Dustin & Jessica's Journey

Dustin gave me a beautiful present for Mother’s Day this year.

It’s an infinity heart necklace with a sapphire (my birthstone) and blue topaz (Emma’s birthstone) and our names are engraved on it.

Dustin said he was going to give me this gift when Emma was born, but she came a month early and he had to cancel it. For some reason, it means even more to me because of that story.

For Mother’s Day, we went to see Iron Man 3 in a real movie theater. Emma lasted through about 1.5 hours before I needed to take her out of the room. We also took a walk on Pinckney Island. It was a great way to spend a day with my amazing husband and our beautiful daughter.

We can’t believe she’s already 4 months old! Our little one is growing up so fast. We went to the doctor yesterday, and Emma’s measurements are looking good. She’s 13 lbs., 1 oz., and is 23.75 inches long. Her head circumference is in the 75th percentile too. (Maybe it means she’s got a big brain? hahaha…)

Emma had a big month. She’s rolled over and she’s starting to talk.

Emma took her first dip in the ocean this month. See a video here.

We also had the pleasure of hosting Cody and Joan in our home a few days. We spent much of the time on the beach, but we did get one paddleboarding session in before they left.

We took Emma out to the pool recently. She didn’t hate it. View a video of the first dip here.

So a lot has happened in the past month! Emma officially turned 3 months old on March 30. As of yesterday, she is 12 lbs. and getting bigger. (Her official 2-month weight was 11 lbs. 5 oz., even though it was a couple weeks into her 2nd month when she was weighed.

In the past month, we’ve had a lot of visitors including Sam and Derick.

Sam and Derick at Palmetto Bluff.

Aunt Ashley, Uncle Josh and cousin Jayce moved into our house while they get themselves settled here in the Lowcountry. We celebrated Emma’s 3 months by going to Palmetto Bluff and taking pictures.

Emma and Jayce sitting by the water.

Emma’s first time in a swing.

Since Feb. 28, Emma has been growing every day and continues to learn and explore and absorb everything around her. She started going to the library regularly. She had her first Passover. She likes to kick a lot and she grabs toys now. She also likes to play with her hands and has been trying to suck her thumb. Emma has her first beach day with friends this month (even though it was a still a little cold outside). She also celebrated her first St. Patrick’s Day in Savannah and saw her first parade. Yesterday, she went to her first baseball game (the first of many). This has been a big month for us all.

Sam and Derick at Palmetto Bluff.

Emma and Jayce sitting by the water.

Emma’s first time in a swing.

Of Montreal in Forsyth Park

Baseball game

Sand Gnats mascot

Emma is two months old today (because February has only 28 days). We packed away the newborn clothes this week. She is now 23 inches tall and 10.6 pounds.

She’s had a big month with a lot of exciting adventures and she’s grown so much since her one-month birthday. We went to Indiana and Ohio at the beginning of the month. We celebrated Valentine’s Day and Purim. We went to the beach for the first time.

She has started being more active, kicking and grabbing things. She can pick up her head and almost has complete control over her neck.

Emma loves music. She falls asleep to hard rock in the car. She likes to look at herself in the mirror on her activity mat. She also likes to kick the rattles. Video of Emma kicking her rattle In fact, she likes rattles and bells and anything that makes noise like that.

Emma likes to watch people. She was fascinated with all the people in costume at Purim services. She also went to her first yoga class and first play date.

We expect Emma will bring tons of fun and surprises this next month.

Emma’s Great Aunt Valeri, Uncle Greg and Cousin Mia came to visit for President’s Day weekend. It was as exciting for us to see Mia as for them to meet Emma. Mia has grown up so much since our wedding (she was the flower girl).

It was a beautiful day in the midst of a few weeks of rain, but it was cold. Mia spent the entire trip in her carseat. This summer, we’ll hopefully get her out on the sand.

Mia collected shells off the beach to remember the day.

A cute family picture

Great Uncle Greg with Emma. (She liked to grab his chest hair, just like Mia did.)

So we realized we never put up pictures of the complete nursery. Here they are!

The crib, bookshelf and glider (with a dad and baby in it).

The door to the bathroom.

The picture on the wall will be changed soon.

The theme of the room was elephants.

We were lucky to have Grandma and Grandpa Kerman visit the week after Emma was born, but we decided to take the baby on her first road trip the first week of February to meet more of her family. It was a very full, busy week. We wish we could have spent more time with everyone, but we’re glad we got to see so many people! Some pictures from the week:

Samantha Z. holds Emma for the first time. Emma is 5 weeks in this picture.

Hazel found the cat bed at Sam and Derick’s house.

We managed to miss the snow on the drive into Indiana, but it snowed when we got to Indianapolis. Here is Dustin holding Emma in her carseat during her first snow.

Evelyn (my parents’ neighbor) holds Emma.

Cousin Phil holds Emma for the first time. I think there’s a similar picture like this of Phil holding me.

Darrin holds Emma

Delores holds Emma

Delores fed Emma while we had lunch at Scotty’s in Muncie.

Aunt Ashley visited Muncie to see Emma and to shop for some outfits for picture day.

Jayce meeting Emma for the first time.

Jayce hangs out with his uncle Dustin while he works.

Grandpa Darrin with his first granddaughter.

Michelle holds Emma and remembers she used to babysit me.

The first time Titus met Emma

Jordan holds Emma while we’re waiting for pictures to be taken

Aunt Ashley holds Emma on picture day.

We’ll post a bunch of pictures from the professionals soon.

It’s very difficult to get three children under 2 years old to stare at the camera at the same time.

Grandma Pam with Peanut and Emma

Grandpa Elliot with Emma

Emma with her Great Great Grandparents. She was named after Lynn.

Emma with her namesake.

Great Aunt Gail with Emma

Emma’s second cousin Peyton is a little baby crazy.

Emma with her Great Uncle Stu

Emma with her second cousin Liza.

All three second cousins pose with Emma. I used to babysit these three girls.

Xander and Ellie play video games while we’re visiting family in Ohio.

Corey is a great uncle for a 5th time in two years.

While the name “Emma” was originally picked to honor my grandmother Irma, it’s actually a combination in spelling between Irma and Edna, two amazing great grandmothers for our daughter.

Cousin Brittney and second cousin Ellie meets Emma with Great Grandma Edna.

Ellie is almost 2 years old and Jayce is almost 6 months old.

Emma surprised us about a week ago with an early arrival! She was 3.5 weeks early, but came out a whopping 7 pounds, 5 ounces.

On Dec. 30, I awoke to some sharp back pains at 5:15 a.m. I called the nurse on-call to ask about the pain and she suggested we head to the nearest hospital, which is Hilton Head Hospital. She called back a few minutes later and suggested that if I thought we could make it, to try to get to Savannah Memorial (where we planned to give birth) and to bring the labor bag. (Side note: we had just packed the labor bag the night before. Dustin thinks I subconsciously knew I was about to go into labor.) We thought it was just a false alarm until we noticed consistent heightening in pain on the way to hospital, about 5 minutes apart.

I was in labor for about 8.5 hours with a 2-hour nap in the middle. (After I was given an epidural, the nurse asked if I wanted to push or wait until the doctors got out of a chaotic surgery. I opted for the nap.) Emma was born at 2:53 p.m. at Savannah Memorial Hospital.

We named her Emma to honor my grandmother Irma, who is as strong-willed as they come. Lynn is in honor of my great aunt Lynn, who has achieved so much in her life and is a great role model of an independent woman.

Emma was released from the hospital on Jan. 4 after some issues with her biliruben levels. Other than that, she was perfect (at least in her mother’s eyes). Here are some pictures from the hospital. We will post more of her at home later.

First, Dustin and I would like to thank everyone who came to our baby showers. We are so blessed to have so many people who care about us and our future child in our lives.

For those who were not able to attend, the first baby shower was on Nov. 24 in Indianapolis (really Carmel)… We had a blast playing games and catching up with people we don’t get to see very much. A big thank you to my aunts Gail and Carol, my cousin Michelle and my mother for putting on such a great party.

The second was on Dec. 1 at our house in South Carolina. Our friend Sarah kindly hosted the co-ed, evening party. We enjoyed some chili and lots of food from Sarah and her dad. We also spent most of the night playing Cards Against Humanity, a more adult version of Apples to Apples.