As most of you know, February has always been the craziest month of the year for me at the AHA. The Go Red For Women Luncheon took place on February 19; I was working late and working from home quite a bit, and the week of the Luncheon I barely saw Emery at all! It turned out great, however - we had almost 400 women (and men) attend, the silent auction was a huge success and people seemed to really enjoy themselves during the lunch and keynote address. I wasn't thrilled with our speaker, but that was the only thing I wasn't happy about. Fundraising-wise, it was a struggle. As we all know, the economy is hurting right now and it's hard for any nonprofit to raise the same or more funds as they did last year; I don't think the final numbers are in quite yet, but I am hopeful that this year's Luncheon will raise as much as we did last year - just over $200,000. It is wonderful to know that those funds will go towards life-saving research and education specific to women's heart health. If you are interested in learning more about this cause, check out www.goredforwomen.org!
Even after the Luncheon was over, I still didn't get to see much of Emery or the rest of my family because I got pretty sick as a result of not taking care of myself while working so hard the week of the Luncheon. I definitely didn't eat right and I barely drank any water - not good for anyone, much less someone who is breastfeeding. I was severely dehydrated and required four bags of fluid - I was so weak and nauseous that I couldn't take care of Emery, so thankfully Adam and both sets of parents did their part in helping out with her for a few days. Those are the times that I am soooo thankful we live so close to family!
So now that February has come to an end, I am officially a stay-at-home mom. My original plan was to try to find a small, brainless part time job - but after discussing it with Adam at length, we decided to hold off on that for a while and see how things work out with me staying home 100% full time. With Adam's full-time job at UVA and his part-time work at St. Mary's Hospital, we should be ok. I am so grateful to Adam for being willing to work so hard in order for me to be able to stay home with Emery...he is putting in nights and weekends, working late at the hospital during the week and waking up early to drive to Charlottesville. It's hard on him but he says he doesn't mind doing it because he knows that it's important to me (and to us) to be able to stay home with Emery. Times like that really show me how wonderful Adam is and how lucky I am to be married to him :) And that's as sappy as I'll get, I promise!!
The last two weeks at home have been amazing and I absolutely love being a full-time mom. We have stayed pretty busy so far, going to playdates and running errands, visiting relatives and going for walks when the weather was so nice last weekend. Though there was a little hiccup with the huge snowstorm (10 inches!) early last week - we lost power for about 24 hours and had to pack up and go stay with my in-laws. They also lost power but had a generator, and there was no way we could stay home with Emery. Even when the power came back on, it took almost a full day for our house to warm up again - so that was 2 days displaced and out of routine. We got through it though...my only regret was that we didn't take Em out in the snow at all except when we walked to and from the car! It was so incredibly cold and she wasn't showing much interest anyway, so we just didn't bother. However, I'm sad now that we don't have pictures of her during her first big snowstorm.
So speaking of Emery, she is now 8 months old! I really, really can't believe it. We're starting to talk about her first birthday party...granted, it's a few months out and we won't be doing anything huge, but it's fun to think about! She has learned a few new tricks these days, and it's so fun to watch her grow and become a little person instead of just a baby. Below is a video of her clapping. She has also learned to wave bye-bye and she gives big, slobbery open-mouthed kisses. She also likes to make the "Indian" noise (I know that's probably not PC, but what else can you call it?) by humming while she moves her hand against her mouth.
She is so close to figuring out how to crawl, but I'm not sure when she'll actually master it. She can get onto all fours from a sitting position, and sometimes she'll rock back and forth...but then she just flops down on her belly. I can tell that she wants to move around so badly, though. I don't think it'll be too long before she figures it all out. I am not encouraging it though - I cannot imagine what my life will be like once she becomes mobile! I'm starting to babyproof, but I look around at my house and I just feel like there are hazards everywhere and I don't know what to do about it. It's overwhelming.
Below are a few cute pictures of her from a few weeks ago. She has gotten so big! We have her 9 month doctor's appointment on April 3rd, so stay tuned with updates on her growth progress! I am betting she is close to 20 pounds now. At least, that's what my spasming back muscles are telling me.
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