like father, like daughter

This is Emma's first photo! She was playing with some neighbor kids yesterday afternoon and ran back to the house to get the camera (it was on the front steps) to capture the fun.

not to shabby for a first try :)

Slave driver

In an attempt to lighten my load around the house I've been training Emma to pull her weight around the house. (please note that all these photos are actually candid, she pulls this stuff out on her own!)

picking tomatoes

dusting

sweeping


watering the garden

helping with her diapers

18 Months!!

After today my girl will be closer to 2 than to 1. She's very much not a baby anymore, no matter how hard I try to ignore that fact, but 1.5 years seems so grown up. Every day she does something new that blows me away... last week when I told her that I loved her she responded with a "uv u" of her own. Talk about melting your heart! She's so active and independent... she loves to run and climb and jump. Sometimes she's a little too independent and brave and it scares me to death, but I love her sense of confidence. Her personality develops a little more each day, and damn is it cute! She definitely has a little bit of my stubbornness, but mostly she's laid back like her father. She's also extremely social like him and loves to be around lots of people. She's gotten to the age where she actually plays with her friends instead of just along side them and it's cute to see them team up to demolish something :) She's still having some speech delays, but she's really working on telling us things so hopefully we'll be hearing a ton more words soon!! Her eating seems to be much better, she's eating more food on a more consistent basis, though we'll know next week how the weight gain is going. She also got her first haircut... I finally cut her little mullet so that it's even along the back and it's much cuter!!
As for me, I'm trying to enjoy each day that I get to spend with her before going back to work (no, nothing there yet). I LOVE being a mom and it's what I've wanted to do my entire life and I'm so blessed that I have been home with her this last 18 months. There are times when it's incredibly hard, but it's also the most amazing thing I've ever done and definitely what I'm good at :) (I hope no one reading this is suffering from IF, my intentions aren't to make anyone feel bad about not being able to have a child, I'm sorry) Sometimes it's just hard for me to remember that this little person is mine and she fills me with such joy!
This is a series of pictures that Jamie took a couple weeks ago, enjoy!

this is my favorite because it shows her personality perfectly. she spends so much time running around with a smile on her face :)

I am thankful

for my parents. I seriously think I have the most amazing parents on the planet, I am very, very blessed :)

Last night they watched Emma for no reason, just because they love her (and us). They actually think it's a gift when I "let" her spend the night there. She loves it obviously, because who doesn't love being spoiled to death and showered with attention? And to top it all off this is about half of the produce my father sent home with me from his garden... potatoes, tomatoes (about a million, at least 4 different kinds), onions, peppers, swiss chard, beans, broccoli, and tomatillos. We "traded"... I got that and he got an artichoke. I think I got the better end of that deal. There isn't much that is better than home grown, organic produce, picked this very morning :)

throwback

I found this picture over the weekend and had to share :)

William and Emma, one year ago. Seriously, could they be any cuter?? look at those adorable chubby faces!!

William and Emma, last night, cage fighting in Emma's crib. My how things have changed!!

But they are both still adorable!

Chicago!

3 days after we got home from OH, Emma and I were back at it again... this time headed to Chicago for my brother and Sam's engagement party. We had a ton of fun meeting all of Sam's family and their friends, though it was a pretty hard trip for Emma. The little girl does NOT like to sit still and so I spent the entire engagement party chasing her around because she just wants to run. I feel like I never really completed a conversation because I kept having to run after her. But as long as she was given room to run she was a total sport about being kept up late, so I shouldn't complain. Next time I might just leave her at home so I can fully enjoy one of my favorite cities!

travelling through the airport in style

One of the best pics ever of my dad and I

Paul nailed this pose, Emma not so much

We played at Millenium Park one day and had a bit of a hula hoop contest

Dad won, he was really good!

Em got to play in the fountains and loved them!

Me and Paul at the engagement party

Emma perfecting the cheek kiss

Emma was OBSESSED with the dog bed at Sam's parents' house, luckily the dogs shared well ;)

taking a nap (in all seriousness I did try to see if she would sleep in it because she was in need of a nap)

Paul and Sam and their new Snuggies!!