A hike in the park

Monday we decided to go for a hike at the local state park. Mia absolutely loves running around like a wild dog. She actually chased a few deer. Emerson got to ride on the back for the first time and she seemed to enjoy the new point of view while sporting her backwards cap.

Mid-trip we stopped at the lake to rest our legs. Little E. was excited to be free.  She loves to be outside!

Doesn't she look cute? She wore her new merrell's from the consignment sale to get the outdoor feel. We headed back and evidently the sun is setting a lot sooner as the end of our journey was pretty creepy in the dark woods. 

On a random note I had a star sighting at the mall when I saw "Mouth" from One Tree Hill. I've been watching this show forever so I spotted him immediately in H&M. He was much bigger in person that the "nerdy" character he portrays on tv. Then in the food court he got Moe's for lunch and I decided I liked him even more! Not that I was stalking him. Just in the same places at the same time! :)

Weekend update

 

Since my updates have been far and between I'm going to attempt to do better. This past weekend we went to our first Appalachian game of the year. E. dressed in her hippie tie die ASU onesie. I'd say she was definitely an eye catcher. 

Although she look less than thrilled in the pictures she had a good time.  She cheered for her team and made friends with everyone around her. In face she outlasted most of the other fans and was a real trooper to stay the whole game. Even if she ended up throwing a few bottles into the crowd. 

On Sunday we headed to the mall to give Emerson a turn on the carousel. We knew she would love it since she was so excited her first time back at the zoo in Utah. I think the whole mall knew she had fun since she was squealing so much. I think she rode a total of 3 times but really would have went all day long. 

Here she is waving to the crowd. I think this maybe a regular stop for us every time we are in Hickory.

Beach Baby

Over the Labor Day we headed to the beach. Emerson had a blast! She loves the sand and probably could have spent all day out there digging around and finding seashells. These are some of her 18 month pictures and I hope to post more when I get around to editing them. 

She also found snacking on seashells and sand to be a favorite past time.  Emerson loves seeing the seagulls and ran after them with lots of energy and yelling. She also liked to impersonate them, which I have a video of that I hopefully I'll post soon. 

Doesn't she look adorable in her bathing suit?!? I think we might have to make a few day trips back to give her a taste of the beach life again. It was a nice end to summer, although it's still in the 90's so I'm not so certain fall is around the corner. At least in NC anyways.

18 months

I can't believe Emerson is 18 months old! Half way to 2. Crazy! The changes in her from 12 months are unreal so I can't imagine what she will be like at 2. We went for her 18 month check-up a couple of weeks ago and she weighed 17lb 17oz and was 29 and a quarter inches tall. Still itty bitty. Here is a the low down on what  Little E. is like these days.

• Her favorite activity to do is reading books! At the moment her fave one is "Wheels on the bus," and we read it at least 5 times a day!
• She's a chatter box. Emerson is constantly repeating words and learning new ones everyday. She tells us when she wants to go outside, what she wants to eat, and is constantly saying Mommy now and not Mama. Of course she is 18 months going on two and constantly saying,  "NO!" She even reprimands the dog. Poor Mia!
• Her taste for food is definitely changing. Her new favorites include greek yogurt, cheerios with milk, hummus, pickles, bananas, avocado, and watermelon. Of course she loves cheddar bunnies and would eat those all day long if I would let her. 
• She has 10 teeth, with four more coming through at the moment. 
• Her hair is growing like crazy and we wear pigtails quite a bit now. 
• She is still not a big napper and I'm lucky to get an hour and a half nap out of her. But, we've been trying to go to bed earlier, by 8pm. She pretty regularly wakes up at 6am on the dot. But, thankfully she has slept in this weekend until 8ish. When she wakes up, all I hear is "mommy....no....mommy...mommy...no..no." It's pretty funny to listen to. 
• She loves to be outside running around, blowing bubbles, and throwing the ball for the dog.
• She has started the climbing phase and gets up on top of her toy chest much to my discouragement.
• Her favorite song is "Itsy bitsy spider." Anytime I try to do anything else she gives me the motions for that song. 
• She absolutely loves music, and loves to dance. 
• Emerson is fiesty for her size! Don't be fooled!

It's been such an amazing year and a half getting to see Emerson grow and change and we can't wait to see what the next 6 months has in store for our sweet girl. :)

Hello

Since I haven't been a very good blogger lately I thought I would post some videos for your enjoyment.



Here is Little E. breaking it down. She loves to dance and I do say so myself she really keeps the beat well.


This is Emerson trying out a new look. Like any girl she likes shoes!

17 month pictures

We finally got around to take a few photos to document Emerson being 17 months! I didn't get downtown like I had hoped but seeing as she only had patience for 10 minutes our neighborhood worked out just fine. I got a basket actually for newborn photos but found it worked wonderfully for a active toddler. I didn't have to run her down and it was great!

She got pretty excited when we sang some silly songs!

Or maybe she was excited the pictures were almost over?? Hmmm...

I love this one that showcases those gorgeous lashes.

Being silly as usual.

This flower didn't last too long. I put in no less than 5 times as she immediately would rip it out. 

She can't handle being tickled!

Her serious look. Which as you remember is not new. She started giving it to me this time last year.

All in all it was a toddler photo shoot success! This one is definitely going in my house. Her pigtails just make her looks so grown up and I could adore those big brown eyes.

17 months

Almost a year and a half! 17 months old.  I'm of course behind on the updates. But, this wild girl is keeping me busy.  I haven't been able to get official 17 month pictures so this one will have to suffice for now. As you can see her hair is now long enough for pigtails and I think she wears it quite well. She will go over and pick out a hair clip and come up to me saying bow trying to put it in her hair. I knew after awhile she would give into my persuasions. She has become a full out toddler with sassiness, protesting, and tantrums. On the flip side she can be so sweet and its so interesting to see her develop. Her language continues to grow everyday. She loves to name body parts, and is always talking about shoes. Emerson is starting to realize that people have names and will repeat them on occasion. I've finally gotten her to call the dog, "Mimi," instead of just dog. :) In the last week she has been carrying around a stuffed animal dog, giving it kisses, and loving it. Of course she told me that it's name is Mimi! I'm sure our dog is flattered! Emerson now has 10 teeth and I'm so thankful that the last molar is finally in. She slept through the night 9pm-6:15am last weekend. I was completely shocked! That doesn't happen in our house. Although her napping is still a mess no matter how much I try to enforce it. One thing that has sticked out to me about this age is the pretend play. She will go get any type of garment and wrap it around her neck like a scarf. Then prances around like she is hot stuff. Emerson also adores necklaces and carrying her pocketbook. She also holds her hand up to her ear now and says hello while turning her head. Ha! E. has also loved to play with her friends babydoll strollers and rocking the baby. On top of the fun play she is on the path of destruction getting everything out of our drawers, cabinets, shelves. Nothing is safe from this tike! She has discovered pulling things off the table so we have to be extra careful. So she is definitely my workout of the day. She is quick, and might for someone so tiny! I'm loving this age of growth, and change as she shows us more everyday who she will be. Love you Emerson Kaye!

Want a cool shirt?

Our dear friends, The Treeces are venturing into the world of adoption. They are hoping to adopt a little girl internationally and I'm sure you know it can be expensive. They have some designed some awesome t-shirts and are selling them as a fundraiser. You can check out their story here and even buy a shirt!

We've been trying to stay cool in this ridiculous heat. Which means staying inside or pool time! Emerson absolutely loves water. You can see her having a blast on our concrete beach. I think she enjoys the concrete beach a little more than this time last year. We've been sporting some new hair do's. E. is bringing the 80's back with her side pony style.

She is also an expert at giving the stare down. Here she is eye balling our neighbor who is walking over. Then of course she realized she knew him and took down the intensity. I don't think she will ever be a push-over, do you?!?

I've been sneaking healthy snacks into Emerson's diet because I'll be honest she really only likes food in bread forms. I made this concoction of watermelon and veggie/fruit juice popsicles. Sounds weird but it was surprisingly tasty as seen by her face.

This is the face she gives when she wants more. She gets really tense and squeezes her fist. I need it on camera because it cracks me up. Not sure where she got it!

Two weeks..really?

Has it really been two weeks since a blog post? Oops! We've been super busy and time has seemed to fly by. Here are a few pictures to hold you over of Emerson and her cousin Avery enjoying a wagon ride over July 4th. This girl loves living on the edge! She is such a dare devil. Too much so for her mother's taste.

Yep, we are talking about you E.!

As you can see the girls enjoyed a speedy ride in the wagon at the Grandparents. Hopefully I can post some pics soon! Maybe even our vacation. Was it really a month ago? In the meantime Emerson is super chatty, sassy, sweet, and I put her in time-out for the first time today. You can imagine how that went. Our little girl is growing up!