Thankful

These are some of the moments I am so thankful for!

Emma and Gpa Harold with her early bday gift!

Emma playing with one of the Bday gifts Mommy and Daddy got her


Enjoying cake, and wanting to share the love with Mommy!

Dancing with Daddy

The three of us on Emma's first birthday!!!

Our baby girl is officially 1 year old as of 12:05 a.m. on Saturday morning! It seems like it was just yesterday when we were leaving the hospital with her, scared out of our minds about how we were responsible for this 6 lb. life! Well, we have survived the first 12 months and I can't imagine life without her! Her first birthday party went really well! We had lots of company, and she got lots of nice clothes, and even a 4 wheeler and a "house" from Mommy and Daddy!

Even though it has been a challening year, I can't help but think about all I have to be thankful for! Emma's in great health and has overcome stomach and sleep problems :) Nick got a new job with a better and more stable company. I got to spend the whole first year at home with Emma watching her grow and change every day! I got hired by Nick's company for a seasonal position that I will be starting in a few weeks. And the list goes on! For the past several months I have been reading this blog called Another Day Stronger and it has really given me a new outlook on life and a new appreciate for it, and every day we have with our baby girl, even some of the worst and hardest days! The blog is written by a mommy of an angel named Maddie who passed away from SIDS when she was about 4 months old :( It sure makes me cry a lot, but makes me realize how precious life is, and to enjoy every moment together! Maddie's mommy is so strong, and I can't even begin to IMAGINE life without my beautiful baby girl.....or should I call her a toddler, as she's walking everywhere now!?

Remember, tomorrow is promised to no one, so pack a lifetime of love into today!

It's Coming!!!!!!!!!!

In less than a week Emma will be One!!!!! Nick and I are in the process of getting our house all cleaned up and ready for the influx of company we're expecting Saturday. I know i haven't mentioned much about her birthday so I thought I would fill you in on a bit! Her theme is Butterflies and lots of color! I am making the cake for her to eat from a butterfly shaped silicone mold and we're getting one for everyone else to eat from HyVee. Mom and Dad are coming down Friday morning and are going to mess around with Emma, giving me the chance to make her cake, a chocolate penut butter cup dessert, and to get the last minutes things done here at home!

On party day (saturday) we are going to order some Casey's pizza for lunch, then everyone is supposed to start arriving around 2 or so. I have decided that we are going to do her cake very last because she doesn't like having her outfit changed and being cleaned up, so that way she won't be upset when we're trying to get her to open gifts :P Then Sunday is Dad's birthday, and his plans are for all of us to go to the zoo for the day. Monday when Mom and Dad leave Emma is going with them for a week, so that Nick and I can have some time together :) Anyhow, that's what's going on this coming week! I will post pictures after her party :)

Reminiscing on the Past Year

It's hard to believe that it is the end of July already! This summer is flying by, and two weeks from today Emma Rae will be turning one year old!!!! It has been one of the hardest, longest, most stressful, yet most rewarding years of my life :) Let's have a quick recap:

August 2010:

We were preparing for Emma's arrival and just imaging how our lives were about to change. Little did we know that there was now way for us to guess just how drastic a change it would be! On August 5th I went into labor abou 1 p.m. when the Directv employees were at our house setting us up with our new service. I didn't know that contractions had begun and only knew that somethng was happening (had begun to lean amniotic fluid). Around 3 Nick and I headed to the hospital where they checked me out and determined that I was in labor! At 12:05 a.m. on August 6th, Emma Rae Spotanksi was born! Mom stayed with us for 2 1/2 weeks, which was a Godsend as neither of us knew what they heck we were doing with this 6 pound screaming demon :)

September 2010:

Emma was going through a really hard time, as were Nick and I being so severely sleep deprived. We were switching formulas like crazy trying to find one that would set well with Emma as she was clearly having some stomach problems. We settled of Pregestimil (for a while) because that's what Nick had to be on when he was little. My 26th birthday was a disaster as we went for supper at Chili's and we hadn't been there 10 minutes and Emma began to bawl, and so we pretty much got to-go boxes as soon as our food arrived :P

October 2010:

I went to the dr. for post partum depression around the middle of the month. The "baby blues" hadn't subsided and I was needing to get the horomones back in check. The meds began to work quickly and I was soon back to my old self. Nick turned 30, and his parents came up to celebrate. We dressed Emma up as a pumpkin for Halloween :)

November 2010:

By now we had found that Emma had a problem with milk and soy proteins, and she was on one of the most expensive formulas, Neocate, which is $40 per can! For Thanksgiving we went to Nick's grandma Rosie's.

December 2010:

We were preparing for our first Christmas as a little family. The weekend before Christmas we went back to Grand Island to celebrate with Nick's family. Then we went back to Missouri to celebrate Christmas Eve and Day with my family. Emma wasn't sure about opening gifts and Mommy and Daddy ended up helping her :) Santa Claus was good to her!

January 2011:

Our new year started off uneventfully and was beginning to feel better horomone-wise, however, I was noticing (ok I had been noticing it for a while) that my weight was climbing. I talked to my OB/GYN and she changed me over to Prozac saying that the chance of weight gain was less on it than Zoloft.

February 2011:

Feeling better, I decided to stop taking the Prozac, and had no ill side-effects when coming off of it like I did when I tried to wean myself off of Zoloft. However, my weight finally stopped at 150...just five pounds shy of where I was when I was nine months pregnant :( This really bothered (and still bothers) me. Emma was beginning to do this army-crawl thing (Dad says she's doing the Marine Low Crawl :) ) where she would drag herself with her arms and use only her left leg to kind of push herself along!

March, April, and May 2011:

A few pretty uneventful months. Emma had a few ear infections (so NOT FUN), we went back to Missouri to celebrate Ethan and Mom's birthdays, and Mike and Mollie came back for a visit. Emma began to actually "crawl", and "cruise"! We bought a pop-up camper and took it camping on Memorial Day weekend at Wallace State Park in Cameron, Mo.

June 2011:

Emma really started crawling a lot more and Mollie came by after a conference one evening and stayed the weekend! We all went garage saling and I ended up getting her a Fisher Price Laugh and Learn House toy for her upcoming birthday, which is now sitting in her room, covered up by a big blanket so she doesn't know it is there, and so that she will see it as a new toy on her birthday!

July 2011:

We spent the 4th of July weekend in Grand Island. Emma stayed the weekend with Grandma Mollie and Papa Mike, and was glued to Mike's hip :) While she was there, Nick and I went camping with Ryan, Sandra, Jordyn, and Adam at Sherman's Reservoir around Loup City, Ne. We then celebrated the 4th on the 3rd at Ryan and Sandra's (Picture 1 below) and Emma enjoyed some fireworks before getting too tired and going to bed at 8 p.m. :) Towards to the middle of July Emma and I went on vacation to Branson and Eureka Springs (pictures 2-5 below) and had a great time. Ethan and I did a Zipline and Suspension Bridge thing which was awesome! We also spent a day at Eureka Springs, Arkansas, sightseeing and going to the Passion Play, as well as spending a day at Stockton Lake, which Emma loved! The day we returned to Omaha, Emma took her first step. I interviewed at Oriental Trading Company and was offered a job. Present Day: We are in the process of trying to find a good daycare for Emma before I start working on August 29th. We are also in the process of preparing for Emma's first birthday. I am preparig to start the HCG diet and want reallllllllllllyyyyyyyyy badly to lose some weight before my 26th birthday.

So, that's about all that's been going on this past year :)

Spring/Summer Fun

Here are a few more recent pics of Emma enjoying the Spring/Summer weather! We had a nice time in Missouri, and later today Mom and Dad will be up here at our house for 3 days or so, which will be great! We're going to go to the zoo tomorow and then Saturday we're setting up our camper then going mini golfing that evening! Other than that, nothing new really happening!

Easter Fun

Here are some photos from our Easter back in Grand Island at Mike and Mollie's! Emma had a wonderful first Easter and did great at her first Mass on Easter Sunday :) I don't have much to say tonight, so I will let the photos do the talking. Enjoy!

Emma with the first piece of candy she found on her first Easter egg hunt :)

Having fun with the basket wrapping!

Looks like the Easter Bunny was good to Emma!

Emma and Daddy before church ;)

Our first Easter photo as a family!

Me and my precious girl!

Emma and her cousin, Kamryn, who is 4 days younger than her!

Emma and Kamryn having fun playing with the plastic easter eggs!

A Little Bit of This and That

Just a quick update as I'm tired and have to feed Emma in about 30 minutes.

This Weekend:
I can't believe that Sunday is Easter! This year really has flown by, especially since Christmas! We are leaving for Grand Island on Saturday and are spending the holiday weekend with Nick's family, which will be nice as we haven't seen most of the since the week before Christmas. Emma has the cutest Easter dress that Mollie got her (navy eyelet with a white cover), and so I think Nick and I are going to dress in Navy/Blue and white so we can get some nice, rare, family photos :) The "Easter Bunny" has her basket all ready to be opened on Sunday morning! I will take plenty of pics and have Nick take some of me and Emma together because we don't have many of the two of us.

Us:
"Us" referring to me and Nick. We are doing fine lately, although my patience seems to be lessened as he's feeling sick, yet AGAIN, and so I'm majorly feeling like a single mom. On top of taking care of Emma 24/7, I'm taking care of the house, and I get the feeling that he thinks I don't do much during the day. I love him, but I guess he will see how much I do when I'm in Missouri for a week in May :P Bet anything I come home to a hamper full of laundry to do, and nothing in the icebox! But like I said, I do love him....just wish he would tell me he appreciates what I do, and even offer to do some stuff himself. Wishful thinking....

Garage Saling:
Two weeks from Sunday Emm and I are heading to Maysville for a little over a week so that I can go to the shooting range with Dad and shoot my little revolver, mark garage sale stuff, and go to the Liberty neighborhood garage sales!!!! Mom and I have been really looking forward to the Liberty sales for a while now, but I think I'm more looking forward to just spending some time with everyone! Mom and I are going to go down that Friday afternoon to hit the sales that start that day (and get the jump on good bargains!), and then we're spending the night in a hotel in Kearney so that we can be up and out early to the sales Saturday morning! There's not a whole lot I really "need", but am looking for winter clothes for Emma, as well as movies, books, etc. I'm excited, if you couldn't tell!!!!!!!!!!

So there's my quick update for tonight :) Will update with Easter pictures next time!

Putting Thoughts to Pen

I just came across a blog of a girl who I used to go to school with, and it basically talks about the writing process and what it is to be an author. Reading her posts got me thinking about how big a part of my life creative writing used to be. I say "used-to" because once I began college, creative writing took a backseat to research papers and technical writing. Ther were a few classes where I got to write creative pieces, but the longer I went without writing one, the harder it got when I had to. Being an English major meant writing numerous papers every semester on topics ranging from feminism (ugh!) to fantasy (!), however, I truly believe that these papers can be a death sentence to one's creativity. Sure they offered creative writing courses, but I have never been one to be "creative on demand", and so I didn't see this as a viable option. Now, being a mom, I don't have the free time like I used to, but I really want to start writing again. I'm not sure what about, but I want to get the creative juices flowing again! For Ethan's 21st birthday, I composed a poem which explained his birthday present that he would be receiving in a few weeks as it was not available at that time (newest Harry Potter movie), and boy did it feel good! I honestly think I had forgotten how much I enjoyed writing, and also, seeing others' reactions to it :) Therefore, I vow to try and write at least 3 times per week, as I don't want to detract from the family time I have with Nick and Emma, but I also feel it's an important part of myself that I need to hold on to.