Introducing...

EMERY ELIZABETH!!!

She arrived at 1:00 am on August 17th and was perfectly healthy and beautiful! We are just in love and are really enjoying having her here. I am finally getting around to putting some pictures up of her. Hopefully soon I'll have time to share our birth story. But, for now, here are some pictures of our little girl!

First picture- a precious little screaming girl!

Getting some cuddle time in with Mommy (look at all of her HAIR!)

Not even a day old and already helping Daddy with work

Getting to meet Mimi

So Sleepy!

First visit to see Dr. Rogers

First family outing. We went to OK & Gigi's house for burgers and a walk

Emery, now in 4D!

One of my birthday presents from Matt was a 4D sonogram that we recently took advantage of. Our first attempt was Friday, the 10th, but Miss Emery wasn't feeling very cooperative. So, we went back this past Tuesday and go some great shots, enjoy!

It's a Baby... Moon!

This past weekend Matt & I decided we should treat ourselves to one last weekend excurison- a babymoon/ birthday present for me! We figured we might as well take advantage of being able to easily pack up the car & go while we can. Although, Matt pointed out, everything we did was kid friendly already- we are turning into such parents!

We left Friday morning, hit the road to Austin, and had such a great time together. We stopped in Round Rock at the outlet mall & got Emery a couple of dresses (I just can't resist!) and tried to avoid the heat as much as possible! After that we headed to our hotel- The Driskill in downtown Austin, which is apparently haunted, uh, how creepy!! Thankfully we didn't have any unexpected visitors. :) After we were settled in we decided to go try & find Lance's bike shop - Mellow Johnnie's which ended up being just a few blocks from our hotel. I'm pretty sure Matt was in HEAVEN! It is a neat place to visit since they have alot of Lance's bikes from previous races to look at. We spent the rest of the night walking down 6th street & enjoying our dinner at the Iron Cactus, great mexican food!

Saturday morning we went to the Barton Springs Pool which was so great, but cold! It is a spring fed pool in the middle of Austin, but the average water temperature is 68 degrees. It was pretty shocking at first, but since it was already in the 90's it felt pretty good after a while. That afternoon Matt suprised me with a prenatal massage back at the hotel. It was EXCELLENT! I felt totally relaxed and was so happy they could make accomodations for a pregnant girl. Saturday night we had dinner at the hotel in The Grill which was so fun, but we missed out on the fireworks. We were almost done with our meal and all the sudden we heard loud bangs & knew we had missed them. I figured as long as we at least saw some on TV it would be ok. :)

Sunday morning we came home, and we are now back to the real world. Emery's nursery is coming along. We have the crib & the bedding put together which is a HUGE step. I love how everything is looking so far.

8 weeks to go! Enjoy the pics!

The always necessary stop at the bank!

The view from our room- amazing!

Front of the hotel, this is where we ate breakfast & it was so nice!

Mellow Johnnie's- just taking it all in

Some of the bikes from Lance's previous races

Dinner at Iron Cactus

Starting on the crib

It was a tough job, but at least he had good help

The finished product, I can't wait to see her in here!

Hello Mr. Half Ironman!

MATT'S A HALF IRONMAN!!!!!

This past weekend was Matt's big race, the Bufalo Springs 70.3 triathlon. I was unable to go so I don't have any pictures to show of him, but this nice lady did and really got some great shots of him on the bike:http://www.asiorders.com/view_user_event.asp?EVENTID=47923&BIB=417
You can read all about it here: http://www.buffalospringslaketriathlon.com/
He went with a couple of the other triathletes from here in Tyler early early Saturday morning and came back late Sunday night. He said that the weather actually turned out alright for them, mid 70's with some rain on the bike. I was really worried about this part since we were having 100+ days the week before and this race is notorious for being extremely hot! I am so proud of him for accomplishing this, a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, then a 13.1 mile run!

Congratulations Matt!!!

I used my time to get registered for the baby with my expert, Sarah. She had so much good advice I can't thank her enough for all of her help this weekend. Of course, that means we also got to spend so much time with Camryn & Tyson (who was a great dog sitter :), thanks Tyson!). Camryn is getting so big! She is constantly wiggling her arms & legs and really starting to talk alot. They got her a high chair which I loved- she sat at the table with us and had so much to add to the conversation around the dinner table, oh wait, it was about her already! :) She is such a sweet girl!

ps- 31 weeks today!!

Crazy Pregnant

I think the title pretty much sums up how I am feeling lately, for several reasons.



1. I'm pregnant, and that's just a big idea to wrap your head around. I know, I have had 30 weeks to get used to the idea and I still can't. I look at my body changing and growing and think there is actually a little person in there- a girl person to be exact. A girl person who is approximately 3 pounds and 14 inches long. I am constantly amazed that my body knows what to do to support another life for 40 weeks, all the while preparing that other life for life in our world.



And then there is the whole bringing a new person to your home to live with you, but I can't get into that yet. I'm working on reading through Babywise and its a lot of information, not to mention all the other books that get you ready for the big day.

2. If you notice the ticker, we are less than 10 weeks away from Little Miss' due date which would make me 30 weeks pregnant. I'm past the "chubby" looking stage and just getting kind of crazy big pregnant looking. Maternity clothes are my everyday attire now and if I wear something pre- maternity it feels slightly inappropriate for some reason. I love it though, and I will miss feeling her kicking around and waking me up at all hours of the night. I already feel like I kind of know her. I know that when I drink something cold she moves around a lot. I know when she is usually asleep and when she is usually awake (although so far though, our schedules are conflicting). She's my baby girl and I just love her more than words can say already.

3. I think pregnancy has made me slightly, well, crazy. It's true... pregnancy brain is in full force. I can't remember anything, I can't think of words, and I have some crazy dreams. They were pretty bad before I got pregnant and now they are out there. Which reminds me, was it Barack Obama's birthday recently? Because I was at his party, at his house of course.




Here is my latest picture- it's at 27 weeks (I think maybe the same day the boy asked if I was having TWINS!) We start childbirth classes tomorrow which should be interesting, but I've heard they are good to take.

Also, Sarah named her for us this weekend, I was stuck on Emer & Matt was stuck on Zoe. Being the wise lady that she is she came up with:

MISS EMERY ELIZABETH MADISON!

Thanks, Sarah!!

Soccer Practice

We SAW her move this morning! We were sitting in church listening to Jeff and I happened to look down and noticed my dress moving! I nudged Matt and said- "You can SEE her moving!" he watched the belly for a minute and of course, nothing. Then all the sudden a big kick that he definitely saw! I thought his eyes might just pop out of his head. Just more affirmations that she really is in there and growing. Thank You Lord for our baby girl!!

23 weeks

So, as of Tuesday, baby girl & I are 23 weeks along, amazing how time flies! This is, according to the 5 million pregnancy books piled on my nightstand, is 5 months! We are both definately growing by the week, but so far we are both still happy & healthy. The next doctor's appointment is Tuesday and I think we just get to hear her heartbeat again- no more cool sonograms, but it is still music to my ears!

We are all looking forward to a relxing weekend at home, with the highlight being the Komen 5k on Saturday, and of course Mother's Day at home with my Mom. We haven't seen her in a long time so it will be good to catch up.

Last weekend was Kristen & Brandon's wedding weekend which was absolutely so much fun! The wedding was beautiful and Kristen looked so amazing. I hope they both had a really happy day because I am sure excited for them. Of course, I have no pictures to share, but trust me she did an amazing job putting everything together.

More updates to come!