Smiles

FINALLY after many attempts (every day now) we managed to capture a smile from Emma Grace! these pics were taken with Lyle's phone camera so I'm not sure of the quality...but it's something :) They're not all smile shots, but it sort of shows a progression. She has a really cheesy smile, mouth wide, wide open. It is SO much fun to have your little one show you she loves you!!

hi dad!

you want me to do what?

oooooh a smile? sounds like fun! I think I can!
ummmm

hang on....almost there...

There it is!!!

One Month Today!

Emma Grace turned one month old today! She had a very successful weigh in - she's gained just under a kilo since birth - going from 3.3kg - 4.14kg or 7.2lbs - 9.1lbs (meanwhile mummy has lost quite a few kilos and is feeling pretty fabulous about it), and gained 2cm's in length.

To date she has:

• sucked her thumb
• been in her first solarium
• been blessed with stunningly good looks
• made daddy and mummy very tired, happy, emotional, overwhelmed (sometimes all at once)
• made use of about a bizzillion nappies
• given us some smiles!
• coo'd at mummy
• projectile pooped on daddy
• learned to put herself to sleep (yay)
• learned to eat VERY well
• made mummy cry in fits of hysteria (every new mother can relate!)
• listened to lots of singing from mummy
• listened to lots of clicking of the camera by daddy
• gone for walks
• prayed lots with mummy
• been to church twice (and behaved beautifully!)
• had a cuddle from Granny & Great Grandma
• had LOADS of kisses and cuddles from daddy and mummy
• read the book of Esther...yes OK so mummy read it to her
• experienced her first power outage (at feeding time which resulted in a quick trip to the grandparents house - mummy was not quite prepared to feed in the dark just yet!!)
• found her fingers to look at
• lifted her head up
• followed objects with her eyes and head (even following daddy around the room)
• become a burping legend
• given us endless (and I mean endless) days of joy!
• been given multiple nicknames including: moo, nunu, pickle, sweet pea, possum, lovey, Emma 'G' (you have to grunt when you say the 'G'), angel, princess, Em

We love our little munchkin soooooooooo much and are constantly in awe of the Lord's creation of her.

Our growing girl...

I really cannot believe how fast Emma Grace is growing! She looks bigger from feed to feed! I can see her cheeks getting fatter every day.

This is the rental capsule from the Ambulance service, we don't get to choose the colour so I'm starting to be aware of dressing her in pink - just so people know!

It does make her look so small though!

Who would have thought it was this hard to get a good mother/daughter photo!?
This was on Sunday, her first day at church in her very first girly outfit

We've figured out bathtime, although Mummy still needs to develop her skills a little more, I feel a little uncoordinated at times, but she absolutely loves it, so that makes it easy for me.

Emma Grace loves daddy time
...although he can be a little tiring sometimes

The end of a long day...

New Tricks!

Yesterday Emma found her hands and had a good look. I was so impressed - 11 days old!! She's pretty amazing. I think she's also inherited Lyle's strength - lifting her head up to have a good look around. I don't think I will ever cease to be amazed at her development!

Lifting her head up! Talking to Mr Bug

we loooooooove kisses

Sleepy time

More Emma pics

This is one of my favourite things to do. In the afternoons we sit on the verandah out the back after our feed and have some chill out time. I think I'm a convert to the newborn as my favourtie baby stage. I get sad when I think that she's not going to stay this size forever. I can totally understand why people have lots of kids!

Holding mummy's finger, I love it, it's such a sweet feeling

The single eyebrow raise is a family trait - Mummy and Emma do it too!

Introducing...

Emma Grace Wetherston

On February 19, 2009 Emma Grace made her (very swift) appearance into the world. She weighed 3.300kg and was 50.5cm in length (I'm sure she's longer now!)
We had a great start with her arriving very quickly (Mummy didn't get to have any pain relief because Emma was too keen to meet us!) and without any complications. It is truly amazing - holding your firstborn child in your arms. I never knew it was possible to feel this much love! We are so thankful to our Father for His kind gift to us.

Mummy meeting Emma for the first time.

She looked exactly like Lyle's dad at birth, I thought "who IS this little person?!"

Daddy time! This made me laugh, he was on my bed as I waited on him for a few minutes!

LOVE this piccy

and this one...it took her a day or two to prove it, but she's SO beautiful!
Emma and I have opposing blood types, so that meant her little body was confused at birth as to which blood type she is (she's positive and I'm negative) causing jaundice. So she had to go into a special crib with UV lights on her. We joke that she's a born beauty queen - tanning in her first solarium at birth! I did find it heartbreaking though - she had some little Zorro glasses to wear to protect her eyes and it was just awful covering her face like that! However, God is so faithful and it was a wonderful opportunity for me to learn yet again that His power is above all things and He has Emma in His care.

Her Zorro mask

At least we were able to talk with her and touch her while she was in there,

and there were no tubes, so it wasn't that sinister :)
We're home now, and working out all the logistics of life with a newborn! We have some decorating to do (I was so convinced she was a boy that I even had a little boy picture on the wall!! Lyle removed it before we came home though), but the nursery is looking beautiful so far - it's amazing what a few metres of pink organza can do! :)

Ninth months and we're done!

Seriously done. I'm so over this pregnancy thing. Although yesterday I did have a few moments of "awww, I'm going to miss my belly"...here's some more photos as requested. I'm standing on our back verandah, Lyle was in the mood to snap away, needless to say there are quite a few photos that won't be making it onto the blog (mainly the one's with me with my mouth open saying "stop!") I didn't think I was that much bigger than last month, but I really am!

Daddy and Mummy to be! Here are baby's feet, they seem to like this spot!

Chatting to bub. It makes me laugh how much I change shape when I bend over!

Pulling it in as much as I can - I can only hold this pose for a few moments!

Australia Day

Australia Day is January 26th and is always a public holiday for us! Typically we (Aussies) swim, go the beach, play back yard cricket and have a BBQ. For us it was an afternoon of swimming and a BBQ with my family and the Parkinsons. It was really fun to just hang out and relax for the day.
Sorry to say we don't have that many photos - we were too busy having fun!

My gorgeous nephew Finn borrowing Taine's arm floaties!

(he was happier outside the water with the floaties)

Taine! (with a typical 18 month old head bump!)

I believe he was being chased by a sibling and didn't see the door :(

Lyle in the pool with Maiah and Eli
My Mum

My Dad

My nephew

Finn with Grandpa!

EIGHT months already!

Here I am, as big as a house and still 6 weeks to go...sigh...

Photo Shoot

Just before we left South Africa we went to the Crinkley Bottom (a restaurant) with Clint and Kim, where Kim kindly took some photos of us. I was 28 weeks pregnant - between 6-7 months. I'd never thought to do anything like this before, but I'm glad we did, it's really great to have these pics! thanks Kim!