Pictures are posted!!

Good things come to those who wait....we just posted 5 new albums. Enjoy!

Emma in August

Aunt Lisa, Aunt Kim, and Grandma Visit

Emma in September

Granny and Grandpa Visit

Jim and Dave Visit

An (almost) Perfect Morning

After sleeping in until almost 8 am, Emma and I had a great Wednesday morning. We had play time and had fun practicing sitting and standing. Around 930 or so, it was almost nap time so I got settled on the couch with a book and a cup of coffee and snuggled with Emma until she fell asleep. I was able to lounge on the couch, with sunlight streaming in on my back, holding my baby, sipping coffee, and reading a good book for about 45 minutes! Some of my favorite things all at one time! It was almost perfect! The only thing missing was Kurt, who was in Munich for a few days with my brothers and friends.

It's the simple things in life that make me the most happy!

Seriously Mom?!?

Emma likes to wake up slow...

"I'm trying to wake up slow. Do you have to have that camera in my face?"

"Seriously, can you just let me be?"

"I mean it...Leave me alone!"

"Fine, I'll take care of this myself!"

"Why do you have to be so mean? I just want to wake up in peace!"

And here she is ...finally awake!

What ? No question mark, forward slash, or up arrow keys?

In case anyone wondered, baby spit up is not good for laptop keyboards.

On September 4th, I was doing some day trip research on my laptop which was sitting on the kitchen table. I also happened to be holding Emma. She got fussy and I stood up to bounce her a bit which normally settles her down quickly. When I thought she was calm again, I started to sit down to continue my research. About half way into my seat, Emma spits up...all over the laptop keyboard.

Ok, I exaggerate...not ALL over...just around the K, L, :, ", <, >, and ? keys. Luckily, I was able to get most of it up quickly and my Mom used her fingernails and q-tips to get even more out from under the keys. Unfortunately, even with our heroic efforts, the ? and up arrow keys are still out of commission. As a result, I now have a flat file with ? and / in it so that I can copy and paste into emails, blogs, etc. Instant messaging, however, doesn't get either (which is a pain because I abbreviate without, because, and with pretty frequently) because it takes too long to copy and paste.

All in all, I feel pretty lucky that more keys weren't harmed in the whole episode!

Emma meets 2 of her Uncles!

Emma got to meet her Uncle Jimmy and Uncle Dave this past week. They stopped in on their way to Oktoberfest in Munich. I was really curious about how they would interact with her, especially after asking Dave if he had ever held a baby before and his response was "not intentionally." They both seemed to have fun with her. When Jimmy was holding her, and she got fussy, I told him to put Emma up on his shoulder. He did. He sat her on his shoulder. Kurt quickly told him that Emma was a baby, not a parrot. Dave thought that it was cool that she would hold on to his finger. It was cool because "dogs can't do that." Gotta love brothers. =)

I have toes! and other fun things I've learned recently!

At about 3.5 months old, Emma has been having fun discovering her world.

Today, she is fascinated by her toes and feet. She's been introduced to her toes a few times during diaper changes and has been increasingly aware of them during play time but today, she is absolutely fascinated by them. She has been bringing her knees to her chest and grabbing her toes all morning! It is so cute! Also, I think that during her last diaper change, she was trying to put her foot in her mouth. Part of the reason could be because she's been wearing socks for the past couple of days since it's been so cold and today is pretty nice inside, so she's barefoot. She is also having fun using her feet to play with the toys that hang above her when she's on her play mat.

Changing time has also been more fun recently. Right next to the changing table, there is a large windowsill that we use as a shelf. Emma has found that she can reach over and pull a few of the toys off the windowsill. She has also figured out that she can move the tissue box that hangs off the windowsill a little bit. She doesn't seem to understand that bringing a box down on her head will hurt a bit...we're still working on cause and effect!

Emma still love love loves to sit up. She even tries to bring herself into an upright position. While my parents were here, Emma was sleeping in her boppy lounger pillow on the floor. I was at the kitchen table with my Mom and thought I heard Emma moving. I looked around the corner to see Emma with her head, neck and shoulders lifted off the pillow trying to sit up to see what was going on! My little girl is getting so big!

In addition to sitting, Emma has recently figured out that standing is tons of fun too! We've been holding her in a standing position until her legs get tired and she just sits down. Recently though, she's been wanting to stand. The other night, Kurt was giving her a bath and as he leaned her forward to wash her back and bum, instead of just leaning forward and putting her hands on the end of the tub like she usually does, she just straightened her little legs. We laughed and laughed because it was so cute. Emma was very proud of herself! Granted she wasn't standing straight up, her body was forming a 90 degree angle, but she was standing nonetheless. Also, during playtime, I'll grab her hands and pull her to a sitting position. Probably about half the time now, she'll dig her feet into the floor and pop up into a standing position. She gets SO proud of herself and loves looking around in this position.

Emma has rolled over (tummy to back) a handful of times now. But she doesn't seem to have any inclination to want to do it and instead just screams whenever we put her on her tummy. Today, I put her on her tummy in her crib and left the room to wash my hands after changing her. She didn't know I was watching and proceeded to flip over! Of course I gave her lots of kudos when I went back in the room and made her do it two more times. Maybe she'll slowly figure out that she can flip if she wants to. (Probably Mom and Dad need to use more tough love and not flip her themselves when she starts to fuss!)

There are some other things that I wanted to post, but I can't think of right now...hopefully, I'll post again later today and maybe add some pictures!

Emma meets her Grandparents

My parents came to meet Emma and visit for 10 days at the beginning of September. Emma loved meeting them and getting spoiled by them. Emma got lots of snuggles from Granny and Grandpa. Granny even taught her how to give kisses! We took a few day trips during their time here and also had some relaxing time together.


Our day trips included going to the Waechtersbach pottery outlet, walking through our local cities of Wiesbaden and Mainz, going to the Kurbisfest (pumpkin fest) in Wallau, and touring Miltenberg and Triberg.

The Kurbisfest was a lot of fun! We took some pictures of Emma with gourds and pumpkins and had fun picking out gourds to bring home. Dad tried the pumpkin wine and I brought home some pumpkin-mandarin marmalade.


Miltenberg is a very cute little town full of half-timbered houses in Bavaria. We had a nice afternoon wandering through it's pedestrian zone and enjoying crepes and coffee before heading home. There is a castle there, but we didn't make it up the hill to it.


In Triberg, we had nice Bavarian lunch followed by souvenir shopping. Dad bought a cuckoo clock and Mom bought a traditional sweater. Mom, Emma, and I decided to hike up to the waterfalls, some of the tallest in Germany. They were beautiful, but it was definitely a hike! Emma seemed to enjoy her first hike in her carrier and I definitely got a workout!

We had really nice weather the during their stay and enjoyed the time we were able to spend outside.

We also had a nice time visiting and just hanging out. Mom and Dad got to meet Calvin as well as our friend, Matt's parents. Mom helped a lot around the house and took Emma so that I could take long showers as well as a few naps. :) Thanks Mom! You're the best!

Giggles and Tummy Time!

Emma and I were laying in bed this afternoon recapping all the people and babies we saw at ladies lunch and what a nice time we had when all of a sudden she just let out a giggle. I giggled back in response and to my amazement, she giggled again! She's been trying really hard to figure out how to giggle and laugh and I thought that her giggle was just a fluke and that she wouldn't be able to do it again...but she did! I think we giggled together for about 3 full minutes! It was so fantastic! She giggled again a few hours later during a diaper change. It wasn't quite as long as the first time, but they were definitely still giggles! They were so cute and adorable! Unfortunately, I didn't have the camera near by, but hopefully, I'll be able to get some happy Emma giggles on video soon!

Also today, when she was on her tummy, she actually reached out to grab at toys that I put in front of her. For Emma, this is a big accomplishment, because a lot of tummy time is spent yelling about how much she doesn't like tummy time instead of exploring. At one point she picked up a circle rattle so that it was perpendicular to the floor and brought her head down to look at it and ended up resting her head on the rattle and not being able to move...this ended up with her being very upset! When we were at Renae's today, Emma was on Robert's play mat which has little frogs printed on it. Emma was very interested in a little red frog and intently scratched at it...so cute!

I know we haven't posted pictures in a while...please be patient, we're working on it!

Emma's new tricks

At 3 months old, Emma's personality is developing more every day. Increasingly, she knows what she wants and will not be pacified with something else. She is also getting stronger and more coordinated which helps her get what she wants.

This morning, she was nursing and decided she was finished. Instead of just laying there and looking around and maybe fussing a little, she pulled herself up to a sitting position! I was really amazed at how quickly and easily she was able to do it. We've been sitting her up on the couch for weeks now. She loves being able to look around and play with toys while sitting up. The past few days, we've been incorporating sitting into play time. If she's wide awake, she can find her center of balance and stay upright by herself for a few seconds. As she gets more tired, she starts flopping to one side or another. She also leans forward a lot and is able to hold herself at about a 45 degree angle from the floor. She is just starting to put her arms down to catch herself if she's falling forward. She has figured out that if she falls forward and can't get up, that she can kick out her legs and end up on her tummy. She still isn't that keen on being on her tummy, but it's got to be better than being folded over in half!

Emma has also started to really play with toys. She'll hold blocks or rattles in her hands and look at them. If she drops them (which happens frequently), she will use her feet to bring the toys back to her hands. It's really neat that she's figured out that her hands and feet are connected to her body and that she can use them to get what she wants.

Emma has rolled from her tummy to her back a few times...but nothing consistent. When she's on her tummy and gets frustrated, she isn't able to figure out how to roll. I'm sure she'll put 2 and 2 together soon though. She also seems to be getting close to rolling from her back to her tummy. She'll be reaching for something and arch her back and almost flip...I'm sure when it does happen, it will scare her and she won't know how to get back!

Another thing we're excited for is that Emma will now sit through an entire story book. Before she would start fussing as soon as we opened a book. Now she'll look at the pictures and try to turn the pages. She doesn't have any favorites yet, but we're hopeful that maybe she'll end up loving to read as much as we do.

Our little newborn is quickly growing up before our eyes. We're treasuring every moment we spend with her!