Our Father's Day!

We were a little busy (and out of town) on Father's Day.  So EC and I surprised Jeremy and made Friday, Our Father's Day.  And I have a confession to make- I have really dropped the ball for occasions and gifts for Jeremy lately.  Not just a little bit, I mean really!  I didn't even get him a card for our anniversary (I'm working on a make-up day).  And Father's Day came and went with just a pat on the back and a good job from me.  Not at all the message that I intended to send for J's first celebration as a father.

He has handled all of the past few months' craziness like a champ.  He changes diapers, rocks Emme Clare, gets me more water, picks up dinner at least 5 out of 7 nights (the other 2 we eat leftovers), puts up with my roller coaster of emotions (especially where Ivy is concerned) and most of all, he loves us!

I surprised Jeremy by putting up this sign when he got home from work on Friday.

Even better, I surprised him with this chocolate cake.  You can find the recipe for the cake and frosting at Our Best Bites.  It's a really cute blog with lots of yummy recipes!  And we went out to dinner at Chuy's- his choice.

He loved the cake and loved his gift from me and EC!

Since moving to Texas (for the 2nd time), we have a joke about how every company is called Lonestar Something.  Lonestar Moving Company, Lonestar Plumbing, Lonestar Electric, etc.  We point them out all the time.  If they don't actually have the name Lonestar as part of their company's name, usually the shape of Texas or a longhorn is included in the logo. 

I thought it was only fitting to get him a Lonestar Dad t-shirt for Father's Day.  And of course, EC had to have a Lonestar Baby onesie!

A friend from high school (and college) has an Etsy shop and sells really cute t-shirts.  I contacted her about making one of her shirts slightly custom for us.  And she did it no problem!  They were perfect!  Check out her store if you're in need of some cute tees- Piddle Designs!

Happy Father's Day to a wonderful daddy and husband!

You're Never Fully Dressed Without A SMILE!

This little cutie had a rough evening!  We are really not sure what went wrong, but it was unpleasant to say the least.  We are trying to be grateful that these nights are few and far between.  For the most part, she's an excellent baby!

I fed her around 7:30 and she stayed awake for a little bit.  We tried putting her down around 8:45 because she was a little fussy.  She would sleep for about 10 minutes and then wake up crying or fussy.  We rocked her, patted her belly, sang to her, played music, bounced her, etc.  She would fall asleep for a few minutes and then, crying again.  We finally stopped trying to put her down around 9:30.  She was smiling and cooing and loving spending time with her daddy. 

She started getting fussy again around 10:00, so I decided to feed her.  By the time we got her diaper changed, she was real deal screaming crying.  Then, she absolutely refused to nurse- it made her even more mad when I tried.  I tried comforting her while Jeremy heated up a bottle.

She was inconsolable!  We tried the bottle and she would not take it- more screaming.  We bounced her around, walked with her- she was only happy if we held her sideways and walked around.  No sitting!  We made a call to MaeMae and Doc and they offered a few suggestions.  Jeremy headed to the store to buy some baby Gas-X.  We gave her that and she was still crying.  She would fall asleep in our arms for 3 minutes and then, wake up screaming.

We finally tried putting her in her swing and she calmed down a little bit and took the bottle.  When she was finished, right back to crying.  I changed her diaper and she just stopped crying and was back to her normal, happy self.  I swaddled her and put her to bed (about midnight at this point).  She slept till 5:30am and woke up happy!

We love seeing her smile!  It's so hard to hear your baby crying when you can't do anything about it!  I know it's part of life- babies, kids, people cry and sometimes, nothing can make it better.  But it doesn't stop us from trying!  

***I first tried taking the picture of her on her belly with her pink bow.  It didn't work out so well.  Not sure if the bow was weighing her down or if her hand was too delicious!

A New BFF

My friend, Mandy, was in Dallas for a few days, so Emmeline and I headed over to their hotel.  We couldn't wait to meet Miss Adelyn, see Grayson again, and catch up with Mandy.  Emme is exactly one week older than Addy, but if they had both been born on their due dates, Addy would have been born on the 20th and Emme on the 21st. 

Ironically enough, their hotel was right next to the restaurant and dueling piano bar that we went to for my bachelorette party about 4 years ago.  My how things have changed!

Miss Adelyn is a cutie!

Addy: Why is your mom shining that big light in our face?

Emme: I don't know- she does it to me all the time. 

 Addy: By the way, did you realize that you're not wearing a shirt?

Emme: I don't want to talk about it- I'm embarrassed.

 Addy:  She's still snapping away.

Emme: Give her a smile and then, she'll stop!

 Addy: My eyes are hurting from all the flashes of light.

Emme: Try to pretend you're having fun.

 Addy:  Seriously?!?!

Emme:  I'm sure she's about to stop.

 

Addy: What's that thing on your head?

Emme: I'm DONE!

Big Brother Grayson

Such a great time catching up and seeing little Adelyn and Grayson.  Although Addy and Emme were side by side, I'm pretty sure they didn't really acknowledge each other's presence.  Ha!  I know it will be a very different story the next time we see them! 

Thanks for hanging out with us, Proctor Family!   

Trip to TN

We headed to Tennessee so we could introduce Emmeline to the rest of Jeremy's family.  This means- our first plane trip with a newborn.  All in all, it turned out fine and we had a terrific time.  I'm definitely able to laugh about some of our misfortune now (not so much in the moment).

We started out by heading to DFW- about a 15 minute drive from our house.  We left 2 hours before our flight was scheduled to depart.  We accidentally took the wrong exit and DFW just happens to be doing construction on a few parking lots, so we took this crazy parking lot detour, but finally parked our car.  Next, we ended up getting on the wrong parking lot bus, got back off the bus, waited for a new bus, new bus never came, decided to walk to terminal, waited for bus to take us to our terminal, and finally get to our terminal.  Jeremy ran to the AA counter, but it was too late.  DFW requires that bags are checked 40 minutes in advance, not 30 minutes.

They assured us that our bag would be on the next flight to Memphis, arriving at 10pm.  Not ideal, but we said ok.  We headed to security, which was a little crazy, since we were so rushed.  We also didn't know Emmeline had to be listed on our ticket.  That created a bit of a delay and some major anxiety for me, but they finally let us through security.  We were pretty much the last ones on our plane!

Emme did really well at first, but she started to get a little fussy.  I attempted to feed her, but that did not go so great.  She hated the nursing cover and was a little vocal about that.  She fell asleep the last 20 minutes of the flight.

Upon arrival in Memphis, Jeremy headed to the baggage claim to discuss our situation.  Unfortunately, the AA rep was really busy giving herself a manicure and didn't have much time to chat.  When she got to a stopping point, she suggested that we have our bag FedExed and we would get it "the next day."  Done!  We headed to Gram and Pop Pops with EC and only our carry on luggage.  Got a call that night that our bag arrived in Memphis and we would get it "the next day" between 8am and 5pm.   

The next morning J and I headed to Wal-Mart to pick up a few essentials.  Emme didn't want to go- she was embarrassed to be seen with us!  I think the black sandals and purse really make the outfit for me and I'll refrain from comment on Jeremy's ensemble.  

Headed to Wally World

Emme got to meet lots of new friends and family on Friday!  She was especially excited to meet her great grandparents for the first time.

 Granny B with Em

 PaPa Walker, Jeremy, Pop Pop, and Nanny Walker with Emme

Gram, Jeremy and Granny B with Emmeline

Friday came and went with no luggage.

Emme got lots of time with her Gram, Pop Pop and Aunt Ali.  They love her and she loves them just as much!

 She's disgusted with all this picture taking!

Saturday came and went with no luggage and the announcement that it would be delivered around noon on Monday.  Um- our return flight was 3pm on Monday and we needed to leave for the airport around noon.  We made arrangements to pick the luggage up ourselves on Monday morning.  In other words, our bag was of zero use to us the entire trip!  What a waste of $25 to check the bag and $100 to have the bag delivered via FedEx!

On Sunday, we headed to church and EC got to meet lots more people! 

 Cody and Aunt Ali with Emme

 Cousin Jessica with ECW

 Still trying to catch a smile on camera!

 Emme also decided to help Aunt Ali with wedding plans.  She had lots of input!

 Happy Father's Day!

 Cousin Mark

We love this little girl!

Of course, Sunday came and went with no luggage.

REUNITED!  We got our bag on Monday morning about 10am- a little late for it to be of any use to us!

EC did ok on the return flight- she cried a little bit, but not too bad. 

We stepped off our flight at DFW, made a quick stop at the bathrooms and headed to baggage claim.  One lone bag was sitting on the conveyor belt at baggage claim- our bag!  We appreciate that, AA, but it can't make up for FOUR DAYS without our bag.

We had such a great time in TN, despite the luggage mishap.  We love spending time with our TN family and it was so nice for Emme to meet so many important people.  We definitely have plans to go back, just not sure if we will be flying or driving!

Taking Flight

We recently took our first flight with Emmeline.  I can best sum it up by saying -- it was a learning experience.  In the hopes of helping others, I'd like to pass on a few tips.

1.  Plan to leave for the airport at least 3 hours before your airplane departs- you never know when several parking lots are going to be closed and you'll have to detour about 4 times to finally get to the right parking lot.  Leaving your house 2 hours before the flight departs is not sufficient.

2.  On plane ride day, choose your outfit very, very carefully.  Choose something that you might like to wear for the next 4-5 days. 
    *Bonus tip- black sandals go with everything and men can wear umbro capris. 

3.  If you're traveling with a baby, your baby needs a ticket.  Even if you plan to hold your child (that is under 2 years old) in your lap-- still need a ticket.  You can have them added to your ticket at the gate, but you're probably going to hold up the security line while they find a manager to authorize that.

4.  Don't leave your stroller at security.

5.  Some babies don't like nursing covers.  At all.

6.  Just because you pay to have your bag delivered NEXT DAY does not mean you will get your bag the next day, the next, or even the next after that.

7.  Wal-Mart and your in-laws stash of extra toiletries = your best friend.

8.  If you are blind as a bat, it would be a very good idea to travel with your eye glasses in your carry on.  Otherwise, you'll be wearing your contacts non-stop for the next 4-5 days and your eyes will be blood shot and itchy.  People will wonder exactly what you've been up to . . .

9.  DFW Airport requires that all baggage must be checked 40 minutes prior to the plane's departure, not 30 minutes like you might assume.  And they don't care if you're traveling with a 2 month old.

10.  Traveling is an adventure and flexibility is your motto!  

Emme on her 1st (maybe last) plane ride

Home Improvement Project: The Fountain

We take a break from your regularly scheduled Emme updates, to bring you this home improvement project.  No need to worry- we will return to Emme updates shortly.

Our new house came with a fountain in the backyard.  It wasn't in the best shape when we moved in, but we definitely saw the potential.  Like many things with this house, it's been on our to do list for quite some time.  The early arrival of Emmeline, plus a few other events helped in the set back of getting things accomplished on said list.

It was full of leaves and dirt and gross. It was stinky and disgusting. And in much need of some improvement . . .

In the meantime, it served as a playground of sorts for Ivy and Winnie. They loved running up and down all the rocks. The first time I saw them on top of the fountain, I was so worried that they would fall into all of that gross water. So far, so good.

Jeremy has diligently been working on the fountain in his very limited spare time over the past couple of weeks.

Winnie has been helping him out- offering her input and guidance, as he worked through some issues with the fountain set up.

Several trips to the pool store, Home Depot and Lowes, a little bit of trial and error, lots of new pipe, 2 coats of pool paint, hours of sweaty manual labor by Jeremy . . . and I'm excited to announce, we have flowing water in our beautiful fountain!!!!

Here's our pool boy . . . oh, no, wait . . . that's just Jeremy!  We are currently taking applications for a pool/ fountain boy.  It takes a lot to keep the leaves out.  The pay isn't terribly high, but the fringe benefits are amazing!

And does Winnie look guilty? Like maybe she took a big swig of fountain water? Ah, yes- a new worry for me. Win will consume large amounts of chlorinated water . . .

I'm so excited about the fountain! It looks so pretty all lit up at night. We still have some work to do on improving the backyard in general, but we are well on our way with the beautiful fountain. Way to go, Jeremy!