Rock-a-bye

The other day I heard something I never hear. Emerson singing! I know a lot of kids her age sing but she  has always been more of a dancer. 

So much to my surprise the other day she was singing to her bunny and rocking her gently.

Until she noticed I was watching that is. 

28 weeks

 So it's been a long time since my last pregnancy update. I'm 28 weeks today and officially in the third trimester. I didn't mean to change up my pictures with cutting off my head but I couldn't get the tripod back far enough and I didn't feel like switching out lenses. So there you go! I didn't look so great anyways. But, Emerson forgot to tell me my shirt was messed up in the back. Haha! Baby B. is about 14 inches long. He can now blink his eyes which we saw in the last ultrasound. I'm starting to feel just plain old heavy, along with some hip pain. Kind of feel like an 80 year old woman. Or what I can imagine it feels like to be 80. But, no back pain since I'm not behind a desk all day. So there is a silver lining! My skin is starting to feel like it might pop open and I'm completely bewildered how women carry 10lb children around. The most difficult thing has been picking up Emerson and how the weight pulls on my belly. Ouch! I've had a ridiculous craving for chocolate cupcakes this week. I can even taste them. I walked by some at Wal-Mart four times the other day before deciding I didn't need 6 cupcakes. Hello crazy.  Maybe I will get my hands on one this weekend. I'm on the every two week appointment and they are watching Baby B. closely to make sure he is growing well. I'm starting to get very anxious for his arrival. It's very different than with Emerson where I think I was in many ways scared of the unknown and wanted her to stay in as long as possible. Not that I wasn't excited but just nervous. Now newborns are no mystery and I'm really excited to meet this little guy. So 3 months seems like forever away! We got Baby B. tons of clothes at the consignment sale so I'm feeling much more prepared. He won't have to wear pink after all. Emerson was exposed to a newborn last weekend and did rather well. She didn't mind me holding the baby and wasn't really pushy at all. So fingers crossed she welcomes her brother with open arms. So this post isn't Baby B. heavy here is a picture of Emerson I ran across from November of 2009. Doesn't even look like her! Look at that buzz cut. I remember at this age, 7 months, she was pulling up and starting to cruise and I thought she was into everything. Ha! Now I know this was the easy age. :)

Emerson 7 months

A sneak peak

On Friday Mark and I got to take a peak at baby boy to check on his growth. We were amazed to see him in 4D. The u/s tech gave us a video so I thought I would share. I just love seeing him pucker up!

Sweet profile. He was taking a little sip of amniotic fluid so you can see his pout.  She said he is about 2lbs. Feels like 10! Haha. 

Good Hygiene

We take good hygiene very seriously in our house. 

 Drop your toys and make sure your toes are trimmed!

Funny Moments

Sorry for the lack of posting. Emerson and I have been sick the past week so no real energy for preggo updates or cute pictures. I thought I would share some funny things that have happened, if not for the simple fact so it won't be two weeks since my last post. The other night when we were saying our nighttime prayers I try to prompt Emerson with what she is thankful for. The usual is Dadda. That night she said Dadda, and I asked her what else to get her to maybe say I don't know her Mommy??? Haha. But, in honest response she said fish. Goldfish that is. My toddler is thankful for her Daddy and Goldfish.  Haha!

Jump forward a couple days while I'm filling my prescription at Target. We are just walking around, wasting time. As we pass the shoe section I stop near the toddler girls. As soon as Emerson sees these shoes she takes off her fake Uggs and throws them in the cart, begging for these sandals. Not quite weather appropriate yet I admire her fashion sense. Although the temper tantrum that ensued was not I had hoped for. :)

Wagon Ride

 Emerson has been loving rides in her new wagon even if it is a little chilly.

 All you need is a pom pom hat and you're ready to go!

Licks from the dog afterwards are totally optional.

22 months

Emerson is 22 months old! Only two more months until 2. I can barely believe it! She has been full of personality lately. Talking a lot, saying tons of words, and is always surprisingly us with what she understands. She is silly and loves to make us laugh.

Emerson has been talking about the baby and wanting to rub my belly and give it a kiss. She also wants to tickle my belly and tells the baby to get out. Ha! I tell her he is sleeping. E. also rubs my behind if she sees it and says baby. Apparently anything round contains a baby. :)

She is girly as ever and loves to carry a purse and put on some jewelry. She wants to switch shoes about 10 times a day and always insist on wearing shoes that don't fit. We wore our summer flip flops yesterday and she walked like a duck.

When we say our night time prayers all she wants to pray about is Dada. A Daddy's girl for sure.  At the end she will let out a loud AMEN. She still loves to read books, and is enjoying singing songs.  Whenever I sing something she will cheer, and clap at the end. My own personal fan. I think lately she must be going through a growth spurt because she is clearing the food out of our house. I can't say snack, or lunch without her running to the fridge and hanging on the handles like a monkey. For breakfast she had two bowls of cheerios, a cup of yogurt, and a cereal bar. Insane!

Our little comedian loves to make silly faces. She will do this shocked look and bust out laughing afterwards. That is what she is doing in all these pictures just in case you were wondering. All I have to say is act surprised Emerson, and she will give me this look. Haha.

I'm trying to jot down the funny things she is doing now before I forget. We've been listening to a lot of pandora through the tv lately so the album covers appear on the screen. One day we were listening and Emerson started yelling Dada. I noticed Bebo Norman on the screen who looked similar to Mark. She insisted it was her Daddy. Now everytime he pops up she yells for Dada. Even getting upset when he is gone! I caught in on video one day so I wanted to share. You can also see that she is a dog whisperer in training. By the way the dog is playing not being scary. Enjoy!

Trip to Marbles

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New Year's Eve we decided to take Emerson to Marbles Kid's Museum since Mark was off work. I guess every other parent in Raleigh had the same idea because it was crowded! E. was a little apprehensive at first with the mass of people but she quickly adjusted. Here she is taking a little cruise.

Of course we played with the wildlife.

Then took another drive.

There were so much stuff to do it took awhile to get her over to the play kitchen. Once she did she was a  maniac trying to get a shopping cart and baskets. She managed to get two and wanted to pile them in a wheel barrow. Overkill, much? 

Then she had to make a phone call. 

I'm still not sure who she called. 

The splash area was a big hit. There was an aquarium on the other side and she was pretty stoked about the fish. 

One of our favorites was the build and destroy room. Mark would build a tower and Emerson would destroy it. Haha! She found it hysterical. 

She also loved her own dump truck. Emerson practically stalked the kid playing with it until he got off. It was the perfect height for her to scoot around. After a couple hours of playing we figured we needed to get this kiddo to bed. 

She passed out in the car and I was able to transport her crib for a 3 hour nap. Thanks Marbles!

Christmas

 We had a really great Christmas this year. Emerson loved it and of course got way to much. Here is us on Christmas Eve before we headed out.

I'm glad we all matched!

Here is the stocking  made for Emerson. Not quite perfect, but pretty good for not using a pattern!

 Emerson really enjoyed her new table and chairs! Of course a Christmas tutu doesn't hurt either.

 Her big gift this year was a wagon. She was beyond excited to get it. We got her a couple other small presents and them in front of the wagon. She ran over them and jumped into the wagon! It took some convincing to get her to open anything else.

 She loved her new nalgene sippy cup. Emerson opened the rest of her presents from inside the wagon.

Mark took Emerson on her first wagon ride! Of course she was being silly. The wagon is pretty neat with seats, seatbelts, a canopy, and room for her little brother!

Mark and I got each other a new camera for Christmas. We are really excited to learn more about it and I'm excited how it can help me in my business! So we didn't do anything official to open. But, I got Mark some stocking stuffers one of which was The Princess Bride in blu-ray. We watched it that night and it was as funny as ever. Mark surprised me with an awesome 50mm 1.8 lens. I was completely shocked!

I decided to make breakfast casserole for Christmas morning. It was delicious. We also had some of the tastiest biscuits you can get that aren't homemade courtesy of Earthfare.

Rare glimpse of Emerson with a bow in her hair. It lasted 10 minutes. :( But, at least it was festive!

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We got some snow late on Saturday. Then a lot on Sunday morning. After the roads cleared we headed to the western part of the state. It was a beautiful drive with all the snow covering the trees. Here is Emerson with her new back-pack. She loves it and is always asking for her bag! We had fun on New Years too with some friend from church. But, no pictures. Emerson enjoyed playing with the other kids and staying up late. Hope you had a great Christmas as well!