Our Prissy Tomboy

This weekend we had no plans, no agenda and best of all no work! JD & Honey came to visit this weekend and it was such nice weather that we decided to visit the zoo on Saturday.

We started at the petting zoo where she very much enjoyed the goats:



Possibly even more than the goats, she enjoyed the rakes that were provided:

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After lunch we visited the splash pad for a quick refreshing dip before we headed to Kangaroo Kountry:


Emma loved the new sea lion exhibit:


The whole family at the kangaroo exhibit:


Today it was raining so we decided to break out the T-ball that Mimi got her. Emma took right to it which thrilled Josh because he loves baseball.

Here he is showing her how it's done:


And here he is shocked after she hit it by herself because she hit it so hard and so fast:


He helps her again...


...and here it is coming right at me!


After that she pretty much would only do it all on her own. She didn't want any help.



Her arm is probably soar after hitting so much:


Surpringly, Nala was unphased by the whole game:


Until Emma spotted her by the stairs and decided to take a quick break to pet her:



After her bath she went at it again. I think it's so fitting that within two minutes, she picked out a tutu to wear and then wanted to play baseball. She is such a good combination of both of her parents! She is such a priss and a tomboy all at the same time somehow.

Country?

Nothing against country music, but it's just never been my thing. However, due to popular demand, I have now programmed a country station into my car. Emma likes all music but I think she has quite a bit of her redneck daddy in her because she gets exceptionally pumped up when we pass country music. I'm talking BIG GRIN, CLAPPING, SWAYING and puts down all toys. Serious business!

She is doing amazing at daycare and making so many friends. She starts the new class tomorrow so stay tuned next week to see how to that goes. I'm very interested in seeing how this potty training will go. I am thinking it will take a while, but what I do know? Emma constantly impresses me and proves me wrong so I have learned to have no expectations and just see what happens.

All We Can Get

We're taking all the prayers we can get right now for our friends Jaime and John. They have been battling with infertility for a couple of years now and yesterday they took a big step. They were finally able to transfer her eggs that were frozen from an IVF procedure that she had a few months ago.

This is a prayer that my friend Alissa sent to Jaime and it says it better than I ever could:

Almighty Creator, hear this fertility prayer and the wishes of Jaime's heart. You know her deep desire for a child -- a little one to love and to hold, to care for, to cherish. Grant that her body may conceive and give birth to a beautiful, healthy baby in Your holy image. Guide her in all my choices so that this conception, her pregnancy and her baby's birth are in line with Your will. Heavenly Father, hear this prayer of my heart, mind and spirit. Amen!

It's Official

Leah is now MRS. WOOTEN! Congratulations Leah & Cody - we're so happy for you!

Here is a recap of the weekend...

We all stayed at cabins on the lake. As soon as we pulled up Emma wanted to go outside. We couldn't stay long because we had to get ready for the rehearsal dinner but we did take a minute to walk out onto our pier.


Giving Daddy a BIG hug


What a doll


Then off to the rehearsal dinner for ribs...guess who loves ribs?


The honorary bridesmaids with our shades that Leah gave us. Aren't we stylish?


Posing with the bride to be


The next morning we all went to the bridesmaid breakfast. Emma came along with me and she was so good. She ate most of an omelet, some fruit, a piece of bacon and some croissant. She was really pumped that she woke up in time to come with me!

After breakfast we headed back to the cabin. Of course we got Josh and all headed outside. Both Josh and Emma were in heaven.


Josh taught Emma to throw rocks into the lake.



She liked it so much that we moved to the pier so she could easily get them in the water. She stayed there for probably an hour. Thankfully John and Jaime came outside too because John was designated as the "rock fetcher" for Emma. Anytime she got low, she'd ask for more and then look at him. Here he is bringing another big pile for her:




Wedding time! Beautiful!



Honorary Bridesmaids - as we wait in the wings for the show to begin


The cake!


The first dance


The reception was outside...a picture is worth a thousand words...notice how wet Emma's hair is. Shortly after this picture, we took her inside and she stayed there with Josh until Leah & Cody were about to leave.


And they're off...


CONGRATULATIONS!!

Report

It's only Tuesday and I already have a lot to report on this week.

1. Emma is now off of the sippy cup and on to a regular cup. We still use a sippy cup at home though because frankly, I don't have the time right now to clean milk, juice and water up from our rugs.

2. Due to #1 above and doing so well in her current class, they are graduating her to the next room up. She will be going from the Wobbler class to the Toddler class starting August 27th. They start hard core potty training in the Toddler class so hopefully in the next few months, I'll be able to say that she is diaper free!!

3. An unfortunate incident happened in her classroom. Emma bit another child! I know, I know - we totally have THAT child who is now labeled a biter. In her defense though, her teacher said the other child was egging her on. The other little girl actually came up to Emma and then stuck her finger in Emma's mouth. I mean, come on...she was ASKING for it! It wasn't too bad thankfully and the other child is okay. The teacher said that she put Emma in time out for 1 minute and afterward, Emma went back to playing very nicely and hasn't done it again since.

4. As we know, Emma has not been very talkative up to this point. She says a few things like Uh Oh, Woah, Nala (our cat), Dada/Momma, and a few other small words. Up to now she hasn't had to talk. She was with me ALL the time and I knew every grunt, every point, and every look in her eye. No words necessary! We know that she understands everything we say because she follows commands and nods/points in response to our questions. But last night, as I was giving her a bath she was playing with her boat in the tub. I said 'boat'...can you say "boat?" And she just said it! It was like she just decided she'd start talking. I think she approached talking the same way she approached walking. She waited to walk until she knew she'd be safe and she could do it perfectly. She never wobbled or stumbled...one day she just took off even though we knew that she could've walked easily months before. Same with talking. In addition to saying 'boat' about 20 times last night, she also said ball, car, and earring tonight. Leave it to my little diva prissy baby girl to have 'earring' be one of her first spoken vocabulary words.

She is growing up so fast and gets more personality by the day. She always brings a smile to my face and never ceases to amaze me with her sweet and happy demeanor. Just don't stick your finger in her mouth and you won't have to experience anything but that bubbly side of her.

A Start

This weekend was the start I needed to make it through this busy season. I was able to get some much needed rest and spend some time with my family. Even though Josh has been taking care of Emma all week while I was working late, he still jumped out of bed on Saturday morning to take care of her so that I could sleep in. Isn't he the best husband ever?!

On Saturday morning I woke up to Emma wearing Josh's hat. How cute is this face?


Then that afternoon I had the bright idea that all of us should go on a walk. Emma was excited and ready to go. We opened the door and it was raining!! Of course Emma didn't care that it was raining...she was told we were going outside and she was ready to collect on that promise. I had no choice. We went outside and were soaked afterward.


Emma and Josh went out for a few errands and came back with a big bouquet of sunflowers. Josh said they walked past the flowers and Emma picked these out for me. So sweet! Here she is helping me get them ready for the arrangement.


Here are some photos that I haven't had a chance to post:

One day a few weeks ago, I was able to pick Emma up from daycare. I walked in and saw Emma and said, "Oh my! It is so obvious that mommy left early today and that daddy was responsible for dressing you." Her teacher just laughed. She clearly agreed. The funniest part is that when I said this Josh, his response was, "What, it matches!" It is blue with white polka dots and lime green shorts...really?


Last Saturday was Leah's Bachelorette Party. Here we are getting ready at Rachel's house:


The cake:


The beautiful bride to be:


Me with Leah in the hotel room:


We were so loud though that we had to leave the hotel and go to Rachel's house. It was cozier anyway!


Then once ALL the festivities were over me, Jaime and Rachel decided it was the perfect time to head to Waffle House. Who doesn't love Waffle House at 3:00 in the morning?!

The Plan

Today was supposed to be my day off. After working nearly 60 hours over a four day period, I got home last night and was exhausted. I fed Emma and put her to bed and then I was out. Josh was going to take her daycare and let me sleep late and then I was going to go pick her up after she had lunch. That was the plan, but Emma had a different plan...

She woke up 3 or 4 times in the middle of the night crying. But each time she put herself back to sleep quickly, so me and Josh didn't go up there to check on her. So this morning Josh went up there around 7 to get her up and he came rushing downstairs to tell me that Emma had thrown up all over the place. I have never gotten out of bed quicker. We feel like we deserve the bad parents of the year award for not going up to check on her!

I ran upstairs and blown over by the smell of it. She had it ALL over her...in her hair, on the crib, on the floor around her crib. I immediately gave her a bath while Josh took her sheets off and took them outside. She has never thrown up before so we were in a panic. We got the first appointment they had with the doctor. Since she has no other symptoms and has not thrown up since, he thinks it might have been something that upset her tummy last night. Or maybe she has a viral infection that made its way through her system quickly. She's been fine ever since she woke up, so I think the worst is over.

I can say this for certain though - after this week, my family is drained. We are all so tired. I'm looking forward to a weekend of spending some much needed quality time with them.

Pity Party

Unfortunatley I have no fun stories, updates or pictures of Emma because I myself have barely seen her since Sunday afternoon. After I left here on Tuesday, I had already worked 33 hours over the course of just two days (16 Monday & 17 Tuesday). I think I'm going to be able to make up for it by taking Thursday and Friday off, so I'm really looking forward to that! My very little sleep is beginning to take a toll on me. I still get up in time to help get Emma ready and then drop her off at school, so it's been a rough few days.

Josh has been amazing with Emma over this past week with me working so much. I'm sure he's ready for me to be home just as much as Emma is. With all the extra alone time she is spending with him, she's really growing more attached to him which I love. She was so used to relying totally on me that when Josh got home from work each night, she wanted him to be with us, but she really wanted to still be right up against me. She's becoming even more independent than she already was and she is such a sweetheart. Whenever she sees a stuffed animal or a doll baby, she picks it up and just hugs it tightly and smiles. It's heartwarming to see so much love in one little girl.

She has been doing GREAT at daycare. She is back to eating like a champ and napping the whole two hours each day. Each morning when I drop her off at daycare I say, "Emma, are you ready to go to school and play with your friends?" She always smiles and says yes. Even though she still cries when I walk out of the room, I know that she stops before I even make it down the hallway. I'm so happy that she's doing well, having fun, making friends, and learning so much at school.

Move Over

Move over, Heidi Klum...because Emma had her first real photo shoot and she's a natural! What do you think?