Birthday!

Well I can hardly believe it myself, but this is the last week where Emily is officially an "infant", one week from today Emily will turn one!

I have so many mixed emotions, and get tears in my eyes when I think about her big day!  I think about all that we have been through in the last year, it does not seem like a year has gone by.  This has been the fastest year of my life and at the same time the most rewarding and most happy year ever.  I look at my little baby and just wonder where the time went.  I am filled with joy each and every time I look at her, I love to watch her explore new things and grow every day.  I know without a doubt I was made to be her mom.  She has not been the most easy baby at some times, and we are still working on figuring her little body out.  And it pains me to think about all that she has been through at such a young age,  but I am glad that she will grow out of most of this and not remember any of it.  And it has just made our bond stronger.

So to catch you all up on Emily, she is now 16 lbs and 3 oz (as of yesterday).  She is still tiny and was officially diagnosed with "failure to thrive" at one of our last appointments at the University Of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.  That really hurt.  They also did several tests (blood work) to make sure she was not showing signs of malnutrition.  That hurt too.  Part of me wants to shout out "figure out what is wrong so she can grow" and the other part just crumbles inside when the doctors are so concerned about her weight knowing I am doing the best I can to feed her.  Anyways this could be a whole post on its own and I am not here to complain/get depressed about all our issues I am here to let you all know how amazing this last year has been.  And she is certainly thriving in all areas expect weight gain :)

Emily is walking, pretty much like a pro :)   She will still get down to crawl, or use a push toy for really long distances or if she wants to go really fast.  She pretty much runs with her little push toy and will occasionally say "yee haw"  it is pretty cute :)  She also says: This, That, Mom, Dad, Milk, Food, Bye Bye, Thank You, Cat, Done, Yes, No.  I know I am missing some, I do keep track of them all on a word document but to be honest I am too lazy to open it up!  My time is limited these days and I have to take full advantage of this rare opportunity to have a minuet to myself during a nap.  Emily still signs some words, but is starting to replace her signs with verbal vocabulary.

Emily has now slept through the night 4 times!  Though I still wake up at least once out of habit expecting her to as well :)  otherwise she is up only 1-2 times a night now.  So we are finally getting some much needed sleep at night, and now just to figure out this whole nap thing!  On a good day (today is one of those) she will take a one hour nap in the afternoon.  I am still playing around at what time will be ideal for Emily.  It seems if I start it too early she does not sleep as long and then ends up falling asleep at dinner and then up late.  And if I start it too late she is too tired and does not sleep as well and then is a bear all afternoon and we can not get her down at night and then up all night.  So I have yet to find the ideal nap routine for us but something is better than nothing.

So many things have changed around our house in the last year, all for the better!  I never thought it would be possible to stay home with Emily and had planned on returning to work when I left on maternity leave.  Thanks to my amazing husband it has worked out to care for and enjoy every day with my girl!  I cherish every day with her and really do just love being at home with her and not missing out on everything.  We have made many sacrifices but it is all well worth it!  And having her mommy with her everyday is the best "gift" we can give to Emily.  Her gift from us for her birthday is me :)