5 months!

This month has been a crazy one!  Sam passed his national board paramedic oral exam, I was on jury duty, and Emma  had her first cold, a light case of RSV.  As she is growing and changing daily she is loving to "stand." She can be in the middle of a tantrum but as soon as you put her on her feet she has a smile on her face.  She is also trying to sit up on her own.  If you prop her up she will try to lean forward and try to sit up on her own (picture below).  My favorite is her new laugh, it is just a cute little giggle.  

Eating and drooling and snow oh my!

 We have started giving Emma rice cereal in the evenings and she is loving it.  It is quite funny she gets into a daze almost and is completely focused on eating.  She loves her bottles and I don't think we will have a worry on her eating either!  What can I say... that is our 99 percentile girl!  Oh and did I mention she is barley fitting into 12-18 month pants and is not even 5 months old yet! :)

Drooling is becoming an excessive habit too... along with everything she can get her hands on going directly in her mouth (look at the last pic in the tub and you will see)

This one is a classic Sam pic... freezing cold and Emma bundled up and Sam in a t-shirt!

Oh and finally... our adorable dog Lily after she returned from the groomer!

4 months!

Wow... 122 days old... 17 weeks... 4 months... or 1/3 of a year!!  My little baby is getting old!  She is also growing like a mad woman!  She had her 4 month doctors appointment today and she is now weighing in at 17 lbs 12 ounces (96 percentile for her age) and she is 26 1/2 inches tall (99 percentile)!  Very big/tall girl, yet very proportional!  As I posted a few posts ago she is doing something new everyday!  She is rolling over from her back to her tummy all of the time... then gets mad when she can't get back to her back! Drooling and putting things in her mouth is her new all time favorite thing right now!  Although our favorite thing is her sleeping through the night! For the last month, with a few exceptions, she has been sleeping around 11 hours each night! Now here are some pics from her 4 month shoot :)

Here are some with her super girly pink bow she got for Christmas!

Bishop Holiday Party

The Bensmans have been gracious hosts to our  family the last 3 years and did it again this year.  

It is always wonderful to see everyone!  

This year we got to see 2 performances, a magic trick, and Darren's incredible film, "Under the Table."

Firsts

Emma is almost 4 months old and this last month has been full of change and firsts!  It is so much fun to watch her grow!  Here are a few that I have caught on film...

Blowing Rasberries

(This is a constant... it is the first thing she does when she wakes up)

 Being interested in holding her bottle

Having a boyfriend... James Reffey

(He couldn't keep his hands off of her... he he)

 Holding her head up 

Although blurry and a bit x-rated... This was right before her bath... don't you love those rolls!

Rolling over

First Christmas

This first picture was not taken on Christmas Day, but I had to include it!  

Emma's first visit with Santa was a good one, I really don't think she knew what was going on.  

I look forward to seeing how she reacts next year!

Our Christmas was wonderful, we started our morning with some hot chocolate and a skype from Grandma and Grandpa Mullen and Uncle Lee in England, a phone call from Uncle Arron in Florida, and then another skype from great gandparents in South Africa.  

Then it was off to opening presents... Emma with her stocking on Christmas morning! 

After celebrating Christmas at our house we went to Cincinnati to celebrate with some family!  

Thank you Stacey and Erin for a wonderful holiday!

 Charlie

Emma laughing with uncle Erin

 Exhausted after opening all of her presents

Our #1 present this year... what a blessing!!

Jack not knowing what to play with next

Stacey's cute table cards

Sam looking cool with his awesome hat from his Christmas cracker

A collage of everyone wishing we had a cool mustache like Grandpa!

Our Christmas Card...

I was super excited to send a Christmas card this year with a photo on it!  I always love to look at everyone's growing families, so sending one this year was fun!  Now finding/taking a picture on the other hand was quite difficult!  A 3 month old isn't quite cooperative, especially one who does not know how to sit up on her own!  Although she smiles all of the time, I some how found it impossible to catch it on film!  So here were a few of the contenders as well as the final product!