2011 in Review

2011 was a full year for us. Here are the highlights..

• Our firstborn turned 2
• We welcomed a healthy baby boy
• We transitioned to a family of four
• Emerson went from saying a word here and there to full blown sentences
• We entered the world of princesses and tutus
• Emerson started dance class
• We celebrated 5 years of marriage
• Ezra went through too many milestones to count

What an exciting and fun year we have had. I can't wait to see what 2012 has in store.


 "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed 

     us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ."  Ephesians 1:3

Pullen Park Holiday Express

Early in December we went to Pullen Park for The Holiday Express Train. Pullen Park has been closed for two years so I jumped on the opportunity to take the kids. They had the park lit up and you could view the lights when you took the train. On top of that they had entertainment, crafts, and lots of christmas cheer. It was quite chilly that day so we bundled up and spent the evening there. While we were there we also got to enjoy the renovated park. I think we will be making a lot of trips there this summer!

Emerson loved the music and danced in the field while we snacked on sandwiches I had packed.

The visit to Santa was a little startling to Emerson. She is not too trusting of him. She kept saying afterwards, "I don't like Santa Mommy."  But, what she did like was a woman who was dressed up like a goat. It was very realistic looking and Emerson loved talking to her!

Last we enjoyed the carousel. It was enclosed in a new house with heat so it was nice and toasty. It was much faster than we expected. I got a little dizzy riding with Ezra! Emerson loved it and we rode about 6 times. I think we will definitely come back next year. It was a fun time. We spent 4 hours there!

Even though it's late.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Christmas Traditions

We've really enjoyed getting into the Christmas spirit this year. 

Ezra tried to escape out the back door to help with the tree.

I created advent garland full of christmas activities leading up until christmas day.  It's been full of crafts, outings, and treats. Here we used ice cream cones and decorated them with homemade buttercream and sprinkles. Voila! A Christmas tree.  Emerson first drank her sprinkles (the whole bowlful) then ate the cone. I must say it was delicious. 

I had seen on this idea on pinterest. I worked on a Christmas tree that was bigger than planned. Over 6 feet to be exact and I couldn't get it to stick to the wall. But, after I cut it in half it worked perfectly and it was the ideal height for a 2 year old to decorate. We have been busy baking christmas treats and yesterday Emerson delivered cookies to our neighbors and said, "Merry Christmas!" I love getting her in the spirit of giving. Only  5 more days until Christmas Day!

Conversations with Emerson

When I walked into Emerson's room following her nap I said, "Do you want to come into my room and watch a show so I can dry my hair?"

Emerson,"Dry your hair?"

"Yes"

Emerson, "Mommy, you wash your hair? I'm so proud of you!"

~

While we drive around looking at the christmas lights in the country club she says, "Is that a castle?!?"

~

While leaving the neighbors, "Bye honey! Bye honey!"

"Emerson her name is Annabelle."

"Oh....Bye Annabelle!"

~

Emerson sitting beside Ezra, "We're girls." Thinking about it she corrects herself, "We're brothers!"

Ezra 8 Months

I can't even say Ezra is 8 months old. Seems totally bizarre. He is definitely getting around very easily. Pulling up and crawling with ease. He even speeds up his crawl if he is trying to get to one of us. It's really the cutest thing as he giggles to himself. Ezra is definitely a ham. He smiles and loves when we acknowledge his accomplishments. He'll let out a huge grin and laughs and laughs. He is starting to begin entertained by his sister. He laughs at her like he totally knows what she is saying. I suppose it's that sibling connection. Lots of babbling going on now with bababa's. He also does a high pitched squeal when he is super sleepy. He's also is sticking his tongue out all the time now. He folds it and sticks it to the side when he is happy, leaves it out loose when he is relaxed. It cracks me up. Ezra has one tooth now that he worked very hard on getting. But, it didn't do anything for his interest in eating. He has been offered pumpkin, banana, avocado, apples, squash, and sweet potatoes and turned down every single one.  So all that chub is courtesy of Mama's milk. I estimate he is almost 19 lbs. Right now he likes to tear up paper for fun, chew on his socks, and push a ball around. He is still not loving the nursery. Hopefully he will eventually figure out that there are much more interesting toys there than our house! We won't even talk about his sleeping patterns. :)


This picture is from November but I couldn't resist sharing. I think we have a little model in the making.

Disney on Ice

We were more than excited to tell Emerson that she was going to "Disney on Ice" yesterday. We had told her about at all because she wouldn't understand when we were going etc. But, instead I put it on our home made advent calendar. When she woke up from her nap I asked her if she wanted to find out what we were doing today. When I read, "Go see Rapunzel!," she lit up. She kept talking about it and as soon as Mark got home she told him, "Going to see Rapunzel with Avery!" She put on her rapunzel dress and after some convincing put on a shirt underneath because it was going to be cold!

Here they are waiting on our tickets. She told us about ten times on the way she wanted to see Rapunzel.

Walking around the outside of the RBC Center

We ended up having really good seats! Much better than I had thought we would have. 

Trying to take a picture of Emerson and Avery. Not an easy task with all the excitement. Emerson kept asking on the way, "Is Avery excited? I'm excited?"

I had never been to disney on ice so I didn't know what to expect. They went through three disney stories and acted it out. The princess and the frog with Tiana was first. Even Ezra was entertained!

Next was Cinderella. I thought the costumes were amazing!

Finally we got to Rapunzel's story and Emerson stood up. It was really an amazing production. Rapunzel and Flynn were suspending in the air by her hair flying around. 

Emerson couldn't stop watching. When Maximus came out she yelled, "Maximus, it's you!" She danced and twirled around, having a blast. This morning I could hear yelling coming from her room at 7am. I walked in and she was reciting lines from Tangled. She lifted up her hand and said, "I"m Rapunzel." Needless to say I think she really enjoyed it. What a wonderful memory to have. 

Painting Pumpkins

I bought pumpkins early in October with every intention of letting Emerson paint them. But, it wasn't until November that we got around to it. It was still fall so it was fine. Truth be told we still have them out as decor. Anyways Emerson had a blast painting a masterpiece. It was unusually warm, hot even for October.  

Emerson was so excited to paint and get messy. Of course she sported her tutu as only a true artist would. 

Ezra was a good sport observing his sister. I suppose it was a little bright. But, he eventually gave a wave. 

Since we used washable finger paint, the next time it rained it came right off the pumpkin. Traumatizing the artist. They were pretty while they lasted. 

Trip to the Apple Orchard

Make this post one in my going back in time to update our blog. We had a very fun trip to the apple orchard back in OCTOBER! But, I'm just now getting around to posting this. I had never been apple picking but thought that Emerson would really enjoy it. So while we were close to the mountains we made the trip to Apple Hill Orchard where you could pick your own apples. We started off with a wagon ride to tour the orchard and learned a lot about apple growing in general. After our ride we stopped for a snack. Apple cider doughnuts and hot apple cider! Delicious doesn't even come close to describing it.  Emerson wouldn't try the doughnut but I didn't mind she left more for me. We ventured out to pick apples. Emerson was so excited. We picked gold rush, golden delicious, fuji, rome, and more. Emerson took a bite in no less than 5 apples as we filled our basket. She thought it was an apple buffet. Ezra even enjoyed playing with an apple or two. We filled our baskets to the rim and enjoyed a few apples along the way.

While we were walking the route we saw some horses very close to the fence. We walked Emerson over and she was reluctant since she wanted to pick more apples. But, as soon as she saw the horses she started running saying, "Oh my goodness, oh my goodness!" These horses were no strangers to visitors as they came right up to us. I even got a little horse kiss on my shoulder. We fed them some apples and they were extremely grateful. As well as I'm sure half of the visitors. I just loved seeing her eyes light up since she loves horses. We had a wonderful time and I know we will come back next year. The apples were great too! What a fun tradition to start. 

Ezra 7 Months

Here are some pictures that I took of Ezra when he turned 7 months. Finally. Things have been busy here so I'm sure all my posts in the near future will be recapping events that happened a month or two or more ago. The leaves were at their peak. Gorgeous warm color. Ezra is such a happy guy and the camera loves him. I was dying for the shot with that infamous grin and the beautiful leaves in the background. But, I soon found out Ezra loves the camera but he loves grass and leaves more. I was jumping like a maniac, making all sorts of noises and getting nowhere. 

A few grins but still looking down. I just love the warmth though and the beautiful bokeh. This is one of the biggest reasons I prefer outdoor pictures. Especially during fall, my season.

In true boy form he turned and gave me a growl. 

Then the money shot. No eye contact but I can't get enough of this sweet grin and chubby cheeks.

On the move

Here is big boy on the move and Emerson acting crazy. Emerson started climbing out of the crib and Ezra started climbing the stairs this weekend. So things are getting busy here as if they weren't already. Hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving!