15 Months Ago...

I could have never guessed how much sheer joy she would bring into our lives. From the moment we found out we were expecting we could not have been happier. We would not have had it any other way, sure it might have been easier if we would have waited a few years, been married longer, and done all the things in a specific order. But what fun would that have been :).
Emery Jai is quite the 15 month old. She loves reading, we read about 2 hours a day. Sometimes I think I am going to lose my voice from reading. She would really like it if her life was a little more like Broadway! She loves singing, dancing, and dressing up. We have about 10 songs that are standard. You MUST sing them when your cooking waffles, giving her a bath, or a number of other daily activities. Her new favorite is Happy Birthday, of course you need to wear the party hat while you sing it. Emery Jai's vocabulary is unbelievable, she has started using two and three words together. If she is in trouble she likes to remind you that shes the baby. She also likes to pick out who changes her poopy diapers, now her favorite person is Pop, so she will go to him and say "Pop I poop-poop", then run to the room to get changed. I think its time to be potty trained!
Everyday with her is so unbelievable, I love watching her grow and learn. I am very grateful to my husband for being so supportive of me staying home to raise our children. I will say I feel much more like a parent now than 15 months ago. Then it was just feeding, changing, and sleeping. Now that the disciplining is taking place,I feel much more like a Mom. She has started challenging boundaries on an hourly basis. It is truly exhausting, much more than 2am feedings. We use time out, it is very effective and has taught her to count! She can count to three all by herself!

Very early in the 36 hour process, later pics we are not so smiley!



Shes here! 9lbs 3.4oz



Indescribable Joy!

Hippie Headdress!

EMERY JAI!

F.Y.I.

There has been a slight change in the name of our son. We (o.k. mostly me) have decided to spell it Finnley. He will go by Finn most of the time. So the final name is Finnley Guice Anderson (for now).
Naming a baby is so hard! I want my kids to have the perfect name, not overly common but not outlandish. I also want the name to have a good meaning and at least part of it after someone. Jai is after Josh and I. Guice is my Grandfathers name. Emery means ruler of men and Finnley means fair warrior. I have this fear that Emery Jai and/or Finn will end up on a top 20 list someday. As of now Emery is 817 out of 1000 on the Social Security Administration's most popular name list. Jai hasn't made it yet nether has Finnley (or the more common spelling).
There are issues with usual names. We are constantly having to spell Emery Jai, and people are always calling her Emily or Ann Marie. Also the names pop up on spell check, which for some reason unnerves me. And I guess it will be hard to find pens and pencils with their names on it!

Month Six

I am so excited to be at month six! It is all down hill from here. We have really started getting things ready for Fin. We have his nursery bedding, his going home outfit, and a lot of other clothes. I am only buying clothes that are 3-6 months, because we are anticipating a big baby. I will laugh if he weighs a whopping 6 pounds! I am growing out of my maternity clothes at a rapid pace, but if I go up a size the tops will not fit my shoulders and arms. My belly is enormous!

ONLY 112 DAYS TO GO!!

Dads Home!!

Josh came in from Nashville for a couple of days. It was great to feel like a real family, at least for forty eight hours or so. We had a blast, we went up to Heber Springs. Emery Jai loved it, she played and played. Emery Jai and Josh threw rocks in the water, played in the sand, and on the playground. The weather was beautiful, we could not have had a better day.

More Easter Pic's

Here are more Easter Pic's. It is so hard to decide which ones to post, Emery Jai is so very cute in all of them.

Emery Jai loved the puppy!


Emery Jai with her Easter basket!


Emery Jai, Finley, and Mommy!

24 Weeks

We went for our midwife appointment on the 10th, everything is great. We love Linda our midwife, she is so funny. Josh gets to find the heart beat, and we can listen as long as we like. It is nice to not feel rushed during the visit. I wait all month to hear that amazing sound. I am still measuring big, no surprise. I have gained some weight, no surprise. I am really working to keep it to a reasonable amount. Our next appointment is on the 15th. I will have the glucose test at that visit.

Here is a little more about how Fin is developing

Week 24: Breathe baby, breathe!Fetal development in pregnancy week 24:fetus in sixth month This is another big week for your smaller-than-life magic growing baby! Just take a look at the checklist for this week: 1) ears—done; 2) fingernails—done; 3) (if you have a boy) testicles—taking their 3-4 day trip from the abdominal wall to the scrotum; and 4) lungs walls—secreting “surfactant”. What’s that? Well, surfactant is sort of what it sounds like: a surface-activated fat whose main purpose is to assist the air sacs (their little lungs) during inflation (as in: filling with air, not getting more expensive). Just in case you’re curious, your submerged baby is still breathing in amniotic fluid, preparing and rehearsing the lungs an oxygen-filled life outside the womb. By the end of this week, your child is around 2 lbs and 14 inches long—perhaps a little more plump, but isn't anywhere near their full baby-fatted cute-self. Most of the cutesy “filling out” is coming up in that long awaited (and slightly dreaded?) third trimester. Woo-hoo! Get ready!

So Very Cute!

HAPPY EASTER

We had a very good Easter! Emery Jai and I went to church with Nena, then we went to Aunt Mimi's for lunch. There were tons of family and friends, although Josh was in Nashville. It was so good to see everyone before we move. Emery did not like hunting eggs very much, but she loved being outside with Aunt Erica and Kennedy. I can not believe this is her second Easter.









thanks aunt erica for posting pics!