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!

It's hot!

Yesterday I attempted to do some 16 month photos of Emerson. We headed out to a new location to scout out some cool spots. I jumped up and down, sang songs, and all I got was this. Not a single smile. Just the stare. It was hot I can admit. I didn't realize how hot until I got home and saw the forecast for 102! Not exactly ideal weather for a toddler. Once we were in the AC she was in a much better mood.

Didn't I say she was sweet? So lovey dovey.

Hugging her seahorse who desperately needs some batteries. It's starting to sound pretty sad. None the less she gave him some love.

I know everyone says she is skinny but check-out that double chin!

After she cooled down she was back to her goofy self.

Giggling

Chatting

and loving some attention.

But then she busted her lip and the fun ended. Time to lower the crib!

16 months and looking older

Doesn't E. look older with her new hair do? I promise she was more thrilled than she appears.

But, I couldn't resist posting this look she gave me. Ha!

She loved playing with my beads!

She actually was banging them around like a wild child!

I guess with age comes a killer sense of style.

16 months

Long time no blog, huh? We've been sick, on vacation, then recovering from vacation and trying to get back into the swing of things. I haven't taken 16 month pictures of Emerson yet. But, I figured I might as well post something before she is 17 months. :) One of the most noticeably developments to me is her eagerness to talk and communicate. She answers questions. Can make statements about what she wants for example she said, "Dada bubbles," the other day when she wanted Mark to blow her some good bubbles. She really seems to understand a whole lot. She knows her body parts, and will even say "eye." We went through a period of stranger anxiety and she seems to have done a complete turn around. In the airport she insisted on talking to every person there. It was the cutest thing ever! When we went grocery shopping last night she said hi to every person we passed. If they didn't acknowledge her she just said it louder! She has even cried when I have picked her up from church nursery. Apparently they are much more fun than me. Ha! Her favorite activities are taking things out of drawers, pushing things, and carrying (buckets, purses, whatever..) E. still has a slight obsession with balls, completely freaking out if I buy a melon at the store and don't hand it to her to play with. Emerson even has a strawberry shortcake basketball goal that she loves to dunk in. She loves to go to the pool and will even kick her legs and try to swim. A little fish I tell ya.

She is a very sweet girl and loves to give kisses and hugs and will try to position herself in your lap if you are on her level. She has 8 teeth and two coming in. Which is good for her since she just recently became interested in food! Out of the blue she loves the bananas she has loathed for 6 months. She also is ecstatic about pb&j sandwiches, cheerios, and crackers. Unfortunately she won't touch veggies but I've secretly slipped them into a healthy veggie pancake which is even tasty to me. Just don't tell her it's good for her. I'm confident that she will continue to add more and more food as time goes on. Emerson is super active and wears me out. We don't take baths too much anymore since she climbs out. Instead I put her in the shower and she loves it. She will get in if the door is open so I have to watch her.

Emerson is quite the problem solver. She loves to put things back together whether it's a cap that came off the bottle or her shoe that she took off. She will even try to put the dog collar on Mia. Even though she dislikes hairbows she will try to put it in if she takes it out.

See?

She loves to be apart of the conversation now and will fake laugh at anything anyone else is laughing at. I need it on camera because it's hysterical. We just have so much fun with her and love her to pieces!

I hope to have some official pictures soon!

Attack of the baby

I only have time for a quick blog post today. This weekend I went yard selling for the first time! It was pretty successful. I got Emerson took cloth books for .50. These go for $10-15 in the store. I also got a bookshelf that I hope to paint one day, and a few clothes for E. I did learn that you probably should get there at the 7am opening since it's sooo hot.

Nannie and papaw came to visit. We drug them on our yard selling adventure. Emerson was a little abusive.

I think after this episode they regretted getting her this cup.

Maybe one that says fiesty toddler or little stinker would be more fitting?

Going places

This little chica has just been a mess! I actually got a picture of a semi-smile because I pinned her down. Ha! I'm not kidding. I seriously had to throw my leg over her. :)

She has really gotten into climbing and nothing is out of reach. Well, in her eyes that is. So much for our hidden book stash.

Her favorite toy right now is buckets. She has a blast carrying them around, packing it full of toys. The other day we got another bucket. Instead of replacing her old one she wants to carry both, on top of another toy if she can handle it.

"Hmmm...what else can I get into?"

A breastpump bag works just the same as a bucket though in case you were wondering.

After all that toting sometimes you just have to crash!

Splash Grounds

Last week we went to the splash grounds. For a $1 per kid and a morning full of energy burning activity you can't beat it. At first Emerson was a little weary.

She brought her boyfriend, Ben and contemplated what this place was all about.

Soon she realized it was a place to have fun and she was off!

Running all over the place. There were large buckets overhead that tipped over and I had to keep deterring her. She was mesmerized by them and she would have surely been taken out by one!

We brought our bucket and sand toys. They were a big hit. Although every two minutes another kid had swiped hers. Next time, we need to mark her name on it. Check out her beach bod. Those roley poly legs!

The kids had a blast splashing around. Stopping the flow of water with their hands.

E. was Miss Independent walking all over, by herself. She didn't want to play with me at all! I probably looked nuts calling her name and her walking away. Next we went over to the wading pool. It was about a foot high so the babies could toddle around. Emerson had other plans and thought it was her opportunity to show off her swimming techniques. She would throw herself face first, completely submerging her head. I kept getting some stern looks from the lifeguard like I was supervising her sufficiently. But, seriously she would swat my hand away. I guess she needs one of those floaty suits if she thinks she is ready for the deep end. We had a great time and I see many more trips this summer to the splash grounds in our future.

Changes

Emerson has been going through a lot of changes in the last week. Doesn't she look older? Also in need of a hair brush.

We have two molars that have cut and two right behind. All of these teeth have given E. an interest in.....FOOD! It's really amazing how quickly she has changed from not eating a thing to chowing down and demanding food. Halleujiah! The church nursery even said she stuffed her face with goldfish at the big kid table and chairs even after everyone was done. Really? My Little E.? At first I thought they had confused her with another pint size child. But, then later that night when she was shoving sweet potato fries in her mouth I gave it a second thought. Then she ate some watermelon and loved it! More things that have been a hit are oranges (who knew??), homemade healthy pancakes (filled with bananas, blueberries, and honey), and goldfish. She can even say "goldfish" now and is always demanding them if I'm in the kitchen. Now if I could just get her to eat a green vegetable.