Emily is 5 Month's Old!!

We can't believe it, but Emily is nearing her half year birthday. Time flies when you have the cutest baby ever! Life with Emily just gets better and better every day. Kyle and I can't (and have no desire to) remember life before she arrived. A lot has happened this month...

-Emily had an amazing time seeing the Jeroslow/Beasley side of her family for Thanksgiving in Colorado. She had so much fun with her Grandpa/Grandma, aunts, uncles, and cousin Alex (of course). She saw her first mountains and I can't say how impressed she was but I am sure one day she will appreciate them more! She did not get to eat any of the yummy food but has been promised lots of tastes next year!

-Emily continues to enjoy her time at daycare with Gail and all of her friends. This month she even went to her first (and I'm sure not last) birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheese. She had a lot of fun celebrating Joshua and Jordan. She loves Gail a lot and is going to miss seeing her this next few weeks while Gail enjoys some time off.

-Daddy and mommy are very funny according to Emily (maybe she is the only one who thinks so..but that's fine with us)! We make her laugh a lot with fun sounds and words and songs. The sure fire ways to make her smile are as follows: (in no particular order) Daddy singing Hello/Goodbye by the Beatles, singing Pat A Cake and Wheels on the Bus.

-Emily has only turned over from back to front once, but Gail said she has done well with front to back. Anything to avoid tummy time!

-We think we have discovered Emily's first allergy and it is to something that you are supposed to give baby's to eat first because of the low risk of allergy! Twice she has pulled some exorcist action after we fed her rice cereal. Hence, we've decided to hold of on real food until she is 6 months old...maybe we'll have better luck then!

-We don't yet have bragging rights to Emily sleeping through the night, but we are doing better. She is sleeping longer and longer and without feedings, so we are confident that we will get there soon!

-Emily celebrated her first Hanukkah this month and enjoyed the pretty lights of the menorah and the presents from Deeda and Papa. Next year...Matzo Ball Soup..Daddy will be more than happy to feed it to her.

-Emily learned this month that her Aunt Hava and Uncle Mike are having a girl cousin for her to play with..she is very excited to teach her the ropes on being a baby girl!

-Emily went to the Christmas party at Gail's and had a great time. She got lots of neat stuff to play with!

-Emily can't wait to celebrate her first Christmas at Gigi and Papi's house!

-Emily still talks away all of the time. We have no doubt she will be singing herself Happy Birthday at her one year bday party just like her Aunt Ashley did.


-Emily had a great time at the neighborhood Christmas party with lots of her new friends. She particularly enjoyed hanging out with her friend Noelle who is 10 days older than her. They enjoy hanging out together and sucking on their hands.

-We had a lot of fun with one of Emily's new noises. She has discovered that when we vibrate our tongues at her, she can do it back. She takes it pretty seriously, though, and does it with the utmost concentration! Here is a link to her in action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_BgUm6pq3M

Emily is 4 Month's Old!

So, we have fallen behind on our parental duties of keeping track of all of the wondrous things that Emily does every day. A lot has happened since we wrote last. We will start updating her progress every month on her birthday. If we don't, Emily has permission to nag us about it!

-She continues to laugh and smile at the silly things that we do and at all her new friends at day care.
-In September, she met papa for the first time and saw deeda again. She had a great time with them.
-Emily still loves her baths and smiles even if she is in a grumpy mood (which is rare) when mommy bathes her.
-In October she met her Uncle Shun and cousin Alex for the first time and saw her Aunt Laurie again. She had such a good time with them.
-Emily went to daycare for the first time when mommy went back to work. Gail is so much fun and loving and the other kids are so good with her. She always smiles when she sees Gail in the morning. Mommy comes and sees her every day at lunch since she is only five minutes away.
-Gigi and Popi came to Emily's first Halloween party at Gail's. She had a great time but she was not a huge fan of her flower costume. She also went to Gigi's fall festival at her school and saw Great Big Mom win 2 cakes at the cake walk.
-Emily went on her first road trip to Austin to visit Aunt Hava and Uncle Mike. They babysat her while mommy and daddy went to a wedding and gave them a good parenting 101 lesson!
-Nicole had a first when she made Emily laugh from giving her raspberries on her tummy!
-Emily threw her first party when we had a BBQ at the house with friends. She was certainly the hostess with the mostess!


-Emily met two of her favorite people in October - Rhonda and Earl. We all drove the airport to meet them when they had a layover in Dallas. She loved meeting them and they had a great time seeing and holding her.
-Ashley gave Emily the cutest rug for her room..it is perfect and makes us all happy (except for Bailey who no longer has access to the room since she'd get it dirty)!

-Emily is loving her feet these days..what neat creations!

-She has also had her first bouts of sickness. Some bad colds mixed in with some croup. She always tries to smile through it, though...such an amazing little girl.
-Emily loves playing on her aquarium play mat and especially loves Ollie, the octopus, who hangs from it. Early on, he got a ton of smiles and laughs from her.
-We've started carrying Emily around in her Baby Bjorn and she enjoys it because she can see everyone. She loves to watch everyone and everything!
-Emily continues to grow. She is 26" now and 13 lbs 8 oz.

We could not be in love more than we are with our little redhead. She completes us!

She's Growing Up (and growing) So Fast!

Much has happened since my last post. Updating this is proving difficult with the rigorous demands of a new mom ;) Emily is doing so fantastic and we continue to marvel at how blessed we are to have such a healthy and happy little girl. Emily is nearly six weeks old now. Unfortunately, just this past Sunday, she experienced her first loss. Her great grandmother, MeeMaw, sadly passed away. Emily was lucky enough to have met her before she passed. MeeMaw held her for awhile at her house. As is typical, Emily managed to stay asleep the entire visit, but there is no doubt that she felt the love that MeeMaw had for her. Emily is a reminder of the circle of life. As one angel leaves this earth, another just begins her stay. A part of MeeMaw will always be with Emily as her blood runs through her. MeeMaw's funeral was occasion to make Emily's GiGi happy with her inaugural wearing of a bow in public! Emily wore the dress that MeeMaw had given her and accented it with a bow. She wore it well but still said she prefers to go bowless most of the time! We hope that it made GiGi happy though!

Emily had a doctor's visit on Monday and continues to amaze us with how she is growing. She was 24 inches (off the charts) and 10 lbs 8 oz (75th percentile). She is already being scouted for college basketball teams ;) The only downside to this growth is the fact that many of her clothes do not fit! She has a ton of clothes and can't wear many of them! I did see onesie extenders today at Babies R' Us but daddy does not think these would be too classy to put our daughter in! I have given up on guessing her weight as I am always over a pound under! I will just continue to eat my Wheaties so that Emily does, too!

Emily has been smiling now for awhile (see pic above of a big one) and it is one of the best sights we have ever seen. There are no words to describe how it warms our hearts and how we are always itching for another smile. (And it is not gas contrary to popular belief)! We hope her life is filled with endless happiness and smiles (and not much gas).

I have another full month off of work and will enjoy every minute of it getting to know our little girl and witnessing her newness. I will also do my best to keep updating this!

One Month!

Sunday will be Emily's one month birthday. It is amazing how quickly time has passed. It seems like just yesterday that we were bringing her home from the hospital. She continues to amaze us with what a sweet and good baby she is. She has such a nice demeanor ... and each day we see a little more of a glimpse of her personality coming through. They say that you can't expect to see your baby smile until they are 3 or more months old, but our little girl is proving them wrong! There is no doubt about it that we get a full blown grin and amused face when we vibrate her lips with our finger and make a silly noise. She just opens her mouth wide..asking for more! It is extremely cute. She continues to grow and is nearly out of a lot of her newborn clothes! She has met many of her relatives and our friends this month...and enjoyed every one of them. Gigi and Papi have babysat her several times so that we can go on mini dates (basically just doing errands together)...both Emily and Gigi and Papi enjoy their time together. Bailey is adjusting to life with the baby and certainly sleeps later on the weekends! Emily loves tummy time with her daddy...it always puts her to sleep. Happy almost one month birthday, Emily, we love you!

BIRTHDAY! 07/19/09

After 20 hours of labor, Emily Grace Nickell "graced" the world with her beautiful presence at 3:07 p.m on July 19th, 2009. Weighing in at 7 lbs 14 oz and 21.5 inches long and with a head full of auborn hair and radiant skin, she sure was a breathtaking sight. It was love at first sight for everyone in the Jeroslow and Nickell families. We are so blessed to have Emily, a healthy and vibrant little girl. Life will never be the same, but we wouldn't want it any other way. Welcome to the world, Emily...it is your oyster!