Christmastime!

I am belated in a number of things, I am going to do my best to keep up.

First off, our little baby had her 2 month doctor check on Dec 1. I thought Lilah was a big baby! Emma weighed in at 13 lbs 10.5 oz, 23 inches long. She is smiling all the time now, but certainly prefers her momma. She has a tendency to stick her bottom lip out and burst into tears when most other people talk to her. She flinches when her sister is nearby, and sometimes cries when she hears Lilah's voice if it catches her by surprise. She is the easiest baby I could have imagined.

My striped girls!



Matteson came out to visit us on Dec 2 for a long weekend. It was so nice to have her around and Lilah loved having a full-time playmate. Matteson and I flew to Charlotte on Sunday, Dec 5. It was our first time back east with both kids, and I am SO glad Matteson was with me. Emma was awesome, as expected. Lilah was a little challenging, especially once we were past naptime and the DVD player had died. We survived though, and it is so good to be back at the Pascal Homestead. The girls are having so much with their Teffeteller cousins! We have been here for over a week, putting the finishing touches on our Christmas shopping (another great reason to get here so early) and relaxing with family. Lilah is particularly fond of the chickens Nana and Papa got this past April. Lucy the hen turned out to be Lucy the rooster, so Ethel and Jesse have a male playmate. He is king of the farm and loves to strut his stuff, literally. Lilah is learning first-hand what a rooster says. (bock-bock-a-doodle! according to Lilah).

We are having so much fun with our cousins! And missing John's family so much!

Dancing with Max and Ben - up in the air!

Birth Announcement

Spoiler alert! You may be receiving this in the mail in the coming weeks.
Check out my latest Shutterfly project below. Cute, eh?

First Scenes Pink Birth Announcement

Customize your own baby announcement at Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Christmas Time!

I know it is not even quite Thanksgiving, but it is time to begin thinking about the Christmas season! Jonas and I put up the tree yesterday, and tonight we are going to decorate with the help of our favorite toddler. I am also hoping (after the same toddler's bedtime) to start working on my Christmas card list, and choosing which pictures will be the cutest to include. I am going to get cards this year from Shutterfly. I have made several photobooks from them over the last year and have LOVED how they turned out. I think the Christmas cards will be awesome too. Check out the following links to my favorite Shutterfly products:
Christmas cards- http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards
Christmas invitations - http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-invitations
I am going to try to dress the girls in cute Christmas outfits and take some pictures in the next few days so that I can include them on the cards I'll design. It's so easy and fun to choose the layout and bring in my favorite pictures. So, be sure to keep an eye out for out Christmas card this season. It is sure to be super cute!

Halloween

Trick or treat! Lilah went as a cow and Emma was a little skeleton baby. I tried to get a picture of the two of them, but wasn't very successful. Emma wouldn't stop crying and Lilah wouldn't take her finger out of her nose. Lilah loved trick or treating though, especially when she got M&Ms!

Before trick or treating

After trick or treating

One Month

I can't believe it, but tomorrow Emma will be five weeks old. It just doesn't seem like time should pass that quickly. It has been hard to savor each moment of her newborn-ness, while equally hoping that the time will pass more quickly until Jonas comes home each day. We have been very busy, even on the days where we just stay home. Up to this point, Emma has not required much attention, but now that she is awake more during the day, I feel obligated to entertain her. She is no longer to just sit in the bouncer while Lilah and I play. Emma's a snuggler, which makes it hard, but is so very sweet. Like Lilah, she sleeps well in my arms but not so well once I put her down. The exception to that is at night, where she will sleep on her own in the bassinet (thank goodness!).

So, I have pictures from 6 days and one month for both Lilah and Emma. I think they look very different. Emma makes a lot of the same faces that Lilah made at this age, but when I try to catch it on camera, it just doesn't look the same. Funny. Anyway, Emma at one month is up to 10 lbs 10 oz. (Lilah was right at 11 lbs at one month).

Lilah at 6 days

Emma at 6 days

Lilah at one month

Emma at one month

Emma again at one month

Two Year Check

Lilah had her two year well-check this morning. Jonas couldn't make it to the appointment due to morning meetings, so we had to go it alone. We did very well at the visit! Lilah allowed the doctor to check her out fully with minimal fuss (with the promise of M&Ms to follow). She weighs 29 pounds 2 ounces (80%), and is 35.5 inches tall (90%). Almost three feet! She got two shots and cried for only about 15 seconds. What a big girl!

As for baby sister, a friend let us borrow her baby scale for a little while, and I put Emma on it last night for the first time. Exactly three weeks ago, Emma weighed 6 lbs 11 oz. Last night, Emma weighed 10 lbs 1 oz! What an incredible difference!

New Addition

Things have been a little busy in the Johnson household over the last several weeks. My parents came into town on Sept 25. Dad and Jonas worked on the fireplace the week that Daddy was here (we decided to have a gas fireplace installed the week before they came and Dad and Jonas worked on building up the hearth and area surrounding the FP to get ready for the stone to go over the top). The new baby's due date came and went on Sept 28, and we went to the hospital at 5am on Sept 29 to be induced. They sent us home, of course, because I didn't call ahead of time to find out there weren't enough nurses and they had admitted too many people during the night. Another nurse came on staff at 9am though, so they told us to come back.
We got checked in and the pitocin was started about 10:30. The contractions were uncomfortable enough by about one o'clock that I had an epidural started, and the doctor broke my water at 2pm. I am not sure if it was the best epidural, because I was having a lot of pain with my contractions, especially towards the end, but I could not move or feel my legs. I progressed from 5cm to 10cm in about an hour and a half, and baby was born after two minutes of pushing. (And it only took that long because I had to wait for another contraction to come). Emma Louise arrived at 6:57 pm on Wednesday, Sept 29. She was 20.5 inches long and weighed 7 lbs 7 oz. Just as Lilah looked exactly like her momma at birth, little Emma looked just like her daddy's hospital picture! She has the cutest little dimple in her left cheek. Lilah came with Nana and Papa to the hospital to meet her little sister and like the rest of us, was instantly in love. I'll try to post the video of them meeting, it's really cute. We came home on Thursday at lunch time and had our first doctor's appointment on Friday. Emma was a little jaundiced on Friday (new weight was 6 lbs 9 oz) so we had her bilirubin levels drawn on Saturday since her jaundice was getting worse. A home nurse came out to the house Saturday night and got her started on phototherapy to help her get rid of her excess bilirubin. Emma stayed on the light bed day and night until Tuesday, when she was cleared by the doctor. Since then, she has been gaining weight and eating well while we are all adjusting to our new lifestyle.

Emma is a very vocal baby, but doesn't cry very often. She loves to stretch and squeek and grunt. She is an excellent sleeper, and has been since the beginning. When she was so jaundiced, I had to set an alarm to wake her up in the night, but since I was able to stop doing that, she has slept 5-7 hour stretches at night. She is now (at three weeks) having more wakeful stretches during the day and is much better at holding her head up. She is getting so chubby and her skinny little chicken legs are turning from having wrinkles into having fat rolls. So cute!

Lilah has been a great and loving big sister. I'd like to say there has been no aggressive behavior towards her little sister, but I now have a funny story to tell. My sweet little sleeping baby was in the bouncy seat in the den next to Lilah who was eating her dinner standing at the coffee table. I was in the kitchen, just one room over, when Emma burst into tears. I came in the room and asked Lilah what happened. "Baby crying," she responded. What happened Lilah? "Poke baby, " she said. When I asked where, she said, "nose." Apparently, she had taken her nice little sharp tined dinner fork and poked our little baby in the nose. Emma calmed down quickly, and the fork never left a mark. First injury down, many more to go, I am sure.

Lilah celebrated her second birthday this past week. I know everyone says this, but it is unbelievable how fast time has passed. It is especially neat to have a newborn in hand to compare where Lilah was just two years ago. It is incredible how much she has grown and learned over the last two years. We had a fun celebration with our friends and Mimi last weekend. Lilah loved opening all her presents and is still talking about opening more. She blew out her two little candles on the first try - I was very impressed!

Her two year check up is tomorrow morning, so I'll have numbers coming soon.

Not a very flattering picture, but you can really see how big her cheeks are getting!