That's what friends are for

While we were at a friends house I stumbled upon Emerson and her friend inside of their reading nook quiet as can be. Emerson was receiving a haircut (Don't worry, plastic scissors.) She did need a trim. I guess that's what friends are for! 

Our Little Cubbie

Emerson started Awawnas in September. Children from 3-middle school age memorize bible verses each week and do fun activities. At first the verses seemed hard to me for a three year old to learn. But, it really is amazing to see how she has learned them every week. This is the night she got her vest and book. She was so proud of herself! We are thankful for how God works in the hearts of our little ones. 

This is her first verse memorized. 

And the motto!

Rapunzel, Rapunzel

We may be a little into the world of Rapunzel. Quotes from Emerson...

"I have to go get my paintbrush so I can paint the walls!"

"Emerson put your shoes back on."   Emerson, "But, Rapunzel doesn't wear shoes outside."

"I'm going to cut my hair." Unfortunately already happened

"I gotta go get my frying pan so I can hit Ezra."

"Rapunzel's mother is so nice." If you have seen the movie you know that Mother Gothel is anything but nice. Ha!

"Mommy, are you really my mother?"

Rapunzel, at first glance you look so innocent. But, painting the walls, hitting with pans, and cutting your hair aren't going to fly in our house.

Take my picture

"Mom, take my picture!"

"Mom, take my picture!"

"I wanna see."

"Mom, take my picture!"

"Take it again!"

So we took her picture. :)  Rapunzel hair and all. 

First Day of Dance

Last week Emerson had her first day of dance for the year. She started a tap/ballet combo class. Since every parent on facebook documented the first day of school, I figured we document our first day of dance. Bright leotard and all. 

Don't you love the glamorous backdrop of trashcans? It didn't bother Emerson. 

Here is Emerson literally with her dancing shoes on. She's the bright gal on the left. She had a good time with her tap shoes. Since she has the same teacher as last year she fell right back into it. 

The girls switched over to ballet for the second half of the class. Ezra had a good time watching Emerson dance. Since she is in a bigger class, there are plenty of siblings in the lobby. Ezra has plenty of playmates to occupy him. 

Post-Class with a sticker on hand. Here is to a another great year of dance!

Emerson Age 3.5

 Age: 3.5

Favorite Color: green

What do you want to be when you grow up? A present

Favorite Movie: Move it, Move it. ( Honestly could be because she saw the Madagascar soundtrack come across Pandora)

Favorite Book: Strawberry (aka Strawberry Shortcake)

What makes you happy? Daddy!

What makes you sad? Ezra (hmmm... sibling rivalry)

Favorite food: Marshmallows

Favorite song: Move it

Best Friend: Khushi

This bubbly girl is growing up fast. She is chatty and inquisitive so there is never a dull moment. A social butterfly she always wants to know someone's name and is constantly making little friends everywhere she goes. She plays with her brother nonstop and tries to mother him. A little forcefully at times though. Emerson loves to draw right now. She colors so intensely and fills the page with burst of color. Literally she could color for an hour no problem. She'll do zig zag lines across the page as her "writing" and tell me she is writing our names. Everything is spelled E..R..N. She is convinced that she is going to school on a bus any day now. 

Recently she has had a growth spurt and now appears to be a string bean, with her foot growing a size and a half this summer. I finally started to pack up the 18 month clothes. We definitely got out use out of them! She is probably 25 lbs soaking wet so, still our petite little girl. Emerson still loves dressing up and fashion. She loves to pair unexpected combinations of shirts, skirts, and dresses together. She really has an eye for color. She picked out her coordinating bedding fabric. Seriously! I can only imagine how fun she will dress when she is older. She loves to add accessories such as a fun headband, and necklace. In the picture here an athletic headband as a necklace. She is fully immersed in the princess phase. Emerson likes to pretend that she is a beautiful princess (Jasmine, Cinderella, etc.), Ezra is  a prince, and I'm the queen. The queen is never nice folks. Sigh. I guess I should be honored to be included. 

She is a spirited girl and there is never a dull moment.  She has a big imagination and tells some crazy stories. I can only imagine what she will be saying when she is four. My favorite recently is..

"I'm not feeling well, I"m growing smaller."

That is a problem, isn't it?

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

The End of Dance Season

A full year of dance flew by before we knew it and it was the last day of dance class. I wanted to document the occasion but of course I got no eye contact.

But, she did allow me to put a hair clip in.  It made it about half way through class so I was very impressed! On her last day we got to sit through the entire class and see what they had learned. Emerson got quite a bit of stage fright and didn't love everyone staring. 

Here is her final dance.  It made me very glad she wasn't in the recital this year. But, I'm hopefully that by next year she will be comfortable on stage. By the way it's hard to film with a steady hand and keep a certain toddler from rushing the "stage."

In her class when the stretch, the make a butterfly and go around the circle telling where their butterfly is going. It cracked me up because Emerson had the most elaborate, long response about princesses and castles. It was very creative I'll give her that!

It was a great year and Emerson loved her teacher. All the girls became good friends and we decided to register them all together next year in Ms. Kristen's class again! How fun! So Emerson will get to see her friends in September and will be sporting new tap shoes in addition to ballet. 

Miss E.

This girl is growing up fast. She seems to grow a half inch a day and you would have never known that she use to below 5% in height. Now she is a whopping 15% thank you very much. Three has come with lots of challenges, by far the toughest year yet. But, her silliest and quirks are the funniest yet.

I just wanted to share a few things she has been saying lately. Whenever I go to the store she always ask me for everything she sees. To avoid the temper tantrum of a full out no I tell her she will have to ask her Daddy. So when we went to Target (Really do we go anywhere else?) I spotted a bathing suit that I liked. So I asked Emerson what she thought about it. I trust her fashion sense most of the time. She turned around and told me, "Yeah, but you'll have to ask your Daddy." I about died, people walking around us about died too. She has also start to piece together that you get special things for your birthday. She'll see something she loves, or wants to do something and will say, "I can get this for my birthday!" Although it's 9 months away but she doesn't know that. Might as well be tomorrow. She also showed me every princess that she wants for her birthday. About 6 more in all. We'll have to work on that materialism. :) Her conversations are really funny. She has to tell everyone she meets about her latest boo boo as if it happened 5 minutes ago. She chats with her friends from our patio when they are on their porch and I wish I could record these conversations. Her new thing is talking about when she gets bigger. If I eat this, "I'll grow bigger and bigger." "When I get bigger I'm going to wear a ring like mommy." Lastly when she looked at my wedding picture she saw that I had a long veil and said, "Mommy you had long long hair like Rapunzel!" If I'm equivalent to Rapunzel in a 3 year old's eyes that must make me pretty cool.  She has changed so much! Just to think this was her just two years ago!

Looking at these I realize how much lighter Ezra's hair is than hers!

Upon seeing these Emerson wanted to know what she was wearing of course and about those shoes.

Neighborhood Fun

We have been loving this warm weather. Not that we had a cold winter but, it's been so pleasant. We love a back street for the kids to play in. Since a lot of our neighbors have kids it has become our own little block party in the evenings. Everyone has been taking turns in riding in Ben's car. You would think as often as Emerson has rode in it that it's hers. Here is Emerson and Ezra in a modified two seater. 

I think she may have trouble letting others drive alone. Here she is with Annabelle cruising along. 

We have had a few collisions with Ben.  Our very own bumper cars. 

Ezra finally got a turn on it's on. It's hard when you are the little one. He looks like he thinks he is so cool driving with one hand!

Ezra loves being outside and playing with all the other kids. Seriously, one foot on the ball? Ha!

I just want to kiss him looking at this picture!

Ezra walking with Daddy. I feel like he has grown up faster being around all the big kids! It has been such a blessing to have great neighbors. What a fun summer is ahead!

The Bob

I had been thinking about cutting Emerson's hair for awhile. For one she will not wear hairbows for any significant amount of time. So it's all in her eyes, food, etc. Plus she has super fine hair, basically still baby hair. Recently she had started screaming when I tried to brush it so it looked even crazier so I knew it was time. Even though I was a little sentimental about those soft baby curls I knew it would really help it to look thicker. After getting a referral from a friend we set our appointment. I talked up getting her cut a lot so by the time the day came she was really excited. Her hair stylist was great and how she got a straight line is beyond me. We decided a chin length bob would allow it to look fuller while she continued to get new hair in. Emerson was super chatty with her, asking tons of questions. After about 10 minutes we had our new do and Emerson was thrilled! Even her doll, Belle, got a new stylish braid. 

When we got home we took a  picture of her new do to document how stinking cute she was! I really think it compliments her. She loves it too. As you can see she actually posed for a picture! Maybe I should have used my real camera instead of the iphone. Oh well. We already have her next appointment set. She's such a big girl now! By the way she has told every person since then that she got a haircut. Whether she knows them or not. :)

Growing up

As Emerson turns 3 it's fun to look back at home much she has changed. Starting out as 5lb 7oz peanut who didn't fit into newborn clothes, growing into an independent one year old with big brown eyes. Last year she still had a little bit of chubby cheeks. This year she has lengthened into a bean pole, growing every day! Hair is a bit blonder, she is much chattier but she is still our sweet and feisty Emerson Kaye.

Interview with Emerson Kaye 3 Years Old

Emerson Kaye 3 Years Old

In honor of Emerson's birthday I asked her a few questions....

Age: Too old

Favorite Color: orange

What do you want to be when you grow up? Too Tall

Favorite Movie: Tangled

Favorite Book: a princess book

What makes you happy? Emerson's not happy, she's sad

What makes you sad? When I'm still sleepy

Favorite food: ice cream

Favorite song: Rapunzel song

Best Friend: Daddy is my best friend