Emmy's new hobby

Ewwww...

So last night, around 3 in the morning, Joe suddenly hops up in bed and starts looking around.  I asked him what the heck he was doing and he said he felt something crawling on his neck.  We have quite a few little spiders in our house (mostly on our windowsills for some reason), so I told him that was probably it.  I get out of bed to go to the bathroom, and Joe calls me back and says "Not a spider!" and points down to my side of the bed, where a HUGE roach was walking.  AGGGGHHHH!  How disgusting is that!?!?  The bed is supposed to be a sacred, clean, and safe place.  How dare that nasty bug ruin that?!  Needless to say, Joe promptly killed it. I had to mentally psych myself into getting into bed again, without thinking something was going to crawl on me any second.  I just have to think that it was a freak accident that somehow he ended up in our bed.  Gross gross gross!  Needless to say, no more eating in bed from now on! Unfortunately, I just remembered that I made that rule, and I had already finished breakfast...in bed. 

In other less disgusting news, Emmy is quite fond of her hand.  She has a new favorite hobby of sticking her middle and ring fingers in her mouth and sucking quite loudly.  You can hear her smacking across the room.  It's quite cute, but I hope that it doesn't develop into a bad habit.  I think she's just excited that she can reach her hand to her mouth.  It keeps her busy for hours!  

I'm not sure what we're going to do once she gets too big for her bassinet.  I can't put her at the opposite end of the house, that's too far away and we'd have to keep the monitor on the entire night.  Plus, all of Joe's junk is in that room.  If we got rid of the love seat and that darned recliner, then she could fit.  But I wanted her to have a true baby room, one that we can decorate!  I guess we'll have to wait until we move into our own place... whenever that happens! 

Pray for us as we decide how to deal with Joe's job situation.  He's starting another slew of applications as we speak, so hopefully something will pan out.  

He interviewed for a police position out in Oklahoma.  He'll probably be offered the job, but honestly, I don't want to move there.  It would be wonderful being near Joe's family out there, but the town doesn't seem appealing, among other things.  I love the atmosphere in Columbia, and the kind of people.  Joe says, and I agree, that at some point we need to branch out, have a little adventure.  I just don't think Lawton, OK is the place for adventure.  Asheville would be an adventure... and it's not 1000 miles away!  If we did end up out there, I would probably live there on a month to month basis, coming home for long periods of time.  I know that going into with a bad attitude is making it worse, but I don't think that's where we're supposed to be.  I was thinking of our grandparents, how all of them are here.  They're not going to be around for too much longer, and we're going to leave them?  Joe's grandparents depend on him a lot of times to fix things, and all of their grandkids are out of town except for us, and we're considering leaving them?  That makes me so sad!      ... I don't want to move. 

If you haven't noticed, my writing style is pretty much stream of consciousness.  It may not make much sense sometimes, or go off in areas that you're not sure I should have branched into, but blogging for me is sort of therapeutic.  It gives me a chance to put my thoughts down in a sort of concrete, legitimate way.  I'm happy I started up again=)  I'm going to hop in the shower before the baby officially wakes up.  She's still content, sucking on that hand with her eyes closed.  Then, I need to walk the dog, and then it's lunchtime with Mom & Matt!  

Lazy blog day...

I did this thing on facebook, so I'll post it on here to.. and maybe comment on it at the bottom.

Ten Things I Wish I Could Say to Ten Different People. [don't tell their names]

10. I'm scared to death I'm going to do this wrong, but I know that God will be guiding me... Thanks for that reminder, every day.
9. Back away from the opposite sex. You are absolutely no good for them right now.
8. When it's good, it's so so good. I live for those moments.
7. Stop. Look around. Breathe. Seriously.
6. Are you absolutely sure this is it? Because I want you to be happy, not resigned.
5. I'm so stinking happy and proud for you. I would throw you a party... awkward turtle.
4. Get it together! She won't stick around if you don't.
3. I'm so super thankful for you. I wish that we were closer
2.I think that you are a coward and you hurt too many people by this. 
1. Actually, I'm kind of happy with my life and how we are, thank you.

Nine things about myself.

9. I'm secretly thrilled that my daughter has red hair.
8. I really like cleaning... just not the getting started.
7. I'm ridiculously lazy. 
6. My love language is definitely touch. If you want me to feel better, hug me.
5. I love love LOVE laughing with my husband. 
4. Cuddling= awesomeness
3. I'm happy I finally have sisters.
2. I like when people smile at something I say.
1. I'm actually quite fond of our little bitty house.

Eight ways to win my heart.

8. Clean up after yourself.
7. Kiss my forehead.
6. Support my decisions.
5. Make me laugh.
4. Watch movies with me and commentate=)
3. Tell me what you really think, don't fib.
2. Listen.
1. Sing to me or with me.


Seven things that cross my mind a lot.

7. Emerson
6. Job for Joe
5. Reminding myself that we'll be okay
4. The dog needs walked.
3. I need to clean this house.
2. what ifs
1. Joe-deezy

Six things I do before I fall asleep

6. Make sure the baby is asleep.
5. Nag my husband into coming to bed at the same time as me.
4. Walk the dog.
3. Brush my teeth.
2. Wash my face.
1. Kiss Ems goodnight.


Five people who mean a lot. (in no order whatsoever)

5. Joe
4. Emerson
3. Mom & Dad (they count as one)
2. My brother most def.
1. My friends who offer help and mean it.

Four things you're wearing right now.

4. Newsboy cap
3. Gamecock shorts
2. Huge earrings
1. Hot pink tank

Three songs that you listen to often.

3. The entire Rent soundtrack.
2. The entire Across the Universe soundtrack.
1. Most of the Once soundtrack.

Two things you want to do before you die.

2. Know that God will be cool with me. 
1. Teach my kids the right thing. 

One confession.
1. I'm scared to death of trying something completely brand new, but I think it will make me a better person.

I like doing those things.  Oddly enough, it helps me get to know myself a little better.  It makes you think about who you truly are and what you think.  It's so easy to float through life, living without passion, very complacently.  But if everyone suddenly stopped, and took a good hard look at their lives, they would probably find that there is something bothering them, something to reckon with.  What do you think?  Look at yourself.  What do you see? 

Sleepy baby, sleepier mommy

I know she's tired!  I just know it!  The sleepy eyes and lethargic demeanor... but apparently Emerson does not realize that she's ready for bed.  Every time I lay her down, she gets very upset.  She's been fed, rocked, burped, and wrapped.  Now what?  I thought this wasn't supposed to happen until she was a wee bit older.  I suppose I'm just spoiled by her usually conking out right away.  All right, she now has the pacifier... I feel as if I should give some sort of excuse for that.  Should I?  

Paci vs. No Paci

Paci, Binky,...Apparently, there's this huge debate over whether a pacifier is okay for a child to have. Of course, there's my mom's argument: "You used one, and you turned out fine."  Of course I did.  But what if... could a pacifier possibly have caused my need of braces?  It's been written that they can cause crooked teeth.  So, easy solution there: just take it away before her teeth come in.  Some articles say that using a pacifier can interfere with breastfeeding because of nipple confusion.  Since I'm still using a nipple shield and it is the same shape as the paci, I'm not having any trouble.  If I start to wean her off of the shield, then we may have latch issues.  Until then, I'm not convinced a pacifier is a negative thing.  It's not as if I shove it in her mouth every time she makes a noise, like some parents do.  I just give it to her at times like this, when she needs some comfort to go to sleep.  I think that's better than nursing her to sleep, which would be a terrible habit to break later on.  So that's that.  I am okay with the paci.

On a nursing note... 

I'm not one to plug a particular brand usually, but this information is vital!  For you nursing moms out there, forget using any other nursing pads other than Lansinoh Disposable Nursing Pads.  Awhile back, I purchased a large box of Lansinoh brand and Johnson & Johnson disposable nursing pads just to see which one I liked better.  Absolutely no comparison.  I started with Lansinoh and never had any problems with leaks.  I finished off the box, so I started using Johnson & Johnson.  I have woken up every morning covered in milk!  When comparing the 2 pads, J&J looks as if it would be much more absorbent because of it's thickness.  Not true- I go through them much more quickly.  From now on, I will be purchasing Lansinoh.  The only benefit of J&J is that the shape is great.  They come out of the box rounded and ready to use.  Lansinoh is folded in half in the packaging so unless you have on a padded bra, you can usually see the fold through your clothes.  Small concession for a great product.  

Success with the sleeping baby! She actually spit the paci out before she fell asleep, so I guess that small comfort from sucking was all she needed.  If there's one thing I've definitely learned, it's "sleep when baby sleeps!"  Good night=)

Starting out

So Joe's been gone for 2 days... This is the first time I've been all alone!  It's not so bad, I have an incredible support system with my family and friends. So if I need help, I definitely have many people to ask!

Emerson has been a super amazing baby while he's gone.  Right now she's sleeping through the nights, which as any parent knows, is an amazing feeling!  Apparently I shouldn't get too used to it though, because as soon as she hits a growth spurt, she'll want to eat more frequently, therefore, wake up much more frequently.  I'm actually okay with that.  Since I'm at home with her, an odd sleep schedule comes with that.  It certainly has been an adjustment knowing that everything in the house is my responsibility. But I feel like I'm learning... however long it takes.  

I'm going to have to go back to work part time so that we can maintain insurance until Joe gets a job that has benefits.  Right now I can't imagine leaving my little one to do that, but I'm sure when it gets here, it will be a breeze.  My boss has been wonderful.  She's making the schedule to where I only have to work 2 days a week, 5 hours at a time.  That will fly by!  (I think...)  

This is a short blog today, I have to hop in the shower, and try to make it to church.  I plan on starting to blog more often in the future about life with Emmy, how she's growing up, etc... Stick around!

Here's a video for Joe we made this morning: