The much-awaited Christmas pictures. We begin with the week before Christmas. Our ward had a party on the 19th -- a trip to Bethlehem. I worked, but Britt and Emilee were able to go.

They had fun dressing up and attending. While there, one of the Wise Men came over to say hi.I think Emilee was influenced by the King and decided to practice being regal.
Then on Monday, Emilee got to meet Santa for the FIRST TIME! She wasn't really sure what to think of him, but she does like the bear he gave her.

Too bad she wouldn't smile.

Here is Christmas morning at about 5am!! Emilee woke up a little earlier than usual-- 4:50am(she must have been excited)! She looks like she's got everything under control, doesn't she?

Here are the stockings on the couch after St. Nick came.

Emilee did a good job pulling things out of her stocking.

She decided that she really liked the plastic fork and spoon she got. She spent a lot of the morning with those in her hands. She would look at other presents for a few moments, to see the lights or hear the noises. Then she would grab the fork and spoon again.

(Had I known she would like them so much, I could have saved a bit of money on other things.)

Sorry for the delayed posting . . . things get in the way, I guess. I'm going to leave my original post how it was just add to the end to sum things up.
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Emilee's taking another marathon nap because we're supposed to be somewhere right now. Luckily it's just to visit a friend, so I think she'll be understanding. The big news: Emilee had her second trip to the hospital. For the same thing --- Intussusception!!!! Argh! It was like a bad dream; everything happened just like it had before. I'm serious about that last sentence, too. I mean, not every detail was the same, but the major events occurred at almost the same times. Creepy! The blessing was (like last time) that the enema made all the difference; her bowel went back how it should be, and Emilee was happy as a clam once she was off the table and in Daddy's arms. She waved a little and exclaimed "Oooh" on the ride back to our room in the ED. She was all smiles for our nurse, too. That made us all feel good to see her so happy.

After the procedure Britt went home to sleep as he was scheduled to work the next day. Emilee and I hung out playing with cords in the ED room until we could get transferred upstairs for the 24-hour post-procedure observation. Finally, a little before midnight, I decided Emilee could not stay up playing anymore; just because she was feeling better didn't mean she could break all the rules. It took a while, but she finally fell asleep in my arms on the gurney. Then we got moved up to the floor around 12:30am -- I was a tired mom at this point. We got admitted to the floor where I work (even though we normally take big kids), so everyone came over to check on us. The doctors let her have Pedialyte but didn't want her having it after 4am in case the surgeon recommended surgery. (WHAT?!?!) We actually slept okay though you never get good sleep in a hospital (I can relate to my patients/families better now). And, instead of a crib like last time Emilee and I just shared a bed - good for her, not so good for my back. Sometime before 6am the surgery resident came to check on Emilee. He again mentioned the possibility of surgery to check for something that could be present to cause this (often intussusception is seen after a viral infection but there could be something anatomically present to cause it instead). Needless to say, this made me a little nervous. I waited as long as I could then sent Britt a txt letting him know the newest info. He came as soon as he could and then we waited . . . and waited for the attending surgeon to come. When she came she told us she didn't feel surgery was the right thing for now. Whew - what a relief! We are to assume that the problem has been fixed and everything will be okay now. If it does happen again, we'll discuss the surgery option at that time.

Poor little stinker of mine! Everything has been going well since then, so maybe we'll be done with hospital visits as a patient for quite a while. I have pictures on my phone that I will upload and attach soon.

Hmmm, what to write about. It's been long enough that I've forgotton all of those "I need to blog about this" ideas. I suppose I can just put up more pictures . . . that's why people really get on the blog anyway.

Oh, Emilee's 9 month check up happened (over a month ago). She is staying on her growth curves well. She was 28in and 20lbs. The doctor said Emilee is doing good by keeping her weight - normally babies at this time really plateau because they're becoming more active. Well, I think Emilee's always been more active maybe that's why she's still hugging the curve.

Emilee has taken up a new hobby. No longer is she content with just opening and closing things. She has decided that it is fun to pull things out of drawers. She started by pulling things out of her bottom drawer (mostly socks and bibs). Then she pulled out and threw all of Dad's socks while we were getting ready for church. Back to her drawer to completely empty it before being satisfied. Then she got into my drawer inside the closet (it took her all of ten seconds being inside the closet to find it). And, she finally moved on to the kitchen. I'm trying to help her understand the concept of putting things back, but she's not quite willing to learn that yet.

Emilee still loves being outside. She likes to just be out of doors. Not confined. Able to feel like she can do what she wants. New things to see instead of the boring walls of our house. And, she loves going places where she has a whole new audience to fawn over her.

I took Emilee to the park a few weeks back to visit one of my co-workers and her daughter who is a month younger than Emilee. We had a good time, but I wish we could have played longer --- it was just too close to nap time to last for long. It was funny because their outfits were coordinated well, and we didn't even plan for that! Emilee and Bella tried playing a little bit with each other, but mostly they wanted each other's toys, and Emilee tried to steal Bella's mom (forget about me)! My friend got some cute pictures, and we decided both these little girls have very expressive faces to go with their already present personalities. Gotta love them!

Emilee has also been pushing anything she can move around the house. She prefers to push two things at once so she can have something in each hand. Just yesterday, Emilee took 5 steps unassisted. And she did it more than once!!! She walked from the couch to the recliner. From the recliner to Mommy - and back again. Then when Daddy came home she showed him too. And when from Daddy to Mommy and back. True to form, she would not perform for the video camera. What a stinker!!! She'll be ready to show family her new skills at Thanksgiving I hope.

Lastly, bathtime. She loves playing in the bathtub. And, we like playing with her. We tried to get pictures of her first bubble beard.

And, this is Daddy's fave!!

First Halloween

A little bit about Emilee's first Halloween. We got up in the morning and did normal every day things; however, Mommy felt pretty excited about it all anyway. We even went on a walk and did some shopping with Daddy. In the afternoon we went over to Grandpa and Grandma Mehr's house to see some classic Halloween shows -- Charlie Brown's "The Great Pumpkin" and Garfield's Halloween special. We got to see Grandpa carving some pumpkins (which is something we ran out of time for this year). Grandma and cousin Nadia played with Emilee, too. Grandma was sneaky and filled Emilee's bucket to the brim with candy!! Then we were off to Aunt Jamie's house to say a quick hello. We got a piece of candy there, too, I think. Then, we knew we were going to be late to go to our planned Halloween get-together with one of Desi's co-workers. We rushed home and Emilee fell asleep on the way which was perfect for Mom and Dad. Britt and I got changed as fast as we could and flew back out the door with a sleeping Emilee in tow. She woke up on the way, so we gave her a bottle and then changed her into costume when we arrived. Mom and Dad were chess pieces thanks to our friends who gave us the crowns and the idea. Emilee was a frog.

There were a few other families there. We ate and then took the kids to "trick or treat." I must admit I felt a little guilty taking Emilee up to get candy because there is NOOOO way I will let her have any of it this year. But, it was fun any way. It was nice being with other young families out walking and laughing at the kids. We didn't stay out too long. Once we got back to the house the kids played around and some ate their candy. Meanwhile Dad and the host watched baseball.

It was a nice holiday, and we're glad we were able to spend the time together as a family and with friends.