New pictures of Emery Catherine

Emery gets bigger every day. She is very interactive now.....she actually laughed this morning! At what, I'm not sure. She broke into a huge grin and then let out this little laugh that was the cutest thing I've ever heard. Her smiles are the highlights of my day. Nothing can compare.

Emmy loves staring up at her toys and even grabs for them now.

Pulling a cute face while chatting with Daddy one morning last week. Ben is just great with her. He's like the baby whisperer.

Clean baby!

So that she can't accuse me of humiliating her at a later date, I covered her with a washcloth. Emery adores her daily bath, and so do I. She's so cute all sudsy and smells so good afterwards.

Emery went down to Atlanta for the second weekend in a row last Friday to fete Tara and Baby Calvo. Alison and I, along with Cindy, hosted the shower at Party Chic in Roswell (super cute) and had such a good time with Tara's family and friends. Tara received lots of goodies for the baby--only a few more weeks until we find out if they are having a boy or girl.
Group shot. Thanks, Nando!

Belly and gifts

Wheeler girls! Tara, Alison, me, Cindy and Emily (with baby Charlie in the belly--Em is due in September)

Maddux is feeling kind of jealous and has taken over Emery's boppy. I indulged him a bit and covered him with a blanket. How cute is my first born!?!?!

Hayes, Peaches and "Twilight"

I took Emery on her first road trip this week. We went down to Atlanta for a visit with Granny and Grandpa as well as Auntie Alison and Cousin Hayes. We also lunched with the girls at La Paz (Melinda was in town from Utah and I have no idea when she will meet Emery if I didn't head down to the ATL during her visit) and attended a Twilight viewing party. Scoff all you want--the book is fabulous (I've only read the first one so far) and the movie was pretty darn good, too.
Emery and Hayes on the activity mat at Granny's

Lunch at La Paz. Emery was a perfect angel until I woke her up for this picture. Oops!

Paige outdid herself with this tribute to Edward Cullen!

Lindsey, Christian and Lilly Clickner came down to Greenville to meet Emery. Thanks for the delicious dinner!

Emmy's Third Week of Life

Emmy's third week with us has been a busy one! We've had very fun visitors and a memorable Independence Day. Tara and Nando came up from Atlanta for the day on Friday and Emery took her first trip to my favorite deli here in Greenville, Saffron's. The weather was gorgeous so we were able to sit outside (in case Emery had a meltdown). But she was an angel! So far, so good on her public outings. Apparently she is only a total diva when at the house. WOW. Emery is taking "Heinz maintenance" to a new level. Fiesty! Hard to imagine when looking at her sweet face, but she is quite demanding. Our little princess definitely has both mommy and daddy wrapped around her little finger. Saturday, July 4th, Ben's good friend from Michigan, Tim, and his lovely bride, Jessica, stopped by Greenville on their way back to Michigan from Charleston for the afternoon and night. I hope they had a good time! At the very least, it wasn't boring. After an uneventful day on the boat, Ben suggested that we go up Paris Mountain to watch the fireworks displays all over town. We loaded up the car and Emery and headed out. No sooner had we arrived at our viewing spot when Ben somehow managed to shut his right thumb in the car door. Apparently he actually slammed the door because his thumb is mangled. Blood was squirting everywhere and Ben was clearly in a lot of pain. Off to the ER we went. Ben's thumb was squished like a cherry tomato. The doc was not able to stitch it up. But even worse, the bone is broken! Well, that's one way to get out of diaper duty. Having a newborn and a disabled husband is proving to be a lot of work. But Ben is trying to help as much as he can. Here's hoping for a speedy recovery! Shockingly, the ER wasn't nearly as packed as I figured it would be for the Fourth of July. Ben was in and out in less than three hours. I waited in the car with Jessica and Emery (I was afraid to take my brand new baby into an ER--gross!) while Timmy went inside with Ben. Anyways, I think Emery knew that Mommy's nerves were shot by this point (sleep deprivation, blood, worry and fear that her husband was going to be totally out of commission for weeks on end) because she did not cry ONCE the entire time we were in the parking lot.
A vision in pink. The diva snoozes. You can't really tell in the picture, but her footies are ballet slippers. Presh!

Ben and I are so exhausted 24/7 that we are becoming narcoleptic. Emmy loves sleeping on her daddy! Ben has the magic touch when it comes to getting her to sleep. He's way better at it than I am.

Nando, Tara and Baby Calvo. I can't wait to find out what they're having next month!

Screaming baby

Jess and Emery

Emmy sleeps on her boppy while Daddy elevates and ices his injury.

Emery is 2 weeks old!

Emmy is two weeks old as of yesterday. She's had a busy second week! Her Atlanta grandparents came up for the day Monday so that Mom could help me take Emery to the pediatrician for her second appointment and run a bunch of errands. We went to the post office, Starbucks and Publix and Emery was an absolute angel. She really seemed to enjoy getting out of the house and seeing all the new sights and sounds. The pediatrician's visit went really well. We are so thankful for our healthy baby girl! Emery is tipping the scales at a whopping 9 lbs, 8 oz. The doc was very pleased with how she is doing and we do not have to go back for another six weeks--at which point Emery will be due for her first shots. Ugh. I am already dreading that. I want to cry just thinking about it!

Kriya, Alicia and Wade came to visit yesterday to meet Emery and to help me out. I am forever in debt to them! Alicia held Emery for close to three hours while she napped and Kriya did a bunch of laundry while I finally managed to write a few thank you notes and fill out Emery's birth certificate paperwork. Then, Alicia went to the post office with my completed paperwork while I took a nice long shower. HEAVEN! The icing on the cake was that Kriya took a bunch of pictures of Emery that are just gorgeous. Kriya does this as a hobby, but I think she could make a career of it. Thanks, girls!