Christmas in a Nutshell.. well, with a lot of pictures..

We went to my Aunt Vickie's for a quick brunch Christmas morning and then had an official Christmas celebration tonight back at Aunt Vickie's. We had a rule today for dinner that everything we ate had to be a new recipe. I have to say that it turned out really good. And, it was a much healthier dinner than we usually have at holidays, lots of meat and veggies. Thanks to Aunt Vickie for offering up her house to all of us.

We have 3 kids now, Emery is the oldest, Brandon who is 7 months and Quinlan is 4 months. It's a whole new atmosphere with the kids around, but a fun one.


Brandon on Christmas morning


Emery opening her gifts at our house
Don't you just love the bow in her hair! Now, she thinks all bows from presents belong in her hair .. to cute!

From left to right: Brandon, Amelinda, Quinlan, me and Emery

Us with my Mom
Emery and Grandma Lola

Brandon crawling UP the stacked boxes!
One quick picture of Quinlan .. why do we always torture our babies with hats, bows and clothing? :)

A Visit to Santa

Ivan and I tried getting a picture of Emery with Santa a few weeks ago at Gateway. She screamed the whole time and I couldn't get myself to spend money on such a bad picture of my baby.

Just this weekend, several of my friends told me that I just had to get a picture of Emery with Santa and that I would regret it if I didn't try. So, I was off today and decided to head to the mall. I did a little bit of shopping and then decided to get a pretzel at yummy pretzel maker so I could keep Emery entertained while in line. We grabbed our pretzels and headed for the line. I was surprised that it wasn't very long. Until I realized that Santa was at lunch for 45 minutes! I decided there was no way I was standing there waiting that long.

So Emery and I headed down to the little children's play area at South Towne Mall. She loved running and around and watching the other little kids. Her most favorite part was going down the slide - she had the most adorable laugh!

Then, back to Santa. By now, he was back from lunch. We ended up waiting in line for about 1 hour, 15 minutes. Luckily, Emery held up pretty well. We got to Santa and she clung to my leg. I handed her a little candy cane in the wrapper and then set her on Santa's lap. She was fine! yeah!!

Snow Update

Ivan guilt tripped me into actually going outside to let Emery play in the snow this afternoon. So, I got her all bundled up (with the little amount of snow stuff we actually have) and we headed outside. Emery wasn't too fond of the cold or the snow, but I still got some cute pictures.

Emery's favorite part of it was when I was bouncing her up and down trying to shake the snow off her pants and shoes.

For what it's worth, I still wished I hadn't gone outside. If only you could see me, I was still in my flip flops, mid-December when it was about 30 degrees outside.




And, just a couple more cute pictures from tonight. Emery loves walking around the house with my shoes!

Snow, Snow, Please Go Away!!

I've taken several days off over the last two weeks since Ivan's Mom has been on vacation. I think Lola will be amazed with Emery when she gets home. She's changed so much in the last two weeks. She's become much more vocal, like she just really figured out how to make sounds and now, she won't stop! The other morning, she had just woken up and I was changing her diaper. As soon as I laid her down on the changing table, she said "daddy" and it was the cutest thing in her soft, innocent voice. That was the beginning ...

She's also become somewhat of a high-needs baby. As I read more and more, I think (hope) it is just a stage she is going through. She would follow me everywhere crying until I would pick her up. At first, I fell for it and picked her up. After a couple of days, I realized I couldn't walk around holding her all of the time, and there was not a thing wrong with her. So, I let her cry until she finally stopped and went about her own thing.

Some days, we would go to Walmart for something little just to get out of the house. I get stir crazy being stuck in the house everyday and Emery does too. So, I'm off today and had a small list of random places to go, kind of just to get out of the house, but errands that eventually need to be done. But then, I woke up and there's so much snow out there. I have yet to step foot outside (the trash is piled by the door and I'm sure will stay there until Ivan gets home), but I can just imagine how STINKING COLD it is! So, needless to say, I've stayed in all day. But, I do have a very clean house and all of our laundry is finished since we stayed in. I guess it's not all bad ...

Here are some pictures of the snow, from inside the house of course.




I think it's supposed to snow everyday for the next week or so ... crap! I guess I will just have to try to fill my need of getting out of the house by shopping on the internet! I better go back to work soon ...

Should I be Worried?

A few weeks ago, my friend Amanda posted about blog safety and some changes that she had made to her blog. Basically talking about not posting any personal info, address, when you're going on vacation, etc, which I don't feel that I really do. (I did post about going to NYC and I've since learned and won't do that one again).

Anyway, she also added a site feeder (is that what it's called?) to her blog so she can see where people are located when they view her blog. So, I made the same change to my blog.

Now, I look at it and people from all over the place are looking at my blog. I mean, Texas, Oregon, California, Colorado, Arkansas. Most of the places don't bother me because I know people who live in those states so I'm assuming that it's the people we know looking at our blog.

BUT ... now, there are people from other countries looking at our blog - Yoevill, Somerset and Stockport - I don't even know there those places are! And, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh - is that a country somewhere?

I'm just starting to wonder if I should make ou blog private so I can monitor exactly who is looking at it, or am I being a freak? I'm on both sides of the fence on this one. For the most part, I don't think there's anything wrong with people looking at my blog. I don't post personal information on it anyway. But then it kind of creeps me out a little to think about strangers in other countries looking at my blog.

Maybe I should just take the site feeder thing off so I won't even know about it ... your thoughts?

The Discovery Center at Gateway

We took the kids to the Discovery Center down at Gateway this afternoon and had a blast! The last time we took them was in July and Makayla loved it, but Emery wasn't mobile yet, so she stayed in her stroller the whole time. This time, Makayla loved it like expected and Emery loved it even more. She walked all throughout picking up all of the toys and watching all of the other kids.

Here we are doing some coloring in the arts and crafts room.


Emery loved this truck! She kept going on and off of it and playing with the steering wheel.
Makayla loved the rock climbing wall too..

I promise, no babies were injured while taking this picture :)

Thanksgiving and Stuff...

Here are some pictures from Thanksgiving. We all went to my cousin Amelinda's house and had a great time visiting and of course, some great food too!

Makayla, Lilly and Zepher
Auntie Silv and Emery

Our attempt to get a family picture .. Emery wasn't cooperating though..A couple of random shots of me dressing up my child :)


We took the kids to Nicklecade today to play video games. I must admit, although a little ghetto, it was actually fun and inexpensive! Emery rode her first "ride" and held on for dear life the entire time. She wasn't sure what to think of it.

Emery's 1 Year Pictures

Here are Emery's 1st year pictures (just a few weeks late). I'm lovin' Kiddie Kandids - they are quick and efficient which is exactly what you need for a very busy 1 year old. Enjoy!

Bad Habits?

So, I do feel like I can toot our own horns a little bit because Emery is already off bottles and has only ever taken a binky at night when she goes to bed and for naps. She's great in the car, loves the bath and isn't a picky eater.

She also has never really slept in our bed .... until NOW. About a month ago, we went through two nights where she just wouldn't sleep in her crib, so she ended up in bed with us. Then, on Saturday's and Sunday's, when we are all home, we'll hang out together in our bed when we first get up for about an hour or so.

This week - Monday night - Emery was up crying and ended up in our bed from 230-430a (when I had to get up for work ... ugh!). Tuesday night - Emery was up crying and in our bed from 130-230a (when I put her back in her crib and luckily she slept the rest of the night in her crib). Wednesday night - She got up at 11p and was in our bed for about an hour.

I'm so worried that we've already started a bad habit. I don't want Emery sleeping in our bed. I already have to fight for room between Ivan, Carter and myself all in a queen size bed.

How do you do it when they get up in the middle of the night and you are exhausted? Get up and hang out with them in the living room for a bit? I kind of tried crying it out, but once she gets that upset, she isn't going back to sleep!

Oh, and here is a cute picture just because. Emery loves to play ball and tug-o-war with Carter. But, she especially loves to cuddle/love with him. How do you think Carter feels about Emery cuddling/loving him?

Emery's 12 Month Update

Yes, I'm very late on this one .. I have to admit I'm glad the monthly pictures are now finished. They've been a whole lot of work. Anyway, here we go ...

12 Month Update:
20 lbs - 30th percentile
28 1/2 inches - 35th percentile
7 teeth
walking/running
shaking her head "no"
completely bottle free!
sleeping/eating well
loves books
loves to cuddle with Carter or anything soft!
knows where her tummy is and how to brush her hair

Random Photos

When Emery finally decides to play with her toys (instead of shoes, cell phones, remotes, etc) she usually sits very nicely taking all of her toys and books out of her basket, making a huge mess. But, then she is very content reading her books by herself.

After the birthday party, I decided it was time to pack up some of Emery's toys. Each time I would put a toy in the bin, Emery came right behind me and decided she wanted to play with it .. go figure!
This is Emery's new hat for the winter months. I love it! It has velcro just under her chin so it will stay put. Surprisingly, she actually likes it.