There are 2 new posts. The first is Jan. pics, the second is birthday pics. Just thought you all needed a little extra dose of our beloved Emmitt!

"dude I am done. Time for bed".

Cake time!!!!!!!

Thanks for the walker Grandma Connie

Emmitt's very own vacuum. He loves the real one and now loves his own.

"what is in this bag?"

"what's going on?"
Amazon.com rocks!

Checking out all the gifts. Most sent via Amazon.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMMITT!

My baby turned 1 on Jan. 20, can you believe it has been a whole year? To celebrate the occasion I made a cake, Apple Swirl with Cream Cheese frosting. As you can see in the video he didn't want to eat it, but made a great mess of himself and the cake. That was all I needed to see! We had some friends over and opened up gifts from Emmitt's family. Kevin and I gave him a pretend vacuum cleaner, which he adores. When Kevin brought it in the house he started screaming and ran to Kevin. He then hung off his leg until we could distract him long enough for Kevin to get it out of the packaging (damn packaging these days is crazy). We are having a January birthday party with friends at Gymboree tomorrow. Should be fun.

With Emmitt turning 1 I have had to grieve a little. My little baby is now definitely growing up and soon will look at little babies and say "baby". I am sad in some respects as the time has gone so fast, however I am excited for Emmitt and all the learning he will do over the next year. It has already begun.

On the 19th I began to think about what I was going through a year ago, the process we went through leading up to Emmitts birth and eventually his birth. I thought for his birthday blog I should recount the days. It seems in a way this blog has become a journal of Emmitt's life. I hope to be able to share it with him someday, so describing his birth seems appropriate.

Emmitt's original due date was Jan. 6, 2010. I quit work a few weeks early, mostly because I couldn't focus on work and needed to concentrate on the life changing event around the corner. Kevin and I had prepared for Emmitt's arrival/birth probably more than most. Kevin was quite a trooper. Our prenatal care was group care(called Centering), so every week we met with several other couples to discuss the process of pregnancy/childbirth and got a check up. Along with the Centering group we took an at home "hypnobirthing" class which lasted 6 weeks. We also took baby CPR and safety and bringing home baby. We were prepared!
January 6th came and went. I then began to get quite manic in anticipation of his arrival and began to freak out that I was using my maternity leave to hang out at home, instead of with my new baby. All this anxiety gave me energy and focus to have Emmitt as soon as possible. SO, I started walking. I walked the biggest hills in Seattle. We walked to the movies, walked to dinner, walked to brunch, walked in the rain, walked in the sun, walked alone, and with other people. I walked so much that I had routes that had bathroom breaks figured in. I knew where I could use the bathroom for free and where I should buy something. Along with walking I started doing massage, prenatal massage and Mayan abdominal massage. I did acupuncture, ate the spiciest Thai and hot wings I could find. I ate the core of pineapple, took primrose oil, and some other crazy things I won't share. The only thing I wouldn't do was drink caster oil. I don't regret that decision. My last ditch effort came 1 day before doomsday (induction day), January 18. I decided to have my membranes stripped. We went into the clinic at 5:30pm and the procedure was over in 15 mins. This hurt like hell, but worked(we just didn't know it at the time). After the procedure I went home, bummed that I was only 1.5 cm dilated and was feeling no contractions. Kevin, my doula, and I sat on the couch and ate a huge greek salad, probably had a glass of wine, and maybe some chocolate. We started watching TV and I noticed that I was leaking (you all know what I mean). This was not the "typical" pregnancy leak. I called the midwives and they recommended I go to the hospital. I was still not having contractions, but they confirmed that my water had broke. So, we checked into the hospital and tried to get some sleep. This was about 10pm on Jan. 18. Throughout the night I began to have some light contractions. They were not significant enough to cause any pain, but were noticeable enough to not get any real sleep. We got up the next morning about 7AM and the midwives recommended that we start walking. The 24 hour c-section clock had started when we checked into the hospital so we needed to get labor going ASAP. I went straight for the stairs and began to climb up and down, slowly. My contractions became stronger and were more frequent. Kevin bought a Santa Claus watch from the gift shop to time them. Eventually, the stairs put me into real labor and then the fun began. I will spare everyone the details of the next several hours. It wasn't pretty! I labored for about 12 hours with some progress, got to 8cm, with no drugs. At this point I was getting very tired and needed a break. I requested the tub. Unfortunately the tub was full. I had used up my reserves and began to tense up. This made me go from 8cm to 6 and was quite devastating. I decided I needed to have an epidural if I was going to be going in reverse. I received the epidural and was able to get some sleep for a few hours. During this time I dilated to 10 CM and they gave me the go to start pushing. I started pushing and continued to do so for about 2 hours. However, Emmitt was turned on his side, refused to move no matter what position I tried, and what we found out later was he had the umbilical cord coiled around his cheek. So, every time I pushed his heart rate would slow. After 2 hours of this the midwife decided it wasn't safe to continue and informed me I would need a Cesarean. I was devastated. Yes, now I can look back and say "but he came out healthy and that is all that matters" which is true, but I was truly devastated not to be able to naturally birth my baby, the way I had envisioned it and the way I wanted him to come into this world. Anyways, they gave me the cesarean and pulled out this little peanut. Kevin was great, I was doped up. Kevin turned to me when they revealed the sex and said "it's an Emmitt". I think we were both shocked at first because we had anticipated an Evelyn. Emmitt was (and still is) the most beautiful thing I have every seen. He had dark brown hair, big blue eyes, and the sweetest nose. He wanted to nurse immediately(and with some delay after surgery he could) and latched on without any problems. Emmitt was born at 1:35AM on Jan. 20, 2010. He was 8lbs 1 ounce. He now weights 19lbs 11 ounces. He is the joy of our life. Happy birthday Peanut! We love you SO much.

It's your lucky day! There are two new posts! See the post before this one of

Emmitt's first Birthday!

Emmitt would have screamed if he could "I LOVE IT OUT HERE!". In real life he let out a very high pitched scream, usually reserved only for dogs. A beautful, almost spring like, day called for a walk to the park.

Kevin says I only watch Emmitt when we are in public. I think his sweet words were "it is so funny when we are in public all you do is watch Emmitt. You are a hero. Such a great Mom." I said, "why would I look at anything else? He IS the most beautiful thing in the world!"

Checking out the mosaics on the park wall

Swinging with Dada

The slide

Sweet, cold cheeks

Watching the kids play, pretty much all he wanted to do. He looks so big here, all bundled up.

Love this smile

Beautiful!

Puffs. Must have several treats for the road, or he gets very inpatient. Treats include puffs, graham crackers, string cheese, baby mum mums, and satsumas.

True Wisconsin lover

Playing with the fake kitchen and refrigerator Emmitt's nanny gave him. She knows how much he loves the REAL fridge.

Naked Rody wrestling

Eating fish and chips with Papa Strayer, watching the seagulls scream. Strange he didn't seem to care at all!

Containing the babe for a moment, while walking around the Aquarium

Stairs! The highlight of Emmitts day. He was scared of all the big animals and not really all that interested in the fish. Mostly just wanted to walk.

Papa Strayer talking about fish

"stop whining Emmitt. Here have another graham snack". Yes, I have become that kind of parent.

"don't look so happy Emmitt, wouldn't want us to have a nice time, out here on the beautiful beach."

I bought Emmitt a bowl to practice eating out of. He starts off doing well, eating out of the bowl. He eventually tips the bowl over and pours out the food and then eventually throws the bowl on the floor. Unless I catch him in the act. The tricky part is that Emmitt seems to eat better when you don't watch him. So you have to be busy doing other things and watching him out of the corner of your eye in anticipation of the bowl going down. Tricky parenting!

Me: "we need a picture of the two of us." Emmitt: "Ok Mama, I'll look cute."

Clothes basket cowboy

Story:
So the day my dad arrives to help me out with Emmitt, while Kevin is in NY, I go into sleep with Emmitt in the morning. He nurses happily away and then starts to stir. I am thinking "please go back to sleep, it is only 5AM". Emmitt then sits up and vomits all over me, the bed, and himself. After some comforting time I decide we have to take a shower. We stink. So I strip him down, strip the bed, and start the bath. Emmitt was looking at me like"this is not bath time Mama. Why are you getting in?". Kevin stumbles into the bathroom and asks if I need help. I confidently state "no we're fine. I got him. We are just going to take a bath and then play." We are not in the bath for more than 5 mins when I see Emmitt's face turn into "I'm taking a poop", face. Sure enough he lets it go and the bath is soon filled with diarrhea. I immediately pick him up, set him out of the tub, jump out, and try to collect the floating debris. Meanwhile, Emmitt is walking around the house naked and wet. I am naked and wet. Next, I hear what sounds like more "poop face" and stick my head around the corner of the bathroom door. What do I see??? Emmitt having more diarrhea on the kitchen floor. So I panic and run towards him, pick him up, and run him into his bedroom. I was not thinking clearly at this point because I should have let him finish his business and then move him. In the process of moving him to his room I spread the love across the carpet (you know what I am talking about). So now I start yelling for Kevin who walks into Emmitt's room with us both naked, wet, Emmitt still has soap in his hair, the bed is stripped, the crib is stripped, and Emmitt is dripping with poo. Eventually we got everything cleaned up and started our day. When I was late to pick up my dad I told him "it's been quite a day already. We will be a bit late". Moral of the story. No Kevin you can't go back to bed. I will likely need your help. Oh' and don't run with a naked, pooping baby across the carpet sans diaper.

That is one of those stories you have to look back on and laugh. I have been meaning to write it down.

My dad arrived on Jan 6th to help while Kevin traveled to NY for a little vacation/bday celebration for a good friend. My dad was so helpful and necessary. I don't know how single parents do it. I was exhausted with work, child care, and household duties! Emmitt was adaptable as always and had a great time with his Papa Strayer (Sara's boys have named g-pa bob "papa"). We went for walks on the beach (another funny story for another time), went to the aquarium, and spent hours playing chase. Emmitt loves to play chase. He shuts the door in your face and then peaks around the corner. It is SO cute. He also loves rides in the laundry basket (something I taught him) this is a great workout for the adult pushing, although gets old FAST. Emmitt has also started to show interest in his trucks and cars. He can push them around, especially the Tonka Dump truck. It is really sweet. He continues to love his books and has taken to screaming at the cats. I don't mean just a little scream either. This is a full blown SCREAM that will continue until either he is distracted or you change the page. He loves cats. He also LOVES dogs, but especially when they are real and at the park. We have started taking Emmitt to the park and letting him walk down the street (talk about cute). Whenever he sees a dog he stops, gets a serious look on his face, screams, and then says some baby gibberish. He says the same baby gibberish EVERYTIME! So I know he has something to say about those dogs. The other day I took him to the park and let him walk around. Soon after we arrived a dad and daughter showed up to jump rope. They had a dog with them. Emmitt b-lined it to the dog and refused to leave the situation. It became uncomfortable for me when all he wanted to do was stare at the family and yell at the dog. when I tried to divert him by taking him to the other side of the park, near the stairs (which he loves) he turned around and marched all the way back to the dog family. He never even turned around to see if I was following. This boy has determination! Yesterday, I let him walk to the store (OK he walks like 10 feet, stops, gets into something he shouldn't, I try to divert, I ultimately have to carry him away from the situation) during the walk he stopped and I kept going probably 20 feet from him. I was trying to coax him to me when he waved goodbye to me and turned around, walking the other way. I think he is secure in that I will follow. I suppose it is good that he knows that, but COME ON Emmitt, a wave goodbye?????
What else can Emmitt do these days??? Well, he now brings us toys he wants help with and after he is shown how something works he will try it by himself. Naked time is back in full effect as it seems to really liven the little guy up. Who knew that taking off Emmitts clothes would send him into a happy frenzy! I guess once a nudest, always a nudest. He starts smiling, walking aruond, and picking up toys. He enjoys naked Rody wrestling, reading, and playing chase....yes all while being naked.

So, he is great. We love him, and can't wait to share more funny stories with you all! Of course there are many more to come.