Emma Rose Baker

Our daughter was born on May 12th at 1:48 PM. It's been an adventure ever since!

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We named her Emma Rose Baker. Rose is my middle name, which comes from my great-great grandma Rosa (who went by Rose) on my mom's side. Emma was due to the fact we liked the name.

She's perfect. Right now her hair is brown like her daddy's and so soft, and her eyes are this gray-blue color that I adore, but that could change to brown or hazel later on. She's a strong little thing; she was lifting her head up to stare at us as we tried burping her from the first day. She eats well, she sleeps best when we're holding her, and she amuses us with her very expressive face.

Mommy here is tired. Emma doesn't do too bad sleeping at night. She ate at 11:00 last night and then woke up about 4:00 AM to eat again and then at 8:00 AM. But I am a very light sleeper, so I wake to any noise she makes, even if she's just stretching and grunting or whimpering in her sleep. We haven't moved her to her nursery yet, and she's been sleeping next to my side of the bed in her bassinet since we brought her home. I feel anxious not having her in there, so I cannot say how much longer she'll be there. She's getting long, though; she might outgrow the bassinet before I'm ready.

I love being a mother. I love when she looks me in the face and stares that soul-searching stare. I love when she calms down from fussing when I pick her up because all she wanted was to be held. And when someone else is holding her but she hears my voice, so she turns her head to find me? I'm happy that she knows her mama's voice.

It's also tiring and stressful at times. I'm learning her moods, her schedules, her cries. We're trying to get used to each other. We're doing good! But there has been the occasional trip to the bathroom where I cry a little because I'm tired and she's not willing to go back to sleep just yet because she prefers my arms to her bassinet mattress. Or I have snapped at my husband because I'm frustrated because the little miss has peed all over in between me exchanging an already wet diaper with a dry one. But each and every good moment greatly outshines the more difficult parts of parenting a newborn.

Erik is a wonderful daddy and seeing him with our daughter makes a happy glow bloom in my heart. Our little family is the most precious thing to me, and I thank God every day that I have them in my life.