Happy 2012!

So, if anyone is still checking this after a year of no updates, I am amazed and applaud you:) My Mac died and I just couldn't stand to use a PC. I now finally have a new Mac, so I guess I have no excuses for not staying up-to-date.

Catching up:

Emery is now a little over two. She is still the most amazing little human to grace the planet. She is still a lover, never hesitates to give lots of hugs and kisses. It is so sweet when she tells me "I love you too Mommy". She talks and talks. Although, many might not believe that because she is still very shy in large groups. Inside the home though, she says anything and everything. Funny things she says: when she is leaving a room she will turn to you with her finger out and say with authority "I will be right back", or when she wants some love she says "I need a kiss on the lips" or when she is being bossy "Shh, no talking please" or "Be nice!". Her obsession for the last 4 months has been my make-up, primarily lip gloss or chapstick. So for Christmas, she received a set of 6 princess chapsticks of her own. She carries at least one in her hand 24/7. I mean goes to sleep holding it and it is the first thing she asks for in the morning. Lately, she has been carrying about 3 in her purse and bringing the purse everywhere. She also loves ballet. We took her to the Nutcracker for Christmas and she sat there wide-eyed the full 2 hours. She now wants to wear a tutu everyday and really is quite good with some ballet moves:)

On November 9, 2011 our hearts were broken by the loss of our pregnancy at 5 months. We had been expecting a little boy to bless our family in March 2012. This loss has taken a piece of our hearts. I am so thankful for my wonderful family, friends, but most of all my husband, who thru this process I have come to admire more and have pulled from his strength to work thru this. I know people want to know if we are okay and we are but this loss has changed us forever. A day will not pass that he is not missed, longed for, and loved.

That being said, I know 2012 is going to be a great year. We brought in the New Year sitting around a campfire with dear friends. Emery loves the outdoors, like her parents, so camping was an ideal way for our family to welcome all the good 2012 holds for us.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and I wish you all the best for 2012. I will try to be more diligent with my blogging:)

Holiday Season

So I have been too busy enjoying the holiday season and busy running around to update the blog. I will try to catch everyone up on our wonderful holiday season.

We kept Emery busy, or vice versa, skipping around to one holiday party after another. We had our first, of hopefully many, christmas tot's party with all of Emery's friends. The tots decorated sugar cookies, had a ornament exchange, packed toy donation boxes and had a ton of fun playing with all of Emery's toys.

Emery has taken over the living area as her play room. She received a kitchen, a piano and a tea table for christmas. She has so much fun going from one toy to another. Her Godfather also made her a beautiful baby cradle, which she attempts to climb into and rock herself. Christmas was so much fun this year and we loved spending time with all our wonderful family and friends. Cousin Liam was here and Emery tryed to keep up but he is a very busy boy and his cooking skills are a little advanced compared to Emery's. He also decided he had squatter's rights over her pink house and refused to let her enter:) He made up for it later by toting her around in his black truck.

Emery is definitely entering a new developmental stage. She wants to be more independent and is very strong willed (to put it nicely) when she decides she doesn't want to do something. Her favorite word is "No" but drawn out when spoken and spoken with the authority of a thirteen year old girl. She is also very silly and still loves to give big hugs and kisses. She can repeat almost anything but the cutest words are happy, please and bubbles. We could not be more blessed and we thank everyone for being part of our lives. We thank the good Lord for all the wonderful people in our lives and all the goodness he has gifted us.

Happy 2011 to all and we know it will be a great year with many blessings, health, love and family above all.

Emery is 1!!

Happy Birthday Emery! And happy it was. We could not have asked for better weather to celebrate Emery's special day. I was busy baking 80 cupcakes and a giant cupcake cake for Emery, thank goodness I had a great friend's help, to make sure her birthday was extra sweet. Emery had a wonderful time playing with her friends, opening presents, and eating sweets for the first time. I still can't believe a year has passed and my little baby girl is one. Frank and I could not be more in love and thankful for this last year with Emery. We are blessed and only pray and look forward to many more wonderful years. Such a happy day!

Can you find the garden gnomes? For Halloween we were the Garden Gnome family and it was so much fun. Emery was a sport wearing her gnome hat and slippers. We pushed her on her tricycle and she was more than happy to take the candy. Of course the candy was for Mommy and Daddy:)

Had to share the pumpkin patch pics of my gorgeous girl. She had fun playing with the pumpkins.

Happiness to all!

Emery is 11 months!

Is everyone as excited about this cool weather as Emery and me? It is so nice to go to the playground and not come home soaked as if we were at a splash park. I am so excited to break into Emery's fall outfits. I put her in a velvet skirt the other day and a long sleeved shirt and my friend said you do know it is still like 85 degrees outside? I then started to feel a little bad when I saw Emery's rosy cheeks. Oh, the sacrifices for fashion:)

We had a great family vacation to Asheville, NC. We hiked (see poor Em stuck on Daddy's back, she did fall asleep every time she was in it), picked apples at the apple orchard, shopped and visited the amazing Biltmore Estate. Emery had a blast and was a great traveler, minus being a little under the weather.

So she is 11 months now and sprinting. She is so fast, we are constantly on our toes keeping up with her. She is very silly now; making faces, pretending to be a teapot when we sing the song, talking ( saying dog, duck, truck, ball), kicking the ball, playing chase, blowing kisses, showing off her teeth... okay I will stop there but I could go on forever. She goes into the kitchen cabinets now and finds her favorite toy... our handheld strainer. She will walk around the house with the strainer like it is a stuffed animal.

We are looking forward to her 1st birthday and celebrating with family and friends.

Emery is 10 months!!

Is anyone tired of the Texas heat? We are just trying to enjoy the summer and somehow stay cool. We took Emery to the Austin Children's Museum and she had so much fun exploring all the activities. We have been busy with 1st birthday parties for all Emery's friends and have started thinking about the fun things we will do to celebrate her big day.

Emery has been walking for 2 weeks now. It is so cute to see her with her Frankenstein walk coming into the kitchen to see what I am up to. She still opts to creep sometimes (mainly when Mom or Dad asks her to show off her walking to friends or family) but she is doing really well with her walking. But she hasn't mastered walking in the pink cowgirl boots that Mom puts on her. We made a trip to Walhburg to listen to polka/country music and she had fun on the dance floor. People couldn't get enough of her in her pink boots.

Emery is very funny. If we ask her where our sweet girl is, she will tilt her head to the side. It is very cute. She loves to play like she is going to sleep and have us wake her up. She loves riding her airplane scooter at Grandma's and still loves to give big kisses.

Wish for a cool fall!