More Christmas celebrations!

We'll, we're back home again- we spent the last several days in Ashland at MiMi and PopPop's house, we got to visit again with all the family, plus Emma got to meet her cousin Adam for the first time, as well as see MiMi's office and meet her coworkers, who were anxious to see her in person!  Emma was given the "Your Baby Can Read" program from MiMi and PopPop, and she's enjoyed watching the videos so far- she smiles and actually pays attention to them very closely for anywhere from 5-15 minutes in a sitting!  She also got a very special cup that was handmade and glazed by Emma's Auntie Kimberly.

Emma enjoyed all the visiting- some days she hardly took a nap, and others, she shared the joy of napping with others!  Two of the nights she slept longer than she ever has- from about 9:30 until 4 or 4:30am!  Unfortunately, Mommy ended up coming down with the cold the day before leaving home, so she didn't really get to enjoy the long sleep... it was interrupted with lots of coughs, sneezes, tissues, and restlessness... which means Daddy probably didn't get to enjoy the long sleep either... :)  It's not happened again since then- she has reverted back to one span of 3-3 1/2 hours, followed by 2hour stints, but we're hoping it becomes part of her routine before too long!

We're looking forward to our next visit, coming up soon!  MiMi and PopPop are coming out to our place late tonight to stay for several days- a visit plus a barn project work-visit!  We're having horrendous winds again- last night and all day today, wind gusts of easily up to 60mph are beating at the house... good thing we're not trying to work on the barn today!  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that nothing gets blown off or away!  Hopefully our power won't go out either...  we'll see how we hold up!

We all wish everyone a happy new year- please be safe tonight, and stay warm!

Here's Emma's wishes for everyone for the holiday season... we're just a little late getting it up for her!  Hope everyone had a great Christmas, and we'll get pictures up next!

Emma's growth tracker

Miss Emma had another well-baby check Friday the 19th, and she's currently 8lbs 6oz, 21in long, and 14.5in around her head!  Dr. Bradford has been pleased by her development, and before we know it, she will have doubled in weight- just one more pound to go! Emma K is currently taking a much needed snooze with Daddy upstairs to the wonderful sound of rain falling on the roof... her favorite!  Plus, it drowns out the sound of the wind attempting to blow the house down...

Sean bear blowing Emma a kiss goodbye

Sean bear blowing Emma a kiss goodbye

Emma Free Running

Here is a link to a video Emma posted on youtube.  She likes to exercise in the house when the weather is bad outside.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8rW3O7P4HY

Big Time Traveling

We are back from our trip to NOVA!  We visited *lots* of people!  Here are some pictures of me with some of them...

We visited with lots of family at Grmapa and Abuelita's house- Daddy's uncle Steve and Aunt Val, their kids Kira and Luke, Daddy's grandma Liza, friend of the family Sister Carmen, Maria's (Abuelita's) mother Teresa and sister Monica, and Daddy's sis Alexa.

This is me with Abuelita, Teresa, and Monica:

Here's Alexa holding me:

Here's me with my Abuelita and Grmapa, they gave me a great fluffy warm snow suit!

I got to meet one of my great-grandmothers, Liza- she gave me some cute purple things!

And here's Val- she and her family gave me some adorable ladybug things!

One evening we got to go to dinner with some of Mommy and Daddy's friends from college- Amy and Brian, and their little boy Jay.  We got to eat at the Silver Diner and even got to see a magician perform some great tricks!

Then we ventured out to go to Nana's house- I got to meet Nana and Tutz for the first time, as well my Aunts Heather, Lindsay, and Kelly, my cousins Natalie, Athea, Aiden, and Sean, as well as Daddy's great-Aunt Nettie.

I was lovin' life at Nana's... she got me a nice high chair and some cute toys and clothes too! Mommy, Daddy, and the rest of the folks enjoyed some yummy sugar cookies and got to take home Nana's very own Apricot Rings!

I got to meet my... great... GREAT Aunt Nettie!  She gave me a contribution to my savings!

Here's Nana with all the grandkids

And this is me and my cousin Natalie at Nana's house-

It was fun to visit with everyone, and I am very thankful for all the generous gifts!  We had a long trip home- there was an accident on the highway and we were stuck in traffic for a long long time...  and I don't like sitting still!  The ipod charge was about to run out (it plays white noise that makes me happy!) and thankfully we got moving just in time!  We've been relaxing since coming back home- Daddy managed to come home with a cold, and Mommy and I are trying extra hard not to get it!  The weather here has been very mild but dreary... they've already ruled out a white Christmas though... We're looking forward to another visit with Mommy's side of the family right after Christmas, and then maybe some time working on the barn with Pop Pop!

Christmas Party at AVS

We had the Appalachian Veterinary Services Christmas party last night. I got held by lots of people and mommy and daddy enjoyed eating dinner together.  They did forget their camera so the pictures will be coming from my friend Pam and her family.  We'll get those up when we can. Pam's husband Randy had a good time with me and I liked him holding me.    Today, we have to get packed to travel, take a bath, and load up the car.  Big day tomorrow!

Big day of baking!

This is my new bouncy chair- sometimes it's good for sleeping instead of bouncing...

And sometimes it's fun to bounce in while Mommy bakes!  (Thank goodness she has good balance!) Let's see, we made fudge, peanut brittle, fudge chews, congo bars, and reindeer cookies!  This morning we made pumpkin pie for Mommy's office party tonight.  We haven't posted much lately because we've been so busy- Mommy had to go to work Monday and Tuesday, so we hung out at the office with the ladies there.  Both days, Mommy only had to do one call, so we didn't have to break out the bottle- I'm doing better again with breastfeeding now that I've been "off the bottle" for a week, thank goodness!   The ladies at the office had fun taking care of me while Mommy worked on her truck and office a little too.

Joe and Amanda gave us this wrap that we can use in all different kinds of ways, it comes in handy for cooking too, we're going to experiment with different ways to tie it on Mommy and Daddy to carry me around.

And finally, here I am in my new winter duds, ready to go out in the world!  I've got a little room to grow into the suit, so hopefully it will last me a few months! 

Daddy found us a great Christmas tree, and we're almost finished with the decorations- we'll post a picture when it's done.  

Now to finish up a good nap so I'm ready to party tonight!!

Another interview

See how this works...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1n2fhuMu64

This is some more of Emma talking.   If you have trouble with the link, go to youtube.com and search for MVI 1309.  There are a few items under that title, just look for Emma!

Emma "talking"

This is Emma talking to Robyn.  She likes to talk when she gets her diaper changed.  She is saying "it's good."   We have some more on film but couldn't get our video camera to talk to our new computer.  This is from our still camera.  We got a live Christmas tree today.  When the holiday is over, we'll put the tree in the field for a windbreak for the horses.  We'll be leaving for northern Virginia on Monday to visit Daddy's family.  Mommy made lots of Christmas goodies today.   I was able to hang in the kitchen for a little while and learn how to do things.  

Ok, so not quite on schedule...

Well, it's not "tomorrow" any more, but we've have some excitement here!  MiMi and Pop Pop came to visit again and got here late Wednesday night.  While Mommy and MiMi have been hanging out with me, Daddy and Pop Pop have been working on the barn/playhouse (finally!).  They are making great progress and the Hemlock siding going on looks beautiful!  Mommy and Daddy say when it's done I can claim part of the big loft as my playhouse...  It's been really cold and sort of dreary here, with a little sprinkle of rain and some flurries, but nothing really significant. 

Friday MiMi and Mommy took me out into town for some errands and we got to go shopping a little- I got a few cute little outfits and a nice fluffy soft winter suit.  They also found me a nice little pink bouncer chair that plays music- I like it.... so long as someone bounces it!  It has pretty butterflies on it and vibrates too, hopefully it will grow on me, for Mommy's sake! We got a nice visit with Mommy's cousin Ben this afternoon- they made some chicken soup that smelled really good!  I think I'll take milk instead though...

We took a bath last night and mommy and daddy are hoping to be able to post a short video on the blog.  They have to look up how to do it so don't hold your breaths!  The curtains are up in the new bathroom upstairs.  Mommy worked hard on them and they turned out really neat.  We also got a different way to be held in the sling our neighbors Joe and Amanda gave us.  Mommy will be putting those pictures up as well.  Today we got the siding for the barn/Emma's clubhouse.  Daddy and Grandpa Avery are going to work on putting up some of the siding this weekend.  We'll post some tomorrow. Peace out...

Yesterday Mommy and I went to the doctor for a quick check- mommy has had some persistent pain in the left feeder, and combined with some other issues going on, she wanted to cover the bases and get treated for thrush.  I'm not showing any signs yet, but they're giving me this yummy stuff several times a day to rinse around my mouth, that way Mommy and I don't pass it back and forth, if we do indeed have it, that is...  while we were there, I found out that I'm officially an eight-pounder!  Mommy and Daddy were glad to see that, since I've been acting a little fussy at meal times for several weeks (*sigh*).  

Today Mommy and I went to a La Leche League meeting in the morning- we got to see several other new moms and even reconnect with one of the moms we met in our prepared childbirth class- she had her little boy about a month after I was born!   After hanging out for a little while, we met Daddy for lunch at Subway.  After that we got to sit and visit with Santa- there wasn't even a line.  We did a walk-by the other day in the mall but today I got to sit on his lap and take some pictures.   I had a cute little hat with reindeer horns on it that Nana gave me to go with the rest of my outfit, but it shrunk a little in the wash and was a bit of a tight fit- so I started to get upset when they tried to squeeze my melon into it!  I decided the bare-head look was just fine.  Then mommy went to the dentist and daddy took me to get the oil changed in the car.   A long day out but I did really good.  Now we are at home and napping.  These are some pictures from today- We can get copies of them for whoever would like one, just let Mommy or Daddy know!  (By the way, you can see a blown up image of any pictures on this site by clicking on them).