I can't get enough...

of Emmett's smile! Our little man is just so much fun. He is more and more aware of his surroundings and is now able to interact with us, which has been awesome. Yesterday after lunch I snapped this shot of him "sitting" on the couch:

I also love fall, and especially the start of the holiday season with the approach of Halloween. This year we decided to carve a pumpkin. Here is Emmett's first pumpkin-carving (okay gutting, since we haven't actually finished the carving part yet):

The dogs had a good time too, though we did have to banish them from the room, because they (not to my surprise) tried to eat the entire pile of pumpkin.

I was hoping to get a picture of Emmett inside the pumpkin, but unfortunately one side is too flat, so there isn't much room inside. I did manage to get this instead, before he toppled over (poor boy tried so hard to be cooperative):

Happy Halloween!

Times, They are a Changin'

Emmett is two months old now and growing cuter by the minute! He discovers new things every day, and it is so much fun to watch. He can now track people, objects (and Shena, whom he seems fascinated with) with his eyes, and he is smiling more and more often. Sometimes he even "laughs" by letting out a small squeal while he smiles.

Unfortunately he is NOT sleeping through the night yet, and I spent the last night or two on the couch trying to give Josh a chance to sleep. Emmett sleeps better in his swing, you see, a 

 habit which we are desperately trying to break so that we can eventually move him into his own room. He's starting to get too big for the cradle! What he really wants is to be held while he sleeps - and while we love to cuddle with him, occasionally we'd love some sleep ourselves!

I am finding that I quite enjoy the idea of being a stay at home mom, despite the ridiculous financial issues that might arise from that decision. No doubt about it, taking care of a baby has proven to be exhausting, but I'm very excited to keep working and playing with him! It has been quite an adjustment, viewing myself as a stay at home mom, but this is what I know is best for us. As for my writing, I keep hoping that I'll be able to do enough to contribute financially, but work has been scarce for me, and most of my time has been taken up by Emmett anyway. I'm very happy to have been cleared by my doctor to workout again. It was nice getting back to karate, but boy am I out of shape! Wow...I feel like I'm back at a purple belt level or something! 

The other major change is happening in Josh's job. He has accepted a job with Deseret Book for the time being, since the Distribution Center is closing in October. We are a little bit bummed about it, as he has had to accept a two dollar pay cut, but at least he will have a job to step into when his current one ends. He hasn't been as successful as we'd hoped at finding another job. Hopefully all will work out for the best. It's a little bit exciting, because he's been working at the Distribution Center since he got home from his mission, and this will be a different experience for him. Otherwise he's still in school, working away at those classes. We are hoping that he will be able to get a great business internship soon, but he's still in the process of applying so that could be awhile.

Of course life has changed for the dogs as well, with the arrival of the new baby. I feel bad, because they definitely don't get the attention they used to. I'm certain that once we get into more of a routine we'll be able to squeeze more walks and trips to the dog park back in. Shena is in definite need of some more vigorous exercise, and Toby is...well...he's just Toby. What can I say? His winter coat is already coming in and, as usual, it's still hot so he's shedding it. Suffice it to say there is fur everywhere.

And that's that...our little life in a nutshell! Stay tuned for future fascinating updates...(or more rambling, whichever comes first)...

Pictures, pictures and more pictures!

Be prepared for an overload! Anyone who knows me knows that I get camera happy whenever I get a chance, and what better excuse is there than a baby? Okay okay...I didn't actually take most of these first pictures, but I have to post them all the same. These are Emmett's newborn pictures, taken when he was two weeks old. They were done by our photographer, and we love them!

His blessing was last Sunday. His dad did a great job! Here are some pictures of Emmett in his little tuxedo. What a handsome little man!

Welcome Baby Emmett

Wow time flies, and our little man is already over a week old. Things have been so busy since his arrival, which is odd, since I've only left the house twice. Though I'm still quite sore and, by doctor's orders, really limited in my activity (limited stairs for three weeks? I live in a split level!), I must admit I'm starting to get cabin fever and am jealous watching my husband exercise. With my bump now gone, I am eager to start losing this extra baby weight so that I can fit into some jeans again (seems I'll be wearing sweats for quite awhile). But I've still got five weeks to go before my doc will even think about clearing me for anything. At least I'm allowed to drive again. I wasn't allowed to do that for a week either. Wow!

I guess I promised an update on little Emmett's arrival. The morning of July 25th, our anniversary, we went up the canyon with Josh's family to eat breakfast and celebrate the 24th of July holiday. I was having mild contractions, which wasn't unusual, other than the fact that they were a bit more frequent than I was used to. Later that afternoon we took a trip to Walmart and the contractions started to become more painful, and even more frequent. Yikes! I decided at dinner, celebrating our 2-year anniversary, that I'd better start tracking them. Sure enough, by 9 or 10 pm they were extremely intense, but not close enough together to go to the hospital. We finally did head in to the hospital and got there at 1 am. They monitored me for 3 hours, during which time I made VERY slow progress, before admitting me at 4 am and giving me pitocin to try and speed things up.

Contractions suck, I will say that. By 8 or 9 am on Tuesday morning I was over that and asked for an epidural, though the thought of getting one terrified me. Soon after that I was blissfully numb, but going crazy because I literally could not move my legs. Meanwhile, lots of family, including my mom, my in-laws, my grandma, and my aunt's entire family (a nice surprise) came to visit. Finally, around 12:30 my doctor came in and said we were ready to go. I kicked everyone out of the room - no need for them to see that - but they waited just outside in the hallway so that they could hear everything. That I didn't mind. I thought it was quite funny and I could see my mom's feet pacing beneath the curtain. It was nice to know I had the support and I know it made it more special for everyone that had taken the time out of their day to come and be there for us. Mom even had EJ and Kathrine, who couldn't be there, on a conference call so that they could hear when he finally came.

And yes, "finally" is the right word for it. I pushed for almost an hour and half, which was exhausting! My doctor called him a "little rascal" because he kept trying to move back in. When he did finally come out and he started crying, I was instantly in tears. What a perfect little guy! It was surreal though, thinking that he had just come from my tummy. How did he fit? He's actually quite small, at 6 pounds 10 ounces (but tall at 20 inches), and all of the newborn clothes I thought would be too small within a few days still drown him. Here are a few (gazillion) pictures of our first days together:

He is Here!

Surprise! Just a little bit early. Emmett Bradley was born yesterday, on July 26th 2011, at 1:46 pm. He is 6 pounds 10 ounces, and 20 inches long. I'll post more details later, but for now enjoy this sneak peak picture while I go enjoy time with my little guy!

The nursery is finally finished!

Well...aside from the car seats that are cluttering up the corner, which desperately need to be taken and installed in the cars in case this little one decides to make his appearance sometime in the near future! Overall, we're quite pleased with the result.

Here is a view of the whole room:

And a tall shot to include the cute valance:

And a better shot of the crib with the cute wall stickies (my favorite!):

The cute lamp:

The monkey curtain we replaced the closet door with:

All of his cute little clothes!

And the letters I made, finally hanging on the wall:

We're so excited for this cute room to have a little inhabitant! Any day now baby. I'm ready when you are!

So close!

And yet so far away. I can now officially say that our baby is a full-term baby, at 37 weeks and 2 days. Just under three weeks to go until August 4th and the due date! Of course we don't know when he will really make an appearance, but we can hardly believe it's getting so close. I am admittedly ready for him to arrive, both because I want to meet him/hold him and because I don't want to be pregnant anymore! I will miss some things, of course, such as feeling him wiggle around in there, but it will be nice to finally have an outside baby and know that he's here safe and sound. I know these next few weeks will fly by, but they will probably also crawl. It's like some sort of freaky time warp. That's okay though, since the nursery is still not done and there are still things around the house that I need to accomplish.

This has been a busy couple of weeks for us. The 4th of July was pretty uneventful. No parties for us. We went out to dinner with Josh's parents, and then the two of us went to the Kaysville fireworks. Shena has been in a panic since the beginning of the month, when the fireworks started going off. We've even had a few good thunderstorms this month. All of that noise = one stressed out little border collie. 

Two of Josh's cousins got married this past week, so there were lots of wedding-related events to attend. We had two baby showers as well, and have another one this afternoon. This child sure is spoiled already! My mom snapped a sneak picture of me, but I'll admit it's my favorite bump picture so far...

And, of course, since Shaundra is due 9 days after me, people love the bump-to-bump pics:

The boys are getting along so well already...hers kicked mine while we were standing there. Ha ha! 

At this point I have baby-brain so badly that I can't concentrate on anything else, and I wonder how I don't drive poor Josh crazy. Meanwhile he's trying to finish up his summer class and is still looking for a job. We keep hoping and praying that something will come up soon!