More Random Photos ...

I was folding laundry today and Emery likes to play with my ... umm .. underwear .. well, she walks away and I finish laundry and forget all about the underwear that she was playing with. I go back into the living room to finish vacuuming and she's put my underwear around her neck. Apparently she thinks they are necklaces??
Emery loves to be outside and gets stir-crazy if she's in the house to long. You can always tell when she's hit her limit of being inside - today she put her coat on, grabbed her diaper bag and went and stood by the front door.
I really need to get Emery a purse of her own. I gave her my purse to play with and she threw a fit when I took it back from her. Doesn't this picture look like she's lifting weights? And, the purse was still empty at this point.
Can you tell the child loves her puffs??

A few pictures...

Emery loves to climb up on the couch and play with her wipes container, beanie and jacket. If she is quiet and we can't find her, she is usually on the couch, just like this.

We went to the Discovery Center @ Gateway today. Emery loved playing in the water but started to act like she owned the water area. She still doesn't talk a ton, but she sure does know the word "MINE". Not a good sign. Oh, and she also pulled a little boys hair, twice. I was quite embarrassed but luckily none of the parents were around. We really need to work on learning to share. Any advice for an only child?
After a few hours at the Discovery Center, we went to lunch at Applebee's. It was a much better experience than Red Lobster a couple of weeks back, thank goodness. I'm trying to get Emery to like wearing her sunglasses. At first, she just wanted to wear them upside down, but she got the hang of it with a little help from Ivan.

Kitchen Update

I am proud to finally be able to post before and after pictures of our kitchen.

Before: May 2008

After: March 2009 - we took down some cabinets to open up the kitchen/dining room, painted the cabinets, installed granite counter tops and replaced all of the appliances. I can finally say that I am happy with my kitchen.

Meltdown at Red Lobster

Ivan has been dying to go to Red Lobster since it is apparently lobster fest season. I honestly don't even know what that means and Red Lobster is one place that I really hate going to. The last time we went there, I had mashed potatoes and a salad for dinner - and our bill was outrageous - I just hate going there. Anyway, I felt like being very nice tonight and gave in to Ivan's request to go there. We waited for about 25 minutes and as soon as we sat down, Emery refused to sit in the high chair. She refused to drink her water which she usually loves. She nibbled on a few saltine crackers but refused the soup. She just wasn't a happy camper and was whining the whole time. Ivan finally took her to the entryway of the restaurant so I could eat and then I switched spots with him so he could eat his Lobster. About 3 minutes later I came back and said, "time to get your food to-go, she's had it". I felt bad, but we had suffered and tried to make Emery hold out for close to an hour. She just wasn't having it. As soon as we got into the car, and 2Pac came onto the radio, she was clapping and laughing away. I'm hoping tonight's event was a one-night deal and we can continue to enjoy dinners out.

Emery's New Tricks

Emery loves giving Carter dog bones. The minute we get home, she runs over to the kitchen to give Carter a bone. Too bad she shuffles her hands through them and makes Carter wait, he's not happy about that part. We are working on teaching her that one bone at a time is enough.

She also gets herself onto the couch now. A little scary for us, but for the most part, she's good about getting down in a safe way. Notice the headband, she put that on all by herself. I think I've got a "girly girl" on my hands already.

Emery and Laundry

I was folding laundry in the laundry room today and Emery left with 4 pairs of her PJ's. It was completely quiet in the house for about 5 minutes, so I went looking for Emery. I first went to the office, she loves to play there. Nope, not there. On the way to the office, I passed the living room, kitchen, dining room and family room and hadn't seen her. I then go back to my bedroom/bathroom thinking she's there. Finally, she's in our room and this is what she's doing:


Putting her PJ's away with Ivan's socks!

Finally, proof that Emery loves to put laundry away!

Emery's 1st Haircut

We finally took Emery to Cookie Cutters today to get her first hair cut. I was worried that she would be a total Mommy's girl and cry the entire time, but this place was amazing. They put a video on, gave her a play station controller and a sucker, blew bubbles, the whole nine yards. She was happy with the controller and honking the horn of the little car that she sat in. She was wonderful and the lady who cut her hair was quick and precise. Emery got a little bob with layers to make it look thicker. She looks so grown up. I love it and wish I had gotten her hair cut sooner.

Hmm .. what could be missing?

Before:
After: Do you noticing anything missing?
We bought this house in July 2007 and I've always hated the kitchen. I had this huge plan to replace the cabinets, move the island, knock out a wall, replace the floor and appliances. That was .. until we had $10k worth of plumbing issues the DAY we moved in! So, we've slowly been remodeling the kitchen. First, we painted the cabinets, which turned out great. Then came granite counter tops. Next, the appliances, slowly but surely. I went to Sears last Saturday to buy the stove. I figured I would put our old stove on ksl.com just to see if we could sell it (totally thinking it would not sell). Anyway, it sold and was picked up in less than 24 hours - the phone was ringing off the hook within minutes of listing it. I guess I should have asked more for it. Anyway, so I call Sears to re-schedule the delivery of the new stove - it's on backorder until MARCH 6th! Oops! So, we are without a stove for 2 weeks. Oh well, I always say the stove is really just for looks anyway since we rarely cook.

To Cut or Not to Cut???

I'm thinking that it is time to get Emery's hair cut for the first time. She has quite the mullet going on in the back. It's just about long enough to put in one pony, but when I leave it down or do pig-tails just on top, the back is oh so bad. I'm thinking that if I give the back a little trim, then it will start to be a little thicker. What do you think?

Here is Emery's new trick. She absolutely loves to put my shoes on and walk around the house. Such a big girl!

15 Month Update

We had Emery's 15 month appointment today and below is her update.
20.8 lbs - 15th percentile - only gained 8 oz since 12 month check-up - She is skinny right now, but Dr. Ring is not concerned about it. She figures that she is naturally thin and will pick up some weight at her 18 month appointment.
30 inches - 50th percentile
8 teeth
loves to mimic anything I do
helps around the house with laundry, trash, cleaning up toys
absolutely loves books and cuddling with blankets
starting to babble a ton
loves all foods but is very picky about when she decides to actually eat something
favorite foods are raisins and milk

Here is Emery this morning feeding herself some good old egg burritos and hash browns from Del Taco - shh, don't tell Ivan's Mom! :)


Emery loves to play with Ivan's beanies and I swear, she does this to herself and walks around the house. She does have the occasional bump into the wall, but she still loves it!

The Simple Things

It's the simple things that make Emery the happiest..

Carrying around her diaper bag like it's a purse
She played with the bowl and utensils for 30 minutes - seriously, for a 15 month old to stay focused on one thing that long - it's gotta be good!

Story Book Time at the Library

I discovered recently that the local libraries have story book time and other activities scheduled by age groups. I figured it would be great for Emery since she loves books and another bonus is that it's free entertainment. The class for 0-2 1/2 year olds starts at 10:15a which is a little early for Emery, but I really wanted to try it out.

So, she finally woke up this morning at 9:30a and I got us both ready and out of the house in 30 minutes -yay! We got to story time and Emery was a little shy at first. After 5 minutes she was walking around saying hi to all of the other kids and parents. The rest of the kids in the room were probably less than 12 months old. They all (except for Emery and one other girl, 17 months old) sat quietly and nicely in the parents laps for the whole 30 minutes. Not Emery! She walked around and talked, waved and laughed with everyone in the room. I figure this is normal behavior for a 15 month old baby who is walking, right? I'm just not sure if we were "those people" who disrupted story time. I want to go back, but I'm not sure if I should wait until Emery will sit quietly in my lap for 30 minutes, which I know that will be NEVER. Thoughts?

My Little Helper..

Emery definitely takes after me with cleaning and tidying up. She has already become a good little helper. The other night, after Ivan finished making dinner, Emery was picking up crumbs from the kitchen floor and bringing them to me, one by one. She has also helped me put socks away, she loves to dust and she regularly puts her own toys away. She puts her diapers in the trash and also cleans up after her own bath time. And, if she sees the corner of a rug flipped up, she'll go over and fix it. I think she spends way to much time watching me clean up! How long until she's big enough to clean the bathroom and the kitchen floor??

Eating at the Gallegos House

So, Ivan and I made a few new household rules last week. I will handle the cleaning, laundry and shopping for the house and Ivan will handle the cooking. I am not into cooking anything these days, yet we are trying to start cooking so Emery can eat healthier. So, in the last week, we have had some great home cooked meals including: steak with mushroom sauce and baked potatoes, homemade spaghetti and meatballs and roast and potatoes. It's been GREAT!!

And, Emery started feeding herself tonight ... enjoy!

Utah Football Parade

There was a parade for the Utah Football team on Friday at Washington Square. Ivan was off so we headed down. The weather ended up being decent and we had a good time. Emery did pretty good, other than getting a little scared when the band and football team came into the area. I think she was just a little freaked out by all of the people and the noise.

Cute Moments

I have been a total slacker about posting these days .. not sure why ... anyway, here a few pictures from the last couple of weeks.

Emery loves to play on the computer. With me, it's blog's, banking and babycenter. With Ivan, it's Grand Theft Auto - nice! The funny thing is that she knows to get on our lap, put the headphones on and grab the controler. In this picture, the headphones are missing, but she is really using the control and playing the game. Get the bad guys Emery!

Emery loves to sit on the rug right below the kitchen sink. She'll bring over her blocks and sit and play with them for 20-30 minutes at a time.
She also loves to play with her bibs. Here she is with about 6 bibs. She walked around the house just holding them and biting on them. Lucky for us, most days, she takes most of them back into her room. She definitely has a bit of my OCD and is already figuring out to put things back where they belong.

Accident-Prone Household

Something must be in the air these days ... Wednesday night, I was at work and ended up twisting my ankle and getting stuck in the revolving door while holding a large, somewhat heavy box of computer equipment. Quite embarrassing! My ankle is swollen and has been killing me ever since.

Then, yesterday morning, Emery fell INTO the bathtub while I was showering. I still don't really know how it happened, but all of a sudden she was in the bathtub, head first when I was trying to shower. I quickly picked her up and put her on her feet outside of the bath and she whined. The only reason she whined is because her sippy of milk was still in the bathtub. I handed it to her and she walked away drinking her milk - didn't even cry. So, I went on and enjoyed my steaming hot shower. I took pictures afterwards just to show how drenched her head was. She literally was head-first into the bathtub.




Hopefully, the air has cleaned up and we won't have anymore freakish and embarrassing moments in this household.

Emery's Accomplishments

I feel like I don't do updates on Emery's accomplishments anymore now that I'm done taking monthly pictures. So, here is a little update. In the last few weeks, Emery has begun to:

• put her toys away, well, put her blocks away, Ivan and I still have to put away the rest of her toys
• give kisses - they are open-mouthed and slobbery, but what else would you expect from a 1 year old?
• started loving to cuddle with stuffed animals and blankets. My Aunt Wanda gave Emery a "prayer bear" that speaks in a little girls voice and says prayers. Emery loves it and goes to bed with it every night
• run with her eyes closed and the biggest smile ever on her face
• dance and shake her bum when she hears music or our cell phones ring
• throw tantrums - she slowly lays down on the floor and then screams
• pushes us around by pushing on our legs to get us where she wants us
• will nicely put down her sippy when she's done drinking. Most things get thrown when she's done with them, but she actually stops, bends over and ensures her sippy is upright on the floor or ottoman before she walks away from it
  

Oh, and we are back to attempting sleep without the binky. Emery just went down for the night and it might be a rough hour ...

And my baby is back...

Well the binky is back .. Emery did great for two nights, but then she came down with a nasty cold today. She looks like Rudolf because her poor little nose is so red. She is a snotty little baby today! I put her down for bed and couldn't stand to hear her cry. So, back came the binky and she went down with no problems at all. Hopefully she will be feeling better soon and we can go back to our binky days.

oh and Jodi .. how about you have another one first and get us all started again? :) :)

Where did my BABY go???

Emery's been walking since about 9 months ... off the bottle/formula since 11 months ... now, the binky is gone too! I'm happy that it's been so easy to break the habit of these things, but the only baby-like thing I have left is diapers. I can't say that I'm necessarily excited for that one. Oh, and I guess the crib too, but it just doesn't feel like she's a baby anymore. So very sad...

Dinner Time with Emery

Emery is teething again and hasn't been eating much food these days. Ivan and I were having Sonic last night for dinner and trying to get something into Emery's tummy. This is how it went:

"Emery, do you want some bread?" ... she shakes her head no
"Emery, do you want some meat?" ... she shakes her head no
"Emery, do you want some fries?" ... she shakes her head no
"Emery, do you want some coke?" ... hands go in the air for the 44 oz coke - no way jose!

I am completely obsessed with fountain cokes from Sonic - they have crushed ice which makes them so much better than a fountain coke from anywhere else. Emery must want to jump on board with the coke obsession after going to Sonic every single day with me for my fountain coke fix.