Emilie's Baptism

On Sunday June 19th, our little Emilie was Baptized. We were so lucky that so many of our friends and family were there to celebrate the special day with us. The day started off with the church service, and then ended with a BBQ at our house afterwards for a little celebration for Emilie and for Father's Day.

It was a long day, but Emilie was so good. She fell asleep at the beginning of the church service and woke up when I was handing her to the minister. She gave him a little tentative look, and most of my family held their breath that she wouldn't cry, but she was so good and just watched the minister very carefully as he poured the water and performed the Baptism. I fed her during the last part of the service, and then she was asleep around 10 minutes after we got home and slept the afternoon away!

Here are a couple pictures from the Baptism:

A good shot of the family.

The Baptism

The three of us with the Godparents. Andre's friend Daryl is the Godfather, and my sister Carrie is the Godmother.

A sneak peek of the picture I took for the thank you cards.

Unfortunately because Emilie did sleep the afternoon away, we weren't able to get any pictures of Andre and her together, aside from the picture at the Baptism. Andre did get a little gift from Emilie that day, a little mug that says #1 Papa on it (Andre speaks French to Emilie, so she will call him Papa), and a card.

We did get a picture of Andre with his gift though:

A new milestone!

I know most aren't interested in every new little thing that our little Emilie does, but we are, so as a result we're going to share it all with the world!

We have a little play mat that we put Emilie on pretty much every day. It gives her a chance to be on her own, to kick her legs, wave her arms, and usually squeal with delight. She likes it so we keep doing it. There's a ring of toys above her, and since she started going on the mat around 1 month old, she's batted at these toys. First it was accidental, then intentional, and then on June 8th, she grabbed the toy and held on!

As a proud first-time mommy, I immediately ran over for my camera to document the moment for Andre who as at work (and very bummed out he missed it). Since that day she has grabbed on to Sophie the giraffe, and her teething ring as well. Oh, and my hair, every time I feed her.

Here are the pictures documenting this new milestone!

Oh Mommy, look what I just did!

Hey, this is pretty cool, I think I'll keep holding on!

3 Month Follow Up

On Emilie's 3 month birthday we also had a visit with the Pediatrician. To fill you all in, Emilie was born with a heart murmur. Which is a fancy way of saying she was born with a small hole in her heart. All babies are born with a small hole in their heart that normally closes sometime during their first 24 hours on the outside. Emilie's didn't. Apparently this is also very common for babies. So we were referred to a Pediatrician while we were still in the hospital, and Emilie had to have some tests done before they let us take her home. They wanted to make sure that the murmur was not causing any problems with her circulation, and the blood pressure in her limbs. It's not, in fact, aside from the fact that you can hear the murmur when listening to her heart beat she's perfectly fine, and it does not affect her at all.

The pediatrician warned us that because the hole wasn't closing in the hospital, we would have to have a follow up with her 2 weeks after we left the hospital. So we did, and the murmur was still present. That meant that Emilie had to have an Echocardiogram. So when she was 4 weeks old we took her to McMaster Children's Hospital, and she had her Echo done. When we got the results, we discovered that Emilie has not one but two holes in her heart. One in the pumping chambers, and the other in the collecting chambers of her heart. The good news is that they are asymptomatic, and not causing her any problems. The bad news is a trip to the Pediatrician every 3 months is in order.

This time we didn't mind because that meant that we wouldn't have to wait until she was 4 months old to be weighed and measured!

So we woke Emilie up from her nap on the 6th, and dragged her to the doctors office. She hammed it up for Dr. S, the Pediatrician, laughing and giggling. I even saw the Dr. smile back. No one can resist our little Emilie! Emilie had a definite growth spurt around 11 weeks, and she was up to 12lbs from her 10 the month previous, putting her at the 34th percentile for weight. Her height stayed the same as last month (I think the dr's measure her differently), so 23 inches long puts her at the 23rd percentile for her height this month.

Her waist is still too small for the 3 month shorts we have for her, so I know she's a skinny little baby!

3 months old!

Time flies when you're having fun!

I cannot believe that our little Emilie is already 3 months old. It seems like just yesterday we were strapping her in her car seat for the first time to bring her home. Now we can't imagine what our lives were like before she was born.

She is doing so well! She's growing like a weed, and every day she is making a new discovery. She recently discovered that she has hands, and that she can make them move. It's the funniest thing. She will practically make herself go cross-eyed staring at her hands and fingers while making them move around. She's also discovered that her hands are also delicious, and we'll hear her every once and a while slurping as she sucks on her fingers. She's also been doing a "Superman/Wonderwoman" pose. One day she just discovered that she could put her arms out in front of her and hold them very rigid, and then of course she thinks it tons of fun now because her dorky parents will sing "Superman! Wonderwoman!" and she'll giggle and smile and keep going.

Superman! Wonderwoman! (all ready for church)



Here are a couple pictures that I took of her on her three month birthday. Unfortunately they were taken a little close to when she was suppose to go down for her morning nap, so she's not as smiley as usual.

2 Month Well Baby Visit

Otherwise know as Needle Day, or the Day Mommy and Daddy Dread.

I have dreaded this day since the moment she was born. You just hate seeing your child in pain, but vaccinations are something that we both feel strongly about, so it was a necessary evil.

First off Emilie was weighed and measured. We were anxious to see how much she weighs now, and if she had reached or surpassed the 10 pound mark. At her well baby visit Emilie weighed in at 10lbs 1 oz, putting her at the 22nd percentile for weight (meaning that 78% of all baby girls her age weigh more than she does). She measured 23 inches long putting her at the 60th percentile for length (meaning that only 40% of all baby girls her age are longer than she is. I think it's safe to say that she's shaping up to be a long and lean little girl, definitely taking after her daddy.

Lastly was the needles. She was given two different injections, one in each leg. They were done one at a time, meaning she knew what was coming the second time around. Thankfully she fell asleep as we were waiting for the Nurse Practitioner to come back with the vaccinations so she was resting comfortably in my arms when the torture began. Andre was beside me for moral support, and I held little Emilie's leg as they did the needles. She cried, but not as much as we thought she would. After a short little feed after the second needle Emilie fell fast asleep, and pretty much stayed that way for the rest of the afternoon and into the evening. She would wake up only to wake up and cry. She was a groggy, cranky little girl. The next day was more of the same. Lots of sleeping, and lots of crankiness.

We continued to check her temperature, and by early Saturday evening (just over 24 hours post needles) she started to run a low grade fever and the crankiness kicked up a notch, so a little baby Tylenol was in order, and then by Sunday morning, or little girl was back up to 99%. Now on Monday she's back to normal with her usual smiles and squeals.

Here's a picture of our little girl on Friday night. So pooped after her ordeal at the doctors office:

Sleepy Emilie

Just because

She is so cute!

Mothers Day

This year was a day that I have been looking forward to for such a long time. Last year I threw myself into throwing a BBQ for my family to try and keep my mind off what day it was. It was yet another month of failed fertility treatments, and I couldn't bear the thought of being at church and seeing all the families together, so I stayed home and prepared for company.

This year I woke up and dressed my little girl up in her prettiest little party dress so we could celebrate together with my mom at church. This year it felt very important that I be there. I have so much to be thankful for.

Emilie and mommy all ready for church

This year we had family over again for a BBQ. This year the weather even co-operated and we could eat outside. We all had such a great time laughing and joking over dinner. Andre got me a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a card along with a gift certificate for a pedicure, so my tootsies can get ready for sandal season! Andre even got me a card from Emilie and wrote such a sweet little message inside. It still brings tears to my eyes thinking of that card.

I am so blessed.