3 Months Already?!?

Technically, Emelia is 13 weeks old. OMG! It's been 3 months since she was born. What a wild ride thus far. Emelia is close to being completely scheduled and predictable. Believe me...I had NOTHING to do with it. She did it all on her own. She has changed so much in such a short period of time. By far, I think she's been our largest baby. Yup, I think she even surpassed Taylor in size and weight at the same age and T. was born 15 ounces larger. She definitely surpassed the boys when they were 3 months old.

August 20, 2010

November 4, 2010

I have been back to work for a week now and as much as the work processes have changed, the work itself is still the same. My mom and I are taking week by week to see how Emelia and I do being together while I am working. We are trying to keep her with me as long as possible before I can no longer handle working and having her by my side.

During my leave we were able to take a family vacation to Disneyland. My mom and aunts went with us and we had a blast.

The whole vacationing crew. These gals also traveled with us back in May 2009 when we went to Orlando, Florida. It's so nice to have many "Nanas" to help watch over our kiddos!

Emelia's first picture with Mickey Mouse!

Belle (Taylor), Paratrooper (Jackson), Ninja (Anthony) posing with Aunt Dinah and Aunt Rosie in Disneyland.

The kids got to attend the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. They came back with a TON of candy! See what I mean. This is all of the 3 kiddo's candy from just that night. Yes, this bag is FULL of candy!

The kids had a lot of fun this Halloween. They got to trick or treat 3 times this year. Once in Disneyland, once on the evening before Halloween and again on Halloween night. The NW YMCA was having their annual Trunk or Treat so we decided to take a chance and attend. There were huge crowds of people. Many of them waiting to get in and out of the parking lot. It's a good thing we arrived early and found a primo spot because as soon as we left, someone snagged our spot. On Halloween night we went trick or treating in Aunt Rosie and Uncle Perry's neighborhood and the kids again scored a lot of candy.

This picture is the night before Halloween taken at The Bottle Shop. Anthony created his own costume and dressed up as Commander Cody from the Halo video game. Taylor dressed up as a Winter Contessa Princess and Jackson was a Paratrooper again.

As much as the last 3 months have been a complete blur due to lack of sleep and trying to get adjusted to having 4 kids and 6 different schedules to keep up with; I think we are finally out of survival mode. I think we have all started to settle into a good routine and the rest of 2010 will hopefully be a bit calmer for us. Hee hee, we'll see because Thanksgiving is on Thursday and then Christmas is right around the corner. YIKES!!!!

A Diaper Tale

Emelia is 6 weeks old already and has outgrown her newborn size diapers. Weight wise, I'm sure she can still wear them but mess wise...she needs a bigger diaper. :-) But it's definitely true that not all diapers are the same!

We have been using the Huggies Snugglers size 1 and the Kirkland brand size 1-2 diapers. We also received a package of Pampers Swaddlers size 1's which I may return at the store because of my fear of the chemical burn from their DryMax technology. And we purchased and started using the Target Up and Up Brand diaper. I have also tried on Emelia, the Huggies Snug & Dry size 1-2 diapers when she was about 3 weeks old. I have not tried the Sam's Club or Walmart brand diapers yet. I'm sure that will happen in the near future.

Here's the verdict so far...
Huggies Snugglers: They fit her well. Contain the mess...decently, although when she soaks her diaper, it becomes heavy and feels a bit moist on the outside too. She seems to have a bit more leaks out of the side with these diapers if that diaper is not positioned on her properly. Between the leg fit, these are a bit bulkier which may cause the side leaks we've sometimes had because the diaper becomes a bit off centered. Rash and Redness...minor. We've relieved that by using the Melaleuca Triple Antibiotic Ointment alternating with the Melaleuca Renew Lotion.

Kirkland Brand: They fit her well. The construction is almost identical to the Huggies Snugglers. Contain the mess...Well, I don't remember a leg leak problem when she's worn them. Thus far no back blowouts. When the diaper is full, you can tell but it's not moist on the outside like the Huggies Snugglers get. Between the leg fit is almost perfect. Rash and Redness...Minimal. Thus far, I have been able to use the Melaleuca Renew Lotion with her between diaper changes

Huggies Snug & Dry: I tried these on her when she was about 4 weeks old and they were HUGE on her. Granted they are size 1-2 but I think they are closer to a size 2 than a size 1. So we put them away for a later date. Around the waist they fit her but I was really worried about leg leakage.

Target Up & Up: Not exactly my favorite right now. They fit her decently and are trim between the legs. They contain a mess very well though. With these diapers, I'm worried that we would see a back blowout because they don't have the same extra panel construction as the Huggies Snugglers and Kirkland's do. They don't have as much stretch and give in the back for the side tabs that the Kirkland and Huggies have. They are a bit more rigid but fit better between the legs for Emelia. Rash and Redness...Minimal so far. We've only used a few of the diapers from the package one of which was during the night for a 3-4 hour stretch and she wasn't red when I changed her.

Pampers Swaddlers: Before the change to incorporate the DryMax Technology, we were a Pampers family. I know moms who have used them successfully w/o problems and ones who have seen the rashes occur almost immediately after use. I'm still skeptical so I think we'll hold off on these and try to exchange them for a different brand.

By far, the Kirkland size 1-2 brand diapers are my favorite. Hahha, I'm not sure what Emelia thinks about them. Only problem...no Costco membership so I'll have to see if I can score them another way OR break down and purchase a Costco membership just to purchase diapers. Then I would say I like the Huggies Snugglers but we definitely must change her immediately or else she'll feel wet everywhere. Then the Target brand diapers. I think I like the trim of the Target diapers but the overall construction and fit of the Kirkland diapers are much better thus far.

Baby wipes...hands down Target Up & Up Sensitive Brand wipes (in the purple and white package)!!!! We've used the Pampers Sensitive and the Huggies Wipes and overall softness, quality and being able to get them out of the wipe box, Target Sensitive are the best. We were really surprised to find how rigid the Huggies wipes were. And the cost/value of the Pampers Sensitive wipes...I'll take the Target brand wipes to save a few dimes and I get more wipes in the package.

Baby Haze

On Friday, August 20, 2010 Lisa gave birth to a beautiful 7lb. 0oz. 19 1/4" baby girl at 3:35pm. Her name is Emelia Michelle Gray. (pictures to be posted in a separate update).

Today marks day 10 of her life and mom and dad are still in a slight baby haze. Dad took the week off from work following her birth and mom is taking full advantage of the 12 weeks of maternity leave under FMLA from her company.

Big Big brother Anthony, Big brother Jackson and Big sister Taylor adore their new baby sister. Everyone wants to love on and kiss on and hug and hold her. The three of them tend to her cries and if they can't...guess who they call and tell "the baby is hungry"? With the kids off at school and mom and baby left at home most mornings, bonding is at it's peak right now. Of course mom is still trying to do a lot of things she did before baby was here...Facebook, Farmville, Frontierville, Fold laundry (wow...that's a lot of 'F-words'). But mom is also trying to force herself to rest when Emelia is resting. Mom's rest usually comes in the middle of the afternoon/early evening.

Thus far, very little jealousy has occurred other than within the older siblings when it comes to helping out with the baby. Mom and Dad are very fortunate that the kiddos are primarily cooperative with each other and WANT their baby sister around. Ask us again though in about a month once the baby haze starts to fade how everyone is doing. :-)