playtime

my little squishy

{my new favorite picture of e.t. & glen}

seacow eatery

before we checked out of the beach house on monday we headed down the road a bit to grab some breakfast at the seacow eatery. this was our first time eating out at a restaurant since emma taylor was born. she did pretty well but i definitely had to hold her the second half of my breakfast. she ended up falling asleep on my shoulder.

{excited to be eating at a restaurant}

first taste of the ocean

we headed down to the beach to introduce emma taylor to the beach & ocean. she obviously won't remember anything, but i will! she actually stayed asleep most of the time we were there except for when glen stuck her little toes in the water!

the real botany bay

we had a busy weekend! we went to nc on saturday and then headed to edisto beach on sunday to stay through monday. we are thankful to glen's parents and grandmother for inviting us! it was a nice little getaway.

last time we were in edisto we visited a road called botany bay. it is a famous location for pictures and paintings. little did we know what was at the end of botany bay road. it is a 4,600 acre historical plantation. there is a walking tour (about 1/2 mile) through the marsh to the completely undeveloped beach where all shells that wash up remain because there is a $470 fine for taking them. there is also a 6.5 mile driving tour around the plantation ruins. if you ever visit edisto, make sure you take the time to check out botany bay! 

visiting nc

this past weekend we headed up to nc to celebrate my nephew, caleb's, birthday. i didn't get many pictures of caleb or the party but here are a few family pictures...

{ready for the day}

{these girls love chick fil a}

{great grandmother & granny with all the girl grandchildren}

{all the grandchildren}

movin'

emma taylor is a mover. too bad all that wiggling isn't getting her very far. she rolled over on accident a few weeks ago and i say accident because since then she hasn't gotten close to making it over. she even moves a ton at night. we swaddle her ridiculously tight with the miracle wrap (i promise she likes it), and she still turns at least 90 degrees and usually moves all the way to one side of her crib. in the picture below, she is no where near where we first layed her down. silly baby!

2 months

i can't believe emma taylor is 2 months old! she is getting into more of a regular schedule, and she is definitely becoming more active and interactive. i love seeing her big toothless smile and hearing her baby noises which most often is a high pitched squeal or yell. she is past the whole cooing thing and demands to be heard! her favorite place to be is definitely on her playmat, and she can be entertained for quite awhile with a ceiling fan. she sleeps great at night. usually she will go a 7 or 8 hour stretch and at that point i still have to sometimes wake her up to eat. she will go back down for another 2 1/2 to 3 hours which gives me plenty of rest! we went to the doctor last week and here are her stats...

height: 24 1/4 inches (96%)

weight: 12 lbs 2 oz (80%)

head circumfrence: 16 1/4 (90%)

{hello!}

{tired of taking pictures}

{holding her owl like a big girl!}

all i can say is we have a healthy and big girl!



shots

emma taylor had her first big round of shots at her 2 month appointment (that post is coming soon!). she felt bad and slept all day!

{those bandaids should not be smiley...the should be sad faces}

{passed out}

back to cooking

when we first had emma taylor. i didn't cook for an entire month. we were lucky enough to have meals provided by church members, friends, and even a neighbor. emma taylor just turned two months old, and although its a lot harder now, i am back to real cooking again and trying new recipes. today i made this broccoli cassarole, and i have plans to make this soup and these cupcakes in honor of fall!

baby bear

it has been in the 60s the last two days! i know it won't last so i took the opportunity to put emma taylor in her little fleece jacket. i love the little ears and her expression!

the nap saga

i am officially retracting this post. i have read endless material that gives advice for when your baby leaves the endless sleep stage which according to the books is 4 or 5 months. emma taylor's ended at 2 weeks. she has never really been good about taking naps. luckily she does sleep well at night and has since the beginning. i am not good at taking naps either. you know how people tell you to sleep when they sleep well with the exception of my time in the hospital right after she was born, i can't count on one hand how many times i have napped in the last 2 months. maybe the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree. emma taylor usually doesn't nap more than 30 minutes at a time, and i know she needs more sleep than that because she is definitely a bit cranky when she wakes up! she is now on a semi-schedule (more like a pattern) of eat, activity, sleep. we also darkened her room and now she is listening to a little ingrid michaelson on my ipod (i don't have a sound machine or anything) in hopes that she will nap for more than 30 minutes. does anyone else have a baby that doesn't nap?

silly socks

all dressed up

today was emma taylor's first time staying in nursery for sunday school all the way through church. she did great! there are some real baby pros in the nursery, and i am thankful for that. she even dressed up for the occassion...

hands

emma taylor hasn't quite found her thumb, but her entire hand is in her mouth all the time which means her face and hands are covered in slobber. instead of calming her down i think her sucking her own hand is actually distracting her from falling asleep for naps because she always pulls it away from herself. now she just has to learn how to keep still, and i don't think that is happening anytime soon!

oh happy day

emma taylor has gone a 7-8 hour stretch the past 2 nights! she is so happy when she wakes up which makes me super happy. also, the pumpkin spice latte is back at starbucks. so for kicks and giggles and to celebrate these fun things check out this video of emma taylor...

camouflage

nap time

emma taylor has slept great at night since she came home from the hospital which we are very thankful for! however, naptime has been a struggle. after the first 2 weeks she began really fighting sleep during the day. we always had to swaddle her and put her in the swing or hold her for her to stay asleep. just in the last week she has been taking naps without being swaddled and prefers to fall asleep without us holding her. she still wants you to be there to give her her paci when she inevitably spits it out, but overall, naptime is becoming a lot easier which makes me a lot happier!

{two unswaddled nappers}