3 months and a blessing

On Sunday, July 6 Emma was blessed by my brother, her Uncle Nate. It was a beautiful blessing, and Emma looked so sweet in the gown that my mom had made for Grace. I loved seeing it on her and remembering how Grace looked in it as well. I am going to keep the gown and hopefully my granddaughters will be blessed in it (in many many years, of course).Both of my sisters and my parents were able to be there, and of course my brother Nate. On Monday, July 14 Emma turned 3 months old. She is the sweetest baby- I love to see her smile. It totally melts my heart. Emma loves to watch her brother and sister, and the louder they are the better. We love our Emma so much, and look forward to each month that we get to be with her.
Happy 3 months Emma Margaret! WE LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Wedding

My brother Nathan married his high school sweetheart on Saturday, July 12. Ben and Grace were in the wedding, along with their cousins Connor and Isabel. Ben and Connor were ring bearers, and Grace and Isabel were flower girls (aka princesses).

The bride, Alli. We are so happy that she is part of our family now! Ben and Grace have known her all of their lives, so it was a bit confusing that she is now AUNT Alli. My brother, Nathan. We love him so much and are very happy for him! (But seriously, how is he this old? He should still be 16 and playing high school football. Not married!!!!)

The wedding was so much fun- the kids had a ball dancing with the bride. Grace would not leave Alli alone, and we finally had to take her away so Alli could dance with other people(like her new husband:). The weather was not great- mid 60's and windy, but at least the rain held off until the outdoor ceremony was over.

Nate and Alli are on their honeymoon in Maine- they flew into Boston Monday morning. Their parting words were "don't call us, we'll call you".

The week leading up to the wedding was great, as both of my sisters and their families were home, as well as Nate and JJ at some point. The 4 older cousins rode the firetruck in Buhl's 4th of July parade, as well as Nate and Alli. We spent time at the cabin and played as much as we could. The cousins had so much fun playing together-it was sad to see Melissa and her family leave! Kristina and Nolan are staying until the 26th, so we will still get to spend time with them.

It was a beautiful wedding and a great week with our whole family!

2 month stats

Emma had her 2 month check-up today-everything looks great! She is 12 lbs 4.4 ounces-the 85th percentile, 24 inches- the 95th percentile, and her head is in the 37th percentile. Her hip still looks okay, a little asymmetrical, but we only need to watch it. Emma got her first shots, and it was not so great, but at least they are done. Now we just have a very cranky baby, which hopefully will not last long. Pizza for dinner tonight!

Little Ballerina

Grace has become such a little ballerina that I had to buy her these pajamas with the ballet shoes on them. She has been telling everyone how she will get to take dance lessons this fall, and that she is a ballerina. Spinning and dancing to any and all music has become Grace's favorite activity, and she absolutely loved Dancing With the Stars. We cannot wait for her to start her class!

Violin Lessons

Ben started Suzuki violin lessons on Thursday, and they were a big hit! The sponge is his violin for now, as he has to master a few skills before he actually gets the violin. The point is to teach skills, but also make Ben work for his violin, which will teach him the importance of practice and working for something. Love that idea!!
I was unsure what to expect, but the experience was a positive one for both Ben and me. The teacher is great-very kind and gentle, exactly what Ben needs. We have been practicing every evening, and he has been pretty cooperative. Although, between practicing for the violin and his home OT program it looks like we will not be taking the summer off. We had less to do when Ben was in school. We will keep you posted on the violin progress!

Emma is 2 months old!!

Emma is 2 months old today! I cannot believe how fast these past

2 months have gone. I don't remember it going so quickly with Ben and

Grace. The days just fly, it feels like we just woke up and it is bedtime again!

Emma is such a sweet baby, she is smiling and talking all of the time.

She absolutely loves her brother and sister, and look for them when they are

talking. Grace spends so much time taking care of Emma- singing to her when she cries,

giving her Nuk to her, and talking and reading books to her. Ben loves his baby sister as well,

and talks to her often. However, kissing her is another story. He kissed her forehead the other day, and spent 10 minutes licking his lips to "get the germs off":) Cooties already?

It is hard to find a word that better describes our Emma than "sweet"- she is our "sweetie pie" (or "weetie pie" as Grace would say). Emma loves to snuggle and be held, and she loves to be sung to. I love how she doesn't judge me for my horrible voice, as the other 2 are starting to do! Emma is very happy when she is outside where there is so much to see. Someday she will get to go outside two days in a row. Maybe in July.

Emma is 1 month!

Or, she was two days ago. Oh, well.

Isn't she so sweet? We love our chubby baby so much!

Emma is such a good baby- she sleeps about 8 hours at night, eats for 15 minutes, then sleeps about 3-4 more hours. She has been doing this since she was 1 week old. (We only wish her older brother and sister would sleep at night!) She is very alert, and loves listening to the noise of her brother and sister. Emma can sleep through ANYTHING!

We are so lucky to have such a wonderful baby girl, and look forward to each new month with her! We will share these months, but maybe not always on time.

This was not a favorite position, and I had just yanked the nuk out of her mouth, but no picture would be complete without a shot of those thighs!