Emily is 1 year old!

Oh sweet Emily, happy happy birthday to you!

You are the best eater!  You try everything.  You like everything (except plain cheerios).  You are such a clean eater...no food on your glasses and rarely in your hair.

You are a sweet sleeper.  Seriously, it is the sweetest thing to see you curled up in your little footie pajamas surrounded by a million pacifiers and your little hands up by your face.  Mommy and Daddy love to go in and watch you before we go to bed.

You love to say banana!  And mama...and now dada.  You like to point to our noses and mouths.

You LOVE your glasses.  You get so excited when mommy picks them up to put them on.  You don't take them off or even play with them and if they slide, you whimper and look at mommy until I fix them.  I've been so surprised and so happy!  You also love your bows.  You like to point them out whenever we are in your room and you proudly smile when we put one on you.  Cute girly girl.

You have 6 little teeth now...finally!  Those top four came in all together at the start of this month.

You are taking STEPS!  Hooray!  You like to push the trash can, the hamper, and the stroller all around them house.  On your birthday you took a few steps on your own!!! Here we go, little almost toddler!

You love to be flipped.  You have loved it for a long time.  This month you started flipping your body backwards in a sort of trust fall *trusting* that we would flip you over.  You did this when mommy and daddy were both in front of you and we both lunged to catch you.  You silly girl. Mommy also caught you "flipping" backwards onto a pillow while you were looking at a book by yourself.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SWEETHEART!  We are so glad you have been in our family for a whole year and love you with all our hearts!

Emily 11 months

My my what a big girl you are getting to be.  Happy 11 months to sweet little Emily!

Highlights of this month:

Kneeling up.  You are so cute as you crawl to something you like then kneel up to play with it.  Or when you crawl to mommy and then kneel up and reach for me to pick you up-oh melts my heart!  Or when you hear music and you go up on your knees and start bouncing and dancing.

You love to eat.  You eat pretty much any and every veggie, fruit, meat, bread that we put in front of you.  You still don't like cheerios unless we are out and about (and it's the only option) or mac and cheese (which is one of Savannah's favorites).  It's so fun to watch you enjoy your meals. New this month is the deliberate hair styling while eating.  You take one hand and run it from the back of your neck, all the way up and over your hair down to your forehead.  Or you take both hands and repeatedly wipe the sides of your hair.  Love you.

Oh sweet teether we can see four little teeth just under your gums up top.  They sure are taking their sweet little time to come through!

Double ear infections this month.  Welcome to your mommy's genes.  :(  We sure are glad you are feeling better!  You are a whole new baby since we gave you that amox!  Although your ears weren't affecting your sleeping or eating, you just weren't as happy.  You have been much less fussy now that your ears are clear-you were sick for a whole month.

We got your prosthesis refitted and recolored.  It looks great!  We go in to fit you for glasses this week-mainly to protect your good eye but it will have a slight prescription, too.  Here goes our next adventure!

Favorite game this month: CHASE.  You love to chase Savannah (being held or "walking" holding our hands) and you love Savannah to chase you.  You also love and SQUEAL and tense up your whole body when daddy says "i'm gonna get you!"  So CuTe.

You love to wave at everything that makes noise.  When a car starts, you wave.  When we are eating dinner, you wave.  When momma's phone rings, you wave. When we walk into the house, you wave.

Cute, cute, cute, little missy.  Happy 11 months to our favorite little Emily!

Emily 10 months

Miss Emily...you are 10 months and then some!  You are growing up so fast.

You love to point.  It's fun to see what you are interested in looking at or going to see as we follow your cute pointer finger.

You are becoming a little more adventurous eater, although you are still picky when something is slightly flavorless (like cheerios).  You much prefer a casserole or something with lots of spices and flavor!

Crawler, crawler, you love to crawl and one of our favorite games is to crawl around following a crawling mommy.  You're too cute.

We had two reunions this month and you got to meet ALL of your cousins and all of your uncles and aunts except Uncle Spencer who is on a mission.

You probably don't care but our insurance finally processed and approved a great chunk of coverage for your prosthesis.  Wahoo!

Your favorite game is to be flipped over.  You crawl up to mommy and put your head down on my tummy while I'm laying down and I flip you over...you laugh, roll over and come put your head down on my tummy again. So fun!

You do NOT like to lay down and be still...for a diaper change, eye drop, PICTURE (hence the slightly unhappy face and paci)...you just roll yourself right over and take off!

Love you sweetie!

Savannah is 2!

Happy Birthday, Savannah Michelle!  You are such a fun 2 year old and we love every new thing you are learning.  What a fun age!!

You are very particular and organized.  If something is even slightly amiss, you want mommy or daddy to "fix it!" right away.  You clean up your own stuffed animals when you take a nap because it drives you crazy to have them not put away. The other night mommy's flip flops were not exactly straight so you stopped playing with daddy, went over and fixed them perfectly and evenly, and then continued on your merry way.  If something is out of it's place, such as a magazine on the wrong shelf, you will proclaim "oopsies" and move it to its "proper" place.

You have learned to smile a cheesy smile and we love it!  You give us this smile a lot when you think we are being funny or when you are being funny.

You have quite the sense of humor.  You know all the animals sounds but now when we ask you what a particular animal makes, you hesitate, give another animal sound and smile that cheesy smile.  Too funny!

Oh boy do you love your little sister.  You love giving her kisses and hugs.  You like to tell mommy when she falls down and then you try and pick her up...which has made mommy come running to Emily's aid much faster.  :)  You do not like to go in the car without Emily.  You always make sure that Emily is coming when I say we are going to the store or church or someone's house.

You like to tell mommy each morning where you think we should go.  The library, grocery store, toy store, mall, Walmart, Addie's house, and daddy's work are your favorites.  You also love to vacuum and clean the bathrooms with mommy.

You like having a schedule.  You know exactly what is going to happen next in the day and you like that it happens that way.  When we switch things up, you sometimes have a hard time adjusting...probably mom's fault-sorry :)

You love silly words and phrases and have cute phrases of your own: "oopsies" "woah, woops" "oh my" "golly sakes" "momma (high pitched) momma (low pitched)" "oh bummer" "savannah wake now!!!" "everybody _______ (almost done, out, share)" "go nursery now! (after every amen in church)" "call grandma grandpa" "self"

Favorite game: Running around the couch squealing while getting chased by daddy and Emily with fun music playing.

Awww mommy found you with a book the other day and you were reciting words and phrases from it while pointing and counting in it.  Too cute!

You know your ABCs, like to count (1,2,3,5,6,8,10,11,12,13,14,8,9...etc), are getting more into coloring, know all your colors, love hats...but not on your head for very long.

You are daddy's girl.  You are the first to run and greet daddy when he gets home from work.  You don't want to try on shoes at the store?  "oh they are like daddy's" and now you want to wear them nonstop.  Daddy is the first person you ask for in the morning...too bad you have been sleeping late and he is gone by the time you wake up (mommy's not complaining!)


We love you, sweet Savannah! Enjoy being 2!

9 months

Are you really 9 months old already?  Wow, the time has flown by!

You are crawling and feeling so independent!  Being mobile helps separation anxiety soo soo much.  It's fun to see what you find interesting and what you really want to play with instead of just guessing what toys you want and giving them to you.  You move around right to your favorites.  Often, your favorite toy is whatever Savannah finds interesting at the moment and she is not too happy to share.  Her version of sharing is to take a toy from you and say "share" or take a toy from you, run away and say "trade."  A time or two recently, though, she has gone and brought back a toy for you and a toy for her and proclaimed "playing! together!"  I love when you two play together and you love it, too!

Thank you for continuing to be a sweetie pie sleeper.  7:30 on the dot and you let us know if you are not in your crib.  You are so ready for your beauty sleep and beautiful you are!  We don't hear anything from you until almost 8am and then you wake up all smiles.  You woke up today sitting up in your crib!  What a big girl!

Girly, you are a water baby!  We went outside the other day and when you saw our little splash pool you started squealing and bouncing in my arms and I could not get you in the water fast enough.  When we go to the splash pad, you just love when daddy holds you in the little water fountains.  You get excited when you get splashed.  You are so fun!

Still two teeth, my dear.  Those other ones are taking their sweet time.

Peek a boo!  When you crawl, you like to put your face down to the ground and then pop up smiling.  It is the cutest version of peek a boo ever!

You are trying new finger foods.  You love veggies and sometimes tolerate fruits.  Funny.  You've tried and liked green beans, corn, peas, carrots, pears, nectarines, puffs, yogurt bites, ritz crackers, cheerios, baby rice cakes, bananas, chicken, jello :)  Let's keep trying new things!!

Aww you love Savannah and you love talking to her.  You will stare so intently at her and squeal or giggle to get her attention, especially at meal time.  She loves to talk back to you and you two have had a couple of darling conversations.  Your best conversations of squealing or giggling back in forth have been in your carseats.  Oh this is just the best and I never want to stop driving when i'm listening to the two of you chat.

We love you, Emily.  You are such a sweetheart.  Happy 9 months old!

Emily 8 months

Happy 8 months, little bug.

You are such an amazing sleeper-and this is one of mommy's favorite things because sleeping mommies and babies are so much happier!  You don't like to snuggle to a song anymore when it is time for a nap or bedtime-you lunge into your crib, sometimes even throwing your pacifier out of your mouth just so you can lay down in your crib (and then there better be pacifiers in there waiting for you!).  Savannah chatters away at bedtime but you are almost instantly asleep.  Mommy has to check on you during your naps because you wake up silently and then just lay silently in your crib and play with your pacifiers.  Perhaps you are enjoying the quiet me-time!

No more teeth this month...not much drooling either.  Those two teeth can get a cracker down so who needs more than that!?

Baby you love food.  You love peaches, pears, mangoes, bananas, squash, sweet peas, sweet potatoes, prunes, and you eat green beans without much of a fuss.  You love your cereal and crackers.  You hate plain yogurt and the two times you've had it you were up for hours in the middle of the night so we are going to hold off for a while with more dairy.  You reach and whine for our table food and we are getting excited to share more with you!

You are getting to be a strong little girl.  You are almost able to pull yourself up to a stand and you love to be up and standing.  You balance up on your hands and knees when I put you down for tummy time but you don't know how to get into the position on your own yet.  You have face planted a few times because you reached so far for a toy from a sitting position-crawling will be a wonderful thing :)

You love to pat your thighs.  When mommy or daddy pat them, you pat them back and we go back and forth with you playing a little Emily pat pat game-so fun!

You have started a forced-sounding squeal when you are excited.  You do it to Savannah when she is playing in front of you, you do it when we are feeding you, and you do it when you are playing by yourself.  It's pretty cute.

You gave yourself the sweetest mirror kiss this week.  It was so darling and you thought that girl in the mirror was so fun!

Happy 8 months, sweet Emily.  We love love love you!

Mother's Day

What a HAPPY Mother's Day!  Sometimes I still pinch myself because being a mom is just the best thing in the world.  For these daughters I hoped, I prayed, I cried, I wished, and I could not be happier.  They are so wonderful and I absolutely love being a mommy!  Sweet Savannah gave me multiple "loves" today just out of the blue on her own accord.  Emily giggled back and forth with me after a feeding.  I love them so much and I feel so loved by them.  I am so blessed to be a mother to my darling little girls!  Life is far from perfect and there are not many grand adventures happening in my life but some of my favorite days are days that I just get to spend laying on the ground, playing with my girls.  Or taking the girls to the park to play with Chris on his lunch break.  Family is what it's all about and I love that 100% of  my time is needed and used up in being with my family.  I love these girls, I love being their mother, and I love my amazing husband who makes it easy to be a mom.  Happy Mother's Day from this happy momma!

Emily 7 months

Happy 7 months to my sleeper baby!  Seriously, you sleep all the time!  I don't know if you are growing or just decided to catch up on all the sleep you missed during the first 6 months of your life but it's crazy.  Here's your schedule:
8am Wake up call (sometimes I help you wake up then so Savannah and your naps line up in the afternoon.  You would, and did, sleep until 10 if I let you)
8-10am Nurse, play, eat cereal/fruit, play
10-12pm Nap (again, I often have to open the blinds and help you wake up at noon)
12-2pm Nurse, play, eat veggies/fruit, play
2-4pm Nap (sometimes this goes until 5)
4-7pm Nurse, play, eat cereal/veggies, play, nurse
7:30pm Bedtime and you are out as soon as we lay you down!

TWO TEETH!  We love your cute little bottom teeth that made their grand appearance together this month.  You've had a few rough nights and tylenol was worthless but a friend suggested ibuprofen and life was back to normal.

You have tried an array of fruits and veggies.  You much prefer the veggies, although it might be because they are thicker.  You don't like your cereal runny so maybe the fruits are too runny for you.  When you don't finish a jar of baby food by the last day, Savannah is happy to eat the rest for you-she gobbles down even the greens... She also likes to sit on mommy and daddy's lap and coach you as you eat.  "Bite!" "Good girl!" "Yummm." "Cereal!" "Squash" "Bananas"  I'm sure you appreciate the help.

You and Savannah are the sweetest little buddies.  You love her so much and she loves you.  The two of you play so well together.  Savannah loves to bring you toys and you love anything and everything she brings you.  One night this month as we were finishing our bedtime routine, the two of you had a ball kissing each other and giggling back and forth.  It was cute enough that we let you stay up and keep at it for 10 minutes past your bedtime (which is huge for your schedule-mom).

Momma's girl.  We left you with a babysitter but you screamed so hard when she came that I just put you to bed 15 minutes early.  We had a neighbor over for Easter dinner and you screamed when she walked in and said hello to you because you did not see mommy or daddy.

Those cute chubby thighs and rolls on your arms have been getting a little smaller.  In fact, you didn't gain any weight from 4-6 months.  We are going back in a few days to see if you have gained this month.

You are a reacher!  You love sitting up and all but refuse tummy time.  You will bend completely flat from sitting up to reach a toy and then sit back up.  Amazing abs, little one.  You love to play with mommy's necklaces and earrings, too.

Oh my dear you learned to hug and it is the most precious thing ever!  You wrap your little arms around our necks and snuggle into our shoulders.  Even when you don't wrap your arms around you love to snuggle.  Sometimes you dive headfirst into our shoulder without warning just to snuggle.  You are our little snuggle-bug.

We love you, sweet Emily.  We sure love that you are part of our family!

Gilbert Temple

Emily 6 months

Emily, my dear, you are 6 months old already.  Where did the time go?

#1 highlight of the month is that you are SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT! Oh what a wonderful thing this has been.  We started by not feeding you in the middle of the night when you woke up-you only got the pacifier.  Your night wakings dropped dramatically and then became just at 4 am...then 5 am...then 6am.  We'll take a 6am wake up call over hourly visits in the middle of the night!  We are so proud of you, sweetie.

You can sit up!  What a big girl you are and how you love sitting up and playing by Savannah.  You can play with so many new toys when you are sitting up and you never want to lay down anymore.

Since you can sit up, we gave you claim to the high chair. Savannah has graduated to a booster and she loves it.  You have the high chair and you are SO much easier to feed oatmeal to with your grabby hands holding the tray instead of trying to grab the spoon and bring it to your mouth.  You are a little too young to feed yourself with a spoon.  :)

You really have come alive this month.  You are much more interactive and you love to laugh and squeal.  Your cousin Owen had you laughing for 10 minutes straight-the hardest laugh I have ever heard from you!  I walked into the house after some errands and I heard lots of squealing.  When I came in to see which girly it was, I found daddy watching both girls in a crib and he announced that the squeals were from BOTH of you.  You love to give kisses when we hold your mouth next to our faces.  You get so excited in our little splash pool and you splash and wave your arms.  You love to take a bath and love it even more when Savannah is in there with you.  We went to a  primary talent show and your eyes lit up with all the kids running around and the hustle and bustle.  We went to storytime at the library this month and you LOVED it. 

We love you, Emily!  It's so fun having you in our family!

Picturemanie

 Pigtails and pockets

 Making lunch with daddy

 

 We got to go to the temple dedication-it was wonderful

 

 Best friends

 Swings!

 Funnest face

 She found her thumb!

 Daddy's cowgirl

 Bike ride with mommy

 Dandelions...with the fluff gone

 

 Visiting daddy at work

 Stories in mommy's bed

 Peek-a-boo

Savannah put a hat on and is making smiles and talking to her reflection in the window.

Emily 5 months

Sweet little Emily is 5 months old!

Emily, you are growing so fast!  Here's what you have been up to this month.

You rolled over!  Only a couple times but we were so excited!  Savannah now likes to help push you over and cheers for you.

You like to spit and blow bubbles.  It's the cutest.

You are eating rice cereal.  You like to bend over into the spoon instead of sitting up and letting us bring it to your mouth.  It's a very messy experience, so good thing daddy is a pro!

You are on a pretty good 3 nap schedule during the day.  This is nice when all 3 girls get a nap in the middle of the day. :)

You are smiling and laughing/giggling more all the time and we love it.  You are so darling and we love making you laugh.  You like to play peek a boo.

Savannah loves you so much!  She always asks "awake?" when you are taking a nap.  She loves to say "GOO-GOO" and "GAAAA" at you (I guess mommy must say this a lot to you).  And when you do wake up from a nap, Savannah runs to you and yells "HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII".  You two are best friends already.

You had your eye surgery and you were a champ.  You recovered great and you are healing well.  We see an ocularist in a few weeks to get your prosthesis.

Up all night.  You must miss us and want extra time with us because you are now up every hour starting at 10pm whether we feed you or not.  Rice cereal made no difference, and neither did sleep training.  You cried for 3 hours straight in the middle of the night and mommy gave up.  We are all so tired, please sleep soon!!

We love you and and are enjoying watching you grow!

Picture Catch Up

 

 

 

 

 Cutest girl at the hospital before surgery

 

 

 Polka dot toes

 Lunch smiles

 

 Best daddy ever

 Kisses for daddy

 We love to be outside

 New favorite thing for both girls-hang out in a crib after naptime together

 Valentine's Day

 Gilbert Temple

 Minnie Mouse matchies

 Lil' snuggler

 Nursery Girl

 Ready for a bike ride with daddy

 

 Dinner Helpers

 She grabbed both spoons by herself

New "cool dudes"