one month

Dear Emma,

It is so hard to believe you are already one month old. So many activities were crammed into this month and you didn't blink an eye. Probably because you were sleeping most of the time. So many people came to visit you. You are so loved and not just by your mommy, daddy, and big brother.

Speaking of your big brother, every time I try to get a picture of you, mason gets right in your spot. It's the only time he wants his picture taken.


You've rocked his world just a little bit. It's been fun (and a little trying) to watch him figure out this new dynamic you brought to our lives. He adores you though and is always checking on you and bringing you things. Except when I'm holding you and he wants to play. Then he keeps repeating "baby...crib...nap...baby...crib...nap."


At one month, you:

~are heading towards 9 pounds (8 lbs 13 oz at your last appointment)
~have a quiet cry, for the most part
~have rolled over once from your tummy to your back
~sleep, a lot ~have the chubbiest legs and cheeks, which are adorable
~wake up twice a night (which wasn't true for the first two weeks....it was much more often)
~have the cutest little lips
~like going on walks
~are happiest when you're being held
~are enjoying baths a little more
~get lots of kisses from mason


Here are a few pics from a little photo session with my friend, hillary:




Emma, you are the sweetest little girl. We feel so blessed. We love you!

xoxo,
mommy

salt-n-pepper cookies

I got a new cookbook from my brother and sister-in-law. I love cookbooks. I read through the whole thing. Multiple times. This particular cookbook, Baked Explorations by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito, was no exception. The photography is excellent and every single recipe looks delicious.

The first recipe I tried was the malt waffles. Ryan loves malt, so I couldn't wait to make them for him. They had a wonderful flavor and baked up brown and crisp. We didn't get any photos though.

But, the cookies on the cover kept grabbing my attention (you can get a glimpse of them in the photo above). Since we had friends over this past weekend, it was the perfect excuse to make them. I'm a little slow though. Every time I looked at them I thought they were called salt-n-pepper cookies because some were black and some were white. It wasn't until I actually looked through the recipe again that I realized they had salt and pepper in them! The white cookies in the photo are actually malted milk sandwich cookies (another recipe in the book:) They just look so pretty all stacked up together.

So, I set to work on the salt-n-pepper cookies. The description said they were a tribute to the oreo. I thought they were much better than oreos. A hint of salt and the spice of the pepper mixed with the cocoa powder was unlike any cookie I had ever had before. Yum!

My little helper. He loved pushing the cookie cutter into the dough.

He didn't love waiting until they were assembled and until he ate his lunch to try one:)

Next up: peanut butter banana cream pie!

easter weekend

We had a fun weekend full of friends and family. My best friend, mindy, and her family came on Saturday. We had a yummy lunch together and mason and olivia ran around and giggled non-stop. We didn't do easter baskets or dye eggs, but we did hide eggs for mason. Mindy brought him some resurrection eggs. They have different items inside them that tell the story of Jesus, his death, and his resurrection.

Mason loved searching for them all over the house. After he found them all, we put them in order and talked about the easter story. He loved opening them up and seeing what was inside.

On sunday we went to church and then enjoyed lunch with ryan's parents. It was a wonderful weekend.

wordless wednesday

Let the chicken adventure begin!

cousins

Check out this cutie:My sister and her family came to visit this past weekend. We pretty much spent the whole time passing babies around, changing diapers, feeding the babies, eating great food, and laughing at mason. We also went to my cousin Jeri's wedding reception on Saturday and passed around the babies some more and got to visit with more family. Back at home, we had a hard time getting all three of the cousins together for some photos because mason wasn't so into it. So...here are the little cuties...about three and a half weeks apart: jackson and emma.

love. love. love.

book love

Mason got a new set of books. They're small. And cute. And they have their own little box with a handle. And Elmo is in most of them. And mason is obsessed with them. We've spent many hours reading these little books. Because you can't read just one. If mason comes to you carrying his little box of books you better settle down for some serious reading. I don't know what's more fun....listening to mason "read" them on his own or watching him try to stack the books we've already read on his lap.

wordless wednesday

old meets new

When we added on to our house, we decided to put in an aspen ceiling. It turned out beautiful and I'm really glad we did it, even though it was a bit of a battle to hang. We also purchased enough wood to put the same ceiling in the existing part of the house, but we hadn't gotten to that yet.

Since we have a thing for starting major projects after our babies are born, it seemed only right that we tackle this project the first week that emma was home. You can see the beam towards the top of the picture where the new part of the house meets the old part. We had to move two of the light fixtures to make everything work a little better for the new furniture arrangement. As usual, mason was a big helper. He was so interested in what daddy was doing. He kept looking up, watching what was going on. And of course was running around, bringing daddy his tools. Here it is all finished! Ryan did such a nice job. Now we just have to add the trim and make two beams to cover the old beam in the middle and the pipes along one of the walls. And as if we didn't have enough projects going on...we have 26 baby chicks arriving next week and about 80 fruit bushes and trees arriving the following week. Wish us luck!

on the farm

One of our friends from church brought this farm set to mason when she brought us a meal last week. Mason plays with it all day long! It has been so fun to watch him play. He's starting to use his imagination, which is hilarious. He's not too interested in the farm people yet, but he is really into the tractors and the animals. He always makes the pig drive the green tractor and the horse drives the red tractor. Then he puts them in the pen and feeds them hay while he parks the tractors in the farmhouse. So cute. He talks the whole time too, and is starting to put words into sentences. There's a lot of animal noises thrown in there too.

So far it's been a good distraction for mason while I'm occupied with little emma, and it's entertaining for momma too:)

wordless wednesday

one week

Hi everyone!It's hard to believe our little girl is already a week old. This week flew by. We have had visitors every day since we've been home, which has probably contributed to the time passing so quickly. We've settled into somewhat of rhythm with two little ones. We've sure been having fun, if nothing else! I'm so thankful for this time with nowhere to be and nothing pressing to do. It's been great to just spend time with our newest family member!