2 weeks old!

Emma is 2 weeks old today. The time is already flying by. Emma is now lifting her head more on her own, sleeping alot during the day, awake during the night, and in the few hours she is awake, she makes endless facial expressions leaving her daddy and I entertained. She is beginning to focus on objects and faces and will sometimes even follow things with her eyes. We are just amazed by how much she grows and changes daily. Here are a few pictures of Emma today enjoying her bouncy chair:

Oooo, look at the bears hanging on my chair!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!! Happy Birthday Jesus! Christmas is by far my favorite holiday. This year, however, was the most special Christmas for our family as we now have our sweet daughter Emma.

This year more than ever, I reflect on the Christmas story. Now that I am a mother, and I gaze into the face of my sweet child, I am flooded with emotion of how Mary must have felt to look on the face of her new son and know she was looking at the face of our almighty God. How she must have felt to know she was holding an innocent child who depended solely on her for all his needs; a child who would grow into a man who would die so that she may live. In the words of one of my favorite Christmas songs:

"Mary did you know that your baby boy would one day walk on water? Mary did you know, that your baby boy would save our sons and daughters? Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new? The child that you delivered, will soon deliver you."

I am just overwhelmed by this whole story.

Our Christmas began here at home by waking up and opening our presents. As most of you know, I work from home. I have been working the last year with a small desk that has been less than adequate, but I knew once we moved the office to the basement and got settled, a new desk was in the future. Well to my surprise, after we opened our gifts this morning, Joe told me that there was still one more gift for me downstairs that was just too heavy for him to put under the tree. We went downstairs and there is a new fully assembled desk all set up and ready for me when I go back to work in February. How thoughtful!! Yes ladies, he is taken and yes he has brothers, but they are taken too...Sorry!!

After a little nap, we all got ready and headed to my parents house for dinner. We got several lovely gifts and had a great meal! Here are a couple pictures from the evening:

Our Family:

Our little Christmas Present:

A Father's Love:

The outfit I wanted Emma to wear, but it's too big...the pants fell off when I picked her up:

I hope the magic of Christmas found you and may many blessings come to you all in the new year. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

1 week old

It's hard to believe that a week has already gone by. This week has been interesting to say the least. We are tired as we have never been before as our little one has her nights and days mixed up. She sleeps and eats like a champ all day long, but from about 2 am until 7am, she fusses and doesn't sleep more than 10-20 minutes at a time. While this is a challenge, we are still so in love. It sounds cliche, but you really don't know what you have until its gone. Sleep seems so normal and something we all just do, but when you can't have that, you sure do miss it and realize just how much you need it to function. Sleep will come eventually. It can't be like this forever right?? Has anyone else dealt with this? Any pointers for us newbies?


The week hasn't been just sleepless nights by any means. We are enjoying just watching our baby and the various expressions she makes. This one makes us laugh each time we see it...we call it Emma's "O" Face:

Some of our best moments are feeling our sweet baby sleeping on our chest or in our arms. It's a love we have never known. Every day is a gift from our Lord.

Here are a couple pictures from this week:

Emma at 6 days old:Santa came early in our house:

Our famly in front of our Christmas tree:

HAPPY ONE WEEK BIRTHDAY EMMA!!

Emma's First Doctors Appointment

Well today was actually my due date and here I am with my 4 day old baby! I am still in that dream world, where I feel the alarm clock could go off at anytime and I be thrown back into real life. Over all things are going well in Chez Crosley. There have been a couple rough nights, but that's life with a newborn.

Anyway, Emma went to the doctor today for her followup appointment after being discharged from the hospital. At birth, Emma weighed 7 pounds 13 ounces and at discharge on Saturday, she weighed 7 pounds 6 ounces. This is totally normal for babies to lose some weight. Doctors just want to see them back to at least their birth weight by the time they reach 2 weeks old. Well today Emma weighed 7 pounds 7.5 ounces so she is right on track and gaining as she should. The doctor listened to her heart, checked her pulse, tested her hips, and other joints and she passed with flying colors. I don't know how the doctor could tell anything as Emma was screaming and squirming all around because she hates to be naked. She slept the whole way home in the car and is resting comfortably in her Boppy now as I type. She will go back to the doctors on Friday for her newborn screen and checkup. I will be sure to update with her progress.

Everyday we realize that we are even more blessed than the day before. We are so blessed to have each other and be sharing this amazing journey together. Emma is a perfect gift from an even more perfect God. She truly is our glimpse of heaven. Here are a couple of pictures from today:

Emma after nursing...yes she nurses with her hand at her face like that!

Emma thinking Mommy has taken enough pictures:

Baby Overload

Yes, I am one of those Moms that always has the camera and tries to capture every moment, but this was just too cute not to share!

Introducing...Emma Katherine Crosley

Joe and I are so proud to announce the arrival of our daughter, Emma Katherine!! Emma was born Thursday, December 13, 2007 at 5:27pm. She weighed 7 pounds 13 ounces and was 20 inches long. She is perfect in every way and Joe and I are completely in love with her and just in awe.

Here is the story of Emma's arrival. Early Wednesday morning ( December 12th), I woke up around 6 with some mild contractions...nothing new, I had been feeling this for the last couple weeks as my body was gearing up for the real thing as my doctor says. Well, these contractions got a little stronger but were still so far apart. I decided to let my work know I was just going to try to rest and see what happened that day. The contractions continued all day and into the night, but again never got stronger. Well, at 1am I woke up Joe as the contractions had started coming every 4-6 minutes for at least an hour...was this it? After a call to the doc and getting the OK, Joe and I headed to the hospital around 2am. We were admitted to triage where they checked me and saw that I was still 2cm dilated and about 80% effaced. They had me walk the halls for an hour and then check me again. While I was having stronger contractions and some other tell tale signs of true labor, I had only progressed to 2.5 cm dilated and still 80% effaced. We decided that we would head home and wait it out there. We arrived home around 4:30 am and we tried to get some sleep. By 5:30 am I was ripped from my sleep by intense contractions like I had never felt before. Hmm, these really hurt, I couldn't talk through them and even moaned through a few. Well, I started timing these beasts and by 7am they were steady at 3-5 minutes apart. Joe woke up on his own at this point as I was shifting around and moaning in pain and we decided this was definitely it...we were going to meet our baby today! We got back to the hospital a little after 8 am and again I was checked in and to triage we went. They checked me again and I was 5 cm dilated and 90% effaced! Needless to say, this earned me the golden admission ticket to the labor and delivery floor. We got settled in a room and I lasted about an hour and decided I was ready for an epidural. After all, I had been awake with very little sleep since very early the previous morning and would need as much energy as I could get to bring this little girl into the world. After the epidural I was able to get some much needed rest. 4 hours later, I told Joe something was different and I had ALOT ALOT of pressure and felt like I had to push! The nurse came in and low and behold, I was 10cm and fully effaced. It was time...time to start pushing! After pushing for an hour and a half, our baby was here. I did it! I gave life! How amazing! I was flooded with emotion. They placed baby Emma on my chest immediately after she was born. She grabbed my finger with her little hand and I began to cry. I couldn't get over how beautiful she was and how I finally was holding my baby girl. Joe was also in tears and was in awe of her. What a perfect gift from Heaven!

Here are a couple of pictures from Emma's birthday party:

Me checking out my little one:
My doctor and nurse with our new family:

Emma getting weighed:
We came home from the hospital today, and boy are we glad to home! We have shown Emma all around her new home, her room, and all her beautiful clothes. Emma was also welcomed by her cousin Elle, who is just 4 months old, Uncle Tom and Aunt Lisa. It has been a great evening at home so far. Emma is nursing well and we are settling into being new parents. It's all still a surreal feeling and we just find ourselves staring at her for hours. Here is a picture of me just staring at her. I was in tears...ah post partum hormones!

And here are just a few more shots for your enjoyment:

Grammy and Pop Pop:

Proud Grandma Eleanor:
Proud Mommy:

Happy Daddy:

Perfect Baby:

Thank you to all who have called, visited and sent their well wishes via myspace. We can't wait for you all to meet our sweet baby Emma.

38 week appointment

I went this morning for my 38 week check up and I am now 2 cm dilated and 80% effaced. So exciting to know my body is making progress and gearing up for Baby Emma's arrival. I knew something had to be going on as I had my first round of contractions last night.

It all started around 1:30pm. I was feeling a little crampy and a lot of pressure "downstairs". I didn't think much of it but then they started coming more regularly and making my whole belly get tight. This wasn't like anything I had felt before...these actually kinda hurt! Contractions hurt? UNHEARD OF! (yeah right). So as these little buggers continued, I decided to call the doctor around 3:30 ( after calling my mom first... a girl always wants her mom). Apparently this is all normal as my body is gearing up for the real thing. The nurse told me that it could be real labor, but it could be nothing. She told me to call back if/when the contractions got to 5 minutes apart, lasting 1 minute, for at least 1 hour. Well I was no where close to that! Mine were coming every 8, 10 or even 20 minutes apart and lasting about 30 seconds to a minute each...no pattern and certainly not hospital worthy.

So being home alone, as Joe works in the evenings, I called my mom back and asked her to come sit with me just in case anything changed. She came down to the house and sat for a couple of hours. We ordered food in...spicy buffalo wings and pizza...hey they say spicy food can progress labor right? NO LUCK! Around 9:30pm all was done. I was able to get a good nights sleep and head off to the doctors this morning. So while the 8 hours of random contractions did not bring baby Emma to the world, they did aid in progression somewhat. My doctor said she is optimistic that I will deliver in my due date week.

Come on baby Emma, we are all ready to meet you! So here is a picture of me at 38 weeks...enjoy!

Tis the Season

Happy December 1st! For me December 1st has always meant the start of the Christmas season. It was always hard for me to transition on Black Friday. I mean on Friday, I have barely woken up from my Thanksgiving coma and its time to start thinking about door buster holiday sales and Christmas? I just can't do it. December 1st was always it for me.

This year however, with our pending arrival, I actually did start Christmas rather early this year by getting all the shopping done before Thanksgiving, unheard of I know!! I did wait on the house decorations and Christmas tree until just the last couple days. I actually just finished the tree this afternoon

Here is our tree in all its splendor:

Now with every Christmas that comes and goes, I get a special ornament for things that happened that year. So, in 2005 we bought our house, so we had a new home ornament that year. In 2006 we got married, so of course we had an "Our First Christmas Together" ornament to celebrate that. Well here we are in 2007 and we are expecting our first child and hopefully she will make her debut before Christmas making this Baby's First Christmas. So of course I have gotten ornaments to commemorate this year's milestones:

You & Me and Baby Make 3!

Sorry the pictures are a little blurry, but its tough to get close up without a flash. Anyway, I hope I haven't jinxed myself into a late arrival by not only buying, but also displaying the Baby's First Christmas ornament. Only time will tell.

I hope everyone is enjoying getting ready for the holidays. Here is to health and happiness and a wonderful, beautiful Christmas 2007!!

37 week appointment

I went for my 37 week appointment yesterday morning, and things are still the same as last week. I am still holding at 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced. The doctor can feel baby's head, but says she is still a little high (-1 station). Her heart rate was great and I am still feeling good movement. Baby Emma seems a little too happy in my belly! So while I am feeling a little bummed, I know that these numbers don't always mean anything, I could go into labor today, or in 3 more weeks, no one can know for sure. The only thing we do know, is that our little pink bundle will be here soon and boy are we ready to meet her!

Mission Accomplished!!

3 weeks til D- Day and I am proud to say, the nursery is FINISHED!!! I never thought we would be done in time, but we are. It was not without its obstacles for sure. Let's begin by saying I had a perfect vision for this nursery from the moment we found out we were going to have a baby girl. We were having a princess, and her room should reflect that! So lets begin with vision 1: Crown Moulding:

Anyone who has put up crown, knows it's no easy task...but nothing is too hard or too much for our baby girl right??? After several cuts, and resetting angles on the miter saw, we figure out that one wall is warped as warped can be...an impossible cut for our saw. What about my perfect vision? What about my little princess? Well, her daddy must love her ( love her or scared of the pregnant lady's wrath and crying spells) as he sat on our front steps for a good 3 hours hand sawing and filing this piece of crown moulding to make it fit perfectly on our warped wall. I went to check on him several times and each time he was diligently sawing and filing away, lovingly to say to me with a side smile, "Don't expect this in every room in our house" to which I responded with a smile and rubbing my belly, "you are such a good daddy, I love you!" Well, 3 hours later, the moulding fits! Let's all take a moment and thank the daddy to be!

Despite the crown moulding run in, and a little episode with the trinket shelves, the room looks beautiful. My perfect vision is complete for my perfect little princess. Take a look! The pictures go around the room so hopefully you can get the feel for how it looks as a whole.

Dresser, wall hangings and trinkets:

All her trinkets: (you can see the crown moulding corner that daddy did by hand)

Rocking area:

Crib with her name above it:

Close up of crib and wall letters:

All we need now is you, sweet baby Emma Katherine!

We have Carpet!: Basement Update

The carpet came for the basement today and what a difference it made! It looks like a real room down there now. See for yourself:

Before:

After:Before:After:

After:So as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, I would like to say that I am so thankful to my amazing husband Joe, and the family and friends who helped us come this far. Its a hard job and not a fun one. Words can't say how thankful I am to all of you!

While we are not completely done with our new basement, we will be moving the office down to this wonderful new space over the next couple days. We also hope to have the nursery finished over the weekend. What a blessing! Stay tuned!

36 weeks down, 4 more to go!

4 weeks to go...28 days...YIKES!!! I had my 36 week appointment this morning and found out I am 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced! While it is perfectly normal for a woman to sit at this stage for weeks, its exciting to me that at least something is going on in there! It is making it more real that our sweet baby girl is getting ready to make her big debut!

As promised in prior posts, I have some pictures of the nursery so far. Hopefully this weekend we will be making more progress, as the carpet for the basement comes tomorrow!! This means I can finally move my desk and office out of baby Emma's room! Here is what we have so far:

The Crib:

A good look at all her clothes:

Her dresser and lamp. The letters will be hung on the wall above her crib:
In typical pregnant woman fashion, I have begun my nesting phase. Yesterday I did laundry until midnight making sure to wash everything in site that would touch baby's skin. So I washed that full closet of clothes, blankets, socks, wash clothes, hooded towels, headbands, hats, crib bedding, and everything else under the category baby. I even wiped down stuffed animals and rattles that can't easily be tossed in the washing machine. Now, that doesn't sound so crazy right? Well, how about the fact that I sorted all the laundry according to colors. Not just whites and darks like normal laundry, I did a load of light pinks, dark pinks, purples, yellows, blues, greens, reds, and dark stuff ( like denim). Who does a load of light pinks or a load of yellows you may ask? PREGNANT PEOPLE! My theory was that I didn't want any of those super cute and perfect clothes to bleed on to another color. Made sense to me, until I made 50,000 trips from my basement to the nursery which makes for climbing 35 steps each time! But its done now and all is put away! WHEW!

Just for fun, here is a picture of me and my giant belly at 36 weeks:

and I can still get bigger? In 4 weeks I will look like a balloon stretched to its maximum...the kind of balloon where even the thought of a sharp object will make it pop. Steer clear....she's gonna blow!

5 weeks to go!

So with just under 5 weeks to go til D day, we are diligently trying to get everything done in time for our sweet baby girl. As most of you know, I work from home, so my office is actually where the nursery will be. Well, in order to make way for baby, we had to take on the big job of finishing our basement...YIKES! So, in October, my handy hubby started on our basement... this is what we were dealing with:

SO, you can see our work was cut out for us! Well after a few short days and the help of my handy uncle, who gets paid solely in Mountain Dew and Bologna sandwiches, and my handy hardworking in laws, we got to here:

Now, all our drywall is done, and as I type, my in laws are hard at work painting the new walls and I am happy to report that our carpet is being installed on the 20th! Here is where we are right now:

What a blessing to have family to help! The room should all be primed tonight and ready for the real paint tomorrow. More pictures to come as more progress is made!

We have also made progress in Baby Emma's room. I am proud to report that we have painted, put the crib and dresser together, and her closet is full with beautiful clothes and accessories. (Pictures coming soon). However, with having 2 rooms "under construction", my living room looks like this:

It will all be in order soon enough! At least that is what we keep telling ourselves!