90 mph winds rip through Dallas

Ever wake up at 3:30 am to sirens and trees crashing outside your window? Suddenly you're wide awake and wondering if the sky is supposed to be green. Our brave little Emily was all fun and games (she always is begging to play in the middle of the night) while we sat weary eyed in our bathroom. Luckily we made out ok, but here are a few pics from our neighborhood.

The NICU reunion was so fun...we saw lots of Emily's doctors and nurses who took such great care of her in her 3 month stay. Here's nurse Judy and Emily's friend Bella.

Classic bluebonnet pics. Taken before Josh and Erica's baby shower when she was getting very sleepy :)

Twist and Shout at Lazy Fair

Eli vs. Matt

Getting the hang of rice cereal. She has started to inch towards her toys and can almost sit up! Her favorite thing to do these days in sleep in late (sometimes 9:00!) and skip all naps and stay up late. She unfortunately doesn't know the meaning of the words "sleep train".

Downtown with Anne after our 5K

Emily's Baptism

The day had finally come for Emily to be introduced to the Catholic Church community! Emily was Baptised on August 15th in an obvious emergency situation by Father Maguire in the NICU.

We really wanted to celebrate the Renewal Baptism Rite in order to have the wonderful Godparents Uncle Marty and Aunt Olivia and friends and family be present. Father Maguire gave a beautiful homily and ceremony, and Emily was so well behaved throughout the whole day! After Father anointed her forehead with oil, Emily gave him a great big smile. A huge thank you to everyone who came up to partake in the Sacrament!!

Teresa and Kyle were in town this past weekend to meet with UD professors and look at condos. Teresa is looking fabulous and glowing with just a little over a month to go until Emily has another cousin.

Hejjo loved looking out over the mall at UD!

Sheri, Olivia and the boys stayed with us on Friday night after Teresa's baby shower given by Katy and Margo. Hejjo loves to run and Felix loves to laugh...they're both very well behaved and typical active boys!

Hejjo was such a great helper in the kitchen!

He also loves his cousin Emily:)

Isn't Caroline precious! Justin and Katy just moved here from Chicago with Caroline at 3 months.

Here are some pics of Emily playing with her friends Sophia and Matthew. They're getting to the age where they can interact with each other! So adorable!

New Tricks

It's the little milestones in life that really make you smile...like Emily learning how to roll over! Eli and I have put her through so much misery laying on her tummy every day--she would scream her little lungs out in protest every time. But one day she just relalized that she didnt mind tummy time, and stayed fairly content laying down for 5 minutes. The next thing we knew she rolled over (even over her hurt arm!).

She's also trying out her new sleep schedule after learning how to regulate her sleeping a little better. This was not a pleasent experience for her either (after spring break she fell apart; too much partying!) But now she's happy as ever and is taking 2 naps a day! And sleeping through the night! YAY!!!

Emily has shown an interest in grabbing new toys and bringing them to her mouth more than ever. She can't lift everything, but little rings are just the right size. We figured that she's ready to try some baby cereal since she was eyeing a piece of bread at dinner. She's still getting used to the cereal, but we're in no hurry!

We love visitors!!

Spring Break and Happy Easter!

Spring Break and Easter just flew by! We had a very enjoyable stay with the Danzes and the Harkins. On Saturday Eli and I drove to Austin early early early so Emily could hopefully sleep the whole way (which she did!). We went to Lake Austin—it was gorgeous day to walk not only because the weather was perfect, but the trees were in bloom and smelled beautiful. From there we went over to the Barton Creek Resort pool to give Emmy her first swimming lesson. To our amazement, she loved the water and was kicking her little legs.

That night Olivia and Marty graciously offered to babysit for us so we could go downtown with Fred and Cliff…and we had a blast! The next day we all met over at the Marty and Olivia’s for Hejjo’s 2nd birthday. Sheri and Chris came in from the rock and it was so nice to visit with them. Felix is growing so strong and looks like he’s almost ready to start crawling. Hejjo is just as sweet and active as can be, and has learned how to say “Emily”! So cute!

On to Bastrop to see the Harkins—the Hyatt built a resort out there called Lost Pines that is so cool. There was a great big slide that flowed into the “lazy river” which circled the pools. The place was great for kids and adults…we had fun playing water volleyball, roasting smores, playing shuffleboard, and rafting down the Colorado. We hung out until Wednesday and then came on back to Dallas for Easter.

UD had a beautiful Good Friday service with the entire passion sung. On Easter Sunday Emily was so quiet in mass…my heart just melted seeing Eli hold her in her Easter bonnet. The Easter Bunny left Emily some goodies, including a scavenger hunt for eggs (filled with bubbles) and some rice cereal which we’re going to try out this week! We had our first “friends” holiday with a Holy Saturday meal at our apartment with David and Nichole and Easter Sunday dinner at the Kanes. So much fun!

Emily surprised us this week by rolling over! And she’s starting to take the pacifier!!! Good job Emily! This will make naps and going to bed so much easier!!!!!

Pro Photos, Doctors and Prep

Last week Emily and I had our pictures taken. We had been looking forward to this day for so long, as my parents gave us the gift card for Christmas. Emily was a sweet little girl and so smiley, but as the shoot continued she decided that the whole "spring forward" and lose one hour of sleep was no fun. But nevertheless she gave a great picture!

When my best friend Anne moved here a month before Emily was born, I just knew that we would finally get to hang out every weekend! But then reality set and we realized that life with a baby was a little more hectic than we'd like to admit. (not to mention that we both live in Dallas but it takes at least half an hour to see each other!) So finally we were able to make her dinner at her awesome downtown apartment and get Emily down by 9:30...good times.

Emily had her last (hopefully) round of Synagis shots this week. That combined with a thrown off sleep schedule has resulted in a sad sad baby, poor little thing. At 7 months old, she weighs 11 and a half pounds now and is pretty much out of all her newborn clothes! She has a good bit of chunkiness on her thighs and a nice round Pooh bear tummy. A little hair is growing but it's so hard to tell what color it is--there are traces of blonde and red. We started putting her in the jumper (we just have to shove a bunch of blankets under and around her) and I think she's getting the hang of it...she's got incredibly strong legs. She mostly spends her day, when she's not nursing, trying to eat her hands and drool all over her clothes. It's hilarious because she hates anything in her mouth, so anytime her hand flies into her mouth she gags and makes the face like she wants to vomit. Eli and I think she might be cutting her first tooth!!

This week we've been getting ready for spring break! We're so excited to be able to see both sides of the family. I can't wait for Emily to get into the pool for the first time...Aly's mom gave us the cutest little surfer baby sun hat that she's going to wear. I've got a big day ahead of me with lots of laundry, cleaning, shopping, and packing...if only Emily could go like maybe an hour of not needing to be fed or held!! Heehee, I remember when we were dying for her to just want to eat and interact with us!