Day out with Thomas 2008

Cooper really had a great time with Thomas today. I think he also enjoyed spending time with me and Brooks alone. This was our third year in a row, and we sure could tell that he enjoyed himself this year. He was on his best behavior considering the heat and his lack of sleep last night. We can't wait for next year. Gram and D also had a great time keeping Emme. She was also very good for them. Cooper was a bit squinty in this picture, but he gets that honest. We were looking directly into the sunlight, but the photographer managed to get a good shot that we were suckered into buying. I just like to see how he grows every year.

Daddy and Cooper on Thomas. It was nice to sit in the air conditioning. They had a great time.

Close up of Thomas....He's such a useful Engine!

I had a great time on Thomas too! Me and my little man, I love him to pieces!!

Thomas pulling back into the station. Great job Thomas! See you next year.

Emerson at 2 months

Can you see a difference in these two?

What about the close ups?

It's so hard to believe it's been two months! I just enjoy every minute with her. She's my little princess! She's such a good girl. Matter of fact, she ate at 1030pm last night and didn't wake up until I woke her at 715am! I hope we're on to something good.

Anyway, today was quite a busy day. Brooks and I took Cooper to the Day out with Thomas. I have pictures to post but will Post those in a minute. I'll give you all the details then.

Where does the time go?

It's hard to believe that my sweet princess is two months old today. I hate that she is growing up so fast. Seems like just yesterday that she was in my tummy. I miss her movements in there, but I'm so happy she's here. She brings so much joy to our lives. I took pictures today with her bear. I did the same thing for 1 month, so you'll have to see how much she changed. I'll post those tomorrow as I'm very tired. Gram and D arrived this evenings and we've had a busy night. We go to see Thomas the train tomorrow so I'll also post pictures of that experience. Until tomorrow....Goodnight!

Yay it's the weekend!

Wow, it's Friday already. Time sure does fly when you're out on maternity leave. The days just seem to all run together. I'm really enjoying my time off. I sure wish I didn't have to go back. If I could just find something to do from home and still bring home my salary that would be awesome. I just feel like I miss so much. Especially with an hour commute to and from work. It's really quite depressing. But anyway, back to what's going on in our house.

Last night was a rough night for me, not because the baby woke up, but because I couldn't go to sleep for anything. I took a late nap yesterday, and I think that was the culprit. Once I did manage to drift off around 230am, I had horrible nightmares and was awake until Emme woke up at 5am. I should be a zombie right now, but I'm not. I just have a hard time settling down at night. Maybe I should add that to the list to talk to the doctor about on Tuesday.

Tonight we went out to the Lebanon Outlets and shopped for the kids. We have fall coming up and they both needed some clothes. It was so hard to find Cooper something, as usual. I did find him some shirts and some TRex PJs that he wanted. He has them on right now, and they are long sleeves. I just hope he doesn't burn up tonight. I got a 4T so they would last him all winter, but of course the pants are going to have to be taken up in the waist. They fall off of him. They should shrink a bit in the wash and work out okay everywhere else. He loves them. I got Emme's Halloween costume. It's a butterfly and is so cute. I just love it. I'll have to put it on her this weekend. Brooks got some shorts, and of course I got nothing. Wait, I did buy some wallflowers from bath and body works for $3.99. That was a savings of $8.50. I love shopping for everyone else. I need to get the rest of this baby weight off before I worry about myself. I did manage to stay away from the Coach outlet even though I was right there at it and saw a lot of people with big bags. They were probably having a huge sale, but lord knows I don't need anymore purses. I really do want a snazzy red one though....or maybe a jewel tone.

Brooks parents are coming in tomorrow. I'm sure they will be excited to see Cooper and Emme. They will be so happy to see her big smiles. We're taking Cooper to the Day out with Thomas on Sunday, so that should be fun for the 3rd year in a row. He usually enjoys himself. Let's hope the "Good" Cooper will show up because the "Bad" Cooper surfaced at dinner tonight. "Bad" Cooper is rambunctious and doesn't know how to listen. Emme is going to stay home with Gram and D, so that should make these a bit easier for us. Brooks and I are going to try to go see Batman The Dark Knight on Imax on Sunday night. I love to go to the movies and eat popcorn. Especially now that we never get to go unless our parents are in town.

Well, I'm trying to type with the princess in my arms, and it's quite challenging. I'll check in again tomorrow. Until then....Goodnight!

Catching up!

Sorry I failed to post something last night. My head was hurting so bad, I went to bed really early. Brooks was nice enough to take care of Emme's last feed, and I woke up with her at 515am when she needed a bottle. I actually felt better and even felt rested. Thanks honey! That was really very nice of you. I'm hoping my doctor can help with the headaches, because it's really hard to function in that much pain. It's like my brain can't even process. I tried to put Cooper's PJs on over his regular clothes last night. Not good.

Today I had Cooper and Emme, and it wasn't too bad. Cooper decided not to listen very well, but I actually didn't have to punish him at all. He did sneak into the Oreo's and almost ate the entire bag. Needless to say, I'm sure he ran off all of those calories and then some throughout the day. As you can tell from my previous posts, today is my brothers 34th birthday. I can't believe he's so old. He will be the big 4-0 in just six more years. That's unbelievable. That must make my mom feel really old. Anyway, I hope he had a great day and we can't wait to celebrate with him next weekend when we travel home. Cooper insist that he needs a Kung Fu Panda birthday cake. I'm sure we'll have to get him one.

I'm really looking forward to travelling home next weekend. My grandmother and other family will finally get to meet Sweet little Emme. She is getting baptized on September 7th at my home church and I'm really looking forward to that. We will be in NC for two weeks, and we're going to go to the beach for a few days. Cooper hasn't been to the beach since he was 18 months old, and he doesn't remember it. He calls it the big sandbox. I think he will have such a great time. I sure wish we lived closer. He would have so much fun. I wish he could be closer to his cousins that are all about the same age. I just love NC.

I have become quite the domesticated housewife while I've been out on maternity leave. I have been experimenting in the kitchen, and I really have outdone myself this time. I've been thinking about the perfect chicken pot pie, and I think I hit the nail on the head tonight. It was the best pot pie I have ever eaten. Brooks agreed. I even managed to get Cooper to eat it, and that's quite a feat. He actually ate fresh vegetables and chicken. I'm glad this is documented. It had fresh corn, cubed potatoes, and peas and carrots. The crust was made of cornbread and it was delicious. I have to take time to right down everything that I used for a recipe. It was perfection. Brooks jokes that I'll be contacting Food Network soon. I wouldn't go that far, as I'm sure my cooking days will be over when I go back to work. I have too long of a commute to cook. That part really sucks.

Anyway, I need to go feed my princess so I'll update you later. Until tomorrow....Goodnight!

Pictures Cooper Drew for Uncle J's Birthday!

Cooper drew these pictures for Uncle Jeremy's birthday! The first one is an Alien with pants on and a bug crawling on his leg. The second one has two aliens. The second Alien started out as a "H" and ended up an alien with a spider crawling on it. So cute! I hope you like them.

Happy Birthday Uncle J!

Happy Birthday Uncle Jeremy! We can't wait to see you next weekend.

We love you.

Love,

Cooper and Emerson

Late night

Well, I know it's technically Wednesday, but I just managed to get Emerson down from her last feed. Hopefully this means she will sleep until at least 7 or 8am, but at this age you just never know. She consistently sleeps for 7 hour stretches every night, but she didn't last night. So, it just depends. Unfortunately, I'm still wide awake because I slept a lot today. Brooks was home from work sick. I'm hoping it was just the beef stroganoff that he fixed for dinner on Monday night. He spent much of the night in the bathroom. It didn't seem to make me that sick, but he is pretty pukey when it comes to stomach issues. I just took a tums and felt much better. Hopefully it wasn't a virus or anything because he did hold the baby and stuff today. It rained again here, so we didn't do much. I hope to be able to clean the house a bit tomorrow and maybe return those jeans I bought for Cooper this weekend. I'm hoping my hand print plates will be ready in Franklin this week. The lady told us two weeks, but it's been a month now. She called last Wednesday and said she had to re fire one because there was a problem with it. She hasn't called me since, so I might follow up with her tomorrow. Hopefully they will turn out well.

Anyway, let's hope our week gets a little more exciting, because if not I won't have much to blog about. Until tomorrow....Goodnight!

Secret Language?

Today was a pretty boring day in the Dellinger household. It rained off and on, and I honestly forgot what the sound of rain was like. It's very relaxing. It hasn't rained hard in a really long time. We definitely needed it. It was a bit windy too, I think we were getting the remnants of Fay today. Emme and I just hung out, had tummy time, and waited for Daddy and Cooper to get him.

What is it with kids? They just seem to have this secret society where they understand each other. Emme had her longest nap of the day from about 4-515pm and then from 545pm-8pm. After she ate at 8pm we went to Coopers room to spend some time with him. Emme is completely mesmerized by him. She loves him so much. He is the one person in this house that can get the most smiles from her. She smiled the entire time we were in there. She was standing on her legs and just cooing away. He likes to give her a lot of toys to play with because he just doesn't quite understand that she's too little for all that stuff right now. He wanted me to play patty-cake with her, so we did that over and over and she just smiled. He loves to play with her piggies, and he is really quite good at it. He kissed her head and played with her legs. They both bring so much joy to my life. I hope they will some day let me into their "Secret society". It has to be so much fun. I wonder what the secret word is? I hope it's I love mommy. Until tomorrow....Goodnight!

Our uneventful day.

Well, today was a typical uneventful day. I like it that way.

Cooper and I slept until after 1015am. That's a first. Cooper is always up at the crack of dawn regardless of what time he goes to bed. We were both up late last night because we took late naps yesterday. He was very interested in books last night, so I took the opportunity to read to him until about 1am. I'm assuming he needed the rest to sleep off illness. He woke up fever free, so that was very exciting. Looks like we're on the down slope, I just hope no one else gets it. Especially not the baby. It's obviously not anything big because Cooper didn't really have any other symptoms besides the high fever. You know high fever in infants means a trip to the ER with a total workup. Not fun! Emme hasn't napped very well today. I hope that means she sleeps very well tonight because I know she needs it.

I don't have much to blog about tonight. I did manage to finish the season finale of Grey's Anatomy while Brooks and Cooper were at the grocery store. I was a wreck, of course. That has to be the very best show on TV. I can't wait for the new season. Maybe Derrick and Meredith will finally make this thing work. We watched the closing ceremonies for the Olympics tonight, and it made me sit back and think about how quickly the days go by. Growing up our lives just seem to slowly creep by, and now that we are adults and have our own family it just seems to fly by in a flash. It seems like the Athens games were just yesterday. It's hard to believe that was four years ago. I was pregnant with Cooper. Brooks and I had no children. Then I was thinking about the London games. Cooper will be almost eight years old then, and Emerson will be four. That really breaks my heart to see how fast they grow. It's hard to believe it will be 2012 before we know it. Who knows? Maybe we'll be having another baby by then?! Probably not, but I can't help to think about another one. I found myself thinking about what sports Cooper and Emerson would compete in at the Olympics. Cooper could be one of the first Olympic golfers. They have to add that as an Olympic sport at some point. Emerson is probably going to be too tall to be a gymnast, but maybe she'll play Volleyball or even Badminton. I love some Badminton. I know I was never an athlete, so maybe they will just enjoy watching the games as I always have. Until tomorrow...Goodnight!

An enjoyable day with the fam!

Well, today was quite an enjoyable day. Of course, Cooper woke up with fever again. That didn't make things enjoyable, but after a dose of Motrin we were all in great moods. Emerson slept until 615am, so Brooks was even well rested and in a great mood.

Brooks started the day by going to get his tire patched first thing. He managed to run over a huge piece of metal pulling into the drive way earlier in the week. They were able to fix it with no problem, thank goodness. After he got home from the tire shop we got dressed to head out to Opry Mills. Old Navy was having their kids jeans on sale for $7.00 and I thought this would be a great time to get Cooper some fall jeans. We also had a coupon for joining the Rainforest Safari club, and we could also use it at the Aquarium restaurant. Cooper really loves to visit the Rainforest Cafe, but we thought he would also enjoy the Aquarium. We haven't eaten there since he was much younger. I don't even think he remembers going there before. It was a huge hit and Cooper was very well behaved. I'm hoping we're taking a step in the right direction. He's been great this entire week. We decided to eat lunch first, and Cooper had a great time walking around looking at all the fish. He took pictures of the sharks with my camera, and I must say they turned out pretty good. I'll post one for you to see. He ate a few bites of his pasta, so I was also excited about that. After eating, we headed off to Old Navy to find some jeans. Wouldn't you know they only had one pair in his size? I had to take him in to try them on because I have no idea what size to buy him. His waist is so small, but he is a bit tall. Old Navy is the only store where I can buy him pants because they have adjustable waistbands that go around the entire pant. We ended up needing a 3T because it swallowed him in the waist, but he couldn't go any smaller on the length. He might be able to wear a 4T by the time he starts kindergarten. They were huge. I get to the checkout with his jeans, and the girl says you managed to pick up the only pair of jeans in the store that isn't on sale. That made me mad. I had no idea that there were only specific jeans on sale. It was the only pair in his size in the entire store. I was mad that I waited in line. Needless to say, I left there with no jeans. I don't buy anything that isn't dirt cheap, and you all know that. Brooks had taken Cooper down to the Nike outlet while I was paying, and I met them there. Cooper passed by the Glow Golf putt putt place and really wanted to play. He got to play for free with a paying adult so I let Brooks take him while me and Emerson strolled the mall and looked at a few other places. It was a great opportunity to take my time and look. We went to the Disney store, and I found the cutest tinkerbell costume for Emme. The smallest size they had was 6-9 months, so I know that will be way too big for her. I'm going to check online before I buy it because I loved it. I think I could make it work if they don't have anything else. It was so cute. After leaving Disney, I stopped in Zales to look and dream. It's amazing how no one bothers you when you're looking at jewelry alone with a brand new baby. I guess they knew they wouldn't be selling me anything. LOL. Smart that she didn't waste her time. A girl can dream, right? On my way back to the Golf place I passed Brooks. I guess it took them less than 30 minutes to play Glow Golf because they were finished. We gathered our stuff and headed for the car. I got Brooks to drop me off by Providence in Mt Juliet to look for more jeans. I ended up with two pair just alike. I decided I'd shop online because they would have more selection. I was right. They had so much more to choose from online. I bought him 3 pair online and I'm going to take one of the others back tomorrow. He doesn't need two pair of jeans that are just alike. After that stop we headed home. Cooper wasn't feeling well, and we ended up taking a nap. He woke up burning up so I gave him more Motrin. Let's hope this runs it's course and he's feeling better by Monday. I sure don't want the baby to catch this and get a fever.

We don't have any major plans for tomorrow, so I'm sure we'll just hang around home. I guess I'll update you all then. Until tomorrow....Goodnight!

It never fails!

Well folks, my son officially needs to live in a bubble. It never fails, every time we go out in public with a mass amount of people he winds up with a 103 degree fever within a few days. As you know, we went to the Wilson County fair last night and as luck would have it, Cooper now has a 103 degree fever. No symptoms leading up to it, just told me he was cold earlier and woke up saying he was hot. This happened last year after the fair, and it happens almost every time we go to Chuck E Cheese. You'd think his immune system would be stronger by now. Any ideas? He picks up any little cold at daycare, I just don't know what else to do. Give him more vitamins? We are trying to keep him as far away from the baby as possible. We've all had a cold over the past few weeks that keeps coming back, but no one has had a fever. I even kept putting antibacterial on Cooper a million times last night. At least I'm not working right now and can easily care for him. I love to baby him. He's still my little man! Let's hope he'll be back to normal in a few days. I just don't want to shelter him anymore than we already do....he sure did love the fair.

Emme is still having a time with her acid reflux. I just don't know what else to do. I guess we'll have to make another trip back to the pediatrician. Hopefully he will have some suggestion. We had three major spit ups today. It makes for a lot of laundry. She's taking the zantac, and that seems to help a bit. She had another projectile episode tonight, and she loses everything. I have learned to tell when it's going to happen, but I can't react in time to catch it. At the current rate, she has these episodes at least half of her feedings. I'm very used to spit up, as Cooper spit up every time he ate for the first six months of his life. This is very different. I just hope it doesn't hurt her. From the look and sound of it, I don't know how it wouldn't hurt. Can I just tell you again how precious she is? Throw up and all....I love her to pieces! Her little grins just make my day.

I was so busy with work the past few months before delivery that I rarely got to watch any tv in the evenings. That said, I had four episodes of Grey's Anatomy on Tivo that I was determined to catch up on before the new season begins. Today was the day! Even with both kids at home, I managed to sit down long enough to fast forward my way through three episodes. I only have the season finale remaining, and I'm hoping to watch that this weekend or on Monday. Can I just say that I was an emotional wreck today? I was crying uncontrollable. That's not anything new, I always cry at least once every episode. While I was sobbing I managed to think about every bad thing that could possibly happen to me. I thought about what I would do if I lost Brooks. I honestly don't think I could carry on. I mean, I know I would have to, but I wouldn't want to. Now that I'm married with kids it is very clear to me how brave my mom was when she lost my Dad. It was so tough on all of us, but she carried on. She took care of us like no one else could have. I know she struggled, but I never knew. She is truly a phenomenal woman. I commend her because I know it had to be so hard to not let her emotions take over and just shut down. I know I would be an emotional wreck for a really, really long time if anything happened to Brooks. Rest assured, I'd be moving right back home to NC with my mom. My family would be the only ones that could get me through that. Enough about the crazy thoughts, but those that know me know that I tend to think about terrible things happening. I don't know why. All that to say, I love Grey's Anatomy. You always get a good cry. Not that I don't cry often anyway. I'm very sensitive.

Well, I'm off to bed. I'm so happy it's the weekend. Brooks takes the baby on the weekends, and I get to sleep in Cooper's room so I don't wake up. I really look forward to a night of uninterrupted sleep. Emme really is a great girl for her Daddy. She usually sleeps through the night when every time he's in charge. We'll see. I'll update you all. Until tomorrow...Goodnight!

Well rested?!

After a very exciting night at the fair, I'm happy to report that Sweet Emme girl slept from 1115pm until 620am! I feel so rested this morning. As a matter of fact, everyone woke up in great moods this morning. I even decided to let Cooper stay home from Nana's House this morning. He likes to stay home, but I can usually tell from his mood if I'll be able to handle them both. I like to keep him in his normal routine. Too many days at home could be problematic for him. He already doesn't want me to go back to work. Of course, that makes two of us, but I know there is no way I could not return. Unless, someone in my close family hits the Lotto. He is really showing some progress on behavior this week. I think after our deep talk on Sunday, he understands I will not continue to put up with unacceptable behavior. More later....

Back on schedule?

Well, I'm happy to note that Emerson was back on schedule last night. I gave her a bath and massage around 10pm and then we ate and went to bed. She was so relaxed from her bath that it took her a while to finish her bottle. I swaddled her up tight and put her in her bassinet. She slept very sounds until about 230am, but I just gave her the Soothie and she was back out. Thank Goodness. It was so nice to be back in bed with my husband and every sleeping well. Cooper did wake up at about 530am and came to our room. He's having a bit of a problem sleeping in his room alone. The first thing he asked is if the baby was in our bed. Of course, I got to say No and he was okay with that. He jumped up between us until Brooks alarm went off at 6am. He doesn't like the fact that the baby is in our room right now because he knows he can't sleep with us. I think it made him feel a lot better to know that she was in her bassinet and not in our bed. Lets hope we'll all continue to sleep well because I know I'm a much nicer person that way. We're heading out to the fair tonight, and I'm quite excited. I love to see my little boy filled up with joy as he rides all the rides and sees the animals. I live to make this child happy. I'm also selfishly looking forward to the fair food. Lord knows that's the last thing I need, but oh well. I do plan to indulge in all the bad stuff. I'll try to check in later tonight. Let's hope we don't over stimulate anyone right before bed. Fingers crossed!

My new obsession...

So here I am, day two of blogging. I'm proud, and it's really becoming quite addicting. I obviously have a lot to learn because my blog is rather boring. I have friends that have amazing layouts and such, but I don't know anything about that. I'll have to google that when I get time.

Let me start off by saying, What happened to my great sleeper? Emerson has slept at least one five hour stretch at night since she came home from the hospital. Not the past two nights. I'm hoping it's just a growth spurt because she just seems so hungry. We've started giving her 4 oz at a time, but she usually leaves just a little bit. Last night she was up every three hours like clock work. I'm not used to that, as she has always allowed me to get at least one long stretch of sleep. Let's hope this passes very soon. She woke up after two hours in some cases, but I was able to hold her off by snuggling and giving her the pacifier. I feel like she should have gained nicely over this past month. Let's hope she gets out of that 20% percentile this time. She should at least weigh within 9 lbs. My arms are a bit sore, so I know she is gaining. Needless to say, with her sleeping pattern last night I was extremely exhausted today. We slept in unto about 930am this morning, and I took an afternoon nap while she was sleeping. She is really a joy. She's been giving us some great smiles these days. I need to try to capture another one on camera. Haily actually captured her first smile on camera on her 1 month birthday. I was amazed. Cooper was almost 8 weeks before he flashed his first smile. She's given more smiles off and on since one month, but they have really picked up this past week. It never fails, she always smiles at Brooks when she sees him. I guess it's because he looks so funny, because I know she loves me more. :)LOL. Her favorite time to smile is when she's kicking and moving her arms and legs on the changing table. It's definitely making diaper changing so much more fun. She has also recognized herself in the mirror. That's quite amazing. She is mesmerized by the mirror. She has also found her tongue and she enjoys making lots of bubbles. It must be great being a baby. I'm sure I enjoyed it thoroughly. Too bad I don't remember.

Cooper has being doing so well the past three days, but today seemed to be more challenging. We've tried to implement the 1-2-3 countdown to consequence method and it has been working so far. I'm a bit hesitant to even mention it because everything seems to work at first. Brooks and I are really trying to make every effort to follow through. If I get to 3 he has to suffer the consequences. We're going to try to go to the Wilson County fair tomorrow, so we have been able to use that for leverage this week. He really enjoys the fair, so he's been on his best behavior. Lets just hope the racing pigs are back this year, they were the highlight of our fair trip last year. We even got to see them again at the NC state fair last year. They always draw a big crowd. On another note, he really wants to play with his baby sister. I know he will be so happy when she is more mobile and can actually laugh at him. He just wants her to be so big already. Every day he asks if she's "grown up" yet. It's very cute, but I don't want her to grow up. I'm trying to enjoy every minute of this stage. I think I spent so much time waiting for Cooper to meet milestones that I didn't enjoy every stage. I know that's because he was my first. I just can't believe how blessed we are.

We have really enjoyed the Olympics over the past few weeks. The ladies beach volleyball match just came on, and I'm hoping for gold. It's really quite entertaining. Looks like I will be using the evenings for my normal blog time. I tried to get online all day to blog, but it just didn't happen. Hopefully I'll be able to add some pictures tomorrow. I've gotten most of them off the camera, and I realized today that I need to take some pictures. I haven't taken many of Emme this week, and I'm sure she has changed. Anyway, I'll end for now. Until tomorrow...Goodnight.

My first post...

Well, here goes my attempt to document what's going on in our household. I'm almost hesitant to even attempt this because I know I'm really bad about following through and keeping up with journals, etc.

As most of you know, we just recently became a family of four. Our sweet baby girl, Emerson Brooke, entered the world on June 30, 2008 and life will never be the same. She is the sweetest thing. She is turning out to be a much different baby from her brother, so I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that she will be a much different toddler. She is a bit needy right now, and Cooper was always very content. She likes to see me and she likes to be held. I'm sure that has nothing to do with the fact that she was held for the first month of her life, as our house was full of loving family. I'm happy to hold her too. This will likely be our last, so I'm trying to savor every moment. Today was a good day though, she actually self soothed herself back to sleep in her crib. I was very proud, as this usually doesn't end up well. She usually will only nap in her crib for a short while. She sleeps really well at night though. I can't complain about that, as she really only got up once or twice from the very beginning. We manage to sleep from about 10:30pm to around 5am on most nights. Seems like she's been having a growth spurt the past few days, as she has demanded more food more often. She has also grown to love the swing in the past few days. I actually turned the cradle portion around to swing from front to back, and she definitely likes that much better. Thank goodness for that. I've tried all of her little stations lately, and she didn't seem to like anything for long. She just loves the warmth of a body.

Cooper seems to be adjusting pretty well to the new addition. Of course it's a change, as he has always received 100% of our attention. We're working on that now, and we want to make sure he still knows that he is still such a special part of our lives. While my mom and brother were visiting, we tried to take him with us alone. That seems to help. It's hard to do that now that all of our family is gone. It's quite difficult being somewhere with no immediate family. We are adjusting though. He is still quite active, everyone says he's just being a 3 year old boy. I hope they are right. We need a break soon. We have had some really great days this week. He is working on his listening skills. He really seems to love being a big brother, as long as it means he doesn't have to do anything to help. He things getting me a diaper or wipe is "hard work". He just seems so big to me now. He still doesn't weigh much, but that's only because he runs off every calorie he takes into his little body. Bless him! I sure do love that little boy!!

Brooks is adjusting well to being a father of two. His little girl has him wrapped around her little finger already. He really just loves to look at her. It's so hard for both of us to believe we finally have a little girl. I longed for this for so long. After all of the fertility issues, it's just hard to believe we were blessed with one of each, who could ask for anything better? We have both made a conscious effort to be very gentle and kind to each other. There is just so much love in this house, there is no reason to forget about that. We are trying to help and support each other. I know I really try extra hard during the day to keep our house clean. He is such a great cook, and I do appreciate that. He also takes over on the weekends, when I know he would rather get his sleep. I do respect his work schedule during the week, and don't ask him to get up to feed Emme or get bottles. It's definitely a partnership, and I love him to death for that.

As for me, things are going pretty well. I do feel a bit exhausted most of the time, but I think that's just an adjustment. I love my sleep. I'm learning to deal with less sleep again. It's not as shocking as it was the first time. As a matter of fact, everything just seems to be easier this time. I always wondered if I would remember what to do, and everyone was right, you just remember. I did have a more complicated and painful recovery from the c-section this time. I was much more sore this time, but they say each time is different. I have also suffered from severe headaches since the day Emme was born. They are quite painful and much like migraines. I've always been a migraine sufferer, but they seemed to subside when I got pregnant with Cooper. I didn't have any trouble during this pregnancy, but they are back with a vengeance now. I'm hoping someone can do something to give me some relief, because it's really hard to function these days. I know I wouldn't be able to make it if Cooper wasn't going to daycare. I have an appointment with my endocrinologist in the new few weeks, and I'm hoping she can help when she starts me back on my meds for the PCOS. I have a feeling it's just hormones.

As I sit here typing, I think this might be very therapeutic. I could possibly keep this up if time permits. I'll just have to make time, right? Well, I should end now, it's time to get sweet Emme ready for bed. Until tomorrow......Goodnight!