Baby Gym

We got out Emmy's baby gym for the first time today. She loved laying under it and looking at the lights and animals and listening to the music. Jacob and Ellie thought it was lots of fun too. Looks like we'll be spending lots of family time on the floor for awhile!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Three kids is a lot of work...even more so, now that Nathan has gone back to work himself. It's hard to find time to do anything that doesn't revolve around feeding, playing with, or diapering these days, but I love it most of the time. Jacob and Ellie have discovered a love for pudding. It's not a bad snack for them, so I usually don't mind when they ask for it. I think I need to start buying vanilla though as you can see from this next picture. Mom calls Ellie "Pig Pen" because she is such a messy eater...funny, because she is a very neat child otherwise!

Emmy turned 1-month old and 4-weeks old on March 21st (which was also World Down Syndrome Day). She is getting so big! We had a weight check on Wed. and she is up to 9 lbs. (gaining 1 whole lb. in 2 weeks!). Her dr. was impressed with her progress. Emmaline can hold her head up fairly well and can almost roll from tummy to back. She is still not hearing very well out of her left ear, so we have yet another hearing test to do. Her test this week took 3 hours because she kept waking up and they couldn't get good results. They will sedate her for the next one, so hopefully it won't take as long and we can find out what is wrong with that ear.

Jacob is such a good big brother to Emmy and he loves to get down on the floor next to her when she has tummy time. It is not her favorite activity at the moment, but I'm hoping it will grow on her as it is necessary to help build up her muscle tone. Here's a pic. of them together:

Until next time!

It's spring...well, almost!

Starting last Friday, we have had wonderful spring weather. We've been taking advantage of it by visiting several parks and taking walks around our neighborhood. The kids love being outside and we love it because it wears the kids out and they go to bed early!

Mom came over yesterday and Jacob and Ellie had fun outside drawing on the driveway and blowing bubbles.

Emmaline is three weeks old today! It is hard to believe how fast the time is going...seems like just a few days ago we brought her home from the hospital. She is still content as can be and slept 8 hours last night!

After all this talk of our nice weather, the forecast for Saturday is calling for light snow! Oh well, only a week until spring officially starts!

What a week!

We had a really busy week! Jen's sister, Angel and her daughter, Kayla, flew in from California to visit. It was a big help having Angel here to help us understand a lot of the Down syndrome stuff. She recommended some really good books too, so now we have some reading to do. We had a good time visiting and the kids had lots of fun playing with Kayla. It's been a year and a half since they've seen each other, but they played together like "old" friends.

It is hard to believe that Emmy is 2 weeks old. Nathan is really enjoying his time off, but all good things must come to an end. He goes back to work part-time next week and full-time the week after that. Jen is really going to miss all of his help around the house, but it will be nice to get the family back on some sort of schedule too.

We had several doctors appts. this week. Wednesday morning we went to see the cardiologist. He was so impressed with how well Emmy's heart is doing that (barring any complications) he won't need to see her again for 3 months. He thinks that because of the type of hole in her heart, she shouldn't need to have surgery until she is 2 1/2 to 5 years old. Wednesday evening we went for her 2-week check-up. Dr. Conforti thinks that she is gaining weight well, but wants to do another weight-check in two weeks to make sure she keeps up the good work. Most DS babies have really small ear canals, but the dr. said the hers are good-sized. We never thought we would get excited over big ear canals before this! Thursday morning we went to the audiologist to having her hearing tested since she failed her test at the hospital. She passed the test for her right ear with no problem, but still hasn't passed with her left ear. We go back for another test on 3/20, so keep her left ear in your prayers.

Emmaline had her first bath this week. She cried less than the other two kids did when they got their first baths. Her favorite part, besides just laying in the warm water, was snuggling in the towel when she was all done.

Well, it's getting late and this week has really worn us out. Have a wonderful weekend!

She's Here

Emmaline Kate arrived on February 21, 2007 at 9:13 am. She weighed 7 lbs. 11 ozs. and was 20 3/4 ins. long. Jen had a very short labor and was able to go without an epidural like she wanted. The joy of Emmy's arrival was dampened somewhat when we learned that she has Down syndrome, but it doesn't make us love her any less. God knew that she would be the perfect baby for our family and we feel blessed that He chose us to raise such a special baby. She spent 4 days in the NICU at MVH and was finally able to come home on February 25. We had a "Welcome Home" party for her with our families. Jacob and Ellie were especially excited to finally get to hold her and now they can't keep their hands off her.

So far, Emmaline has proven to be a content baby. She even slept 6 hours straight last night! Nursing and making dirty diapers seem to be her hobbies at the moment. Jacob and Ellie love to help take care of her and are becoming experts at throwing away diapers and locating pacifiers. Nathan has been a big help too: washing dishes, vacuuming floors, doing laundry, keeping everyone fed, and tending to the oldest 2. Jen, meanwhile, is enjoying the time off and keeps busy taking care of Emmy and reading up on DS.

We have so much to be thankful for and can't wait to see what God is going to teach us through our newest little one!