The Ciccarelli Family

August 24th 2010

2011-05-25T11:10:00.010-04:00

Because it’s my birthday and I’m not one to celebrate it – I thought I would finally sit down and write out Emma’s Birthday – apologies in advance for the length but I wanted to make sure I could put down as many details as possible so I can remember it later!

On Friday August 20th, we went to the doctor’s for my 40th week appointment. The visit consisted of a physical check up (not dilated or effaced at all) and monitoring (strong heartbeat but absolutely no contractions). I recorded the sound of her heartbeat on the monitor and hope to save this sound forever. I listen to it every now and then and it makes me smile. My very sweet doctor assured me that even though I was not progressing at all things could change at any minute and not to get worked up about it. We set an appointment for 4 days later for an ultrasound to make sure fluid levels were OK and to talk about options. I was told that 10 days would be the maximum amount of time they would let me go before inducing so this baby would be here before the end of August no matter what. Although I was completely aware of the doctor’s warnings that most first time mother’s go past their due dates, many tears were still shed as we left the doctors office. I distinctly remember the thought I had in my head as the clock ticked to August 21st. I was told that the 20th was the day and the thought that it could still happen at any moment was not comforting to me at all. I spent that last weekend generally being cranky with lots of napping and walking mixed in. Although I could still feel her moving constantly, I still hadn’t felt a single contraction.

Four days later on Tuesday when there was still no baby and it was time to head to the doctor’s again, I was convinced that she would never come out. I sent Larry off to work because I figured there was no reason for him to waste his time there as I was surely going to be just as cranky when we were sent home. I putzed around for the morning and made myself lunch (soup and grilled cheese – no idea why I wanted this in the middle of the summer) before going to my 1:00 doctor’s appointment. “You’re still here?” the receptionist greeted me. I can’t remember but I’m sure I did not smile back. First up was the ultrasound and I watched quietly as the tech did all of her measurements. She kept saying things like “looks good” and “great” so I figured I would be settling in for another 6 days since things still looked ok. She was finishing up so I asked if she could tell how big the baby was. I will never forget her next words – “Umm actually this is saying she’s 10 pounds. You can go wait in the waiting room for the Doctor and uh yeah good luck with that.” I’m pretty sure there were tears rolling down my face before she even finished talking.

Of course I was not going to sit in the waiting room and wait patiently so I went out into the stairwell to call Larry. I was in full blown crying mode at this point and probably scared the hell out of him when he answered his work phone. I told him that we were expecting a toddler and that I would need him to leave work because I was freaking out. I told him I would update him after I saw the doctor and pulled myself together enough to wait for my name to be called to be taken to the back room. As luck would have it, the doctor I was meeting with was my least favorite I had seen (my office has 5 doctors and you are required to see all of them throughout your pregnancy because whoever is on call when you go into labor will be your doctor). He walked in and greeted me with “so she’s a little big”. He explained that he didn’t think that she was really 10 pounds and due to ultrasound discrepancies she was probably somewhere between 8.5-9.5 but I was definitely not about to welcome a 7 pounder into the world. When he said that he recommended a c-section I was instantly relieved. He said that he was concerned that because I hadn’t progressed at all and that because she was big that if they induced me she might get stuck and we would have to move to a c-section anyway. I told him I agreed as I had no desire to try to push a toddler sized infant and go through labor only to end up in surgery anyway. I spent the next hour hooked back up to the monitor listening to her heartbeat again… everything was still great and I was apparently having very small intermittent contractions. The Dr. told me he had the nurses on the phone with the hospital trying to schedule me for surgery and that they would get me in probably Wednesday or Thursday. They kept getting put on hold so they took my cell phone number and told me they would call me.

I walked out of the office and was still pretty freaked out so I went to my happy place – HomeGoods. I just needed to walk around and not think about it for awhile. As I was pulling out of the parking lot around 3, the doctor’s office called me and asked when I had eaten last. I said 12 and they said “OK good. Don’t eat anything else. They can take you at 6 tonight and you have to be at the hospital at 5. Congratulations!”. So after all of those weeks of waiting, we were having a baby in 3 hours. I made the necessary phone calls (Larry to leave work, family and friends to let them know) and I went home to take a shower. I figured this was the last shower I would have in peace and quiet for a long time. My bags had already been packed so as soon as Larry came home from work we were pretty much ready to go (after I had to talk him out of wearing a transformers shirt because really that is just not the outfit that our daughter needed to see him in for the first time – like hey mom who is this jerk in the cartoon shirt?). I think at this point it really had not set in yet.

We got to the hospital and I got all set up in the fancy gown and poked with the IV and all of that fun stuff. The nurses in the OR were so sweet and made me feel more relaxed. We learned a new word “macrosomic” which is the medical term for a large baby and the reason for my c-section. The nurses assured me that I would not be having the biggest baby ever and that they had delivered an 11 pound boy last week which made me feel better. Larry got to suit up in this super hot white zip up which I of course wanted to take a picture of. The nurses told me that they would do it for me later but that never happened so they lost a point in my book. The doctors were wearing equally appealing zip up coveralls and were wearing glasses with little plastic shields. When I commented that they were pretty intense, one mentioned that I should not look at the glasses during the surgery unless I wanted to get a glimpse so I made a mental note of that.

The last shot of the big belly

They made Larry wait in the prep room while I got wheeled into the OR. I remember a few things about it – it was much smaller than what I thought it would be (you know strictly based on my previous experience of watching ER and Grey’s Anatomy”, there were way too many tools and gadgets prepped and laid out (I diverted my eyes quickly to block this out) and it was cold. I got the spinal tap which I was nervous about because of my fear of needles but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be although I clearly didn’t look at it. Watching them all get ready for the surgery was really bizarre. After I couldn’t feel my legs and they were down in my lower region I figured that I had better get used to not feeling modest as they were about to get really personal and familiar with my body and my baby. There was a large crowd in the room at that point – the doctor from my office (oddly enough the one doctor I hadn’t met yet but I ended up loving), the attending doctor from the hospital and a med student doctor and I think 2 or 3 nurses plus the anesthesiologist. I think they all knew each other well because they were laughing and joking about if they could beat previous speed records for c-sections they had done together. At this time, my doctor also put his ipod into the speakers and we all started listing to Pandora Radio. It felt very Nip/Tuck (because apparently my TV watching history really did prepare me for having a c-section) but I guess listening to music beats silence.

They let Larry come in at this point and got ready to start the surgery and said they would have her out within 20 minutes. I don’t remember why but I had to have my arms strapped down which I did not like but at least I got to hold Larry’s hand which was probably the most comforting thing in the world at that point. We had already discussed that Larry would be keeping up near my head and not seeing anything below the sheet that was propped up to block our view and clearly he did not put up a fight about it. From there the whole experience was so surreal. I could feel pressure and them tugging around but couldn’t really tell much else. I don’t remember us doing much talking while we waited to hear her come out and after what felt like a lot sooner than 20 minutes they said they were about to take her out. When the lifted her up and out for us to see her, she wasn’t screaming her head off but she was definitely squirming and letting out little cries. I thought she sounded like a bird and it was the sweetest sound I had ever heard in my life. They cut the umbilical cord and let Larry go over to the scale to take pictures of her as she was getting cleaned off and measured.

8 lbs 14 oz of pure cuteness

When he came back over to me I wanted to know how big she was and if she had red hair. He told me that she was the most beautiful baby and the perfect size and had light hair and a few minutes later I got to meet her for myself. Because my arms were held down they placed her on my chest and I got to kiss her sweet little pink head and fell in love with her. They had her swaddled up and Larry got to feed her a bottle (apparently this is normal for bigger babies because they need to keep up their blood sugar) and I will never in my life forget the loving look on larry’s face as he held our first born child as he cradled her in his arm and fed her. As much as I loved him before, I loved him so much more after this.

Not ready to be uncurled and in the world

The rest of the surgery was tortuous for me. Besides the fact that I couldn’t hold Emma yet, I was uncomfortable being strapped onto the table. I kept feeling pressure on my chest and I was nervous that something was wrong so I said it outloud that it was bothering me and I was told that it was OK. Larry later told me that it was because they had my parts up and out of my body – gross. The putting me together process took much longer than the first half and it felt like forever when we were done but I think it was only slightly more than an hour that we were actually in there. When I was all put back together and cleaned up I finally got to hold Emma as they wheeled me back into the post op room. I wasn’t allowed to be transferred to my actual room until I could wiggle my toes so we some quality time as our little family of three together. The nurses were in and out checking on us but for the most part we were just left by ourselves. It was kinda weird to think that they were just leaving us there with this little baby – I kind of felt like they were going to come tell us what to do next with her but we were on our own. So we spent this next time (I lost track of time by this point – I think we were back there for almost 2 hours) just loving on each other. Emma slept the entire time while we held her and fell more in love with her.

The first of many cuddles with daddy

When we finally got to go to my room, we got wheeled my our many family members who had come to meet our little girl – I remember being wheeled past them and I was holding her and everyone was just full of smiles and so happy to see her (especially after having to wait so long). When we got into our room, they took Emma off to the nursery for her tests and we got to visit with a few special friends (including officer Tom who brought Larry dinner and scared the nurses when appearing in his uniform to our room). I was fortunate to have had a perfect surgery and of course to not feel any pain as we sat and waited in our room to have our first night with our little lady!

And that is the story of how August 24th 2010 was one of the best days of our lives!

Nine Months

2011-05-24T09:42:00.001-04:00

Dear Emma,

Here we are at 9 months – you’ve officially been loose on the outside world for as long as you were cooped up inside the belly. Of course, to celebrate in fashion you finally became mobile. For a few weeks now, you had been impressing us with your pilates style moves – getting yourself into a pushup position and completely off the ground – and boy have we been impressed. I sense that you have not been too impressed since you don’t ever really get anywhere but everyone else could see that you were on your way. And then finally, I’d say right on your 9 month birthday, you were up and actually moving with your adorable little army crawl. If I thought you were happy before when you could sit up and look around, I was wrong because nothing has compared to the happiness you get when you crawling around.

In other big things in your world, you are still loving food. You are content to eat oatmeal and rice cereal and what you think is delicious fruit and veggie mush. It seems that you are taking after your momma with a love for fruit and your daddy for a disdain of veggies. So far sweet potato, apples and bananas rule your world but you are quick to push anything green out of your mouth. Your one true love is yogurt and your little eyes light up when you see the containers coming out of the fridge. You still manage to make quite a mess whenever you eat and we spend a good portion of the time fighting over who can hold the spoon (which sometimes warrants you getting your own spoon to hold – because momma always loves to wash more dishes!) but you are our favorite dinner guest and we love to have you at the table.

It’s hard for me to believe you are already 9 months and in such a short time we’ll be celebrating your birthday. You have truly made the last 9 months the best times of our lives and we could never have imagined having a better experience with you.

Love,
Momma

Emma, 9 months

Just Keep Swimming

2011-05-20T08:30:00.004-04:00

There is nothing cuter than a baby in a bathing suit. My mom insisted on purchasing a NB size bathing suit last year (she assured me it was on clearance and less than $5) and I let her put Emma in it for one (screaming) picture.

I had been wanting to sign Emma up for baby swim classes for awhile. I knew that friends of ours had been doing them with their baby who is 3 months older than Emma and when they said the winter session was starting soon, I jumped on the chance. Unfortunately for us, we only had 3 days to prepare and I was going to be out of town for the first class so Larry would have to go alone.

The first task was picking out a bathing suit. This was in March so of course stores already had them out in hopes to alleviate the winter blues. I wanted something simple and not too frilly (Larry strictly limits the number of over the top frilly baby girl clothes I can purchase - sigh) and nothing with logos on it (really Old Navy, it's not cool). I was alarmed immediately at the wide selection of infant 2 piece bathing suits but was able to pick out a respectable 1 piece that covered all the right parts.

modeling my selection - I think she likes it

So for 8 weeks, we bundled up on Saturday mornings to head into the cold only to be greeted by the intense heat of the local YMCA (I cannot say enough good things about the Milford Y, I was nervous based on my previous Y experiences but the facilities did not dissapoint) for a half hour class of mommy and me swimming.

Emma admires her surroundings...

Of course there wasn't much swimming as much as there was singing songs, moving around in giant circles and floating but I loved every minute. I quickly mandated a "both mommy and daddy must go in" rule and we enjoyed some family QT together.

Daddy of the Year nominee right here for going alone on week 1!

When asked if Emma liked it, I mostly reply "I think so". It was hard to tell really. Up until this point when given a bath, she would sit very still and barely move - almost like she just wanted to hurry up and have it be over. I'd say swimming went pretty much the same way - she mostly stared around the whole time probably wondering where the hell we had taken her now. A huge fan of kicking her legs, she did not dissapoint in that department but never really moved her arms much (except when she started trying to roll over off the kickboard). She never once cried, unlike some of the other babies who cried most of the time in the pool. On the contrary, the only real expression she showed was to laugh when these other babies would cry - oh she is my child :)

a rare almost smile from the edge of the wading pool

Although the 8 week sessions continue all year long we are opting not to continue for now. I know she'll get tons of water exposure in grandma's pool this summer but I'd like to consider joining the Y and taking another class next winter. I liked the idea of having a good activity to do with her when we are cooped up in the house from the cold and it was fun having something for the 3 of us to do together:)

Pool loving from daddy

Anatomy of a Cranky Baby

2011-05-19T20:00:00.000-04:00

Dear Emma,

Your daddy and I are extremely blessed in the fact that 95% of the time you are the happiest baby we have ever seen. This fact alone has put serious doubts on our plans to procreate again as we are sure that we will be punished with a screaming baby #2.

But Emma, that 5% is not fun for anyone. I can almost predict it coming when I see your daycare report card.

I know that this will happen on the way home...

And I know that this will follow shortly after when I wake you up for dinner...

I can't blame you though, momma could use a nap everyday too in order to function at my best - but I will still love you forever and listen to your cries and wipe away the tears while I do my best to cuddle you and make you smile again.

Please don't protest naps,
Momma

My New Favorite

2011-05-17T16:07:00.004-04:00

I bought these baby leggings back when I was pregnant and have been waiting for the perfect opportunity to bring them out. On Sunday when the rain started, it became the perfect outfit.

Perfect for grocery shopping (although my shopping buddy does not look happy).

Perfect for lounging on the floor playing (again do not let her face fool you that she doesn't love the outfit).

Perfect for trying to crawl away while getting your diaper changed so you can grab the remote (I am sure there is a smile here)

Now, onto shopping for more baby legs!

Homemade

2011-05-15T08:20:00.000-04:00

Larry will probably never let me live it down but I did once say that I didn't want construction paper crafts all over the place (in regards to christmas ornaments) but I really do die of cuteness everytime something like this comes home from daycare. There are so many handmade projects I want to do with her but can never find the time so I am enternally grateful to still have these coming my way :)

She's In Love..

2011-05-12T15:44:00.000-04:00

...with food

Shortly after Emma turned 4 months old we started introducing food. She loved it from the start and hasn't looked back since. The girl loves food.

Rice Cereal was the first to be introduced and although she questioned the first bite or two she still eats up every last bite that is offered to her. She actually prefers this over many of the fruit and veggies gerber foods which is odd to me because it has no taste.

not so sure about this stuff..

ok I am liking it a little more with a change of spoon

yes, I do love it! thank you for taking me off my liquid diet!

After a few solid weeks of rice cereal, we worked our way up to fruits and veggies. I originally had high aspirations of making homemade babyfood but those ideas quickly vanished when I found the value pack of gerber at BJ's. I did actually make sweet potatoes in the food processor once when we ran out of baby food and she didn't seem to like it as much as the store bought brand so hopefully this is not a sign of picky food eaterness to come.

there are no inprogress pictures because she ate it all without a struggle

and then went in for the spoon because she wanted more

One thing that she did not like was the fresh fruit feeder which surprised me. I was excited to let her try something sweeter than rice cereal but she wasn't having it.

thanks but no thanks, I prefer the plastic end

Her favorites currently include bananas and apples for fruits and sweet potatos and carrots for veggies. She has not been a fan of the green stuff like beans and peas but we are working on it. I can't live with two picky eaters in my house!

And now at almost 9 months, she is on a balanced routing of bottle for wake up, oatmeal and yogurt for breakfast, cereal and fruit for lunch and, bottle snack in the afternoon, rice and veggies for dinner and a bottle for bedtime. Can't wait until she can start on finger foods and we can see what she loves next!

Cannot forget the magic of the high chair - she will happily sit and play in this thing forever!

Momma's Day

2011-05-10T14:30:00.004-04:00

To celebrate my very first mother's day, Emma gift me with a cold (although at least I was spared an ear infection - Emma can't say the same). Of course started through daycare and then worked its way up to me but despite the sickies, it was a wonderful day.

The day started out with a delicious breakfast by my husband the official breakfast coordinator in the Ciccarelli household and boy did he not dissapoint. Extra points for the fruit and flower garnish.

After a lazy morning in the house spending time together we ventured out to run a few errands and to my one request of the day - a walk on the new boardwalk at the beach. Although it was a little more chilly and and a lot less sunny than I would have liked, I loved every minute of it spending time with my two loves.

I think Emma did too.

And she even seemed to like the sand which is a vast improvement from the grass phobia that we've been having - more on that later...

Delicious

2011-05-04T21:15:00.003-04:00

Deliciously chubby legs. Enough said.

Sleepy Sicky Lovey

2011-05-03T20:21:00.003-04:00

You weren't yourself today. The report from grandma was that you were not interested in breakfast or lunch - so not you. Then daddy said you napped for 3 hours - even more soooo not you.

I hate when you aren't feeling well. But as much as I hate to look at your sweet little face so unhappy, I do love me some Emma cuddle time :)

Fit for a Princess

2011-05-02T14:03:00.004-04:00

Dear Emma,

Your momma is a crazy lady. Being the slave to celebrity gossip that I am, I could not miss the opportunity last Friday to watch the celebrity gossip equivalent of the superbowl. I don’t even feel like the superbowl is a equal comparison but if you said the Olympics or World Cup it might be a bit more accurate but those still only happen every 4 years. Sidenote: Although I hope you will take interest in some of your dad’s favorite things to watch on TV I assure you that I will always provide another viewing option if you do not care to watch these.

But I digress, back to the event of which the likes I had never seen in my lifetime. Yes, I am talking about the Royal Wedding. I was surprised at how interested in this event I had become. I am usually not one to follow the Royal news but eventually I was swept away with the excitement of the event and so I woke up at 5 am to watch it. I know that it might seem crazy but I felt like it was something I wanted to be able to tell you someday that I was up and saw it live when Prince William and Princess Catherine (formally known as Kate) got married. Your grandma and perhaps the originator of the craziness (you will see why later) has always told me how she woke up early in the morning to watch Prince Charles and Princess Diana marry and I wanted to me able to tell you the same story. Maybe you will inherit the crazy (who am I kidding you are destined to have it so just own it) and tell your kids that you watched the next generation of royals marry on TV – and god willing if I am around for it we will have one big party to celebrate together.

So how do you fit in during all of this crazyness? Aside from trying to put my US magazines in your mouth you also managed to get in on the action. Your grandma assures me that this is a genuine gift from the royal wedding and Wills and Kate sent it to you specifically with their apologies that you could not be extended an invite to the wedding but wanted to let you know that you were with them in spirit. In my humble opinion you should kindly let the new princess know that you would have preferred to borrow her Cartier tiara but it’s the thought that counts right?

Royally yours in craziness (and love),
Momma

Princess Emma

Finally Some Sun

2011-05-01T18:15:00.000-04:00

In an effort to make up for my slacking blogging lately I am going to challenge myself to post every day in May. I am smart enough to only promise to try to post something - at the very least a picture and a caption because I'm staring at my calendar and it's already looking like a busy month.

Today marked the first (of hopefully many) excursions outside for Emma. We needed to get some lawn stuff done and I figured I would treat my lady friend to playtime on the blanket in the back yard. So lathered up with SPF 50 she got and topped with a hat and she lasted for awhile out there.

Emma may not have realized this significant acheivement but I just kept thinking back to the time in March when both of the pictures below happened within 72 hours of each other.

Yay for spring in New England but fingers crossed only sunny skies out from here!

Bunnytime

2011-04-25T14:14:00.001-04:00

To be honest, I kept forgetting about Easter. It was so late this year that I almost felt like it wasn’t even going to happen. Of course we bought an absurdly large bag of Cadbury Mini Eggs from Costco as soon as they hit shelves in February but the actual holiday kept slipping out of my mind. I’m not ashamed to admit that I didn’t put together an Easter basket until the day before or that I peeked into your current wardrobe selection for a dress instead of going out and purchasing you spectacular Easter dress. In keeping in line with the Christmas debacle of sickness, I’m currently undecided on Emma’s opinion of holidays. If I was judging just Christmas and Easter alone I would say she is not a fan but I know she will squeal in delight when next year she can hunt for eggs.

We decided against a photo with a scary Easter bunny because I have a not quite so irrational fear of people in large costumes but don’t think that Miss Emma did not get her fair share of Easter joy – she celebrated with no less than 4 Easter baskets and multiple other presents from family and those friends that we love so much we call family. It never ceases to amaze me how much our little girl is loved on.

Emma also celebrated Easter with a bath (in her new bathseat) at Grandma’s house after she pooped all over the couch.

And let’s not forget Easter with my family is not complete without the infamous lamb cake.

Eight Months

2011-04-24T18:00:00.000-04:00

Dear Emma,

Every month is better than the last with you. Just when I think you have gotten to a fun age, you go ahead and get another month older and that becomes my favorite age. Right now, you are just in love with the world. Your favorite past time is sitting on the edge of the couch and looking out our picture window. You will sit there for a half hour at a time (and probably longer if we actually let you) and watch anything in your vision. I think you love dogs the best (which is unfortunate for you because mommy is “allergic” to dogs and we cannot have one) and your legs start wiggling with happiness just as a dog’s tail wags with excitement but you do not discriminate and will smile at anything that comes into view. You love to see other babies in strollers, people (including the garbage men who always wave to you), birds and cars. I love to watch your little head pan from right to left as the object enters your sight and inevitably leaves it later. You also love to watch mommy and daddy drive in and out of the drive way and now watch daddy mow the lawn. My wish for you is that you always enjoy the simple things in life the way you enjoy this.

You are also so much more content now to sit and play by yourself on the floor. We finally got a nice soft rug to put on the living room floor so now you do tend to spend a good amount of time down there playing. I prop you up in the middle of the rug and surround you with some of your favorites and you are as happy as can be. I don’t even think it bothers you when you reach for something a little too far and end up toppling over because then you just become a little more mobile and roll to what you want. This mostly keeps you occupied until you realize that one of us is not in the room with you and you demand to know why you are not the center of attention and why we aren’t staring at you. Don’t worry love, you are always the center of my attention and sometimes it is just more fun to sneak a peak at you laughing and playing when you aren’t looking but don’t fret I am always loving on you whether near or far.

Love,
Momma

Emma, Eight Months

Seven Months

2011-03-24T13:00:00.000-04:00

Dear Emma,

Here we are again with another month gone by. You have been keeping us and yourself very busy lately and sometimes I feel like you are learning something new every day – which you probably are you smarty pants. Finally only days ago did you decide to roll over. I of course missed the grand event because I was in the shower and when your daddy screamed my name I thought something was wrong. When I found out what you had done, I also thought it was a fluke because I have been convinced for awhile that you were never going to roll over. I knew that you were capable of doing it because you have such a strong little body – what with your constant tummy crunches and standing on your legs and all – and I also knew that you would do it when you were ready. Actually I should say I knew you would do it when you wanted to – because if I know anything about you its that you like to do things your way and on your own time. But sure enough you are rolling over from your tummy to your back. As soon as you can manage to get those tree trunk legs of yours swung over and your body flips you almost look a little scared when you land on your back. And then you have this look of “huh how did that happen?” on your face. But that look disappears quickly because me and Daddy are usually in your face screaming and clapping and showing you how proud we are. I know this is only the first step of you becoming mobile and it frightens me. I have envisions of you crawling laps around me and the house. We have actually had a conversation where we can picture you crawling, looking at us with a smirk and then taking off like a speed demon.

The other new thing that you are doing is swimming! We decided to start to get you acclimated to water by attending an 8 week class at the YMCA. I of course was excited to get you into a cute little swimsuit (and then instantly alarmed when I noticed the absurdly large collection of two piece bathing suits for infants) and was just hoping that you would love the class. I will write more about it later but it’s safe to assume that you do like the water. You get those strong legs kicking and have already started to put your rolling over skills to use by trying to roll off the kick board. I may also be biased but you are the most pretty little swimmer I have ever seen and I love to spend those Saturday mornings with you and your daddy. And I can’t wait to see what skill you learn next.

Love,
Momma

Emma, Seven Months

My Green Lady

2011-03-17T18:35:00.002-04:00

It's hard to tell but my child is actually way more Italian than Irish...

Who are we kidding - she looks like the poster child for the Irish with her white skin and "fair hair", she'd actually make a pretty attractive leprechaun :)

Six Months

2011-02-24T14:00:00.001-05:00

Dear Emma,

It boggles my mind to think that you six months old. That you have been with us an entire half of a year. When you were first born and the weeks were flying by I knew your first year would go by fast but I had no idea it would be this fast. I try not to get worry about it too much because I know I have to enjoy the moment and enjoy watching you grow up but its hard sometimes. It’s hard to imagine that you won’t always have that adorable gummy smile… that you won’t always want me to hold you and rock you to sleep at night… and that you won’t always be so amused when your daddy and I make goofy noises and faces when you are cranky and need some cheering up. So instead of getting stuck on wanting you to stay my itty bitty baby forever, I will focus on the positive.

Emma, you have brought so much joy into our lives in this last six months. When I’m having a crummy day at work I just close my eyes and think about you and count down the minutes until I get to see you. And when I walk through that door, nothing else matters because you are smiling and happy and I see those legs start kicking and I know you are happy to see me. One of my favorite things to do is to watch other people love on you. Because I have the great privilege of being your mommy I get to see you every day and am often the first person you see in the morning and the last person you see at night. For our other family and friends, they cannot wait to see you on the weekends and see what you are up to. I love to watch to see how genuinely excited they are to see your face and how much you have changed. I love to see the smiles on their faces as they watch the smile on yours. Anytime we are together with family you are the center of attention but I sometimes have a harder time deciphering if you are the happiest in the room or if it is everyone else who is happy because they are with you. You have brought so so so much more love and happiness into our family and I thank you for that. I thank you for giving me a reason to want to get up in the morning, a reason to get through every work day, and for a reason for me to love your daddy just that much more because he helped bring you into this world with me.

We love you so so much and I hope you never ever have a single doubt about how happy you have made us and undoubtedly how happy you will continue to make us. And I hope you know that we will no doubt continue to make those goofy noises and faces to make you smile J

Love,
Momma

Emma, Six Months

I Have Loved You Right From The Start

2011-02-14T11:16:00.004-05:00

Emma, do you know what today is?

No. But I assume it has something to do with the fact with this shirt that is covered in hearts. Oh right - I did hear something about this holiday and I had some help in making you and Daddy this!

But wait, before I give this to you I just need to see how it tastes...

Thank you Emma, we love it! Maybe next year Mommy and Daddy will buy you some chocolates so you aren't forced to eat paper.

It's Our Eight Year Claim-versary

2011-02-09T21:14:00.004-05:00

February is traditionally the month of love. The most often asked question during the first few weeks of the month is "what are you doing for valentine's day?" and I always respond with "nothing." I know that a certain little lady will probably bring the valentines celebrations back in full effect soon but for now I love that Larry and I don't do it. My favorite holiday of love is to celebrate our anniversary - February 9th 2003.

How is it possible that it was just 8 years ago that I forced you to claim me. I turned you from the self professed "never had a girlfriend" to the best boyfriend/husband/man bff I could ever have asked for.

Although our traditions have changed a bit since Emma arrived, I couldn't have imagined a better day to celebrate with you. You are constantly making me smile and love you more and more each day. I couldn't find any of our old pictures together so I decided to add this one... less than an hour after Emma was born I laid on the hospital bed watching you hold our daughter, and fell in love with you even more.

love youuuuuuuuuuuuuuu (hoping Larry will read this and get the reference)

Five Months

2011-01-24T13:54:00.005-05:00

Dear Emma,

Today is your fifth month birthday and I'll save the tears for next month because I can't believe you are almost a half of a year old! When people ask me how you are doing, I mostly respond that you are wonderful, great, fantastic, and recently I've been saying how funny you are.

I always figured you would have your very own distinct possibility but it's funny to see how much it is coming out now. I like to think that one of your favorite things to do is smile at us. You love to give us big gummy smiles in the morning when you are most happy but it's pretty easy for mommy and daddy to get them all day long. You are also getting easier and easier to make laugh - mostly we try to find something that makes you laugh and then we repeat it again hoping you will do it. I've gotten some great video of your little chuckle and I can't wait to show you when you get older - I bet it will make you laugh :) But in true fashion to keep us on our toes, you also have perfected a cranky face complete with stink eye that we see from time to time.

We've figured out the ways to keep you happy - you still love to be changed, love to lay on your back on our bed and watch the ceiling fan, and love the play gym. I can always tell when you are really excited about something because your arms and legs start flailing about which is mostly followed by big squeals and heavy breathing. You are just fitting into your bouncer and although you haven't figured out completely how to operate it, you have realized that it does combine two of your favorite things - standing on your chubby legs and reaching for things. Pretty much a win-win.

This month we also reached a big milestone - you got to try food for the first time. We were cautiously nervous to try the rice cereal since you usually do not enjoy when we put liquid gas drops or Tylenol in your mouth, but you were a champ. It almost feels like that at any given moment that stink eye will appear and your tongue is pushing it right out of your mouth. Sometimes I think you are more interested in the spoon but you are starting to open your mouth when the spoon comes near it so I guess it's a win. I can't wait to see how you react to new things we're planning on trying.

Love,

Momma

Emma, 5 months

Snow Bunny

2011-01-18T14:08:00.005-05:00

As is the case in New England in the winter, it's been snowing alot lately. Emma's first snowstorm also coincided with her first cold so we perched ourselves on the couch in front of the picture window to watch Larry shovel. By the time her second snowstorm hit, I was ready for my little lady to become a snow bunny.

The stink eye/expression on her face is priceless. It's pretty much her "I don't know what is going on so I'm just going to sit here motionless and hope that this ends soon" face which normally comes out at bathtime. Maybe she didn't like being outside in the cold? Maybe she didn't like having so many layers on that she couldn't move her limbs? Maybe she didn't like being propped up against a snow covered bush? Maybe all of the above? Sorry Emma, couldn't resist a chance to get a picture of your lovely rosey cheeks out in the snow!

And let you not have the only photo-op today, here is a picture of Larry using his new toy on our third storm of the season!

Four Months

2011-01-10T08:58:00.005-05:00

Dear Emma,

This month's letter is a little late as you have been keeping your daddy and I very busy. On your four month birthday (which also happened to be Christmas Eve) you came down with your first cold. It was not a "first" that we were excited about celebrating. I have to say that I think it was one of the worst weeks of my life. I hated every minute of watching you be miserable - your normal smiley face was replaced with this pitiful looking sad face and constantly tired eyes. You had this little cough - each time it started it up, my heart stopped as I watched to make sure you could still breathe. When your fever hit 102, I think my heart did stop as we raced to call the doctor. It was a rough, sleepless week but on the bright side, I got to spend so many hours just hugging you and rocking you and being the only person that you wanted, which wasn't such a bad thing in my eyes. And although I knew it was wrong, I did love hearing your sweet little raspy voice as you tried to talk - I may have snuck a little video of it :)

Not that it wasn't already confirmed, but I think that week really solidified my understanding of how much you are loved. You were showered with love and gifts at Christmas. Even though you didn't understand a single thing that was going on, you were loved on so much over the holidays. I had to sit back and watch as people were literally fighting over who got to hold you. Everyone wanted their chance to hold you and be the recipient of your big gummy smiles. You received so many special and heartfelt gifts to celebrate the occasion and we were so touched that so many people went above and beyond for you. And as soon as you got sick, we received so many phone calls and people checking in on you every day because they knew how worried we were about you. You are just so loved it is crazy.

And no one loves you more than your mommy and your daddy. I realized a few weeks back that your daddy and I have started to talk obsessively about you when you're not around. After we put you to bed and get into bed ourselves, many nights we end up talking about you. About what you did that day, if you made a new discovery and we've even taking to imitating your faces to each other. You have just taken over all lives in such a whirlwind of love and excitement and we couldn't be happier fools to spend every waking moment obsessing over you!

Love,
Momma

Emma, 4 months

My New Year's Baby

2011-01-01T18:33:00.003-05:00

28 years ago today a little preemie Larry arrived into this world. He just couldn't wait to be born and I can't miss the opportunity to tell him how glad I am that he was born. I love you Lawrence Anthony Ciccarelli III - you were the best thing to ever happen to me and I have loved every minute of being with you and cannot wait to love on you forever.

the New Year's baby with his baby (wearing the last of her holiday themed bibs)

Is it 2011 yet?

2010-12-31T10:54:00.004-05:00

2010 was a great year for us. January-November 2010 that is. December 2010 has not been so fun. I don't mean to go all drama but it has been a rough month. It started with crazy busy times for both of us at work for the first part of the month which left us struggling to get ready for the holidays. And then as of Christmas Eve, Emma has been sick. Granted it's just a cold and could be something much worse but it's been miserable.

When she started showing symptoms I thought to myself oh it's just a little cold, will probably be a rough few days... I did not anticipate 7 days of misery. I honestly feel like this last week has been worse than when she was a newborn. There have been many tears at our house this week and not all from the little miss. Today it seems like she has finally turned the corner so I have to be thankful for that and remember that it could always be worse.

I'm still hoping to document some of our first Christmas together - both the weeks leading up and the actual holiday. She was loved on and received so many special gifts that I just want to remember forever. I've also been remembering that I need to write out her birth story because holy crap she's four months old now.

So here's to 2011 and a wonderful year. I just received some exciting news from a dear friend and cannot be more happy - it truly made my morning. 2011 is going to be a great year for so many special people in our lives and I hope for us too. And in the grand scheme of things, I did get to spend a week holding this little one in my arms so maybe it wasn't such a bad week after all...

The Best Gift

2010-12-17T12:42:00.003-05:00

It's 8 days until Christmas. If you're buying a present for me - good luck, you are going to have a hard time topping the one that we received this week.

When we put up our tree a few weeks back Larry commented on how he couldn't wait to have ornaments from Emma on our tree. I scoffed and said I didn't want any flimsy handmade paper ornaments on my tree.

But boy oh boy did I melt when Emma came home from daycare on Wednesday with this one. If you can't tell, that is her hands for the antlers and her foot for the head... not surprisingly I was told she squirmed the entire time they were trying to trace her.

I love it so much that I find myself staring at it. I love how it will always represent how tiny she was on her first Christmas and how excited we are to celebrate as a family.

If you are receiving a gift from me, good luck to you as well - I haven't started our shopping!