One Crazy Month!

February has been a crazy month for us.....to say the least! I started feeling a little sick on Friday, February 13th and it got progressively worse throughout the weekend. We all thought it was a bad case of the flu, since apparently there are many strains going around this winter. However as the next week continued to progress I was still not feeling too great and then I had a few "black out" spells. I road in an ambulance to the Emergency Room at Martha Jefferson Hospital on Tuesday, February 17th, after passing out in our driveway. A little scary, but we were still managing.

Then on Friday I had my best day in a week, until that evening when I passed out two more times within a 2 hour time frame, once at TGI Fridays, and once in our bathroom. I was concerned enough at that point that I knew something needed to be done. We were going to drive to the emergency room, but after passing out the second time we decided to go by way of ambulance again. So off we went to the University of Virginia Hospital this time. Micah and I spent the entire night in the Emergency Room. I was admitted the next morning. The doctors ran a lot of tests (including a CAT Scan and MRI, and they were measuring the pressure inside of my head as well) to conclude that my shunt had malfunctioned in some way. The next step....surgery.

They slid me into an open spot Monday afternoon (February 23rd). They completed the operation and found out that my shunt had in fact somehow become disconnected, so they reconnected it, and the surgery was complete within 45 minutes. And that seemed to fix the problem, because I have been on the mend and getting better every minute since then.

The hardest part of this whole ordeal was that I was unable to see Emily from Friday evening when we left in the rescue squad until Tuesday when I was discharged from the hospital. Those were some of the longest days of my life! I missed that little girl so much I could barely stand it sometimes! It broke my heart whenever Micah would go to my parents' house to freshen up and he would call and put her on the phone and I would talk to her and hear some of her cute little grunting sounds!! I cried every time!! I am just grateful that we have family nearby who are always willing and able to help us out, especially in crazy moments like these.

Another thing that this whole ordeal has reinforced in me is the power of prayer and the power of priesthood blessings. I know Heavenly Father is real and is ready to help each of us. All we have to do is ask and exercise faith on our part, and once we do that He will answer our prayers. They may not always come in the answers that we would want (like for me I kept asking for Him to make this problem be anything but a problem with my shunt and the whole time He was preparing me for the inevitable....I knew it was a problem with my shunt the whole time, I just didn't want to face it or admit it, so I kept looking for other alternatives).

Now here we are two weeks later and Micah, Emily and I were able to spend the whole day today at home and together, and right now, nothing beats that! Without further ado....here are some pictures that we have taken of our sweet little Emily recently. We have been wanting to do a fashion show since before Valentines Day and we finally did it this week! Here are some of the adorable outfits she modeled for us ~ she was a trooper. She really despises the act of getting dressed or undressed, but once she is finished she is just as happy as she can be!! She is such a blessing and we are learning so much from her every day!

All Comfy Cozy and Ready for the Show

Becoming friends with a new bunny!

Not too amused with all the pictures

Love that Smile~She is wearing her Valentines Day dress that Mommers and Dooders got her and a head band that Mema made for her! What a loved little girl!

Her hair is looking blonde in this picture ~ Polka Dots have never looked so good!!

LOVE the tongue, wide eyes and bare feet

Our Sweet "P" in a Daze

"Okay, I am ready for some more"

"Gees mom, I look like a boy in this...this pillow case thing."

"Now you're talking."

???

"Okay, that was fun. Can I have my hat back now?""

Phew, what a day.

A Fun-Filled Family Weekend

Being the 1st Friday of February, it was time for another Family Dinner at Mommers and Dooders! And since it was the first one of 2009 (they forwent the January dinner due to Holidays and Emily's arrival), it was also Emily's first one! It was great to get to see everyone (we were only missing Josh and his family because they live in Northern VA). It was good to have the chance to catch up on life with everyone, and for Micah and I it was fun to watch everyone interacting with Emily. She is such a sweet baby, and she dealt with all of the commotion and attention exceptionally well! She only started getting fussy on our way home, and we think that was because she was wondering why she had been held all night and now she was in the dark in the car in her car seat! I think if I were her, I would have been upset too!
Here are a few pictures from Friday Night's Festivities......

The 2 mommies-to-be : Danielle (8 weeks) and Jessie (due in less than a month)

Can't you see the Mommy Glow?

Emily checking out her Aunt Danielle ~ She's going to be such a great Mommy!

Uncle Mark Pausing for a Kodak Moment with his little niece ~ What Great Daddy Potential He Has!


Emily was so alert at the dinner. Here she is with her Aunt Tiffany, sharing a priceless moment! I love the way Emily is watching her!

Uncle Jacob is a pro ~ he enjoyed spending some time with his newest niece.

Aunt Jessie and Emily snuggled up on the couch ~ we are excited to meet Jessie's little girl in a few weeks! Another baby to play with!!!

Emily with her Uncle Tanner ~ A priceless photo, love the smile on Tanner's face....he is usually more of a serious type, but not tonight with Emily in his arms!

Emily checking out her Uncle Jay and starting to wonder about all these different faces she is seeing!!

Ahhh, now there's a face I remember! Gotta love Grandma!

And definitely can't forget Dooders! Look at the contentment on both of their faces! Emily is looking forward to snuggling in for an evening nap!

Thank Goodness for Grandma's lap! Emily finally got to take a little evening snooze!

On Saturday we got a visit from my Dad. It was a nice surprise. He called earlier in the week and wanted to know if it would be okay for him to stop by for a little while on Saturday since it had been a few weeks since he had seen Emily. It was good to have him visit. He stayed for about an hour and a half and we were able to have lunch together before he left. Although Emily was a little fussy on Saturday she enjoyed snuggling with her grandpa!

She was all dressed up in a cute little pink outfit (of course) that was given to her by her Great Aunt Gail, and her hat was made by Mema!! What a loved little girl she is!

Here are a few pictures of Emily visiting with her Grandpa Buck......

Our little Sweet "P" Always loves to cuddle!!

"Hey where did my hat go? This little pink thing on my head is not nearly as warm!! My ears are a bit frosty now! But I still love my Grandpa."

"So Maybe this pink thing isn't so bad, and you know I do like to be high up in the air!!" Another priceless expression from our little girl!

On Sunday after church we had just finished eating lunch when we heard a car pull up our driveway. Micah went to the door and to our surprise Mema and Gail had come out for a visit! They said since it was such a pretty day and they were in the area they thought they would stop in for a minute or two to see little Emily (and Micah and I too!). Emily was happy to see them and of course to be held some more ~ can't ever complain about that! One of the great things about having a new baby is that you get to see your family so much more! No one wants to miss a moment to spend time with our little angel who just recently came straight from heaven, but we can't blame them!!

Here are a few pictures of Emily visiting with her Great Aunt Gail and her Great Grandma (aka"Mema).....

Emily's Great Aunt Gail was happy to spend a few minutes snuggling with her even if Emily was having a little bit of a meltdown!

Mema's definitely got the touch! She calmed Emily down almost immediately! In this picture Emily is wearing a headband that Mema crocheted for her! We are excited that she is going to make her a red one to go with her Valentines Day dress!! Mema's shoulder is so cozy!!

After all of our company left we thought it would be nice to have some family time outside! So we bundled Emily in her snowsuit and took her out for her first ride in the stroller (where she was actually just strapped into the stroller without her carseat!). She wasn't a big fan actually! I think she likes to be more up close and snuggly and this was her first experience where she was moving forward while facing forward and she wasn't being held by anyone! But she was a trooper and she survived it (and so did we!!).

Family Photo Time!

Our little "Sweet P" all strapped in!!

Can't resist these fun family photo opportunities!!

This picture pretty much sums up our weekend! It was action-packed, filled with people we love, and tiring! But we enjoyed every minute of it!

Our Little Harry Potter Fan!

Micah and I have been reading the Harry Potter series together for about 2 years now. Thanks to our friend, Mollie, who willingly loans us each book as we are ready for it! We have made it all the way to the 5th book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I have grown to love and look forward to our evenings where we can settle down and read a chapter or two together.

Since Emily has been born I think we have had more time to read together. We used to be constantly on the go every night, not so much anymore. It is more fun and satisfying to be able to enjoy time at home together in the evenings! So between Walk Away the Pounds and Harry Potter we enjoy some good times!

This morning after feeding Emily I thought it would be fun to do another fashion show. And today I thought she could also advertise!! She seemed to be happy to do it and as always showed off some pretty cute expressions! She is so full of love and life! She is so snuggly and cute! We can't help but snap photos whenever we get the chance and our batteries aren't depleted:)

Emily and I also enjoyed a trip into town earlier this week to visit Mommers, Dooders, the Red Cross and Mema! Mema gave Emily her cute hair bow she is sporting! She also crocheted a little pink one for her and is working on a red one for her to wear on Valentines Day!

Here are the pictures from our photo shoot this morning.....Enjoy!

Check out the Excited Look!

Wondering About Mommy and the Camera


Our little princess enjoying her photo opportunity!

"Now if I could only remember what we read about last night" ~We love her little tongue and so does she!!

One More Picture, just for kicks!! Love those Beautiful Eyes!!

Our Cute Little Bundle & The 1st Snow of 2009!

Micah and I have been having so much fun with Emily this week! It's hard to believe it has been 5 weeks since we had her!! She is becoming more alert with each new day! She is so fun to take pictures of ~ her expressions crack us up! She LOVES to sleep, just like her mommy! She is so warm and cuddly, you really can't resist nap time with this toasty bundle by your side! At this point she is only waking up every 4 hours to eat, which is really nice and definitely something that we can't complain about!!

Since she is still not awake for long of periods of time we try to make the most of her awake time, and of course that involves snapping pictures too! As far as Emily's toys....she LOVES her bouncy vibrating seat, and she is actually tolerating her little baby swing a lot better too! Over the weekend we also set up her tummy time mat and her little play gym in the living room and although she is not a big fan of either of those yet, I think she will be soon!

Emily is definitely a healthy little girl. Her favorite things to do are to eat, sleep and poop! And she has mastered each art exceptionally well. Last night she set a new record - Micah and I had to change her clothes 3 times before we put her to bed!! We were amazed, but grateful that everything is working properly:)

Also, today we had our 1st real snow of 2009! And since Emily is too young to go out and enjoy it, I thought I would sneak out this morning after Micah went to work and before Emily woke up and snap a few pictures! It was breathtakingly beautiful ~ a winter wonderland in our very own yard!! It was definitely a Kodak moment that I couldn't pass up!


Enjoy the pictures of our sweet little bundle and all her many expressions along with a few pictures of some of the wonders that our loving Heavenly Father allows us to be a part of! We are so fortunate to be who we are and where we are! Life is Beautiful and Families Can Be Together Forever! I am so grateful for my eternal family!

Emily Marie, 5 weeks old and a regular sleeping machine!

One of her 1st times under her little play gym ~ not a big fan quite yet!!

"Mommy and Daddy were right, this isn't so bad after all"

"Okay, I'm ready for you to take my picture now."




Sunday after church in her red dress that used to be worn by her cousins ~ Hannah, Abigail and Lydia!

"Snug as a Bug in a Rug" ~ Ready for a few minutes in her bouncy seat as Mommy and Daddy eat dinner!! She's Sporting a cute little pink hat that was made just for her by her Great Grandma (aka "Mema)

Contemplating Life

Too Cute For Words!!

Emily was a little bit cold yesterday evening and was having trouble falling asleep for her evening nap. Then we decided to snuggle her up in this soft blanket and she zonked right out, and that is how she stayed all through Walk Away the Pounds!! Life is so sweet when you are a baby!!

Here are a few Early Morning Pictures of the First Snow of 2009!!

Our House with the Sun Breaking Through the Clouds

The View from the top of our Drive Way!! Love the Blue Sky in the Background!!

This is the view through Emily's Window (sorry the screen is in the way).
Emily wasn't paying much attention to the snow outside her window this morning though!!