Lazy days before Christmas!

We have been enjoying all of the Christmas preparations and watching Emma Rose bloom. She has really learned a lot in the past few weeks. She can now say "CAT" very plainly and is feeding herself sooooo much better. She has learned to give Daddy kisses and hug her Dolly. We got all dressed up for Christmas 2 times lately. So Daddy made our pictures in front of the Christmas tree both times. Isn't Emma the cutest thing ever? And one pretty day that wasn't too cold- we put her in the hiking backpack and took the dogs for a long walk. Emma loved it and did not want to come out of the pack. We will definitely do that again soon! We are anxiously waiting for Christmas Eve when my family gets together. We will take lots of pictures of family and of what Santa brings to little Emma Rose this year. She has been very good and I expect her to get LOTS of stuff! Merry Christmas to all!!!!!

Home and Loving It!

We are all still doing great and loving our bonding time at home. Vanous and I do nothing other than interact with Emma Rose. She is really learning fast. We had pictures made at a local photographer and they are beautiful. ( See link to pictures- Jacksons). We have been to church several times for different events and ER has loved all the attention. This last Sunday, it was our job to light the Advent candles as a family. While I read the scripture, Emma kicked her shoes off and pulled her bow out of her hair to the delight of the congregation. She is a funny girl and is usually all smiles and giggles. Christmas is almost here and we are trying to do some shopping, something I used to find easy to do. Now with a stroller, baby, bottles, diaper bag, etc., it gets a little difficult. Vanous is off until after Christmas and I don't go back to school until end of January so we still have lots of time to bond. I just LOVE this little girl. We can't imagine what we did before she came along?

3 weeks at home!

We have had a interesting 3 weeks. The first week we spent getting over jet lag. The second we spent fighting Emma Rose's sinus infection. And this last week, both Vanous and I have had colds. We are so hoping that this week will be the week we are all well. Emma Rose is really starting to bloom. Her personality is shining and there are more smiles than tears lately. We have just been staying at the house getting to know each other better. We have been to church and to some small social events.
She seems to handle it just fine. We are still very cautious about "passing the baby around" due to our worry about attachment but that is hard to not do when everyone is soo happy to see her. She is saying mamamamama, dadadadada, and bababababa right now. She imitates well and is learning fast to do whatever Mommy shows her. Daddy is soooo much fun for Emma Rose. They play and laugh and do exactly what father/daughters are supposed to do. I love watching them. Vanous is such a good daddy and he is a natural. I think our homecoming has been a success. Enjoy the new pictures!