#richlyblesseddaily2014 {Weeks 28 & 29}

Here are weeks 28 and 29 of #richlyblesseddaily2014! 

You can follow along every day on Instagram @richlyblessedblog. :)

Click here to see previous weeks.

 Day 193: We actually hung some pictures on the wall! If you know me, you know this is a big deal! I get anxiety when I have to decide where to put a hole in the wall!

 Day 194: Emery tried cereal for the first time tonight! If you couldn't tell, she was NOT a fan! Hoping she likes it better tomorrow!

 Day 195: Four months old today!!

 Day 196: Sometimes Wubby hangs out on her head while she sleeps.

 Day 197: I drove by our old house today after my dentist appointment. Sweet memories there. Then I picked up Emery who was *worn out* from her time with Aunt Aliesha and Vanna. We also had a spontaneous night out to Steel City Pops. Emery was thrilled. ;)

 Day 198: Emery hung out with me in the kitchen today while I made zucchini cookies. She watched me do everything so intently! I'm hoping she'll love to cook and bake with me when she gets older! She's also getting SO good at grabbing and holding her toys!

 Day 199: We went to see Daddy at work today and had lunch with him! He was pretty excited to show her off to everyone at his office!

 Day 200: Bedtime with two sweet girls tonight! Vanna couldn't be a sweeter cousin or love Emery any more. It is so precious!

 Day 201: Playing cards at the kitchen table with my love. We are officially my grandparents! Except that we have a baby monitor on the table...

 Day 202: Today was a rough day with this little one. Much more crying (on my part, too) than sleeping. She ended the day only taking her bottle this way...only a diaper and sprawled out in the Boppy. Even after days like today, I couldn't possible love her any more or be more thankful for her!

 Day 203: It was an awesome day at Weight Watchers! 25 pounds! Emery got to spend time with Vanna at Nana's house and I couldn't resist taking this picture. She was holding Emery's pacifier in her mouth while she was sleeping. So precious.

 Day 204: Emery enjoyed tummy time a little more in the Boppy today.

 Day 205: Going to bed like a big girl with her arms out! It takes her forever to fall asleep because she plays with her hands constantly {they're pretty fascinating!}, but other than that, she's doing great!

Day 206: She's pretty excited about her first drive in movie!

  

My 6th Visit to DeSoto Caverns!

Last weekend, Daniel and I got to spend the weekend with our sweet niece, Vanna. She spent the night on Saturday night which was the first time since Emery was born. We got to practice life with two kids! :)

We decided that we'd take her to DeSoto Caverns in Childersburg. This was the big field trip for my third graders, so I had already made the trip five other times! I was pretty sure she would love it, and let me tell you, it was much less stressful to be there without counting and recounting 22 third graders who won't stand still no matter how many times I told them to freeze! Do you know how hard it is to count that many kids who are super excited about touring a cave instead of being in school for the day? Teachers everywhere are nodding their heads.

Anyway, the first thing Vanna wanted to do was run around in the splash pad. We always steered clear of this on our field trips!

Emery had it made in the shade in her stroller. Love that little face so much.

Panning for gemstones was probably my favorite part of this trip and all the other times I've been there. My students probably would have spent an hour at this station and I think Vanna would have, too. Uncle D got into it, too!

We took breaks to make Emery laugh!

After gemstone panning, it was time for the cave tour! I wasn't sure if Vanna would be up for it...you have to walk down a very dark tunnel into a gigantic cave, but she didn't hesitate! I was more than happy to let Uncle D do the tour with her. ;)

I do wish I could have heard her answer some of the tour guide's questions, though. From what I heard, she was pretty entertaining!

Emery took a little nap while we waited for them to come back from the cave tour. I mean, seriously...isn't this the life?

Next up was cannon wars! I seriously can barely stand how cute she looks in these safety glasses. She didn't wear them for long, though. She decided Nerf balls weren't that dangerous and those glasses just got in her way! ;)

We did a little excavating, too. It was so funny to see her so into this!

Then the maze! She actually did the maze twice, once with Uncle D and then we all went through it again...stroller and all. I would never go in that thing by myself because I would never, ever make it out.

We also went into the butterfly house. It's definitely not butterfly season {Is there a butterfly season? Spring? I should probably know the answer to this question.}, because we saw about three butterflies.

"Sorry, but I can't look at the camera. I'm too busy trying to spot a butterfly!"

Our last stop was to dig for gems. Let me tell you, panning for them was way more fun, and DeSoto Caverns is taking a big risk with this "attraction" if you ask me. A more appropriate name would be Try to Make it Out Without Getting a Shard of Glass Stuck in Your Foot. Goodness. We managed to find a few pretty ones, though.

Daddy did a mini photo shoot with Emery while Vanna and I were risking sliced up feet for the sake of a gem collection.

I love how she's getting so expressive.

Of course, we had to stop for a picture in the stocks on our way out.

And here's where we explained what malcontents and lollygaggers were since there's a big sign above the stocks saying that's where those sort of folks belong.

In case you need this like I did:

I prefer "rabble-rouser" myself.

Anyway.

We headed to dinner and then it was time to go home. We had two girls to get ready for bedtime!

Be still my heart...

Once everyone was tucked into bed {and after a "security sweep" and water break ;)}, Daniel and I got things ready for Sunday morning. We were determined we'd make it to church on time!

When I woke Vanna up on Sunday, the first thing she said was, "Aunt Gigi! Where's Emery?" She just loves her so much and it's just about the sweetest thing ever.

Sweet girls on Sunday morning waiting for Uncle D's chocolate chip pancakes...well, one of them was waiting for pancakes. Two if you count me. He makes the best pancakes.

Vanna was so, so excited to pick out Emery's church outfit and hair bow. It was so funny because the outfit she picked ended up being one that she wore as a baby!

Sweet girls ready for church!

And we made it on time!!

I'm so thankful that Emery has a cousin that loves her so much and that these two will grow up together! I hope they're best friends like their mommies!

  

Emery {4 Months}

Emery is FOUR months old! Oh my goodness, she has gotten even more fun this last month! The highlight of our month was most definitely when she laughed {goodness, she laughed!} for the first time. There is just something so precious about baby laughs. 

One Month Update
Two Month Update
Three Month Update

Here's what's been going on with Emery the last month.

- We don't go to the doctor until August 1st for her four month check up. I waited too long to schedule it and didn't think about how the doctor's office would be crazy busy right before school started, so it will be more like a 4-1/2 month check up. I'm really curious to see how much she weighs and how long she is!!

- She's still wearing 3 month and 3-6 month clothes, but we had to move up to 6 month pajamas because she's so long. We also just switched to size two diapers.

- She's doing great with the four hour schedule! She's eating 6 ounces four times a day. When we give her a bottle, she gets so excited that she almost growls when we put it in her mouth. It's so funny! We introduced cereal on Sunday night and she didn't like it very well at all. She was excited about her new seat...

But she definitely didn't appreciate what happened next...

- Last month, I feel like she was just starting to notice her hands. Well, she's definitely found them! She stares at them all the time, she puts them in her mouth, and she can grab toys and reach for things in her play mat. We cheer and get so excited every time she does it! When she grabs toys, she instantly hugs them to her chest {especially her Wubbanub} or puts them in her mouth. If she's wearing a dress or a shirt, she'll grab the bottom of it and try to pull it up to her mouth. I'm already talking to her about being ladylike. :)

- Naps are finally getting better! Last month, I was about to pull my hair out with that stupid 45 minute intruder thing, but ever since we switched to a four hour schedule, she does so much better. She still usually wakes up after 45 minutes, but most of the time she can get herself back to sleep.

- We figured we'd better start transitioning her out of the swaddle that she sleeps in. I started leaving one of her arms out and she's done a great job. We'll probably give it about a week and then switch to this swaddle sleep sack and leave her arms out...especially since she can get them out anyway. HOW does she do this?!

First day with her arm left out *on purpose*...

- This baby *loves* to kick her little legs. She's really started to kick in her little bath tub which splashes water everywhere. She also kicks like crazy when people talk to her or when she gets excited.

- She's still not a huge fan of tummy time. Now that she's gotten better at rolling over from her tummy to her back, she usually just rolls over as soon as I put her on her tummy.

- We were pretty sure that she was teething last week because she was sucking on her hands, drooling, and sucking in her bottom lip over her gums, but this week has been much better. I guess that's how teething goes? When it seemed like she was uncomfortable, I gave her these teething tablets and it seemed to help. I also got a little teething toy that buzzes when she chews on it. It was so funny the first time I gave it to her because her eyes got all wide when it started buzzing. :)

- She has started to make some new sounds! She does this thing where it sounds like she's making the g sound in the back of her throat...especially when someone is talking to her. She's also started squealing a little bit.

- I already mentioned that the highlight of our month was that she's started laughing! We thought we heard a little giggle when Daniel was kissing her tummy one night, and then a few nights later, he was rubbing her tummy and making a silly sound and she couldn't get enough. She would laugh like crazy and then squeal at the end of each laugh. Of course, we *loved* it and have been acting like complete fools trying to get her to laugh ever since.