Courageous...2 Thumbs aUp

Brian and I had our very first official date night. Our church, Parkway Baptist, hosts a date night once a month complete with child care and a chance to win gift cards to restaurants! Daddy took Emrie with him to Brenham for the day so we didn't have to utilize the child care and since neither of us made it home til 6pm, we didn't get in on the pre-date night festivities. We did, however, get our date! Wednesday night Pastor Chris gave Brian and I a pair of tickets to the sold out premiere of the movie Courageous.
Wow! What an amazing movie with an even more powerful message. I challenge every one of you to go see this movie. I laughed and cried and left with my soul uplifted!

On a funny note, I needed a napkin to wipe my tears. I mistakenly grabbed the one I had used for my hot dog and wiped mustard all over my face. Blahahaha!

The Butterfly Orb

Emrie has really started to like playing in her baby gym which has all kinds of fun stuff hanging over her head. She kicks and chirps and smiles. So, I decided it was time to find a fun mobile to hang over her baby bed. Now keep in mind at this time she's still sleeping in her pack-n-play in our room at night but I think I'm finally feeling comfortable with a move to her own room. With that said, I've decided she's going to need something cool to kick and smile and chirp at while she's in her new big girl baby bed. I stumbled across this butterfly orb online. Isn't it cool? It's got almost 100 butterflies on it. Initially, my friend Amy and I thought we could make one of these things ourselves - NOT. First of all, my butterfly cutter kept eating the glitter paper I wanted to use. Then, we couldn't get the wire to hold the orb shape. And finally, the paper was too heavy for the wire. It was a noble effort but I ended up placing an order for Emrie's custom butterfly orb this morning. It's really neat - I got to pick the size, color and number of butterflies. I can't wait to see it!

Another week older! Lucky number 13!

Emrie at 13, 12 and 11 weeks!

Snapped another picture of Emrie this morning with her pillow pet. She's 13 weeks old today and as you can tell from the picture she's trying desperately to get that thumb in her mouth. This last week she's really started talking or as I call it chirping. She prefers to sit up over laying down and she also likes to stand - with us holding her of course. My little Mootz is growing up!

My dad said she drank a 6oz bottle yesterday. Well, actually she drank 4oz and was still hungry so he gave her another 2oz. My mom and Amy (her other babysitter) said they've had to do the same thing. At this rate we're going to have to change her name to Big Mootz! I haven't weighed her this week but she has moved up to size 2 Pampers and 3-6mth clothes. I'm predicting 15lbs : )

Emrie Found Her Thumb!

Emrie has been working on self-soothing and this morning it finally happened. I had placed her on a pillow in our bedroom while I was in the bathroom putting my on makeup. She immediately started complaining...you know, not really crying just fussing. Anyway, I was running late and couldn't hold her and get ready at the same time so she continued to squawk. After just a couple of minutes - NOTHING. SILENCE. I thought this can't be good. What's she doing? So I poked my head around the corner and this is what I saw. My sweet little lamb with her thumb tucked inside her mouth. She was so content she was even smiling! She has refused a pacifier since birth and has been working diligently to get that evasive thumb securely in her mouth for months. Today was the day! YEH EMRIE! I love you big girl.

I know...I know...it's a hard habit to break. Heck - I should know. I sucked my thumb until I was 10!

See You in Maryland

Don't get excited. I'm not going to Maryland...a least not yet. My former boss and friend Laura is moving back to Maryland. In fact her flight left this morning. She excepted a position as VP of Emrollment Management at Frederick Community College. I'm really going to miss her. She was a wonderful boss. She was always so positive - regardless of the situation her glass was always half full. And, no matter how deep "it" got...she stepped right in it with us.

I can't wait to take a vacation to Maryland to visit her. Our little girls are just one week apart in age. The picture above is of the two of us in the same dress when we were pregnant. College Station could really use another maternity store : )

Comparing week 11 to week 12

I took my friends advice and started snapping pictures of Emrie every week with the same stuffed animal so I can see how much she's grown. These are her week 11 and 12 pictures. She doesn't look much different in size to me. Now Brian who was out of town for a week said he can really tell. He thinks she's gotten longer.

Just this past week she's really become much more interactive and is talking (well making noise I call talking) a lot. She smiles easily and seems much more attentive. She's also really enthrawled with her butterfly mobile. I'm currently working on what I call a big girl mobile. I saw it online. It's called a butterfly orb. Of course its $100 so I'm trying to make one myself. I've gotten as far as buying the paper for the butterflies.

Surprise!

One of my best friends EVER turned 40 on Friday! Happy Birthday Denise! I would have said something sooner BUT her husband had a surprise party for her on Friday. I sure didn't want to be the spoiler...but it almost happened anyway. I left work early and drove to the Clear Lake area. The party was set for 7 at Perry's Steak House off Bay Area Blvd. I made it just ahead of traffic so I thought I'd do a little shopping. In fact, I wanted to get Denise a gift certificate to a really neat store she showed me when I visited her last time. It's called Glass Mermaids. So I stopped by the store to grab a gift certificate for her birthday. Well, while I'm there her husband, Jason, called me to check on my progress and see if I had made it into town. When I told him where I was he went into panic mode! WHY? Apparently, Denise was right next door getting her hair done! What are the odds? So I pulled my hair back in a pony tail put my sunglasses on and got out there. No way was I going to be the spoiler! I made it and even had time to do a little more shopping (across town) before the party.

Denise arrived at 7:30. Jason had told her he wanted to take her someplace nice and celebrate her birthday just the two of them - something they rarely got to do. Needless to say when she walked in and saw us standing there she was in total shock and started crying. So, of course, I cried too! What? It's the hormones! Okay, not really, I'm a cryer from way back. It was a wonderful party complete with a video Jason had put together with tons of pictures of Denise. There were just a handful of people there - about 20 so I was tickeled that I made the cut. Denise's sister, Debbie, and I sat together because neither of our hubbies could make it. I had a blast talking to her and reminscing about all the good times we had growing up in Brenham. We ended up making plans to go to a Cub football game sometime this season for old times sake.

At 10:30 I turned into a pumkin and had to head home. My parents were keeping Emrie for the night but I had to be at TAMU for a game day workshop at 8am the next morning and with the drive I probably wouldnt be back in Bryan until about 12:30am. On my way back, I got a call from Brian. His plane had landed at 9:45pm and his friend Robert had picked him up. Instead of going straight back they stopped off for dinner so he was waiting for me at 290 and Fry Road. It was great! We were able to ride home together!

12 Weeks Old

According to my sister-in-law, we have now made through the "4th trimester." Emrie was 12 weeks old yesterday. I weighed her and she is an extremely healthy 14lbs. She has, just in this last week, started sleeping better and longer...even taking some nice naps throughout the day which she never used to do. She's also eating more. Must be a growth spurt. I see her every day so its hard for me to tell. Brian got back from Philadelphia late last night after being gone all week. He hasn't seen Emrie yet - she stayed the night with my parents. It'll be interesting to see if he can tell if she's grown any.

Dog Gone Cleaning Service

Brian surprised me right before I had the baby by bringing in a cleaning service to clean our house from top to bottom. It was wonderful! I loved the idea of coming home from the hospital to a clean house! Well, he surprised me again. Yesterday, I got home to find several bags of leaves and branches next to our curb. When I looked in the backyard I noticed that it had been totally cleaned - I mean the grass was trimmed, flower bed cleaned, patio swept and the doggie poop gone. With Brian in Philadelphia I had no idea how this happened. I mean I sure didnt do it in my sleep and I highly doubt there are yard fairies. Then Brian called and the mystery was solved. He had Dog Gone Cleaning Service (the same ones who did our house) clean our backyard. And I'll be dog gone if all the evidence of our dogs wasnt gone!

Thanks you Dog Gone Cleaning Service! You did a great job! And thank you wonderful husband! You get extra points for this one!

Our Monday night...or should I say Tuesday morning adventure

Emrie exercising at 4am

My parents keep Emrie on Mondays-sometimes at our house in Bryan and other times at their's in Brenham. This past Monday was a Brenham day. So when I got off work I ran some errands, went to the grocery store, and picked up pizza for me and the fam for dinner. Mom and Dad arrived with "the package" (that's Emrie) around 7pm. We ate dinner and then Mom helped me give Emrie her bath and get her ready for bed. After my folks left Emrie and I settled into our nightly routine...feed the dogs, feed Emrie and go to bed.

All was well until about 2am. That's when Judy and/or Emma made a ruckus in the kitchen by tumping over the garbage can...my moneys on Judy. Anyway, I got up, put them outside, cleaned up the mess and went back to bed. That's when the barking started and continued on until I let "the Hounds from Hell" (that's what I affectionately call them) back into the house. My mistake. They clicked and clacked until Emrie woke up. I changed her and nursed her but she was wide awake by this point and wanted to play. So, I chased the dogs back outside one more time and played with Emrie for a little while. After about 15 minutes I put her in her exer-saucer,which she loves, and I decided to clean the house. That's right at 4am Emrie is playing and I'm cleaning. She played and I mopped, swept, vacuumed and dusted. We ended up back in bed at 5:30am which meant I had an hour before the dreaded alarm.

Needless to say Tuesday was the longest day.

Updates from the weekend...Sunday

Emrie's Sweet Look

Emrie has Brian wrapped around her little finger. I snapped this picture Sunday morning just before we left to go to the airport. Emrie was sitting on the bed and Brian was telling her about the big trip he was about to take. She looked so sweet staring up at him and smiling. And because she's still working on holding her head up she almost seemed to be nodding along to his story. Brian is in Philadelphia all week for work so we're on our own....just me, Emrie, Judy and Emma. Last night was an adventure. Details to come.

Updates from the weekend...Saturday

The Wickershams
Our friends Erin and Tryon Wickersham invited us to the Aggie game on Saturday. So my mom and dad kept Aiden and Emrie for us and we went to Kyle Field where the Ags proceeded to beat the hell outta Idaho! It was a great game and we had awesome seats although we rarely actually sat down.

My favorite part...THE FOOD! I can't help it...I'm a concession stand food kind of gal. I had a sausage wrap, popcorn, ice cream and a Dr. Pepper. And I wonder why I cant lose all this baby weight : )

But I'm back on the wagon as of Monday. No junk food so far.

The Honky Tonk Kid

Brandon (my bro) and I went to see Aaron Watson at the Texas Hall of Fame Last night. He put on an amazing show as usual. Brandon and I went backstage before the show to talk with Aaron. It was priceless when he greeted me with "Hey Brandie! I haven't seen you in forever. What have you been up to?" I got to reply with "I had a baby!" I also threw in the fact that Mike Eli from the Eli Young Band actually sent me a CONGRATULATIONS text when I had Emrie...didn't hear a word from Aaron Watson. He just grinned, apologized and then told me a couple of stories about his baby girl. She's 21 months old.

Last night was the first time I've been on stage in almost a year (since I found out I was pregnant). I've toyed with the idea of leaving radio so that I can spend more time with Emrie but I have to admit the rush I got when I was up on stage pumping up the Ags before Aaron came on makes it a pretty tough decision. It's nights like last night that make being a DJ such a fun job.

A Bigger Bath Tub...

I snapped a picture of Emrie in the bath this evening. She's really starting to enjoy her bath time. No matter how fussy she is it really seems to calm her down. And lately, she's started kicking and splashing the water...like a big girl. I thought you might like to see just how much bigger she's gotten since I posted the last picture of her in the tub.
Yes. She's in the kitchen sink : )

It's Friday Night...And I'm Going Out!

Aaron Watson, the Honky Tonk Kid, is at the Hall of Fame tonight and I'm going! I'm waiting for my brother to pick me up any minute now. Yes...I'm tagging along with him BUT in exchange for having to hang out with his big sister I'm going to take him back stage to meet Aaron before I bring him on stage. I'm cool like that : )

Hopefully if all goes well I'll have a couple pictures of me, Aaron and Brandon to post tomorrow morning. I cant remember the last time I stayed up past 10pm INTENTIONALLY!

11 Weeks Old TODAY!!!

Sweet little Emrie is 11 weeks old today. She's getting so BIG! A friend of mine recommended that I start taking a picture of her every week with a stuffed animal so that I could see just how much she's growing. I probably should because I know she's growing BUT I don't see it as much as everyone else because I'm with her everyday. So my assignment today is to find the perfect stuffed animal so I can start taking pictures. Granted she has a bunch of sweet little bunnies and baby dolls and even a sock monkey...but I'm thinking something along the lines of a Pillow Pet. I really like Zippity Zebra!

I'd like to get Aiden the T-Rex Pillow Pet. Its the "manliest" pillow pet I could find online. Now I just have to find it in College Station.

Speaking of Aiden. I had to laugh. Last Sunday I was taking Emrie to Brenham to visit my parents which gave Aiden and Brian the perfect opportunity to hang out together. I asked Aiden what they were planning to do. He said "guy stuff" like ride bikes, go to Lowes and watch the new Smurf movie! Blahahaha! I'm sure Brian thought the Smurfs movie was extremely manly...probably more along the lines of Smurfy!

MOOTZ!

Ain't she just the cutest?! This is another picture Amy snapped of Emrie. God I love little Mootz : ) My dad made the mistake of calling her Mootz-sak once. I'm spelling that phonetically because I have no idea how its really spelled or what it really means for that matter. Anyhoo, Daddy called her Mootz-sak once and it stuck. Supposedly, his mom called his little brothers Mootz-sak when they were babies so surely it doesn't mean anything bad. I sure hope not because now we all call her Mootz-sak or Mootz or Mootzie. Poor Mootz...I mean EMRIE!

Pictures of Emrie (and me)

Dr. Allon's office called and asked if they could use a picture of Emrie and me for a local flyer and possibly a billboard. I, of couse, said YES! I mean who wouldn't want to show off their beautiful baby girl to whole world. The two words I missed during the conversation "Emrie AND YOU." Come on! I just had a baby (10 weeks ago today). I'm not ready for pictures. In fact, I didn't have any of the two of us together other than the one of us at the hospital. Definitely not the most flattering picture. So, my friend, Amy, snapped a few pictures for me...from the waist up, of course. She did an amazing job! The ones above are some of my favorites that I sent to Dr. Allon. Now I can't wait to see the flyer!

Hands Free

I got this contraption at one of my baby showers. I had tried it a few weeks ago with Emrie facing towards me - she hated it. Then last night Brian and I were talking about how much more alert (I think the word we actually used was nosey) she had recently become and how she likes to be held facing away from us so she can see everything. So I strapped the "baby in a bag" thingy back on and TA-DAH! She loved it. I think her eyes say it all.

I know...I know...It's not on just right. She's still a little tiny to face forward so I had to roll it down under her arms instead of putting her arms through the holes. If I put it on like it was supposed to only her nose and eyes stuck out. She definitely didn't like that.

Ahhhh Sleep...FINALLY

I know its been a while since I've blogged but I've been exhausted. Emrie got her first round of shots last week which ended up giving her a fever for a couple of days. Poor baby girl : ( Anyhoo, the fever interupted her sleep schedule - we were just starting to get into a pretty good nightly routine. So up until last night she was only sleeping for about two hours at a time.

Then finally last night it happened! She went to bed at 9pm and didn't wake up until 2am! That's right 5 FULL HOURS. It's amazing what a little bit of sleep can do for you. I'm like a new woman this morning. So figure I might as well blog and get some of this energy out.

I've got new baby pictures to show you! I'll post some on my next blog.

What's Wrong With This Picture?

Judy strikes again! Since going back to work I've been pumping so that Emrie would have plenty of milk to get her through the day. Well, I made the mistake of leaving my pump on the kitchen table one night. When I woke up part of it was missing. Well, not actually missing - just gone. Would you believe Judy actually climbed up on the table and ATE PART OF MY PUMP? What kind of dog does that? She's a distructive weirdo dog. Luckily, I had an extra part and didn't have to spend a bunch of money for replacements or Judy would be a distructive, weirdo and DEAD DOG!