Laundry?

This is where I found Emma this morning, before school. She was actually completely in the hamper, but by the time I got the camera, she was extracting herself from her little hiding place. Note to self...if Emma disappears, check the laundry!

School is going well and Emma seems to be settling in to her new routine. I was able to observe the class on Monday and was quite impressed.

As for me, my doctor's appointments continue to go well. I see the doctor again next Wednesday, and if we don't have the baby before, we are scheduled to be induced on Wednesday, September 10th...less than 2 weeks away!!

This blog will be the place for updates...check back often!!

Almost time!

Well...it won't be long now! We are officially under 3 weeks to go. If we make it that long! We are planning to induce the week of Sept. 8th, but as of my visit yesterday, my amniotic fluid has begun to decrease, so they'll be checking it twice a week (with an ultrasound) starting Monday and if the fluid reaches a certain level (don't ask me what it is), then they'll want to induce right away.

So, here are a few shots of the pretty much ready to go nursery. You'll notice a strange object in the crib...clearly, we have our work cut out for us!! We've caught her in there 3 times now.

First Day of School - K5

As hard as it is to believe, Emma is in kindergarten. Shocking! Where have the last 5 years gone? She is in a "developmental kindergarten" at Buena Vista Elementary. Her class is made up of 11 boys and 1 girl (that would be Emma) - half are in kindergarten and half are in first grade. All have some sort of developmental delays and are not really ready for "regular" kindergarten. Emma's teacher is young and excited, which makes us very happy. The aids are not quite as young and have lots of experience, which also makes us very happy!! It's a perfect mix!

As far as I can tell, Emma enjoyed her first day. School is an extremely stimulating place - lots of noise, lots of people and lots of things that she prefers not to deal with. Her coping mechanism for those situations is to escape them if possible and ignore them if not. She barely said a word to me for an hour after we got home and she is just now starting to act "normal" as opposed to withdrawn. I think it will take a while for her to get acclimated and not feel so overwhelmed by the whole experience. Since this is actually our 3rd full year of school, and our 4th "first day of school" in her young life, I'm not particularly surprised by her reactions and was pretty much prepared for this.

Side note - I just had to chase her out of our bathroom where she had pulled out a drawer and dumped it all over the floor - I think she's back to normal!

We are hoping that she'll be settled into her school routine before James arrives - we'd like to keep the "new" things in her life to one at a time instead of all at once. Of course, we have no control over this, so we'll just see how it turns out!

Baby Shower

Sandra, Cindy, Holly & Jennifer threw me a fantastic baby shower on Saturday. Thanks to all who came or who wanted to come!! And, thanks to all who thought to get a little something for Emma - she loved getting some of the goodies for herself!

Here we go!

OK - I realize that this blog is oh, about a year behind. OK, a bit over a year behind. My deepest apologies to those of you have given up hope that it will ever be updated again. In light of current events, I decided that a pink background was no longer acceptable. So, staying true to our Clemson heritage, orange it is!!

To summarize the past year in any sort of detail would take more time & emotional energy than I currently possess. The sad news first - since our last post, we've lost Brian's dad and Grandma & Grandpa Phipps, all to cancer. The entire family is reeling from the losses, but we are hanging in there. We still cannot believe they are gone and we miss them terribly.

The much happier news....

James Houston Blackburn is on his way! We've had a very uneventful pregnancy so far - very different from our experience with Emma. We are currently expecting him to arrive the week of Sept. 8th, if not before. Emma is not particularly impressed! She is intrigued by all the "baby stuff" that is coming into the house and has accepted that her old room is now baby brother's room. We can't wait to see how she reacts to him when he actually gets here.

In anticipation of the impending arrival, I will be attempting to update the blog a bit more regularly, so please make a note of the address and check back often!