Don't Flush Emily!

Emily has gotten to be big enough to share bath time with Josh.  To me, this is one of the great things about siblings - fun bath times.  And they really do enjoy it.

Typical practice has always been that when the bath is over, Josh pulls the handle to drain the tub.  And now that Emily joins him, we typically take her out of the tub first get her all squared away then Josh gets out. 

For whatever reason, one time Josh got out first and I pulled the drain while Emily was still in the bath.

Josh says: "Don't flush Emily!"

We're so lucky he looks out for her!

Emily: 5 Months

Look who's five months old already!!!

It's hard to believe she's five months, but at the same time, it seemed to take a really long time to go from four months to five months.  I'm not really sure why; maybe because that month was just ridiculously busy.

I have decided that she is a "happy baby".  This probably sounds strange, but that is her general demeanor.  Not that Josh wasn't a happy baby, but I would say his general demeanor was (and still is to a degree) serious.  But Emily loves to smile, easy to laugh, loves being around people and getting attention.  And not much upsets her.

So here are some of Emily's accomplishments so far:

Rolling Over - she seems to be pretty good at rolling over.  I don't have a lot of first hand experience with this simply because most of the time she rolls over, no one is around.  She does it mostly during nap time and it tends to make her mad!  So there are naps where I have to go in multiple times to flip her back.  But I have actually only witnessed her roll over while not in her crib once.  Thankfully she doesn't seem to do this rolling act during the night time, so we still have peaceful nights.  (And, yes, we are happy to report that she has been sleeping through the night for several months now.  Yay Babywise!)

Standing - We started putting Emily in her saucer about 3 weeks ago and it's amazing how quickly her legs have gotten stronger.  She can support her weight on her feet for good stretches before collapsing.  In this video you can see a glimpse of her wildness in the saucer.  She is definitely a more physically active child just as I suspected from her movement in my tummy.  I have high hopes for molding her into my new thrill-ride buddy.

Sitting Up - She is also getting stronger at sitting.  She can stay upright on her own for a couple seconds.  She went on her first stroller ride out of the car seat a couple weeks ago.  She loved it!  I'm sure part of her joy was all the attention she got from people we passed.

Emily continues to be a joy and Josh is still in love with her as ever.  We are so blessed!

Emily's Baptism

On Sunday, June 24th we had Emily baptized.  Jim and I were both baptized as babies and we are doing the same with our children.

My mom had made a very special baptism dress for Emily which she had given to me at my baby shower.

My sister, Susan, flew in and Jim's Aunt Patti drove in for this special day.  It meant a lot to have them both here.  During the actual baptism our family joined us up on the stage.

Pastor Doug presents Emily to the congregation.

The funniest thing was Josh's reactions to everything.  During the sprinkling of the water, he watched very intently.  Then when Pastor Doug walked down the steps with Emily, Joshua got very protective and concerned with where she was going.  You can see I am now holding him in the picture above because he was getting pretty upset.

Our congregation surrounds us in prayer.  Here, too, Josh was in the moment and laid his hand on my shoulder (Jim was holding him) and bowed his head during the prayer.  Of course he kept looking up to make sure he should still be doing it.

After the service we had everyone come back to our house for a little lunch.

Emily with her Aunt Melanie

The boys having a great time together

Aunt Su-Su

Aunt Patti-Patti

BabyPalooza

Last Spring / Summer...uhm...apparently love was in the air.  Big time!

How do I know? Well, by the baby boom that has been going on around me.  I know a lot of people that have been having babies, and I know people who know people who are having babies.  Of the people I know personally, I was the first to kick things off in February.  Since then, I would bet I could easily list at least 10-15 people who have given birth since then and several more who are still expecting.

One of my circle of friends is women who all met at work.  Not everyone still works there, but we still get together for lunch as often as we can.  Of the seven of us, five - yes, five! - added children to our families between February and May.  Sounded like something that needed a celebration to me.

So last Saturday we got together at my house with the new babies and adjacent kids.  There were seven adults, six kids between the ages of 2 and 5, and five babies 5 months and younger.  And there were four kids missing of the moms who were here.

 

Natalie, Gina (Emily), Stacy
There was oogling galore! 

I was hoping it could just be some relaxing time to all be together.  So I ordered food in and we just hung out.  It was so nice.

Michelle and Liz

There were car seats every where! 

Emily and Ethan were just hanging out with each other.

The Gaggle:

The Babies:

Emily (4.5m), Brynn (3.5m), Sofia (3m), Ethan (2.5m), Kayla (1m)

The kids played along very well too.  There were no injuries, fighting or even crying.  It was a good day.

And there were also a lot of dirty feet...

I feel so blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful women to share mommyhood with.  They are all life savers!!

Disney/California Blitz!

As you may have figured out from before, we have annual passes to Disneyland.  We selected the pass that is blocked out Saturdays, holidays, and a good chunk of the summer.  Pretty much all the days you don't want to go anyway because of the crowds.  Our passes are about to be blocked out for the summer so we've been trying to squeeze in a few visits before that happens.

We received an email a few weeks ago about the opportunity to register to get in the park an hour before it opens.  Today was the day we made that work for us and it was really awesome.  We hit four rides in 30 minutes, walking straight on to each one.  The only bummer was that some of the things we wanted didn't open until the normal park opening.

 

Josh loves the carousel.  He always asks for the "horsey ride."

The Matterhorn Bobsled ride has been under renovation and just opened.  Below are the new sleds for those of you familiar with what they used to look like. 

 

No more awkward canoodling.

For anyone even remotely paying attention to what is going on at the Disney parks lately, you know that Disney's California Adventure has been under major renovation.  One of the biggest pieces is the new Cars Land.  It had its grand opening last Friday.  We are so lucky to have been able to get in to see it so soon after the opening and before our passes are blocked.  Here is just a glimpse of our experience.

  

Welcome to Radiator Springs

Three new rides premiered in Cars Land.  The biggest one is race cars and Josh is not tall enough yet to go on that one.  There is also a ride of flying tires.  We didn't make it near that ride, so I don't know yet if Josh could go on it.  But he was tall enough to go on Tow Mater's Junkyard Jamboree...

 

It's a similar concept to the Tea Cup ride.  Also kind of like a common fair ride which I think is called the Scrambler.  The Tractors move in an almost figure-eight pattern while pulling a cart behind it which swings back and forth as the tractor turns.  The music playing has a square dance feel as Mater sings some silly songs.

 

Can you spot Jim?

 

I think they liked it.

I have video of the ride, but it will take me a while to get the videos edited for sharing.  I'll try to get them up soon.

And now for a little tour of "the cutest little town in Carburetor County."

 

Cozy Cone Motel

Each of the cones sell a different concession.  There was ice cream, pretzels, popcorn, churros, etc.  This is also where Mater and Lightning McQueen come to visit the park guests.

  

Luigi's Casa Della Tires

Flo's V8 Cafe

 Can't forget Stanley.

Here comes Lightning McQueen.  It's such a cool little mini-parade when each car shows up.  At this point, Mater had been out for a while, so here comes McQueen.  As he pulls up, Mater takes off.  (Again, I'll try to post some video later.)

Josh really wasn't as miserable as he looks.  He's just so funny with pictures.  He's so shy when meeting characters, but then talks about it at length afterwards.

On the other hand, I felt like I was eight years old again today.  This new land was so much fun, and the character cars were a kick!

We could tell Josh's mind was about to explode from all the stimulation, so we headed over the Hollywood area of the park to do some calmer activities.  We watched the Muppet 3-D movie.  Then we headed to a Disney Jr. show.  This was brand new to me.  I don't know how long it's been there but it was just awesome.

It's basically a puppet show of the biggest hit shows on the Disney Jr. channel: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Little Einsteins, Handy Manny and Jake and the Neverland Pirates.  It's about 25 minutes long, hits the main songs from each show and is just totally awesome.  It's exactly where we are with Josh right now as he watches all those shows all the time!  I think my head was going to explode this time.  Jim and I both loved the show and watching Josh enjoy it. (Video...blah, blah, blah)

Overall the makeover of California Adventure is pretty impressive.  We only saw a sliver, but the all-new entry is gorgeous!  We look forward to seeing more of the park in the future.

How do we know it was a good day...?

 What do you think?

Caption This...

I don't have any time to write these days, and I probably won't get much chance for another week or two.  So I'm giving the job to you instead.

Caption this picture.  Or write a story about. Get those creative juices flowing!

 

You can post it in the comments or send me an email if you have my address.  Depending on what I get, we'll see what kind of fun we can have.

Emily: 3 Months. Josh: 2 1/2.

Cuteness (in General)

It's time to just share some photos.

I am continuing the tradition of taking monthly baby pictures in the glider chair next to the bear we got from FAO Schwartz.  Below are the two month shots which are already too old.  It won't be long before I take Emily's 3-month pictures.  Craziness!!

 

I know these shots are similar, but I simply couldn't pick which one to share.  They're both so cute!  Emily's smile is just delicious!

Please notice her hair that is sticking up.  She was born with it and I love it.  It won't be there for ever, so we must appreciate it now.  Take a moment if you will...

One more moment.  Go ahead .

Josh is so in love with his little sister.  He asks to hold her a lot.  Emily lights up when she sees him.

Yesterday was supposed to be a rainy day, although the rain didn't arrive until about 10pm.  But it was dreary and cloudy all day which felt like a perfect time to teach Josh how to make oatmeal cookies.  He loved it.

Well, one part in particular.

Every time we added an ingredient he would say "Now eat some?"

Good boy!

Today's Lesson: Birthmarks

I've been educating myself. Aren't you proud of me? Since I'm not working, I have to keep my mind from turning to mush.

I'm learning about a couple types of birthmarks. The ones known colloquially as "stork bite" and "strawberry mark". I'm learning about them because my kids have them. So, let me share my wealth of knowledge (so far).

Stork Bite: nevus flammeus nuchae
reddish or pink patches often found above the hairline at the back of the neck, on the eyelids or between the eyes. These marks are caused by collections of capillary blood vessels close to the skin. Patches on the forehead or eyelids usually fade with time. Those on the nape of the neck usually don't fade but are covered by hair. (Mayo Clinic)

Strawberry Mark: hemangioma
a benign self-resolving tumor of cells that line the blood vessels. It usually appears during the first weeks of life and resolves by age 10. (Wikepedia)

Josh was born with several stork bites. The biggest, most noticeable one is on his forehead and comes down between his eyebrows just a little bit. He also has them on his head and neck. They have all faded to some degree with the one on his forehead practically unnoticeable now. He also has a mark on his tushy which I thought was a stork bite, but since doing research I think now that maybe it's just a birth mark. I love the one on his tushy and hope that it doesn't fade.

Here's the one on the back of his head at about 2-months old.
(Remember that mullet? hee hee)

This is what his forehead looked like at about 4 months.

My jokester dad always likes to say "I can Photoshop that out for you..."

Emily also has these stork bites. The back of her head and neck look pretty similar to Josh's. She also has a tiny one in between her eyebrows and a small one on her right eyelid. The one on her eyelid really becomes noticeable when she's been crying.

The newest development, however, has been these strawberry marks. Around the time Emily's umbilical cord fell off I saw a tiny little red mark just above her belly button. Initially I thought she had scratched herself or that the dried cord had scratched her. What became weird was that this "scratch" didn't heal in the normal amount of time for a scratch. It continued to get bigger and darker and eventually I could feel it raising up on her skin. I wasn't urgently concerned so waited to ask the doctor at her 2-month appointment.

That's when I learned the word "hemangioma."

The doc said it can continue to grow, but usually reaches it's biggest by 6 months. Then it slowly starts to fade and shrink. I've heard conflicting time frames, but the longest range seems to say that by the age of 10 it should be as healed as it is going to be.

One month

Two months

You can see how much it's changed just in one month. What I really love is that it currently is kinda heart-shaped.

In the week following this appointment, we became aware of a bruised looking lump on the back of Emily's neck. It was probably about the size of a small walnut. I didn't want to mess around with anything on the neck, or near the spine, so back to the doctor we went. Turns out this was a hemangioma too. It's just so deep under the skin, that's why it's blue not red. I really hope this one doesn't grow much bigger. Even though I know it doesn't hurt her, it looks like it should and makes me feel terrible.

All of this sparked a memory from when I visited my cousin several years ago and I confirmed with her that her daughter had the same thing. It was nice to get the first hand account of both a raised red mark and a lump mostly resolving.

It sounds like an obvious and over-simplified statement, but having kids sure is educational.