I am blessed

We dedicated Emma at church last Sunday. We didn't necessarily plan it this way but it was quite fitting that the event took place during Thanksgiving week. It really set the mood of the week for me as I reflected on all I have to be thankful for. We are just so blessed. I felt a new surge of emotions as thanked God for our baby girl who is alive and thriving. Now that almost 3 months have passed since she arrived, the memory of her hospital stay is fading and no longer part of my day to day thought process. Sometimes I wish it crossed my mind more often. When it does, I slow down. I hug my girls a little tighter. I stop working and get on the floor and play, or grab the baby and just snuggle.

I am a blessed woman.

As Graham shared the meaning behind Emma's name during the dedication, we both were holding back tears. At first "Emma" was just something we scribbled on the white board of our hospital room, just so the poor child would have a name. But is wasn't until she was re-hospitalized that we realized what a perfect fit it was for her. Emma means "complete; all containing; whole." Paired with her middle name "Grace," it was a good reminder to us that God's grace is sufficient even in the valleys. We both separately decided, during that hospital stay, that we wanted to dedicate Emma as soon as possible. We wanted to offer her up to the Lord and commit our lives to raising her to know Him since He so generously blessed us with her.

Emma wore a handmade dress, crocheted by her great-great Grandmother and worn by many before her (including my dad, myself, my sister and Isla). Many family members and friends joined us to show their support and we once again felt overwhelmed by the love that surrounds this little girl. Thank you!

Just for fun, I thought I'd post a picture of the two girls in the dress. Are they even related?? :)

 Emma (almost 12 weeks) and Isla (7 1/2 months)

Emma: 11 Weeks

We have been feeling so especially blessed by this little girl this week! Over the past month, she has transitioned from needing to be held all the time to being a totally laid back, easy going baby and a super awesome sleeper. I keep telling people that my prayer was answered and I really couldn't ask for a better baby.

Emma is so interactive these days and I just love it! She smiles and "talks" all the time when you make eye contact with her and even started to laugh this week. She loves it when Graham says "Smile!" in his baby talk voice that I used to find oh so annoying, until of course I witnessed her reaction to it. She grins a lot for me but seems to have a special spot for her Daddy.

This baby girl SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT last Thursday which totally blew my mind. I think she fell asleep around 9:30 PM, I put her in bed at 10 and then didn't hear a peep until 5 AM. SO AMAZING! Of course she hasn't done it since but still... Oh and the room sharing is going great so far for the girls.

Ummmm, could someone please come over here feed me some grapes??

Emma is pretty good at falling asleep on her own. When she's ready to sleep, all she really needs is a good swaddling and she's out. She seems to like to nap propped up on a pillow or upright in the car seat the best although she did fall asleep on her own in the crib a couple times this week as well.

I should give an update on her bottle feeding. We started using the Tommee Tippee bottle about 3 weeks ago and she feeds SO much better. She still dribbles quite a bit but it no longer sounds like it's going down the wrong pipe-a very good thing!

She had her 2 month immunizations this week but no appointment because we missed the one I had scheduled while we were in Utah and they can't fit her in again until next month. She screamed ever so briefly with the shots and then was fine. She's such a trooper! She didn't poop for 2 days after which makes me wonder if the roto virus vaccine had anything to do with it? It's the first time she's done that so it caught me off guard.

Buddies, Babies and the Butes

Last week the girls and I were able to tag along on Graham's "business trip" (i.e. nursing conference) to Salt Lake City. Honestly though, our friends the Butes were the main reason we made the trip down there. They welcomed their first baby, sweet Lucy girl just 10 days after Emma was born. We were so excited to meet her and introduce her to our girls. I guess now we can officially say that it is Crozier tradition for our babies' first flights to be to Utah. Deja vu anyone?

Graham and Glendon were placed together as roommates their freshman year of college and have been good friends ever since. They have done a great job of keeping in touch through the years and call each other often. It was really fun to see them both together as Dads now.

Our time in Odgen was pretty laid back. The fall colors were gorgeous as were the houses in Glendon and Kaytee's neighborhood. We went on a couple of walks and introduced Isla to the joys of playing in DRY leaves (we don't really have those here in the NW)....

I must say, these 2 were pretty adorable together. Emma Grace meet Lucy Mae.

They actually really did seem to notice each other and had little coo fests together.

This gorgeous park is a block from the Bute's house!

After two nights in Ogden, we headed back into Salt Lake for the weekend (and Graham's conference). The girls and I spent a lot of time playing in our hotel room and walking the streets while Graham was in his sessions.

We didn't want to cram two cribs in our room so I made the drawer into a nice resting place for Emma. It worked great as long as Isla wasn't nearby to try and push it closed. :)

We figured out how to convert the single BOB into a double-perfect!

Two curly

On Saturday morning, we woke up to SNOW!!

Since it was Emma's first snow, I had to take her out in it. She didn't seem to care too much nor did Isla.

But her bright raincoat made for some nice pictures.

Thank you to our wonderful hosts, Glendon, Kaytee and Lucy!! Hopefully you will be a little closer to us by the time the next child arrives, but if not, I guess we'll make a third trip to Utah!! :)

When life gives you apples...

.....make APPLESAUCE!!!!

Someone woke up in quite the state after naptime today. There was lots of crying for no apparent reason that only ceased when I suggested we make applesauce. Whatever it takes....  :)

Emma: 9 and 10 Weeks

(10 Weeks)



We were out of town last week so I'm just going to combine weeks 9 and 10. I mean, let's be honest, I'm not sure how well I'll be able to keep up my online baby book with baby #2! I really cannot believe Emma's already 2 months old. Everyone always says that but I really mean it. Time is flying!

-This little girl is so precious! She has started to make little gurgle sounds in the back of her throat when she's happy. She loves it when you do it back to her.

-For some reason during week 9, Emma had a backwards landslide with her nighttime sleep. She started waking 2-3 times a night and stopped doing long stretches. But I'm happy to report she went 7 hours between feedings last night!
-She got to dress up for Halloween:

Twice!!

-Emma went on her very first flight last week. She did great! We flew to Utah for Graham's nursing conference and to visit friends. Funny thing is, Isla's first flight was also to Utah to visit these same friends.

-Emma's first snow happened while we were in Utah (this is also where Isla saw her first snow).
-We moved Emma into her room with Isla last night. She's outgrown her cradle and since we spent most of the week all together in a hotel room, I figured now was as good a time as any. She did great! I'm hoping I will actually feed her less as sometimes I think I feed her simply because she's stirring, not because she's actually hungry.
-SAD NEWS: I think Emma is starting to lose her hair. I noticed a little bald spot forming on the back of her head yesterday. I am so sad. Her hair makes me giggle and I just don't want it to go away!

-Emma has a nickname now, thanks mostly to her big sister. Back when I was pregnant, Isla started asking us "Where's Emme?" We had no clue who Emme was and had no answer for her. As we were trying to pick a name for baby #2, Emme was a front runner, thanks to Isla. In the end, we opted for Emma with the thought Emme could be a nickname. Graham "tried it out" a few times but I had a hard time switching cold turkey and calling her anything other than Emma. But all of a sudden in over the past couple days, Isla just started calling her Emme and that's all she calls her now. It's pretty cute.

-We have a pretty good eat, "play," sleep cycle going although more so the first two than the latter during the day time. Emma's happiest times are after she eats--she is usually all smiles.
-I need to work on lengthening (ok maybe just establishing) nap times. I really don't want another cat napper and so I need to pay more attention to Emma's cues. Being a 2nd born, she sort of just has to go with the flow and so we haven't often been home for me to get her to sleep in her crib. That's my goal for the next couple months!