Hundred Acre Wood Halloween

Emmy's first Halloween!!!  Now, we usually aren't Halloween people.  We have never really done the couple's costume thing, but this year we felt like we had to do something to show Emmy we are really fun parents.  Hence, Cory hatched the brilliant plan to turn us into your favorite characters from the Hundred Acre Wood.  I was Christopher Robin, Cory was my Pooh Bear, and Emmy was the cutest little Tigger.  The wonderful thing about Emmy is that she's the only one.  See what I did there?

In the spirit of full disclosure, I will admit we didn't go out trick-or-treating.  We just dressed up and took the picture.  We did, however, go outside and knock on our own door, so that Emmy could get her first piece of candy.  She was really excited.

Mostly she was excited to go back inside where it was warm.

Emmy Meets Grandma & Grandpa

After having such a great time with Grandma Buzz, Emmy was excited to meet more grandparents.  Grandpa Mike & Grandma Page made the trip out to Memphis to meet little Emmy Rae.

As expected, Emmy celebrated the meeting by sleeping through most of it.

We all hung out for about a week while Emmy tested multiple sleeping positions.

Grandpa also got in some sleep so Emmy wouldn't feel so embarrassed about snoozing so much.

Eventually she did wake up, and agreed to take a picture, but only under the condition that she could make whatever face she wanted.  She went with crossed eyes.  Classic.

In all seriousness, we are very grateful that Emmy has so many people who love her!

BYU Gets Embarrassed

The crazy thing about having a newborn is that literally everything you do with her is a milestone.  It would be impossible to document all of Emmy's "firsts", but her first BYU game seemed important.  We all got dressed up to watch the BYU Cougars play Boise State.  Emmy was looking real cute in her Cougar Cub outfit, but it would end up being the only positive part of the experience.  BYU got trounced.

Very early on it was clear BYU was going to lose.  They ended up losing 55-30.  Emmy was heartbroken.  Hopefully it won't ruin her opinion of BYU.

#JustLikeDaddy

Once Emmy arrived, I started to compile a list of ways that we are alike, and used the hashtag #justlikedaddy to keep track of them all.  As I continue to think of more, I will try to compile them all here:

As a new father, I feel entitled to fill the Internet with things I have in common with Emmy. I will be using #justlikedaddy accordingly.

When Cory wants Emmy to do something, Emmy pretends to be asleep. #justlikedaddy

Emmy just had her hearing screening. Both her ears work! Emmy always passes her tests. #justlikedaddy

Sometimes Emmy gets stressed. Kisses and snuggles from Cory always calm her down. #justlikedaddy

Emmy starts to coo when you rub her feet. #justlikedaddy

Emmy's nose whistles when she sleeps. #justlikedaddy

Emmy wakes up crying in the middle of the night wanting food. #justlikedaddy

Emmy throws a fit when Cory tells her she has to take a bath. #justlikedaddy

Emmy prefers other people to bathe her. #justlikedaddy #turkishbathhouse

Emmy cares about her digestive health way more than her social status. She feels no shame in getting gassy. #justlikedaddy

Emmy has gained half a pound in two days. #justlikedaddy

*Update*

Emmy sometimes feels like the world is ending, but peace and balance can be restored to the universe with just one burp. #justlikedaddy

*Update*

Emmy has gained 5 pounds in the last two months. #justlikedaddy

Today Emmy got 4 vaccinations in her legs. She was crying the whole time. #justlikedaddy #sosad #heartbreaking

*Update*

Emmy hasn't bathed since Tuesday. #justlikedaddy #christmasbreak

Emmy stares an unhealthy amount of time at the Christmas presents under the tree. #justlikedaddy

First Days Home

Having a baby in the NICU is much different than having a newborn at home.  All of a sudden, nurses weren't changing those diapers!  I am proud to say that I changed my first diaper, ever.  There were also a lot of firsts for Emmy, like her first bath!

Daddy and Grandma tag-teamed it and made sure Emmy was squeaky clean.

Emmy does most of her crying while trying to dry her off because she is so cold, but it is always easy to warm her back up with snuggles and calm her down.

Also, her first time doing dishes!  I have already asked Cory when we can add Emmy to the chore rotation.

Later in the week we also went on Emmy's first walk and christened the stroller.  Emmy did a great job and loved being out in the fresh air and sunlight.  

She survived her first few days at home, which is a good sign for the weeks to come.  It's all downhill from here!

Emmy Comes Home

Cory was discharged on Saturday afternoon, but Emmy still had a bit of jaundice that the nurses were monitoring, so we had to go home without her.  It was hard, but thankfully, we only had to wait a day.  Sunday morning we were informed Emmy would be coming home with us.  What a blessing!

One of the greatest things was to be able to hold her and walk around without any tubes or wires restricting us.  Here is Mommy helping Emmy into her car seat.

We loaded her up, and Mommy rode in the backseat during her first car ride!

She was so good, and didn't make any fuss on the way home.

Daddy carried her in from the car and immediately gave her a tour of the house.

Welcome home, baby girl!

Emmy Rae Joins the Family

She is here!!!  Emmy Rae Gilmore joined our family on Thursday, October 16th, at 12:03 pm.  She weighed 7 lbs 5 oz and measured 20 inches long.  Her first moments of life she spent snuggled up with Mommy.

Emmy gave us a little bit of a scare and had some trouble transitioning from the womb to the world.  See, there is this thing called breathing, and she wasn't doing it right.  She was getting enough oxygen, but the doctors said she was trying too hard in the process and was going to exhaust herself.  For that reason, she was admitted to the NICU.

Luckily, Emmy was fine after a couple of hours, but we learned that once you get into the NICU, it is hard to get out.  It seemed like every day there was a new test they had to do, and a new milestone they needed her to reach before she could come home.  In hindsight, we realized that we didn't have that traumatic of a time compared to the other NICU families, but in the moment we were so anxious to get our little girl home.

Cory did a great job through the entire delivery,  and was a great patient, too.  Her room was on the 4th floor, and Emmy's was on the 3rd floor, so we made many trips back and forth.  I never heard Cory complain once about it, and it was sweet to see her so anxious to get back to the baby as soon as possible.

Emmy mostly slept, which provided a lot of great photo opportunities, and all the quiet time we could want to just sit and hold her.

When she wasn't sleeping, she was eating.  She is such a good eater, too!  Cory never had much trouble getting her to eat, which I think was a huge stress reliever.  Emmy also got a lot of great quality time with Grandma Buzz.

With the nurses pricking and prodding her all the time, we tried to keep her as comfortable as possible.  Here we are rubbing her down with some lotion.

Welcome to the world, Emmy Rae!  We are so glad you are part of our little family.  Three is our new favorite number! 

Skyler Gets Baptized

With a day to spare before our due date, we were blessed to participate in the baptism of our neighbor, Skyler Rich.  It was awesome!   The sister missionaries have been teaching Skyler in our home this last month, and he made the decision to be baptized.  

Sister Hartle, Sister Hicken, and Cory before the service.

There has been a big push for missionary work here in the Walnut Grove Ward, and about a month ago the sisters were eating dinner with us.  They asked us if we knew anybody that would benefit from the gospel message.  We met a nice lady walking one evening, Cathy, and found out she had lost her husband a few years ago.  Her name came to my mind when the sisters asked whom we could teach.  The sisters jumped on the opportunity and we set up an appointment to go see Cathy.

The day came to see Cathy, and Cory made some cookies to take over to her.  We knocked on the door and ended up being invited inside for a nice visit with Cathy, but in the end she wasn't interested in what the missionaries had to say.  We headed home and as we were saying our goodbyes to the sisters, Skyler walked by, finishing up a walk with his dog.  We said hello, and Sister Hartle offered him one of our cookies.  He hesitated at first, but ended up taking one, and then headed to his door.  Cory and I said goodbye to the sisters and headed inside.  Next thing we know, we hear voices outside and, upon looking through the front window, discovered Skyler talking with the missionaries.  He said that something just made him feel like he should talk to them.

The rest was history.  Since then, Skyler has become a good friend.  He comes over for lessons with the missionaries, but he also just comes over to hang out with us and ask Cory for dating advice.  It has been a great experience for our little family to help him learn truths about the Savior in our home.

Cory, Sean, Skyler, Sister Hicken, Sister Hartle

Skyler asked if I would baptize him, and then immediately asked the sisters if it could be freezing cold water so he could "feel it."  That was the only part I was not looking forward to.

Grandma Buzz even made the trip for the baptism.  Hopefully she can stay long enough for the birth of the baby!

Finishing Touches

We are in the month of delivery!  With the baby coming soon, we finally finished our nursery, putting the finishing touches on little Emmy's room.  We are so excited!

Quilts

When Buzz visited us on Labor Day, she brought with her a quilt that Cory's Grandma Pladsen made for the baby.  It is a fun quilt with sheep on it.  At that time we knew we would eventually get another quilt as well, because Cory had picked out some fabrics and sent them off with her mom to give to her grandma.  

Well just this past weekend, the quilt came in the mail, and we love it!  It is beautiful.  I kid you not, Cory did not stop talking about it for almost an hour.  I actually wasn't aware that you could feel so deeply for a quilt.  Nevertheless, the quilt is here and Cory is more than excited to have it in the baby room.

I don't know much about quilting, other than it takes a lot of time, and is a labor of love.  Even the back of the quilt is so intricate.

We are grateful to Grandma Pladsen for dedicating her time and talents to these quilts for the baby.  I am sure they will be cherished heirlooms for years to come.

It looks great in the baby room!

Baby Girl Has a Seat

One of the last things on our to-do list for the baby was installing the car-seat.  It wasn't as hard as we thought it was going to be.  A lot of people have made comments to us that it is a very complicated process.  We got it done in about five minutes. 

We are now totally ready for this girl to join our family!

Thug Life

"I didn't choose the thug life, the thug life chose me." -Tupac Shakur

There really isn't a better quote to describe this picture.  I rock the Baby Bjorn so hard it isn't even funny.  Thanks Mom and Dad for the surprise gift!

36 Weeks

Cory is 36 weeks pregnant, and she is looking as smokin' as ever!  I mean, DANG!  This week was fun for us because some ladies at church threw a baby shower for Cory.  From everything I heard, it was a great time, and so thoughtful of the women who planned it all.  I love that part about the church.

Even more exciting was that we got to see our little baby girl again this week.  We went in for our 36 week ultrasound this morning, and it was fantastic.  We found out that she figured out what she is doing and finally got into the right position.  Her head is down on Cory's bladder and she is ready to rock and roll.  I always knew she had it in her.  We also found out she is a tiny little lady, at 5.5 pounds, and with her other measurements she is only in the 22nd percentile.  Cory is alright with that I think.  Here is a picture of baby girl's profile.

If you look closely you can see her blowing bubbles.  What a goof!

Buzzard Sighting

Well, look who is back in town!  The Old Buzzard has swooped back in the Greater Memphis Area!  Buzz came for a fun Labor Day visit and we really loved having her with us.  She just wants to have fun and make everyone happy!  I respect that in a mother/mother-in-law/grandmother.

Now that we are pros at the whole Memphis thing, we were able to take her all around the places we have been exploring since she helped us move out here.  We ate some good food, explored Shelby Farms, showed her the hospital where baby girl will be born, and took her downtown for some sightseeing.  We took her to our favorite sunset spot down by the University of Memphis Law School.

We also took her down to Beale Street to see the night life.  We were just spectators from the car though.  It was packed down there.

One of the awesome things that Buzz did for us while she was here was paint our baby dresser.  Here is a picture of Cory standing in front of it from a few weeks ago.  It was my grandpa's dresser from his first marriage, and my parents generously donated it to our little family.  Cory decided she wanted it painted white, and Buzz said, "Give me a brush and get out of my way!"  

Over the weekend she sanded the wood and painted several coats.  It looks awesome!  It gave it some new life, and we are excited to keep decorating the nursery.   Any time the baby cries I am going to shout at her, "YOUR GRANDMA PAINTED THIS DRESSER FOR YOU SO YOU BETTER CHANGE YOUR ATTITUDE!"

It was great to have Buzz visit us, and are excited for her next visit when the baby is here!

34 Weeks

The time is starting to fly by!  It's hard to believe we are so far along.  I remember when we were only 6 weeks along and it seemed as though time was crawling.  No one knew we were pregnant and we didn't even know yet that we would be welcoming a precious little lady into our family.

Now we are just 6 weeks til the end of this whole thing. 

Pretty much I feel pretty huge and am disgusted by pictures taken of me.  Is that bad to say?  Most the time I just feel like I look large.  For whatever reason this picture Sean took of me is pretty much the best and I don't look huge and chubby.  I think it's because I actually did my hair and make up and have a more fitted shirt on, which tends to help with feeling large.

Sleeping is really hit and miss for me.  I have some nights where I toss and turn all night and others I sleep perfectly.  I do wake up every morning and need to pee and then I am super hungry and need breakfast immediately.  Naps in the afternoon are awesome, but I do feel like I don't get as good of sleep at night if I nap.

By the end of the day I am pretty tired, achy and cranky.  My back usually hurts and it's hard work getting all the way upstairs.  But, Sean always helps me by lifting my legs as I step up.

Baby girl is still turned transverse.  But we think her head is now on my left side and her feet and bum are over on my right.  She is pretty much perpendicular to me which makes for kicking in my ribs and hip joint on the right side.  If there is one thing that hurts it's when she kicks my hip joint.  It's like a little shock every time.

Team Trek

I officially have started my MHA program at the University of Memphis!  This past weekend I headed to rural Arkansas with a group of strangers and to my surprise we came back a pretty close-knit team.  I am usually skeptical of "team-building" activities, but Team Trek was actually really effective.  I am really excited to start the program and am glad I am with a good group of people for the next two years.

Dog Days of Summer

August has been a great time for Cory and I to explore Memphis and enjoy some lazy days of summer.  We have been hitting up the pool in our complex on a regular basis, which has been nice.

On Tuesdays here in Memphis you can also get into the zoo for free with a Tennessee ID.  We headed over one afternoon and had a fun time seeing the animals.  It was actually a very impressive zoo.

We also headed downtown one night to check out the sunset.  We read online that there are a couple of good spots on the water to watch the sun go down.

I love spending so much time with my girls!