Thursday Five

Hey Y'all..

Welcome to Thursday Five..

Wanna play?

Just post 5 things that have made you..

Happy

Giddy

Grateful

Joyful

Gleelful

or all of the above..

I love it cause it makes me think of all the positives that have

happened throughout my week..

My Five..

1. Emerson started walking on Friday! She walked about 15 feet. We haven't made much progress since then but the fact that she can do it is exciting! It was one of the best moments to see her take off!

2. Spring Daze

Saturday we headed to the Spring Daze Festival. I love festivals. I could have spent a ridiculous amount of money on all the beautiful crafts. I grabbed a bunch of cards in case I ever run into a huge amount of money! Haha.

3. Fresh Strawberries- I had the first round of freshly picked NC strawberries and they were some of the best I've ever had!

4. Breakfast- Mark made me two incredible breakfasts this past w.e. Chocolate chip pancakes with strawberry topping. Omelet with spring onions, avocado, and tomato. Be jealous!

5. Date night. Mark and I went to see How to train a dragon in 3D. It was a really cute movie! We hadn't been to a movie in forever so it was very nice.

14 months

Here are some pictures from our 14 month shoot. This red romper was mine as a little girl.

This boho chic (dress or top??) of course was not mine but a wonderful consignment find.

I found that getting eye contact while there are flowers, grass, and birds is near impossible.

But, she was all about telling me about what she saw.

And eating the local vegetation

Concealing her happiness

Proof that she is an emerging toddler

Complete meltdown because she couldn't have my camera. Looks traumatic doesn't it???

14 months

Emerson is 14 months today! Can I still tell her Happy Birthday each month even though she is 1? I think I will.

She woke in a fabulous mood today. She knows she is becoming a more mature lady! Emerson is rapidly changing now. Super chatty and attempting to repeat words everyday. Her words include Mama, Dada, Hi, Hey, Bye, Baby, Ball, Dog, No, Go, and Whoa. No is by far the favorite word of the moment much to our delight. She is always on the move now. Even though she can walk she prefers the speedy crawling way of travel. She loves to do handstands all day long. Which in my opinion resembles downward facing down pretty closely. Her favorite activity is holding our finger while walking. I think she would do it all day if she could. Although sometimes I trick her and she is walking by herself for awhile before she realizes it. Emerson has a combination of being social and anxiety. She waves at everyone whether she knows them or not. But, if they acknowledge her cuteness and get too close she'll freak out. This stranger anxiety is all a little new but I'm sure she will work through it soon enough. The toy of the moment is a shape sorter. She tries so hard to get the shapes in the right slot but still has a tough time matching it up. When we work together and it goes in she is so proud of herself and claps with excitement. Which brings me to her favorite song, "If you're happy and you know it." She loves it! It's guaranteed to bring a smile to her face and a clap on cue. We also sing a version in Mommy and Baby swim class which she really enjoys. I predict a summer full of fun at the pool! Happy Birthday Little E.!

If you're happy and you know it Part 2

So finally the second part of my blog post. I wasn't meaning to be cryptic. I was just having technical difficulties. Ha! Emerson is happy because she is now a walker! Part-time at least. I'm glad I had my flip video ready!

If you're happy and you know it

Although Emerson has been expressing her opinion a lot lately...

Her opposition to us not doing exactly what she wants...

This weekend she has a very good reason to be....

Happy

Giggly

and Proud.

to be continued....

Show us your life- How you met your husband!

This is the story of how I Mark and I met.

I grew up in a small town in the foothills of NC where I enjoyed dancing around as a mouse.

Mark grew up in the capital of North Carolina and was just plain goofy!

But, one thing is for sure we both had an amazing sense of style....

As you can see here. :)

I started Appalachian in the Fall of 2001 as a freshman, the same school Mark was attending. The first couple weeks of school I joined a sorority and soon had a big sister. She invited me over to go to a rodeo! I showed up thinking I was at the wrong apartment when there was a guy standing over the balcony. It turned out to be her cousin/roommate Mark. We attended the rodeo, where Mark was the only guy wearing khacki shorts and sperrys, and we had an instant spark. I invited Mark to my first grab-a-date which is the picture you see above. You think the story would end there but it doesn't! I was nervous and Mark wasn't very nice. Ha! So the relationship didn't go anywhere. After a year and a half of a love/hate relationship and lots of jealousy Mark finally asked me on a real date after some much needed guidance from Kara in March 2003.

Mark graduated that following December and we continued to date long distance until I graduated in May 2005. Then I packed up my bags and moved to Raleigh.

On October 16th, 2005 Mark proposed and I said, "Yes."

A year later we were married in the very place our relationship began.

A year and a half later we learned we were expecting our first child, a girl, in March. Emerson Kaye arrived in February and has been the most wonderful daughter in the world.

A year later we are loving this sweet baby and the direction our life has taken us. If you had asked me in 2001 if I would have had a beautiful little girl and be married to Mark in 8 years I would have never believed it! I just think about all the possible ways we could have never have met or just went our separate ways but God had a plan for us!

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Jeremiah 29:11

Whats yours is mine

Doesn't Emerson look sweet in her red checkered dress? Or shirt? I'm not really sure what it qualifies as but it's a lovely Patsy Aiken consignment find. Emerson has been all kinds of fun lately...
But, also all kinds of naughty. Ha! What's yours is mine and what's mine is mine is pretty much her mantra these days. If it doesn't go that way there are some guaranteed tears. How quickly she has turned into a sassy toddler! Sorry Emerson you cannot have my iphone. It's just not gonna happen.
Her new word is No. So this morning when I gave her some cantaloupe I said,

"Is it good?"

Emerson- "No."

"Did you try it?"

Emerson- "No"

"Will you eat a bite?"

Emerson- "No, no, no"

All at the same time while shaking her head. Well, I'm glad we're clear.

New Hairstyle

We had a super busy morning running around so when Emerson woke up from her nap we had a lazy afternoon. I pulled out my camera to take pictures of this cutie pie. It was a little tough of course to get her to stay put. I put her on the bed and she tried to climb off. Yes, she will turn around and attempt to lower herself down! I guess that's better than head first!

I must say I just love the shirt she is wearing today. A consignment sale find!

I was admiring those cute little locks and decided to try out something. Pigtails!

So I didn't part exactly straight and the band fell out in two minutes but isn't she cute?!?

Imagine how cute this will be come summer's end when we have a couple more inches of hair! I am contemplating a new hairstyle as well. Hair color at least. I suppose I'm getting an itch after having the same natural color for two years! Wow, that has to be a record for me.

Thursday 5

Yay for Thursdays!!

All week I look forward to today..

I love reading what makes y'all happy..

that makes me happy..

I love having a day to reflect on the week and think about the positive's..

some weeks are easier than others..

but..

I can always find 5 things that have made me happy..

Wanna play?

just post 5 things that have made you..

Happy

Giddy

Grateful

Joyful

Elated

Appreciative

or all of the above..

after you do your post..come back here and link up..

My Five..

1. Emerson got a fabulous report from the church nursery. Her best week yet! They were so excited it kind of made me feel like she has been horrible the rest of the times but hearing how happy she was made me one proud Mama! She also followed that up with a good report from our small group sitter! Fantastic!

2. Emerson took a 2.5 hour nap in her carseat allowing me to do my Yoga DVD. Now I have that little sore feeling in my legs and it feels great!

3. Emerson slept from 8ish until almost 5am two nights this week. Wow! That's sleeping through the night, right?

4. I made homemade enchiladas this week. A mix match of my own idea and the pioneer woman's recipe. Yummy. I love mexican food.

5. We're headed to Conover this w.e. to see family and friends!

Spring is in the air...

Have I shared this with you? Our little bit of sunshine also known as Emerson Kaye. It's my new favorite picture, so much so that we ordered it on canvas. Exciting, no? It was one of those times where I took a picture and we were blessed with perfect weather, good timing, and the perfect look. Carrying around an adorable outfit and matching flower headband doesn't hurt either! Ha. Of course it was taken at our favorite location of choice, Duke Gardens.

Win an IPad and give to a great cause

I donated to Compassion through Mckmama's site for my chance to win an IPad. You should too! Compassion is a wonderful organization and this will help needy babies!

Waiting

As you can see we aren't quite ready for the walking thing yet!

Easter Bunny

The easter bunny did come to our house!

Happy Easter!

Easter was a whole weekend of festivities for us. Emerson and I went to an Easter Egg Hunt on Thursday. Then we all attending the Saturday service of church and served on Sunday morning in the nursery. Emerson was in our class and she was pretty excited that Mom and Dad weren't dropping her off! Haha. Over a 100 people ended up being baptized during the weekend of services.

Emerson was excited about the holiday

It also didn't hurt that she had two easter baskets! She was over the moon to have a bucket as you can see. She has also been trying to carry her sand pail all over the house this week with eggs in it. But, this wasn't the highlight of our week. Emerson taking her first steps were! Well she took one or two like a month ago but this seemed intentional!

Ready....

Set...

Go! Three steps total to be exact. It was so exciting and unexpected to see her go and to see how proud she was of herself. She hasn't done it since but is now going straight from sitting to standing. I'll be glad to keep her a baby a little longer.

“For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. "

John 3:16

Pool Day

The Easter Bunny was very good to Emerson and brought her a pool! To say she liked it is an understatement. Friday it kind of felt like June with the mid 80 temperatures and all of use wearing our bathing suits.

Emerson found it refreshing.

Look at this cute little grin.

We played in the pool for about an hour and Emerson had a blast!

And we had a blast hearing her giggles and seeing big teeth smiles.

It was the perfect Friday afternoon catching some rays in our tiny "backyard"

Obviously not everyone can sport a mohawk like this.

(Easter post to come shortly)