Where to begin?

Where to begin? My last real post was almost a year ago. So much has happened since then and there's no way I could even begin to blog it all. So bullet points it is...

• Emerson was discharged from the hospital on June 6th! It was The. Best. Feeling! to finally be able to bring her home and actually get to take care of her on our own.





• After several consults at the hospital and after she got home, Emerson was diagnosed with ichthyosis. There are several different types and severity's of the disorder. Emerson thankfully seems to have a pretty mild form, but she still requires long soaking baths and several applications of special lotion throughout the day. I'll do another post explaining all of this soon. In the mean time if you would like to learn more, please check out the First Skin Foundation's website.  
• Emerson was such an easy baby! She slept great and finally starting eating really well once we got home from the hospital. She never really was able to figure out breast feeding so I pumped every 3 hours and bottle fed her.  















• I got very sick with mastitis 4 times within 12 weeks and had to give up pumping. It was such a hard decision, but I was so sick and finally my physician advised that I stop. Luckily, I had stored up so much milk that she was able to have breast milk until she was almost 5 months!
• I went back to work when Em was 3 months old and she stayed with Jer's aunt.It was such a blessing to be able to have her stay with a family member.
• I think in the beginning it was really good for me to get out of the house and back into the "real" world. I was so mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausted from the last 12 weeks that it almost served as a distraction to not be constantly thinking about Emerson's skin disorder and what the future would hold. In the back of my mind though I knew being at work wasn't right. I NEEDED to be with Emerson and I was the only one who could care for her. It just took a while to actually convince myself we could do it.
• The next 7 months were kind of a blur sadly. My job was very involved and even when I was home I was always on call, or checking email, or being in touch with the hospital in some way. Most days the phone calls / texts started at 3:30 in the morning and didn't end until late in the evening. I was exhausted and stretched so thin, but I did my best to be the best mommy I could be! I'll let some pictures do the talking otherwise this post is going to get very loooonnngggg....

• In March I turned in my resignation and my last day of work was April 1st. April 2nd I started the best job, full-time stay at home mom!  I never in my wildest dreams thought I would want to stay home. I went to graduate school with very specific plans for my future and career and this definitely wasn't part of it.
• Prior to leaving my job, I decided that I was going to get healthier and back in shape! Jer and I started using Advocare and did the 24 day challenge. We both had great results and I decided to become a distributor. We love it and I definitely credit it for getting me back in the right direction!
• Emerson started crawling, pulling up, and cruising all within the first week of me being home. I like to say she intentionally saved that for me! :)
• Emerson is about to turn ONE! Hold me... Just thinking about the past year brings tears to my eyes. Even though we were completely caught off guard and scared and sad about Eme's skin disorder, we see it as a blessing now. She has taught us so much about love and acceptance and made my heart grow in ways I never could imagine! She is such a loving, strong, determined, and opinionated little girl! I know that whatever life has in store for her she is going to be able to handle it with strength and grace! Ok, I'm full on crying now so I think we'll end it here!

Loves!