A Year Ago

A year ago at this time I was 5 days overdue with a baby that I would have sworn was a boy. A year ago I was scared that I wouldn't be able to handle this mom thing. A year ago I didn't know they type of love I could feel for someone. A year ago I didn't understand that we were about to jump onto a rollercoaster that never stops. A year ago I didn't realize that I was born to be a mother to Emily. A year ago my life had yet to change in ways I can not describe. A year ago I didn't realize I would have to wait a week and a half to meet my very independent, stubborn, beautiful, amazing daughter. It was all worth it...

New Teeth and No Sleep

We are coming off of a pretty crazy but fun weekend. While Kevin and I headed up to Lambeau Field to see Zach Brown Band and Kenny Chesney (amazing by the way!!), Emily went to Uncle Brian and Auntie Beth's house. She had a great time hanging out with her cousins and going to Bennett's final soccer game of the season. Unfortunately the day before she finally caught the case of pink eye that has been going around daycare. The nice thing I learned about pink eye is the nurse will just call the prescription in. Saving time makes me happy. By Saturday the pink eye was doing much better.

Emily also has about 3 teeth all coming in at the same time. Mostly they don't really bother her. For some reason this weekend they were really bugging her. So it has been tough to get her to sleep and she has been extremely whiny. After our long weekend with very little sleep we pulled into Verona around 10pm. She had slept all of the way home and I was hopeful for a smooth transition from the car to the crib. Boy was I ever wrong. She woke up and stayed awake until about 11:30. Everything we did to make her feel better didn't work. Eventually I think she passed out from shear exhaustion.  I do love seeing all of those teeth in her mouth but boy oh boy do we suffer for them.

This weekend was also Bennett's 5th birthday. Which reminded me at how quickly the time goes with kids. I remember going to the hospital the day after he was born. We are looking forward to celebrating Em's first birthday in July but there are days I wished things moved a little slower. Oh well c'est la vie. Now if we could just get a full night of sleep...

Emily's First Brewer Game

On May 22nd we took Emily to her first Brewer game. It was a Krause/Mulder (my sister-in-law Beth's  family) affair. I was a little anxious leading up to the day. How was I going to contain my ever curious, ever mobile child for a tailgate and an entire game!? Emily however did fantastic despite the heat. Did I mention that it was HOT!? It was above 80 and there was no lake breeze. The one time that I wished for a lake breeze there wasn't any. Anyways, Em did well sitting in her walker during the tailgate and ever got to take a stroller ride with Grandma Krause.

Then it was game time. I put her in the pack and hoped to lull her to sleep while walking into the game. I forgot that my child loves to people watch. It wasn't until I had the brilliant idea to turn her around and cover her face with her sun hat that she finally fell asleep. After about a 20 min nap I decided to take her to our seats. Hoping that she would remain asleep. Our seats were in direct sunlight and heat. So needless to say she did not stay sleeping. Thank goodness for grandparents. Kevin's parents took all 4 grand kids and sat in the shade for most of the game. Em did seem to enjoy herself. All and all it was a good day. Oh and the Brewers won!!

Lunch at the tailgate



Walking partners Brielle and Bennett



Enjoying our sunny seats

Is She a toddler!?

This week Emily officially moved to the toddler room at daycare. Because of the influx of babies they are moving her a couple of months early. She loves being with the toddlers. They have fun toys to climb on and read a lot of books. She gets to go outside everyday and plays with her little toddler friends. The older ones in the class are already excited when "Emmy" shows up in the mornings.

I am amazed at how well Emily gets around. She isn't quite walking but she does "cruise" around very easily. She has even figured out how to steady herself with one arm on the walls in our house. Her favorite activity is pulling herself up on something, taking a few steps, kneeling down, and then doing it all over again. If Emily had her way she would be outside running around with the other kids in the neighborhood. She likes to believe that she is older than she is.

I can't believe my little baby is not a baby anymore. She is definitely moving into toddlerhood. We both love seeing her grow and change every day. It is fun to see a light bulb come on when she figures out that the cupboard doors don't only open but they close too. Emily is a true blessing in our lives. I am excited for the upcoming stages as a mommy of a toddler!

My new favorite place to pull up on. Mommy doesn't like it.

Mother's Day with Mama and Nana

Check out the 2 new top teeth!

Playing under Auntie Beth's piano

Reading with Daddy

Easter Sickness

Emily's first Easter will not be forgotten. We were hosting my mom, Kevin's parents, and grandma. First off when we got home from church we found a lake in our kitchen. Turns out some of the pipes were backed up which made the dishwasher emptied all of the water on our floor. Also Em had been spiking fevers since Friday. I had called the nurse on Sunday assuming it was another ear infection. They told us to wait until Monday since her fevers weren't that high. We have her some ibuprofen and she was a trooper on Easter. After some initial clean up we were able to sit down and have a nice dinner. Then Kevin and his dad spent the remainder of the day declogging the kitchen pipes.

I took Emily in on Monday and discovered that she had the coxsackie virus. This virus is related to hand, foot, and mouth disease--a common, not serious childhood illness. The doctor said that while she didn't have the full blown virus she was probably feeling pretty miserable. Plus since it is a virus there is nothing you can really do but wait it out. So we started our ibuprofen regiment and waited for the best. On Tuesday I still felt like something wasn't quite right with her. So I ended up taking her back in to see the doctor. This time they verified that she did indeed have an ear infection. Turns out that ears can change quite quickly and we were too early on Monday to catch it. Now we are doing pretty good. I think that virus has run its course and we are 2 days into our antibiotics. Emily is slowly back to her normal old self. Needless to say we won't forget her first Easter any time soon. Hopefully there are healthier and sunny days in our future.
 


Celebrating Great Grandma's 88th birthday on Palm Sunday

Easter bunny from Great Grandma



         

 No pictures in her Easter dress this year.





Feeling much better



Mama

Emily started making repetitive noises about a month and a half ago. She would say dadadada while we changed her diaper and crawl around saying mamamamama. Last week while she was walking along the couch holding on for dear life and very discriminate "Mama!" distress call came from her. She waiting and after I didn't say anything she said it again. Since then Mama has become her favorite word. While she tries to climb up my legs when I am cutting up her dinner...mama,  mama. When she is overtired and goes down for a nap she screams Mama. It appears that she only likes to use her first word when she is sad or in need of something but I will take it! We are looking forward to her discovering more and more words.

Baby showers and Birthdays Oh My!

The weekend of April 8,9, and 10 we had an extremely busy weekend planned. On Friday night we enjoyed a lovely "family" dinner with our good friends the Martin's. Their daughter is almost a year older than Emily and they have so much fun playing together. Plus Taetam has introduced Emily into Chugginton. It is a great show for toddlers.

Then on Saturday Emily and I were off on a road trip to Port Washington to help shower my cousin Mandy with baby goodness. She is due with her first bundle in June. Emily had a great time charming the family with her smiles and laughter. She tried to keep up with the big kids--which is difficult when you can't walk and they can. She loves other kids. She gets so excited and just wants to play!! The nice thing was my cousin Ryan's wife Amanda was in town from California with her son Lucas who is 3 months younger than Emily. The two of them spent some time playing with each other. It is going to be so great to watch them grow up together!

After spending the night at Grandma and Grampa Mixdorf's house, Emily and I continued our road trip to Germantown. It was our niece (Em's cousin) Brielle's 7th birthday party. There are lots of little kids on that side of the family (most of them girls) and it is so cute to watch them all interact with each other. Em is the youngest but you can tell in a year or so those girls will have a great time running around and playing with each other.

We feel so blessed to have the family we do. It is great that Emily has so many fun people to play with and so many people out there who love her.

Playing with Lucas, Great Grandma, and Grandma.

Having fun with Rylie and the activity seat. I think Rylie was looking for some buckels!

Sitting with Great Grandma Wille after a long day. Great Grandma was doing her best to calm Em down.