30 Weeks

Emma Claire has had her first cold this week. Nothing too bad - just mostly a runny nose but it sure does break my heart that I can't do anything to make her feel better. In the meantime, she is getting a little more snuggle time then usual.

We are enjoying our new nightime routine of storytime, prayers, snuggling & rocking. It's generally a family affair - even Little Man and Savannah normally join us.

New foods this week were Peaches (homemade), Prunes, and Mum Mums (rice rusks that dissolve instantly). She can feed the Mum Mums to herself so they are a great distraction and she seems to really like them.

Here are a few pictures from our week!

Our Family at BBQ For Babies benefitting the Duke ICN Family Advisory Board

Saying goodbye to Daddy's old truck - he had to upgrade to a 4 door to make room for Emma Claire!

Bathtime makes me sleepy!

Reading a story while waiting for her PJ's

29 Weeks

Emma Claire made her first long road trip this week. We went to Pennsylvania for Labor Day weekend to see our friends Stacie, Dave, and their girls. (We met Stacie and Dave on our cruise in October of last year and they've quickly become close friends!) I was a little bit nervous about how she would do on a 6+ hour road trip but aside from 45 mins or so on the way home when she was fighting sleep she did great! We had a wonderful trip and Emma Claire enjoyed playing with Sarah and Abbie.

We added a few new foods this week - carrots, pears, and bananas. So far peas are still the only thing she refuses to eat. Secretly, who can really blame her? :)

She loved playing with Sarah & Abbie

I promise, I said "Emma Claire, Cheese" and this is the face she gave me :)

At Antietam Battlefield

Representin'

Daddy won't be happy about it but check out Emma Claire representin'...

http://beyondthebackgate.wordpress.com/photo-album/friends-and-family/

28 Weeks

Emma Claire has made big strides with eating baby food this week. I went away for the most of the weekend with my Bible Study group and she was home with Daddy. Kyle gave her cereal both days and said she ate well for him. So we decided to try sweet potatoes and she did great with them. She was a little unsure at first but ended up eating half a jar. Peas - not so much. We've tried twice now and the 2nd time she shut down and refused food until I broke out the sweet potatoes. She has also started rolling from her tummy to back on occasion but can't do it consistently yet.

And this week's biggest milestone is sleeping in her crib in her room at night. She's been in our room since she was born and we wouldn't have had it any other way. She had no problem at all transitioning to her crib - Mommy & Daddy were the ones sad about it. But the time had come where I felt like we (let me rephrase that Emma Claire and I - Kyle hears nothing anyway) would both sleep better. We miss having her so close by but its also nice to finally be using the nursery and transitioning into a longterm bedtime routine.

Dancing in the kitchen with Daddy

Storytime with Mommy

Playtime with Savannah - they adore each other!

Adventures in Homemade Baby Food

Since before Emma Claire was born, I knew I wanted to try and make homemade baby food. The past few weeks we have been experimenting with store bought baby food to figure out what she likes and in the meantime I had been putting off delving into a massive book "Super Baby Food". I had almost convinced myself that the store bought food was just so easy that I may skip the homemade but Kyle stopped at a local produce stand and bought some sweet potatoes, peaches, and green beans. So this week I made my first three batches of food and I must say it was sooo easy.

I microwaved the sweet potatoes for about 17 mins, scooped the inside out, pureed in our food processor, filled ice cube trays with them, popped them in the freezer for about 6 hours, dumped the cubes into a ziploc bag and voila we have individual servings of sweet potatoes. The peaches were even easier - peel, puree, freeze. The only store bought food I have tasted were the Pears and they were not appetizing. Frankly, I didn't want to try any of the rest of it. But my homemade peaches & sweet potatoes were yummy.

I am so glad I didn't decide not to try this. Not only is it extremely easy but it saves money too! Kyle paid 59 cents per pound of sweet potatoes which is about what we pay for ONE small jar of sweet potatoes (mind you I've been buying organic which is a bit more expensive per jar). I used 3 sweet potatoes yesterday that cost a couple of dollars and made the equivalent of $17.00 worth of store bought. Best of all, I feel better feeding her something that I know is fresh without a bunch of preservatives and that is tasty enough that I would eat myself. Round 2 schedule for tomorrow - more peaches, plums, pears, and carrots. Here are a few pictures...

Fresh Green Beans

Cooked, Pureed, & Ready to Freeze

Fresh Peaches Pureed

Peaches ready to freeze

Frozen Individual Portions of Peaches

Preemie Prayer Request

Since Emma Claire's birth, I have a huge burden on my heart for preemies and their families. I learned this week that one of my classmates from Meredith recently had her twins at 26 weeks. Mary Camden was born weighing 1 lbs 14 oz and David, Jr. was born weighing 2 lbs. They are both facing a long NICU stay in Boston and the struggles preemies are commonly faced with. At just 3 weeks old, they've both already had surgery to close a valve in the heart that closes on its own in a full term infant. With that being said, they are both gaining weight and growing stronger each day. Please remember Mary Camden and David, Jr. and their parents Langley and David in your prayers.