let it snow

I think these photos speak for themself.

HAPPY WINTER!!

buddies

I'm not too sure my brother would be too happy to know I posted these pictures, but I can't help myself.  Isn't he a cutie!!

I've been tripping through memory lane today and these pictures make me excited for Emmy to have a little sister - a little buddy, partner in crime, an audience...

My brother and I are 27 months apart and Emmy and her sister will be 22 months apart so I can kind of get an idea from these photos of all the fun they will have together.  Only difference is Emmy will have a little sister to push the stroller and play "My Little Pony" with.  

Oh Dave, you were such a good sport to play with toys I liked! 

WAIT...there's more...
Upon continuing my crusade down memory lane I found these-
Heather and Holly are about 19 months apart.  Look at all the fun they had together.

Not real sure about Holly's outfit here? 

Napping after playing in the sun at grama house.

AAAhhh, so cute. Nothing like playing beauty parlor with your sister. 

DANCING!  
Heather was quite the little performer!

And MOM, I expect you to get in and dance too once in awhile! 

Wasn't that a fun little trip!  I know I enjoyed it! 

Here's to baby #2!  Bring on the adventures!

P.S.  Is it just me or does Emmy look a little like her Uncle Dave and Aunt Holly when they were little? 

oil anyone

I found a little secret.

My hair has been so dry and so frizzy that it's breaking off and it's been driving me crazy!  I've tried skipping out on the blow drying, not spending too much time using the straightener in certain places, buying frizz free spray, used leave in conditioners and different shampoo's... After all my different experiements I've found that a little baby oil in my hair has really done the trick.  No more frizzies, my hair feels soft and I haven't experienced anymore breakage (I'm still not blowdrying as much though)!  Who would have thought the least expensive product would work the best!

With that said, tame those fly aways and give your hair a little shine with a tiny tab of baby oil each day this winter.  Not enough to make it greasy, just a dab to make it glow!  And smell nice too! 

I know, RANDOM.

little squirt

This little munchkin is 18 months old!!!

Where oh where does the time go?

You can't see her pretty teeth or contagious smile in this picture but right now this is our Emmy to the core.  She has developed an attachment to this little stuffed puppy and carries it EVERYWHERE!  It watches her eat, sleep, bath, it shops with us, visits grandparents with us and plays outside on the swings.  She calls it her "boppy."  We can't seem to leave home without it. 

Another little item she is more attached to than she has been is her binkie!  I don't know where this came from!  She used to just need it for naps and night time and occasionally during the day but now she's asking for it a LOT more!  I talked to my dentist about it and he said as long as it fits her mouth it's helping her mouth shape and develop.  He took a peek at her mouth and told me there was no problem with her teeth and sucking her bink is fine...unless she's still sucking it when she's 6 years old.  So, I guess it'll be around a little while longer.  Besides, how do I take it away from her when we'll have a new baby in the house that may need/want one?

At 18 months Emmy...

*is in the 3% for her weight (she really is a little squirt)

*in the 15% for heighth (i know those tall genes are in there somewhere)

*can identify at least 5 animals by making their sounds

*has all her teeth but her 2 year-old molers

*thinks she's too grown up for her high chair so she stands on a chair at the table next to me

*has a vocabulary of about 20 recognizable words (well, recognizable to us)

*insists on carrying her own bag of groceries/items to the car (this is especially cute when she's carrying a children's place bag out of the mall...she's my little shopping buddy)

*carries around a little step stool to help her climb on the couch and other furniture she shouldn't be on

*knows what nap time and night-night are and she grabs her binkie, her blanket and her puppy when we tell her it time to rock. she then walkds to her room and waits for Brian or I  closes the door when we are in the room with her.

*DOESN'T REALLY LIKE TO ROCK ANYMORE!!!  this is a SUPER SAD one for me!  she'll let you rock if you're lucky but most of the time as soon as you try to sit down to rock her she points to her bed and says "nigh-nigh" 

*loves kids!  but not nursery - yet! (she lasted 15 min. on Sunday.  i think we're going to have to break her in gently)

*sings from the hymn book with us at church

*still loves to help me clean

*is quite the little dancer

*loves to wear my necklaces and bracelets (if I have a necklace on, she needs one too)

*is a breakfast girl, but lunch and dinner are a bit harder for us

*doesn't like to ride in the seat in shopping carts but would rather sit in the basket with the groceries or stand on the end and hang on (i'm the one to blame for this one)

*catches on to things super fast.  you only have to do something once and she'll start doing it too (she now tells the dogs to "go" or "move" and points or kicks when she says it...oops)
*Emmy puts her dirty clothes and socks in the hamper after we undress her and she puts Brian's socks in the hamper for him!  (he teases me about never having to put his socks away again.  we'll see about that)
*EMMY CAN SAY HER OWN NAME!  and she knows when to use it too!

I could go on and on!  Emmy is such a delight!  I am so blessed I am able to be a stay-at-home mom and spend so much time with my little buddy. 

(couldn't resist taking this photo the other night.  it kills me how attached she is to that puppy!)

I LOVE YOU EMMY!  

girls retreat

I love the girls in my ward!  We've got a fun little group that celebrates birthdays together and goes to the midnight showings of the lastest Twilight Saga movies.  We laugh, we cry (mostly because we are laughing so hard), we talk, we shop...

Whenever it is that we decide to move or any of these fun girls decides to move it will be a sad day.

This weekend our friend Jen arranged for a nice little girls retreat and craft night at her grandparents house.  There were 7 of us that went so we loaded up 2 cars and headed out Friday afternoon for our little road trip and fun getaway.  We figured between the 7 of us we left behind 20 kids!  Don't we have wonderful hubby's!

Jen's grandparents were so sweet to welcome all of us wild women into their home!  When we got there we had a fabulous potato bar and then it was right to crafting!

Super cute wouldn't you say?  It was fun to see how everyone's turned out just a little different according to their personality and paper choices.

Did I mention the chocolate malts Jen's grandpa made that kept us going as we crafted? 

I'm usually in bed by 10pm at the latest but Friday night was an exception.  We stayed up and played a few games and did lots of laughing and talking.  It was 3am by the time we all hit the pillows!  Jen's mom and gram stayed up most of the night with us too!

The next morning we had....MICKEY MOUSE WAFFLES!!!!  Oh boy were they delicious!  I think I need one of these fancy waffle makers!  It sure makes breakfast more fuN!

A few of the ladies had to head home a little early but the rest of us did a little shopping on our way home.  I feel bad this is only a picture of 5 of the 7 of us (10, actually when you count Jen's gram, mom and sister!). 

It was a FUN, FUN, FUN night away with a great group of gals.  I did get a little anxiety leaving Emmy again, but I think a few more of these girls getaways will cure that pretty fast! 

Can't wait for our next adventure!  

Halloween

Well we survived Halloween.  Emmy and I carved our pumpkins Saturday while Brian helped with a neighborhood tree planting "activity."  Emmy was actually really good at pulling out the seeds as long as they were on a spoon and not on her hand.

The tree planting took a lot longer than planned so it shortened our evening of trick-or-treating a bit.  We did a few quick visits to the grandparents and great-grandparents to show off our cute little puppy.  She say's "woof, woof," super good!

Since it was a tad cold and rainy we didn't get any trick-or-treating done around our neighborhood.  We DID however, make one important visit...our neighbors set up a big tent in their driveway each year and serve up chili, hotdogs and hot chocolate.  OF COURSE we made it over there! 

I don't think Emmy missed out on the whole trick-or-treating bit though.  She LOVED giving candy out to the kids when they came to the door.  She'd carry around the bowl or just a piece and wait.  When I told her she had to wait for the kids to knock, she went over to the door and knocked herself! 

I was a little disapointed in the number of trick-or-treater's this year.  I don't know about you but I feel like there's too much trunk-or-treat and not enough trick-or-treat.  Wasn't the funnest part of Halloween walking around and knocking on doors with your friends and saying hi to neighbors?  What happened to those good ole days? 

Anyway, and since Sunday was officially Halloween Emmy and I wore our orange and black to recognize the holiday.  

All together, we had a really great Halloween and hope you did too. 

P.S.  My costume fell through.  No dressing up this year, bummer.  I've already put my thinking cap on for next year though! 



emmy got mail!

I LOVE getting mail (not bills)!  There's just something about opening that mailbox and finding a personally addressed envelope or seeing a box on the doorstep.  Today after our trip to the grocery store Emmy and I came home to see this...a fun package!

 It was addressed to none other than EMMY!

She was so excited!  I said, "Look, this is for Emmy."  She took if from me and studied and kept saying, "Emmy, Emmy, Emmy," as she admired it (I can already tell Christmas this year is going to be a blast!!).

It was a fun Halloween package from my sister Holly!  When I told Emmy it was from Holly she said, "Hawee, Hawee."

She loves her new shirt Holl's!  Thanks for thinking of Emmy on Halloween!  See you in a few weeks!

halloween at our house

I think I'm ready.  It seems to me that since Halloween is on a Sunday this year we had to be ready earlier than usual because all the festivities are happening days if not weeks early. 

Well, our house is as decorated as it's going to get...

I finally made a Halloween wreath after eyeing up the tutorials for weeks...

I've bought all the candy I plan to purchase.  When we're out, we're out.

Emmy has her costume - and I'm still working on mine.  I'm a little sad I won't be sporting any wigs or false eyelashes this year (pic's of us in a day or so)

I've made the Halloween treats I've been wanting to make...actually there are a LOT of treats I'd like to make but I think I'd be the one eating them all!

And I made Emmy a Halloween skirt for Sunday!  Since we won't be sporting our costumes, I figured we needed to recognize the holiday somehow.  It's just out of scrap fabric I had so it isn't super Halloween, but it's the right colors -a-?

(not the best photo, but it's all I was able to get of her in it today.  i'll try again on Sunday.  and just a little side note...we were going to run errands this morning and take some halloween treats to friends.  i said, "Emmy lets get ready to go."  she started gathering all sorts of things to bring with us!  her bucket-with toys in it of course, her sippie, her purse, a necklace, a headband...she is so my daughter!)

Well, I think now all we have left to do is carve pumpkins and go trick-or-treating!  Can't wait!

Happy Halloween everyone!