"mr. wilson"

I love our neighborhood! I love our street! I love our friends!

We really have been blessed to have been able to purchase and live in my grandma's home for 5 years now. I'll brag any day about the family friendly street we live on, fabulous location, beautiful trees, all the well manicured lawns and especially the wonderful people that we are surrounded by.

Our neighbors to the north and south of us are friends of my grandparents. When we visit them, it never surprises me that they have some story to tell me about my grandparents, back in the days. I love hearing those crazy stories! I also love chatting with them because they say things like, "your grandma would be proud" or "your grandparents are watching over you." It's those words that really make my heart smile.

So, we have "adopted" grandparents on each side of us! We went to visit one of the couples the other day and I introduced them to Emmy as grama Ann and grampa John! Grama Ann calls me "sweetie" and reminds me how they are are stand in grandparents since mine are gone.

Both our "grandparent" neighbors take good care of us too. They provide us with fresh veggies and fruits from their garden and trees, pay us in chocolates when we help rake or shovel, feed our dogs treats through the fence and they love chatting whenever we are all out working on our yards.

Our backyards are pretty close in proximity and quite often when the girls and I go out to play, our sweet neighbor Al is out working in his garden across the fence. I snapped this photo the other day because it reminded me of "Mr. Wilson" on Home Improvement. We do get to see his face though :)

Anyway, I didn't think it was fair for this to be a blog about our life but not include some of the important people in our life (besides family) that we are surrounded by each day.

We sure love our neighbors!

B & B

Just because...

I love 'em both!

my little photographer

Emmy got a hold of my point-and-shoot camera the other day.  A friend came to my door and the camera was entertaining Emmy while I talked so I just let her carry it around.  I wasn't too worried about her breaking it or anything. 

Anyway, after my friend left and Emmy had set the camera down, I thought I'd better playback and delete all photos of the floor and ceiling she may have taken.

Imagine my surprise when this is what I found...I'm pretty sure she learned this from her aunt Holly! (granted there were still a few ceiling shots, but photos like these were the majority)

She's sitting in the laundry basket here.

Almost centered.

TADA!  Next time maybe she'll smile (looks like she decided two hands worked better than one).



I still can't believe she took these by herself! 

What a little ham! 

may 8, part 3: a celebration

A CELEBRATION

I couldn't write/post/mention all the happenings on May 8 and not mention the special women in my life...

Mother love is the fuel that enables a normal human being to do the impossible.
~Marion C. Garretty, quoted in A Little Spoonful of Chicken Soup for the Mother's Soul

(i'm sorry i couldn't find a photo of my grandma petersen)


Thanks to all the special women in my life (some of which are now my angels).  I love you all and have learned so much from you!
I hope I can be the mother to my children that you have been to yours.

Happy late Mother's Day!

AND MOM, you are my best friend and the best example of motherhood I know!  I love you so so so so so so much!



may 8, part 2: a blessing

A BLESSING

May 8 was our sweet little Bailey Kaye's blessing day.

She looked so beautiful on her special day!  I soaked and pressed MY blessing dress and Bailey wore it.  She also wore the same little white booties Emmy was blessed in.  Another little tid bit, Emmy was blessed on Father's Day and now Bailey was blessed on Mother's Day! 

It was so nice to have our family celebrate our two girls with us. Bailey has some proud grandparents... 

I just love these picture of Bailey with her grandpa "Pete" and grandma "D"...



It's still hard to believe we are a family of 4.  I sure love it though.  I am so proud of my girls and of my sweet husband.  I am so thankful that we will all be together for eternity!

may 8, part 1: a birthday

A BIRTHDAY

I can't believe how much Emmy has grown in the last year!  Here we are, last year, celebrating her first birthday.

My little one-year-old...

And here we are celebrating birthday #2!

It gets me a bit teary-eyed as I reflect on the last year and see just how much my little girl has grown.

This year Emmy's birthday fell on Mother's Day and we also decided to bless Bailey.  It was a beautiful day, even though the cold wet weather kept all our celebrating inside. 

We had family over for lunch and celebrated with cake, ice cream and gifts.  I watched Emmy as she played with her cousins, ate her lunch and opened her gifts...I kept thinking to myself, "she seems so grown up to me."  From her mannerisms to her words.  My little baby isn't a baby anymore. 

 Now, she likes to dress herself.  Rarely does she match and most days we go through several outfits because one gets "dity" (dirty) or wet.  She's constantly taking her pants off and now her diaper too!

 

Emmy is pretty good at feeding herself.  There are a few foods that slip off the fork or spoon, but she does a good job with everything else.  She is very independent, yet wants "hep" (help) with things too.  The only thing is, as soon as you go to help her, she wants to do it herself. 

Emmy still loves bath time, always has.  She helps wash her hair and body.  She could play in the tub for hours if I let her.

Rain or shine, Emmy's most favorite place to be is outside.  The first thing she says in the morning these days is "weee?" Wondering when we can go out and play.  When I can't be outside with her, I just let her crawl in and out of the doggy door and she plays outside with the dogs or on her swing set.  She already has a farmers tan and it's only mid May!  

Although she seems to suck on her toothbrush more than brush with it, she's starting to get into the routine of brushing in the morning and night.  She pulls up her little chair to the sink, I turn on the water and she brushes away!

The biggest change in Emmy's life this last year has been that she is now a big sister.  This new role of hers has helped her grow even faster, I think.

Sharing the spotlight is still a little hard for her (or should I say, sharing mom and dad has been hard) but she sure loves her little sister and Emmy is such a good helper. 

At TWO YEARS OLD Emmy:

- is putting two and three words together (ie. Emmy open door, snack purple bowl, pink shoes...)

- she FINALLY weighs over 21 pounds, she's 22 pounds now!

- loves to sing!  she carries around the mini children's song book, opens it and sings (her singing is saying aaahh-yay over and over in different pitches)

- she knows where all her body parts are in the song "head, shoulders, knees and toes"

- she folds her arms when we pray and says amen

- she is very particular and likes things a certain way, like her socks rolled or her food cut

- she also doesn't like when her hands are dirty or there is a spill on the table or floor.  "clean up" she says and then she has to clean it up or have it cleaned up

- she know bunches of colors, animals and even opposites

- she LOVES books!  it isn't uncommon for me to find her on the floor, on our bed or in the rocking chair just looking at books

- she calls her blanket "dity" and Bailey "doo-ah" (still unsure why)

- her nicknames include:  Emmer, Emerald, Em-gem, Emmy-Lou, Emmy Alice, Em and Emmerson.  Who knew the name Emmy could be lengthened?

- she gives loves and kisses that melt my heart

I could go on and on!  I love reflecting about all the ways she's changing and all the things she's learning. 

Emmy is such a blessing in our lives and she brings so many smiles and giggles into our home. 

Happy Birthday, Emmy!  We love you!

april came and went

Before diving into our MAY adventures and activities I thought I had better post some more of what we did in April...

Because of the cold, wet weather, most of our time was spent inside.  Lots of bubble baths, yummy snacks and loads of laughs!  We did get out a few times for some swinging and playing at the local playground though.

Emmy and I colored some eggs for Easter and she was so careful not to break the eggs.  It was  pretty cute. 

I'm happy the sun decided to shine a little for Easter!  Emmy wasn't real great at the easter egg thing but she loved being outside.

Overall, April was a pretty good month!  I'm just hoping (and I'm sure Emmy is too) May brings a little more sunshine our way!

(now I can move on to my May posts) 



May 8

A blessing and a birthday...

I want to tell you all about them.

And I will soon :)