11 Months Old!

I'm a little behind on the birthday update but I guess that's just how it goes sometimes. Emerson is becoming more mobile and chatty everyday. She is a cruising queen, always standing up and moving from object to object. When I sit her down she starts walking pretty much on her own and only holds onto me with one hand! So I know walking is not too far away. Her favorite thing to do these days is push everything around the house. She has decided that we need help with the furniture arrangement and moves the dining room chairs to her liking. She also moves the high chair, her play table, and anything else she finds. She loves to jump and dance around and tends to do squats constantly. Emerson gets much more exercise than me! Language development is full speed ahead as now I hear a very distinct Mama, and she is definitely saying, "Hey! I'm talking to you!" It's not just babbles like before. When she sees something interesting to her or that she wants she yells out, "Ohhh, Ohhh." Very cute. Occasionally she says, "Uh, oh." She is feisty and independent but loves to cuddle at bedtime. Emerson enjoys taking objects out. For example pans out of the cabinets, shoes out of the closet, all her toys out of the box, and books off our nightstand. She is destructive to say the least! She has a new found interest in paper, and really enjoys tearing it up! So we have to keep a watchful eye on books we would like to keep. Emerson also likes to throw things now. Which is fun for the dog in many ways. Emerson will throw her toys about 6 inches. Ha! Mia looks at her like, "Seriously, that's it?" She also throws any food off her highchair to the dog. Isn't she a generous gal?
As you can see by this picture she is so much fun right now and has a lot of personality. I can't believe in a month she will be one! But, for now she is still our little baby!

A day in the life

Rearranging cooking supplies

Practicing balance

Trying to push the stove out of the way

Discovering a new drawer to explore

Rounding the corner

Making a break for it

"Hey! Who moved all the magnets out of reach?!?!"

Funny Day Part 2

Emerson woke up to this lovely hairstyle. Can you see her little flip?

She was mighty proud of it of course. She's a natural beauty.

Lucky Chinese Tag

Tag, You're It! This is a cute little way to get to know other bloggers that you follow!
If you decide to fill out this little questionnaire on your own blog...

make sure you leave me a comment/ link so that I can take a look! If I don't get a single comment I will be seriously offended!

8 TV Shows I Watch

• Glee

• LOST

• The Office

• One Tree Hill

• Fringe

• So You Think you Can Dance

• Heroes

• The Bachelor...Sadly I've been sucked in!

8 Favorite Places to Eat and Drink:

• Baba Grill

• Chipotle

• Jumpin Jonny's

• Goodberry's Custard

• Mura

• Tyler's Taproom

• Tupelo Honey Cafe

• Bojangles

8 Things I Look Forward To:

• Emerson's First Birthday!

• Julie Ann's Bachelorette Weekend

• The start of Spring!

• Julie Ann's Big Day!

• Starting to run again in March

• Watching Emerson become a toddler

• Emerson's first steps

• Summer vacations!

8 Things That Happened Yesterday:

• I watched my baby play with a carseat for almost an hour

• Grocery shopped at Wal-Mart

• Picked up the camera for the first time in 2 weeks

• Made storytime plans

• Got my days mixed up

• Stuffed my face with spinach black bean quesadillas

• Was shocked that The Bachelor kept Vienna..watched it a day late

• Got really excited about the premiere of LOST next week

8 Things I Love About Winter:

• Christmas

• Holiday desserts

• The first snow if we ever get one.

I don't really have anything else so you can see I don't "love" winter. Is it spring yet?

8 Things on My Wish List:

• More babies

• Financial security

• A photography business

• Emerson to grow up happy, healthy, and influenced by the right things.

• A house with a playroom, craft room, and yard

• Less conflict in the world and people's hearts be changed

• That all children be loved and cherished.

8 Things I'm Passionate About:

• Family

• My baby

• God

• Photography

• Arts and Crafts

• Nutrition

• Child Advocacy

• Shelter Adoption- Mutts rock!

8 Words/Phrases I Use Often:

• Love ya

• No

• Do not go up those stairs Emerson!

• Stop playing with the sub woofer! Haha

• Sit

• Stay

• Bad dog!

• Night night

8 Things I've Learned From the Past:

• People are fallible, God is not.

• The best things in life can be unexpected

• Values are important

• Appreciate the little things

• Be grateful for what you have

• Children are a blessing

• Let God be in control (Good one!, I'll keep it) :)

• Don't hold grudges

8 Things I Currently Want/Need:

• New shoes

• A pedicure

• Yogalosophy DVD

• Seamless paper and backdrop stand/fake floor

• A new Mac Pro

• Photography Subjects

• More money, less hours. Ha!

-Massage

Funny Day Part 1

So I'll start off by saying I know these pictures are terrible. Dark, noisy, etc, but I had to move quickly to capture this funny moment. Emerson's friend got a new toy for his carseat. Apparently she really loves it. I look over and she is standing in the carseat with the carseat going straight up! After I about had a heart attack that she would flip on her head I grabbed the camera.

At least she held on to the handle, right?

Bouncing up and down, dancing to the tunes.

I thought she was about done when she sat down rocked the carseat back like this.

"I think I'll stay for awhile"

Then goes back to playing with the carseat accessory.

If it's this big of a hit we might just have to get one to survive our car rides. Emerson went on to play like this for 30 minutes which in baby time is forever. Scratch that she just got back in. We might not be able to let this carseat go. Haha.

Play Ball

We were out of town all weekend so I'll just sum up the last few days.....

~Emerson slept the entire way in the car, there and back! Woo hoo!

~I got a haircut

~I got lost in the endless amount of merchandise at Hobby Lobby but, finally found a birthday banner for Emerson.

~Emerson discovered throwing things is fun! For her at least.

~We had a playdate with Chatham and visited with Aunt Reba.

~After several attempts I have started a crocheted blanket for Emerson.

~Emerson was traumatized by an inflatable duck bath tub.

~She finally got a top tooth!

That's the cliftnote version. Here is a video of Emerson playing ball (since I was camera free) at her Grandparents after she rejected her pjs. She seems enthused for a baby that is suppose to be in bed don't you think?

Let's play...

Baby Amy

Baby Emerson

Baby Mark

Another round of who does Emerson look like? Ok, when I am with Emerson strangers say, "Oh she looks just like you!" When she is with Mark, " Oh, she looks just like you!" Huh? Could it be possible? That Mark and I look exactly alike? :)

Photoshoot Tuesday

I figured we were due for some photo time since it had been a couple weeks. Of course we have the best light during Emerson's naptime so there was no chance of giggles and smiles this time.

None the less I thought she was beautiful. I just wanted to capture these baby rolls before they fade away.

I love the shocked, " I can't believe you are taking my picture again," face.

This is her tutu from her 7 month birthday. It had been in retirement in the corner of the room.

That wasn't the original idea. I was going to do something more basic to get those chubby legs in. But, she seemed unimpressed with her outfit and refused to look up.

I attempted bribery with puffs. Even though she won't eat them she enjoys picking them up.

Emerson really enjoyed my necklace. Too bad it gave her a rash. :( I love this shot. It's definitely cropped in a lot. The pull back is her whole body. I almost threw this picture out then finally a little extra something in her grasping the pearls.

Here is the same picture, alternate crop. I couldn't decide if I liked her eyelashes in better (Aren't they killer?!?) or her adorable arms. Then I liked both a vintage processing and a warm black and white. So solution, keep both! Ha.

Here we are at the end of our picture taking. I cleaned out her drawers and found this set of pjs I had bought on consignment last winter for 6-12 months. They are really adorable but how many of us dress our babies in shorts and tshirts to go to bed. Would have been a nice thought that my Emerson couldn't wear this in winter. Ha! Oh well. Perhaps we can lounge in it once it warms up. Because I really do adore it. It's apple/pear appliques. If it came in my size I would wear it!

Completely switching topics I just got this 10 month 3 week update in my email.

Your baby's ability to vocalize is improving, and he may say his first word any time now. When he does, repeat it softly and clearly so she can learn the correct pronunciation. (Bear in mind that many babies won't utter an intelligible peep for several more months, and that's normal, too.) First words don't always have precise definitions, by the way. "Dog" may mean anything with four legs, and "ba-ba" could signify bottle, teddy bear, bye-bye — or all three.

Which leads me to Emerson has said bye. I have heard her twice and it was in reference to someone leaving. So is that her first word?? She said Mama, Dada, but are those babbles or real words? Anyways just thought I would share! Happy Hump Day.

Emerson walking....kinda

Look at her go! Seriously a few days ago she couldn't do this. I went upstairs and when I came down Mark was filming this. That's why I'm all enthusiastic and surprised. :)

5 Questions

It's Friiiiiiiidaaaaay!! Do you know what that means?

It means it's time for Five Question Friday...aka 5QF in some parts of the blogosphere!! I hope you'll join in! I promise you'll meet a bunch of awesome, amazing, interesting, fun women (no men yet, sorry, single ladies...)!!

For all you first timers...here's the deets: Copy and paste the following questions to your blog, answer them, grab the MckLinky code (if you want) then come on back and link up! I would love, love, love it, if you'd link back to me, Mama M.!!

For those of you that don't have a blog (get on it!!) feel free to answer in the questions below here, or at any blog you visit!

Okay...let's get started!

Questions for Friday, 1/8/10: (Thanks to Megan, Tara, Kate, and Thorney London)for their question suggestions!! Wanna be linked in a future 5QF? It's easy peasy lemon squeezy!! Just leave your question suggestions here!)

1. What's your "comfort food"? Mexican (Burritos, Quesadillas, Tacos, Cheese dip, Guacamole=Yummy!)

2. Do you send Thank You's (handwritten or email)?

Handwritten but email does seem more efficient but less personal.

3. If you had to be trapped in a TV show for a month, which show would you choose?
At first I thought this meant what tv show you would want to watch for a month so of course I was thinking LOST. Then I got it and clearly I would not want to be stuck on a crazy island with a smoke monster and the others. Yikes! Anyways, I would pick Throwdown with Bobby Flay. He goes and challenges other awesome cooks and the people there get to eat it. That's my kind of show! I can't watch it without getting hungry. Plus Bobby Flay always adds a southwest twist and I said I like mexican!

4. What is your favorite online recipe site?

I use Kraft.com a lot. The recipes are pretty simple, affordable, and delicious. I have made tons of casseroles, desserts, and appetizers. Enchilada bake being my favorite.

5. If you had to choose: "Friends" or "Seinfeld"?

Definitely Friends. Seinfeld is funny but I grew up on Friends. Hilarious. I'm pretty sure I have seen every episode and it never gets old.

A New Do

Thank you Mia. I knew Emerson was missing a little something.

Being sick she certainly needed a little pick me up.

This hair do is just perfect. If only dog slobber smelled better.

Emerson sings

I wondering if I should go ahead and start sending out tapes to recording labels? Please ignore my commentary and her crazy bedhead.

2009 survey

I decided to participate in Carrie's survey fun since I'm holding a sick baby.

1. What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before? I had a baby. breastfed, changed cloth diapers, chewed a little person's nails, little things like that. Ha!
2. Did you keep your New Year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I don't think I made any resolutions last year. I was preoccupied with the birth of Emerson. This year I would like to improve in my photography, get back into shape, read the bible more, and serve others.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? My SIL, and tons of people I go to church with or went to school with in the past. It was a year for babies!
4. Did anyone close to you die? Fortunately not.
5. What places did you visit? We traveled quite a bit. We went to the Outer Banks, Charleston, NC mountains, Pilot Mountain, Wilmington, and Conover.
6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009? Organized. I feel so scatter brained and it has gotten worse since having a baby.
7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? Emerson's birthday obviously.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Nursing Emerson successfully to date. It has big goal for me to keep it going.
9. What was your biggest failure? I would say lack of organization, keeping in touch with people.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? I had mastitis but I think that's it.
11. What was the best thing you bought? Tie between my new lens and my ergobaby carrier. Although the lens was a gift.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Emerson's incredible growth and development. We are so proud of her. Mark, for being a wonderful Daddy and provider. All of our family for supporting us.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? The woman in NC who sold her daughter in prostitution. Made my stomach turn.
14. Where did most of your money go? Target, Wal-Mart, and Earthfare.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Being a Mom, learning photography skills.
16. What song will always remind you of 2009? Nick, nack, patty wack, give a dog a bone? It's on every toy we have.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) Happier or sadder? Happier
b) Thinner or fatter? Thinner
c) Richer or poorer? We're down one income so I would say poorer but still blessed.
18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Exercise
19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Worrying
20. How did you spend Christmas in 2009? Stayed Christmas Eve in Raleigh, opened presents at our house Christmas day, then headed to Conover.
21. Did you fall in love in 2009? I fell in love with Little Emerson.
22. What was your favorite TV program? Glee, So you think you can dance, The Office, Fringe, and LOST.
23. What did you do for your birthday in 2009? Mark made me amazing fish tacos, and coffee ice cream. It was a really good birthday.
24. What was the best book you read? Sadly I don't think I've read a book except for baby books!
25. What did you want and get? My camera lens
26. What did you want and not get? Yoga DVD. Ha!
27. What was your favorite film of this year? I didn't really go the movies this year. The Proposal was pretty funny.
28. Did you make some new friends this year? Yes, neighbors, people at church.
29.What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Not a thing.
30. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009? Whatever is comfortable and I can nurse in easily. I do tend to wear cowboy boots with everything.
31. What kept you sane? Chatham and My mother
32. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? I really like The Dog Whisperer, I think we could be friends. :) Also Christian singer Bethany Dillon. I saw her in concert and she is adorable.
33. What political issue stirred you the most? Tax dollars going to fund abortions.
34. Who did you miss? My family since they don't live here.
35. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009. Cherish the moments.
If you feel.... the urge! Copy & paste, fill out, & share the link in my comments once you are finished with your own version

Playing with Violet

We got a flip video for Christmas and Emerson got a Violet. Enjoy!