Emmersyn at 11 monthes (almost)

Since I'm giving birth tomorrow on the actual date of Emmersyn's 11 month birthday, I thought I should update today! I can't believe you are already ELEVEN monthes! You are definately different than your sister was. You are a fiesty girl and LOVE to explore.  You love to put everything in your mouth and can find the smallest pieces of things on the floors...definately keeps mommy vacuuming and mopping alot more.

 

 

As you can see from the shirt, you are a teething fool right now! You have 5 teeth and about to get another I'd say.  You also LOVE to stand up and have taken many steps now, but know you can get there quicker by crawling. 

You are a happy baby most of the time. The last few weeks have been a little more trying with surgery and teething, but you are still the happiest baby.  You are content as long as you can see your mommy or Teagan. You absolutely LOVE Teagan and she's really not that nice to you. LOL. 
You have bright blue eyes still and dark hair, although it has lightened up some. It is a chestnut brown color and is such a contrast with your eyes. Beautiful!

You are FEARLESS! You love to bounce and go up the steps. You LOVE anything Teagan has or plays with.  You were all about playing in the bounce house at a party yesterday. I think it took your sister 3 years to get in one and here you are at 10 monthes!

You are about 22lbs. Not sure how tall you are right now, but wear a size 9mn or 12 mn clothes. Most of the sleepers you have are 12 month now for length.  You are in a size 4 diaper. You LOVE every kind of food and are a great eater. I don't think there's anything you won't eat or even turn down!  You take a morning nap for about a half hr and then an afternoon nap for around 1.5-2hrs which daddy loves because he can take a small nap too! You started walking a few weeks ago, although you know you can get there faster by crawling.  I was surprised you walked so early, but you have to be just like your sister!

Emmersyn Shea, we are so blessed to have you in our family! You were definately meant to be our daughter/sister and we can't imagine life without your fiestiness!

36 hours!!!

I'm about 22 hours away from meeting my son so I thought I'd do a little comparasion from last year's pregnancy with Emmersyn and this one! In both pictures I'm about 36 hrs away from giving birth. I feel so much bigger this time around, but really it seems like I'm about the same size! Amazing how different you feel with just 1 kid vs 2.

 

Christmas 2011. About 2 days before I got induced with Emmersyn.

Nov. 25, 2012. About 36 hours before my scheduled c-section.  Can't believe it's not even been 11 monthes yet and I'm having another babY! My family has grown by 4 feet this year! HA!

nesting????

I may have reached the nesting phase of this pregnancy. Good thing since I have about 2 days before #3 comes out. And no, he STILL doesn't have a set name. We have narrowed it down to 2 though...or maybe 3. LOL
This past week I've tried to get all the laundry finished up (although it is not going to be put away) and got the bathrooms mostly cleaned.  I've got the girls clothes, jammies, and undies laid out for the moms for when I'm at the hospital. I went grocery shopping and lined out enough food and formula for Emmersyn and some "special" treats for Teagan too.  I still need to pack my bags and make sure I have his clothes laid out too, but that is last minute things really. 
We decided to wait to move the girls in together too so #3 will be sleeping in our room when he comes home. At least until Emmersyn is finished teething and waking up at night. I don't want all 3 of the kids up all night. 2 will be bad enough!
I think it is finally hitting me that we are really having another baby! I also decided to NOT put up our tree on Friday this year. We will wait until we are home from the hospital and settled first. I didn't want to deal with the mess or stress of having Em pull it down every few seconds (she isn't the best at not touching things) and it just seemed easier. 
Anyways, only 2 days left! Can't believe it's finally here. I feel like I've been pregnant forever....oh wait, I probably have spent the last 2 years being pregnant! LOL

conflicted feelings

The end of the month marks my dad's death day. I thought it would be nice if the baby were born on that date, but it didn't work out for the dr. Matt also thought it may be a bit morbid, but I thought it would be a completion to the circle of life. Instead of mourning on that day, we could once again celebrate! Oh well, he is coming on the the 27th instead.
Today, I got word that my grandma (my dad's mom) passed away yesterday morning.  I'm a little conflicted because we were never really close. I think in my whole life she came to Indiana (lived in FL) twice and we went down there a few times as well. Not to say I didn't get the Christmas cards/gifts, birthday card, etc, but I think there's more to family than just mailing a gift on holidays.  After my dad died, I have not had any contact with them (the whole side of the family) except once again the occasional card and I do send birth announcements, etc as well. The fact is they didn't even come to my wedding so it's not like we're BFF's, but she was still family. My heart doesn't know what to feel.

what else to do at 2:30 in the morning

So, what else can I do at 2:30 in the morning with a house full of sleeping people than blog!?!  That's right, I've been up since 2:30AM and I didn't even have to be up til 5...pure craziness! 
Actually, I went to bed at 9:30 so at 11:30 when Emmersyn woke up with one of her usual night terrors, I assumed it was already 3 and time for a feeding. Me, being the excellent wife I am, kicked Matt and made him get up with her since I do it most every other night. Then, I looked at the clock and wanted to kick myself for not just doing the early round.  Oh well, back to sleep I fell. Around 2 I hear a little voice say "mommy".  Teagan was up! Oh goody! She of course had to potty and then needed more milk and wanted to cuddle. How can you say no to a 2am cuddle? Well, into bed with us she came and about 5 minutes later she was out and I lay WIDE AWAKE! Finally, after tossing and turning for what seemed like hours, I decided to just bite the bullet and take my shower for work. Now, here I sit with not enough time to go back to bed, but too much time to do anything else! And, like clockwork, Emmersyn and my alarm are both going off! Wish me luck at work today with very limited sleep!

fun times

*-Nothing too exciting going on really. We are awaiting #3 and I'm ready to NOT be pregnant for the first time in what seems like 2 years! We celebrated my birthday on Wednesday. I had to return a few things at target and then I bought a few santa gifts that I knew the girls would like. (Matt kept them in the car while I ran in)  Then we went to dinner at Chili's and I bribed Teagan with a trip to Chuck E Cheese if she was good so we ended the night there! HA.

 

Last week, we went shopping to get Teagan new booster seats for our cars so Emmersyn could have hers and the baby could get the carrier. While we bought 2 new seats I also got a front carrier for me to carry one of the babies when I drop Teagan off at school...this is a cause of anxiety for me. As you can see from the picture up top, I'm not so sure how this will work everyday, but I'm hoping to just survive pick up and drop off! What a sight!

And this is a very common sight at the Murray house.  Emmersyn LOVES to walk and push things so Teagan has decided she could be the engine to the car and catch a ride. Poor Emmersyn doesn't know she's getting suckered...yet, but I'm sure paybacks are coming!

#3 update

Little Boy Murray will be arriving on November 27, 2012.  I am scheduled for a repeat c-secton that morning at 7:30am. I am MORE than ready to not be pregnant and to be able to walk without waddling and sneeze without peeing my pants.  He still is without a name though so hoping that comes to us in the next 2 weeks!

sweet memory

Just want to remember how sweet Teagan can be sometimes! Her favorite thing to tell me lately is "mommy, you make the best ____ in the entire world". So cute.
Today I gave her pretzel sticks at snack and she told me I made the best pretzels! HA

Emmersyn's surgery

Emmersyn had her surgery yesterday morning and to say I was a nervous wreck was an understatement.  I barely slept the night before. I was up and down more than I actually slept. The surgery itself wasn't suppose to take too long, but the unknown of what they may find was making my mind work overtime.

 

This is Emmersyn before the surgery.  If you look at her left eye (right side for us) you can see a bump right along the eye crease.  That is the cyst they were removing. The doctor thought he would have to go along the crease, but was actually able to go on the brow line for minimal scarring and less irriation from rubbing.

This is on the car ride home. I sat in back with her and she was fussy as all get out! Of course, it was nearly noon and she wasn't able to eat after midnight the night before. So, I broke the rules and gave her a bottle of formula in the car. She ate it up and went right to sleep!
You can see the incision and stitch line with her 5 stitches and the bruise that is already starting to form.  The purple line over her eye is what the surgeon marks to make sure they opperate on the right body part. 

And this was last night at bed time. You can see it is already starting to bruise more and get more swollen, but she slept great last night. Only got up around 5am for her bottle and fell back to sleep.  This morning her eye is almost swollen shut, but she's still in good spirits and playing like normal.  She has been down for a nap for almost 2 hours though, but I'll still take it.

Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts!  They were able to remove the cyst/tumor all in one ball and it was contained on the surface so no roots into the brain. YAY! I was able to breathe a sigh of relief. The stitches will dissolve in a few weeks (slower for less scarring) and the swelling and bruise should go away in a week or so. I'm so happy I got this done now and didn't wait til she was older and knew what happened.  She was great throughout the whole day, although she was fussy on the way from being hungry, but who can blame her there!

Here's the thing about having a great mom. You know, the kind who volunteers to be room mother, kisses boo boos, makes dinner every night, takes 3 kids to every kid of extra curricular thing offered, car pools, tells you that you can be whatever you want when you grow up so you believe her, and then is just as proud when all you choose to do is "just be a mom".  They set you up for self failure because there is no way you can ever measure up to what they have been in your memories. 
I am there now. Yes, my mom lost her cool some, but I don't remember why. Yes, I'm sure I got in trouble, but I don't remember when.  Yes, I'm sure I got disciplined, but I don't remember how.  I just know I always knew I was loved and safe with my mom.  And I hope one day my girls feel the same way and I hope my son feels it too once he arrives.  I have so much guilt lately about being stressed and unable to do much "fun" things with them because I'm exhausted all the time, but I hope they know how much I love them!

more Halloween pics

As you have read (maybe) my father in law lost his son on Monday morning. He had two sons and both are now deceased. I didn't know if he'd be up to coming down to party on Wednesday, but him and my mother in law came down. I think having the girls around is what they need to feel happy again. Kids have a way of making things seem better if only for a little whie. They don't care what is going on, they just love and play.

 

 Emmersyn is definately Pop's girl. She loves to be held by him and he eats it up as much as she does!

And not to be outdone, Teagan had to join in the fun too!  I LOVE this picture of them!  They all look happy, although Emmersyn looks a little confused, but it is is hard with 3 people to have them all looking right at the camera!

Halloween 2012

Happy halloween from the Murray's! We celebrated Halloween pretty much the way we have since Teagan was born. We had our families over for some food and drinks and let the kids go trick or treating.  This year was a bit more mellow in that I didn't go all out like normal. We just had pizza, coke, and cookies. I also used a hodge podge of plates, napkins, etc.  It was still a fun night.

We even had our friends come go trick or treating with us. The Graham-Hamm's came over and Teagan and Lucas had fun (I think). It was way too cold though and I was afraid Teagan would get sick so I kept messing with her hat/earmuffs. They ended up with a bucket full of candy each so I think they made out ok.

 

 

This is the best picture I could get of the girls before the grandma's arrived.  Yes, it was taken outside in the cold and yes, my girls had no shoes on, but I thought it would be a quick process. HA! Not a chance! Oh well, you can see they are still adorable!

And Teagan got her wish of being a lion for Halloween. I don't know why I bother trying to get her to change her mind. She has the will of an ox and once her mind is made up, there's no changing it. I think this will be a good trait to have later in life or when I'm not the one she's trying to outrule! HA
*This was my costume many many years ago. My mom is a saver of everything and had it in a dress up box for Teagan so that's why she knew Nini would bring it! My mom even dressed like her in a leopard shirt. Teagan kept saying "come on Nala, I am Simba and you are trick or treating with me". And of course, my mom did.