four whole weeks; one whole month!

 it is really impossible to believe that a month ago we were still anticipating the arrival of this little niblet.  crazy.  i feel like our lives have really gotten into the swing of being a family of three and we are really enjoying it.

last week, emme and i got out of the house a lot more.  we ran errands, went to the grocery store, and had some long strolls on warm days.  we also spent about three hours at a coffeeshop with alison and baby cameron on thursday and emme did amazingly well!  i am guessing this gets a little harder when the kiddos get older and/or we have more than one a piece, but for now it made me feel remarkably normal to be out and about (except for the fact that i was having a leisurely coffee on a work day, but i digress).  

in aunt paula's christmas outfit during our 1 month photo shoot today

wednesday, we had our IRS audit, which totally sucked.  it was 30 degrees outside and we both had to be there at 8 in the morning, so of course emme had to be there too.  i bundled her up like a little eskimo, but i still got lots of looks and little comments like "it's too cold for a baby that little to be out!".  well, duh.  none of us were particularly happy about getting her out in that, but she is (fortunately) no worse for the wear and we just have to write the IRS a nice, fat check and then hopefully we are done with all of that.  ugh.  

i normally wouldn't post a picture of myself like this on here, but justin took these of me and emme yesterday morning, unbeknownst to either of us.  genetics are hilarious.  

this weekend brought a trip to ikea and several rendezvous with friends.  thursday, erin and derek brought yummy dinner and visited for a bit.  friday, the three of us had leftovers and hung out at home.  saturday was ikea and christmas card wrangling.  we also went out to dinner for the first time!  one of dad's fraternity brothers was in town, so we met he and his fiancee and our friends justin and kristina and their son oliver at an italian place called mandola's.  the restaurant is always busy and loud with lots of families.  it's also very casual and has counter service, so we thought it was perfect.  emme slept the whole time, as is usual when she's in her car seat.  

i love this outfit - it makes her look so grown-up.  

sunday was the four week mark since emme's birthday, and she decided to celebrate by being awake ALL day.  it was crazy!  she was amazingly in a great mood for the majority of it, though.  i don't think she took more than a 15-minute nap the whole day.  jb and i got lots of organizing done and she just hung out for all of it.  i cleaned out our desk and got to tell her all about how bad her dad and i are at managing our paperwork.  i am reading books to her most days and she is getting more interested in those - there is one in particular with simple, bold drawings of penguins and she gets mesmerized by them.  sunday night, ryan and kirsty and their daughter morgan brought over delicious chili and hung out for a little while.  

christmas outfit - i wanted more than just one wear out of an outfit this cute...

the booties are adorable.  

monday, emme and i had another adventure on the town.  our housekeeper was here, so we went to this little shop and picked up a few more cloth diapers and then we went to a book store to get a couple of presents for the little miss.  monday evening the riders came over and got to meet emmeline for the first time.  april gave her a bottle and she was very well behaved.  there was a small criz in the evening, but i rocked her and she managed to nod off.  everything was great - we went to bed kind of early and had a 4-hour stretch of sleep - and then shortly after that feed, we woke up to a dog having had an accident in the kitchen.  NOT fun at 3 in the morning.  anyway...after picking that up, emme was awake and ready to roll, so i just got up and rocked and nursed her and then she and i finally passed out on the couch for a brief moment before the day was ready to begin.  needless to say, we are looking forward to a better night's sleep tonight.  well, emme has been sleeping all day today, so hopefully we are BOTH looking forward to that....

nap time today - she was not interested in putting on clothes before napping.  

and that brings us to today, one month old!  as i said, the madam has been asleep most of the day, but this morning she was awake for a couple of hours and i am pretty sure i got the first smiles!  she definitely smiles in her sleep and at random intervals (especially while eating), but this morning she smiled AT me while i was talking and smiling at her.  it was amazing and i cannot wait to see more and more of those.  

anyway...i do apologize to anyone who reads this for the journal-y quality of posts.  as i mentioned, my mom kept a journal of my first year, and i am hoping to use this forum as something similar for emme.  in fact, i just re-read the chronicle of my first month, and it looks like she and i are pretty similar so far.  i think she might have a better disposition than i did, but i might also be a little biased....