Welcome....

Beckett Matthew
May 12, 2011
7lbs, 14 0z
5:07 am

A Bunny Recap

We had a great Easter last weekend with my family. The Bunny visited us two times--once at home and once at grandma's. Em was loving it!

Visiting with the Bunny at a local store. I was surprised with how enthralled Emerson was with him. It was sweet.

Emerson came home from daycare on Friday to find that the Bunny had paid her a visit. She had left out some carrots in hopes of his visit, and was pleased to find that he ate them.

Emerson all dressed up in her party duds.

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Emerson Grace, 2 years, 6 months

Patiently Waiting

Two months from today, we will hopefully be welcoming this little man into the world!

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Emerson Grace, 2 years, 5 months

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Emerson Grace, 2 years, 4 months

Snowy Days

This week we got clobbered with about 17 inches of snow. For once, all the news hype was right on. I ended up having two days off from school and was able to spend my days with Emerson. We watched some movies, played with Play-Doh, baked cookies and had friends over. After all the snow, we were blessed with three straight days of sunshine, but today--the snow is back. Here's hoping Puxatawny Phil was right.....that Spring is right around the corner!!

Views of the snow from our back deck.

Special Delivery

We've been trying to beat the winter blah's around here. Lately, although Emerson loves to play in the snow, it's been way too cold and windy to take her outside. Usually, we just bundle her up for a quick trip to the store or day care, her protesting the whole time about wanting to stay out and play. Something that we have resorted to around here (although it pains me to say it) is moving watching--along with a healthy dose of book reading. We've been extremely lucky to find books that go along with several of Em's favorite movies.

One book that she received back near Thanksgiving was The Lion King. She has read this book cover to cover, memorized it and has loved it so much that we've had to tape it up a couple times just to hold it together. We were thrilled when a friend let us borrow their old VHS copy of the movie. Since then, Em talks constantly of Simba, King Mufasa and all the other animals in the Pride Land. I was looking on Disney's website the other day and was pleasantly surprised to find that there are still Lion King products out there, even though it is such an old movie.

Of course Simba had to pay us a visit! (He's wrapped up in blankets because Em thought he was cold out in the mailbox.)

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Emerson Grace, 2 years, 3 months

Playing Catch-Up

I've taken a much needed hiatus. Between work, spending my time playing with (chasing) Emerson, enjoying the holidays with family and friends, and feeling the exhaustion of this pregnancy, there's not much left to give. But starting in this new year, I have made it a goal to be more proactive with recording our happenings on this blog. This is a place for me to share with you. And as life will prove to only get crazier, I want a spot where I can look back to and say, "Life was good, and this is the proof."


During the first couple days before Christmas, we were able to spend some time with our good friends. We took the kids to The Critter Barn, which turned out to be as big a hit as it was last year. Em really loves animals and she was totally into petting everything!

Jeremy was able to get time off from work this holiday, so we were able to spend five days with my family in Chicago. Probably the longest we've ever been able to be there during Christmas. When we arrived, Emerson was greeted by an amazing snow fort in the backyard. Grandma said the fairies had been there!

Since we weren't so rushed during our visit, we actually got to partake in a couple holiday traditions--the best one (according to Em) was baking and decorating cookies. She was into it for only a couple minutes before she decided that eating all the sprinkles was much more fun!

We topped off our visit with our small family breakfast and present time on Christmas morning and then were able to spend time with the extended family during our visit to my grandparents. All in all, one of the best holidays!!

My hope for the new year, albeit a little late, is continued health and peace for all my family and friends. Sometimes it's hard to look beyond the hard times, but my focus for 2011 is to be grateful for all my blessings!

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Emerson Grace, 2 years, 2 months

Expectation

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Emerson Grace, 2 years, 1 month

"Fall"ing

I have been quite absent from the blogging world for a while. No excuse really...just enjoying the season with my family. Instead of writing pages and pages catching you up, I will toss out the highlights instead---complete with photos, of course!

We had to make a couple of final trips to Captain Sundae before it closed for the season. Maybe next year Em will have grown a little in order to give this Popsicle a run for its money.

Emerson has spent some quality time playing in the leaves. She loves it, much to Jeremy's dismay. (He is the one on clean-up duty!)

I went to my ten-year college reunion last weekend. My sorority did things a little differently this year, and children were allowed at one of the morning activities. Emerson was pretty excited about going to "Hope College" and seeing some of mommy's friends.

This was the first year we carved pumpkins with Em and she ended up loving it. Putting her hand inside and fishing out the goo was her favorite part!

We carved pumpkins with our wonderful neighbors. This is the only pose that leaves both girls sitting still for a shot---they call it their "funny face". (Em's pumpkin is on the left. A lot of the credit goes to Jeremy for being very patient during this venture.)

Emerson has been obsessed lately with everything Tinkerbell.....so naturally when asked what she wanted to be for Halloween, it was an obvious choice. (She did have a ladybug costume for earlier in the day that she wanted to wear too!) Em did great with her first real Trick-or-Treating experience. After Emerson was done, she had a good time handing out candy on our porch with Jeremy.....too wound to go to bed!

October went by in a blur, but I did remember to take time to enjoy the sun, the beautiful changing colors and my family. I just hope in November, that I have more time to write it all down!

Birthday Princess

Emerson Grace, 2 years

Surprise Shots

A couple weeks ago, our wonderful babysitter, Katie, took Emerson to the beach for a photo shoot. She did this on a night she was babysitting, making it a surprise for us. What a thoughtful surprise! For anyone who knows Emerson, you know how much she is on the move. Capturing her in these pictures was no small task. Thanks so much Katie for the great pictures!!

Molly's Miracle

This past weekend, there was a fundraiser to help with our friend Molly's recent medical costs. The event was held at the Children's Museum and it was wonderful! So many people in one place, coming together all for Molly!





Even though we live close to the museum, we had never been before. Emerson had such a fun time and especially enjoyed the "Curious George" exhibit!

23 months

Emerson Grace, 23 months

Summer Lovin'

A couple weeks ago, my friend Laura came to visit with her son. Emerson and I have made several trips to see them this summer, but this trip was special because it involved Laura and John staying overnight with us. The kids had a blast--two trips to the beach as well as an outing to feed the ducks and a little bit of Finding Nemo thrown in there for good measure.



One of the coolest things about my relationship with Laura is the fact that we go way back...26 years back to be precise. We met when we were six, went to school together only through the second grade and preceded to spend the next years of our lives in different towns, attending different schools. But no matter what---distance or time--- our friendship stayed strong. I hope that our children can find such amazing friends in each other! (I also hope that our children will one day forgive me for posting pics of them wearing diapers!)

Full House

I've always envisioned having a big table in my house, like the one my mom had when we were growing up. Since moving to a bigger house, we were now able to purchase the table I've always wanted. We hosted an Open House this weekend and we got to fill the table with many wonderful friends. It made my heart happy to see so many little ones sitting around our table, sharing a meal. Hopefully it will be the first of many!