Helping Daddy Pack

Last week, Popeye had to fly to Michigan for a few days on business. It's the first time that Emmett and I have been alone alone since he was born. It might not have seemed quite as long if Popeye hadn't had to work that weekend (meaning he was either gone or asleep since the Friday night before). We made it though and was sure glad when he got back!

Way To Soon

Its way too soon to be having this discussion with a 7-week old but, I wanted to set the record straight.....

Friday night was the Rose Festival Parade so we packed up our stuff and headed out to take part in the festivities. I was a little concerned about how Emmett would do, but it seemed as long as I held him he was content to look around. The parade started and we walked down the street while the sirens went by just in case it would scare or hurt his ears. The rest of the parade was fine.

It was in the middle of the parade though that I knew I had 'all boy' in my hands and one that took after his Daddy. While he didn't seem too terribly interested in the rest of the parade, when the motorcycles came to a stop in front of us and revved their engines my son smiled.... big. You better believe I talked to him about that one later that evening. I figured this would come up some day, I didn't realize it's be so soon.

Sleeping 'Beauty' (in manly terms of course)

While Our little guy is sleeping through the night already, this does NOT happen when he's going through a growth spurt (aka. right now) which means not much sleep for me. I had finally got him down to bed after a pretty long day and was in the kitchen boiling pacifiers (thanks to the thrush) when the smoke alarms go off. We're talking those high-pitched beeps going through the house- even in his room!
It takes me a bit to stop what I'm doing, turn the vent fan on, and pull the chair over to turn them off.... cringing the whole time because I'm sure its woken him up and I just can't stand that sound.

Would you believe he didn't stir! Didn't even budge! With all the lesser things he wakes up to...... my knees popping when I lay him down, the shower curtain opening/shutting, door shutting, and more..... you'd have thought the alarms would have done it. Nope, didn't seem to faze him! Thankfully, he slept pretty good through the night giving me some resemblance of sleep.

Chicken Tortilla Bake

a post NOT about emmett :O) We made this last night and I thought it was definitely tasty!!!! Thought I'd pass it on for those who like slight Mexican :O)


Chicken Tortilla Bake

No Stick Cooking Spray
1 Med green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 C chopped yellow onion
1/2 C chicken broth
1 Can (10 3/4 oz) condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 Can (10 oz) Original Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies, undrained
2 C shredded cooked chicken
9 tortillas (6 in), torn into bite-size pieces
1 C shredded Colby Jack cheese


Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray 8x8-inch baking dish and medium skillet with cooking spray. Heat skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add bell pepper and onion; cook 5 minutes or until tender, stirring several times. Stir in broth, soup, undrained tomatoes and chicken; blend well. Bring to a boil; remove from heat. Layer 1/3 each of the tortilla pieces, chicken mixture and cheese evenly in baking dish. Repeat layers twice more. Bake uncovered 40 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

Makes 6 servings (1 C each).

Sporting Fancy Duds

Here's Emmett in his 'business casual'. Ready for any tie-formal event or a jog in the park.

Purple Mouth

Our poor little guy has thrush.... which means he gets to have a purple mouth for a few days due to the medicine (which has a dye in it).

It doesn't bug him but he looks awfully funny when he sleeps and purple drool goes down the side of his mouth.... and I mean BRIGHT purple. Thankfully, we don't have to do it long and it will fade fairly quickly but we have to take lots of precautions not to end up with purple clothes.

1 Month Photos & 'Talking'

I was going to save the 1 month photos until all grandparents and great-grandparents had gotten them but that might be a bit and he's 5 weeks today soo..... I'm posting them on the blog and they will have to wait expectantly on the mail :O)

We had a sweet moment this morning. Normally, he sleeps the morning away and is awake and fussy late afternoon/evening BUT after sleeping almost 12 hours last night (he woke up once in between), he definitely was awake and alert. I sat him on my tummy and Emmett and I had a little conversation. He's starting to make little noises and thinks its very neat when mommy bounces him a little and congratulates him on being such a big boy. He talks a little more each day and I often tell him that he'd get to talk more if momma let him have a word in edgewise.... phew, he's getting big so fast!

1 Month Photos ...... still in progress

So..... the real one month photos are still in progress but, here's some that won't be showing up in any envelope at your door.... though I still think they're cute.

I don't know what to say about this face.....
I think he was fascinated with the flash at this point.

I love the green cloth diapers....
don't know why, just love that bright green.

When he cries, his lower lip rolls down into an incredibly cute pout and then starts to quiver as he begins to cry. I tell people that someday, if he uses that pout/quiver on me and its still that cute.... its going to be really hard to stand firm and keep a straight face.

First Time Parents

Oh the joys of first time parenthood. Not surprisingly most of our adventures revolve around spit-up and changing diapers. Emmett's breaking us in quick though so hopefully it won't be too long and we'll be pros :O)

The most recent experience involved Popeye and me both at the airport. We had taken FJ down to catch a plane and we were almost there when familiar farting noises started from the little man next to us. I checked him out and sure enough, he had went right through the disposable diaper, through his clothes, down his leg and onto the carseat insert. (This was the last straw for the disposable diapers!)

After dropping FJ off at the door we parked and attempted to tag team this mess of a little boy. We tried to cover all our bases,....

Can we change him on the car hood? (no, its too hot out there)

What are we going to put the diaper and clothes in? (I think there's a shopping bag in the trunk, I haven't boughten a wet bag yet.)

Do we have something to change him into? (yep but only one outfit so he can't do this again!)

Who's going to hold and who's going to change? (daddy wasn't going to mess with the poo)

How to get it over his head? (roll the clothes and pray it doesn't get in his hair...)

oh, fun times. Emmett was a good sport until the end but even he stopped crying in surprise when low and behold, we finally have him cleaned up and laying pretty much naked on a blanket in the car and he starts urinating on the back seat. Now we won't tell you which one and we cleaned it up so you can, with confidence, ride in our car again, but thankfully after prior experience with such happenings... I quickly came to the rescue ;o)

Oh, first time parenthood. Thankfully, its funny.... even to us.... even at the time ;o) but I'm thinking maybe a couple kids down the line and a few more incidents, we might learn a thing or two. :O)

~Olive

Emmett At 3 Weeks

At three weeks, he definitely went through a growing spurt. My four hour naps or at nap suddenly turned into 1 1/2 to 2. Needless to say, there was possibly a couple of grumpy people in our house at times :O) We made it through though and he's back to his normal happy and sleepy self!!! Yeah!

We've also officially started cloth diapering!!! After wayyyy too many blowouts with disposable, we decided it was time to start doing laundry again which means... diapers :O) So far, we haven't had any problems keeping it all in with cloth so we're hoping that won't change!

The great-grandmas, an aunt, and cousin came to visit for Easter. Emmett got lots of holding time but thankfully still likes his crib well enough :O)

Mommy, Daddy, and Emmett :O)

Grandpa L. and Emmett
(we think we found out where Emmett learned his sleeping positions from ;o)

Daddy has Emmett in the 'sleeper hold'.

Great-Grandmas came for a visit!!

Such a happy camper after eating!!!!!!

Daddy's Snuggle Bug

Our Emmett is a snuggle bug. Every once in a while now, we still allow him in our bed for a little while to nap and snuggle...... anything goes the first two months, right? :O) Daddy's getting into the snugglebugging too!

Loving Having Family Nearby

Of course, its wonderful to have family so close! Emmett has and endless number of family willing to hold him! He, of course, doesn't tend to mind unless its time to eat :O)

Emmett sleeping through church....

Getting some 'grandma' time in :O)

'Grandparents' Bahler Head Home

So this is about a week late but my parents came down to help and see baby Emmett. My mom came down right away (the next day) to help and boy I couldn't have done it without her! My dad and brother came down about a week later to see him and to hang out in the sunny weather (though it wasn't much different back home. Even though they've been gone a week, I thought I should post some pictures of them while they were here :O)

Emmett, of course, loved to sleep on 'grandma'.

Uncle Shane holding Emmett.

He doesn't stand a chance but to be a Purdue fan :O)

Graduation Day!!!

Last night, Emmett officially slept in his crib!!! We are labeling today graduation day for this small victory. Granted, I had never tried the crib up to this point because of his obvious dislike for his bassinet but finally decided it was worth a try with the help of the angel monitor that our neighbors loaned us. (The angel monitor is one that tracks breathing/movement as well as sound so if the baby stops breathing for too long a time it alerts us.) I think we all slept pretty well last night :O)

2 weeks old yesterday and getting so big on us already!


~Olive

Marking His Territory?

So it took a bit for me and Emmett's Grandma Bahler to realize that newborn diapers no longer work......

Wednesday, early morning: Emmett does not like his bassinet. Longest time in it may be a whopping 15 minutes. For slrrp reasons, he sleeps with me. What do I find Wednesday morning (which was bound to happen) but a soaked through diaper and me peed on.

Same day, a few hours later: my mom lays down to take a nap with Emmett on her chest so I can take a shower, etc. She wakes up to find herself in a similar situation.... good thing she hadn't showered yet.

Same day, later that afternoon: my dad is holding Emmett on the couch. Emmett is becoming notorious for loud farting noises whenever he is pooping, which takes the guesswork out of a dirty diaper :0) He starts making these noises and my dad immediately starts calling for my mom to take him. In about 15 seconds, he went through diaper, clothes, and decently thick blanket to get my dad on his shirt.

Finally same day, late evening: just took a bath and was on his changing table getting ready for bed. We had yet to put any clothes on him when he starts peeing on his bedroom wall. I look around helplessly trying to think of what to throw on top of him until my mom realizes what he's doing and throws the towel on him.



What a day! We eventually wised up and went up a diaper size..... no problems since but we had to wander that day.... Who would his next target be?

~Olive

Emmett: 1 week (ish)

Going out on the town and loving my carseat!

Daddy and me...... Go Boilermakers!!!

All sprawled out, getting ready for my sponge bath.

Emmett lost only 1/2 lb. by Saturday after he was born. They typically want them to gain it back in two weeks. By Monday he was 10 lb. 11 oz. He'd gained almost a pound in only 2 days! Phew! No one can say he's not getting enough to eat!


~Olive

Our Little Miracle

God has given us a miracle.... and in all honesty a testimony to His power and love. Emmett Dean was born Tuesday March 9th at 3:30 pm, but its God's hand in his birth that give all glory and honor to God.

Despite 37 1/2 hours of labor (which included 6 hours of pushing), him originally being posterior and turning only by God's grace in the middle of the night, and having shoulder dystocia God gave us an amazing little boy......

Our little miracle......

• He is completely fine, healthy and big!
• Most posterior babies don't turn to the right position in the middle of labor, but our little man sometime in the middle of the night when we were trying to get some much needed sleep and weren't trying to find a way to turn him ourselves- God was letting everyone know it was He who turned our little man and He was the one to be praised.
  
• While its common with shoulder dystocia that the collar bone breaks getting them out.... no bones are broken.
• Despite finding two tears in the umbilical cord that we we're pretty sure happened from him playing with it in the womb, his vital signs were always good through delivery and it delivered life-giving oxygen when he needed it.
• He is a beautiful 10 lb 8 oz, 22 1/2 inches long boy.

You know.... when praying about whether to have the baby at home or go to the hospital, there was such a peace about having him at home. I couldn't really describe it and we weren't very open about it because we didn't want people to worry and not at all sure we wanted to explain it to everyone. There were several reasons why we wanted to have him at home but in the end, it was really God's overwhelming peace that was our reasoning. I know it's a hard thing for many to understand because it seems like such a risky thing to do (though people did it all the time not that long ago) but given the choice, I'd do it again the same way with our little man. God had us in His hands and told us to trust HIM. We are ALWAYS blessed beyond measure when we trust in Him and give Him our everything.

So many thanks to everyone who was praying. We felt your prayers through it all and we know God was listening. It's comforting to know that God answers and as always.... is in control.

~Olive

41 Weeks And Counting

This is just a prayer request to anyone who reads our blog for patience. We are very excited that baby Lindberg will surely come any day now and as our excitement grows.... so does our impatience :O) It's sometimes hard to wait on God's timing but we're giving baby Lindberg over daily. Your prayers are VERY much appreciated :O)

40 Weeks: The Happy Couple

So we're still waiting.... if not more and more impatiently for Baby Lindberg to arrive. We're not worried that the due date has passed as that's common for first time mommas and technically, its just a calculated date..... but that doesn't make us any less excited.

I decided recently though that we need a 'family photo' before he's born for his scrapbook so what better time to take the picture than at 40 weeks (and 1 day) :O) So here's us, the happy couple.


~Olive

Baby Art

So I'm still decorating for Baby Lindberg's Room. I truly hope he's not waiting on it being finished to join us because I'm taking my time :O) It's been fun working on the projects though so I'm sharing a few of the more recent ones.

1
Popeye bought a bulletin board from a CAT auction for super cheap. I originally tried to make it magnet board because I didn't like the idea of push pins but that didn't work so great..... sooooo... I pulled the wood frame off of it and cut it into three equal pieces with a box cutter.

2
I found three pieces of material that I liked and wrapped it around the cork board, using a staple gun to keep it on. Super easy!!!

3

Finally... hung them on the baby's blank wall. I figure we'll eventually push pin things in it but for now, I'm just liking it as wall art. I'm still considering cutting out a cute elephant design or using ribbon on one of them to add a little 'bling' to the project but for now..... this is one more baby project that I had fun doing!