One small step for Emma..

That's right!!! Yesterday Emma took her very first step! It was just a tiny one, but she did repeat it a couple times and she seemed to know that it was a huge deal because she sat down and started clapping and smiling. YAY!!! Her first step just days before her adjusted birthday :)

Emma and Daddy dancing together

my loves :)

Emma got into her first fight the other day. Some little girl at a birthday party tried to take her out

Emma didn't fight back. I guess she doesn't take after me ;)

this is basically what Emma looks like every night after dinner. She gets SO messy! (sorry this picture is turned the wrong way, blogger won't fix it)

Our little daredevil now thinks climbing in her wagon and standing is fun. Mommy does not :(

She had some naked playtime at Grandma's and Grandpa's house this week

It's SO much fun to run around without clothes on!

Naked playtime results in a VERY dirty bottom :)

Crunch!

Have you ever woken up one morning and realized you've become your parents? When I was little I used to despise my parents' eating choices. I longed for cereal that had tons of sugar in it, came in bright colors and maybe contained some marshmallows too. I wanted PB&J on white bread, not that crap from Great Harvest Bread company that tasted like cardboard. Mac n Cheese that was bright orange and came in a blue box, instead of some all natural brand. When I finally moved out and had a kitchen of my very own, one of my first shopping trips produced hamburger helper and kool-aid. Over time I slowly came to realize the merit of my parents' ways and started making little changes.
This weekend I called my mom to tell her that I might have surpassed her as hippie mother of the year because I made my child chicken nuggets. Yep, in an age where you can buy chicken nuggets at any store (including the gluten-free, organic variety at whole foods), I made chicken nuggets from scratch. One, I can make them extra fatty (though I still couldn't bring myself to fry them) and two, I know exactly what is in them.
I haven't turned into my mom or dad, I've turned into my parents. Now excuse me, I need a bowl of granola :)

Cutting out early!

Today Jamie came home early to relieve me from my duties here at "work" :) This afternoon I'm taking off with a girlfriend to shop and get a pedicure and eat a relaxing dinner and go dancing!! I'm not sure words can express how excited I am! I get to shop without Emma. I get to try on clothes and go to as many stores as I want and not worry about how long it's taking or if someone needs dinner or a nap. I can sit down and have someone rub my feet! I can eat dinner and it can take as long as I want and I'm not going to have to pick food off the floor or trying to shove food down someone's throat. I get to be out in public after 8pm :)
Believe me, we deserve this and I'm am so excited to live it up!

HUGE NEWS!!

Guess who hit 15 lbs?? EMMA!!! Our tiny girl finally hit the 15 pound mark last week weighing in at 15lbs 5oz!! And it "only" took her 5 weeks to gain this last pound, as opposed to the 8ish weeks it usually takes her to gain a pound, so our hard work is actually paying off :)
Emma has also had a speech explosion in the last couple of days. She went from having only one word, "dad" or "daddy" to saying "hi", "ding dong", and.... MAMA!!! This of course all happened after her speech therapist came for the week so I can't brag to her, but we are so excited. She's also "talking" a lot more and her play has become a lot more purposeful. Instead of pushing her little wagon around all.day.long, she'll play in her new kitchen and actually sit down and try a new activity for a couple minutes, which she never wanted to do before. Don't get me wrong, she still rarely stops moving, but we're making a little progress :)

Some of you Nuggets fans might know the "birdman"

We have our very own birdman right here at home :)

Emma says "bring it!"

We have some baby birds on our porch!

Happy Mother's Day!

I made a cake and had to show it off :) It's the "spring fling" cake recipe from the Market

Emma's new playhouse. My parents got if for her birthday and we finally put it up. She LOVES it! (and I love that she's out of the sun)

Showing off her bike helmet :)

The best day

Today marked the one year anniversary of having Emma home with us! It seems like just yesterday that we were carrying that tiny little bundle out of the hospital, what a day it was! Unlike her birthday it wasn't a bittersweet day, just a day filled with pure joy :) That's not to say that we weren't terrified, because we definitely were! I remember walking out and I kept thinking that someone was going to stop us. Around every corner I thought someone was going to pop out and tell us that they were just kidding and that she didn't get to come home with us. Luckily they let us. I was looking back at photos from that week and it's so hard to believe how tiny she was then, even though she seemed so huge to us. I still remember that first bath at home and getting up in the middle of the night to change her diaper. I definitely don't miss the lack of sleep, but I do miss the cuddly little peanut who would just melt into your body. Little Miss doesn't do much cuddling these days :(
We are so blessed and thankful to be celebrating today!

then and now




what we came home to (I do not miss the carriage house!)

so cute!

my loves

Emma's first bath at home

Ice cream!!

Even though I'm not smiling, I swear I liked it!

happy family

Daddy and Emma were home alone yesterday, you know what that means!