HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE MAN!!

I just wanted to share a few shots from Emerson's first birthday.  It has been a busy past year to say the least.  I have had very little time for taking pictures & even less time for blogging!  I feel like I've missed a lot in between the months but I wanted to be sure to document this wonderful occasion.  It's bittersweet as this will be the last one year birthday we celebrate for our children!  I'm so overjoyed to have this boy in my life.  Emerson, you are a wonder of God's creation in every way.  You brighten the lives of ALL who meet you & I know that the Lord has great plans for your future.  Be blessed my little man & rest in the happiness of childhood :) xoxox

Marshmallows...

A few shots from a couple nights ago. Brian made a lovely fire in our outdoor pit & the girls had a blast roasting marshmallows & playing with left over sparklers from last 4th of July. I cherish each of these little moments with my family. The pictures are a little blurry because it was hard to capture a quick shot in the lighting, but you get the point :)

Baby Genius...

"Look Mom, I'm reading!!" - he may only be five months but he's way ahead of the average baby ;) Just kidding, I'm not one to boast about my kids but I thought this was pretty funny. The girls are always doing interesting things to baby Emerson. Guess that's the result of being a third child AND the only boy. Good luck buddy, good luck haha

This is just another example of what I mean...

(good thing daddy wasn't around for this one!!!)

Pumpkin Patch...

I know I have a lot of updating to do but my sister asked me to put these photos of our pumpkin patch visit up on the blog...sooo here they are!! We had a lot of fun this year (as a family of FIVE! still can't believe that!) so I hope you enjoy the pictures :)

Emerson Michael...

So obviously it has been pretty much my ENTIRE pregnancy since my last post. Well ok, I guess I was 18 weeks (but that was a LONG time ago considering my little man has arrived!!) We were induced on May 12th after many painful nights of 4 cm dilation & costant drops in baby's position. I don't think I could have made it one more day so I was very grateful to get the show on the road!! We were admitted to CMC Northeast (amazing hospital by the way) at 5:30 a.m. & by 7:30 a.m. the process was in full swing. Going into this birth experience I had a game plan & I am SO glad I did. I requested my epidural BEFORE my wonderful dr broke my water because I KNEW things would speed up rapidly at that point. The epidural man was a God send. He was an older "grandfather" type & listened to each of my concerns (from past experiences) very intently. He did such a wonderful job and came back to check on me 3 and 4 times (even AFTER the baby was born!) All I know is that after this labor, I can CONFIDENTLY say that my epidurals with the girls did NOT work the way they were supposed to. So after starting the Pitocin and setting up the epidural, my water was broken. In about 3 hours time everything had pushed me to 8 cm & driven my contractions to 3 minutes apart (I arrived at the hospital 5 cm & contractions every 5 minutes apart). My Pitocin was slightly increased and by 11:00 a.m. we were ready to push!!
I had joked with my dr earlier that morning that if she could get me through this labor with LITTLE pain and NO need for any extra medical attention, that I would award her the honorary plaque of 5 golden stars to add to her wall of achievements. She was happy to accept the challenge & after 5 contractions of pushing she certainly earned those stars! Right before we began pushing, I noticed that the heart monitor was dying out COMPLETELY with each contraction I had. I called in the nurse and she assured me it was simply because of how low the baby had dropped in order to deliver (but I could tell by her demeanor & quick action to get my dr that something was wrong). Turns out, Emerson had the cord wrapped tightly around his neck so there were a few moments of concern for sure. My dr talked me through each step however & my amazing son was delivered happy, healthy & without causing ANY "damages" to his mama :)
7 lbs 3 oz & 20 inches long, Emerson Michael Knott was born on May 12th, 2011 at 11:13 a.m. I had WONDERFUL nursing staff during my hospital stay (which was only an amazing 1.25 days haha) and I could not have been any more blessed from the Lord through this experience. For those of you who know me well, you know that my labor, delivery, recovery and breastfeeding journey with BOTH my girls was ROUGH. I am sitting here very happy to report that Emerson has been a breeze. He nurses, sleeps, poops, pees & participates in family life like a champ. God is SO kind & I want to thank each of you for praying for me and loving us. More to come (pictures etc...) once I get the internet re-activated on MY computer. Thanks for reading!!