372 Months and 8 Months

In the last week we had two big milestones in the Messner house.  I celebrated my 31st birthday and Emerson celebrated 8 months of baby bliss (or more likely, 8 months of tolerating her parents and beagles).  Seriously, she has to put up with this sort of business day in and day out. . .goldfish leg warmers, bunny hats, dogs wearing bowties.

 Emerson will all of her Easter loot.

Stan waiting for Riley to prepare him a glass of wine.  She is perusing the selection.

My birthday came first and I'm the most important so let's start with my birthday--yeah right, we know who rules the roost over here, regardless, we'll start with my birthday.  This year I decided to celebrate my birthday all weekend long.  On Friday we went downtown to meet friends and celebrate opening day.  We didn't have tickets, but we still had a hot dog and beer at Biker Jim's to feel special.  Emerson liked watching the crazy people.

Later that evening, Anna and I went to a drinking and painting class.  We aced drinking.  Painting--not so much.  We opted not to paint along with the rest of the class.  They were painting a lame interpretation of the golden gate bridge.  Instead we commemorated the activities that were to follow.  Drinking and biking.  Anna stuck to bikes, while I attempted to paint some beer cans too.  The only "compliments" I got from the art teacher:  "wow.  that's a lot of colors." and "you paint a pretty good beer can from memory."  Despite our lack of talent, we had a lot of fun.

 On Saturday (my actual birthday), we met up with friends for a bicycle brewery tour.  I have to admit I was nervous.  I haven't seriously rode a bike since middle school.  I'm more of the casual, slow, ride serpentine down the middle of the street type of cyclist.  Long story short: I rode to 5 different breweries, enjoyed beers with good friends, didn't crash, and came home to lots of cake.

Emerson and I before the bike brewery tour.  She stayed home with her nanny.

The crew before heading off to the first brewery.

3rd Stop.  Check out my Jammy Pack.  It's a fanny pack that is also a speaker for your ipod.  Josh gave it to me for my birthday.  I love it.

Now for the little lady.  On April 8th, Emerson turned 8 months old.  Here she is modeling her 8 month birthday sticker.  I have to keep it out of her line of sight so she doesn't try to eat it.

The picture below was taken after she found the sticker, smashed it, and started to chew on it.

At 8 months Emerson is doing great.  She loves to eat, jabbers and screams (happy screams, of course), and she just started to crawl this past weekend.  Things are going to start to get interesting.

I'm a Little Behind

I am trying to get back into the habit of blogging.  I apologize for being away for so long.  Josh, Emerson and I have been having lots of adventures.  Can you believe Emerson is almost 8 months old?!  I can't.  Seriously.  Time is flying by so quickly.  Don't believe me?  Check this out:

  

And a few out takes since she is just too darn cute.

Face Off

It's only natural for people to wonder who Emerson looks like:  mommy or daddy.  Personally I think she is a nice mix of both of us.  Here are a few comparisons.

First, Daddy vs. Emerson

 

Now: Mommy vs. Emerson

Interesting, right?  It will be neat to see how she changes as she gets bigger.

7 Pictures for 7 Weeks

I apologize for not updating my blog for so long, but I HAD A BABY.  I figure that is a good excuse.  We are still trying to figure out one another, so I don't have a lot of time to write, but I thought I would at least post a few pictures.  Emerson is 7 weeks old today, so I posted 7 pictures.  I have about a million more. . . she is just too cute.

 Emerson Lynn Messner ~ August 8, 2012 ~ 11:59 PM ~ 7lbs 6oz

 Emerson approximately 2 hours old

 First Bath

 First 80's 5K with Sensei

 Emerson in her beagle outfit from Grandpa Bill

 One Month Old!

Emerson @ 6 1/2 Weeks

The Eve of Something Big

Tomorrow is the big day!  We finally get to meet our little girl.  We are going in for a c-section because the baby is cozy and decided she did not want to turn head-down.  It is very strange to know she will be here. . . and I won't be pregnant anymore.  It has been a long road, but worth the wait.  Josh and I are very excited.  I don't really know what to do with myself tonight. I think Josh feels the same way.  Thank goodness the Olympics are on tv.

We'll take one more photo tomorrow, but I'll leave you with a few pictures from the past two weeks.

 37 Weeks

 Stanley testing the baby carrier.

38 Weeks (at the August Tennyson St. 1st Friday)

A Taste of Summer

Last week my doctor finally took me off strict bed rest!!!  That doesn't mean I get to go crazy and climb a mountain or even go back to work, for that matter.  It does mean that I get to walk around, drive my car, sit at the dinner table like a normal person, and get OUT of my house!  I've been cooped-up since before Memorial Day, so this past week has been my first real taste of summer.


My first day of freedom I got to celebrate my sister Anna's birthday.  We met up with friends for happy hour ( I had a mocktail w/ my sister, Abby); went out to dinner; and indulged in some delicious desserts.  I also got to go to Josh's work BBQ for a little while on Thursday.  I mostly sat and chatted with people, but it was nice to go to the park, even if it was 100 degrees outside.

The weekend was a lot of fun too, but I definitely over-exerted myself.  During our doctor appointment last week we found out the baby is still breech.  The doctor suggested going swimming to encourage the baby to flip head-down.  I refused to go buy a one-piece suit for one or two swimming excursions, so I threw shame out the window and squeezed into a bikini.  It wasn't pretty, but the water felt amazing!!!

36 Week Belly Shot

After swimming, we got cleaned-up and caught 3 bands at the Underground Music Showcase (UMS).  Josh and I used to go all out for the UMS and attend all four days--mid-day to late into the night or next morning.

2011 UMS

  This year, I was pushing it to stay for 3 bands.  Even though I sat down a lot and drank a ton of water, my feet swelled terribly and my toes looked like vienna sausages.  There also wasn't much definition between my calves and ankles.  I officially had cankles.

2012 UMS

On Sunday I barely moved.  My ab muscles killed from swimming and my walk was more like a 90 year-old shuffle.  It was worth it though.  Our weekends as a family of two are numbered.  At the most we have two more.  Who knows?!  Maybe it was our last??  Baby M could come any day now. . .