Growing up

Em and I are on our last week home before we head to daycare and back to work. It is hard to believe that we have already gone 8 weeks! We will all have a lot of adjustments next week! Bruce will no longer be able to use work as the excuse for me to take the late night feeding shift so he can go to bed early and I will no longer be able to try to fit in a late morning or early afternoon nap when Em does. All of us have grown up a lot in the last 8 weeks. Here are some examples...

1. We go to bed early

2. We get up early (yes...5:30 am is early to us)

3. Sara talks about poop! I have always said that everybody poops so we don't need to talk about it...I still don't talk about my own...but Em's poop (or lack thereof) seems to be a frequent conversation.

4. Bruce changes smelly diapers.... he still calls in reinforcements when the stench gets too bad but he is slowly improving!

5. vomit/spit up no longer comes from drinking too much the night before. Em unleashed an impressive display of projectile vomit all over Bruce last night. From my vantage point, it was hilarious...from Bruce's not so much.... Em didn't seem to mind at all...in fact he looked down at her and she smiled up at him :)

There are plenty of examples of how we have not grown up too much though! Too many to count!! Sorry, no pictures to post this week. Emerson gets baptized this weekend so we will have plenty more to post next week.

2 weeks left

Not much to report. I have two weeks before I go back to work and Emerson goes to her babysitter for the first time. Emerson met her babysitters this weekend. She is from Holland and her husband is from England, they came to the United States in 1980 and she opened a daycare shortly after that. He retired from his company a few years ago and got licensed to help with the daycare. She has a lot of experience and he is there to help with the kids as well. They only take 6-8 children in the daycare (they can legally accept 12) so we are comfortable that she will get the attention and care that she needs. We had a really nice visit and I think Em and them will get along great! I will be sad to send her off to daycare but I think it is about time for me to return to work and more adult interaction. Emerson is getting much more interactive now and is getting more fun. We have even noticed some smiles...not followed by the tooting! Here are some cute pics of her.

Big Stretches!!! Daddy's favorite picture

Protecting her prized possession.... keep your hands off her bink!

What the heck are you looking at?!?!

One Month & Kehrt Christmas

It is hard to believe that Emerson is one month old already. She is growing like a weed. Although many tell us she is "so small", to us she has grown so much! She is now 7 lbs 11 oz and 20.25 inches long. The last month has gone by so fast!!!

We had our Kehrt Family Christmas this weekend. Everyone came down to KC for the weekend and it was a great time. Uncle Chad and Uncle Noel and their families finally got to meet Emerson. They all got here on Friday and we spent the evening passing Emerson around so everyone could hold her, followed by a game of "Chicken Foot"-- a family tradition domino game. Saturday the adults went down to the Power & Light district so we could show them a little piece of KC, while Grandma & Grandpa Kehrt babysat the kids. We had a good time, but I was ready to get back to Emerson. I haven't been away from her very much and although the break was good.... I did start to miss her a bit. Our niece's Mara and Ellen opened a few of their gifts when we got back... we do that in shifts because they get a ton of gifts which leads to "present overload". They are both into babies/dolls and received strollers for their babies (Mara has so lovingly named hers Emerson-how cute). We opened the rest of the gifts after dinner, which was your typical Christmas gift opening experience. The highlight was when Ellen received her princess dress. I only wish I could have caught that on video!! Ellen opened the gift, proceeded to scream and clap her hands followed by tearing her PJ's off so she could put it one immediately. The next morning when she had to take it off was less than fun, as you can imagine. Emerson again did very well for such a new member of the family. Bruce and I received more than we deserved. It was a wonderful weekend. We were sorry to see the family go home and we can't wait to see them again. Below are some cute pictures of Em and the weekend.

Uncle Noel & Emerson

Mara holding Emerson (with a little help from Uncle Noel)

It took Chad a little while but he loved holding her once he got comfortable!

Grandma & Grandpa Kehrt with Em

Getting an eskimo kiss from Daddy

The best Christmas present we have ever gotten!!!

Ellen & her favorite person in the whole world (AKA Uncle Bruce) There is only one person that can make Ellen happy on a bad day...that is Uncle Bruce!

First Christmas!

We celebrated Christmas in Kansas City this year. Emerson's first christmas has turned out to be very lucrative for her. We had family christmas just the 3 of us on Christmas day and then joined Troy, Robin, Maggie, & Abby along with Robin's parents for Christmas lunch. She hit the motherload on gifts with the Oberle family christmas this weekend and she still has the Kehrt family Christmas yet to go.

She was a very popular little girl with the family and it is a good thing she likes to be held. She was being held by someone all of Friday and Saturday. She was able to see and be seen by a lot of family that we don't get together with very often. All of the other kids took turns holding her and all did very well! Our niece Maggie took over many of our parental duties for the day and took good care of her. I asked her to come live with us for a while...she declined...I can't figure out why a 13 year old wouldn't want to come hang out with us boring people for a while?!?! It was a wonderful weekend and we are so glad that everyone was able to make it here for Christmas. It has been a very special year for us and we were excited to spend time with the Oberle's. We are equally as excited to spend time with the Kehrt family when they all come down in 2 weeks for our Kehrt family Christmas.

We are ready to go meet the entire family at Uncle Troy & Aunt Robins house!

Spending some quality time with Uncle Scott!

Uncle Troy & Emerson bonding... He was teaching her to use more than just her index finger to express herself!!

One Week Old!

Its hard to believe Emerson is already a week old. She is doing great and we are still star struck with her!!

Grandma and Grandpa Kehrt came on the day she was born and stayed until we got home from the hospital. They had to go back to Iowa on Monday and we are excited for them to come back this Thursday to stay for a week! Grandma and Grandpa Oberle came on Saturday to see her too. I think we can safely say that she has 4 Grandparents that are just as smitten as we are withher! Grandma and Grandpa Oberle can't wait to see her again in 2 weeks at Christmas.

She had her first Dr appointment last week. She was at 94% of her birthweight and is in the 10th percentile for her size. She is gaining her birthweight back like a champ and although a little small, she is doing great! She is a great baby. She doesn't fuss a lot (yet)! So far we are pretty lucky! Here are a few more pictures of her!

She is the cutest ever!

Emerson with Grandma & Grandpa Kehrt

Emerson with Grandma & Grandpa Oberle

We are proud to announce the arrival of

Emerson Christine Oberle

Born: December 6, 2008

10:31 am
Weighing 6 lbs 5 oz

18 inches long

She is the joy of our life and we couldn't be more blessed to have her here and completely healthy! We came home for the hospital on Monday and like most babies she has her days confused with her nights. But she hasn't been a fussy baby and doesn't cry a lot. I could bore you with the details but let's face it, you really just want to see pictures of her!

Our beautiful baby Girl!

Our first family photo

I got a clean bill of health!!

A VERY proud daddy!

Mommy's little Angel!

Baby Watch Dec 2008

Still here....still pregnant! We are officially on baby watch now. We could see the arrival of Little O at any time. It may be tomorrow, it may be 3 weeks from now...only he/she knows. My stats have not changed since last week. 100% effaced, Little O is in prime birth position (head down and a zero position), and I am dialated to 1. We are ready for Little O to get here and getting very excited. I am having a lot of back pain and still gaining weight so I don't see that improving until he/she gets here, since all of my weight gain is in my belly.

I am continuing to work right up until labor. Frankly, I see no point in sitting home doing nothing when I can sit at my computer at work and make money. Work keeps me busy and my employer is great about letting me get up and move around and pretty much doing whatever I need to keep myself comfortable. Bruce is getting very excited too. He hasn't had to tell his work that he can't travel anymore. They have been able to keep him in the office, which is good.

We will continue to try to keep you all updated on our status and of course we will let everyone know when our addition decides to make his/her grand entrance!