Videos...old and new

I know that I haven't posted much recently. It seems I never have time to sit down and write. I will soon :) Here are some videos (from summer and one today) of Em that we sent to the grandmas.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0MZQSGyhjo

So busy!

I haven't updated the blog in so long. It's been a crazy start to the school year. I switched grade levels this year, and it is a ton of work. I am currently teaching 4th grade. Emma is getting so big and fun! She just turned 18 months last week. She is talking like crazy. She understands everything we say. She knows a lot of her colors. She is running everywhere. She is so good when I drop her off at school. She gives me a hug and goes and play. There are never any tears. I am already counting down until our summer together!! I'll try to post pictures soon! :) and write a more in depth post :)

Wow, Where Did Summer Go?!?

I know that I have been very bad about posting this summer. I seriously can't even believe this is my last week home with Emma. I feel like summer just started. Emma starts back at school on Monday so that she can slowly transition back, and so I can go work in my room a bit. I am switching grade levels this year, and I a little nervous about it. Thank goodness he switched me and two good friends to 4th. Emma and I had an AWESOME summer. We got so much mommy/Em time. We took a daily morning walk with Riley, played with everything in the playroom, worked on puzzles, colors, shapes, and matching objects. She is SO smart. I can't believe the stuff that she can do (I know I am little biased :)). We went to aquarium a lot (we were both free and Tom has a pass, so parking was free too). We went to play dates in Tampa and Orlando. We spent many hours at Gymboree classes and open play. Most of all, we just got a lot of time to spend together. Going back to work is going to be so hard (for both of us). We went to her school yesterday to drop off some stuff and she was clinging to me. Then as soon as we got in the car, she didn't want to leave and started to cry. (so funny!).

I can't believe how many words she can say. Every day she says something new. A few of them are: mommy, daddy, riley, bird, juice, eat, night-night, bee, buzz, cow, moo, bath, duck, turtle, mac and cheese, fish, bubbles, (I know there are more, but it's hard to think on the spot, haha).

She is not only walking like a pro, but starting to run. She is also into walking backwards right now. She still loves to push things, but now goes so fast. She loves to dance. Yesterday we were in Lowes and she was walking around and heard music and just starting dancing. It was so cute! She loves songs, books, and puzzles.

I hope that the school year goes by as quick as the summer did!! Emma is transitioning to a new class at school. She is moving up! I'll let you know more next week when she goes back.

Summer!!!

Soooo excited to have the summer off and be able to spend it with Em. I am so excited about all of the fun activities we can do....story times, swim lessons, playdates.... :)

Family Photos

We took family photos with Ashlynn a couple of weeks ago. She is an AMAZING photographer and also a parent at my school. She was the photographer for the "Brag About Baby" photo shoot Em did when she was 6 months old. We went to Howard Park and took pictures at the beach and the park. We are so excited to see how they turned out! Here are a few sneaks...that she posted on her facebook page of Em.

What a Trooper...

Wow, what a year it has been for Emma with sickness. I guess that's what happens when you go to daycare and everyone shares germs. She started daycare in August when I went back to work, before that she never even had a cold, runny nose, etc. In November, she got RSV which was very scary for us. She didn't have a terrible case, but bad enough. Then she had a constant runny nose, cough, and congestion until around February. In February, she got a double ear infection and upper respiratory infection. This was the first time she was put on antibiotics. The antibiotics made her stomach super upset. Poor thing! Then not even a couple days after she finished her antibiotic, we had to take her to the After Hours Pediatrics because she had a fever and was pulling on her ear. She had another ear infection and double pink eye. She finished that round of medicine and we went back to check and she still had the ear infection, which put her on her 3rd round of antibiotics. She also had a yeast infection and thrush from all the meds. UGH! Today I took her for another follow up and her right ear is perfect (yay!), her left ear has a little fluid but no puss or inflammation, and her thrush is all gone. We are going to wait a month until her next well appointment to recheck the ears. She now has croup, which is really bad at night. So she is taking a steroid for the next three days. What a year! Poor baby! You would never know though because she is happy and smiling all the time. We are so blessed! Please pray that Em gets healthy~! 18 more days until 8 weeks off of daycare--yay!!!!

Sooo smart!

I can't believe how much Emma knows. I know all babies are sponges and it's so neat how much they pick up on day to day. Today we were playing in the playroom and I watched her pour tea into her cup and pretend to drink it. I was like wow, she's growing up so fast! She can point out animals and objects when I say their name. She can show me "How Big" and "Peek-a-boo" on demand. She can point out her nose, ears, and belly button when asked. She constantly says, "juice", "ma-ma", "da-da", "gone", "ball", and probably a few more that I can't remember now. She LOVES stories! When I am sitting in the playroom, she will grab a book and sit right in my lap to listen. It's so cute! She knows how to give a hug and what kisses are. She will blow kisses too. I think that her favorite things are clapping and waving which she does all the time. She is no longer toddling around. She is a master at walking. I love how she belly laughs at the simplest things. She is always so happy. Tom and I are so blessed and thank God every day for the most precious gift in the world.

The difference a year makes...

Easter 2010 and 2011

St. Patrick's Day 2010 and 2011

Emma's Birthday!

Tom and I both took Emma's birthday off of work. We wanted to spend the day with her. We decided to take her to this baby play place in Palm Harbor. It is an indoor play area for kids ages 0-6. She loved it! Then we went to Panera Bread and she had her FIRST kid's meal. She got a grilled cheese sandwich. We decided to stop in Chuck E. Cheese, but there wasn't much for kids her age. We tried to put her on one ride, and she wasn't having it. We went back home and went on a family walk in her new buggy and then just hung out and played. It was a GREAT day!! :)

Emma's 1st Birthday Party!

We had the BEST time at Emma's birthday party. We are SO lucky to have the most amazing family and friends that helped us celebrate. We found a cute owl theme that said, "Look Whoo's Turning One..." We decorated with pink and green, which matched the owl theme. Tom and I made chocolate owl popsicles as a favor. I hung up all of her monthly pictures with sock monkey and we just had a great time celebrating with friends. Emma put her hands right into her smash cake, but immediately was not happy that they were dirty. She let me feed her the cake, but wasn't a big fan of getting dirty (didn't get that from me, haha).

We Made It....

If you asked me before I had Emma if I was planning on nursing my baby, I would have said no. I am not a very open person and always thought nursing wasn't for me. When I was pregnant I read a lot of books (I always have to be over-prepared), and realized it was the best thing for my baby. I was lucky and Emma took to it right away without difficulty. We had a little trouble the 2nd time after birth because she wouldn't wake up, but for the most part it wasn't that hard. At four months we found out about her milk allergy, and I didn't eat any dairy or soy products for four months (which was tough). However, it made me lose more weight than needed and I'm smaller now than before Emma. (which is a plus). I pumped every day twice a day at school, which meant that I had to do a lot more work at home. I had to bring my pump and find a place to pump on two field trips. It's been interesting! :) I'm so glad that we made it to a year! I know that I did what was best for my baby. I am slowly stopping pumping (wohoo)! I am down to one time, and then plan to be done by next week. We will start weaning one session at a time.

Emma is ONE year old!!!! (WOW!)

I can't believe it's been one year since God blessed us with the most calm, sweetest, prettiest little baby girl. Every day she gets more fun (if that's even possible). She is talking ALL the time. She says a lot of sounds but has been saying, "mama", "dada", "emma", "r", "ba" (for bath and baby), and we think "hi." She is waving at every one, clapping, making that noise with her fingers on her lips, crawling so fast, pulling up on every thing, walking pushing things all over, and so much more. She has 2 teeth. She is eating what we eat. She is still nursing, but not taking any bottles while at daycare. We are slowly cutting back on the nursing to gradually wean her. She isn't walking alone yet, but I know she could. She just isn't brave enough to take that first step. She'll walk around the house holding my finger or the wall. We are so blessed to have her in our life. She is the perfect baby!! I am so excited to embark on this new year of adventure and exploration with her! :) Her stats are 23.5 lbs and 29.5 inches tall. That means in ONE year she has gained 16 pounds and 10 1/2 inches--wow!! :)

Emma's 2nd Tooth!!

We just noticed on Sunday, March 13th (the day before Em's first birthday) that her 2nd tooth cut through. It's funny because it's not one that we thought would be next. It's on the top but not the front teeth. It's the one next to her right front tooth (the 2nd one in). She is one year old and has 2 teeth that have cut through (but you can't even see the 2nd one really).

Emma is ELEVEN months!! :)

Sorry this post is a week late. It's been a crazy week with report cards, family in town, party planning (Tom and Em's), and much more! Emma turned eleven months old on Valentine's Day! I honestly can't believe in a month, she'll be a year old! I know I say this every month, but man...time has flown by!

She is so much fun these days. She is always laughing, smiling, and talking. She is pulling up and walking holding on to things. She hasn't let go yet, but she is so sturdy I think she'd be able to balance herself just fine. She is crazy fast crawler. Her newest thing is to dive into your lap and she just laughs forever. She is getting so smart! I love just watching her play and explore.

She got her first boo-boo at home and at daycare. I guess there will be many more. She started her one-year old schedule at daycare. She is doing good with the waiting until noon to nap, but still going slow with finger foods. Last week for breakfast she had pancakes, waffles, english muffin, and lucky charms. She got to try cheeseburger maccoroni, shephard's pie, spaghetti, beanie weanies, and grilled cheese for lunch.

We can't wait until her first birthday party, and Tom and I both took her real birthday off work so we can have a family day.

Big Girl Transition...

I can't even believe that in ONE month Emma will be one. Craziness! On Monday she turns 11 months and will start the transition to the one year old room at daycare. This means that she will no longer be eating baby food or taking naps on her own schedule. She will be eating breakfast and lunch from the school cafeteria and snacks provided by daycare. She will nap from 12-2 (hopefully), and only take one nap a day. She must wear shoes (which she has been doing for a month now since she is push walking). She will drink water, juice, and milk from a sippy cup (which she has been doing for months at home) instead of any bottles. This will be her new schedule:
7:30 Breakfast and sippy cup of milk
8:45 Morning snack and sippy cup of juice
11:00 Lunch and sippy cup of milk
12-2 Nap time
2:45 Afternoon snack and sippy cup of water

She won't actually start going to the one year old room. She will just start adapting and trying the new schedule. I think once she does move rooms, it will make nap time easier. She doesn't nap well at daycare now because the lights are always on and kids are playing (since everyone is on their own schedule). In the one year old room, they turn the lights off and play music and everyone naps. The only thing that will be an adjustment is they nap on cots on the floor. I don't know how she won't just crawl away, lol.

We've been doing finger foods now for a little over a month. We are so paranoid that we give her tiny little pieces. She has only had soft foods like: cheese, turkey, banana, sweet potato, and puffs. I'm a little nervous about her eating real meals, but also like that they sit with her one on one and make sure it is cut up small. That way when she gets to the one year old room, she'll be ready!

Emma has pretty much weaned herself from bottles at daycare. She will take 1 oz and then go play. She is still eating at home 4 times a day, which is what is recommended until age on, so it's not really a big deal. When she turns one, we'll slowly try to wean her off nursing. Bedtime will be the last to go, and I'm not sure how that will go...

We'll see how it goes on Monday...

Emma has a tooth!!

After months of what we thought was teething, Emma finally has her first tooth!! She got her bottom right front tooth. This morning we were giving her a bath, and noticed it sticking out of her gums. She is 10 months, 3 weeks old and now has a tooth!

We also had our first head bump today :( Emma was walking pushing her bus and tripped and hit her head on it. See the bruise between her eyes. So sad! (but I'm sure there will be many more!)

Growing up so fast!

It's crazy the difference a week can make. My parents got Emma a grocery cart for Christmas, that she loves! However, we would always have to hold it in place because when it started moving she would hold on and fall flat on her face (she wouldn't move her feet). Well, today she started taking steps as it was moving. I was shocked! It was like she had been doing it all along. She is changing so much every day! She is also pulling up on EVERY thing. She stands so well, but always has to have one hand on something.

Emma is TEN months!

I know every month I say how quickly time is passing, but seriously it's crazy that Emma is already ten months old. In two months, she'll be ONE?!? She is crawling around everywhere. She realized this month that she can leave the room, and finds it fun to crawl out the door of the room we are in. She is pulling up on EVERY thing! She isn't cruising or moving her feet, but she stands very well. She is clapping, waving, and making kissing noises (that is her new favorite thing to do). We are trying to get her to blow the kisses, but right now she just looks at you and makes the kiss sound (it's adorable). She is starting to associate people with names. She has been saying "ma-ma" since about five months, but I think she now really knows what it means. She says "da" for Tom, "r" for Riley, and "ba" for baby and bath. Just recently she started saying "Em-ma". She makes a lot of other noises. She says the "ca" sound a bunch. She is laughing and talking all the time. She has started high-fiving us too. She is still not a big fan of finger foods, but we are trying. She just started sleeping great again in her crib--thank goodness!! It took a long time for her to get back into sleeping in her crib after sleeping in her bouncy chair for a few weeks with RSV. Today she even slept until 7:30 (I think it's a record). We are loving the stage she's at now. She can understand things and she is so smart. It's so fun to play with her.