Christmas Baby

My friend Joy gave me the cutest Christmas leg warmers for Emery so Heather and I had to have a photo shoot in front of the tree. Heather was the one taking pictures and I was trying to get her to smile and look at the camera. She wasn't really in the mood for most of it but we still got some really cute pictures.

Laughing With Daddy

Jonah can get Emery to laugh more than anyone else. Here they are having some fun together.

First Present

Heather and her kids spent the night the week before Christmas and we decided to open some early presents from my Grandpa and his wife that were for the kids. This was the first present Emery got to help open. I had been letting her "practice" with the newspaper in the morning and apparently it payed off because she did a great job!

 

After Jonah turned the camera off he took away her gift so he could take them out of the box and she started screaming and as soon as he gave them back she stopped. Not really how I want my daughter to act when she unhappy about something but it was pretty funny and I wish that had been caught on video.

Some Favorite Things

Emery likes looking at books.

She loves standing up all by herself.

Photo Shoot Attempt

For some reason Jamie and I keep thinking that some day we will have the perfect photo shoot with the girls. We thought it might work this time because Emery can sit up by herself for a little while but that didn't help. Between Emery falling over, Harlow crawling away, and both girls not being too interested in their moms behind the camera these are the pictures I got. Not perfect by any means but funny and of course with these girls cute!

4 Month Wonder

Could it be that Emery is 4 months already?! She is getting so big and continues to delight and amaze us every day as we watch her change and grow.

 

Some of her new tricks this month include:

Sitting up all one her own for short periods of time!

She loves looking at the baby in the mirror.

She gets excited to see her daddy when he gets home from work.

She likes to look at books and be read to (hopefully she'll be a reader like her dad).

She is ticklish on her back.

When she's on her tummy she gets up on her knees and sticks her bottom in the air.

She likes to talk to the monkey on one of her play things (she usually ends up yelling at him).

She thinks it's fun to be higher than whoever is holding her.

She is still friendly to new people.

She knows how to turn herself while on her tummy.

She gets the most startled by other people sneezing or coughing.

She loves the Christmas tree (just like her momma).

She likes sticking her little tongue out.

She loves to be sung to.

She likes going for walks.

 

O' Christmas Tree!

Following Thanksgiving, the Chandler family tradition is to go out and get Christmas trees. It is getting harder to find places to cut down your own tree so we hit some Christmas tree lots the last couple of years.

After helping Sarah and Josh move into their house, everyone headed to the lot to get trees. It isn't nearly as fun as a tree farm, but it is still fun getting trees together and having some family time.

 

 

Emery was excited about picking out her first tree. We decided to get her approval before purchasing this year.

 

These kids love their Christmas trees!

 

 

Our choices, as displayed here by Isaac, were  tall and skinny, or short and chubby.

Short and chubby it is!

 

We were all happy to have our trees!

 

Sarah and Josh were headed to Modesto the following day so we were going to decorate the tree and the house all in the same day which made for a really crazy day for us. We got started as soon as we got home and everyone else joined us in the evening. They helped do a few of the lights and decorate the tree, which looks nice!

 

 

 Emery in front of her first Christmas tree.

 



Thanksgiving

 We started Thanksgiving by running in the Race Against Hunger 5K. My whole family participated in the run and walk. It was the first 5K I've actually run since before I got pregnant.  The runners started out together but soon we seperated due to different running speeds.  Heather and I stuck together and I was glad to have such a good partner who helped me through it!

 The Chandler family after we all finished.

After running Jonah, Emery, and I went over to the Bewley's house and visited with Jonah's sisters for a couple hours. We came home and had a short visit with an out of town friend who got to meet Emery for the first time.  I finally got to take a shower and came out to find this sweet scene...

 

Emery had a Thanksgiving outfit that she wore for a little while.

 Our long time family friend Garrett Ghent and a friend of his came and joined us for dinner.

Emery wanted to be part of the group so she decided to eat the table.



A Few Little Things

Emery still loves her baths! I'm glad she likes them so much because I can't imagine trying to bathe a screaming baby.

Taking a nap on Daddy.

On Halloween we went over to Jonah's sister Sarah's house and Emery was a ballarina.  Heather helped me make the tutu the night before.

Emery and cousin Marlynn

3 Month Wonder

Our baby girl is once again another month older! I just can't believe how much difference 3 months can make, she has changed so much. I love being her mom. I knew being a parent was going to be pretty cool but I really had no idea it would be this great. I am so blessed to have her as my daughter and I thank God for giving her to us.

 Here are some of the new things she's doing:

She loves music.

She is great at holding her head up.

She enjoys tummy time now.

She rolls over!

She likes to stand up.

She smiles at pretty much anyone who smiles at her.

She laughs.

She is getting good at grabbing things and putting them directly into her mouth.

She really likes to hold onto things (toys, fingers, clothes, her hands, her feet) especially as she falls asleep.

She is ticklish on her neck.

She really likes going outside.

She still likes her baths and fortunately we are able to keep the "after bath monsters" away. Those darn monsters used to make her cry when she had to get out of the bath.

 She likes when her shirts get taken off over her head.

She is always in a good mood when she gets her pjs put on before going to bed. I always give her lots of kisses on her face and chest between outfits and it makes her smile (it's one of my favorite times of day).