Merry Christmas!

Okay, I know we're a few days late, but we've had a blast the last few days spending time with Jemma on her first Christmas. She didn't really understand the ripping open part, but she had a good time. We spent Christmas Eve at Nana and Opa's and Christmas Day at Grandma and Grandpas. I also tried to get a picture of Jemma dressed up in front of the tree, but it went kind of like this...



That was the best smile I could get at that point :) She needed a nap. Here are some action shots of present opening!

At Nana's...



At Grandma's...
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And at home!


I'm planning to add more pictures later, but the computer is acting up. I'll try to post them later today or tomorrow!

Feeding myself :)

Jemma has really taken off with eating lately, so thought I'd share a little meal time with you...


Yummy, mac and cheese, sweet potatoes and apple juice!


This is good, I'll have some more...


I like this feeding myself stuff!!



PS: Congratulations to our friends BJ and Jessie Murphy who welcomed their new little boy just last week. Jemma can't wait to meet her new friend, Canaan!

So many toys...

With Thanksgiving next week and Christmas just around the corner, I thought I'd go out today and do a little pre-Christmas shopping. Tom and I had already talked about how we wanted to handle Christmas for Jemma, and we decided we'd have 1 Santa gift and 3 gifts from us (baby Jesus got 3 presents). I have been debating getting Jemma a toy kitchen or some sort of standing toy she could play with since she is getting so mobile. I went to Target and Meijer and then to Toys 'R Us, and wow, I was overwhelmed with all the toys!! I just wandered around and stared at everything! There were so many things and I had no clue what half of them were. I didn't even know where to start looking!

There also seems to be a shortage of simple toys. Everything is sooo decorated and I could hardly find anything that didn't light up or make noise! I remember I had a Little Tikes kitchen with a fold out table, and it had a stove, fridge, and a sink. The kitchens I saw had sinks, microwaves, dishwashers, and one even had a laundry center! I was hoping I could just find a simple little kitchen...I think I might have to shop craigslist for a "vintage" kitchen!

Happy Halloween!

Jemma dressed up for Halloween as a sweet little bunny! I made her costume, and I think it came out pretty well. We walked around with her aunts, (who were a hippy and Batgirl, respectively). She waved to everyone and stared at all the costumes. Tom didn't get to come as he had a paper to write for class (he is working on his Masters), but we dressed her up and took pictures at home!





PS: On a side note, I will be adding Jemma's Christmas/Birthday wish list to her blog soon since the holidays are fast approaching!

"Bubble wrap is not for babies" and how Jemma is growing!

I found myself uttering those words recently, as Jemma has decided to explore everything! She is so active right now. It is really fun, but we definitely have to watch her every move or we find her doing things like, biting bubble wrap, chewing on our plant, pulling the cat's tail, etc. She is a very curious little baby, and of course, she learns about everything by putting it right into her mouth :) She has grown so fast this past month - I feel like she learns something new everyday! Here's a quick recap for everyone:

1. Not only is she crawling, but she is cruising along furniture :)
2. Her first tooth broke through about a week or so ago (it was the bottom right tooth), and I think she's working on the bottom left. She looks cute with her little teeth.
3. She loves to walk holding your hands.
4. Jemma babbles constantly - mamamama, dadadada, nananana, bababab. She says mama most consistently and with the most meaning. Makes me smile.
5. She's going to be a bunny for Halloween.
6. She eats most foods now, except for the baby no-nos, like dairy, egg, etc.
7. She has learned to wave!

Jemma is just a fun child to be around, and everyday is an adventure!! I love this age!

October Update :)

Jemma is growing so quickly. She's up to 19lbs, and about to outgrow her carseat in length! She is like 99% for height or something, so we're expecting a tall girl. She also has mastered crawling, pulling up to stand, and she is starting to cruise! We are going to have an early walker on our hands, I think. She loves toys now, and wants to play with everything, as she thinks everything is a toy :) We've had to give her a spare remote so she will leave ours alone!!! She is babbling some, but her most consistent phrases are still "gee," "eee," "huh," "ahh" and sometimes "mama" if she really wants something or is super sleepy.

Her hair is coming in more now, so she can finally wear a bow! I tried headbands, but no matter how loose they were, they always left marks on her head. Of course, she still looks bald because her hair is so light, but it'll get there. It's really grown a lot in the last few weeks. She also refuses to keep her socks on and kicks/pulls them off, even though her feet feel cold to me! She loves to eat and loves almost everything she's had, except she didn't like avocado or plums, I think. Speaking of eating, she seems to be hungry, so I have to run, but look for an update again soon!

And we're back!

Well, Jemma has been keeping me so busy I have hardly had time to do anything! Sorry for the delay in updates, but I will do my best to get everyone up to par on our lives since the end of July!

School has started up again for Tom, so Jemma is back to Grandma's and Nana's every week. She loved spending time with her daddy this summer, and they got to be really close. They love to play together, and Jemma gets to do fun things, like be a plane or rocket ship and fly all over the house! She sits by herself, and has just started belly crawling this week! She gets up on her hands and knees and rocks and rocks, but she can't quite figure out how to move her arms and legs together. She does the inchworm, if you know what I mean! She gets up on all fours, moves her legs, and then pushes out with her hands, and ends up on her tummy again. Then she starts the process all over again! She's getting pretty quick, and last night she chased a plastic bag all over the room - not matter where we hid it from her!

She has lots of toys to play with, but her favorite thing at the moment is an old remote. I was tired of her stealing ours to chew on, so I let her have an old one that doesn't work, and you'd think we gave the kid the moon. She is so happy and proud to hold her little remote and swing it all over the place. Of course, she likes to chew on it - along with everything else! She doesn't have any teeth yet, but we have been going through some serious teething phases...up all night, every night for a week, slobber, crying, drool, crying, biting, etc, etc. It seems to have calmed down a little, but I'm sure we'll be going through more soon.

Hmm...I don't have any pictures right now because our camera broke, and I don't have a new one yet (but my birthday is next week, so keep your fingers crossed!). We did get 6 month pictures taken, but they are not uploading for me, so I will try again later! We were in Babies 'R Us, and the picture place in there (Kiddie Kandids) was training a new employee, so we got a session for free, and a discounted package. The pictures turned out great, so I decided to go ahead and get them! Here is the link until I can get them uploading: http://mystudio.kiddiekandids.com/EditImage.aspx?im=33404270&sit=0

That's all for now, and we'll be in touch soon!