All Aboard!

I took Emma for her 15 month check up this morning. While we waited we got to watch a few minutes of Cinderella in the waiting room. Emma was entranced from the moment she laid eyes on her. I might have to buy that movie for her. I think she was actually sad when they called our name and we had to leave the waiting room.

She is on track for everything and doing great! As the nurse was trying to measure her, she commented on how strong Emma was because the she couldn't get Emma's legs pushed down. I must say that Emma has a freakish strength about her...it must be from all the muscle flexing and jumping up and down like a Tigger.

Here are her stats:
Weight: 24 lbs. 2 oz. (75th percentile)
Height: 30.5 in. (75th percentile)
Head: 18 7/8 in. (95th percentile)

I did mention to the doctor that she sometimes wakes up in the middle of the night because of a nightmare. He said that this is common but that it is linked to the child being overly tired. The last time she had one was when we got back from the wedding and we had just been in the car for a long time. So that makes sense that she was overly exhausted. Poor thing!

After the traumatic experience of getting two shots, I took her to the park for a little bit. Since I have been sick for a week, Emma hasn't been able to be outside that much. It was so nice out this afternoon that I figured I'd take her before it was lunch time. There is a big wooden train there for kids to play on and she loved it! Here are a few pictures from the experience:











Last night Josh had a softball game and me and Emma went to cheer him on. Of course Emma made a friend while we were there. His name is Noah and they were so cute together. He is just a few weeks younger than her. They loved sitting on the bench but for some reason when the dads started taking pictures, Emma only wanted to get in my lap...still a cute picture though!

Wedding Belle

This weekend was my cousin Emily's wedding. She and Neal had a beautiful wedding and I was so happy to be the matron of honor in it. It was a super short visit to Charleston, but we had a great time!

Here is a picture of Emma before the wedding. My mom made this dress for Emma to wear on Easter. She still will wear it next weekend too, but since it is so pretty, we also decided to let her wear it for the wedding.


Here we are with the bride. Emma wasn't cooperating because there was so much going on for her to look at, but you get the idea. At least you can see how pretty Emily looks!


Of course Emma and her cousin Jay were the first people on the dance floor!



She really liked the lights that were on the floor:


And here she is dancing around my brother:


While I was busy all day on Saturday with bridal fun, here is what Emma was up to.

Playing drums:


Eating out a restaurant, apparently bored waiting for her food:


Eating Nutella for the first time (Mimi will let her eat anything she wants!):


This is a picture of Emma and Jay playing peek-a-boo through the fence before we left on Sunday. Aren't they cute?

Long Week

It's been a long week already in our house. I have been sick so I haven't been able to take Emma on our fun outings like usual. Josh and I do the nursery at our church on Sunday mornings twice a month...I do one and he does one. Well, every time that it is my turn, I end up sick. Whether it's the sniffles or strep throat. But Josh and Emma never get sick. I am thankful that their immune systems are like steal but I wish mine was better! This was the worst so far though. Apparently the stomach bug is going around big time and I caught it. I was sick all day yesterday. Josh even had to come home at lunch to feed Emma for me because I was so nauseous and weak. Just to give you an idea of how bad it was yesterday I'll tell you this. After Josh left to go back to work, I got up to put Emma down for a nap. I took her upstairs and was about to change her diaper when all of a sudden I had that "Oh no, I'm about to faint feeling." I had to quickly put Emma in her crib for safe keeping while I laid on the floor to recover. I finally mustered up the strength to pick her back up, change her diaper, turn the music bear on and put her down for a nap. Then after that I came straight downstairs to bed and didn't move until she woke up. It was such a long day!

I am feeling much better today and hopefully I'll be back to 100% by tomorrow. Since we haven't done anything this week, I'll post a few pictures that I haven't had a chance to put up yet.

Here she is strolling around (aren't her new shoes cute? - thank you to JD & Honey for those.)



The other day at lunch she started using her spoon really well. She's been holding the spoon for months and attempting to feed herself with it but I'd say 60% ended up in her lap. Today she was really getting it in her mouth. So proud!



My mom has a cabinet in her kitchen that my nephew and Emma can play in. It has tupperware in it and things that are safe for them. Emma loved it so much when we visited them last time that I decided to rearrange some things and make an 'Emma Cabinet' as well. It's nice for her to be able to be in the kitchen with me while I'm cleaning or cooking and know that's she's playing with something safe. Here she is playing in it.



Here is a picture from this morning. She was eating some toast for breakfast and she was just so happy that I decided to snap a few pictures.



And how cute is it that she kept putting all the toast pieces inside the hole of her teething ring? She'd put a few in there and then eat those out...then do it again.

Park Play

On Friday, we went to the park with some friends. The weather was perfect and we had a great time. We all packed lunches and had a little picnic. Not surprisingly Emma was the last one at the table eating. That appetite of hers is definitely back! She is feeling so much better.

She had fun peeking through the railing:



Alli brought sidewalk chalk and Emma wanted to try to hold as many of them as possible. I might have to buy her some so we can play at our house.


I think her favorite thing was going down the slide...look at that happy face!


And swinging:


Here is a group shot...from left: Emma, Lillian, Eli, Colton, & Parker.

30 Again!

From all the celebrations my great friends have given me for my 30th birthday, I think it's going to be a good year! Josh and I celebrated on my actual birthday and then the next night my girls thew me a bash. How lucky am I that I got to celebrate AGAIN yesterday with my new friends from playgroup? They are so sweet and I am so glad I have found them all. It was tough at times when I first became a stay at home mom. It gets a little lonely and I was constantly busy all day long. So to find all these great girls who are in the same situation and understand what I go through on a daily basis is fantastic! And since Emma is the youngest in the group, it is fun to see all of their kids because I can see what is in store for me in the near future.

Thank you to Martina, Allie, Christy, and Melissa for the fun day! It was a joint celebration for me and Melissa...so happy birthday to Melissa too. Here is the yummy cake that Martina made for us:


Me and Mel blowing out the candles:


Emma quite enjoyed the pizza party and the cake. She ate so much of my piece of cake that I went back and got another piece because I only got a few bites of it! Her appetite is clearly back in full force!

She had a good time playing in Colton's car:



She also loved his kitchen:


It was so much fun! Thanks girls!

We also met our friends Kathryn, Jud & their son, Weller, for dinner the other night. Emma and Weller were so cute after we ate. Here is a picture of them together. CUTE!

The Letter B

In the past week Emma has started to say some real words. Her best and most recognizable ones are: Book, Bye, Box and Brush. Apparently she is good with the letter B. And whereas she used to say "Nada" for our cat, she just today is pronouncing it correctly - Nala.

It's so amazing to hear her speak. I know that for a long time she has understood what we were saying but to really hear her say it is totally different.

She just started saying 'brush' today and she was referring to a toothbrush. It isn't as distinct as her other words but I think that's because it has a lot of other sounds in it so it's harder for her. She sees it as a challenge. Let me tell you why she started saying it...

We were getting ready to go visit Jaime so I was brushing Emma's teeth. She saw the big toothbrush that sings that Mimi gave her and of course she wanted it. So as I was brushing her teeth with the small one, she was playing with the big one. I finished brushing them but she wasn't done playing yet. I took the brush away and she pointed to it and said "Brus, Brus, Brus!!" I knew, of course, that she meant 'Give me that BRUSH!"

I learned pretty early on to pick my battles with Emma. If it is something that could physically harm her, obviously I stick to my guns. But if she wants to hold a toothbrush that sings, that is not quite worth fighting for.

She won...


The other day when she was sick, all I could get her to eat was some spaghetti I had made. I took a few pictures of her because she was so cute all covered with spaghetti. Josh got home from work and walked in on her in mid meal. He was shocked how messy she was and that I had let her just continue to make this mess. I told him that she was eating it and I didn't care how messy she got during the process.







And yes, she does have two spoons...what, you don't eat with two spoons at a time?

Sleeping Beauty

Emma had a bad night on Friday. I was up with her from 12:45 until 3:30 and then Josh got up with her from 4:15 until 6:30. She was screaming and crying and wouldn't go back to sleep. I concluded that her throat hurt and that she possibly had an ear infection (although both ears were clear on Wednesday when we went to the doctor). She would cough and then scream out which would just make her cough more which lead to more screaming. It was a very long night for all of us.

Saturday during the day, she didn't eat much and she seemed like she felt better but I think the lack of sleep affected her. We even called the doctor on Saturday night because clear liquid started streaming out of her right ear. It looked like tears were falling from her face, but if was coming from her ear not her eye. By the time the nurse called back, a red substance started to eek out along with the clear fluid...it almost looked like blood to me which freaked me out. The nurse said that if it was streaming blood, then she'd want us to go to the ER but if it was just a little pink or red it would be okay until Sunday when the offices opened for us to come see her pediatrician. We decided to wait until the morning and see how she did during the night. If she seemed in pain like she did on Friday night, then I was going to have them on speed dial by 8 am.

She ended up sleeping GREAT last night! She didn't wake up in the middle of the night at all. She woke up at her normal time of 8:15 coughing a little bit (although in reality it was 9:15 because of the time change). BUT she went back to sleep. She never woke up...Josh and I went to wake her up at 10:50...this was 11:50 with the time change! I think she should officially be called Sleeping Beauty after that showing.

Today she has been in much better spirits. We put drops in her ears this morning to flush out anything that might still be in there. There was a little drainage this morning, but nothing since. Praise God! And she's taking a nap now. It seems that she is catching up on all that sleep she missed out on...that's my girl!

When in Doubt...

...Feed her olives and pickles! Since Emma has had a fever, cough and runny nose, her appetite hasn't been what it normally is. At first she'd only eat green beans and hotdogs. But then she didn't even want that! Yesterday she barely ate anything at all...a banana, some cheerios, a handful of edamame, strawberries and some ritz crackers. For her that is less than she'd normally eat in one sitting. Yesterday she was extra clingy to me and fussier than usual. I think she was just fussy because she was so tired but she couldn't get any good sleep because of the cough. Poor thing probably has a soar throat too from all the coughing and I assume that is why she doesn't want that much to eat. I know it will pick back up after she gets better.

Here is a picture of her from yesterday. One of the only times her feet touched the floor all day. She found these two rolls of drawer liner and thought they were the best thing ever. She kept putting them on the floor and then strolling over to them with her shopping cart. Then she'd put them both in her cart and give me that big Emma smile.


Today her fever is gone but she still doesn't feel back to herself yet. But I did remember something that she loves that she might eat...olives and pickles! She ate so many that her tummy actually felt tight and full. Finally a full baby. After lunch, I gave her a bath, then her milk, changed her sheets and I put her down for a nap. She's out. Phew!

Last night I got to celebrate my birthday again! How nice are my friends? Jaime cooked us dinner (baked ziti & garlic bread) and Emily baked me a cake (chocolate cake with vanilla icing). All of it was delicious! And they gave me a gift certificate to the place where I am getting my massage on Saturday...didn't that work out well! So I am looking forward to using it tomorrow! Unfortunately, Leah and Rachel couldn't make it, but I thank you girls for the gift and want you to know that you were there in spirit.

Blowing out my candles:


Here is the cake (yes, there are two chunks taken out of it - see next picture for explanation):


Me and Emily couldn't wait for the formality of cutting the cake, so we decided to just bite right in:


Then Jaime wanted to do it too and of course me being the great friend that I am, I volunteered to do it with her:


By the end of dinner we decided to eat our cake outside on the patio...don't you like the big "Over the Hill" button that they got me?


Thanks for the celebration ladies! And also a shout out to Leah who got engaged this week!! I'm so excited for you LL and I know that your future with Cody will be full and blessed.