Turning 30

Well, I am now officially in the 30 club. You might be thinking that I think this is depressing. On the contrary...I am one of those strange folks who love getting older, and have been excited to hit 30 for a long time! I think my 30's are truly going to be the best years of my life... We are starting our family, we are more settled in our careers, I am more confident in my own skin, the list goes on and on. Basically I'm stoked about turning 30, and am thinking...bring it on life! (How corny do I sound?) :)

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We spread out the celebrations over a few days. On my actual birthday (the 11th) we spent the whole day eating great food and doing things I love. We went to breakfast at one of my favorite spots, La Provence, which is an amazing French restaurant....and while there they gave me a free pastry to celebrate, and my favorite part of the morning...the waitress told us that all the wait staff were in the back talking about how cute Emilyn is! Every mom loves to hear that! After breakfast we went to church, then out to lunch with two of the pastoral staff at church. We followed up lunch by going out to a movie and coffee, and then ate some of the best birthday cake I've ever had! It was poppy seed cake, with banana custard filling, iced with ganache. You might not understand how delicious this cake was...but trust me when I say, it was like heaven in cake form!

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We also had a little birthday party last weekend, on the 17th, which was themed, "grandparents." It was super fun. We dressed up, played bingo, ate lots of yummy food and had delicious sangria...among other things. Here are some pics of the birthday celebrations. Enjoy!

This is our little family dressed up!

This is Emilyn as a granny! I call them: Grumpy Granny.....

And, Curious Granny.

This is me blowing out my home-made raspberry cake, made by the lovely Julie.

This is my friend Erin, who would've won "best dressed!"

These are some pretty amazing children!

This is the necklace my mother-in-law bought for me, that I've been wanting so bad!!!

The Norm...

Times like these are becoming the norm for us. Emilyn is one happy little camper, and falls asleep babbling and smiling. She plays babbling and smiling. She wakes up babbling and smiling. She's just a pleasant little baby, and we are so very lucky!

This is Emilyn falling asleep...? She is so cute like this, and then eventually falls silent and asleep.

Emilyn playing. She's so funny! I say that, and wonder...how can my baby be funny...but oh man, she cracks me up!

The Rolling Queen!

At 4 Months...

Warning: This blog is full of pics and videos!

Emilyn is now 4 months old...can you believe it?!! I know I certainly can't. It seems like only a month ago I could barely make the walk to our local coffee shop, only to have J.D. walk home and drive to pick me up because my stomach was so HUGE. Now, we make that walk all the time (almost 2 miles), and last weekend we did a five mile walk.

At four months Emilyn has really started coming to "life." That sounds silly, because of course she's alive, but she is now babbling up a storm, rolling over, playing with more toys, trying to eat everything, teething, and so much more! I'm fairly certain she's going to be quite a talker...and a bit of a spitfire like her mama was...and her daddy (on the talking front).

Emi is the sweetest little baby. She has been sleeping through the night since seven weeks, and continues to be a rockstar in that area. Now, we are either awoken by babbling or big smiles. Waking up in the morning to her little noises is one of the best gifts. She also smiles at practically everyone. If you catch her eyes and she focuses on your face, she's bound to give you a huge grin. Emi loves to bounce and sing, and the Maroon 5/Gym Class Heroes song, "Stereo Hearts," has become our song! (JUST the chorus) It's quite humorous...I had the song stuck in my head and was singing it one day, and she started smiling. After really thinking about the words in the chorus, I decided it was a really sweet little "lullaby" and now, when she's crying, if I start singing the chorus she calms down pretty quick! (If you don't know the song, google the lyrics...and look at the chorus.)

We also had her four month check-up. She is now 14.1 lbs and 24.4 inches which puts her in the 60% for weight and 55% for height. (And her head is 43%) :) She's our perfectly average little love bug! Her kidney reflux is well under control with her daily antibiotic, but is causing some serious skin issues, so we now have some prescriptions for yeast and eczema that we have to use. She has very sensitive skin, and with the antibiotic cutting back some of her bad and good bacteria it makes her more susceptible for these things. BUT, because of her super sensitive, pale skin, her little cheeks are so adorable and rosy! She always seems to be perfectly flushed. Her eyes are getting bluer and bluer, so they are a total combination of J.D. and me. His shape, my color.

I hope you enjoy all the videos and pictures! We LOVE being parents, and feel so so so blessed by our little nugget! Some of them have no sound due to some technical errors, but they are still cute!

Mommy throwing Emi. Watch her huge smiles!

Emilyn rolling over like a champ!

Emi babbling and eating her fingers.

Mommy and Emi swinging away!

Emi holding her bottle!