Newborn Photos

I can't believe that it has taken me forever to post Emmalee Caroline's newborn photo pictures. Of course, the best photographer ever, Amanda Rooney, took them for us. She came to the house when EmC was only 4 days old and set up shop in the living room.

Here are a few of my favorites!

All about ME

I saw this yesterday's on Tricia's blog and thought it would be fun to play along. You should too!

I am...Ashley, aka "Ashley Gayle", "Grabbie", "Wages" (my maiden name), 'Momma", and "Babe".

I want...to grow more in love with my Heavenly Father

I have...a beautiful 6 week old daughter, Emmalee Caroline, a fabulous husband and an amazing family.

I wish...that we could afford for me to be a stay at home mom.

I hate...the thought of going back to work in less than 2 weeks.

I fear...tornadoes, snakes and spiders.

I hear...the TV and sweet sleeping baby on my shoulder.

I search...online for part-time jobs or jobs that will let me be at home more with Emmalee.

I wonder...what my sweet daughter will grow up to be.

I regret...being in college before I discovered what it meant to have a true relationship with my Savior.

I love...my family, my Savior, chocolate, shopping, scrapbooking, reading and playing the piano.

I ache...to watch every moment of my child's life. I fear that she will grow up way too soon.

I always...wear my seatbelt.

I usually...read before I go to bed.

I am not...looking forward to a hot Texas summer.

I dance...with Emmalee. She loves it!

I sing...to Emmalee almost every day. Brant and I made up a song just for her and I used to sing it to her while I was still pregnant.

I never...want to forget this time I've had at home with Emmalee...some of the sweetest days of my life.

I sometimes...think about what life would be like if I won the lottery (which I don't even play!)

I cry...when my heart is hurt or overjoyed....I cried ALOT when I was pregnant.

I am not always...patient.

I lose...my sunglasses all the time! I never remember where I put them!

I am confused...about the future. Is my job secure; will we ever afford for me to stay home; am I a good mother...

I need...to lose the last 15 pounds I have left over from pregnancy!

I should...go to bed!

The Life of a Homeowner

I love our home! Its a great size for us, its warm and cozy, in a great location and is simply perfect for our family. But any homeowner knows that things can always go wrong.

Awhile ago, the light burnt out on our garage door opener so Brant tried to fix it the other day. Well something went wrong and wires got moved around. When we tried to turn the light on, it blew a fuse and fried the opener motor. So we ended up having to get a whole new opener. Luckily, my husband and his dear friend, Derek, were able to install it.
Then today, I was washing dishes and a puddle of water began to pool at my feet. So I called for Brant. He discovered a nice hole in our garbage disposal. So it has to be replaced as well. Right now, I have a big blue bowl catching the water draining out everytime the water the water is run in the kitchen sink. This week it just seems like one home expense after another.


However, life is still sweet (no matter how many catastrophes you have) when you have a sweet baby girl this precious!

Today my nephew Connor had a field trip that Sister chaperoned. While she was gone, cousin Ethan came to play. He loves Emmalee. He kept kissing her on the head and laying down beside her to play. Emmalee is one loved little girl!

A Month in Heaven

My Sweet Emmalee Caroline,
You are a month old. I feel like I have spent the past month in heaven and I don't plan on leaving anytime soon! Being at home with you this past month has been one of the best months of my life. I can't believe you're already a month old. It seems like we just brought you home from the hospital yesterday. At your one month checkup you weighed 9 pounds and 1.5 ounces. Its so amazing to watch you grow.

You are a wonderful baby - you're a good eater, good sleeper and you are rarely cry. Your Granda asked me yesterday if I had ever even heard you cry, which I have, on occasion. You are such an absolute joy to be around. You love to spend time in your swing, your bouncy chair and on your play mat. You really enjoy taking walks outside and listening to all the birds chirping. You are starting to "talk" a little more each day.

Your daddy and I love you more than you can imagine. You amaze us a little more each day. Your precious life has been such a blessing to us and we are so proud to say that we are your parents. We are thrilled to spend the rest of our lives loving you to pieces!

Happy one month baby girl,
Momma

Sweetest Mother's Day

Yesterday was my first Mother's Day - a day that I have dreamed of celebrating for so many years and today my dreams came true. But for me, Mother's Day was also a day for me to reflect on the past 2 1/2 years of my journey to become a mother. It may have been a long journey, but it is a road I would gladly travel again.

Not long after I found out I was pregnant, a young, single girl at my office also found out that she was pregnant. She got pregnant from a drunken one night stand from a man that she had just met that night. I was asked by one of my co-workers if it made me sick to think about how easily she had gotten pregnant when it took me so long. At first I wanted to say "yes", but the truth is that I wouldn't change a thing about the path we traveled.

There was a reason for my journey. The past 2 1/2 years, my knees have become callused and bruised, but I know my Father more know than I did before. My eyes may have been swollen from tears, but I have seen the Lord at work. My heart may have hurt with yearning for a child, but today my heart overflows with joy at His blessings. I wouldn't trade any of these things for an "easy" fertility story. My eyes have seen the Lord work a MIRACLE and that alone was worth it.

This sweet baby girl was worth it!

(photograph taken by Reflections by Amanda Rooney)

My first Mother's Day was a day of reflection, a day of gratitude and a day of prayer. It was a day when Brant and I dedicated our child to the Lord and dedicated ourselves to raising our daughter in a Godly way. Mother's Day was a day of celebrating all He has done!

I Can't Help Myself

When this baby girl is so stinkin' cute, I just can't help but grab my camera!
I love taking pictures of her when she is awake and making all of her cute little faces. I want to capture every minute!

A Day in the Life...

Of Emmalee Caroline!

Adjusting to life with a newborn wasn't exactly "easy", but for us, it wasn't hard either. Although we don't have a set schedule, we do have somewhat of a routine. Here's an idea of how we spend our day.

6:00 or 6:30 am - Wake up and eat. Most days she stays awake for about an hour after this feeding, which means she has "daddy-time" and daddy lets momma go back to bed for another hour!

Sometimes we have visitors (Aunt Cookie comes by alot) or run errands. We try to do this in the morning or early afternoon. These pictures are when my dear friend Jessica and her little boy Cash came for a visit. Cash was so sweet with Emmalee. He kept patting her back and just rubbing her little head. It was the cutest thing!

Sometime during the afternoon or early evening, we have tummy time. My dear friend, Jennifer, gave Emmalee this tummy-time mat and it is wonderful. I love the fact that it comes with a little mirror. I usually put the mirror in from of Em and she loves to focus on herself. Then I switch the mirror to the opposite side to help her learn to turn her head. Emmalee really seems to enjoy her tummy-time. As you can see, Dax likes to help!
Sometimes, tummy-time wears us out.

As soon as daddy comes home, we have more daddy-time. Emmalee loves her daddy-time.

After we have dinner, we sometimes take a bath. Now that her umbilical cord fell off, she enjoys her bath and laying in the warm water. She seems to just relax there. Once we're finished with our bath, we get ready for bed. This is her special princess towel. I just love the tiara on top!

Between 9 and 10, we eat one last time, and go to bed. She usually sleeps around 4 to 4 1/2 hours a stretch. Which means I usually get up about twice a night, but I'm still getting between 6 and 7 hours of sleep each night. If its been a long night, then I will usually take an afternoon nap with Emmalee, so I'm feeling really good.

Time Flies By

This sweet baby girl has now been in this world for two weeks, but to me, it seems like it has only been a few days. She seems to complete our family (at least for the time being).

She loves to sit in her swing and just look around...and sometimes dose off.

We had our first tummy ache this week. Praise Jesus for Gripe Water. It also works magic on her hiccups.

Tuesday night we moved Emmalee into her own bed. As much as I wanted to keep her by my bedside, I knew she would sleep well in her own bed. I had told Brant that I would move her to her own bed when I could lay her down to sleep (without having to pat her back or soothe her to sleep) and she would sleep for 3-4 hours. Well I didn't expect that to happen so soon...but it did. Luckily, her room is across the hall from ours - literally only about 5 or 6 steps from my bed.

And yes, she and I both sleep better since she is in her own bed. She usually goes down for the night around 10:30 or 11:00, sleeps 4 or 5 hours, wakes up to eat, then sleeps for another 3 or 4 hours after that. Except last night of course when she didn't go to sleep until almost 1, but slept until 6;30 this morning. But of course, once she went back to sleep, I was already awake. Oh well, that just means that she and I get to take a nap together this afternoon.

I have had several people ask me how Dax is doing with Em. He is wonderful with her. Yes, he is a little sad that he is no longer the star of the show around our house, but he does love Emmalee. If she is asleep in her bed, he is usually right beside it. I've often come into the living room when Emmalee is in her swing and found Dax just sitting beside the swing looking at her. If we have company and they are holding her, he will sit right beside them to make sure that they don't hurt her. He just cracks me up.

I am loving being home with my baby girl. However, since Brant went back to work last Thursday, we have gotten out of the house everyday - even if its just a quick trip to Walmart. Emmalee doesn't seem to mind being in her carseat at all. She really loves if we have gone somewhere with her Aunt Cookie and her cousins - she loves having someone in the backseat to talk to her. Today we have some errands to run and our 2 week check-up with the pediatrician.

I hope everyone has had a great week and has a fabulous weekend. We're off to go watch the Royal Wedding (on the DVR, of course)!

In a Week

It's been one week since I had the sweetest baby girl in the world (yes, I am a bit biased, but she is a wonderful baby!) I'm still in awe of her of how much the Lord has blessed us. She is truly the light of our lives.

Brant went back to work on Thursday, so Emmalee and I have been filling our days with fun. On Thursday, we had a follow-up doctor appointment to check on her weight. She was up to 7 lbs, 3.5 oz, so she's going great. After our appointment, we went to lunch with Granda, Aunt Cookie (my sister), and Ethan. After lunch, we went to Aunt Cookie's house because our Aunt Sandra, my cousin Krystal, and Krystal's babies came to see Em. We had a great time just visiting.

My Aunt Sandra, Michelle, and Emmalee

Michelle wanted her turn to hold Emmalee. She was so sweet with her.

Emmalee was worn out by her first day out on the town.

This is the most kissable little face I've ever seen!

Yesterday, on our one week birthday, we went on our first shopping trip with Aunt Cookie and Kate. We had so much fun. We got to wear our first little dress.

After our shopping trip Brant's sister, Kristie, came over last night to spend some time with Emmalee. We had a great visit. Here is Emmalee and Aunt Kristie after her bath, which she loved this time.

Last night, Emmalee slept like a champ! I actually had to wake her up at 3 am to feed, and then had to wake her up again at 8. I cannot tell you how wonderful she is. Well we're off to get ready to go to our first DBU baseball game. Emmalee's daddy is so excited to have her come up to the game - he LOVES showing off his beautiful baby girl!

In Love

Well saying that Brant and I are in love with this sweet baby girl is an understatement. She is so beautiful and has such a sweet personality. She is such a good baby - mostly just fussy when she is cold or hungry. We have made it through our first two nights pretty well. Emmalee usually wakes up to feed every 3 hours, but eats and goes right back to sleep. The only time she likes to stay awake a bit is around 6. Brant has been great taking Emmalee after he wakes up and letting me sleep late. I AM NOT looking forward to him going back to work.

We had our first doctor appointment today. Things look good, but they are a bit concerned that she hasn't gained back enough weight. I thought she was feeding pretty well, but they want me to make sure that she is eating every 2 hours. Other than that small matter, she is perfect!

After our doctor appointment, Sister came over for our newborn photo session. She is so talented with her camera and I can't wait to see some of these pictures. I snapped this quick shot while she was working.
Right now, Emmalee is spending some tummy-time with her daddy (while he's watching some tv, of course). He is an entirely different man since he has his baby girl. He is absolutely consumed with love for her and he LOVES his daddy - daughter time. I am so blessed to have such an amazing husband, and Emmalee is one lucky little lady to have such a great daddy.