Baby Emery Jai!

Emery Jai is still "taking" her pacifier. I should define taking, she puts it in her mouth and runs around trying to get a reaction. Guice and E.J. have never used pacifiers, Emery started using them when Guice arrived. With all of that being said I took this pic of her with her bink. Aunt Stacy bought it for her when Emery Jai was about 4 months, Stacy wasn't aware that she did not use one. I think it is the funniest bink! Its Billy Bob teeth! I almost wish Guice used one! Anyhow, the pic is good for a couple of laughs.
Is that a hillbilly? Nope, it's Emery Jai!

Guice Is 2 Months!

Guice is such a wonderful baby! He is so so good. Guice's personality is really starting to show. He is very easy going most of the time. He loves to be held and rocked. Guice is not crazy about going places, he would much rather just be at home. Guice is grasping, reaching for, and "playing" with his toys. Although he doesn't have complete control of his extremities so sometimes he hits himself in the head :). Guice loves for people to sing and talk to him. He tries to talk and sing back. He is a little bit of a mommas boy, when he is upset all he has to do is see me and he will stop crying. It makes Josh so mad. Josh will be signing and rocking him to get him to quiet down all I have to do is walk in the room. Guice is sleeping like a champ! He likes to stay up late, he goes to bed around midnight but he sleeps until 10 a.m.! He only nurses a couple of times during the night.
Guice is nursing like crazy, he is still 100% breastfed no supplementing with formula or cereal. We do not plan on introducing solids until 6 months. The plan is to nurse him until he is at least one. I lost a lot of the baby weight quickly (40lbs), but now I have to eat all of the time to produce enough milk for the piglet. So the weight loss has dropped off. We are taking him for his 2 month checkup tomorrow. I can not wait to see how much he has grown!
These are pics in what was originally going to be Guice's Christmas outfit. We got an incredible deal on it before he was born. We were going to buy a matching dress for Emery Jai, they were to wear the super cute outfits for their Christmas pictures. Mom and I had been looking at the Strasburg outlet for a matching dress. While Mom and Dad were here this weekend I decided it might be a good idea to put Guice's outfit on before we bought E.J.'s just in case. I am glad we did the "big" 6 month outfit is too small! So now we are back to square one with Christmas clothes.
Try to imagine how cute it would be with a shirt and shoes! Look how tight it is around his tummy!

Playing with his fish!

Emery Jai spent last week in Amish country. Pop & NeNa took Emery Jai with them to Indiana. Needless to say E.J. loved it. They went to buy a horse to pull Pop's buggy. Pop did find a horse which Emery Jai immediately claimed as hers. Pop said that she could have her but that they had to buy Guice a pony. So Guice is getting a pony very soon. Emery Jai is the very proud owner of a bay mare. Molly is a very gentle Standardbred. But if you ask Emery Jai this is not her first horse, she also owns Megan and Macy. I don't think Emery was ready to come home, she loved eating out for every meal and sleeping in a hotel room. Emery Jai loves to travel. Maybe Guice can go next year, although he did enjoy staying home and being an only child.
Molly & Emery Jai!
Emery driving the buggy!
Emery sitting in an Amish buggy!
All the Amish buggy's!

More Baby Pics!

Cutest Little Boy!
Mr. McSmiley!
I LOVE his toothless grin!
Naked (almost) Baby!
Holding His Head Up!

Guice Loves His Daddy!

Josh is such a wonderful Father.

Guice is very lucky to have him as a Dad.

Cutie!

Pics of Guice in an outfit that will soon be much to small. He has already technically outgrown it. But I thought it was too cute just to pack away so I stuffed him into it and took some pics. As you can tell he was not enjoying it at all. A couple of days ago I sorted his clothes I was astounded by all the clothes he has outgrown already, a lot of them still had the tags. I keep all of the kids clothes, I can not fathom getting rid of them. It is all I can do to put them in a box and send them to NeNa's house. I know its crazy but I can not help it. Guice is now wearing 6-9 month clothes and a size 2 shoe. He is growing much to fast.

20 Months Old!

Emery Jai is the BIG 2-0! In just four months she will be two. I will have a two year old. Can you believe it? E.J. is doing great. She loves Gymboree, I am sure she wishes she could go everyday. The classes have really changed the way she interacts with other children. Emery Jai no longer runs up and grabs kids she doesn't know, this is a very good thing. E.J. is talking up a storm and her words are getting much more easy to understand. She is making up her own signs for words, it is hysterical. She has done this several times in the past but now she will use the sign all of the time. My two favorite signs are the ones she uses for sunglasses and for when she wants something to be hers. Emery will also make up words and use gibberish when she is having a conversation with you. Her imagination is rapidly developing. E.J. is engaging in creative play and is also fibbing on occasion. Emery Jai is coming around to the idea of having a brother. Although she is not completely thrilled about it I think she has realized Guice is here to stay.
I would love to share one of my favorite stories as of late.
Erica was visiting, Emery Jai was pointing to animals in a book. Erica was naming all of the animals. Emery Jai pointed to an animal Erica said Lama. Emery Jai corrected her Alpaca. When Erica repeated Alpaca Emery Jai said "its O.K."! E.J. continued to test Erica to make sure she knew all of the animals. Emery Jai is a mess! We do not know what we would do without her, life would so very dull!
I found these lyrics to "Elliana's Song". I have inserted Emery Jai in place of Elliana. It is a wonderful song, it brings tears to my eyes. I pray that I am a good example for her and a wonderful mom to her.
Baby woman- tiny in stature
But your heart is a treasure
Little Princess- Come follow behind me now
I am reaching for you
Emery Jai, God has answered my prayers
Emery Jai, God will conquer my fears
Oh, to mother a daughter
To look you in the eye
To know that I did everything to walk with you in life
To give you to Jesus
that He would impart
the wisdom that I'm longing for to mother your heart
Emery Jai, God has answered my prayers
There will be others, to lead and to guide you, girl
But only one you'll call Mother
The honor is all mine
To show you what a woman is like
I'm so glad you're mine
Oh, the tenderness of God is twirling around in our living room tonight
Oh, and lighting up your Daddy's eyes
I know he just wants to freeze you in time
Emery Jai, God will conquer our fears
To care for a daughter
To look you in the eyes
To know that we did everything to walk with you in life
To give you to Jesus
that He would impart
the wisdom that we're longing for
to love your little heart
Emery Jai, God has answered our prayers

Carriage Ride!

Emery Jai and Guice went on their very first carriage ride thanks to Pop. We had so much fun. Emery Jai went nuts! Her eyes were huge during the ride. I could never have imagined the joy I feel just watching her. I now know why parents endure Disney Land :). Guice had fun too, although it made him very hungry he had to nurse the whole ride. The driver said that Guice "was as fat as a little mud ball". What that means I have no idea. Emery wanted to take the horse home with her, she also wanted to ride on his back. I have a feeling this won't be our last carriage ride.
Pop, Emery Jai, & NeNa
Guice

Downtown Nashville More of downtown

Josh's Restaurant!

We went to eat at the Old Spaghetti Factory, Josh's restaurant. It was the first time NeNa & Pop had eaten there, the food was really good. One of my favorite parts of eating there is the beautiful building. The restaurant is amazing. Josh is enjoying his job very much. He is glad that this is his career choice. Josh would never say this but he is doing wonderfully as a manager. All of his bosses adore him.
Josh and Guice!
The lobby
The trolley
The lobby again :)

The bar area
Emery Jai loves the pasta!

Guice Looks Like Guice!

After my Aunt Mary suggested that Guice looked like Papa I asked Mom to bring some pictures of him. Much to my surprise he looks a lot like Papa! It is strange to me to look at Papa and see Guice, just as it is when I look at Emery Jai and see Pa (my dad's dad). I miss them more than words can say. If I tried to vocalise how much all of my Grandparents have meant to me it would be a huge injustice. There are simple no words that can express the love I feel for them. I still get extremely sad when I think about how much I would have loved for them to meet Emery Jai and Guice. I would give anything for them to be here. Mom and I joke all of the time about Granny Nina and how she would have used a fly swat on E.J.! She kept a fly swat and a tree limb on the top of her refrigerator. I also think about how excited Pa would be over Emery Jai's red hair, he would have loved it. I know they would have thought the babies were perfect. Emery Jai and Guice are lucky to have NeNa, Pop, and Granny Brewer be such a huge part of there lives and for that Josh and I are very thankful. I just know how much E.J. and Guice would have benefited from having Granny Nina, Papa and Pa around, they were remarkable people. I pray they know how deeply they were and still are loved. I talk about and show pictures of Pa, Papa, and Granny Nina every chance I get, because even though they are not here now they would have loved the babies so so very much. And I want the kids to know them as much as possible. Josh and I our so thankful for family!

Guice Herndon Hoggard (Papa) at 6 weeks of age

Zoo Trip!

NeNa & Pop are in town for a visit. Emery Jai and Guice are having so much fun. Today they took Emery Jai to the Nashville Zoo, Emery loves it. They have Grandparent passes so she goes often. Her favorite animals include the fish, meerkats, horses, birds, and the monkeys. She loves the lorikeet exhibit. The birds will fly up and land on you! Emery Jai will watch the entire bird show, she hardly blinks. It really holds her attention, one of the few things that will. I think she could stay at the zoo forever, she could just live with the chimpanzees! Emery Jai is so good at the zoo she doesn't have to ride in her stroller, she just walks around like a big girl. She points out the animals to everyone. Emery Jai hasn't met a stranger yet. She will talk to anyone. Emery Jai smiles at literally everyone and makes eye contact if they do not smile back she gives them a look like what is your problem. Needless to say she is use to a lot of attention!
Guice did not make the trip, maybe next time.

Pics From The Zoo!

Cheeks!

Such kissable chubby cheeks!

Random!

Pics of the babies just hanging out. Might not seem like a lot to most people but it is everything that is wonderful to me!

Mommy & Guice!
Guice in a 9 month outfit, it was a little big but his 6 month clothes are not long enough!
Emery Jai loves to hold her brother!

E.J. got his nose!
I love him and his extra chins so much!

Kiddos!

Guice looks like he is having a blast!

Puzzles!

Emery Jai has been playing with puzzles for months, now she can actually do them. It is one of the very few toys she will play with. Emery prefers adult stuff, such as checking her "me-mail" and going "on-ine". She has a specific list of web sites that she MUST check at least twice a day if not more (I help check them). E.J. also loves driving and cooking. She begs to watch me cook. She doesn't really watch TV but will kind of pay attention if they if it is a cooking show. It is very exciting watching her grow and learn!

BIG BOY!

We have an official weight on our little man, 14lbs 4oz! He is huge! I can not believe how much he has grown, he only weighed 8lbs 11oz at birth. Guice was born at 39 weeks instead of 41 (E.J. was born @ 41 and weighed 9lbs 3oz). I had my checkup yesterday, everything is good. They weigh the babies to make sure they are growing and breastfeeding is going well, he is and it is obviously! All the midwives thought he was so handsome, of course they do not tell everyone this just me :)! They also thought he was enormous! I will find out his length, head circumference, and how much he has gained at his well child checkup.
Guice filling up his cosleeper!
He doesn't sleep in it, he has wiggled his way into the bed full time.
So Happy!
And Beautiful (Handsome)!

Park!

Today we went to the most amazing park! I can not wait to go back, the good news is that it is only minutes from our house. Emery Jai loved it she kept chasing the geese and ducks. No surprise she was not at all scared!