Something pretty for the last day of the year

I should do a recap on what a year this has been – finding out we were pregnant, having a baby, losing our sweet Pudge – we have had lots of ups and downs! However, instead of getting all sappy on you, I will leave you with this Cupcaketini that would be super easy to do and make quite a statement at your next party (perhaps tonight?)

Full instructions are available on Hostess with the Mostess.

Our New Year’s Eve will be rather unexciting (which I happen to be excited about). We will just be at home and ringing in the New Year tomorrow morning, rather than midnight, as this mama can’t make it past 10! Hope 2013 brings you everything you wanted in 2012 and more!

Deep Thoughts (holiday edition) and other random musings

Wow. I cannot believe I have a spare second. Have I mentioned that I don’t have the world’s greatest napper?  I may or may not have put the baby in the carrier and walked her around the house to get her to sleep more than 20 minutes during the day on more than one occasion. And that is not necessarily a sure bet. I had my first “have to leave Target –NOW - moment” on Sunday when a full on meltdown ensued. I am sure the first of many! Culprit of the meltdown – being overly tired. Go figure.  Luckily, we are now to the smiling stage in her babyhood, so it makes the lack of naps much better!

Speaking of naps in the carrier, this has been a lifesaver:

Also, you can get it for free (only pay $12.90 in shipping) with the code FAMILY2012. Tommy and I have both agreed it is one of our favorite things. (And Carseat Canopy has no clue who I am!)

I have to share some of the pictures that Addie took of the baby. She is so talented and I am lucky that she has taken these beautiful pictures of Emmy even though she is not doing it as a business anymore. She did an awesome job and the subject is pretty cute, if I do say so myself! I seriously LOVE them!

This was my Christmas card pic:

Her little toes:

Eyes Open!

Addie also took our family pictures for my mom. Here’s the whole family!

And speaking of photos, I have to share this HILARIOUS photo of my sweet nephew. He was in his uncle’s wedding. Is this not classic??

So with the holiday season upon us, I have had lots of deep thoughts on Jesus being born, especially now that I am a mom. Tommy and I have totally different takes on this. I would love to know what you guys think.

1- I think about Mary and how the angel came to her and told her she was going to have a son. Um, I think Mary had to FREAK out and wonder what everyone was going to think about her. (Maybe that is because that would be my reaction.) Tommy thinks if angels are coming to you, you definitely wouldn’t be freaking out that you are having THE baby Jesus.

2- I have also wondered a lot about what Jesus was like as a baby. Do you think he was fussy? A perfect baby? Do you think he cried? I think he was the most perfect, easy baby who never made a peep and his mother always knew what he wanted. Tommy seems to think he was human and cried.

3- I have also thought about the man who turned Mary away at the inn. From a practical standpoint, I can see that he probably didn’t know that the baby being born was the one that we would be celebrating on December 25th two thousand and twelve years later and how could he kick someone out of a room, so he was being kind to offer the manger. But if I had an inn, what would I do if a pregnant person needed a place to stay – offer her my own room, stay and help her (now that I have physically had a baby – I would know she would need all the help she could get if she was having a baby in my hypothetical inn)? (Another deep thought just came to me – I wonder if Mary was spared the pains of labor and had an “easy” delivery. Yikes. Talk about no meds!) Megan said she would offer the lobby ; ).

Am I the only one who has ever thought of this (please tell me no!!!). I would love to know what you think.

Annnnnd….as mentioned, this post was going to be totally random – but did any of you guys guess who Gossip Girl was?????  I am so sad that this era is coming to a close. It has been a great six years, upper east siders.

And this is what goes through my brain on any given day. At least there is still some capacity for thought up in there!

Hope to be back on here soon. Cheers to naps!

You know you love me. XOXO (That reference only makes sense to my Gossip Girl lovers!)

Emmy Month Two

Because I am too lazy to upload Emmy’s pics from her “photo shoot” yesterday, this post will be full of pics from her second month!

Month two can be summed up as “Mom is starting to get a hang of this baby thing, but she is certainly no expert!”

(Addie took this picture of the two of us today at two months and one day, so basically this is her two month picture!)

This month Emmy is so much more alert. She smiles, coos and I swear wants to laugh. I am paid in smiles and I love it when she smiles at me when I pick her up in the morning!

I just finished reading Brain Rules for Baby (which I really loved, by the way) and in it says to talk to your baby a lot. Poor baby, I talk to her ALL day long (no shock here for anyone who knows me). I swear she wants to talk back! I am pretty sure her first word will be “hi” and her first sentence will be “mom, seriously?”

One of the best things we did this month was implement a routine. I have not read Baby Wise and I am honestly afraid to because I don’t want to become too rigid, but we do follow the Baby Wise routine of wake up, change the diaper, play, sleep. I am very routine oriented, so I am sure Emmy likes routine by genetics. This has also greatly helped me identify why she is crying and helps me plan our day better. She eats roughly every three hours and has slept as long as 10 hours straight, but I really never know what our evening will hold!

Emmy is still loving her play mat! She is so curious! She loves to look around, especially at new places. She also can track me as I move around the room. She also stares intently every time I eat or drink…maybe she will like food as much as her mom and dad?

Dislikes include putting on her clothes. I mean she really, really dislikes it. After putting the shirt over her head it just sends her over the edge when I have to put her arms through the holes. Ha! She also melts down when she gets tired. Like grade A meltdown, but luckily with the routine I am able to identify that is the reason for her meltdown. She does need to be lulled to sleep (cue the bouncing, swaying and singing/humming of Christmas songs). Naps during the day are catnaps and she was sleeping really well in her carrier while we were out and about…notsomuch the past two days. I think she is on to me.

She also went on her first road trip this month! We went to Shreveport, LA for Thanksgiving and she loved meeting her great aunts, uncles and cousins! She did great in the car and never cried. The first night, though, was rough since she slept the whole way down there and we arrived around 8 p.m.  She was great in Shreveport, but I think the travel did mess up her system bit.

My mantra this month has been “live and learn.” There are little things where I have second guessed myself (whether to pump a bottle now or just wait to feed her, etc..), but have decided to just use these as teaching moments.

She also had her two month shots this week. She did great. I also did better than expected. She just napped and wasn’t really too fussy! She is now 23 inches long and weighs almost 10 pounds. She is in the 80th percentile for height (where’d that come from??) and 35th percentile for weight.

I can’t wait to see what month three holds for us. I am hoping even more smiles and a true laugh! We just love our precious girl!