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the blessing of my bundle

The joy that miss Blake Emery brings to her mama here continues to multiple. As I type, she sits in her purple Bumbo, with a giant fuschia bow in her jet black hair, alternately sucking on her fist and then cooing "ahhs" and "ohhhs."

In her three months of life, Blake has taught me that you can indeed survive on only three hours sleep; baby poop can spray onto walls, dressers, and mom's favorite teal friendship bracelet with the force of a watery tsunami; and that a baby's chuckle will melt one's soul. She has also shown me the true definition of a miracle. Every one says that babies are miracles, and I think I always just glossed over that saying. Last year at this time, we were just wading thru (literally and figuratively!) closing down our clothing shop, Typecast Clothing, and dealing with a major flood in our basement.

Major chunks of our future were undecided and that did not sit well with Miss Planner--need to know exactly what is ahead--here. I was uncertain what to do next when it came to day-to-day activities. And my heart felt heavy with disappointment that Typecast, our self proclaimed "baby" was now closed. After the closing, the flood happened and then what seemed like a series of small, but unfortunate events. One day the TV would not turn on, the next day the house repairs were prolonged and delayed, the vet discovered another cancerous lump in our dog Nike, Bobby was uncertain of what career path to now take...all things that in the grand scheme of thing are manageable, but in the moment seemed to bring one more disappointment/giant question mark.

I wish I could say that I remembered to consider it a joy... in fact, there were days that I wanted to, okay I DID say, "really?! one more thing..." And yet all along God had us in His hands.

And then in a way only God can move... along came Blake Emery. It just goes to show me that just when I think I have no idea how to move ahead, that God indeed knew (knows) all along what the future holds and we just need to trust!

In March of this year, Bobby got promoted full-time at his job and was overjoyed to make a career with a really awesome company...we hoped that Blake would come AFTER the new insurance was in place. She came 2 days after the new plan was in place!

One of my favorite songs at church is Blessed Be Your Name... the lyrics "you give and take away" are so fitting to this life we lead. God has given me a wonderful husband, He has taken away my parents for this earthly life, He has given me an amazing family & friends and now miss Blake Emery.

Last week I was struggling with wanting to accomplish more than I should probably take on at this point... it was almost a mini-identity crisis. I am home with Blake full-time, and for us this is all we ever dreamed of and wanted. Yet there are days that I feel like I should be doing more... is it really okay to pass out after just a few loads of laundry? Shouldn't my college degree be put to use? I know, I know Blake is only 3 months and there is plenty of time to explore additional dreams and goals. But I also have been convicted to learn how to be content in this season. To cherish every giggle, every fussy cry-fest (luckily Blake is mild tempered and these do not happen very often), every bout of confusion, and every day we have to just hang out with one another. Sometimes I cry, literally tears are hitting my keyboard right now, to think of how fast the years are going to move past us and we will be left with the whiplash of memories.

I vow to cherish this season and my new little bundle. It sure will be a learning experience and I pray God will equip this inadequate flesh of mine to handle it all!

3 month update

Wow, the last time my fingers taped on my computer for this blog Blake was just three weeks old. Now she is 12 weeks... 3 months! She is becoming such the little lady. Cooing and chatting to herself, the mirror, mom, dad, and just about anyone that will listen is becoming a regular occurrence. She is also becoming a little fashion icon... seriously, this girl has got some great clothes and accessories ;-)

Another regular bright spot in the life and times of miss Blake Emery is she started to sleep through the night...first 5 hours, then 8 hours, and now we are almost at 10 hours of blissful sleep from her. There are the occasional nights, like last night, that Blake woke up chit-chatting to herself and chomping on her fingers like mad and needed a 4 am full feeding, but overall she is so well adjusted and on an awesome schedule. I know that the Babywise method is controversial for some, but Blake naturally fell into a 3 hour feeding schedule and we follow Babywise's method of feed-time followed by wake-time, followed by nap-time... it works for us. Recently, Blake started stretching her feedings to almost 3 and a half hours. Yay! Nursing is incredible and I will keep at it, but man, it does make for a weary mom at times :-)

We are also implementing indie play time...well it is not super independent, but Blake does really well on the floor playing with her Baby Einstien gym while I type away here... she also has discovered the colorful world of a big screen TV on football Sundays. She gets so enamored by the TV screen, we realize we just may have to limit how much TV time little one gets!

All in all, as a new mom, I feel like I have landed the role of a lifetime. I would not trade it for the world! I love being at home... running errands...and just encompassing what it takes to be a housewife. I love that Blake is portable now and let me tell ya, Target runs is one of our favorites.

To keep my mind on grown-up things I am also helping my sister with her web site and also filming and editing some promotional video for her company Jennifer Paige Designs: headware & accessories for the posh prepster. imovie makes everything super, super easy. Seriously, where was imovie back in college when I was editing footage?! LOL I cringe to think of some of the poorly chopped and edited material I handed in back in the day.

Well, that is a basic jist of what is going on with us... life is good. We start our day bright and early at 6:30 am so Bobby can see Blake for a while before he heads to work. Before I go, I do have to say that one of the most fun moments is watching Blake become a Daddy's girl...as soon as Bobby gets home she wants to be held by him... her evening nap often does not happen because she wants to hang out with Dad. And you know what? That is so cool! Seriously, if we have to go without a scheduled nap for some good dad/daughter time than that is wayyy more important!

I know I must sound like a schedule-nazi at times, but it really does work for us and so far we have one happy, healthy little girl. And also whenever it is grandma-babysitting time or if we are out with friends for the day we know we can adjust accordingly and then Blake is gracious (lol) enough to be flexible and still happy. <3

3 weeks of Blake

3 weeks ago we were getting ourselves admitted into Banner Gateway... uber excited about meeting our baby girl. Here we are 3 weeks later, with a beautiful, healthy, personality-packed bambina thriving in our home. Motherhood is more than I could ever imagine. Sure I am pretty darn exhausted right about now between the late night feedings and endless onslaught of poopy diapers---but I would not trade it for the world. Seriously. I was never one to gush over other people's babies or jump at babysitting tykes, but now that we have our own little peanut, well, that is an entirely different matter. The love that is in my heart for our little girl is bursting with joy. And in all reality Blake is super, super easy... she hardly fusses and only cries if it is A. Poopy Diaper, B. Feeding time, or C. Wet diaper....

Not only does my heart just burst with love for our little eggroll (I was called a Chinese Egghead as a little girl, because of my dark hair chopped into a little bob, and we now call Blake an Eggroll because she is so darn cute when we swaddle her, and she also happened to be born with a full crop of spiky straight hair), but my heart bursts with even more love (is that even possible, we all know how head over heals in love I am with B) with my hub. I love watching him hold her, talk to her, and sing to her.

So far I have learned a lot in these few short weeks...
1. Even though Blake is awesome and has gotten herself on a nice schedule of eating about every three hrs, those feedings time seem like they take place every 10 mins at times!
2. When your Peditrician tells you that a healthy baby has a min of 3 wet diapers a day--really listend to the word MINIUM! We change 10 plus at least! Not to mention the diapers you go thru as you use them as a shield as your babe wets herself on the changing table in between diaper changes.
3.Take naps as soon as Blake goes down for one herself. These little pockets of sleep really do help and when I go without...man, not fun.
4. Laundry, laundry, laundry... don't let anyone tell you that you have recieved too many outfits at your baby shower... there are some days I have changed Blake's clothes 3 times... not to mention sleepers... besides Baby clothes are just so darn cute and one can never get enough pictures of one's babe wiht different outfits on!
5. Snuggling with Blake never, ever gets old.

That's all for now... oh except for the fact that if you think you were hungry while pregnant, oh, man just wait till you are breastfeeding... I am constantly hungry now! So it is off to snack... <3

Announcing Blake Emery's Arrival

Tale of Two Cities

Last weekend I was romping it up in New York City with my sister. This coming weekend she is headed home for one of my baby showers. Springtime in any city is quite magical. I love it. I was always proud to be a spring-baby and have my birthday fall in April. Springtime in NYC is awesome because of the amazing blooms. Tulips and giant trees blossoming and sprinkling soft pink petals onto the busy streets. Here in AZ we get snakes sunning themselves, white blossoms on citrus trees, and plenty of vitamin D in powerful sun rays.

Spring time for me, always marks a time of creativity. Brush off the winter dullness and in comes fresh new colors and ideas. As a kid, it also meant a big birthday bash, some sort of theme party on the horizon. As an adult, it means spring cleaning and making sure there are plenty of pink, yellow and green pastels decorating the house.

While in NYC, I got to see something else quite magical blossom... my sister's accessories company, Jennifer Paige Designs, was picked up by Henri Bendel's. Her exclusive designs for Bendel's are amazing! Giant leather bows and fuchsia pink explosions on silver metal bands, the creativity is beyond awesome.


Back at home, we are putting the finishing touches on our baby girl's room. Can you believe only 2 and a half months to go before our due date?! Craziness. Here are a couple more little decor additions we put up last week in her room:


Our baby girl's pile of clothing is also growing, so I started organizing it. There is just way to much cuteness out there when it comes to baby girl apparel!

Pretty Ugly Love

Our baby girl's room just welcomed a new addition. Nope, not the baby herself. We still have 3 months and about 23 days to go until due day, but plenty of adorable items are starting to take up residence in her room. And today, a stuffed Ugly Doll named Tray was added to her room.

After the most amazing prenatal massage at Cosmos' Salon in NE Mesa at The Village at Las Sendas, I strolled into a little eclectic boutique called Elaine Todd's located next door. They sell Ugly Dolls. Ever since I saw these curious stuffed creatures a year or so back, I knew that was the first doll I wanted to get my daughter. I must admit I am obsessed with them now. Bobby's first reaction was straight-up laughter when he saw it. Second reaction was, "dude, that is a cool doll."

The company's web site (www.uglydolls.com) is both quirky and informative.


Meet Tray. Her description goes as follows:
Tray is the brain of the bunch. Not because she is smart, but because she has three brains.....one in each lump, or one per eye, as Babo likes to point out. Tray is also the hungriest of all the Uglydolls, and has a desperate need for Blueberry Pie. Some say her eyes are blue because of her craving for it.

Tray often combines her hunger for pie with her brainpower to talk Babo into getting food for her. Unfortunately, Babo usually brings back a branch, a rock, or something even less tasty. If you want to make Tray extra happy, sit her next to you in the subway, or in your car. It makes her feel important.