Planning

We are in the middle of party planning mode. So it feels a little hectic at the moment. I can remember this time last year getting ready to go to the hospital and speed walking through the neighborhood totally ignoring my bed rest orders. Ha! I was hopeful until the very end. Of course it didn't induce labor. Just made me tired and have to pee. Which in retrospect wasn't a good idea considering that was the beginning of my almost 3 days of no sleep! This year I'm well rested and we got to see beautiful snow this morning. The large fluffy kind that looks like cotton balls. It was gorgeous. But, alas the sun has come out and melted our snow. I'm currently writing my to-do list and trying organize the million things I need to get prepped and done before Saturday. Lists make me feel better even though I'm really not an organized person. Tonight I'll make the buttercream icing and hopeful not eat too much of it. :) I've tried to offer some yogart to E. this week mixed with applesauce since that will be kind of what her "icing" will be. It actually tastes pretty good. Her enthusiasm is minimal as she shakes her head "No" when I ask if she wants any. She has had maybe a speck in her mouth and gagged but didn't throw up. Progress I suppose. But, she does like to play with it which should be fun on her birthday. Speaking of fun I think Emerson said "ball" yesterday. We were playing with her pink ball which is her favorite and I had it and she reached out and said what sounded like "ball." I've come to the conclusion you can never really know if it's a real word. In my opinion it's hard to understand the majority of children's vocabulary before age 2 so you can pretty much make up anything it sounds like to you. But, the sound combined with the object in clear view is pretty impressive. She also says bye after I say bye when getting off the phone. Too cute! I don't have any pictures so here is a little video. It's not recent but it's all I got. Maybe 2 weeks ago or longer??? Enjoy!

Yesterday was a fun day. Emerson was in a fantastic mood. Maybe it's because it's her birthday week or maybe it was because she was into everything! Like moving the doormat. You can see she completely removed the liner.
Then I'm unloading dishes and she comes over which she usually does and starts touching the door. No biggie. Then I literally turn around for 5 seconds to grab a dish and she is in the dishwasher. When did she become an expert climber??!?

While I was prepping dinner I had to contain her from doing more naughty things. She didn't mind though. She was having a blast. She might not be saying, "hey" but it sounds like it to me. Emerson is such a goofball. Please excuse my silly commentary.

Fun in the sun

Friday we had a special treat. Mark took the afternoon off to spend with us and the weather was great. We took advantage and headed for a hike in the park.

It wasn't incredibly warm but still a big improvement from what it has been lately. We soaked up the sunshine and enjoyed every minute of it. It was so much fun! I was hoping to be sore from our hike and jump start my get in shape crusade but sadly I wasn't. Except maybe my back which just kind of makes me feel old not fit.

I thought Emerson would pass out for her afternoon nap but she was way too interested in enjoying the view. She loved watching the dog run around like a nut.

When we reached the lake we practiced walking a bit. She doesn't seem to interested in starting on her own anytime soon which is fine by me!

Although she is getting pretty fast walking like this she prefers to drop down and crawl.

"Now how do I get this off?"

Mia tried to coax Emerson into setting her loose so she could jump in the lake. She almost fell for it!

Mark with his girls

Sunday was even better weather and we hit up the playground. We even took the dog again and she did great. She has come a long way with kids since this time last year. She even let a toddler pet her! We had so much fun outside we kind of forgot to get some shopping done for the birthday. You know the big one! So hopefully we'll get a jump on it because it's coming fast. I plan on making E. a healthy baby cake. It doesn't have sugar or anything in case she decides she wants some. Which I seriously doubt she will but in the off case she did I would really hate her stuffing sugar in her mouth when she rejects all other forms of food. We have plenty of time for a sweet tooth to develop. Why rush it?

Getting to know you

Hey Hey Hey..It's Sunday!

Time for a little funday..Getting to know YOU action..

To play..Grab the questions..copy them..answer them..then come back here and link on up..

It's as easy as easy gets..

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The questions..

1. How often do you wash/change your sheets?

Probably every two weeks. But, it seems like everytime we wash them lately Emerson spits up on them the next day!

2. When is your birthday?

August 17th. I've always liked the summer birthday because you get presents near the half way point to Christmas. Ha!

3. Have you ever met a bloggy friend in real life?

Nope. But, a lot of the blogs I read are people I know in real life.

4. Brad Pitt or George Clooney?

Brad Pitt in his younger years, but George Clooney today.

5. If you could change one thing about your body what would it be?

I would like to have a bigger behind. Sounds kind of backward to most people but, it seems like since Emerson was born it has been disappearing! I use to be in better shape I swear.

6. How often do you wash your hair?

Usually every day. My hair is shiny anyways and it's get pretty gross after a day. But, if I'm not doing anything I might just wear a headband and pull it back. E. doesn't mind my greasy hair. Mark on the other hand is another story.

7. Do you have pets?

Yep, Mia a dog who is almost 5. It's hard to believe I got her just after I graduated college. She is a little nuts but we love her.

8. How many social networks do you belong to..if you had to give up one, what would it be?

Facebook, LinkedIn, TriangleMommies, and Myspace. I would so give up myspace. I never use it and frankly would not be able to remember my login. It is kind of creepy too.

Random Video of the Day

This video has no real purpose. Haha! But, you can kinda see what our days our usually like. She was talking up a storm before I pulled out the camera. Then of course gave me the silent treatment. If you look closely you can see her top teeth at the end.

Second time around

Do you like Emerson's outfit?

Does it look familiar? Maybe that's because she wore it way back when. It is one of my favorite dresses so I was feeling nostalgic and pulled it out. What do you know it still fits!!! Put some black leggings underneath and we are good to go for the second time around.

She wore this to rhyme time and I must say she was the cutest one there! Not that I'm biased or anything. I was going to pull out her summer dresses from last year out of her closet to allow room for new stuff but maybe I'll hold onto a few so that we can pair with a little skirt or shorts. Thanks Emerson for being so teeny and reusing your clothes! On another fun note Emerson said hi this w.e. Then I had a dream last night that she was talking up a storm. Haha!

HAPPY VALENTINES!

This weekend Emerson experienced her first valentine without the candy of course. She received valentines in the mail from both her Grandparents and was thrilled as you can see. I was thrilled that she didn't eat the cards.

She seemed to know they were a special gift for her and she carefully inspected them.

I think these might come in handy when she pitches a fit (which she has been doing A LOT lately) to pull out and distract her.

But, we're still waiting on our valentines. They must have gotten lost in the mail. Ahem. But, Emerson says thanks for her special valentines!

Mark and I enjoyed the holiday with the typical romantic date....

Bowling of course! We had to keep score by hand which challenged our math skills. We soon came to realize that we are much better at Wii bowling than real bowling. Oh well. It was still fun!

Progress?

So Emerson slept in her crib for the first time for an extended amount of time. I've been putting her down every night at 8pm and it's worked out pretty well. We had a little hiccup last night around 9:30 but she was passed out again at 10pm. She was sleeping so well I decided to leave her in there in hopes she would sleep through the night. A girl can dream right? I have to admit it took me about 15 minutes to leave her in the room, double checking everything. Is she still breathing? Is this a sleep hazard? Is the fan too cold? Is it too hot? Finally I went to bed anxious and honestly had a tough time going to sleep. Ugh. Around 3:30am I heard her a little voice and jumped up to find her crying in her crib. I picked her up and headed towards our room. I nursed her and hoped she would go back to sleep as she usually does. An hour and a half later of kicking, crying, attempting to crawl off the bed I was a little tired of it. Seriously we have never had a wake up for that long. I was laying there thinking, "Is this progress?" I mean she slept for longer than she ever had in the crib but we definitely paid for it. She took her first nap at 9am for 2 hours followed by another one at 1pm. Now at 5ish we are taking a third nap and frankly she hasn't been herself today. So I'm not really sure if I will try this again in tonight. I think I would rather have an early 5am wake up call than an all niter.

Weekly update

Emerson has been improving her mobility this week. She can now stand for about 30 seconds by herself and even do many squats at the same time. I'm impressed! She is loving walking back and forth while holding our hands and now only wants to hold on with one hand. Check out her balance. Any guesses on when she'll take off walking?

A cute little development this week is Emerson has been "reading" books by herself. I've noticed her pull out some books, sit down and turn the pages. She gets especially excited at her touch and feel book of kittens and puppies. It's really adorable. Of course it lasts about 20 seconds and then she takes a bite out of it. But, a development none the less. We have our books barricaded behind her rocking chair because of her biting tendencies but now she is constantly trying to climb over to get a book out!

A mouthful and a little fetch

So in the past 2-3 weeks Emerson has cut 4 teeth! So she has quite a mouthful these days. She had been sleeping horribly the past couple weeks, waking pretty much every 2 hours. Especially this past weekend it was rough. I suspected it was teething but now I'm 100% reassured. As soon as the last tooth popped through I was able to put Emerson to bed within 10 minutes and didn't hear a peep out of her for hours! I actually was a little neurotic about checking on her because she was so quiet. Let's hope this wonderful sleep pattern lasts for awhile and any extra teeth wait it out.

I don't have any new pictures on hand so here is Emerson attempting to play with the dog. I think it's adorable!

Show us your Life Firda

Today on Show Us your Life Friday - we are talking Beauty tips and Hair and Make-Up products! So this is probably the thing I should I be talking about the least since my beauty product knowledge has dropped off in the last year. I use to love make-up and now I hardly wear it. Emerson appreciates my natural beauty. ;) But, I will attempt to give my two cents for all that it's worth. I've gotten really into natural products since becoming pregnant and not wanting any additional chemicals in my body or carcinogens. I've become a big of Jason's beauty products. I buy my stuff at Earthfare but I occasionally see it at Target now, and of course Whole Foods.

I also enjoy their apricot body wash. I am also a fan of Burt's Bee's conditioner. It's smells amazing and is so creamy and moisturizing. Again you can find it at Target. Like I said I don't wear that much make-up anymore but I do have a favorite cheap mascara. Cover Girl Lash Exact is great, doesn't clump, and runs about $6. If you want to really splurge YSL mascara is to do die for and really makes you look like you got fake lashes put on. Plus it smells like roses if you're into that. Ha. But, for now I'm a bargain girl and Cover Girl will do. I use to buy all kinds of eyeshadow from where ever but, when I got married I went to Sephora and discovered LORAC. I have this Croc Palette with four eyeshadows and a blush. They are wet dry shadows and really the most beautiful colors on. A little bronze and pink mixed. I got married 3 years ago and still use it! It is running low but I'm sure I will purchase again. I don't wear lipgloss anymore because I'm constantly smooching Emerson and she is so sensitive to beauty products. But, if I had to go all out I love Stila Lip Glaze. It's a little on the pricier side but if you take really good care of it, it last a good while. Oh and they are scented! One year I had a pumpkin spice variety and it was amazing. But, then I ran over it with my car. Sigh. At Christmas time they usually sell the variety sample packs of 5 for $20 but the sell out super quick. That's about the extent of my beauty tips. As far as hair I have a flat iron, hair dryer, etc. but I usually let it air dry. Ha!

Snowed in

The snow started falling on Friday night and I was pretty excited to be snowed in. I prepped by loading up on ingredients for baked spaghetti and chili. So we had hearty delicious food all weekend long! Emerson was really excited to watch the snow fall and even more excited the next day to see the blanket of white outside. She woke up at 6:50 am and I lifted the blinds and she had a blast banging on the window and we appreciated the extra few minutes of sleep.

But, once we walked outside she was pretty miserable. It was freezing and still sleeting. We did not last long and she was thankful to get back inside. But we had to get at least one picture, right?

The next day was much better. It was sunny, still cold but much easier to handle. So we ventured out to find some more sledding. Emerson joined Mark for a couple rides down but was really unimpressed. I guess she is not going to be a snow girl.

You can see the level of excitement on her face. Haha!

Perhaps next year she will be more into it if we even get snow. This is the most I have ever seen while living here. We had a great weekend and I really enjoyed just relaxing and not worrying about having to get anywhere. It was a much appreciated rest! Now that we have had our "big snow" I'm ready for spring. :)