She's Walking!!!

Emmy started walking today!!! So exciting! With a little encouraging (using toys as motivation) Emmy took four steps and then five and more and more every time. Once she realized she could do it she got really confident and walked across the room several times. Yea Emmy!

The pictures are a little blurry but I had to capture the moment!




From behind- Kevin keeps scooting backward and Emmy keeps walking toward him:

Happy Valentine's Day

Hope your Valentine's Day is full of love! I woke up this morning to a little boy in my face saying, "Mommy I wuv you." The sweetest words a mom can hear. Jackson always says, "I love you too" if I tell him I love him but he has just recently started saying it first. So sweet.

Jackson enjoyed cutting out and decorating hearts for Valentine's Day.





I think we're in trouble! Emmy is already talking on the phone!:



Saying "I" for "hi":

She Likes Peas!

I can't believe I got this girl to eat a table food other than cheerios, crackers or bread! Yesterday and today she ate peas! She won't pick them up and feed herself- I still think she is bothered by the texture. She just plays with them if they are on her tray. But I put them on a spoon and she ate a lot of them! I was also able to feed her bananas that were not mashed up. Again, won't pick the bananas up but at least she's eating them fine without gagging, etc. I guess we're slowly making progress with this table food thing.


She also started signing "more" the right way instead of clapping. She also likes to take my hands and make me sign more. She thinks that's really fun! A couple of different times as I've put her to bed and told her "night night" I've heard her respond with a "night night". She won't do it if I ask her to though. :) She imitates what sounds like "bye" and "done" but again this is inconsistent.


We have really enjoyed the warm weather this week. I think being outside just makes everyone happier! Emmy and I enjoyed sunbathing on our picnic blanket.

Jackson keeps himself very entertained while we are outside. He drives his car or bike around collecting sticks or rocks and saying he is working hard in the yard like daddy. Or he gets his shovel and rake and digs in the dirt. And today was my favorite when he got a brick and put it behind one of the tires on his car. He told me he was changing the oil like daddy. Does this boy admire his daddy or what?

Pretty much the only way I can get a picture of his face is to yell his name real quick and snap a picture as soon as he looks up. Otherwise he doesn't have time to look at the camera! :)

Sickness, Sun, Shadows and Stroller Rides

The kids have been a little bit under the weather. Jackson has had a random fever on two different occasions with no other symptoms and it has disappeared quickly. Yesterday Emmy came down with a stomach bug. Everyone else seems to be fine- I'm hoping it stays that way through the weekend. Emmy seems to be feeling better today but as the pictures show she's sporting pajamas in the middle of the day. Nothing like wearing comfortable pajamas when you're sick. I thought we would soak in some of the beautiful warm sun today. It felt more like spring and the kids love it!




Jackson and I had fun finding our shadow out in the sun. We found Jackson's shadow on the brick wall but he kept looking at me like I was crazy and telling me those were bricks. I finally got him to understand and he was able to find his shadow!



My two kids love each other and I am so grateful! Jackson's new favorite thing to do to is to push Emmy in the stroller out in the driveway. He loves to help me take care of her. He really is a sweetheart!



While he loves to be my helper he is still ALL BOY!

11 months

This past Sunday Emmy was officially 11 months. This means that in less than one month she will be turning 1! Very hard to believe!

Here's an update:
-She recently started clapping as previously posted but she also "claps" to sign "more". She also started clapping to sign "all done". I found out she was saying "all done" and not "more" because when I offer her more she gets mad! We are working on signing "all done" and I have seen her try to imitate by putting her palms up in front of her. It's cute how she tries!



-She gives kisses by making the noise "mmmwah" but not actually doing any action. Funny!

-She is so smart! Follows all kinds of directions. It's funny to me how she goes over to something she's not supposed to touch, puts her hand out like she's going to touch it and then looks at me to see what I'm going to do. She definitely knows and understands "no".

-She is balancing by herself all the time. Once in awhile she may take a step but then gets down to crawl. She's not walking quite yet. I think she could do it but she doesn't seem to have the confidence yet.



-She is doing slightly better with table food than she was 2 months ago. She will pick up and eat cheerios, bread, crackers and really anything crunchy. She still gags on Gerber 3rd foods and any kind of texture. She has recently started doing really well with Beech-Nut 2 1/2. I don't remember stage 2 1/2 when Jackson was eating baby food but right now it's perfect for Emmy.

-She still takes two good naps every day. They are anywhere from 1.5-2 hours each. She sleeps from 6:30pm to 7:00am. So thankful for a good sleeper.

-In the past month Jackson and Emmy have started playing really well together and I give Jackson all the credit. Emmy loves to be downstairs with Jackson in the playroom and Jackson begs for me to bring her down. (So sweet!) He pulls her around while she rides in his wagon, picks up all his small toys where she can't reach them, finds toys for her to play with and is somewhat gentle with her. Emmy chases him around the room and finally gives up and lets out a scream when she realizes she can't catch him. It's really fun to watch them play!

Look how long this hair is!!!

First Steps

I knew it was coming, but it's still hard to believe...

Yesterday, Emmy took her first unassisted steps (I didn't get a picture). She got her balance and took a couple of steps on her own. She did it a couple of times. I guess we'll see how long it takes before she's walking across the room...


I love this picture. Emmy loves her big brother so much. She wants to be where he is, doing whatever he's doing:


and this one:

And last week she started clapping:

A quick minute

Right now both kids are napping. Yes, both kids, at the same time. I thought Jackson was done with naps but he started back again and I don't mind. So I have a quick minute and thought I would post some new pictures.

There's not too much going on around here. Everyone's well, which is nice, and things have settled down since Christmas. Emmy is back to her normal schedule. Everyone is eating and sleeping well and life is good!

I've been taking lots of pictures and continue to play with my camera. Here are some recent ones that I like:




She's loving this rocking horse!

Don't we all have moments like this? She doesn't like to be told "no"!


My helper. He loves to cook with Mommy:

Another Emmy Update and Pictures with NO FLASH!

Suddenly I find Emmy doing new things every day and it is so much fun to watch. She waves "hi" and "bye" all the time- on command and spontaneously. She plays very appropriately- loves to roll cars, throw and roll balls back and forth and likes to look at books and turn pages. She loves to imitate tongue clicking, lip smacking, etc. She thinks it's hilarious when we look at our animal book and I make animal noises. She says "mama" and "dada" meaningfully and just in play as well. She doesn't like to lay down to get her diaper changed, doesn't like her face wiped and doesn't like me to put bows in her hair (she doesn't mind once the bow is in, it's just getting it there). Her little personality is really coming out!




A goal of mine for this year is not only to take more pictures but to learn more about my camera. I know nothing about all the settings that it has and usually just let the camera do it's thing and take the pictures. I have started reading some blogs and tutorials about how to take better pictures. I have heard this before but all the blogs and books agree: don't use the automatic flash- EVER- especially inside. Like I said, I've heard that before but ignored it because without the flash the pictures are too dark. But after a little reading and messing with my camera settings I have found that indoor pictures without a flash are actually very pretty...and bright! And I had a great subject who let me practice!

All the pictures in this post are taken in my kitchen without a flash!



Oh- and yes, today we wore pajamas and bow! It was too cold to wear anything else!

Looking Back and Gazing Ahead

Happy 2012!

Looking back on 2011, it has been a good year but also a hard year. Of course the best thing about 2011 was welcoming Emmy into our family.


We've enjoyed this year with her and watching her grow. She is so much fun. 2011 also brought lots of illnesses and trips to either a hospital or a doctor and lots and lots of phone conversations with nurses. At one point Emmy's reflux was so bad and she was hardly eating that I was on the phone with a nurse 2-3 times per week for several weeks. So one of my biggest prayers is that we will have a very healthy 2012!

Jackson turned three this year. It's been so fun watching him and helping him learn so many new things. He's been especially interested in letters, numbers, shapes, etc. He still loves puzzles and books and stickers. He loves to sit at the kitchen table with me and do his "work books" which allow him to practice his "academic" skills.

Turning 3:

He has also been a bit challenging for us. We went through a couple of months of behavior issues but things are so much better now! He is such a sweet boy, loves to give hugs and kisses and daily asks Kevin and me if we are happy. He asks this because he understands that we have rules that he needs to obey and he wants us to be "happy" with him.

With Jackson's behavior and Emmy's reflux and health struggles the Lord has taught me so much. I am learning each day how I need to give all my cares, struggles, etc. to him and trust him to provide everything- strength, patience, kindness and many other things. I've learned a lot about myself and I am so grateful for God's overflowing grace!

So I wanted to report on my 2011 New Year's Resolutions. I participated in a P52 (1 picture a week for 52 weeks). It went pretty well but I didn't finish. I made it to week 41 of 52, only skipping 3 or 4 weeks in between. I was actually happy with how far I made it due to having a brand new baby and the above mentioned illnesses! So I am excited to participate in it again and I hope to finish. This year there are going to be theme's each week which I think will make for a fun challenge. You can read more about it here if you like:

Another big resolution that I had in 2011 was to learn more and do more sewing. I am happy with the amount of sewing I did and what I learned. I took a sewing class and learned how to make this dress:
I love this dress but it is somewhat time consuming. So I fell into making this very simple dress:


So my 2012 resolution is to continue sewing and continue learning. I definitely need to learn a new dress and I'm hoping to make some skirts, maybe pants and other things. I did learn how to sew bloomers which are perfect under all those dresses!

A few other resolutions I have are to read more books, cut our grocery budget and continue running/exercising consistently as well as some other things.

Look forward to what this year holds...