Merry Christmas!

Emma's First Christmas was a huge hit! Between family and friends the kids got everything they wanted. Alex got lots of cool toys and games. Emma got developmentally appropriate toys that she loves interacting with. Alex really loves the toys Emma got too, he loves showing her how to play with them.

Pictures!

Sierrra, TJ, Emma and Alex- The cutest kids in the world!

Alex in the leaves

Emma chewing on a pot handle

My Angel

Halloween 2008

On a cool, nippy Friday night, emma experienced her first Halloween. She spent the day in an adorable black shirt with a row of pumpkins across the top. After watching big brother and dad carve a jack-o-lantern we headed out to our friends' house that live in a better neighborhood for trick-or-treating. Alex was BumbleBee from the animated Transformers series and emma was a pink bear. The girls stayed home while all the boys went out for candy. Alex got to hang with his friends, Chirstopher, Robert and Kayla which he had a great time with. It was a lot of fun watching emma's expressions of kids' costumes as they came to the door for treats. I can't wait for next year when she will get to go out trick-or-treating with her big brother.

Being a Big Brother

Alex says to me, "Mom, I'm glad we have a baby." He also calls emma, "his baby." I was so worried when I found out I was pregnant about how Alex would handle no longer being the only child. He had only child syndrome like you wouldn't believe. Even though there are seven years between the two of them, they love each other very much. emma lights up when she sees Alex. I'm so glad they have each other.

As she grows...

So work has kept me too busy for blogging. emma is now 6 months old. She is eating baby food and sits up on her own. Her favorite toy is a purple butterfly that plays "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." She loves all the fruits, especially pears. She also loves to eat sweet potatoes and squash. She is okay with green peas and green beans, but you can tell they are not her favorite. Forget rice cereal unless you add fruit, she has her dad's sweet tooth, I guess.
She is staying home with Daddy now, as daycare costs way too much. We are still not sleeping through the night, but she is getting there. It still amazes me how much she has grown in just half a year.

Little Stepping Stones

Emma offically began daycare this last Monday. She quickly became a favorite in her room. Even one of the owners greats her each day, saying, "There's my little peanut!" She is in the infant room with 5 or 6 other babies. Right now she is the youngest baby in her class. She has three teachers, two are full time, one is part time. They spoil her and love her so much! I love this daycare center!

Baby Smiles

Emma is nearing 8 weeks and has learned to smile and coo. She has the cutest smile with tiny dimples next to her mouth. You can't help but to smile back at her, which makes her smile even bigger. When she first began cooing, she surprised herself. She would make a sound and be a little startled by it. As if she were saying "Did I just make that sound?" You can really get her going if you smile and tell her she is a pretty girl or princess. She totally digs being told how cute she is!

WiiBounce

So I knew Emma's birth would happen right around Alex's birthday. I knew I would not be able to host the party myself. So with careful, advance planning I arranged for Alex's party to be held at a facility called WiiBounce. This place is cool. It has large inflatables for jumping, sliding and obstacle course. They have three large screen TVs connected to a Wii.

All the kids were running around, having fun for the first hour. I got to sit back and relax and enjoy watching the kids play. Even Jason was jumping, running and sliding with the kids. In fact, I think I heard the name "Jason" called out by kids more than any other name! They were all sweaty and worn out after the hour of intense playing.

We went into the party room for cake and ice-cream. Again, I had to do practically nothing, except cut the cake. The kids all had a great time and left with inflatable guitars. Perhaps I helped the future of our next air guitar hero!

So, all in all the party was a blast. I got to enjoy it too, instead of worrying about this and that...all except the near $300 bill...but it was worth every cent to see my little boy so happy.

Emma- 6 weeks old

I could go back and enter posts for the last 6 weeks, but I'll put them all together into one instead. Wow! The last 6 weeks has flew by. Emma surprised us by coming early. We had planned a C-section for April 8, so when contractions began on the evening of April 1, I was shocked. I actually tried to convince myself that I was not having contractions. By the middle of the night, however, I could no longer talk myself out of the contractions.

Emma was born at 9:12 A.M. by C-section. Seeing her for the first time was a moment I will never forget. Especially because Jason was there with me. Jason got to walk her back to the hospital room and spent the first hour of her life with her. She is destined to be a daddy's girl. Alex lost his third tooth at school too, I'm not sure which excited him more, Emma or the tooth! Life at the hospital was great. The nurses and staff took great care of Emma and me. And the food was decent, imagine that!

We took Emma home on April 5. It was raining, but warm. We had to take Alex to a birthday party and shop at Target for all those things we needed but haven't gotten yet. She seemed so small. Being born at 6lbs, 11oz, she had lost some weight and was only 6lbs, 2oz when we went home. The 0-3 month clothes didn't fit. She grew quickly and the clothes began to fit within a week.

We discovered all too quickly that she does not sleep well on her back. The gorgeous bassinet we bought cannot be used. So she sleeps in a papasian bouncer. Man, that thing looks cozy. She does not sleep through the night. She can go about 3 hours before she is ready to eat again. But she sleeps well during the day. We are still working on getting her into a normal circadian cycle. On the day of her being 6 weeks we had two firsts...she cooed at Jason while he changed her diaper (that's right, Jason changes diapers!!!!). She also found her thumb for the first time. How cute!

Welcome to our Blog!

Hello! This blog is intended for our family and friends to see and hear all the adventures and tribulations of the Holcomb family, NC bound. This blog is much easier and faster than messing with myspace. With faster access to our posts, all can read about what's happening here in beautiful North Carolina. Updates on Emma and Alex, of course, will be the main topics. But watch out for other types of posts too. Perhaps Alex will write a post someday...that will be cool. Feel free to comment, we would love to hear from you!