Changing Daily

Rolling over then looking up with a proud smile

Chewing on just about anything (and drooling non-stop too)

Standing (with assistance) every chance she gets

Holding her own bottle at night

And finally - one of our favorites - "shaking" a rattle. Also, you probably can't tell in pictures, but her dark hair is slowly being replaced by some thick blond hair underneath. You may be able to see it in the video since in the pictures you really just notice the random "blobs" of her original dark hair.

Rolling over

Over the last few weeks, Emelyn's "accidental rolling" has turned into being the first thing she does when she is on the floor. She still doesn't know she can get places by rolling and that's okay with us!

Lazy Weekend

Kisses from dad
"Did you need something, dad?" (Joe, these pictures are for you!)

"I just want to snuggle with mom..."

Snuggling in... I love that she's on her knees.

Not wanting to smile for mom...

But loves laughing with dad! This may be one of my most favorite pictures yet.

She loves her Love Bug book! Thanks Grandpa and Grandma!

And for some final humor (sort of) - these are Jake's feet. He's lost 5 pounds so far (yippee!) and it appears those 5 pounds all came from one leg. Maybe tomorrow the other leg will even out?!?

Back Home

During Jake's Dr. appointment today, we were advised not to travel this weekend to get Jake's swelling under control. While some swelling is a normal side effect of the steroids he's on, the amount of swelling he has is not. (He's gained an additional 10 pounds in the last two days.) So we're back home and just got back from Walgreens where we filled a Rx to help the fluid leave his body. Please pray that things would go as they should, and that the cause of the fluid retention is figured out and that it's nothing serious. We're going to miss seeing all of our family this weekend, but know it's best to be home until things are under control.

Nothing to say...

I have been trying to get a good video of Emelyn talking lately. She will talk and talk and talk until we pull out the camera. Then she won't say a thing, won't smile, and just stares at the camera. Here's a fun example from this afternoon:

I'm off to finish laundry and packing!!

Weekend thoughts...

We had a laid back weekend - spent some time with Kelsey & Eric, went to the spa (Alisha - thank you Jake!), ate supper with some friends, did a little shopping and simply enjoyed our time together. Here are a few updates on the last few days:

• We finally found a pacifier that Emelyn will take! Going down for naps is sooo much easier now. Instead of crying until she's asleep, she uses the pacifier to soothe herself to sleep. Nice.
• Last night, Emelyn took a bottle from Jake. Jake was in heaven. He has wanted to be able to give her a bottle for months now, and she has been fighting him until they're both frustrated. She's taken a bottle from me and a few other people, which has just killed Jake until now!
• We bought a new video monitor for Emelyn's room to replace the audio one. It's so nice to be able to "see" her in her crib now.
• Jake has been feeling great! Other than not sleeping the first few nights while on his medicine, the only other side effect he's experienced is weight gain and swelling - he's gained 10 pounds in one week! You can probably tell in the picture below.
• On a another weight note, I now weigh what I did before having Emelyn. Granted, that wasn't where I wanted to be at that time, but it's nice to fit into old clothes. Nursing has been so nice! Not only do I get to have one on one snuggle time with Emelyn 6 times a day, but I "burn" 400 calories while doing it. I haven't started working out yet, so when we can get outside to walk hopefully that will help me get closer to where I should be weight wise.
• We get to go home this weekend! It will be a short trip, but we should be able to see our new niece, watch my brothers play basketball and see Jake's brother and niece while home.
• We also go back for a follow up with Jake's Dr on Thursday to get the biopsy results from his ulcers. We're praying for good news!

Checking out Emelyn's new monitor

She smiles all the time - except when the camera is out!

New toy

This past week has brought a lot of praying, reading and talking about sleep. After sleeping through the night for almost 3 months, Emelyn started waking up at night again - not just once, numerous times. At first we thought it was a growth spurt, but then it continued. :( So we've considered various things - is she getting a tooth... is it time to start rice cereal ... is she getting too much sleep during the day... too little sleep... is it something I'm eating... is she not eating enough... We never realized parenting would leave us feeling this dependent on the Lord's wisdom!!

We finally decided to read a highly recommended book about sleep habits before we started cereal. After reading this book we were overwhelmed with research, information and new insight, and decided to try out some of the "proven science" behind why babies start waking up again around 4 months. Long story short.. she has slept 11-12 hours straight through the last two nights and is super happy and talkative when she wakes up. She's also taking much longer naps during the day too. I hope this is the end of sleeping issues. :)

On another note, Emelyn loves to "stand" which has brought out the exersaucer. She isn't sure what to do in it yet, but loves being in it anyways!

Dr. Appt

We arrived back in Arkansas a few hours ago after spending last night and today in Tulsa for Jake's scopes. Good news: We had prayed that Dr. Von Mueller would be able to find/give us answers to Jake's poor lab tests. She did. Bad news: She went through 2 feet of Jake's small intestines and found multiple ulcers. Yuck. This likely means his Crohn's Disease is out of remission. :( He's starting some high doses of steriods in the short-term and we'll go back in two weeks to discuss a long term plan. Since surgery is not an option (now or in the future since he has so few intestines remaining) this means medicines with miserable side effects. Another thing that will come out of this is diet changes. We'll have to be much more careful in what we eat from now on (not that we usually aren't) so I'm sure I'll be visiting a whole foods store soon and getting out some old cookbooks. :) Also, I'll be stocking up on Ensure in the weeks to come to kick him off with some high calories/nutrients to reboost his vitamin levels.

Jake is not excited to start medicines that make him feel awful all the time again and I (quite selfishly) am not excited to have a husband who never feels good again... especially since we have Emelyn. However, while in the waiting room today, I visited with a sweet lady whose husband has been battling cancer for sometime, so I remain very humbled and thankful that we are dealing with something much less serious.

On a happy note though, we were able to spend some time with my cousin Lisa and her family while in Tulsa. They are such a fun family and everytime we leave we kick ourselves for not getting together more often. Lisa and the kids were so sweet to keep Emelyn while Jake and I went to his appointment. It was so nice to not have to worry about her while in the waiting room!

Emelyn's new friends (minus Sheridan who was at work :)

How she likes it best

I think I've mentioned before how much Emelyn likes her bath (except in this picture she decided to give the camera some sass).....We've also realized she loves to be wrapped up in her soft fleece blankets with only her diaper on.
Playing peekaboo with the blanket

For those of you who know Dana, doesn't this look like Dana in her baby pictures?!?

Loving the "softness"