8 Months... What?!

I cannot believe Emerson is 8 months old (As of sept 30). I am sure every mom says it but it is true! Time goes by so fast and I want to remember everything that happens! Here is a list of all the things she is doing (everything I can remember right now).

~Our ever wiggly little girl is rolling and scooting all over the place. No crawling yet but I can see it happening sometime soon, I am thinking very soon. 

~Reaching to grab anything and everything! I swear she is not crawling just because she can reach so far sitting on her bum.

~She has two teeth! We now have to think twice before letting her pull one if our fingers into her mouth, or we will get one nasty surprise. 

~She is finally eating solid foods! Oh boy did I have a hard time trying to get her to eat anything. But I figured it out. As long as she can feed herself she is fine as soon as I put a spoon in her face or heaven forbid any pureed food she will not take it. But she is willing to try things if she can touch, squish and bring them to her own mouth.

~She squeals and babbles all the time now. She says dada, mama, gaga and lala... but she has not addressed us with our respective names of mama and dada, so she is playing with noises and it is pretty fun to hear her babble first thing in the morning just happy to be awake!

~Oh and she growls! I think it is one of the funniest and strangest noises to come from a baby girl, a deep growl in her throat. Where she learned it I don't know, but she is having some fun with her vocal cords.

~Playing "pat a cake" is now way more fun as she pats her hands together, rolls and then promptly throws her hands above her head throwing the cake in the oven! She loves it and thinks that she is pretty funny when she does it.

~Em loves kids! She gets so excited waving her hands and squealing when she sees someone new to play with. she especially is curious about babies smaller than she is. If on the floor she will roll and scoot just to get close enough to touch a baby. Be warned Emerson is on the loose and who knows what she will do. 

~She naps twice a day now, and still wakes up a few times in the night. It is something we are working on, but babies are unpredictable and can sleep erratically so maybe one day she will surprise me. 

~I am still nursing Em, and honestly I don't know when I plan to stop. We have tried some formulas but she wanted nothing to do with them. I guess why take the fake stuff when you can get the real stuff... But I am happy to nurse, it has been a good experience for me and if you are able to I would definitely recommend it.

~Em also gives the best smiles! I swear when I get her out of bed each morning my heart melts as she smiles up at me and gets excited. 

~Lastly Emerson loves and I mean LOVES her daddy. Whenever Jorden comes home from school/work Em gets so excited waving her arms, squealing, and clapping her hands. It's my favourite thing because I get to see the pure love and joy emanating from each of their faces. It just makes me so happy! 

5 Months & Canada Day!

It seems as though all I ever think to write about is Emerson. I have been hesitating at writing because really my life and our lives are not very exciting or I don't know if it is at all interesting to tell people about. We just putter along doing the same old things... But are the same old every day things exciting? 

Emerson is officially 5 months old as of Monday June 30. It seems like only yesterday she was born but at the same time it feels like so long ago. Emerson has definitely changed and grown so much. She is now over 20 lbs which puts her in the 99.9 percentile! Her doctor told me that is as high as they go they don't go to 100%. I forget how long/tall she is, if I could find my measuring tape I could tell you, but that too is in the 99.9 percentile. This makes my little girl quite a BIG girl. Being small did not last very long. Emmy is a sweetheart who will smile at anyone willing to make a silly face. She talks (squeaks, squeals and coos), laughs, chews on anything she can take to her mouth, stays sitting up like a little champ, and rolls over (only when she wants to get something). We spend our days playing, reading books, going for walks (when it's not raining), napping (Em does the napping), eating, cleaning (I do the cleaning) and getting really excited when Daddy/Jorden comes home from work! Lately Emerson loves to be sitting up or standing with the help of whoever is around; she hates laying down on her back for longer than 5 minutes (unless sleeping). 

Yesterday was July 1, or as us northern dwellers call it, Canada Day! Jorden had the day off from work which is always a joy to me and I think for Emmy too, she loves her Daddy! We spent our day over at Grandma & Grandpas house with family and friends. It was such a beautiful day, warm and without wind, so we spent as much time as we could outside. I am so grateful for this land that we live in, we are so blessed to live in Canada. Happy Birthday Canada, and happy 5 months Emerson! 

Here are some pictures from our day. 

All of the Holst grandkids - missing little miss Hadley
Emmy, Brynlee, Raquel, Addison, Hunter, Bentley, & Benson.

Brynlee and Emerson

I told you she chews on everything!

Isobel & Jessica

My two sweethearts!

Our Little Family

All about Emmy

So Emerson is now 3 months old. She has grown and changed so much! Last week at her 3 month check up she was 16 lbs 6 oz, and I did not catch her length but she is LONG. She is in the 97th percentile so she is a big girl. 

Emmy plays more and smiles all of the time. She has even laughed which makes me laugh because it is so cute! Anything she does makes her dad laugh; she pukes, he laughs, she poops, he laughs, she cries, he laughs... so pretty much everything she does makes Jorden laugh. It is so precious to see Jorden play with Emerson, or to see when Jorden walks by she watches him and follows him because she knows him. I love the little conversations they have. It is mostly Jorden talking and Emmy cooing but it is very special. Emerson already has her Daddy wrapped around her little finger. 

I am loving being the mother of such a sweet girl! I hope that I am up for the challenge of raising one of our Heavenly Fathers precious children and I am so grateful for this opportunity. I cannot wait to see what these next months will bring. 

We Love You Emerson!

Easter

I would like to share my testimony of our Savior  Jesus Christ. 
I know that He lives. 
I know that he atoned for our sins in the Garden of Gethsemene. And more specifically I know that He atoned for my sins and my mistakes. 
I have felt the atonement at work in my life and I know it is there for anyone who has ever made mistakes or felt despair, grief and pain. Our Lord and Savior has been through it all so that we can become clean and so that our burdens may become light. 
He is the only begotten of the father. 
He is the perfect example. 
It is through Jesus Christ that we can receive a remission of our sins and one day return to the presence of our Father in Heaven. 
He lived. 
He died. 
And he rose again on the third day. 
That is what we celebrate this Easter season. 

I have attached some links to share with you all the joys of this easter season. Enjoy!

One of my favourite church hymns is "I Know That My Redeemer Lives". Go HERE to listen and read the inspired words.

Also watch THIS short Easter video. I loved it and wish to share it with all those who may find themselves reading this. 

I hope that we can all remember Jesus Christ and the atonement this Easter weekend and also remember it for many years to come.

Blessed

Emerson was blessed on Sunday, March 22, 2014.  It was a beautiful blessing and Jorden did such a good job.  Emerson did a good job and did not cry until the very end when she spit out her soother.  I am so lucky to have a husband who worthily holds the priesthood and was able to bless our little girl.  I love Jorden and Emerson, they are my little family!  

As a side note my mother in-law made Emerson's blessing dress and it turned out beautifully!  Ruthanne is a very talented woman I was very excited when she asked if she could make Emerson's blessing dress.  I seriously have the BEST in-laws. They are so willing to help us out with whatever we need and whenever we may need it, they are such good grandparents to our little girl, and they are fun to be with. What more could we ever ask for.

It was so nice to have family with us on Emerson's special day.  We are so lucky and blessed to have the families that we do.  I do not know what we would do without them. 

Baby Girl Holst

Emerson Alexis Holst

January 30, 2014

11:10 am

8lbs 11oz

21 3/4 "

I can see the FINISH LINE!

Well today is the day we have been counting down to since the beginning. DUE DATE! 

Unfortunately Baby is still not here! But I had an appointment with my doctor this morning and I am booked in to be induced on Feb 5. That is unless I go into labour before that day. Let's hope I do because I hear being induced makes labour really hard right from the beginning. So maybe our little peanut will decide to make its entrance earlier than the 5th but then again maybe not. Only time will tell! So we will have our baby in 8 days or less! I am staying positive and I will definitely try to do a lot of walking, eat some spicy food, perhaps I will try acupuncture and whatever other natural ways there are to help bring on labour. So here it goes! I hope the next eight days are good to me! And I am so excited to have an end date in sight! Baby is almost here and I am more than excited to meet this little wiggler! 

And A Happy New Year!

Jorden and I had a wonderful Christmas and New Years! We spent our time here in Taber with the Holst's. There was plenty of food, fun and family! Good times had by all!

Christmas day marked me reaching 35 weeks and then New Years day marked me hitting 36 weeks! And now I have reached 37 weeks which is considered full-term! WooHoo! It is crazy to believe how fast everything has gone by. It feels like only yesterday when I found out we were having a baby, and now I only have 3 weeks until my due date! Heck there are only 19 more DAYS! There were moments when time seemed to crawl by, but looking back at it now it has FLOWN by! I have been really lucky too. I have not had anything much to complain about during this pregnancy which is definitely a blessing. I have only just started being uncomfortable and feeling like everything is squeezed in and trying to poke out in all the wrong places. But I am so excited for this next step! Not the whole birthing thing, I really don't know what that is going to be like for me, but I am so excited for the result of finally having our baby in our arms! AND knowing what it is. We have names picked out for either a Boy or a Girl and I am so excited to finally be able to use a name and not just call the baby IT.

Jorden and I share the same Birthday, just a year apart. So this Christmas my In-laws decided to buy us a combined Birthday and Christmas present. They really did spoil us and gave us a new camera! So now we can take decent pictures, that is once we learn how to use it. It almost intimidates me at the moment. I have never been very good at taking pictures even when I have a camera with me sometimes I forget to snap a few photos in those key moments. I guess I have to get practising now! We have the tools and now we need to use them!

Since we did not feel comfortable travelling in my current state this holiday season, we were unable to see my family who all congregated in Kelowna this year. I come from a large family and get together's seem to be getting harder each year, but we are trying! There are 8 children in my family. The oldest 6 have their spouses or partners. Then there are the kids that keep coming at a growing rate. There are currently 9 Grand -kids and 2 more are due to be born this month! (Paige and I are due 5 days apart! So we will have to see which baby decides to come first!) So in total the amount of people in our family is currently 23, soon to be 25! I can only imagine that it will keep growing from here and that number will continue to climb upwards.

This week I will hopefully be able to see one of my sisters and her family. They are coming out to visit their various friends and family. We will finally be able to meet their daughter Kadence who was born back in August. So I am pretty excited for that. Hopefully they will still be around for when we have our baby!  Two birds with one stone... ha maybe not, but it is a thought.

I am still working Monday through Friday. I figured just work up until the baby comes. I would probably drive myself crazy at home anyways. At least at work I have something to do and distract me other than the thoughts of the impending birth. At my appointment this week my doctor told me things are starting to get going and baby is head down so that is a good sign. He also jokingly said, "you could have the baby this weekend, I am on call." That would be nice let me tell you, so if I could make it happen I would but the BABY will come when it is ready. I just have to keep telling myself that, and remind myself that I cannot make it happen when I want it to. Patience is something I seem to have a little less of now. I am just anxious for the whole thing and wanting to know when it will happen and what the baby is! But no one can answer those questions for me unfortunately, I just have to wait... And WAIT I shall.

I will keep all updated on when it actually happens! Don't worry! Until then, I hope you have all had a wonderful holiday season and I wish you all a Happy New Year!