Emily Feeding Herself

Can We Say Daring?

Emily was so hyper while she was sick that I simply could not keep her occupied for very long. This is one of things she did to keep herself busy. Yes, I know it was crazy of me to let her do it but hey, it kept her happy and at least she wasn't making a mess!

Sick and Hyper!

Ok, so I really thought that when your kids were sick they were supposed to be lethargic and cuddly. Evidently that doesn't hold true for mine!

Reaching for the very last book!

She took out all the books!

She took out all her toys!

She played in the dog kennel!

She took out all the hot pads and the dish towels!

And she had a lot of fun doing it!

Clothes!

Oh Boy, I'm in trouble! Emily loves clothes and shoes already! My Aunt Sarah got Emily some new outfits and as soon as Emily saw them she wanted to put them all on! My Mom tried to put one on and then take it off and put another one on but Emily didn't want that so this is what we ended up with. She is wearing 4 shirts and two pairs of shorts/skirt things. The bottom skirt thing is about the same color as one of the shirts so it's hard to see it. She would have had one more shirt and one more skirt but they were in the other room so she didn't see them.

Loving the Bunnies

The Easter Bunny brought these bunnies to Emily and she loves them! She like to bury her face in them and hug them really tight! I was trying to get a picture of her doing that but she saw the camera.

Mommy, Don't Forget to Clap

This is just too cute! Emily is really into clapping right now. She claps at the end of all the songs we sing to her, at the end of prayer, at the end of each hymn we sing at church, you get the idea, she claps at everything and she wants me to clap too! I love this age!

Easter Morning

Emily loved the Jelly Beans that were in the eggs. The Easter Bunny was smart and only put 3 little jelly beans in each egg (except for one that had 5 because there were too many and the easter bunny didn't want to eat them) so that when Emily opened them she wouldn't choke on a mouth full of candy. Naturally the egg she opened was the one with 5 so Mommy had to take it away before she got too many. The funniest part of the story is that as soon as we turned off the camera Emily spit out all the jelly beans! That was a mess! It only looked like she like the candy!

The Easter Bunny Came

Emily was so excited that the Easter Bunny came to visit her! I was in PA visiting J.R. over the actual Easter weekend so we did Easter last Saturday. It was so fun to see Emily get so excited when she saw the candy and the bunnies!

Favorite Snack!

Look at those curls!

This may sound funny but Emily's absolute favorite snack is frozen corn and peas. In fact, I can't get her to eat any kind of fruit except banana's. Every time I offer her fruit she shakes her head no and reaches for the freezer where she know her frozen vegetables are. Crazy girl!

Milk Please

Look at that curly hair! I love it!

Emily comunicates with us very well most of the time, so when she is thirsty or hungry she goes to the fridge and tries to open it. When we help her open it she grabs her milk and gets a drink then she tries to open the fridge again to put her milk back. If she is not thirsty she looks around and finds what she wants and then hands it to us. When we take the lid off of the container she will point to the food if she wants it and if she does not want it she shakes her head no and tries to put the lid back on. She is so smart!

Wink!

It is so fun to talk to Emily because she has so many expressions. My Uncle Ross was upstairs talking to Emily about 2 weeks ago and she winked at him! I just happened to catch it at just the right moment! Emily loves Uncle Ross and she gets so excited whenever she sees him or even hears his voice. They have laughing contests, they play peek-a-boo and Emily loves to tease him. It's hillarious to watch the two of them together.

Having Tons of Fun!

I went in to get Emily from her nap a fews days ago and she was doing this in her crib. When I brought her out to the kitchen she kept doing it! We had so much fun watching her!

Reading to Mommy

Emily loves to read books and when she reads them out loud she talks sucking in while pointing to the pictures. I love it!

Lounging on Mommy's Lap

So Sleepy!

Emily was toying with the idea of giving up her morning nap about a week ago, so I decided that I would just keep her awake until 2pm. Around 12 she came to me with her blanket and said "Night Night." I ignored her and continued trying to keep her awake and happy. I was reading her books when she pushed the book away and laid in my lap. I eventually gave in and put her down around 1pm. She has been very good about sleeping the full 2 hours of both her morning and afternoon naps ever since!

Books for Grandpa

My Dad is always so tired and he can fall asleep just about anywhere. One day while Emily was awake he laid down on the floor and fell asleep quickly. Emily noticed that he was on the floor and started bringing him books to read! I really wish I had taken a video instead of just pictures. Emily was so excited that Grandpa was on the floor and she was laughing and talking the whole time she was bringing books to him.

One Book

Two Books

More

He's just laying here!

Do you need another one?

Come on, Grandpa, read it!

"Pitty Pitty Dess"

My Aunt Sarah gave this dress to Emily about two weeks ago and she LOVES it! The first Sunday that we had it I cut the tags off and turned around with it in my hand. Emily was in the room and she got very excited and said "Pitty Pitty Dess!" She was so excited to wear it! I left it on her all day and then on Monday she found the dress and wanted to wear it again so my Dad put it on over her other clothes and she was just as happy as she could be. She did the same thing on Tuesday and then on Wednesday I put it in the closet so it would stay nice a little longer. When she woke up from her nap she looked for it for a while and then gave up. I think I'm going to have to make her some more pretty dresses!

Sunglasses!

Grandpa brought these sunglasses home from work one day and put them on her. This is the face we got! She is so funny!

Emily loves to read books! In fact she would much rather read than play with her toys! Everyday the books come out of the box and off the shelves and she sits there and "reads" the books. This was one of Grandpa's books. She is so good with all the books. She has never tried to tear any pages and only once has she crinkled the pages.

This Year

I intended to start this blog last June so I could keep everyone up to date on where we were and what was going on but I never got around to it. So, here is the overview. We lived in Des Moines Iowa for 3 years doing podietry school and then in May of 2008 when Emily was 5 months old we moved to Utah. We lived with J.R.'s Aunt and Uncle from June to the beginning of September while J.R. did a rotation at the VA medical center. Then we went back to Des Moines and that's another long story. Anyway, we moved to Tucson AZ at the beginning of October where J.R did another rotation at the VA there. We had a lot of fun in the warm October weather and we got to live in a house all alone that month! Emily and I went for a walk almost every day and we loved exploring the city. In November we were in Portland OR. That was hard to go from warm sunny days to cool dreary rainy days. I had a hard time with that one. The ciry was very confusing and I was frusterated most of the time. Every time I took J.R. to work I would get lost for about an hour before I could get back home and then I would get lost again when I went to go get him. Needless to say, I was very glad to leave that city. In December we were in Albuquerque NM. We lived with some members of the church there who were kind enough to let us stay in their home even though they had never met us before. We will always be grateful to them for the kindness they showed us. Emily turned one on December 5th too! We left Albuquerque a little bit early and visited a residency program in Denver CO. Then we went to Fort Worth TX for Christmas with J.R.'s sister Bridgette and her husband and their 2 adorable little boys! We had so much fun and the weather was so nice! I was thinking we were crazy to leave there. From there we headed up to Johnson City NY where we spent the month of January. We stopped in Mountain Home TN for a little bit on the way up to NY and we loved it there. NY was very cold and snowy but we got to stay in a little appartment accross the street from the hospital and we were alone that month too! Thankfully there a podietry resident and his wife in our ward who let us borrow some pots and pans and a few dishes otherwise we would have had to buy some or make due with one sauce pan, one fork and a few cups! The only thing there was plenty of was cereal bowls. We enjoyed that month a lot too. In February J.R. went to Scranton PA for his core rotation which will last from February 1st to May 15th. Emily and I went to Littleton NH to live with my parents while J.R. completes this rotation. Emily and I do a web cam thing with J.R. every night so we can all see each other every day. I have gone down to see him twice and I took Emily once. I am going down again this weekend but I don't know if I will bring Emily or not. So, that's been our year in a nutshell. J.R. graduated May 23rd and we are really looking forward to it! We will be together after that and we will enjoy that a lot!
Emily started walking in November when she was 11 months old and she has only gotten faster ever since. She loves to sing songs and read books. She also loves to talk while sucking in! We have had so much fun with her this year and everyday she does something new to make us laugh. She communicates very well, especially when she wants something. If she wants her milk she goes to the fridge and tries to open the door. When we open it she gets her milk out and helps us close the fridge. If she wants a hot dog she has us open the fridge door and she points to the meat drawer while trying to say hot dog. If you know what she wants you can sort of make it out. She knows how to say M&M too! Grandma taught her that one! She is so funny, she loves candy and she knows where it all is! If you are holding her and she wants some she will reach for the cupboard that has the candy and if you tell her no she moves on to the next cupboard that has some kind of goodie in it! She is adorable! I love being a Mom!