Mini-Me

It’s always funny to hear who people say your baby looks like. “She looks exactly like her daddy!” “She looks exactly like her mommy!” “Oh! She is the perfect combination of both of you!” Sometimes I can hear each comment all in one day. My mom is always telling me how much Emma looks like me when I was a baby, so the last time she came out to visit she brought my baby books. Kyle and I were pretty amazed at the similarities. It might be hard to tell with just a few picture comparisons, but once you know her “looks” and little expresions, it’s definitely like looking is a baby mirror!

Me at almost 7 months

My mom got this same record for a picture with Emma

Swim babies!

Tucson, Tantrums, and Thunder Thighs

We took a last-minute trip to Tucson last weekend to see family and so Kyle could get the house ready for some new renters. He went on Thursday and Emma and I flew out on Friday morning. Not only was it an early flight, but it was my first solo flight with her! I was really worried since she had a cold and a really rough night prior to our flight. I’m not really nursing anymore, unless she can’t be consoled any other way, but I nursed her on takeoff and she slept the whole flight! We had a fun weekend with cousins down from Flagstaff and catching up with friends.

Emma has started getting really clingy with me, and it’s especially bad when we’re in a new place. She slept amazingly through the night during our trip, but she didn’t really nap. Being tired, combined with being in a new place, caused her to be glued to me most of the time. She did have a great time with her cousins though. It’s so fun to see them all starting to interact!

When we got back to San Diego, she had her 9 month wellness check. She is closer to 9.5 months and her stats are great: 21 lbs and 28.5 inches long! This puts her at 88% for weight and 85% for height. To compare, at her 3 month appointment she was at 1% for weight and 3% for height. I have to admit that it makes me pretty happy when people say my child looks “healthy”. We’ve come a long way from those first couple months of struggling with eating and being able to see those baby ribs! Now she’s all chunk. She is really moving a LOT these days, so I’m sure the thunder thighs will slim down soon enough.

Another interesting note is that Emma has started throwing mini tantrums. This has started over the past couple of days, but I feel like it’s pretty early for this phase. It mostly involved her throwing the weight of her body and head backwards if she doesn’t want to be picked up/put down somewhere. She’ll throw her head back and whine briefly, until she realizes that you’re going to do it anyway. I’m hoping that if we ignore it, it will go away soon and not be the start of something bigger!

Days of Summer

Now that the weather is warmer, we have started Emma on her SoCal girl training at the beach. Our first big beach outing was on the 4^th of July. We went to the Torrey Pines State Beach with Ben and Amber (and baby A). Emma was such a trooper. We were there for almost 5 hours and Emma enjoyed playing with her new sand toys (so did Daddy!). When she got tired, she crashed out under a little tent we brought from Uncle Alex.




We took another trip to the beach during a recent visit from Auntie Colleen and cousin Grayson.We went to Coronado beach for a picnic lunch and fun in the sun. Neither Grayson nor Emma was too excited about the big waves but they loved playing in the sand.

When we’re not at the beach or over at one of the neighbor’s pools, Emma has enjoyed a little pool that Daddy found at a garage sale. It’s perfect for splashing and getting some extra use out of the bath toys. Cousin Grayson enjoyed it as well.

First Father's Day

Our first family Father's Day was a double Father's Day. Ed and Carol came to visit from Tucson and Emma got to help both Daddy and Grandpa celebrate. Her gift to Daddy was her first finger painting!

We also had a short photo session to make Daddy a fun card.

Bring on the Bibs!

I really think there is a market for baby outfits with matching bibs. Emma has been drooling since she was three months old and there have been days when she’s soaked through six or seven bibs. Never mind all of the cute onesies or dresses I put her in. Most of them get covered up by the bib. Occasionally I can find a matching bib for an outfit (luckily she wears mostly pink) but usually I just grab whatever is most absorbent. It’s also starting to interfere with pictures (take off the bib for the picture!) and with her learning to crawl (she’s caught on her bib!). I am thinking about losing the bibs this summer when hopefully her clothes can just air dry. The bibs were originally meant to keep her dry and from getting a rash under her neck, but now she’s getting a rash in the back of her neck from the bib rubbing!

Bibalicious!!

Better Late Than Never

Ok, so I admit that this post is obnoxiously delayed. However, I really do want to continue blogging, so I guess that a much delayed post is better than just deleting the page and giving up! After a busy few months of maternity leave, visits from family and friends, getting back into work, and then another medical leave, I am finally ready to get into a routine. I know that things will never "slow down" but I do think that I finally have a better sense of what I have time to do. So instead of stressing about all the events that I should have included on my blog, I am going to play catch-up with pictures. Hopefully after this I will be ready to continue on a regular basis! :)

2 months - First Christmas, four generations


3 months


3 months - La Jolla


4 months - Valentine's Day with my future supermodel!


5 months - Honoring cousin Taylor for St. Patty's Day


5 months - Go Cats!!


5.5 months - Great-grandma comes to visit


6 months - First Easter


6.5 months - My first Mother's Day!


7 months - Back to Washington for Memorial Day Weekend

Out Little Peanut

Our baby girl has arrived!! Emily Ann Carpenter joined the world exactly 3 weeks early on 10-20-10. She decided to surprise us and spare me another 3 weeks of careful planning and preparation!!

The story of her birth began on Tuesday, October 19 when I was at work. It was a rare rainy, stormy San Diego day. I was walking to my car from a client's building and slipped in a puddle. I fell on my right side; onto my leg, shoulder, and unfortunately, my belly. I didn't feel any pain, but I did start having some cramping almost immediately. It wasn't bad so I went back to work. I also noticed that I was having quite a few Braxton-Hicks contractions, so I decided to wrap up my day and go home. I called my doctor on my way home and they told me to go to triage immediately so that they could monitor the status of the baby. When I got home, I threw a few extra things into my half-packed hospital bag (just in case) and Kyle and I headed to the hospital. Once I was on the monitors, the nurses noticed that I was having around 20 contractions in an hour. I also had some blood work done and it showed that there had been a small tear; some of the baby's blood had mixed with my own. My doctor wanted me to stay for 24 hour observance to make sure the contractions lessened. Neither Kyle nor I wanted to stay, since if by some chance I did go into active labor we wanted to do so at home. I had wanted a natural birth, and we took a special class on hypnobirthing to prepare. The hospital staff, of course, tried to convince us to stay and told us that leaving would be against medical advice. After we talked about it in private for a bit, we decided to stay and consider this a "practice run". Looking back now - we made the right decision!

Kyle went home to get our bags and take Zoey to our neighbors. He also threw the box with our car seat and stroller (which had arrived in the mail that day) in the back of the car - again, just in case. I was put on a floor with high-risk momma's and we tried to get some rest. I was still having around 16 contractions an hour. Around 3 in the morning, my water broke. It was nothing like I had expected, and Kyle had to take me through some breathing exercises to calm my excitement! We were moved downstairs to labor and delivery around 3:30 and by 4 I finally felt the contractions strengthen a bit. Kyle was amazing; giving me water, putting on my music, and talking me through the contractions.

I was at 2 cm at 4 am and by 6 am my surges had intensified so much that I told the nurse I was feeling as though I needed to push. She checked me again and said I was at 6 cm. She also seemed a bit confused and went to get another nurse to check me. This went on through FOUR nurses. The final nurse stepped back and said, "oh yes, that's a butt coming through, not a head". A doctor with an ultrasound machine was rushed in and through some very intense contractions announced that the baby was on her way through, breeched. The room became frantic and I can only describe it as a kind of Nascar pit crew. They stopped talking to Kyle and I and started shouting orders about calling the doctor and how the baby had to come out NOW. It was all very frantic, but strangely enough I felt quite calm. Despite the fact that I very much wanted a natural birth, I remembered my hypnobirthing instructor telling us that if there really was an emergency or need for an intervention, we would know because we wouldn't be ask us what we wanted. Hospital staff wouldn't give options for a c-section or drug intervention if it was truly necessary. They would instead go into action and do whatever they could to save mom and baby. That's what happened in my room. No one was saying that I was going to have a c-section, they weren't telling me anything at that point, I just knew that's what was going to happen. I knew there must be a true emergency so I accepted it and just went it.

The OR was very hectic and we found out later that there was another emergency c-section at the same time. Nevertheless, it all happened quite quickly and our little girl arrived safely. Emma arrived at 7:03 am and was 5 lbs, 7 oz and 17.75 inches long. She was a little jaundice but otherwise healthy.

We have been spending our days since, adjusting to the feeding/sleeping schedule of a newborn and cooing over her in between. We have also had a lot of family in town to help with cooking, cleaning, and just keeping the house up! This has been so great and has given Kyle and I time to recover and bond with our little girl.

Sleeping peanut

Sleeping in daddy's hands

First trip to the pumpkin patch