Bowling

JD and Honey came to visit on Saturday and although Emma was fussy most of the day, we still had a good time. We just took it easy, hung out and then went to eat lunch before they had to head back Saturday night.

Sunday we bowled a LOT because Emma became fascinated with the game. All of the pins are animals and her favorite is the cow which she says "Moooo" every time she knocked him over or picked him up. She was also very cute as she tried to set them back up each time. She took her time to gently place each on in its spot and then she took great pleasure in knocking them down over and over.

Her she is in action:




Here is a video showing off her excellent bowling skills:


Today Josh mowed the lawn and I caught this cute picture of Emma and Nala watching him out the window. They both wanted him to come inside and play with us!


After he was done mowing we went out to eat some BBQ. I guess I wore Emma out this morning because she fell asleep on the way. It worked out well because she woke up early this morning so our lunch experience wouldn't have been nearly as pleasant without this little nap.


While Emma naps today, I am going to see a movie with Jaime. And then tonight Josh is going to have a guys' night with grilling and guy talk. Fun filled weekend for everybody!

As of yesterday, Emma is 17 months old! I can't believe it! Time flies when you're watching a toddler grow up.

The Last Tooth

Emma's last tooth is pushing through as we speak. Besides her two year molars, this will give her a full set. It's been a turbulent few days! This is the only tooth she's gotten that has really given her trouble like this. These past couple of days have been one fit followed by another fit followed by several full dirty diapers. I still don't understand how teething creates such bad diapers, but boy do they!

To top off this lovely experience, she BIT me the other day...on the leg...really hard! It was through my jeans and it still left a raised, bruised terrible spot. She didn't do it out of anger or with attitude though - and yes, I can tell the difference! She didn't even know she was hurting me or what she was doing. I saw her do the same thing to a pillow case earlier that day...the pillow case lost that battle and so did my leg! I'm praying for a long break between this tooth coming in and those molars starting up.

In the midst of the fits and the diapers, she has been just as fun as she always is. We have had a good week and she's saying more words every day. She is also giving me increasingly more kisses as each day passes. Maybe she can feel that sometime I just need a kiss from her. She's so sweet and intuitive already!

Five Families

Our playgroup decided to have a family night this week. So all five families loaded up and headed to Mexican for dinner. It was fun being able to see all the dads since it's always just the moms and the kids. I'm sure the men thought it was hectic with five toddlers at one table, but to us it was just a typical day!

Here is the whole group. You can't quite see Emma because she is in her highchair between me and Josh.


Here are all the moms (Melissa, Martina, me, Alli, & Christy):


It was really fun and I look forward to all of us getting together again soon!

Getaway

This weekend I went to the beach for a little getaway. Nana came to town to watch Emma for two days so I could go meet the girls in Fort Walton. I missed Emma (and Josh too of course!) the whole time I was gone but I knew she was in good hands. Now I feel more refreshed and ready to go again.

This was my view most of the weekend:



Mimosas = one of the best ways to start your morning!


It sounds crazy, but these umbrellas and chairs that we rented made us the happiest girls on the beach. We were living the life!



Here we are at dinner (me, Anna, Ashley and Alissa):




Me & Anna on our balcony:


The group inside our fabulous condo:


I think we're going to have to figure out a way to do this every year. We managed to shop, relax, get a tan, and read an entire book while STILL making sure to work each day around food. Such a fabulous vacation!

When I returned home, Emma was happy to see me which made me smile because I had a brief moment when I thought she might forget me! One of her incisors popped through while I was gone, so now we have one more tooth to break through and she'll be done for a while. Thank you to Nana for coming to watch Emma on Thursday & Friday while Josh was at work! Sorry you had to head back home on Saturday but I'm glad you got to spend some time with the little ladybug and Josh alone. I appreciate it!

This is How We Bounce

On the Cob

On the cob is Emma's favorite new way to eat corn. She opened her mouth SO wide for each bite. She ate virtually the whole thing too!



And these are random pictures I took the other day of Emma in her shades with her snack trap of Cheerios in the backseat.

Snake Wrangler?

This weekend we celebrated our friend Lillian's second birthday at the zoo!

Here is Emma in Colton's wagon while we wait to all go in to the party.


Once we were inside, they brought three animals around for all the kids to pet. First was a turtle which was fun. Then came the snake...

Emma had just touched it so I figured I should be able to suck it up and touch it too.


Then Emma went to touch it again after she saw me do it. But instead of merely touching it, she squeezed it! I think the snake might have bitten the trainer a little bit when Emma did this. I felt so bad!! I apologized profusely to the woman. This was a photo taken right after she squeezed it and you can see the horrified look on my face. How was I supposed to know that my child would be the one that tried to wrangle the snake? At least it wasn't a poisonous one!

When the third animal came around (a guinea pig) I decided to let Emma sit that one out. I didn't want a repeat squeeze situation.

Here is the birthday girl with her parents blowing out the candles. Isn't she adorable?


After cake and ice cream, the party headed to the carousel for a ride. Can you tell from the pictures that my dress matches her shorts? CUTE!!




And then the train:


During our train ride, Parker was sitting in front of us. He was so sweet and leaned over to give Emma a kiss. At first she was very unsure of this. But after a minute, SHE was the one leaning over to give him another kiss. Those two were so cute together. I can't believe she's already had her first kiss at 16 months old...and with an older boy (he's 19 months old!). It made me and Parker's mom so sad to see them grow up so fast. Those kisses are supposed to be reserved just for us! Here is a picture of them caught in the act:


Another great day at the zoo and packed with entertainment from the children as usual!

Splish Splash!

Today we went to the Splash Pad with our group and it was so much fun! Today it was already 84 degrees by 10:30, so it was the perfect day for the kids to play at the water park.

Here she is taking a stroll through the center of the Splash Pad. At the end of the video she walks through a stream of water which took her off guard and scared her so you can hear her start to cry in the background. It didn't phase her for long though because after about 3 seconds, she was headed back for the water.


Her favorite part was this piano that spouted up water. I think she liked it because she could control the amount of splashing it did in her face. Such a girl!


Before we ate lunch we sat in the swing for a little bit to dry out.



Then it was lunch time!



And then back out to the water:


After all the action and excitement, I wasn't surprised when she fell asleep about 10 minutes from the house. Thankfully I was able to successfully get her in the bed without waking her up. Hopefully Josh will be able to come with us the next time we go to the Splash Pad because I think he'd have just as much fun as Emma did!

Excitement Around Every Corner

We ventured back to the Science Center this afternoon with our play group.

This time we made it over to the mini golf area and once I put the golf club in Emma's hand, she loved it!

Right after I put the club in her hand:


She swung one time and her first putt went in! I was pretty impressed.


Then she went after the ball so she could do it again:


She also spent a good portion of her time opening and closing these doors:


Here she is going in the house:


And coming through the other side:


This was one of her favorite things of the day...it was an exhibit that taught the children about fossils. She was very upset when we finally had to leave this area.


This was our final stop. We went to the aquarium area and this was the section where you could touch and feel sharks and stingrays. Here is our group shot:

Emma thoroughly enjoyed this exhibit! The woman who was working this exhibit couldn't believe how much Emma wanted to touch all the animals. Emma was literally scaling the walls to try to get into the tank with them! I had to pry her away from this thing literally kicking and screaming.

Even though she had a few moments where she had tantrums, we still had a great time. I knew we were going to have one of those kind of days because she didn't sleep well last night. I almost didn't even go but I knew she'd enjoy it once we got there. She DID enjoy it, she just hated it when I made her leave! I don't blame her.

Happy Mother's Day

To my Mom:
Happy Mother's Day! Thank you so much for everything you've done for me over the past 30 years. I appreciate you so much and I know how blessed I am to have you as a mother. You have taught me through example how to be a woman, a wife, a mother, a friend, and a Christian. I love you!

My Mother's Day:
I have had a fantastic Mother's Day today...really I had the whole weekend! It started yesterday when I went to get a massage and hang out with Jaime, Leah, Emily & Rachel. We all had appointments at 11:30 and then laid by the pool for the afternoon. It was so relaxing and exactly what I needed to recharge. We even smuggled in some food and drinks even though there were signs everywhere that said "no coolers or beverages allowed." I didn't feel like we were getting away with anything though because the manager saw us bringing it in and he actually held the door open for us and said "Have a great afternoon, ladies."


Then we all went to dinner together. Always good times with these girls!


This morning we made it to the early service at church and then went to the Cheesecake Factory for brunch. Delicious!









Emma made me this apron for Mother's Day. Thanks Emma!


Nala wanted to give me something today too. For the second year in a row she brought a chipmunk inside for me bright and early! I really could have done without that present. After Josh chased it for 10 minutes, he caught it and took it outside.

And to top my whole weekend off, Josh ironed all the clothes, cleaned our bathroom, and finally bought us new cell phones. He is an amazing man and husband.

I love being a mother and I love being able to spend my days with my little girl. Thank you to Emma and Josh for giving me a great Mother's Day!