A day in Red Wing

I really enjoyed my time with my dear old friend, Katie Wells. We met in Red Wing to spend the day together and she got to meet Emily! I also received lovely gifts from both her and her grandmother. I love her family! We spent the day chatting and laughing over coffee, then went downtown to a not so great restaurant :) And then ended it with more catching up and a walk around the lake. It was a gorgeous day!

Father's Day 2009

This year for Father's Day we went to a Twins game treated by my dad. It was so great because our entire family was there!! Great until Emily had a blowout (stupid disposables) and we had to leave around the 6th inning. But we did get to go to a nice conference room and watch the game from there so it wasn't all that bad!!



Me and my sis




Abby loving time with Papa


Our new room thanks to Em's poop :)


Love this one of Abby playing


Ryan's pretending he's a baseball player


Walking with the kiddos (Emily's in my wrap...again)

Carefest 2009

This year for Carefest we took pictures again. Last year we took before and after pictures but this year we took pictures of people at work! It was so cool to see so many churches and organizations getting together and helping our community all in Jesus' name. Loved it! Enjoy the video. Thanks to Wade Beavers for putting it together for us!!

Winehaven

We had the pleasure of taking pictures for a great family-owned winery in Chisago City, MN called Winehaven. Scott and I went here for a Raspberries and Wine Festival during our Summer of Festivals. It was so much fun and we instantly fell in love with the place. Well. after spending time with these people we also fell in love with them! They were so much fun and you can tell they all love what they do. Here are a few shots from the day:











Ice Wine - we got to try some of this and it was fantastic!!!

Emily's photo sessions

Em did well for her debut shoot. It was pretty short because she got pretty cranky. She peed on me at one point ha ha! Then we had a second shoot a month or so later. This one Cat came to help out and brought some props.

Daddy with Em


Mommy with Em


I know it looks like she's laughing but she's not




Crabby baby


A little older

Top 5 can't live without baby items

There are a few things that I absolutely love and cannot live without on a day to day basis. I would recommend these items to everyone (starting with the best):

1. Sleepy Wrap - I love love love this thing so much! It is the best for carrying Emily around. Plus she falls asleep in it all the time and then you can just tuck her little head in and she'll just stay like that for hours. This one is especially nice because it's very long and stretchy. If you get one thing at all on this list, it should be this one!!

Here I am walking with Emily, it looks like she's in my shirt :)


Older kids can go in it too




She was asleep about 5 minutes after this picture was taken


2. Miracle Blanket - Friends of ours kindly passed this on to us and we actually kind of forgot about it until she was a few weeks old. Ever since then she's been swaddled in it for all naps and at night too (if she's not in my wrap). Swaddling is so important to keep babies asleep and this one really works! There are others out there that people like too...either way...SWADDLE your baby tightly!!




3. Bumgenius 3.0 Cloth Diapers - These diapers are the BEST! What a great way to save money and the environment. Plus they grow with baby and they're super cute :) We love using cloth diapers. I could go on and on about this but won't. Haven't had a blowout yet!!



4. Co-Sleeper - So convenient! She sleeps in a tiny little bed right next to our bed so it makes those middle of the night feedings so much easier!!







5. Snoogle - Ok so this isn't something for baby but it's for pre-baby. This pillow makes sleeping so nice while pregnant and eliminates the need for a billion pillows in bed.

Emily's kidney update

When I was pregnant with Emily, they noticed some fluid in her kidneys during an ultrasound. They told us that this was pretty common. I remember we were worried but also glad we were able to see her again (and reassure us that she was actually a "she").

When she was born we went in for her 2 month appointment and she had another ultrasound done. Usually this corrects itself in the birth canal but in Em's case it didn't. There was still fluid in her kidneys. The biggest concern is that they want to make sure her urine isn't getting into her kidneys. So we put her on antibiotics for a few weeks and set up an appointment for a VCUG.

A few weeks later she had the VCUG. It was so sad! We had to strip her down, lay her on the table, and hold down her hands and legs while they put a catheter in her bladder. She was crying pretty hard and it wasn't easy to watch. Her little body was so tense from crying that the nurse requested I put my finger in her mouth so she would suck it a little bit and ease the tension thus making it easier for the catheter to go in. They put black dye in her bladder so they can easily see through an x-ray if it goes into her kidney.

Anyway, long story short her urine is not going into her kidneys so she is a healthy little baby! It's such a relief and a blessing to not have to worry about it anymore!!

Another Jen Elder

Scott's brother Jay and Jennifer got married!! The wedding was awesome, we actually were their photographers so we spent a lot of the day behind a camera. Emily was only 1 month old so I spent a lot of time with her too. Spencer loved his little cousin!! Em also got to meet many more relatives on the Elder side.

The wedding was beautiful. I actually almost starting crying when she was walking down the aisle!! Unfortunately Emily got a little hungry so I had to bring her downstairs to eat where she started crying and several people told me they could hear her crying upstairs...oops!!

After the wedding we got to take a few more pictures of Jay and Jennifer and then we went to the reception. The funny thing is, we originally planned to have the wedding outside at Scott's parent's house but it was too rainy. So we had to go to the church instead...which is in a different county...which means the wrong county was on the marriage certificate....which means they weren't officially married. So the priest luckily realized this and had to pronounce them husband and wife again at the reception. It was pretty crazy but definitely something they'll remember!!

Lucas with Em






Papa Tuck with Em - I think this is the first time he held her


Cousin Spencer giving her a kiss




Elizabeth with Em


Great Grandma Otto with Em


At the rehearsal


Love this pic!








The ladies celebrate with some champagne before the ceremony


Her dress...it was gorgeous!








The Elder Family


The second wedding