8 Months

Well, Emmett's been 8 months for a while now, and I'm just getting around to blogging.  He went in for an appointment and is now 25 lbs 3 oz (98%) and 28 inches long (61%).  He has become mobile; he figured out how to roll a couple of weeks ago and has since become proficient at getting where he wants.  He can scoot himself around so he can position himself to be able to roll in the direction he wants to go.  It's been really fun seeing him progress, but I am definitely a little sad to see my baby grow up so fast.  Jeremy keeps pressuring me to cut his hair, but I just can't bear to do it yet. Although I will concede that the hair over his ears IS getting a little long.  We'll see how much longer I can fend Jer off.  ;)
Emmett has gotten REALLY good at feeding himself.  Just the past few days he has started to actually let go of the food when he puts it in his mouth.  And he really likes the sippy cups that have handles for him to hold.  Now if he'd figure out that he needs to suck on the spout instead of chewing on it ;)

He also LOVES music; I have found that the Raffi Children's station on Pandora is amazing lol.

Emmett has started to want to be super independent sometimes.  It can drive us nuts.  He can just be super stubborn about not wanting help and then getting upset when he can't do it himself.  Oh what are we in for when he's older??

Well, I can't think of anything else to say, so here are the customary pictures of the little man.  =D

 This picture is kind of a weird angle, but I think it makes Emmett look super cute.

7 Months!

Wow, I can't believe Emmett is 7 months already!  He is so stinking cute and he just melts my heart every day.  We finally found a food he really doesn't like (chunky apples and squash....he likes them both separately, so I'm not sure if it's the combination he doesn't find appealing or what, but he gives me the funniest face and will try and push out the offending food lol).

• He has found his feet and likes to play with and look at them.
• He still loves his rattles.
• He is gnawing on EVERYTHING.  I think he might be trying to get some more teeth.
• He LOVES dogs.  He will just laugh and laugh at Chiquita and will watch her whenever she's moving.  It's so cute.
• He loves ANYONE who will pick him up when he's been crying.
• He sticks out his little tongue a lot; it's super cute.
• He drank out of a cup for the first time! And he did pretty well!

 Emmett with his tongue out =)

 I love the serious look on his face!

 My brother Zack decided to put Fuzzy on Emmett's head and Emmett made the funniest face.

 He fell asleep like this!  I can't imagine that it'd be comfortable, but apparently he didn't mind.

Christmas 2011

I realize this is late, but it's better late than never, right?  =)  We spent Christmas with my family this year and Jeremy's grandma came down to celebrate it with us.  Christmas Eve we went to my Uncle Scott & Aunt Kelly's for super yummy prime rib.  Luckily Santa paid a visit so I could get a picture of Emmett with him.  Emmett did really well and didn't seem to mind Santa at all.  In fact, he tried to grab his nice curly beard as well as his hat lol.  

Christmas morning we opened gifts.  Jeremy and Emmett got matching ties from one of my friends, and Emmett got a white shirt and khakis as well.  They got to wear their new duds to church that day.  They look super cute in them.  =)  Emmett also got some other clothes from Grandma & Grandpa Cress and a cute fleece blanket and pillow from Great Grandma Cress.  From us he got a crinkle book and the Lion King.  We figured he'd probably be more interested in the paper anyway, so it wouldn't really matter what we got him.  Jeremy got some targets, Cinderella Man, 17 Miracles, and some ammo.  I got How to Train Your Dragon (woot!!), some money towards books, Pride and Prejudice dvd (the long one!!).  There were other gifts as well, but they're slipping my mind at the moment.

Here's our first-ever Christmas letter as well:

Merry Christmas!  This year has been an eventful one for us.  In June we welcomed our baby boy Emmett and then later that week we graduated from Eastern Washington University.  It was definitely an eventful week and we are very glad to be done with school.  (At least, for the time being.)

Jeremy enjoyed spending time with Emmett this summer as he looked for a job.  At the beginning of November he was offered a job working at Areva as a material control handler.  However, they wanted him to start less than a week after they offered him a job, so we had to pack up and get moved out quickly.  Jeremy is now enjoying his job and we’re both enjoying being closer to my family.

Myaela is staying home with Emmett and loving being able to spend time with him.  She has been trying out a lot of new recipes lately and is having fun with that.

Emmett is six months old now and becoming increasingly active.  He hasn’t yet started crawling, which we are grateful for, but it looks like it’s not terribly far off.  He has two teeth now and he loves almost all solid foods he’s had.  He has such a sweet little personality and we are incredibly grateful to have him in our lives.

And our family portrait: 

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas as well!

Six months!

(Again...sorry this is so late.  We ended up going out of town the weekend right after Emmett turned six months so I didn't have a chance to blog about it.)

Well, let me start with Emmett's stats:
Weight: 22 lbs 10.5 oz (99%)
Height: 27" (72%)
Head Circumference: 45 cm (83%)

And now for a list of accomplishments/habits:

• We found a food he doesn't like!  I tried giving him a few bites of mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving, and after the first bite he kept trying to push the potatoes out of his mouth.  Oh well.  He got to eat sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving instead, which is healthier anyway.  =)
• He is really starting to get better control of his hands.  He reaches for stuff a lot more and is starting to grab things and study them.  It's so cute seeing him start to really interact with and learn from his surroundings.
• He rolled over for the first time!  It was definitely an accident, but he did it!  Unfortunately, we have yet to get him to repeat the act.  No matter how much tummy time we give him, he doesn't roll over.  Oh well, eventually he'll get there.
• He got his first teeth!  His two bottom ones came within a day of each other.  He looks super cute with them.  But boy are they sharp!  Pretty soon he's not going to be able to chew on our hands!
• He has been so giggly lately!  Especially when he's starting to get tired (he gets a little slap happy).  It's been so much fun hearing him laugh.
• He still doesn't really like his Bumbo.  Usually within 2 minutes he's arching his back trying to get himself out.  (Of course, it might be because he's seriously wedged in the Bumbo...with his chunky little thighs and bum I'm not sure how much longer we'll be able to get him in there and still be able to get him back out)
• He loves playing with things that make noise.  I gave him a scrap of wrapping paper the other day and he just had a ball!  He also likes rattles, etc.  He just gets so excited when he plays with something that makes noise.
• This past weekend he got to meet his new cousin...and let's just say he got a funny look on his face when Daddy was holding her instead of him, haha!
• He always gets excited to see Daddy when he comes home from work (as long as he's awake....if not, he gets excited when he wakes up)

 Just chillin during a diaper change

 With his new baby cousin, Alexa

5 Months!

I know this is late, but as stated in the other post, things have been crazy lately.  And...apparently I need to figure out the new blogger editor and see if there's a way to keep putting the photo in the corner and still be able to write around it... but for now, I guess you will just have to be content with pictures at the end. =)

Well, Emmett's 5 month birthday, if you will, started with a bang.  Or rather, much screaming.  He had been up most of the night previous just absolutely screaming.  If I held him, I could get him to calm down and sleep a little, but whenever I tried to put him down, he just absolutely shrieked.  Not whiney 'I-don't-want-to-go-to-sleep' cries, but ear piercing 'Something-is-wrong' bellows.  It was horrible.  Especially since we had JUST moved down here and hadn't gotten a doctor for him yet.  And, I had to go to work that day.  Thankfully, one of my aunts told my mom about a clinic in Kennewick that allowed walk-ins and (I believe) semi-specialized in pediatrics.  Oh, and they opened at 8.  Hallelujah!  We ran over there and were there AT 8.  We told the doctor we thought he might have an ear infection because he'd been pulling a little at his ear and when he would burp he would just start to scream.  So she took a look, and he had not one ear infection, but two.  Poor little man.  No wonder he was hurting.  She gave us a prescription for antibiotics and some ear drops.  Once he got the meds, he slept ALL day.  And all night.  I'm just super glad he wasn't screaming all day; I would have felt bad if I'd left him with a sitter with him just shrieking.  Within a couple of days, he was all but over it.  Whew!  We survived the first ear infection!

Now for the list of recent accomplishments:

• He discovered his tongue the other day.  It was hilarious; most of the day his tongue was just sticking out.  And then, when I brought the camera up to get a picture of it, he stopped doing it. =(  Hopefully he'll do it again.
• He jumps like CRAZY in his jumperoo!  He will stay in there for half an hour or more, just jumping away.  It is adorable!
• He likes watching TV.  I've really been trying to keep the TV off more because I don't want him to turn into a couch potato, but he definitely enjoys watching the moving images on the screen.
• He enjoys having the dog to look at.  This morning he was laying on the floor and the dog would come look at him and he'd just look at her and try and reach out to her.  And whenever I'd try and get a picture, the darn dog would move away.  Oh well.
• Lately he has been sucking his thumb A LOT.
• He LOVES solid food.  His favorite by far is banana, but he also likes green beans, peas, squash, carrots, sweet potatoes, and apples.  Which includes all the foods he's tried so far; he has not met a food he doesn't like.  Or at least, one that he refuses to eat.  He actually seems to really like green beans and peas.
• He has started to not mind tummy time sometimes.  There are still times where he immediately starts fussing when we lay him on his tummy, but most of the time he'll lay there looking around for a while before he wants to be flipped over.
• When he wants to lay back and he's sitting up, he'll very forcefully try and push himself backwards.  Although sometimes he does the push backward/arching his back thing when he's upset.
• He smiles and laughs a lot.  It's adorable.  Sometimes we can get him to laugh by saying something or playing peek-a-boo.

I know there is probably more, (and that I say this like every month) but they are just not coming to me.  We are so grateful for our little man and for his sweet spirit.  Enjoy the pictures!

Big Changes!

So this post has been awhile in coming, but in my defense, the past couple of weeks have been super crazy.  October 31, Jeremy had an interview for a job in Tri-Cities.  November 1, he was offered the position.  However, the job started November 7.  So we had to decide what we were going to do; whether we would try and move out the weekend of the 5th or if we'd try and wait until the 12th.  To complicate things, I also got a job in Tri-Cities and had to do paperwork on the 7th and an orientation on the 10th.  That, combined with the manager stuff, would mean A LOT of travel back and forth for me.  So we decided to bite the bullet and try to get moved out the weekend of the 5th.  However, Jeremy had to be in Tri-Cities the 3rd-4th of November for his paperwork and a physical.  So the task of getting everything packed and ready to move fell mostly on my shoulders.

It was a crazy few days, but we managed.  Thankfully I was able to get a lot of boxes from stores that were putting out Christmas inventory and also got a few off Freecycle and from friends.  Then, with some help from our AWESOME friends, we were able to get everything moved out and cleaned up by Saturday night.  It was SUCH a relief to get done and realize that we didn't have to worry about getting back up to Cheney and get the place cleaned later.

We put most of our stuff in storage and are living with my parents for a few months.  It would have been even harder if we'd had to find a place to stay on top of everything else.  And it'll give us an opportunity to save up some money and spend time with family.  And they are, of course, enjoying being able to spend more time with Emmett.

We definitely miss our friends in Cheney, but we are deeply grateful that Jeremy was able to find a job and that we could be closer to family.

Halloween 2011

So for Halloween this year, Emmett was an ADORABLE skeleton.  We bought it right when we moved him up to 6-9 month sleepers, but then we recently moved him up to 12 month sleepers so we weren't sure if it would still fit him.  Luckily, he did, because we loved the costume.  However, we were lame and didn't come up with costumes for ourselves.  Oh well, there's always next year.  We went to our ward's Trunk or Treat and handed out candy, then got together with some friends afterwards.  I made some jello earthworms for the party; they were a little bit of a pain to get out of the straws, but they turned out pretty swell.  They definitely looked disgusting, that's for sure.

Jeremy and Emmett before we headed out for the night

A close up of Emmett

The Jello earthworms