5 months old!

This post is about 48 hours early, but in two days RJ and I will be parents of a 5 month old girl!! Craziness:) She's such a joy! Today as she was jumping away in her jumperoo, I just stood back and stared at our little peanut. I remember days of saying to myself, "I can't WAIT till she's big enough to hangout and play on her own!" And now, as I go about doing household chores and such, I can hardly walk by her without stopping to give her a kiss or make a funny face at her and I'm rewarded by THE most adorable grin! As we prepare for Emma's dedication this Sunday, I was thinking back to the day she was born and what an amazing experience it was. How they laid that little girl in my arms and tears of love and joy pouring down my face as my heart grew so big I thought it would burst out my chest. I think back to times of feeling like such a zombie or just getting out of the house to go to the post-office, I felt like I was on a foreign planet. It's crazy how the moments of feeling helpless and overwhelmed seem to last forever....then in the blink of an eye it's passed you by and the moments that stick in your mind the most are the moments of love, pride, joy, and awe.
Another thing I've heard but had to live out in order to understand it completely is that just when you think you've got things under-control and found some source of normalcy, babies change their schedule on you. But I'm trying to appreciate this as I know each phase only lasts so long. While cuddling a newborn is really great, I'm having more and more fun with Emma the older she gets. We can play and "chit-chat" and watching her grow and learn gives me such an amazing feeling inside:)
If things I've heard and read about are at all true, I'd say Emma is definitely starting to teeth. Low fever, runny nose, pools of drool, and constant gnawing on her fingers, our fingers, anything she can get her hands on! And while she will let you know her mouth is ouchy, she's still as smiley as ever. Even stopping mid cry to give you a quick smile:) She's eating veggies like a champ! And still sleeping pretty good at night. Naps are something we have yet to figure out, but after a couple weeks of crying and crying with still shorter snoozes, mommy is content right now with her 3-4 45 minute nappies (as we call them:) as she is still getting a good 10-12 hours at night. She seems pretty content with it at this point and I've realized I get more done during those 45 min breaks then if I'm spending half the day listening to her cry as we fight her to sleep longer. And while I may be a naive first-time mom, I think that when she is needing a longer nap, she will take one. (Please humor me in thinking I know what I'm doing:)
On that note, it's almost 10 and time for this mama to get some shut eye! Big weekend coming up!! Goin to the Hawkeye game on Saturday with my hubby for my birthday, Emma's dedication on Sunday, (my actual b-day), and our anniversary on Monday!!
Good night!!