Southern Summers

It's finally starting to feel like we've got this parenting thing down now ;) It only took 15 weeks lol. I know we'll never really get the hang of it until Emma and any more children we have are grown and having children of their own, but there is something to be said about having a routine.

Even though she's still highly unpredictable sometimes (ok, most of the time) Emma is on a good "schedule" now. She's been waking up around the same time every morning for the last week, eating around the same times, and goes to bed around the same time. She's even sleeping a good average of 8-8 1/2 hours every night :) I better watch out because when it gets like this, it's usually too good to be true to last. It won't be too much longer before we deal with new milestones like rolling over or her teeth start really cutting through. That should throw a wrench in our days!

She's been staying up a lot longer now and taking shorter naps, which is ok with me as long as she continues to sleep through the night :) She's so close to a laugh it's driving me crazy! She's gurgling and smiling like crazy and I'm so ready to hear a little giggle :)

She's a little further from rolling over because I can usually only get about 15 seconds of tummy time out of her before she gets mad. She hasn't shown any signs of crawling either but I have a sneaking suspicion that she may skip crawling altogether and just start walking. She's already able to support herself on her legs for a few seconds and she has some crazy strong legs to boot! She got those from her daddy ;)

She's been getting better on fighting sleep and usually will only whine for a couple minutes before giving it up...and when I say whine, that's totally what she does! She's not even crying! It sounds like she's too tired to cry so she just fakes it lol. Little stinker :)

Rory and I are getting ready for our first full day without her...besides the days we both go to work. We're planning a trip to six flags on Saturday and my mom will be keeping her. It's ganna be weird not having her with us but I'm excited to ride some roller coasters! Ironically, we went to six flags a year ago this past weekend and it was around the same time that she was "made" ;) it's so weird to think that just a year ago, she was my little butter bean and now she's here and almost 4 months old! Time is going by way to fast :/

In other news, Emma will be going on her first vacation in 3 1/2 weeks! Rory's dad was invited to come to a Tennessee Vols practice in August so we've planned for the whole family to go and stay in the mountains and make a vacation out of it :) I am super excited as I haven't been to Gatlinburg in a long time, plus this is good quality time we get to spend with Rory's family, which we haven't been able to do like we want to because of living 2 hours away. This will be interesting, to say the least, with a 2 year old and a four month old and a bunch of adults :) I know it will be a memory that we'll be glad to have though.

Rory's dad is doing well these days but will be undergoing surgery after our vacation to remove a spot on his lung. We're praying that doctors can do everything to keep Ray healthy but we know that the real Physician is in charge of his health. We're praying that we can have as much time as God allows for us to spend time with him and for Emma to enjoy her time with her pappy, cuz I know he loves him some Emma! :) Continue to pray that Ray keeps his health and his positive attitude and makes the best of the time that God gives him.

Not much else to report. Hope everyone has a great week and stay cool!

God bless!