Emma's BOWteek

       

Some of you may know that I have started a bow business called Emma's BOWteek. I just made this for Emma's 6 month photos and I am also selling them on Etsy along with some other bows. Here is the link if you are interested. 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/176874000/tutu-with-matching-bow

Also come like me on Facebook! I have a variety of bows being sold on this site. 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Emmas-BOWteek/749290481764544

Here are a few.....

5 months old!

My little girl is growing up so fast. I just can't believe that she is five months already. I feel like yesterday I was saying get this kid out my belly and running up and down steps praying for contractions. 

So much has happened in this past month. She has done lots of firsts. I'll start with her first Christmas! We had lots of fun in St. Louis visiting family. Emma got so many toys and tons of clothes. We ended up having to borrow a suitcase from my mom to bring it all back. She is one spoiled little girl. :)

At the airport waiting for our flight that was delayed 2 1/2 hours

 Christmas dress #1. It was a 3-6 month outfit that she could barely squeeze into. Actually those aren't even the tights that it came with. 

Great Papa

Pappy

Mimi, Pappy, Grace, Sophia and Emma!

First family Christmas photo. 

Grandpa Charlie

L-R Grace, Emma & Sophia 

Aunt Jenny 

Poppy

Nanny

Grammy

Aunt Jean

Cousin Abby

After we got back home Emma and I quickly got sick. Upper respiratory something. I just got over it and Emma is at the tail end I think. It was very scary. Over the weekend she had a fever of 100.5, diarrhea, vomiting a horrid cough and a nose full of snot. She also went almost 9 hours without a wet diaper. I was so scared. I started crying and Mark had to calm me down a few times. I was very close to packing her up and heading to the hospital. Luckily she showed some signs of improvement. I ended up sleeping in her room until I found myself waking her up with my horrific cough. So I left around 2am. She has been getting better each day. :)

Now on to the rest of the firsts....... Emma can now sit up on her own!

She can roll over from belly to back. But she doesn't like to do it very often. She figures, hey why should I do it when mom  will do it for me! Her new thing the past few days is to roll from back to belly and start screaming because she can't get back to her back. Once I turn her over she does it again. It's a vicious cycle I tell ya. Her favorite toy is her talking book and the fish on her excersaucer. Unfortunately the fish had to go to fishy heaven today. She puts it in her mouth and chews on the fin. She sometimes gags on it but today it made her throw up, twice. That thing isn't easy to take apart and put back together so I opted to put mr fishy away. 

I have noticed that when I say her name now she looks at me. I was in the kitchen and said Emma loudly. She stopped what she was playing with and quickly looked around for me. :) She know her name! That's crazy. It seems like such a small thing but for me it's huge!

We tried solids again after coming back from Christmas in St. Louis. This time I mixed it with half oatmeal and half prunes. I went with prunes because the prevacid for her reflux constipates her. The prunes do the trick! :) We have done squash as well but she prefers prunes. 

Sleeping...... We are still struggling a little but things have started looking up. We have a great routine down. Starting at 6:45 We eat our oatmeal/prunes, bath if it's bath night, tummy time with daddy and then story time! Usually around 7:30 after story time I nurse her and rock her to sleep. I know I shouldn't do it but if I don't rock her to sleep she is a screaming angry baby for hours! So I just do it. Maybe in a few weeks I'll try to put her down without it. I also have to swaddle her. She has a bad gag reflux and right now she can't keep her fingers out of her mouth. Well, she has made herself puke 3 times now. Swaddling it is! 

She is usually up around 1 am to eat. Ever now and then she will go until 4 or 6. But usually it's 1am and then again at 6-6:30. I guess I should just get up at that point but hey if I'm gunna be a stay at home mom I'm not gettin up at the crack ass of dawn! So we usually get up around 8:30. 

She usually does 2 long naps a day 2-3 hours. And 1 cat nap in the evening for about 30-45 min. She is also still exclusively breastfeeding. She won't have anything to do with a bottle or soppy cup right now. I'm letting her warm up to this cup I just got her. It has handles on the sides. She chews on it but gags if there is anything inside. So I just keep it empty for the time being. Maybe soon she will change her mind. 

Oh I should also add that we are still using the tucker sling for her reflux. If your baby has reflux I highly recommend this. I think this is a huge help. 

She is currently in 6 - 6-9 month clothing. Still is size 3 diapers. They are getting a bit snug though. I think I'll finish up what I have of the 3s and then just move to my size 4 stck pile. She is just growing like a weed. At this rate she will be in 24month clothing by her first birthday. Lol

Her eyes are turning brown in the center. Mark has hazel/green eyes and I have brown. So we still aren't sure what the end result will be. Her hair is coming in white! She has the brown hair she was born with and then a ton of blonde now. Mark had white hair when he was a baby. I had red. So I'm pretty positive it will be blonde. 

Emma is so much fun right now. Each day she does something new. She is the light of my life and I love her so much. I look forward to the next day with her. Time is just passing to fast. I am so blessed to be able to stay home with her. I can't imagine leaving her with anyone during the day. My heart drops just thinking about it. 

 

That's all for now! Here are some more pics!

Just being me

 I am not a perfect mother or woman.  I do not eat enough fruits and veggies (for a nursing mom). I let her cry for more than 5 min sometimes. Sometime I just have to put her in the pack n play and take a step outside. My laundry hamper is almost always full. I often forget a load in the washer overnight. My carpets desperately need to see the long lost vacuum. I found a few grapes under the chair the other day. Had to be a few weeks old. I often just sit my ass down on the couch while Emma naps and do nothing. My bathrooms need some scrub and bubbles (by the way, they don't scrub so you don't have to. That's a bunch of crap. False advertising if you ask me.) I have fallen asleep while nursing, burping, pumping, going to the bathroom and pretty much during everything else to. I have let Emma sleep in our bed. I nurse her to sleep most nights. I don't always follow the 2 day bath rule for Emma (that's my own rule to, smh). Who am I kidding, I don't follow that rule for myself most the time haha.  My dogs don't always get fresh water every day. My husband gets a cranky wife most days just because I need to vent to someone........... I guess what I'm trying to say here is I am just me. I'm no mother Theresa or Betty Crocker.  I make a lot of mistakes and I am sometimes selfish. But I am true to myself. I tell ya how it is and I don't sugarcoat shit.  I think that's what make me me. You love me or hate me. I would rather be hated for who I am than loved for who I'm not. 

No matter what pressure you have on you. Or who tells you what is best for you. Just be you! Go with your gut. You have all the answers you need there. No googling, books, other moms or even your own mom will have the "right" answers. Only you. So it's ok if your house is a mess, your kids run around screaming in stores, you don't eat fruits and veggies, or if you sometimes just lay like broccoli on the sofa. Do what you need to do. It will be ok!  Just be you. Stay True. 

That is all. Just felt the urge to write. :)

Where has the time gone?

Wow! I can't believe that I haven't posted anything in such a long time. I don't know where to start really. Things have been very busy around here lately. I'll just jump right in I guess. 

For Halloween mark and I were able to go to St. Louis and be with our families for the week. So greatful for this. Emma was able to finally meet everyone. For Halloween my mom and I drove to Kansas City to see my sister and the twins. Emma was an elephant! She was really cute!

My family came here to New York for thanksgiving. It was awesome they could come. It was a lot of fun! The house was full of laughter and babies!this was our first thanksgiving without my grandma so it was hard. But I made the turkey and my mom and sister made everything else. My first turkey came out Great! I was very pleased with myself :) I must say it's a very gross process getting that bird ready though. Lol It was a great thanksgiving!

Emma's reflux is still a huge problem. She doesn't spit up but she is constantly in pain and screaming. I put her on the solutab instead of the compound prevacid and it seems to help and she loves the taste. She hated the compound. She would spit it back in my face and choke on it. Awful I tell you. I have her in her crib tucker sling now. She is no longer in our room! The tucker sling hasn't done a lot of help I don't think with the reflux. I hope that soon it gets better and we can move past this and on to happier times. 

As far as sleeping....... For the past 3 nights now she has slept through the night. Bed time is 7:30 and she goes until about 4:30 without waking. Then I feed her and she goes back to sleep until 8am. Before now she was up every 3-4 hours wanting to sleep. I was loosing it. I have raccoon eyes to show for it, lol. I just hope she continues to sleep for us. I am so much more usefull when I have sleep. 

Last week I started her on cereal. At first due didn't know what to do with it and would just let it fall out of her mouth, haha. It was incredibly funny. She then started slurping it. Now she can't wait for it to get to her mouth. She opens her mouth and let's out a squeal if I'm not going fast enough. We tried peas and sweet potatoes but I don't think she is ready for that yet. She was up all night with what I think was a stomach ache. I'll hold off for now on that. Let her master cereal. 

Emma's 4 month appointment was 2 days ago. Here are her stats..... 14 pounds 12 ounces (75th percentile), 26 inches long (95th percentile) BIG GIRL, her head was 16 inch (50th percentile). The doctor said she looked like a 6 month old she is so long. The kid is in 6 month onesies already and in a size 3 diaper already! She needs a little physical therapy for something called torticollis. Her head leans to the right a little. So hopefully a little therapy will help it. She screamed bloody murder when she got her shots. Poor girl! The second I picked her up though she was happy. A mothers touch I guess ;)  

She is incredibly close to sitting by herself. She can do it for a few seconds but then either leans forward or falls to the side. She has rolled over 2 times. The first time was a fluke at 2 months I think. The other one was about a week ago but hasn't done it since. 

Well, Im sure I'm leaving out a lot but I just can't remember. Hopefully now that I'm getting a little more sleep I'll be able to post a little more. We will be going to St. Louis for Christmas. I'm really excited. I got her a few rally cute outfits. :)

Hope everyone is doing well

Stylin!

Cutest elephant ever. 

Cousins Grace and Sophia

3 months

3 months old here

I need butter for those rolls

First time with Santa

Peas and sweet potato fail! She wouldn't even keep the peas in her mouth. So I switched to sweet potatoes 

4 months old

Early Christmas present from Mimi and Pappy!

Merry Christmas!!!