My baby is growin up!

So here are the stats...Em is almost 6 months...that's half a year gone like smoke! She is now 15lbs. 8oz. And is 25 1/4 inches! Its hard to believe how big she has gotten and just how much she can do! Not only does she scoot around backwards AND forwards, she got up on her knees yesterday and pushed herself forward! Its only a matter of a week and half or two and she will be crawling! Yes she is quick! And a couple days ago she sat up all on her own. We got her a walker about 5 weeks ago and her feet were about 1 1/2 inches from the floor, Tuesday I noticed they were touching and today, she is walking backwards in it! She waves all the time, "sings" along with music, imitates sounds, and gives hugs and kisses if you ask! And for the last couple weeks, when she is in the swing, she will rock back and forth to make it go faster...she will be my carnival rider for sure...probably the zipper at that! She is a talker just like her momma, auntie, and grandma too! Talkin up a storm as we speak! : ) I am so proud at how brave she is, getting her shots and yesterday her ears pierced...and only cried for about 20 seconds! What a champ...tough like her daddy! So this momma feels super blessed to have such a happy healthy and smiley baby...what a joy she has brought to our lives! Stay tuned for more adventures with the little miss!

XOXO...cant get enough baby lovins!

Emalee is almost 5 months, but is already way too smart for her own good! First off let me say how proud I am...my monkey slept in her big girl bed for the first time last night...slept all the way through until 7am and woke up with a great big smile on her face! Although mainly this post is about the fact that my baby girl gave me kisses yesterday when I asked for them and today gave me both hugs AND kisses when I said "can you give momma kisses? Can you give momma hugs?!" How is that for bein a smarty pants?! She has been doing Eskimo kisses for about a month now! She will hold really still and let me tickle her nose with mine and then she giggles and grins when I tell her how proud I am and what a big girl she is! She knows exactly what is up! She also waves hello AND goodbye when you ask! She really likes that...is always pretty pleased with herself! And if possible she gets cuter everyday...she knows that too! She will literally sit up in her boppy...loves tummy time, likes sweet potatoes, and is so active...she is always going! She weighs 11lbs. 13oz. and is 24 1/2 inches long...growing like a weed! She is very vocal...talks often and giggles out loud! If she had enough core strength...she literally would be running around my house! Haha but the most impressive thing is, not only is she rolling from back to front and front to back, but she scoots all over and last Tuesday she crawled about 2 feet! It was hard work but she was so proud and 5 minutes later she was asleep! Every day I feel so incredibly blessed to have such an amazing daughter! How lucky I am to have the privilege of being her mom, teaching her, and watching her grow! Stay tuned for more adventures!

Raspberries...and not your ordinary garden variety either

Emalee has a new thing...well several actually considering its been a while since I wrote...so I really should say she has a new FAVORITE thing...blowing raspberries. Its one of the most adorable things I have seen yet...especially her own reaction! After she makes her little pbbbbbt...she grins and giggles to herself like "I am SO cute...and don't I know it!" And wouldn't ya know...she is! Down right adorable in fact! She is also now rolling from back to front and front to back and scoots herself all over the place! Yesterday she scooted down from her boppy and then rolled from back to front to back...then back to her tummy...completely raised herself up and grinned right at me...so proud of herself...talked to me for a bit...then rolled back over scooted herself back over towards her boppy and grabbed her binky...before sighing and falling asleep! Cause it was hard work ya know!
The little miss turned 4 months officially on the 5th, but had her check-up on the 12th. She is 11 pounds 13 oz. Which is only 4 oz. more than her 2 month...but she is so active...always wiggling and moving around...so I am not surprised she maintains a pretty steady weight...however, she is now 24 1/2 inches...which puts her just over the 2 foot mark and means she has gained a total of 3 inches since she was born! She is so long...even my husband noticed...and he normally doesn't really think about those kind of things. He remarked to me "oh my, the baby is really growing!" and held out his hands in a gesture of awe! I couldn't help but chuckle at this cause he just looked completely dumbfounded! 4 months also means her second set of shots. She took it like a champ...cried for maybe 15 seconds and then settled in all cozy and rested. She is such an even tempered and good natured baby...always smiling and happy...so its rare for her to be grumpy or mad...but she didn't feel well from the shots plus teething and being in the middle of an intense growth spurt...so she was grumpy for a few days. So much so, that at one point Martine picked her up to give her kisses and she screamed at him...apparently she did not wish to be disturbed, no matter the reason! She is back to her usual happy self...but it was a touchy few days to say the least.
And boy is she a talker...chatters up a storm!
Momma has been busy creating pretties and in addition to the orofino farmers market...as of this last Saturday is now doing the Kamiah farmers market! So every Tuesday from 3 to 6pm is the orofino market and Saturdays from 9am to 1pm is the market in Kamiah...which means we will be very busy indeed!
But for right now its morning nap time...so stick around for more adventures!

Mt little Chunky Monkey

Today Emalee had her 4 month checkup and she is great! 13 lbs 11 oz an 24 1/2 inches long! Doctor said she looks great...just maybe a little concerned with her weight so she will have a weight check in a month. She also got her second immunizations and cried for about 15 to 20 seconds and then was fine and in a great mood up until bed time! Seriously how did I get so lucky?! So the monkey is good and this momma is tuckered...so its time to go to bed...but stayed tuned for more adventures!

Holy sweet potatoes Batman...my monkey is growin again!

Today when Emalee woke up she had her customary bottle before her morning nap. This morning I gave her 6 ounces thinking that should be sufficient. So I fed the monkey...she settled down but did not go to sleep for her nap. She was awake so we played and talked and laughed and snuggled...it was great! But a mere 45 minutes later she started fussin lookin at me with "the look" which says mom you better get ready cause I'm starvin! She had burped so I knew it wasn't that...and it wasn't her diaper...so I checked her tummy and sure enough it was empty! And off I went to get another bottle. She downed it and finally settled in for her morning nap. She slept for about 3 hours which is pretty long for her morning nap...but I took the time to get a little more sleep myself, since I stayed up til 2 am working on new goodies for the store! So Emalee and I were all cozied up...love those moments! <3 all of a sudden she awoke with a vengence...hungry again! So I gave her another bottle and she ate it so fast I hardly had time to blink! She was starting to seem like a bottomless pit...and little did I know it would continue ALL day! I think total count ended up being 9 bottles including the TWO it took to get her to settle down and go to bed. In between these bottles she managed to get a ton of sleep...like the half she didn't spend eating was spent sleeping! Lol We had an awesome day...we played, chatted a few times, cuddled, watched movies, and played some more! At one point I went in to get something to drink and heard her chewin on her fingers...which has become commonplace these days since she is teething. In actuality, she will chew anything she can get her hands...or should I say her mouth on! Imagine my surprise when I walked back in and she had both her feet up to her mouth and was alternating between the two just smackin away...and only paused for a moment to grin at me (completely pleased with herself, of course)before resuming her teething process...it was pretty cute I must say! She does a few other cute new things like giggling out loud...singing along with music...scooting herself all over the floor or bed during tummy time...and not to mention her newest multi-tasking feat...suckin on her binky while also smiling at me and growling! Super funny and hard not to laugh at cause its so cute, but it sure makes her mad when you laugh at her and she is trying to make a point! Last but not least my little monkey skipped cereal and went straight to pears! Yep...she knows what they are and has been watching us eat for weeks like "hello...where is mine?! Aren't you gonna share?!" so I suppose I should have caught on eh? She just finished off sweet potatoes...which she also likes and is ready to move on to bananas...hope they aren't as messy as sweet potatoes...SMH. She is such a wealth of personality that every day is a new adventure...which reminds me...stayed tuned for more of these adventures! This tired mama is hittin the hay early tonight!

Open mouth...insert foot

So this morning as I was talking to my mom...I realized I could hear Emalee chewing on her hands...they work really well as a teether! But when I looked over I just had to laugh because unstead of her hands she had her foot in her mouth and was chewin away! I knew it was coming eventually, since she has been obsessed with her feet for a couple weeks now. But I just sat there laughing with my mom on the phone and when I told her why I was laughing...she incredulously asked "she has her foot in her mouth right now?!" I could only laugh and reply "yep...right now!" and so we were both laughing as she was just chompin away and babbling to herself softly. She still has a short attention span...evidenced this morning by our little impromptu "singing" session. I was clappin my hands and singin lala la lala lalala la lala and she was singin along mimicking me for about 2 minutes and then she got bored. But it was really cute to hear her singin along! Right now she is rubbing her eyes which means its naptime and daddy is napping too....so I might want to get some work done while I have the chance! Stay tuned for more adventures!

The first 4th of July for my monkey!

So today was Emalee's first 4th of July and overall it was relatively uneventful. We slept in...enjoyed some cuddle time. Then Em watched a movie while mom made some more hair pretties and dad perfected his bracelet making skills...yes dad has joined in with fervor! About noon we loaded up the car and headed to my moms house to barbecue and visit and so I could hopefully get some work done. Facebook partially cooperated so I was able to upload a few new goodies and add prices and then it went all wonky again so I am hoping to have better luck tomorrow! For our outing Em spent some quality time with her Aunt Kaitlyn and enjoyed every second of the attention...my little DIVA already...oh boy! Uncle Mitch was nursing the effects of his hard earned 4th of July weekend of debauchery with the fellas...but managed to chat with the monkey for a bit! My hubby barbecued steak while I sliced fresh strawberries and made a stellar pasta salad...and we all ate and visited...it was great! my hubby was so intent on finishing the last bracelet that we left late...but managed to sneak into the perfect parking spot and grab a little spot perfect for the three of us just as the lights went off...talk about cutting it close! I was wondering what Emalee's reaction would be and if she would cry cause it scared her or stare in awe?! Turns out the first 10 minutes she was more interested in staring at me! Lol The next 5 minutes she spent alternating between looking at me and the fireworks but there were a couple that made her eyes light up! But the last 5 minutes...during the finale...was the best reaction! I was watching then glanced over just in time for her to squeeze her eyes shut and pretend to be asleep...then she smiled cause she knew I was looking! When she opened her eyes and looked at me she started to giggle and it made me laugh! We snick out before traffic got bad and came home. I put Em in her bouncer and was yuckling her feet and she was grinning her head off...it was adorable! Then here and there people around us started shooting off little fireworks and her reaction was great...she was laughing and excited and chattering at the top of her voice...more like what I had expected for the BIG fireworks! Then mom decided to have some strawberry cheesecake and of course it was mandatory that I share since she is officially an eater! Apparently she likes cheesecake...who knew?! But she got so excited...I have never seen her feet move that fast...she was almost frantic...it was hilarious...but then she started getting panicky because she discovered she was hungry! So out came the pears and she knew what was up...but with each bite she kept getting more and more frantic so mom decided it was bedtime and daddy out her down for the night with her bottle! Definitely a 4th to remember...wonder what the next one will be like?! Just want to say a big thank you to all those serving or who have served or been lost in the fight...you fight for what we are celebrating today...words cannot express the gratitude I and many others feel...thank you for protecting our FREEDOM! Happy Independence Day my friends and family! Stay tuned for more crazy antics from our jelly bean!

Nicknames

Emalee Laurena may be her given name...but my baby girl has a ton of nicknames! The first one...which she earned right off the bat...came before she was even born and even before we knew she was a girl. Our "jelly bean" would have been slightly awkward, had it turned out to be Alexander instead of Emalee! But in all fairness it was a name bestowed upon her early on and it stuck and as luck would have it I think she makes a perfect jelly bean!Shortly after finding out I was pregnant...a friend of mine, curious about details and progress with the baby, one day asked me how big my baby was. I laughed and jokingly said "oh about the size of a jelly bean" and from then on...although she grew to be bigger than one...she became our jelly bean! Another frequently used moniker for her is punky...which I will admit is a little rough around the edges...until you know how she got this one. I had taken to callin her punkin, which I think is fairly common among the diapered and toothless. I would say "punkin...punkin...punkin" and she would giggle and smile and kick her feet...just found it hilarious! One day as my husband say quietly watching this interaction between me and her he suddenly asked "punky...punky...punky?!" And I couldn't resist a chuckle as I said punkin and explained it was short for pumpkin. It is so cute to hear him cooing to her...even if he does call her punky! He also calls her monita...which in Spanish means "little monkey" and lately with her double foot and hand hold grip on her bottle...it seems highly appropriate! I call her my little monkey too! In the spirit of sweet treats, began of course with jelly bean, she has earned a bevy of other nicknames that, although adorable, are only brought out of the nickname nook these days once in a while. Some of my favorites include pop tart, sweet pea, sugar plum, and sweet tart. My husband said at one point we should name her jalapeno...which I quickly vetoed of course...but which he still calls her from time to time...our poquita jalapena...or little jalapeno!Sometimes I lovingly refer to her as my "tinky pants" or my little "tinker butt" and I am sure you can guess exactly where those come from! Of course can't forget your standard sweetheart, beautiful, honey, sugar or baby girl. And last but certainly not least is Em, which of course is the simplest and most natural out of all of them and which is a favorite among her "aunties" but especially with her favorite auntie Kaitlyn! My mom is worried that she won't ever learn her real name cause she has so many nicknames...but I assured her that I do indeed call her by her actual name quite often...so there is no cause to worry! Even though I am certain she will acquire a few more in her lifetime...no matter what...she will always be my baby girl!

Fevers and teething and Advil OH MY!

Oh my poor little monkey is not feeling well...teething is rough business! The pissy missy was runnin a fever so I gave her some baby Advil and a bottle and she appears to be feeling better...thank goodness cause I hate when she isn't happy! In other news my hubby was successful in convincing me to buy baby food for Em. We get home and he decides its time to try her first pears...so he hands me the jar and a spoon. Now let me explain that the miss has been intently watching us eat for weeks and gives us the look like "excuse me...where is mine?!" Last night she watched us eat Mexican and begged the whole time for us to give her some and she looked so disappointed when we were done and she hadn't even gotten a single bite! However this little miss is one smart cookie...I have said that before but she proved it once again. As soon as she saw the jar and the spoon she sat up and lucked her lips and I swear her eyes lit up! I have her a little bite and she did not spit it out...she did not cry...she ate it like a pro and LIKED it! Guess we should have done this awhile ago! Lol Needless to say she is ready for food! For now Em is watching a movie and papa is going to make some bracelets and I am going to make some more hair pretties! Stay tuned for more adventures!

Chubby Little Chipmunk Cheeks (Say that ten times fast...)!

This morning again I was not awakened by my husbands alarm but by Emalee's. However her timing is closer as she woke up hungry a mere 4 minutes before the alarm was set...for 4:45. She ate very politely...my little monkey...with both hands on the top and both feet on the bottom! Yes she truly does look like the cutest monkey ever when she wraps arms and legs around the bottle...guess she is making darn sure it doesn't get away! Lol Last night she played peek-a-boo with me and I have to say it was one of the cutest things ever! She had the blanket over one eye and as she peeked over at me she pulled the blanket away and blessed me with that incredible smile...before going into some long discussion with Pooh...about what I can only imagine as I don't speak Emalee...YET! And she had quite the conversation with Grandma Kelly too...one of her most talkative days as of late! Just a few moments ago as I sat looking into her pretty little eyes and contemplating her chubby little chipmunk cheeks...she reached up with her tiny little hand and laid it on my face in the ultimate gesture of love...before devilishly pinching my cheek in the classic "awww look at those tute wittle chubby cheeks" way and I swear there was just enough of a twinkle there to tip me off that she knows exactly what she is doing! What a smart cookie! Right now right hand is firmly grasping that right foot and she is rubbing her eyes with the other as she struggles to stay awake so she doesn't miss a thing! So this mama is signing off to get some snuggles in...tune in later for more adventures!

Good Morning...Good Morning the little birds say!

This morning I was awakened not by my husbands alarm but by Emalee's! Lol she has a firm hold of her right foot...which has become customary, almost like a gesture of comfort. However at this particular moment she is not very comforted as daddy is off to work and she has decided she doesn't want to let him go...so her other hand has firmly grasped his shirt and she is not about to let go! Daddy's solution?! Let's give her a second bottle to keep her distracted! And that's where mom says GREAT...how can I compete with that?! And just like that her hands (and feet...my little monkey!)are otherwise occupied...allowing daddy to slip unceremoniously out the door to head to work. Some days I think daddy is her favorite and I suppose that is okay...cause most of the time mommy is her favorite and I don't mind sharing! I especially love when she decides mommy is her favorite and she wants to cuddle...which right now is commonplace, but as she grows I know those times will become more and more rare, so I am enjoying them as they come! Something about seeing that shy smile...which is quite deceiving, cause she is NOT shy, and then the subsequent snuggling into moms shoulder...makes my heart go pitter patter and I fall in love all over again! And just now...as excess milk dribbles from her mouth onto the bed (thanks daddy) she let's out that heart-stopping smile and greets me with her version of gotcha...good morning...and I love you mommy! Right foot firmly back in her grasp, the left one has now joined and she is babbling like crazy! Truth be told...she is pretty darn pleased with herself...but mommy is ready for morning nap by now. Problem with that being little miss Emalee clearly is not! So I am going to go chat with my jelly bean...for those who don't know the significance of this nickname I will gladly enlighten you a little later on...when I am fully awake and going for the day of course! And there is the customary rubbing of the eyes which signals "the Divine Miss Em" (Bette Midler eat your heart out!)is finally ready to settle in for the morning snooze and snuggle with mommy! Very soon the blankey will follow up over the eyes in yet another comforting gesture...and then the princess will drift off to dream of things like bottles and binkies and blankeys! More adventures to come...but for now snuggles! :)

Setting up shop officially and what all that entails?!

So first of all when proofreading my blog, I noticed it said take the load less traveled...quite appropriate for a new mom I suppose when laundry is a big deal! However, upon correcting it, it now says take the road less traveled...and create your own path! Which is what I have decided to do in starting this business! I do not know if I will be successful, I do not know if I will sell a single thing, but I do know that with the exception of the last week (where I have been running around like a chicken with my head cut off...literally...trying to get last minute things done!) I have had a blast! It has allowed me to take a little of the worry away from how to help support my family and make sure my daughter doesnt have to deal with both parents working out of the home at such a tender age. I don't want to miss a thing, and this way I wont! I look forward to sharing and laughing (there will be plenty of laughs and stories to come!) and even growing with all of you! Thank you for your support and I look forward to these adventures as much as I hope you look forward to hearing about them!