Well, it was one year ago today that Emmaline made her early arrival. I have to admit that was one of the worst day of my life. It was a Sunday. Allen had gotten up early to study (oh, the evils of 1L year) and I was laying in bed enjoying being still. After Riley got up, Allen made breakfast. I kept feeling like I had to go to the bathroom, a lot! As I was getting ready for church (and wear a dress I'd been saving for my last month... UGH!) I had another bad pain. Allen decided that we needed to go to the hospital. I promised Allen after Riley was born that with the next baby I would go when he said to go. We called my parents and they came to get Riley. I was so scared. We weren't sure what was going to happen, if Emmaline was going to be OK.
If I had know that I wouldn't get to hold my little girl again for seven days, I would have held on longer! It was a very weird moment for me. I wasn't ready for her to be born yet, and yet, here she was! She was so tiny! She looked just like a little doll. I couldn't believe how small her hands and feet were.
I wasn't sure how to feel: should I be glad that she was here or sad that she was so sick? As they whisked her off to the NICU, I wondered when we would get to take her home. It was so hard when they weren't sure what was wrong. Why she has having so much trouble breathing, why she wasn't getting better. The days between when she was born and when they figured out what was wrong seemed endless. There is no way to describe the roller coaster of emotions we were on! It was such a relief when they finally figured out what was going on: Patent Ductus Arteriosus or PDA. This condition is when the connecting blood vessel between the pulmonary artery and the aorta in fetal circulation stays open in a newborn baby. Basically, before the baby is born, she doesn't need to use her lungs, so there's a small blood vessel that bypasses them. That blood vessel is supposed to close with the first breath, but in Emma's case, it stayed open, so her lungs weren't getting the blood they needed, and she was having trouble breathing. Once they realized that, they gave her some medicine and she started to improve.
It was so incredible to be able to finally bring her home... 10 days later! Riley was so excited to finally get to meet his little sister! He couldn't stop staring at her. That was the day our real journey began.
We were so grateful that she was able to be home for Halloween:
We just couldn't believe how small she was! This is November, Emma is almost the same size as Daddy's feet!
This is one of 2 Christmas outfits she had. Silly girl, slept all the way through Christmas. We have no pictures of her on Christmas day!
January and first taste of baby food... she wasn't impressed. I supposed I would be a little disgruntled too if what I'd eaten before was ice cream... Little stinker, she was sitting on my lap while I was eating a small bowl of ice cream, and she grabbed the spoon. She had it to her mouth before I could blink!
Poor Emmaline! In February, her baby hair fell out... she had a few months of having a comb over hairdo!
March was fun, learning what kind of foods Emmaline liked and didn't like. The only thing that marred the month was totaling our "pretty red van" as Riley says.
By April, Emma was trying to feed herself and amazing us with what she could eat! Chicken nuggets, nectarines, strawberries!
In May, Emma's hair was finally starting to grow back in. She enjoyed going on outings with Riley. We bought a new stroller, one that could hold two...
June brought traveling to Utah to visit Aunt Mya and Uncle Benson. Emma got to meet Great Grandma and Grandpa McBride at a family reunion.
July was full of family fun. We got to see fireworks and lots of cousins too.
August was super busy. We went on to a family reunion, lots of field trips, and had Riley's 3rd birthday. Emma was becoming quite the little lady
September, we've come back around! Our little girl is not a little baby any more. She is quite the character. She loves to explore her world and get into EVERYTHING! She is close to walking, crawling around like a little bear.
She's really turned into a Daddy's girl. Life is just so much better when Daddy's around! Emmaline lights up when Allen walks through the door. Then gets very put out if Daddy doesn't pick her up and give her loves!
The last year has been so crazy! It's been so fun to watch Emmaline grow. To watch as Riley and Emma enjoy each other's company. Emmaline will go looking for Riley now, calling his name: "WIWEY,WIEE!"
Saturday morning Demya, Benson, Riley, Emmaline, and I went to the Natural History Museum. We got in FREE using coupons for Museum Day which is sponsored by the Smithsonian. It was a lot of fun!
I was impressed with the little museum... I'd never been there before, and I've lived in Vegas since 1989! I feel like I say that often these days... I just never had any reason to go. Riley and Emmaline LOVE to go places and explore things, so it makes it fun to find something new to do.
The museum is small, which was just fine. It was great for a 1/2 day outing. I told Riley as I was getting him out of the car seat, that there were two rules today: 1.) NO RUNNING OFF! (He's developed a habit of running off on me. I turn my back for just a moment and he's GONE!) 2.) He had to pick a buddy, and was to stick to his buddy like glue! He was so cute! Riley thought for a moment, and then declared: "My Mya!" with a shy smile. This all seemed to work. Riley stuck to Mya, and there were no tradies... He wouldn't let Benson take him around at all. The only time I got to take him anywhere was to the bathroom. Demya claims rights of pregnant aunt on that account!
The first room we went into was the wild life gallery. I was sure that Riley would get freaked out by all the dead animals. But he didn't! Neither did Emmaline. They were so excited to get to see the animals up close.
I believe the two favorite rooms were the marine life and the dinosaurs. Emmaline LOVES fish. There is an open tank in the middle of the marine life gallery. I believe she would have been happy to stay there for most of the trip. Unfortunately, I had to change her diaper. So, after taking Riley to the bathroom, I took her away from the tank. Bad idea. She throw a fit, crying and screeching! Then she was all smiles when I brought her back again!
I love seeing my kids enjoying time together! Riley and Emmaline really like each other. They enjoy exploring together... they were checking out a Maine lobster. Pretty cool!
Riley and Emmaline were amazed by the dinosaurs. This has kind of the point of the trip. This week we are studying about dinosaurs, and Riley had never seen one before! Emma's mouth hung open like this through most of the dinosaur gallery... Riley like being able to push the button and make T-Rex roar
There is a down stairs which holds the African room. Riley enjoyed looking at the animals. He liked seeing the hippos, but he wanted to know where the alligators were.
I believe however, for Riley this picture below was the most memorable. He was VERY concerned about the zebra. He told us that if he was a lion, he would save the zebra. He's talked about all weekend. He even told Papa about how he wanted to save the zebra.
Downstairs they have a small snack area. this was such a blessing... Riley was complaining about being thirsty, and Emma was starting to squawk... They both REALLY enjoyed their drink and were ready to explore the last 2 rooms.
The last room was the interactive room. You could and were encouraged to touch and play with EVERYTHING! Riley and Emma loved the fish tank that you could get in the middle of. 
Have I mentioned Emma loves fish?
We were even there for one of the critter connection. We got to touch a boa constrictor. Emma was so cute. The curator told the kids to hold up their finger if they wanted to touch the snake. Emma held her little finger up way high! Riley wasn't as sure, but warmed up to the idea.
By this time, it was past lunch time and everyone was getting tired. So, we walked out to the van and got our lunch. We walked over to the park (it shares the museum's parking) and ate our lunch. Emma didn't make it!
It was a fun outing! Thanks a bunch to Mya and Benson for coming along on my crazy little trip... Your extra hands were such a blessing. Could I have done it on my own? Probably, but I would have been MUCH more stressed out, and wouldn't have had as much fun!
