I'm an aunt...again!

My brother-in-law & sister-in-law welcomed their first son into the world this past Saturday in Austin. Bryce David Hiler was born January 23, 2009 at 11:04pm. He weighed 7 lbs 14 oz & was 19.5 inches long. We are thrilled to have another boy in the family - that makes 2 boys & 3 girls from the Hiler clan!

Bryce looking at his Mommy

I think this picure is precious!

Daddy & Bryce

Congrats, Bryan & Candace! We love you & can't wait to meet him!

7 Month Chair pic

Somehow I forgot to post Emerson's 7 month chair picture. I meant to put it at the top of her 7 month post, but forgot. So here she is in all her 7 month glory!

Emme is 7 Months Old!

Emerson was 7 months old yesterday! She is the best baby. We feel so blessed that God chose us to be her parents! I love that she lights up when she sees any family member. I love that she sticks her little tongue out when she smiles. I love her roly poly arms & legs that she flails around all the time. I love her knuckle dimples. I love that button nose. I love how curious she is. I love her!

* She rarely cries - only when she doesn't feel good or when she can see her bottle but doesn't actually have it yet.

* She weighs 15 lbs 5.4 oz.

* She wears 3-6month clothing or 6month.

* She is eating solids well and I haven't found anything that she doesn't like so far.

* She does not take a bottle well. She will suck for a minute or so and then pull away, turn her head, cry then repeat. It takes about 30-40 min for her to drink a 6oz bottle and often times we quit before she finishes. The doctor said to not tolerate it and take the bottle away after about 15 mins and try again later. It has been really frustrating when she does it at school with breastmilk - so much has gone to waste and now we are officially out. So 100% formula from now on. :( She likes the Playtex drop-in bottles with a fast flow nipple best.

*She sleeps for 12 hours straight without waking at night. 8:00pm-8:15am BEST baby!

* She is not the best napper - there is no schedule for napping. She won't follow one, but in general she takes a nap around 10am for 1 hour if on her back & almost 2 if on her tummy. Then she naps again starting between 2 & 3pm for the same amounts of time. She will sleep for longer if she is held, but I don't like to perpetuate that.

* She can sit very well on her own, for long periods of time.

* She is getting very close to crawling - army crawling. She will drag to turn herself, but does not go forward yet.

* She constantly reaches for anything & everything and it all goes promptly to her mouth! Currently, she has my phone in her mouth. Ick! Her socks are constantly wet from chewing on her feet.

* Her brother CRACKS her up all the time! This is my absolute favorite sound & it makes my heart sing!

* She babbles much of the day and Jackson will say, "Emme singing 'gin."

* She loves baths in her new duck tub. Sadly, because of her eczema, they have to be short. Can I just go on the record that eczema sucks! Both Jackson & Emerson have it, so we spend a lot on Aquaphor!

Here she is at breakfast the other morning:

Reaching....

trying to get in in the mouth.....

got it!

Emme, thank you for being our little girl! Mommy & Daddy adore you!

Can you make a funny face?

This is what we asked Jackson the other morning at breakfast. Here are his responses:

He had us in stiches! What a ham!

Weight check

Emerson went for her weight check on Monday and weighed in at 15 lbs 5.4 oz. That's a pound & 2.4 oz up from last month, so we are making progress! We didn't see the doctor, but I called him on Tuesday and when we spoke he said he was pleased and said Emme seemed to be back on track. I attribute the gain to the fact that we have been giving her more table food. She loves to eat with the big kids! So far she has eaten mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli, black eyed peas (on New Years), steamed carrots, macaroni & cheese, avocado, tomatoes, cheese, creamed corn from Rudy's, various breads (pancakes, biscuits, muffins and rolls), bananas, strawberries, blueberries, and a tiny bit of turkey. Now that I see it in writing, she has quite the experience palate for someone so small! Sadly, I have stopped breastfeeding and we are almost out of stored milk. This was the hardest decision for me, but when you see that your child is not thriving despite how hard you are working to try and give her what she needs, a change has to be made. Every day and I mean EVERY day, I still feel guilty for not being able to provide for her, but I have to move on and give her the next best thing, so here we are. At the end of the frozen breastmilk supply. Tomorrow will be her last taste of mommy's milk ever, but the most important thing is that she is growing and on the plus side I am not tied to that dang pump anymore!

Jackson funnies

Jackson has been saying some of the funniest things lately and making some unbelievable connections (or at least Mommy is impressed)! I felt I needed to write these down somewhere so we could always remember and since his baby book is just about full....here goes...

1. The other day we were driving home from school and passed the cows just like we always do. Jackson always sits up real tall in an effort to see the cows at the back of the lot. On this particular day, the cows were up close to the road munching on some grass. Jackson said "Mommy, cows eeing grass and make milk. Cows, go to barn. Make milk."

2. His new thing is bridges. He loves for me to drive over the over passes. He starts asking for it the moment we get in the car. Everytime we go over a "bridge" he says "Hello little cars" and waves at the cars passing underneath. What a goof!

3. The other night we were at my parents' and Jackson, of course had eaten all kinds of food, but was still wanting more. He asked for more cookies. I said no. Then he asked Yaya. She said "Mommy said no." He then said "Jackson want eat apple" to which my mom said he would have to ask me. He leaned into her and said "Yaya ask Mommy." She laughed and said "you want Yaya to ask?" He then leaned in closer and this time whispered under his brow "I want apple." Imagine him manipulating Yaya like that and of course, she allows it! Ha!

4. He has started ratting people out for things. The other day we could smell that he had a dirty diaper, so I asked him if he had poo-poo. He said "No, Emme does." Emme wasn't even around. He also ratted out a little girl that scratched his face at school. The teachers just noticed his scratch, but didn't see how it happened. They wrote it up and when I got there I asked him he scratched his eye. He said "Tess do it."

5. The last and I think the funniest happened at school. His teachers told me yesterday right before lunch that Jackson said "vamonos." His teacher, Miss Yvette said "Do you want some water?" since they were standing next to the fountain. He said "Vamonos. Go eat." Yvette realized that when it is time to go to the cafeteria for lunch she says "Vamonos. Let's go eat." How stinkin' cute is that? My kid is bilingual! *beaming* ;)