Finally!

Emma has never had a real hair cut before-her hair just doesn't seem to grow very fast. There were a few times she had a small baby mullet growing, but the hair I trimmed was so small you couldn't even see it. I didn't try and put too many headbands in her hair, because as soon as I started trying, she started ripping them out once she noticed they were there. And don't even think about ponytails-she wouldn't even let me come near her with a ponytail holder. Until last night! I was messing around with her hair and all of a sudden, she asked for her hair to be in a ponytail. Of course, I jumped up and grabbed a little holder. She was so excited to show Daddy and Kiki her new do. She kept it in for about an hour and hopefully this won't be a one time thing!

Growin Baby Boy

Well, the time has come! We decided to try and give Luke a little rice cereal last night before his 6 o'clock feeding and he did really well! When we were at the doctor for his 4 month check-up, she told us we could try anytime and see how he does. If he didn't like it, we could wait and try and again in a few weeks. But he was taking it all in with no trouble. I thought I would try again before his 10 o'clock feeding too. I accidentally put in twice as much as I did the first bowl and he ate a few bites, but wanted his bottle. After his bottle, he still seemed interested in eating, so I decided to offer more and he finished it off. I have a feeling he will be eating baby food in no time!

Emma is quite the little monkey these days, every time I turn around she's climbing up on something! Her new favorite thing to climb on is the desk in the kitchen

 

Just call her Van Gogh!

Emma has all of her art supplies in a cabinet that she can't open yet and all the pens in the house are put away in a desk. So there really is no way for her to get into any real trouble. Until today, that is! She loves to get a hold of my purse and take everything out of my wallet. Well, today she went looking and hit the jackpot. She found a pack of crayons from Crackle Barrel and a ball point pen. I was changing Luke's diaper and found her "creation" She colored all over the back of the love seat in red, blue and yellow crayon and a blue pen. I mean she went to TOWN on the couch! I was speechless when I first saw it. She has NEVER done anything like this before (maybe because all the goods are put up-but still!) and I was surprised she didn't ask me to come look at it when she was done. Guess it's time to pay more attention to what's in my purse!!
I quickly googled ideas on how to clean it off and the pen seems to be the most stubborn to get off. The crayon sort of came off and the rest just kind of blended in.

Dresser for Emma

As if I didn't have enough going on at home-my husband, two babies, a dog, laundry (uugh!!), house cleaning, and a million errands-I decided that I want to become more of a DIY'er and save money while making cute things around the house. My first "project" was painting a few small pieces of furniture for Emma-a bench and a shelf that is also a coat hanger. My biggest project is her dresser from the 70's. My grandmother had the same furniture for two of my aunts growing up and there was a lot. And pieces have been passed around the family and undergone many paint jobs. When I got a hold of a dresser, my first thought was "Paint it pink!" Matt thought it might be better to change it up a little bit. I ended up choosing a pale blue and realized that I would be able to paint the primer on and then spray paint the paint. Let me tell you how much easier it is to spray paint than to use a brush! I found a mirror that didn't go with the set, but ended up working out really well. I'm just on the hunt now for new drawer pulls. Please ignore the unfinished paint job of Emma's wall!

It's time for more Emma Talk

On our way home from running errands, she asks who's at home and  who are going to see. I said Daddy and she said Oh daddy is going to be so excited to see me!

When she wants Luke to wake up, she gets in his face and yells Wake up baby!!

When we are in the car and going down a hill she yells Wow! We are flying!

Bella was bothering her and she wanted her to stop and she said That's enough Bella, I said that's enough!

After Matt cut his hair she said Daddy you look so handsome!!

When her show ends, she always turns and asks What's comin on next?!

Gives me a big hug and says Mommy you're my best friend! I thought I was special until I learned she told Matt the same thing-I guess you can have two bffs!

Tells Luke You're my buddy

Took Luke's hand and shook it saying I'm Sissy, nice to meet you!

Told Matt and I she didn't want to hold Gigi (her baby doll) because she needs to go to the doctor, she's sick. He needs to take her temperature

She dropped a cracker outside and said Oh that's dirty-squirrels will eat it!

A big thunderstorm started and Emma said We have to sing our song and starts singing rain rain go away

Bella was trying to get something out of her hand and she looked at Bella and said Bella no swiping!

Chubba Wubba

I can't believe that our beautiful baby boy has been here for 4 months already! Granted, 26 of those days were spent in the NICU, but it still has flown by!! We had a feeling that Luke was going to have a nice weigh in for his 4 month check-up today. Matt swore he was over 11 pounds and I thought it was going to be more like 9 or 10. Well, Daddy got it right! Luke weighs in at 11 pounds 5 ounces. Holy cow!!  A crazy thing I discovered when I got home and checked out Emma's baby book was that Emma was only 11 pounds 4 ounces at 4 months! And she started out 3 pounds heavier at birth. Another crazy thing is that Emma only weighs eleven pounds more than he does right now-that's right, two of Luke and you get one little Emma.  Luke's progress is so good, that if he was only 4 ounces heavier, he would be on the chart for a full term 4 month old. He's also 23.5 inches long and his head is 16 inches. It is hard to believe that our tiny baby is growing so fast. Now when people ask how old he is, they will no longer immediately say "Oh my gosh, he's so tiny!!" At this rate, Emma isn't going to be the "big" sister for very long!

Pajama Day!

We've been going, going, going this summer-so it was nice today to have a big ol' pajama party! We all stayed in our bed and had breakfast (and lunch!) and a few naps while Daddy watched the US lose to Japan in soccer. Emma was eating a Popsicle that had a joke on the stick and she "told" the joke to Matt who overly dramatically laughed at her and she thought it was so funny. She asked for another Popsicle just so she could tell him another joke. Emma completed our lazy day by eating scrambled eggs for dinner.

 He looks like he's crying, but he's actually cracking up at Emma!

Let Me Tell You 'bout My Best Friend!

Yesterday, we finally got to meet Baby Trey!! That morning, Emma and I went to pick up breakfast and talked to Rachel about getting together for a little bit. After I got off the phone, I told her Rachel and PJ were coming over with their baby. She was so excited and hollered "A BABY!!!!! I have a baby TOO!!!" When they came over that afternoon, Emma was beside herself. She wanted to hold both boys and would rub Trey's little face and laugh and laugh at him. She was not happy when it was time for them to leave, but is looking forward to seeing them again soon!

Well, hello hand

Yesterday afternoon the AC went out in our house and when we woke it, it was way too hot for us to be at home. I immediately got everyone dressed and out the door. We enjoyed breakfast at Starbucks and then headed to the mall to kill more time. While we were wandering in and out of stores, I looked down at Luke and noticed something. He was checking out his hand! He was looking at it and moving it all around. It was so cute!! I don't know that he has fully grasped (no pun intended) the concept that he has a hand he can grab things with. But he is starting to notice it's there.

Busted!

Sunday afternoon, Emma and I headed to Target to get a few things and of course Emma was wearing the pink shoes that are still too big. After wandering around for awhile, it was time to go home. We started walking and all of a sudden, Emma tripped over her own two feet. Luckily, her face was able to break her fall. Yep-she landed square on her face-more specifically her mouth. As soon as I picked her up, blood was everywhere! All down her face all over her shirt and she was screaming bloody murder. My whole body broke out into a sweat as I started trying to think what to do. I left the cart (along with one of those stupid shoes) and as we were rushing through the store I remembered the cafe area they have. I got her some ice and was able to control the bleeding-but her poor lip had already tripled in size. As I was trying to get her to calm down, she repeatedly asked for her other shoe. We went back to the cart and everything was still there. We made it to the check-out and out the door and ran into Mom and Rob. It was so HOT outside, so we went back inside and she picked out a cherry slushie and was not happy with the ice on her lip. I knew Matt would be better at being the tough guy and he took care of business when we got home. She was a tough little girl, watching Dora and dealing with the cold pak. We put her to bed later and then ended up having her sleep with us in our bed so we could make sure everything was ok. The pictures really don't even do justice to just how big her lip got-but you can get the idea

Vroom Vroom!!

Emma got to have special time with just Mommy and Daddy and we took her to her first movie! For the past week, we were talking up going to see Cars 2 and getting popcorn, candy and coke. She was getting so excited and every time there was a commercial for Cars, she would start asking to go see the movie. Yesterday was finally movie day. We woke up talking about the movie and she kept saying we were going to the "movie show" and have Dr. Pepper (she IS her mother's child). We got get her down for a nap so she would be nice and rested for the movie. Normally when we go to the movies, we sneak in (shhh!) our own candy and sometimes soda and just get popcorn. Since this was Emma's first movie experience, we wanted to get everything at the theater-which meant spending twice as much as we normally would, but it was worth it! The movie theater has a kiddie box that includes a drink, popcorn and fruit snacks. Matt and I had to have some snacks too, so thirty dollars later, we were all set for the movie. We got there in plenty of time so that she could take it all in. When we walked in, she was amazed (and I mean AMAZED!!) at the size of the screen! And so excited for the movie to start, since we go there early we had to watch all the previews and she was getting a little impatient. But, she did well. Before the movie started, there was a Toy Story Short Film and she was so excited! The Toy Story movies are her favorite and she was so excited to see them on such a big screen. When it ended, she whipped around and said "Mommy, its over!!" Matt and I both laughed because we knew she would not be happy when Woody and Buzz were gone. Quickly, she was over it because Cinderella's castle appeared with fireworks. She said "Ooooooh, it's so pretty!!!" The movie started and she did really well. There wasn't anyone sitting in front of us, so she spent some time standing up and laying her chin on the chair with her arms out. She turned around at one point and saw the projector and pointed and said "Look, another movie. I wanna watch that one!" We had to explain a few times that the bigger movie was better.
Winnie the Pooh comes out on the 15th and we know she's going to love that movie even more!

Happy Birthday Aunt Kiki!!

Yesterday was Katelyn's birthday and she wanted to eat Crackle Barrel for dinner. So Matt, Emma, Luke, Papa, Blair, Nana, Jessie, Aaron, Katelyn and I headed up to the Crackle Barrel for a nice country dinner. We all started off with some mouth watering biscuits and jelly. We had a hilarious server named Jake; who, by the end of dinner, told us his whole life story. At least it was entertaining :o)
Half of us enjoyed a yummy breakfast for dinner while others chowed down on chicken BLT's, Chicken and Dumplins' and roast beef. After dinner, we spent some time in the Store checking out all the candy, toys, and cute clothes. Emma picked out a pink water bottle filled with suckers-no surprise there! And  then we headed outside to spend some time on the rocking chairs. Emma was loving the fireflies and wanted to catch one, but was a little too afraid to touch them.

Happy 4th of July!

Our 4th of July plans this year meant a day at the lake! Along with Roger, Blair and Katelyn; we packed up and headed down to the lake to meet my parents and hopefully get some sun and a nice long boat ride. We arrived around 11 with sunny skies and a nice breeze. It wasn't long before we had to get into the water-it was HOT! Luckily there were plenty of floats to lay on and cool off. Emma was not into swimming in the lake AT ALL-she screamed and I mean screamed when I put her in the water. Even after she got out, she was screaming for me to get out until she was distracted by the music on the boat. Matt took Blair and then Katelyn on a nice :) jet ski ride before we had Dad's "famous" ribs for lunch. Then it was time to head out onto the water-the sky was starting to look a little dark, but we were heading off anyway. We made it to Queens Landing and about 15 minutes after we docked, the sky was getting dark. And sure enough-the bottom fell out. We waited for almost an hour for the storm to pass and it got very cold out. We all bundled up under towels (and it started raining again) and braced for the chilly ride back. Of course, after we got back to the house the rain was completely gone and the water was very calm. But it was still pretty chilly. We decided that we would head on home and made it home in time to watch the NYC fireworks on TV. It's not quite the same as real fireworks, but it was probably better to stay in than try and take Luke out to the loud noise. The rain threw off my plan to get a bunch of family pictures-including Katelyn and I in matching bathing suits-ha!-so I only have a few from the boat.

 

"Sun"day Funday!

Yesterday, Matt, Emma, Katelyn and I had a great time at the pool. We got Emma some water wings and a small inner tube that we were hoping would hep get her swimming in the pool-and it worked! She took a little bit of warming up-she was afraid she was going to be under the water the whole time. Finally, she realized that the floats would keep her up and we weren't that far away from her. She was in the water for almost an hour floating around and saying "Look at me, I'm swimming!!"