emily kate

Christmas pictures

2010-01-04T18:47:00.000-08:00

We started out our Christmas holiday with a trip to the mountains. For the past few years, we've gone on a ski trip with Brandon's parents and another family. I was a little nervous about how Eydie would do in the car that long. On the way to Crested Butte, we split up the trip and only went about 8 hours the first day, but on the way home we spent about 15 hours on the road. Fortunately, we took breaks often and I would nurse Eydie and get her out of the car seat to stretch a little bit. She slept pretty well in the car too which helped. Last year I didn't ski because I was pregnant and paranoid, so I enjoyed it even more this year. We had great weather, and the first 2 days we skied I wasn't even cold, which is so unusual for me. Karen (KK) and Connie stayed in the condo with Eydie while we skied.

Then we came back to a snowy Abilene and had Christmas with my mom's side of the family. We enjoyed being together for several days and even got to eat Grandma's egg rolls on Christmas Eve!

Eydie and her second cousin, Jude in matching Christmas PJ's.

A cousin pyramid. This was better in theory than in reality.
Just look at the faces of the people on the bottom row!

Eydie and her cousins on Christmas morning.

6 Months...a little late

2009-12-30T07:58:00.000-08:00

Eydie turned 6 months old on December 18, but with our Christmas travels and plans I'm a little behind in getting to this post.

We left on the 18th for our ski trip to Colorado (I'll post more about that trip later), and we had a great time there. I was relieved at how well Eydie did on the long car ride.

At her 6-month appointment, Eydie weighed in at 16 lbs. 3 oz. and was 26 1/2 inches long. She drools and puts things in her mouth constantly, so I'm thinking she may start teething soon. The last few days she's been running a slight fever, but it doesn't seem to be affecting her mood too much. I started mixing her rice cereal with apple juice, and she likes it a lot more that way. She doesn't like to open her mouth if I'm trying to feed her, but if I let her hold the spoon she sticks it in right away (with a little help).

She got a jumper for Christmas and has loved it so far. I keep having dreams that she starts walking before she learns to crawl. She loves to be in a standing position; she just can't do it herself. And she's an old pro at bundling up for the snow after being in Colorado and then having several cold, snowy days in Abilene.

She's getting really close to crawling. As soon as I set her on the floor, she's rolling and scooting everywhere. She can get up on her knees and rock and push herself with her hands. But for now she only goes in reverse, which is why I find her like this a lot. It only takes her a few seconds to scoot backwards under the couch or chair or ottoman. So far she hasn't disappeared under there yet, but it did motivate me to clean my floors!

And to go to sleep at night or nap time she love to have her pink blanket, her paci, and the acoustic Beatles CD playing. Usually if we stick her paci in her mouth and give her the blanket, she pulls it up over her face and rolls to the her side. We got a second blanket exactly like it so we can start now switching them out and hopefully it will keep it from getting totally ratty.

Eydie,
It is a joy and privilege to be your mom. Every day I thank God for sharing you with us, and I pray for wisdom to know how to be a good parent. You have brought so much happiness into our lives. I love the way you light up when your dad walks in the door, and the way you make other people (even strangers) laugh just by smiling at them. I can't believe we've had you for half a year already. I treasure every moment with you, and I love this age! You are precious, baby girl!

Oh, the joy of mail again!

2009-12-12T05:47:00.000-08:00

I used to get letters from camp friends throughout the year. Handwritten letters. Now about all I find when I open the mailbox are bills and junk mail. Neither of which are very exciting. Except at Christmastime. Starting in December I love to hear the sound of the mailbox being opened (in our case, the sound of our mailman's iPod as he approaches our house). I love getting updates from friends and family and seeing pictures of everyone. Eydie's almost 6 months old now so we had Hannah Vickers take some family pictures for us, and she gave us so many great ones to choose from for a Christmas card! I look forward to getting one framed and hung up in our house soon!

5 months

2009-11-19T13:51:00.000-08:00

This cheery five-month old would like to wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving!

You have to look closely in this picture to see a little ponytail on her head. We were over at Aunt Summer's the other night and Summer wanted to see if her hair would go in a ponytail. After this Eydie spit up all over her clothes so I stripped her down to just a diaper, and then she fell asleep on the couch. Instead of waking up happy like she usually does, she woke up screaming and I could not calm her down for about 10 minutes. When we went home I told Brandon about it and he said he would scream too if he woke up naked and with a ponytail in a strange place. Good point. Sorry Eydster.
Pierson is such a sweet cousin. He always shares his blankets and toys with her and just piles them on top of her. She ends up looking like E.T. did when he was hiding in the closet.

Whatever Pierson does, Eydie finds so entertaining. He got her giggling hard the other day playing in her crib with her.

2009-11-15T15:14:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Hannah Vickers for this photo! We've got a family session with her in a few weeks, and I can't wait to see what else she captures!

Christmas Card Giveaway...

2009-11-05T18:04:00.000-08:00

My friend Sharon does very cool designs and she has created some Christmas cards and will be adding to them. Follow the link on the right to browse her cards and see if there's one that might suit your family for the holidays. You can also sign up for a Christmas card giveaway! Friday's the last day though, so hurry!

2009-11-02T08:56:00.000-08:00

A few nights ago while Summer was at our house she started playing peek-a-boo with Eydie and got the biggest smiles out of her. This first picture is one of my favorites!
We gave Eydie her first taste of solid food, but she wasn't too impressed. Can you blame her? I think she would've taken to it more if we had started her out on chocolate instead of rice cereal.

Really, this is all you've got for me? I've been watching you eat food that looks a lot better than this for months! Where're you hiding the good stuff?

Homecoming and Halloween

2009-10-27T19:41:00.000-07:00

A couple weekends ago, I enjoyed visiting with some friends who came in for ACU Homecoming. Eydie got worn out from going to the parade and chapel and the football game and visiting with friends and family.

Eydie and Jude chatted it up a little bit. They (we) are going to have fun together at Christmas! Jude looks just like a miniature version of his dad.
We have two costumes for Eydie this Halloween. As a family, we went to our small group costume party as Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Pearl. Brandon and I actually donned these costumes for a grub about 7 years ago, but we had to bring them back now that we have a real, live Pearl! And what a cute Pearl she was! But just in case Eydie ever questions why, on her first Halloween, we dressed her up as an illegitimate child, we got her a flower costume too.

Eydie with her Western cousins at Trunk or Treat

Wilting flower

She passed out on the stroller ride home.

The shamed family

Yawning Pearl

I am loving this cooler weather! I love fall for crisp mornings, spice candles, vests and jackets, soup, cool sunny days, pumpkin spice lattes, pies, and costumes!

4 Months (and a week)

2009-10-25T20:34:00.000-07:00

I'm a little behind on blogging, so I'll divide the last month into a few different posts. Tonight I'll focus on Eydie's 4th month. It is amazing to me how much she changes from month to month, especially when I see her next to a newborn. She likes to be upright almost all of the time unless she is about to fall asleep (and if we're holding her, she usually likes to sleep on our shoulder). If we set her on the floor, she rolls over almost immediately. She usually gets over to her stomach and then starts kicking her legs and grunting until she gets frustrated that she's not going anywhere. We've started putting her in the exersaucer and she's beginning to reach out and grab the things in front of her. Lately she's been experimenting with her voice a lot. She covers a wide range of sounds and sometimes likes to sing along in church. A couple nights ago she had a long conversation with Brandon. They were talking back and forth and she was smiling the whole time. At her appointment last week, she weighed 14 lb. 10 oz. and was 25 in. long, putting her in the 75th percentile.

Last week I was at Summer's house and Pierson was "playing" with Eydie (stacking blankets, baseballs, bats, etc. on her). She was happy to have the entertainment and just cooing and kicking. Summer and I were in the other room and Pierson walked in with his head down looking hurt and said, "Mommy, baby Eydie hit me." Summer and I cracked up. We went and looked at Eydie whose little eyes were peeking out under the blanket and her arms and legs were flailing. Later Pierson got his feelings hurt again because "Eydie won't talk to me!" I'm going to have to teach that girl some manners!

Still to come...ACU Homecoming and Halloween Party pictures!

The many faces of EPS

2009-10-20T20:24:00.000-07:00

Three Months

2009-09-20T19:07:00.000-07:00

Eydie is 3 months old now and getting cuter and cuter. She's started to giggle which might be my favorite sound in the world. She's mastered rolling from tummy to back and has been practicing rolling from back to tummy although she usually gets stuck on her side and then gets frustrated and we have to give her a little push to get the rest of the way. In the last month she's enjoyed another trip to the lake, her cousins' birthday party, was introduced to her first West Texas Fair, survived her vaccination shots and a cold, and even went to the movies and stayed quiet from previews to credits.

Kara and Eydie (aka Salt-N-Pepa)

Cutie naked girl and daddy at her doctor's visit. At her appointment last week she weighed in at 13 lbs. 11 oz. and was 24 1/2 in. long, putting her in the 90th percentile.
Today, the first day of fall, was wonderfully cooler. It makes me excited for some cooler weather and for celebrating Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas soon!

Just rolling right along...

2009-09-11T19:25:00.000-07:00

Eydie is almost 3 months old and today she rolled over for the first time! This morning I put her on her tummy on the floor and then went to get a glass of milk (gotta start the day off right!). When I came back, she was lying on her back looking surprised. When I said, "What did you do?!" she just grinned up at me. So I put her back on her tummy and got my camera. Within a few minutes she had done it again, this time rolling onto the other side.

Man, I'm on my belly again! Now, how did I get on my back last time?

Hmmm...I think I rocked a little.
Okay, why isn't this working? Am I moving yet?

Ahhh, there we go...success!
Now is she gonna let me lie here or make work for it AGAIN?

What a proud little girl!

Today I watched a show about the photographers of 9/11. I can't believe it's been 8 years already. It was a shock to me last year when talking with my students about it that they were just in 2nd grade when it happened. It is only a vague memory of their childhood. I remember walking through the campus center at ACU and seeing on the TV the first plane hitting the tower. I was a little late for my sign language class (as usual), so I couldn't stay and watch any more. At this point I didn't know it was a terrorist attack. By the time I got to my next class the second tower had been hit. All the classes in that building gathered in the room with a TV to watch as the towers fell. Brandon and I had gone on our first date 3 days earlier, and he happened to have a class in that building too, so we walked together to Moody for a special chapel/prayer service. I cannot imagine the trauma and devastation that those who were there and saw what happened and survived must carry with them the rest of their lives. My prayers are with them today.

Speaking of time rolling along quickly, this weekend is my 10 year high school reunion! I've seen movies where people attended their 10 year reunions and they seemed much older than I feel. I'm sad 3 of my best friends won't be here to go with me (they all live out of state), but I'm also thankful that I see and keep in touch with these girls regularly so I don't need an official reunion to be reunited with them. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that Jocelyn and I learned the dance from Romy and Michele's High School Reunion. I loved going to dances in high school, but I'm glad we won't be forced into any awkward dance moments this weekend. Without my girls, it's just not the same doing Kid 'N Play or the sprinkler.

2009-09-09T13:12:00.000-07:00

A very happy and wet-haired Eydie after a bathWe took Eydie to her first football game. Luckily for us, we didn't leave the house until after the rainstorm so we weren't at risk for getting blown away.

We went to the zoo with the Summer, Ava, and Pierson. They're checking out the monkey house here. Pierson got in a starting contest with one of them against the glass.

Eydie, however, was not impressed.

Last weekend we went to Lake Brownwood for Labor Day. It's always so nice to have family around to help take care of Eydie. She had some good cousin time and even got a surprise visit from her second cousin Jude. We were so excited the Thompsons decided to come!

Jude is about 6 weeks younger than Eydie but almost her size. She was already crying before I set her down to take this picture so it is no reflection of her feelings for her cousin!

Such a fun-filled weekend makes you sleepy

Eydie is changing fast. She's starting to imitate sounds and expressions. Brandon loves to try to teach her how to make certain noises and she'll really concentrate on his face and then try to make her mouth do the same as his. Her eyes get really big while she's watching him.

She holds her head up all the time unless she's ready to go to sleep. She loves to be up watching what's going on, and she's getting pretty strong and able to support herself a lot more now.

She finally started taking a bottle! We had been trying regularly, but she just didn't like it and would cry and only take a little bit, but in the past week she's started taking a bottle without crying or fighting it! Makes mama so happy!

And I am loving not working right now and just being able to hang out with our sweet little girl!

2009-08-24T11:12:00.000-07:00

Two Months

2009-08-19T20:09:00.001-07:00

At two months old, Eydie is starting to fill out more and get little rolls on her thighs and arms. Her hair is laying down a little more now that it's getting longer. And she is starting to smile more at us and stay awake longer. Her big, gummy smile when she wrinkles up her nose is the sweetest thing. The longest she's slept during the night is 6 1/2 hours which was AWESOME! Of course I couldn't sleep that long so I was wide awake for the last hour of that waiting for her to wake up. And she only slept that long one time. Usually it's more like 3 or 4 hours at a time during the night, but at least we know she's capable of it!

Outtakes:

Eydie met her great-grandparents on my dad's side.
They drove in from Seminole to see her.

She's starting to like bath time a little more.

Our changing table is a vanity, and she likes to look at herself in the mirror.

Proud fan of the Rangers

Well, school starts next Monday and this is the first time in 23 years that I'm not going to be there. It feels very weird not to be getting back-to-school supplies and setting up my classroom. I miss it more than I thought I would. But, I am very thankful that I'll be able to be home with Eydie and enjoy this time as a mama while she's so small. Everyone has told me that this time goes by so fast, so I want to enjoy it while it lasts!

Carly and Ben get hitched!

2009-08-03T14:05:00.000-07:00

We had a great time celebrating with Carly and Ben, and Eydie proved to be a great traveler. Of course it helps having family around to hold her for us. She slept the whole way there and back in the car and didn't cry much unless she was hungry. We enjoyed the rehearsal dinner Friday night, a bridal brunch Saturday morning, the wedding Saturday night, and hanging out at the pool in between. Carly made a beautiful bride and we are so excited for her and Ben! We've loved watching them love each other and look forward to seeing what God has in store for them.

My mom and Aunt Vicki admiring Eydie

Our family at the rehearsal dinner
With Gini, Shelley, and Whitney during a miniature golf rain delay
Eydie's sporting a little bikini at the poolAll dressed and ready for a wedding

Mama and daughterCousin Ava (the flower girl) helping out with Eydie

Sweet girls
Fun on the dance floor
Mama, Daddy, Daughter dance
Grandma and Grandpa doing the twist...so cute!

Ava's self-portrait

Sweet brother and sister

4 generations of women

Dad with his daughters

My handsome husband

And the beautiful bride and groom!

2009-07-28T13:11:00.000-07:00

Eydie had a full weekend with a Sip and See Saturday and a baby blessing Sunday morning. She was "on display" for people to see and I just hoped she would be well behaved for it all. She did well, but being cute that long is hard work, as you can see in this picture taken after the Sip and See. Some of my mother-in-law's friends hosted it as a way for people to come see Eydie and have coffee and refreshments. It was very sweet of them.

Too tired to pose for the camera (but still pretty cute)!

Here we are with Connie and Colleen who hosted it. As you can see, Eydie was fed up with the picture taking. Look at how she pulled her headband over her face. "Take all the pictures you want, guys, but I'm done."

My niece Ava was a big help opening presents.

And Eydie fell asleep on KK's shoulder.

I promise I didn't teach her jazz hands. She did it on her own.

This is at church Sunday morning before her blessing.

She was a little feisty and squirmy, but she didn't cry which was a relief.

She fell asleep on Papa Dale at church and then melted down into a little ball.
It cracks me up that she can sleep like this.

Brandon likes to sing songs and have her dance to them.
It usually gets her to stop crying .

I finally figured out the sling and wanted to take a picture of how it worked,
but it took a little while. First, not sure about it...

Calming down...

Out.

Saturday morning Brandon got Eydie dressed and ready while I showered. Then I nursed her and she had an explosive diaper on her outfit. So we changed her and I got dressed, then put her up on my shoulder to burp her and she spat up all down the back of my dress. By the time we got to the Sip and See we were both on our second outfits. It was a good warning because this weekend we'll be going to my cousin's wedding and now I know to take at least 2 outfits for each of us for every event of the weekend.

Carly and Ben, we love you both and are excited to celebrate with you as you get married!

Chris and Jenny (another cousin and his wife) are having a baby today! She is in labor as I write. We are praying for you guys and can't wait to meet sweet baby Jude and for him and Eydie to grow up playing together like we did! Congratulations!

One Month

2009-07-21T14:48:00.000-07:00

Eydie's now a little over a month old. I think her hair has already gotten longer and it is definitely standing up more. It's usually the first thing people comment about when we're out. I love that she's rocking her own style already.

Here she is with all the Bonneau girls. They are going to be the greatest baby-sitters at baseball games. Landry, the youngest, already said she feels like Eydie is her long lost little sister.

Sometimes she likes to meditate in her car seat. She brings her hands up, palms open, and puts her feet together. It's really relaxing. You should try it. You can just see the inner peace on her face.

Happy first month, girl! We love you!

2009-07-15T07:58:00.000-07:00

**Sorry all the fonts are different. Blogger won't let me fix it right now.

I've had the intention of updating my blog every day for the past several days, but I just haven't been able to get to it. When Eydie's sleeping, I'm usually trying to decide if I should use that time to sleep myself, eat, shower, do laundry, wash dishes, or take her with me for an outing to get out of the house. After about a week of being at home without leaving the house, I was starting to feel a bit cooped up. But being able to take her with me and go somewhere makes me feel like a normal person again. At her 2-week appointment, the doctor said Eydie is perfectly healthy. She had gained a pound since birth, and we were able to stop giving her antibiotics. We praise God for her health and are humbled and thankful for your prayers.

It's hard to believe it's been almost a month since she was born. I feel like the first two weeks of her life time stood still for me and I was completely out of touch with the outside world. My concept of time has changed. I used to get about 9 hours of sleep a night (sometimes 10 on a weekend) and loved it. Now I get about 2 hours of sleep at a time when I can and getting out of bed at 7:00 feels like sleeping in. Everything's relative. I feel like it was a good night if Eydie only wakes up about 4 times. Usually around 7:00 she's awake and doesn't want to be put back in her bed, so I've been putting her in the stroller and going on morning walks before it gets too hot. She makes a good alarm clock and motivation to get out and exercise. *She's waking up now, so I better go and finish this later.

This picture is Eydie with her great-grandparents in the hospital. It was from a few weeks ago, but it's so sweet I wanted to be sure and post it.

Eydie's not really big on bathing. Really, she thinks it's pretty overrated. It usually gets this kind of reaction from her.

One of my favorite places to go when I was growing up was my grandparents' house at Lake Brownwood. Eydie's already been there twice. We went for the 4th of July with my family and again the next weekend with our small group. Apparently, I was enjoying it so much I forgot to take pictures. But here is one of Eydie napping with Sarah on the best nap couch in the house. She also took long naps with her second cousins Seth and Carly.Last Sunday was Mike Cope's last Sunday as the preacher at Highland and Eydie's first time to go to church. I'm glad she had Mike as her preacher at least once. Brandon and I have loved him. Eydie slept all through the church service and the reception afterwards.

Here she is with some of our huddle girls.

And I thought this picture was too sweet to miss, but Brandon didn't appreciate me whipping out my camera during church. The last song we sang was "He is Wonderful," and as I was singing the words and holding Eydie, I thought of those first couple days of her life and how far she's come and tears welled up in my eyes. Then Brandon looked over at us and he got teary, so when church was over and people started coming over to see Eydie, we were both crying.
ACU's been hosting a high school baseball camp that Brandon's had to work all day for a few days, so I've taken Eydie up in the evenings to the games to get out of the house and give her dad a chance to see her. Here she is with my dad, K-Papa, holding her at her first of many trips to the ballpark.

Newborn Pictures

2009-07-02T17:37:00.000-07:00

Our friend Hannah Vickers (vickersdigitalphotography.blogspot.com) took pictures of Eydie Monday night. Eydie was calm and slept most of the session which was nice. Thank you Hannah! You did a great job. These are some of my favorites.

Lazy days at home

2009-06-28T18:23:00.000-07:00

We've been enjoying our last few days at the house soaking up our Eydie time. I'm trying to make up for the lack of sleep at night by napping during the day. But Eydie's really a pretty laid-back baby and she hasn't been too fussy even during the night.

Her favorite way to nap with daddy.

Showing off how strong her neck is while Sasi's holding her.

Tonight the weather finally cooled off enough to go on a walk. It was good for me to get out of the house. And Eydie loved it too. She was wide awake and perfectly content the whole time.

Relaxing with her Papa Dale

We're taking newborn pictures tomorrow night, so hopefully Eydie (and her mom) will get lots of beauty sleep tonight.

Eydie's home!

2009-06-25T17:16:00.001-07:00

We brought our baby girl home today! Last night I was so excited I had trouble going to sleep just like last Wednesday night when I was planning on being induced the next morning. Then at 11:30 I was thinking about how my water had broken at that time a week ago.

Last Thursday at 12:00 noon we were worried that Eydie wasn't breathing well and had aspirated meconium and we didn't know how serious it would be or the extent of her sickness. We would later find out that she had bacterial pneumonia. This Thursday at noon, however, we were being released from the hospital taking home a healthy baby girl. We will continue antibiotics orally for a week, but it is so nice not to have her attached to an IV!

I haven't gotten a chance to personally thank everyone yet, but again I want to offer a general thank you to all of you who have been praying for Eydie! God has been faithful and answered your prayers, and they have meant so much to us.

Now, what you're all waiting for...HOMECOMING PICTURES!

The ride home

A sweet homecoming welcome

Our family of 3 home together

I think she likes her new bed.

Eydie and her cousins

Proud big cousin Ava

Pierson decides he needs a little attention.

K-Papa and his grandkids

This will be our first night with her. We'll let you know how it goes. Tonight I'm so excited to have her next to our bed I won't even mind those midnight feedings. Wonder how long that will last!

The next best thing to home

2009-06-22T19:45:00.000-07:00

Hendrick Hospital has a family room that's right down the hall from the NICU nursery for couples who have babies in the NICU to breastfeed or pump. Right now we are the only ones who fit into that category since all the other babies are preemies who are being bottle-fed. And since Eydie is no longer connected to monitors but only has an IV, we are able to take her in there with us and hang out all day. It has been such a blessing! The room has a single bed, a couple rockers, a small couch, a table, and a TV. This morning we got to the hospital around 9:00. We took Eydie into the family room where I nursed her and then she took a long nap on her daddy's chest while he watched the U.S. Open. It was so sweet! When she woke up I nursed her again and then I took a nap on the bed with her napping in her little bed beside me while Brandon went and got us lunch. All day the three of us just chilled in the family room nursing and napping and hanging out together. The nurses just come in there every couple of hours to check on us and update her chart and take her vitals. We've been able to be there all day and get lots of rest. It has been wonderful to have it to ourselves all day! Today Eydie ate a lot. She largely increased her input and output (yes, they're keeping track of everything that goes in and out) from the day before. She's doing so well and looking very healthy. The nurses have been great to us. Today was a good day, and it really was the next best thing to having her home with us.

A sweet Father's Day

2009-06-21T21:21:00.001-07:00

Last night was emotional as we left the hospital without Eydie, but we both also had peace because she has improved so much in just a few days and we will be able to bring home a healthy girl soon. Before we left the hospital, I left this onesie with the nurses without Brandon knowing so this is how Eydie greeted us when we got there this morning. She looked so sweet!

I also had to include pictures of Eydie with her grandparents. They have given her lots of love!

We are so proud of our little girl and thankful to God for sharing her with us and allowing us to be her parents. I still can't believe she's ours and we actually get to keep her. We are in love.

2009-06-20T14:40:00.001-07:00

The best surprise today has been how well Eydie has nursed. I was not expecting her to get the hang of it for quite some time, but she has done so well, especially considering we have to keep her hooked to an IV and several monitors so we're balancing wires and different machines are beeping when something falls off. They had to redo her IV again so she's been thoroughly poked and prodded and has little bruises, but she's been a champ through it all.

We're staying through her last feeding tonight and then tomorrow I'm going to try to come up and nurse during the day as much as I can. I'm not sure how all that will work, but we'll figure something out and we're thankful it'll just be for 4 or 5 days. We give God all the glory and credit for Eydie's improvement. The doctors and nurses haven't stopped commenting on how amazed they are that she is doing so well. We feel that is a direct answer to all your prayers. Praise God!

Brandon has been so great about taking care of both of his girls. He's given me strength and support and showered Eydie with lots of love. He makes sure I get plenty of rest and reminds me that Eydie's in good hands...those of the doctors and nurses in the hospital here, but most importantly her heavenly Father's.