You've probably already seen this, but...

I had to blog about this stroller too! Who wouldn't want to up their chances to win an amazing Bumbleride stroller?! If you haven't checked out this contest - do it now! Maybe one of us new Mommies will win. :)

Milestones

Wow! It seems like Emily is growing by leaps and bounds all of a sudden.
Here's what's been going on...
Over the past couple of weeks:
Emily has been mastering independent sitting. She has really got it down now. This evening she was able to sit for several minutes and play with a toy at the same time - an activity which, just yesterday, made her immediately fall over!

Over the past week:
Her babbling has increased to several new sounds. And she loves to converse back and forth with us by mimicing the sounds we make. Here's a short clip of us practicing my favorite word. :)

Wednesday:
Emily's first tooth finally broke through! It's the bottom front one on the right. As of today, only the very top of the tooth is visible, but boy is it sharp! Letting her chew on our fingers isn't such a fun game anymore. It's funny to watch her too; I can only imagine what she is thinking about this new sensation in her mouth. She is frequently rubbing her tongue up against the tooth. (By the way, if you were wondering about the rash on her face in the photos above, it's from the constant drooling secondary to teething!)

It's so much fun to see Emily learning and growing. We are a little bit sad, because the baby days are swiftly passing before our eyes, but the days ahead will certainly be filled with lots of smiles, love, and laughter!

Happy Valentine's!

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

Kyle, Emily, and I had a very special day just hanging out together. We spent the morning playing with Emily at the house, then we drove up to McKinney for the afternoon and browsed the square's many antique shops. It was so much fun to just take it easy and have a lazy day together.

We found this beautiful door hanger that we decided needed to come home with us.

Kyle surprised me a few days ago with these beautiful flowers, which I am still enjoying.

And I made a (delicious, if I do say so myself :-)) chocolate cake for dessert last night. Like my ghetto heart on top? That's about as good as it was going to look with a piece of paper folded into a heart shape.

Hope all of you had a wonderful day with your loved ones as well!

Here are a couple of great pics we've captured recently. Emily is exploring new facial expressions.

Here we have "Popeye Drinking Water"

And my personal favorite, "Pretending to be Pouty"

She just started this one last night. It's hilarious. She breathes in and out of her nose like a bull while she's making the face, and truly looks mad! But as soon as you catch her attention she starts smiling. The drama is already beginning!

News

Sorry for not blogging in a while; I haven't had much access to the computer in the past week. As most of you know, Kyle lost his job last week, so he has been working hard to update his resume and begin a job search. And, with just one computer at home, you know where that leaves me and the blog! :P
We are actually pretty excited about his new job opportunity. We feel like the Lord has given us this opportunity to learn how to better rely on Him. And we are confident that He will continue to care for us, as he has done in the past. Please pray for our strength and patience during this process!

For your viewing pleasure...

*Disclaimer* No infants were harmed during the making of this short film.

Recent Happenings

Goodness, I've been neglecting the blog!
This past week has been pretty busy from several different angles...
1) Emily's teething has gotten very intense, especially over the past 3 days. I know those teeth are going to break through at any moment! *I hope!*
2) I've been making a concerted effort to focus more on cleaning and organizing the house lately. This new-found zeal spawned from the realization that Emily is getting closer and closer to mobility. She is already rolling all over the place. If I walk away for even a few seconds, she will be several feet from where I placed her. This has posed many new challenges, as well as many thoughts on how icky our floors are!!
I actually ran across this challenge the other day:

...and it inspired me to do the same. Which is to declutter/organize/deep clean every room in our house. It will take a while, I know, but I am determined not to lose steam until it gets done!
I'll post more about that later, but first I want to update y'all on what I know you really want to hear about...
Emily! :)
We have gotten so many cute pictures and videos lately. She has started to cheese every time she sees the camera. It's so adorable! Here are a few of my favorites.
Sitting big with Mommy

Kind of blurry, but such a cute face!

Ice day!!

What??...don't worry, she was just sucking on it. I think the hard/cold felt good on her gums.


*I just tried to attach a video, and it gave me an error message, so I'll try to post it later. Stay tuned!

6 Months!!

Can it be possible that our little girl is already 1/2 a year old?? Time is flying by, and we are trying to soak up every second of it. I am thankful every day that I am able to stay home with Emily. I haven't missed a single precious moment of her waking up, smiling, exploring, moving, "talking", laughing, or - now most recently - reaching out for me to hold her. (My heart melts every time!)
It is amazing to see Emily's personality developing. She loves to laugh but can also be very serious...(it's almost scary how straight her face can be despite all of our attempts to make her smile sometimes) but that's usually just when she's tired. Emily is the loudest when she is playing with her daddy. She loves to be tickled and kissed by him!
Emily is sooo close to being able to sit up independently! And when we put our hands on her feet during tummy time, she is able to push off and army crawl. She gets so excited to reach things on her own. It's cute! She's also begun to babble a little bit...I'll have to get some on video and post it for everyone to hear. :)
As a side note...Emily and I spent our first day apart on Friday. I covered for one of the speech pathologists at Baylor, where I used to work. I was pretty nervous about it, because we hadn't been apart for more than just a few hours up to that point. Also, I hadn't worked since Emily was born, so I was wondering if I had forgotten how to do my job!! :P Thankfully, Kyle stayed home to care for her and brought her up for me to feed her at lunch (she never has taken a bottle!), so I didn't have to go ALL day without seeing her. Emily was so good for Kyle, too. They had a great day of bonding together. And the work day went very smoothly for me. It was answered prayer all the way around!
But, at the end of the day, I was and am still so very thankful that I am able to be a full-time mom. While I am learning more and more each day that this job is the most challenging one I will ever have, it is also the greatest privilege and blessing to be Emily Claire Bennett's mommy!