fussy that day compared to her usual happy self, but nothing major.  It did throw off her napping throughout the next few days.  She was napping more like 4 times, but shorter time periods (45 minutes).  Then exactly one week later, tooth #2 popped up right next to the other one.  Now she has both her bottom teeth growing in.  They are precious!

(8 months old)

2009...pretty amazing!

New Year's Day I thought back about 2009 for me.  This year Brett and I went through one of the biggest milestones & changes that two people go through together...we became parents! God gave us Emma Kate on April 27th at 3:13pm and since that day my life hasn't been the same.  I never imagined how much I could love my child until I held her in my arms for the very first time.  I knew I would love my child, but it's so much more than that.  She is this amazing little person who I get the privilege to be her mother.  Then, in August of 2009 we got a huge surprise...I was pregnant again!  Yes, it was a shock and I know it will be challenging and overwhleming, but I believe that's God's plan for our family - to become a family of four sooner than we expected.  2009 was a big year for me...it was the year I became a mom & started this chapter in my life.  I'm hopeful that 2010 will bring us a healthy and happy baby boy, Jackson.  He will be welcomed with so much love from his parents and "sis" Emma Kate. :)  Here's to a wonderful 2010 with health & happiness to all!

our first picture together as a family of 3

It's Christmas Day!!!

                         

A beautiful white Christmas on Emma Kate's first one, so special! We did our own Christmas/Santa together that morning just the three of us.  Emma Kate went to her stocking and found her goodies in there. We looked at her Santa gifts. Then, EK opened up her gifts from Mommy and Daddy.  We loved watching her rip the wrapping paper, try to eat it, and discover her new toy.  This being our first Christmas as parents was really special, but I know it will only get more and more special each year. 
After we did our little family Christmas, we braved the snow & icy roads to my parents (aka Lolly & Pop's) house.  The usual 15 minute drive took 30 minutes. Brett was quite cautious with his precious cargo. Emma Kate was able to take a snooze while we drove over there too. 
We proceeded to celebrate Christmas with Lolly & Pop.  Emma Kate and Jackson got lots of fun presents!  My personal favorite was Emma Kate's wooden puzzle name stool.  I had one growing up so my mom ordered one with Emma Kate's name on the top line and a hearts/princess puzzle on the bottom line.  So sweet!  Then, we ate our traditional Christmas breakfast casserole my mom makes.  We got all ready for my Dad's side of the family to come over that afternoon.  My uncle, aunt, two cousins and their kiddos came over.  Emma Kate played and watched everyone all day.   Merry Christmas to all!!

First time stocking opening

Merry Christmas everyone! :)

This is one of my favs.

Thank you Ray family for giving us The Elf on the Shelf...it will be such a great family hoilday tradition to start next Christmas.

We gave Daddy a new ipod.

He looks pretty happy and EK wants to eat it.

At Lolly & Pop's

sweet pic :)

her special stool

Jackson got lots of clothes

Looks like Brett is happy about all his gift cards.

New Coach sunglasses

It's hard to tell who's the happiest person in this pic!!

Jill, my cousin holding my girl

Logan (my 2nd cousin) is growing up so fast

ready to eat her Christmas dinner

Emma Kate's Christmas haul after 5 Christmas's with family

lots of gifts

Christmas books and letter Santa left Emma Kate

Merry first Christmas, my sweet angel!!!

Christmas Eve 2009

For Christmas Eve, we went over to Aunt Barb and Uncle Steve's house to do our "Cousins" Christmas as Katie calls it.  Emma Kate even got a big suprise on her first Christmas Eve...SNOW!!  We had such a great evening!  

It's snowing Eeekkk's!!!

Love my Katie!

Aunt Katie thought it was so fun that EK is on the move backwards now!

Look Daddy, it's snowing!

Present time

Yay for my gift thanks Aunt Katie!

She loved it :)

haha this pic cracks me up it looks like she's telling them some big story.

He's in love!!

Classic face Stan

another classic face to my mom

Emma Kate probably wanting to be held by her Lolly

Emma Kate's first Christmas Eve...going to sleep before Santa comes!

it looked so pretty!

Our house & yard covered in the pretty snow

Happy 5 year anniversary!

December 18th Brett and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary!  Looking back it was truly the perfect wedding day!  We consider ourselves so lucky to have found each other.  He's my best friend, a wonderful husband, and amazing father.  Thanks for 5 unbelievable years and many many many more to come!

For our anniversary, Lolly stayed with Emma Kate so we could go to a nice dinner.  We went to Truluck's in Addison and ate lots of delicious food.

family pic before Momma & Daddy go on their date

I'm so in love with my girl!!

Guess he is too!!

Brett sent me flowers & even tried to make them similiar to my wedding bouquet. :)

Visit from The Hagedorn Crew

The weekend before Christmas, Brian & Brett planned on going to the UNC vs Texas basketball game at Texas Stadium so we decided it should be a whole family visit!  Brian, Angela, Caitlin, Maddie, and Lily all stayed with us that weekend.  The guys went to their game Saturday, but unlucky for Caitlin she got sick so us girls had a low-key day and hung out at the house.  Maddie, Emma Kate, and I did run an errand to Barnes & Noble & Starbucks. As Maddie & I had our latte and hot chocolate it made me miss teaching and having those fun conversations with an outgoing funny 7 year old girl. We also exchanged Christmas gifts between our families.  All the kiddos seemed pretty happy about that! Then on Sunday, I wanted to take the older girls to ICE at the Gaylord Resort.  For those of you not in the DFW area, the Gaylord is a huge Texas themed hotel/resort/convention center and it's always decorated really pretty for the holidays.  Plus, they have a big production called ICE where you buy tickets, wait in a long line to go inside a tent that's 10 degrees to see everything in there made out of ice.  This year it was a Grinch theme so I thought my nieces would enjoy and it's something they don't have in Arkansas.  We got our long blue parkas and cameras and headed in.  The girls and Angela slid down the ice slides (didn't think it was such a good idea for a pregger lady).  Lastly for the weekend,  my parents were nice enough to give us their Mavs seats because they were playing the Cavs, which LeBron James & Shaq play for.  Brian bought a ticket in the same section and us three went down to the game.  It was a good game & the Mavs won!  My parents upgraded their seats this year and this was our first time sitting in them.  We really felt like we were a part of the game & all the action.  Brett sat with me the first half and then Brian came down the second half.  It was a great weekend!  So happy they came down for a visit! Here are pics.

Brett, EK, Cousin Lily, and Uncle Brian

Maddie & Emma Kate

playing with her cousins...this is what it's like to have sisters EK!

Yay about to open gifts!

She just wants to eat the wrapping paper

Fun fun!!

No more gifts to open!!

Brett snapped a pic of me & my big belly when I fell asleep...Baby Jack was kicking. :)

Caitlin & Maddie at the Gaylord Resort

beautiful tree

girls pics

Everything is made out of ice!!

Sis-in-laws :)

Me, Grinch, and Maddie

the ice slides

Caitlin just finished & Maddie is the one sliding

Here comes Angela

ice cave

How are they almost 8 years old??  Time flies!

Mavs game.  Lebron James

There's Shaq...he's even bigger up close!

Christmas with Brett's Family

The first weekend in December, we headed up to Fort Smith to celebrate Christmas with Brett's family.  Friday evening we went to Brett's Dad's house to do Christmas over there.  This was Emma Kate's first time meeting her cousins, Taylor and Zach (Brad and Amy's kids).  Grandpa, Adele, and Amanda gave Emma Kate a Leapfrog musical table and a cute hat/headband.  The next day, we celebrated and hung out at Gramma's house (Brett's mom).  Emma Kate liked ripping wrapping paper and trying to eat it.  She got lots of great gifts!  Taylor and Zach were so sweet playing with EK. We had one last stop for the weekend, our annual "Hall-Net Friends Holiday Get Together" at Jamie and Mark's house.  Jamie had a wonderful brunch for all 10 of us.  Great food and even better to see our best friends!  Emma Kate was so great the whole weekend, even the 4 hour drive both ways.  Here are some pics from the weekend.

"Hi Taylor nice to meet you."

Thanks Zach for helping get my things out of my purse.

playing at Grandpa's house

Grandpa Gene watching me play

Thanks Adele & Amanda for my cute hat!

Fun musical table

Her Christmas stocking at Gramma's house

Thanks Brad, Amy, Tay, & Zach for all these books!

Love bows!

Gramma feeding me.

Cousins pic

EK at her first "Best Friends Hoilday Get Together!"

Having fun at Jamie & Mark's house...center of attention!