Bye Bye Baby Room

Emerson's last day of mother's Day Out was today. The fall session starts September 2. Not sure how I am going to make her understand it will be at least a month before she goes back. And then, she goes back to a new big girl classroom, new teachers and some new friends. No more baby room. She wakes up every morning and asks "Skoo day today Momma". I am going to have to get pretty clever in trying to keep her busy during the break.

We had watermelon today after dinner. Watermelon is one of Emerson's favorite. At some point, somewhere she was taught how to drink the juice from a bowl.

Beauty School Drop-Out

Emerson got a ring that has lipstick in it as part of a party favor at, I believe, Rose and Robert's B-day party a few weeks ago. She found it today and proceeded to "get her lipstick on"- on her neck, her face, her shirt, her fingers, her eyes and any other part of her upper body she thought would look nice.

Look at me Aunt Kim!

Kim, Renee and Jack Ellis were in Disney the week before Emerson's party and brought her back some Disney Princess suckers. We gave her one yesterday and had to take pictures to prove we actually did it.
This hat shows up alot around our house and in pictures. It is wool and she loves it. Really, she LOVES it and wears it often. Yesterday, still in her PJ's at 4:00 in the afternoon, she is wearing "The Hat" and insists on playing outside in it. She didn't care that it was 100 outside. Not sure what we are going to do this fall when it no longer fits her...

More birthday pictures

I have gotten the pics back from the photographer and I am disappointed. Poor thing. I think she did not stand a chance against the photographer that did last years party and was unable to do it this year. I knew the first 10 minutes after she arrived, that I was not going to get the quality I had come to expect. Don't get me wrong- she documented the party and that is what she was paid to do. However, she did not get those really special shots that we like. She did get a few awesome shots and after I edited a little they will serve as Emerson's 2 year pictures.

LOVE THIS ONE!

Just chillin'... in my princess dress

Emerson got some really great b-day gifts. Here are a few pictures of her enjoying a few.

MawMaw and PawPaw gave her this cool daddy Dora 3-wheeler that makes lots of noise and sounds. She loves it!

Noopy update- I think we will make it! She is settling in a little better without it. Her naps still seem to be the most affected, but I think the more time goes by the longer she will sleep again. She is also cutting 2 new teeth, so that is an issue with her sleep.

The Party

Emerson had such a good time playing with all her friends at her party Sunday.

I am not sure when I will have the photographers pics, but her are some I have gotten from friends and I think they are wonderful!

I will post more as I get them.

Thanks again everyone!

B-day gifts

Last night went fine and she slept until 7am this morning, so maybe we are making a little progress. Nap time today was a little rough, but I think she is starting to get used to things.


She has received a few b-day gifts before her party and seems to be very attached to 2 items the Harris's gave her. A Cinderella Barbie and a Mini-Mouse pillow have been stuck to her since she received them.

Emerson loves to carry around this small bag that contains velcro rollers in it. She is learning how to unzip things and opened the bag this morning. Velcro rollers were all over the house. Check these out...

Better than expected

It is actually going much better than expected. She is not sleeping as much, but she is going down with little to no hesitation now. Nap today was fine, she was exhausted. I laid her in her bed, covered her up and gave her a baby to snug up to and she needed to make sure I knew where the noopy went-
"Momma, noopy gone gone. I gave it to a baby."
This was all she had to say about it. I shut the door and she slept for an hour. Again, not the typical 2 hour nap she really, really needs, but it will do for now.
This evening she went down without a sound.
Hopefully tonight will go as well as last night.

Day 2

Last night was very good actually. She only woke up once about 2 am looking for the noopy and went right back to sleep. She woke up at 6:15 this morning, which is about her usual time, but she usually finds the noopy and goes back to sleep for 30-45 minutes. She talked about the noopy to me this morning. She told me how it was gone and that she gave it to a baby.

I think the naps are going to be our challenge. Maybe today will be a little better during nap time.

Day 1- No Noopy update

Nap time- Awful! Screaming, crying, gagging on her own snot, whaling"Mommy please". I was so unnerved I thought I would gag myself. After 30 minutes I finally rocked her for a few to get her calmed down and put her back in her bed. She asked for milk- random staling technique- which I promised her after her nap with which she agreed. She slept 45 minutes. FYI- her normal nap is about 2 to 3 hours most days, but I was fine with the 45 minutes today. We have to start somewhere and she will be that much more tired at bedtime. She woke upset. We sat together to watch a show of her choice and she was very quiet. She started talking to herself about the noopy and how we gave it to a baby- a conversation we had with her weeks ago. She snapped out of it and was tired, but fine until bed.

Bedtime tonight- not at all as dramatic or hysterical. She whimpered for a few minutes and then cried for maybe 5 minutes. All is quiet now and I am planning for the worst tonight. I am going to bed right after I finish typing this post because I have no idea what tonight will be like.

More to come tomorrow on this.

Here are a few more beach pics.

Mallory took this one of her with her seaweed and it is my favorite one from the trip.

Day 1- No "noopy"

What a wonderful thing for a mom to do during Birthday week, but this is as good a time as ever. She does not know it yet, but I just threw all the noopys away. So, when she goes down for a nap this afternoon the story is that it is gone- end of story. I had to call Amanda and Scott this morning to get my pep talk. I am so freaked out about this. It will be a long few weeks ahead, but she will eventually sleep again and settle into another sleep pattern without it. Or that is what I keep telling myself...
I will keep everyone posted. Say a prayer.

Happy 2nd Birthday Emerson!

Our little girl is 2 today. We celebrated with a few family and friends, pizza and ice cream cone cupcakes. Emerson and Maddie loved the cupcakes and I really thought they were cute- why have I not done those before? To think what all Emerson has accomplished since last year is just amazing. The years are going by so fast and she is growing up too quickly.

She is having so much fun with Maddie. Maddie made her a very special birthday card and felt finger puppet. She is too young to appreciate it now, but one day will really love that Maddie did that for her.

Emerson shares her special day with a few other very special people.

Happy 7th Birthday Isabella!

Happy ?? Birthday Martha a.k.a. Monkey Lady.

We hope you all had a great day today.

What are YOU looking at?

You're looking at me funny...I'm not the one wearing bunny ears around the house!

Sun, Sand and Seaweed

There are lots of beach pics, so I will only bore you with some of my favorites. I am sure I will post more over the next week or so to share them all.

Emerson had such a ball. We were not sure how she would do on the beach this year. Last year she was not walking yet, so she was happy just sitting. Mobil at the beach- whole new world. She loved building sandcastles and playing with her cousin Maddie who is in from Seattle for a few weeks. Emerson LOVES seaweed. Too bad we did not discover this the first day on the beach. Denny and I came to the very scary realization that Emerson reacts well to peer-pressure. She wants to do whatever the big kids (Maddie) do. She has no fear right now and will jump in the pool- DEEP END- if the other kids are doing it. You can imagine the fear this invoked in us, so we made a trip to the store for arm floaties. We let her go under a few times to show her what it would be like- this was suggested by lots of people- but she does not seem to care much. Great!

Here are a few of my favorites...

We had a great time and can't wait to take her again!