3 month pictures and a video

Emma laughed for the first time yesterday. She tried anyway. Close enough. We got to take a lot of 3 month pics yesterday too...she was tired by the end but she did good!

Nothing much new

I just put Emma down for a nap, so I have a few minutes to relax. She woke up around 5:00 this morning. While that's probably still considered sleeping through the night, we're still working on extending that time. But she's only 13 weeks old (tomorrow!), so we're lucky to be sleeping that long this early. The past week or so has been pretty great. She is so much fun now. We always heard that the 3 month mark is kind of like magic, and she really does seem different. We can sit her down alone and she's entertained by toys, her mobile or just the ceiling fan. She loves to put her hands in her mouth and blow bubbles. She smiles at us all the time. She just seems so happy and healthy finally. We still struggle with spitting up, but she just passed the 11 pound mark, so she keeps growing. I never knew I would love changing diapers so much...she just lays there smiling up at me. We are so very blessed to have her, even if we do get grumpy when her cries wake us up at 5am. Luckily that is becoming less common. I think she is on the brink of getting this sleep thing down. She took a 2 hour 20 minute nap this morning without waking up at all. I am really enjoying being home with her.

I went to MOPS last night at church. It's always hard for me to go alone somewhere where I don't really know many people. Making conversation with strangers is not my strength. I'm usually very reserved unless I know people (the people that do know me well probably wish I would shut up sometimes). I think it will be good for me though...an opportunity to get out once a month and get to know other women who have gone or are going through the same things I am. And it will push me out of my comfort zone (I hate that cliche phrase). I have gotten involved in a lot of things at church with Nick, but I think it's time to step out on my own a little. Sometimes it still surprises me just how large our church is. We've met a lot of couples, but I didn't know many of the women last night. After 15 (or something like that) years at LHBC, you'd think I would at least recognize everyone. I love that about our church. You have to make an effort to meet people, but when you do it's so rewarding. I would not fit in well at a small church. I was raised and baptized in one, but I'm so happy Emma will grow up at Living Hope. But I also tend to overextend myself. I want to make sure I have enough time to just enjoy this part of my life. Before Emma was born, it seems like we were always running around to some activity. I'm afraid I'll miss out on something great I guess, but watching my daughter grow up is the something great right now.

One thing that I am struggling with is expressing my appreciation to my husband. I think all the time that I'm truly lucky to be married to him, but I have a hard time actually telling him. He works so hard to provide for us, to lead us, and to also make time to be with us. I know he's also trying to make time for his relationships with family and friends as well. I don't know how he does it. I will admit that I am a demanding wife...there's always something I want us to be doing. Quality time is my love language, after all. I forget that sometimes he just needs to rest and relax (even if I'm dying to talk to another adult). It's just another adjustment we are making. I have talked to some women who are married to (sorry to sound harsh) lazy men. What a blessing to never have to worry about that, although sometimes I probably view it more as a curse. He commutes and works 40+ hours without complaining, mows yards on the side, takes great care of our home and vehicles (and saves us a lot of money!), is a very involved parent (he volunteered to get up every other night with Emma, which he still does), surprises me with nice things every week, still takes me out on dates (even if they are to Walmart instead of the movies now), and helps me take care of and play with the doggies. We are all fortunate to have him in our lives. What a great role model he will be for Emma...she is going to totally be a daddy's girl.

3 months old

I have not been good about updating lately. Emma will be 3 months old on Thursday. She's getting so big. Our schedule is getting better. She still usually wakes up during naps after about 45 minutes, but she can go back to sleep again after a few minutes. Except for the 3rd and last nap, and so I figure short nap is all she wants. That's close to bedtime anyway. She has slept through the night the past 2 nights, so we are very hopeful it will continue. We put her down by 7pm, and she sleeps until close to 7am, with a 10pm feeding. This morning we had to wake her up to get ready for church. It's awesome to not wake up in the middle of the night (although so far I still wake up on my own...hopefully that will only be temporary). Today was her first day to stay in the nursery for more than an hour. We took her to big church, and then started teaching our Sunday School class. We have 3 years old this year, which will be an adjustment. Apparently they're not all potty trained yet...something we hadn't thought about. But I'm excited about it...it seems like our class will be smaller this year, which will be nice. We're hoping to have Emma's 3 month photo shoot later this week, so I should have some pics to post later. We'll see how she cooperates. We're just doing it ourselves, so they might not turn out so great. Everything else is going well. Nick and I were able to go out by ourselves last night. We had a nice meal at Red Lobster, and went to Sam's Club, Lowe's & Walmart. I never would have thought that going to the grocery alone would be a date. But it's hard to shop with a baby.

NAPS!

We are having a hard time with naps this week. Emma won't go down without some fussing. Which is fine, sometimes she needs to cry or whimper herself to sleep. But she cannot make it past the 45 minute mark. Once she starts transitioning, she wakes up every time and is unable to put herself back to sleep. Part of it is probably the pacifier, which I think has become a sleep prop. She has a really strong sucking reflex, so if you don't let her have it, she lays there reaching for something to suck on until she wakes herself up. However, if it pops out of her mouth, she generally will wake up (unless she's in deep sleep, in which case she doesn't notice). We can't leave one hand out of the swaddle yet, since she'd still wake herself up and also hasn't found her mouth with her fingers consistently yet. I've read the books and websites about Cry It Out and No Cry and all the other methods of sleep training and soothing to sleep. Now I am just frustrated. She is so tired and needs to nap, but she fights it. I'm hoping it is temporary. She's gaining a lot more control of her neck and limbs so maybe that's part of it...she'd much rather be moving them around than be swaddled. She had been doing farely well with naps...she'd take at least one that was 2 to 2 1/2 hours, and the other 2 naps were for about 1 1/2 hours. Now she takes about 30 minutes to fall asleep, stays asleep for 45 minutes, and sleeps fitfully for just a few minutes after that. I need help!