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. :)

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