A lot has happened in the last few months…having a baby tops the list. Yes, she is here…Miss Emerie Grace Martin.  She arrived after a little struggle (she was face up and decided her face needed a departing buddy, such as her arm), or a 17 hour labor and a c-section at 4:55 on 10-10-2010. Yes, our little 10-10-10 baby.  She was 7lbs 12 ounces and 20.5 inches long and obviously, a girl.

“Are you okay with that” were my first words after she was born as I looked up at Ryan who was peeking over the c-section separation sheet to make sure, she was in fact a girl, and not the boy he assumed we were having. He didn’t say much just watched as they cleaned Emerie up and put her through an array of tests. I just laid there while they finished things up and dealt with shaking arms. Shaking so badly, they were actually sore the next day. Not enjoyable.  Ryan was first to hold Emerie and she was instantly calm in his arms.  She was perfect.

We stayed in the hospital for three days and left as soon as they said we could. The constant interruptions for vitals checks on both Emerie and I were starting to get a little intrusive and seemed to happen every time we had all fallen asleep.  So, we brought Emerie home.  Waiting for us was her Nana, Auntie Carlie and big sister Baylee…and let’s not forget her other sister, Agape….

It’s been about three months since she came home and she has changed so much.  She no longer is the little baby who just lays there, eats, sleeps and poops. She is actually a little person now. She has quite the personality.  When she gets mad, she kicks her legs and screams. Yes, kicks and screams. We will have our hands full. She smiles at everything, including the dog and her toys, laughs the cutest little belly laugh, and has makes more facial expressions than dirty diapers and that is a lot. We have decided that as she has lost that typical baby look…and now is the perfect combination of both Ryan and I.

We couldn’t be happier or feel more blessed to have her…she is truly a joy!

Now that she has been here for a while things are starting to settle into their places. We almost have a routine down (Bed by 8, snack at 5am, wake up and start our day by 7:30am, and a few scattered naps during the day) which is starting to make life easier for me. It is just her and me (and our dog, who is in heat now, lucky me…two baby girls in diapers) on most days. With Ryan working graves we spend a lot of time playing downstairs with Baby Einstine toys (her favorite), things that are bright and things that make loud noices or out of the house. Trips to Target, to Michael’s Crafts, Old Navy, Babies R Us, fill our day.  I love my baby girl...but there are days where I crave a little interaction, from someone other than a  puppy and a 3 month old. Regardless...I love being a mom. And I love being a stay at home mom.  On Ryan's work days, he sleeps till about 4pm. Which gives me enough time to get out of the house, clean the house, play with dog and baby, and get dinner made and pack his lunch for work...all before he wakes up.  And after he is up, we usually only have about three hours until he heads out the door for work....so we make the most of it!

I realize I have slacked on my blogging…but I feel like I might have had a good excuse J And her name is Emerie.

First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes...

Little known fact: Somewhere before "then comes baby in a baby carriage," a line went missing. Though the exact wording is unknown, I think it went something like: "then comes Mom and Dad's last hurrah someplace fabulous." And thus was born the BABYMOON.


Although some might advise not to fly in the last trimester of pregnancy, I've been given the all clear to jump aboard a plane and enjoy a "last hurrah" with Ryan, my parents, sister and her boyfriend. The trip promised almost 3 years ago, and planned about a year ago, did not see a baby in our near future, so we could we could say timing was really bad for this trip or that it is really great. With the “okay” to fly, I am going to say it was really great. In one week, the six of us, all leaving from different airports will head to the island of Maui where I hear that mornings of birdsong swell into days of pure exhilaration. In one week, at 33 weeks pregnant, we head out to enjoy our Babymoon in Hawaii!

Beat The Heat

Days like today make me so thankful for air conditioning. Not a huge fan of heat, pregnancy makes me actually kind of dislike hate it. Thankfully I don’t have to be outside and have more than enough inside to keep me busy until next month. After a quick outing with Ryan to grab lunch at the Saturday Market and a few things for tomorrow’s dinner with his parents, I got the urge to clean house and organize some of what was in the nursery. With Ryan off to work and the house clean I stepped in to the half-finished nursery. It has come a long way… Once a bright pink room; now layered with 3 coats of white paint and brown stripes. Must be neutral!

Carlie came and helped seeing as my husband was MIA at work

After two days of painting...the bottom half is finished!

Now we have furniture

With seven weeks left to go, I must say, I feel pretty prepared for this little baby to come. Minus the fact we have saved some, such as picking out a cribset and buying a majority of the clothes, until we find out if this incredibly active and strong baby is a little Prince or Princess! I am still collecting "must haves" for the room, but once again, very hard to do when you can't just boy or just girl decorations. Until then I have tons of ideas saved in my mind for what I would like to do!

New beginnings

I’ve finally caved and decided to start my journey in this “blog world”. Like in just about every other aspect of my life, this is also a new beginning. I’ve recently found myself married to my best friend and man of my dreams, turning a bachelor pad into a home and preparing for a little baby who will make its debut in October.

As if one pregnancy test was not enough...

I took three, maybe five. Just to be sure.

Since that day, life has been a whirlwind of change, BIG change.