Walter Family

Christmas Day

2010-11-05T09:27:00.004-05:00

Santa was so good to Emily this year!! Christmas was so much fun-she totally got it this year!! She loved opening presents!!

It took awhile to get her off of her new motorcycle and back to opening presents!!

Yes, she got juice boxes for Christmas, that's all she asked Santa for!!

Modeling her new Sleeping Beauty dress...

and the rest of her new dress up clothes.

At Grammy and Papa's. A Barbie that matches her new dress!!

Aaron, Colin and Michelle opening presents.

Uncle Geoff relaxing.

Grammy and Emily reading new books!

Merry Christmas!!!

Christmas begins...

2010-11-05T09:12:00.003-05:00

Our Christmas fun started by celebrating the Walter/Clear Christmas in Waterville at Aaron's mom's house. It was fun to see all the cousins' kids (whatever relationship that makes them-second cousins??).

Aunt Kristie had picked up fun gingerbread house kits for the kids to do. Chances are the moms helped quite a bit too :)

Such a cutie!

Jack

Emily was refusing to be in the picture. Kevin, Camden, Anna, Alexis and Jack.

Emily helping make Christmas cookies-we had so much fun!

Emily was way into opening presents this year!!

Emily and Saylor checking out Great Grandma's new gift on Christmas Eve.

Holiday fun

2010-06-30T14:59:00.002-05:00

Emily and I went with Crystal and Katlynn to Marmon Valley Farms. They have a hayride that takes you through a live nativity that is really neat! It was freezing outside though! Despite the cold, we had a great time-even took in some cookies and hot chocolate.

Emily enjoying her cookie!

Me and Crystal

Katlynn and Emily

Emily being silly on a horse drawn carriage ride.

Singing Christmas carols on the horse drawn carriage ride. There were lots of blankets to help keep warm on the carriage!

Emily and I checking out the horses. I think I was more nervous than Emily was!

Always dressing up-my little princess.

Some of our pictures we were trying to take for our Christmas card.

Work Christmas Party 12/2/09

2010-06-30T14:36:00.004-05:00

Here's just a few of the pictures that I took at our work Christmas party this year. It was so much fun!! I definitely paid for it the next day though! It was such a great time!

Just getting started.

Amy and I.

Not too sure why everyone is on the ground...

Me and Jamerra. We went to high school together, and now we get to work together!

Babs modeling our wonderfully useful Christmas gift from Children's.

On to the next bar-and more shots!! Yikes!

Cheers to a good night!!!

Emily loves her babies

2010-06-30T14:21:00.003-05:00

Emily loves to take care of her babies. She has such a kind heart that really shows when she's being a 'mommy.' It is so sweet to just watch her play!

Resting with her doll baby. She made a bed out of some fabric I bought to make a blanket.

Posing with her baby

Say Cheese!

She is so stinkin' adorable!!!!

Moore Thanksgiving

2010-04-28T15:37:00.003-05:00

The Moore family Thanksgiving was at our house this year! We had it a little early trying to accommodate everyone's schedules and traveling. It was the same day as the OSU vs. UM game, so we were all dressed appropriately! Of course, our Buckeyes won!!! The weather ended up being absolutely beautiful-which you can't usually count on in November here in Ohio. The food was delicious too-only a few snafoos. Somehow I managed to burn the mashed potatoes (they had quite the smoked flavor to them), and also didn't have a propane tank to fry our 2nd turkey. There was still plenty of scrumptious food, so no one went hungry! It was a great time!

Gathering around the kids table.

My uncle's cute little girl Grace!

My stepbrother Michael and my Uncle Matt vs....

Colin and Aaron!! Not sure who won...pretty intense game!

Games inside too!

Emily showing off her cornhole skills.

Grandpa with his grandkids and great grandkids.

Grandpa and Steph.

Emily and Leilani were helping me to make breakfast in the morning-such good helpers!!

Halloween festivities!

2009-11-13T14:02:00.006-06:00

The weather stayed nice for us this fall! We took full advantage with extra trips to the zoo and plenty of playtime outside! The zoo set up a little maze for the kids. Emily had a blast running through it! She actually enjoyed posing by the pumpkins too-cheeseball! I love it!

"This way Mommy!"

The week of Halloween Emily had a few parties to go to. Such the busy girl! We never had a big special costume picked out, we figured she had enough dress up clothes to pick out something fun. Good thing too-she picked out a new costume every event we went to! Being the girl that she is, she couldn't be caught in the same costume twice!

First, we had a party at daycare. Right before we left, she decided to be a ballerina. Kinda threw this one together-totally not ready for that one! But, it worked, and she was quite the ham!

Still posing for pictures when we got home.

Silly girl!

I love that smile!!!

We went to the first Friday party in uptown Westerville. Cinderella was the outfit of choice here! Yummy cupcakes from Schneider's bakery.

The next day we went to Genoa Township's Halloween party. It's always so much fun. We got to see the firetrucks, play games, and get lots of candy!! :)

Emily (Snow White this time!) and Saylor.

Saylor playing in the maze.

Finally then it was the big night! Despite being Snow White earlier this day, Emily opted for Tinkerbell to actually trick or treat in. Saylor, Grammy and Papa came over to go trick or treating with us. Our friends Dawn and Andy were in town for the night too.

It did not take long to get in the hang of things-they were soon running from house to house!! They were so fun to watch!!! Seeing the excitement they had, and how much fun they were having-amazing!! Made me feel like a kid again!

"Come on Saylor-keep up!"

No looking back!

Digging in!!

What a week of fun!!!!!

Fun stuff

2009-11-06T16:49:00.005-06:00

We go to the zoo a lot, if you couldn't tell. Emily has been into posing for pictures lately (finally!).

Me-through the eyes of Emily :)

Aaron through Emily's eyes. I think we might have to ask Santa for a kiddie camera for Emily!

Here it is: The first time Emily ever wrote her name by herself...just over 3 years old.
OK, so the 'M' looks like an 'O' and you kinda have to imagine parts of the 'Y', but still! She was asking Aaron what letters to put to spell her name, and that's what she wrote! We were pretty impressed. Hence the picture of the magna doodle :)

Emily is a pretty die-hard Buckeye fan!! I've gotta figure out how to get my video of her singing the fight song on here....

So stinkin' cute, my little Buckeye. I love her!
I was just noticing-she's got the same cheesy grin/squinty eyes that I do a few pictures up!!

Emily and Barbie

2009-11-06T16:42:00.003-06:00

Emily had gotten a Barbie for her birthday from Aunt Kristie and Uncle Todd. Her first Barbie! I think I was just as excited as Emily was! I watched her set Barbie up next to her to watch TV with her. It was too cute!!

Emily's 3rd birthday!!!

2009-10-18T08:39:00.008-05:00

I can't believe that Emily just turned three!!!! Amazing how fast time goes. It's just crazy to me to think about all that has happened since she's been born. I mean-she lived in 3 states before she even turned 2!! Jeesh! Despite all the craziness that we've been through since she's been born, she's always been such a joy.
Everyday she makes me laugh more and more-she's a really funny girl!! Not quite any interest in potty training yet, which sometimes drives me crazy. However, I'd rather wait 'til she wants to than clean up messes all the time! She loves to dress up-complete with jewelry, shoes and accessories. She also loves to take care of her doll babies. She is such a good little mama to them. She loves to sing and dance. Usually when she's dressed up like a princess, she refers to Aaron as her Prince-which I think might be one of the sweetest things ever! She also like to dance with her Prince-ahhh, Daddy's little girl!! She can talk forever too (I don't know where she got that from!). It's been fun as she has been able to tell us about her day. We've learned lots about the kids at daycare!! :) I could go on and on!
I feel so blessed to have such a healthy, vibrant, energetic, loving, feisty, creative, perceptive, smart, funny, kindhearted, beautiful little girl!

We had my family and Aaron's mom in town for Emily's birthday. Just some family, cake and presents :)

This is a set of princess shoes....look how excited!! Such a girl!!!

Happy Birthday Emily!!! I love you bunches and bunches!!

We love the zoo!

2009-10-16T09:54:00.005-05:00

We've been trying to take full advantage of our zoo membership. It is a nice way for even just Emily and I to spend the afternoon. What's nice is that since we're members, we don't feel like we have to stay all day or see everything to get our money's worth. Here's some pictures from one of the afternoon's that we spent at the zoo. Which-by the way-is now ranked the #1 zoo in america!!! Yeah Columbus Zoo!!!!

Emily stopping for a picture!

Cheese!!

The tiger was up close this day!

I couldn't get Emily to stand in front of him :)

She's still a big fan of the merry-go-round.

I can't get over the pure joy she has when she rides it!

Later that night, I went to Shadowbox with Crystal for her birthday-happy birthday Crystal! I can't believe we've been friends for over 20 years!!!! Yikes!

More Fun

2009-10-16T09:19:00.005-05:00

Emily looking at the party catalog to see what kind of birthday party she wants. Oh, so serious!

Our favorite daily activity-dress up!

Modeling her new Tinkerbell dress-so stinkin' adorable!

Emily taking pictures of me

She is so much fun!!! Such a girlie-girl!!

We spent some time playing in the rain recently.

She thought it was pretty cool to be playing out in the rain!

Just Playin'

2009-10-15T14:19:00.006-05:00

Emily's favorite breakfast treat!

This is the last season of the tricycle-I'm thinking she'll be on a big girl bike next spring!

She can really get around on it though!

When did she get so big??!! Where did my baby go?

Watching Daddy power wash the house

She's got her purse and her baby-always!

Pensive

Having fun playing with her hat!

Emily likes to take pictures now-every now and then they come out pretty good!

Self portrait-of course!

Lake Buckhorn

2009-09-09T11:44:00.004-05:00

This summer we went and spent a couple days at Lake Buckhorn where my Great Aunt and Uncle have a house. It was a great get a way for the night. So peaceful-well, as peaceful as it can be with Emily around! I wasn't sure how Emily would be, but she had a great time (besides the weird non-sleeping, crying fits in the middle of the night!). We went out on a boat ride, did some fishing, ate some good food, and just relaxed.

Emily was surprisingly super excited to get her life jacket on.

Checking out the lake.

Mom, Aaron and Emily. Emily's a little nervous!

Took her a few minutes to get comfortable...

then she loved it!

Getting ready to do some fishing with Aunt Amy and Uncle Tom.

I sooo know nothing about fishing! Emily was having fun though.

Her pole wasn't in but a minute and she had a bite!!!

Emily didn't quite know what was going on-of course we were all cheering and excited for her!

Family picture with Emily's first catch!

Back at it again!

She was so calm and still.

Our little fisherwoman!

What a fun weekend! Looking forward to doing it again!

Weekend at Grandma's

2009-08-29T09:07:00.007-05:00

Aaron's brother was in Toledo, so we went up to visit with them and his mom. It was so nice to get to spend time with Uncle Todd and Aunt Kristie! We don't get to see them too often since they live in Wisconsin. We went to the Butterfly House while we were up there. The entire room was filled with butterflies. It was kinda cool. Kinda creepy too-'bugs' landing on you and flying by. Aaron and Kristie weren't too sure about it. Couldn't quite fight the urge to swat at them! It was neat though. The next day the guys got to go play golf and Kristie, Cheryl and I took the kids to the zoo. We didn't end up staying too long because it was about a million degrees outside!! But the kids had a good time though. Jack plays so nice with Emily, and Emily really looks up to him. I hope that it's not too long before we're able to see them again!

Playing skee-ball at dinner.

Smiley Jack...

Smiley Emily!

Watching the butterflies eat.

Getting a little more comfortable. (Wearing her butterfly shirt was actually a coincidence).

This one was just laying there the whole time. They assured us that it was still alive :)

The park by Aaron's mom's house had some fun inflatables to play on! Here's Jack going down the big slide.

Playing on the obstacle course.

Jack's turn!

Wheee!!!

She kept putting her toes right up next to his while they were in line. Kinda cute :)

Playing in Nature's Backyard at the zoo.

State Fair

2009-08-20T08:18:00.005-05:00

Emily and I went to the Ohio State Fair with Grammy, Aunt Shell and Saylor. We were mostly excited to go to get the yummy fair food! That's the best part!! We found out the next day that Emily had strep throat! Poor girl!! I had it the week before and must have given it to her. :( I'm still blaming my strep on the ear infection she had over vacation. It's just been antibiotic after antibiotic in this house!! So, poor girl was starting to have a fever and stuff as we were out in the hot sun. She was a trooper though-a little Motrin and she was ready to keep playing! What mean parents we are always making her go go go out in the hot sun when she's sick! First in Disney, then at the Fair! She did end up being pretty sick though after this day-she had 103 degree fever for 3 days straight! I had to skip work for a couple days-and Emily had to skip daycare all week!!! Poor girl was pretty miserable for a few days. Bonus (for Emily and Mommy) was that she slept with me in our bed. That's my favorite part! She actually did okay going back to her room after she was better-I was worried that we were starting a new bad habit! Hopefully we can all stay healthy for a few months now!

I had to take a picture with Freddy and Freida!! Go Falcons!!! We did keep my chocolate covered frozen banana in the picture too :)

We watched a few of the horse competitions. Emily and Saylor actually liked it a good bit-and it was air conditioned in there :) They were so cute holding hands sitting on Grammy's lap.

We were checking out the baby cows-only a few days old!

They are so stinkin' cute!

The whole day Emily wanted to ride the merry go round. We finally rode it before we left. After it got started, she ended up crying the whole time around! She loves to talk about merry go rounds-but the only time she enjoyed them was the one in Disney World. She had to ride that one at least 3 times the day we were there. It truly is a magical place!

Even with a sick little girl-it was a fun day! We got to eat yummy food, see lots of animals and had a great time!

Smarrelli Wedding

2009-08-14T13:10:00.007-05:00

We got to go to Pennsylvania for a friend from college's wedding. Jonny was on the golf team with Aaron. We don't all get together too often, unfortunately, so it was great to have the wedding as an excuse to see each other!

The guys at the rehearsal.

Everybody at the rehearsal dinner-we seemed to have posed this well!

Dawn and Andy-I love them!!

Brian, Jenny and their baby girl Kylie-10 weeks old! She was a saint the whole weekend!

Otto, Miller, Dusty, Aaron and Gerky after dinner.

Dawn and I with our must-have bathroom shot!

I love this picture-I wish Aaron was completely in it though!!! We stayed up late and acted like we were still in college. We're a bit older now though and paid for it the next morning!! I should find some pictures from school to compare with this one!

Clearly it was a good time :) She didn't spill though!

Some things never change.....jumping into an empty jacuzzi.....

Before the wedding. All dressed up!!!

Awwww

The wedding reception was really nice! Dusty, Mikey, Otto, Miller and Gerky enjoying some drinks before dinner.

'Dancing' together during the wedding party dance. Wow....

Our usual self-portrait.

He was claiming to be 'THAT' guy all night long. He lived up to it well!

Good times! You can tell we've all had wedding pictures taken the way we pose so nicely for group shots!

Gettin' down!

Unfortunately the best picture of the bride and groom together that I have! Oops!!
Jonny and Michelle Smarrelli!

AAaanndd-one more time for good measure....

We had so much fun hanging out with everyone! Unfortunately it's the last wedding we'll have! No more excuses to get together. So-now we've got to make an excuse! I'm thinking there's a Vegas plan in the works for the spring :)

4th of July

2009-08-14T08:34:00.008-05:00

Fourth of July was a great time this year!! Emily and Saylor hung out all day together and had so much fun! We watched the parade, hung out at Grammy and Papa's house, and stayed up late to watch fireworks!! Lots of family time and plenty of good food!!!

Emily and Saylor enjoying a popsicle during the parade.

Saylor and Michelle.

Emily and Saylor both had fun playing with those snappy things that you throw on the ground. They played with those for awhile. Yes, the grown-ups were playing beer pong.

My mom has all the trains from when my brother was little. Emily and Saylor love it! It's the first thing Emily goes to play with when we go over there. They'll build the track all by themselves and run the trains all along it.

"Cheese!!!!"

The kids played a little cornhole too. I think they were fighting over the beanbags here...

Can't have 4th of July without sparklers!!!!

These too were a hit!

Cute cousins :)

Our typical self-portrait.

No more pictures Mom!!!!

Emily thought the fireworks were loud. She was exhausted too! She was saying that she wanted to go to bed-poor girl!

She actually did fall asleep-during the fireworks!!! She was sooo tired!!!!

What a great day!!! It was a long exhausting one for everyone-but so much fun!!

New Camera

2009-08-14T08:09:00.006-05:00

After seeing some of our pictures from the circus earlier this year. Aaron had decided that we needed to upgrade our camera a little bit before we went to Florida. I, of course, would not argue with that!! So we did get a new one-nothing too fancy-but definitely better than our last one. We were taking all kinds of pictures trying to figure it out and get the hang of it. Here's just a few of the good ones :) These are from June-so just a couple months old.

Lining up the trains at Grammy's house. She was refusing to look at me while I was taking pictures.

Focus

She's so cute!

I love this-reading the comics :) She'll be doing the crossword before we know it!

Hanging out on the deck (I love this outfit!)

Emily absolutely LOVES to go to the park!!!! On the days I work-Aaron will pick up Emily from daycare and they usually go straight to the park-nice Daddy/daughter time!

Her favorite is the swings-she always wants to go high!!!! She could swing all day!

Still working on the monkey bars-not too much longer though!

Still can get good pictures-even when she's refusing to smile or look at the camera.

Playing at the pool.

Emily dresses up probably 15 times a day. She'll say "Look at me, I'm a princess!" Cinderella is her favorite still. She has to have her crown and her shoes too (accessories!!!). Super cute too when she asks Daddy to dance with her while she's all dressed up. That'll bring sweet tears to your eyes!

Disney/Beach vacation (322 photos), by Sarah Walter

2009-08-06T13:44:00.003-05:00

There's a whole bunch of pictures here from our trip to Disney World and to Daytona Beach with Crystal and Katlynn. We had a great time!!! Emily absolutely loved flying on the airplane! We expected her to be scared-but that plane didn't get up fast enough for her! It was such a good way to start our trip! Emily wasn't too fond of many rides. She really enjoyed seeing the characters and getting them to sign her book. She did want to ride the merry-go round a bunch of times too. Emily ended up getting an ear infection while we were out there-which made her kinda grumpy a little bit-she was a trouper though! She suffered through fevers in 95 degree weather....what mean parents we are!! Lots of Motrin and Tylenol! We had a great time at the beach too-sun, sand and relaxation. Doesn't get too much better than that!
All the planning, sweating and money spent on this trip was so worth it. Just to see the look in her eyes and to hear her talk about the things that we did! The vacation was totally about her instead of Aaron and I-but it was so worth it! Already planning our next trip! :)

Random

2009-07-06T09:56:00.005-05:00

Just a few random pictures from this summer.

This was the March of Dimes walk in May. Most of the group of people from work that were there. It was a nice day-and a great turn out of people!!

I just think this is so fun! Little Mommy!

Cutie!

On the playground at the mall.

A friend of mine had her 30th birthday party. They rented a party bus, drove around Columbus, we got to go out-and the bus took us back home! So much fun!

Tiffany and I.

Tiffany, me, Jenny, Jen, Angel and Skye (birthday girl!)

Same picture different camera.

It was so much fun!! Well deserved night out!

Visit to Wisconsin

2009-07-05T09:58:00.008-05:00

Over Memorial Day weekend we went to Wisconsin to visit with Aaron's brother and his family. It was so much fun to get to spend time with them. That was one benefit of living in Chicago-we were so much closer to them! We always have a good time when we're together. The boys get to play some golf-and the girls get to shop :) We drove up this time, stopping to pick up Aaron's mom on the way. It was kind of a long drive-but Emily did good! Dramamine was on board of course to prevent any car sickness. It helped Emily, and therefore Mommy too, get some sleep in the car!! We got to be there for Jack's first Tee-ball game and also for his preschool graduation too. Emily and Jack had so much fun together too. They got along so well. Jack was such a good sport with Emily. He happily played with her, and willingly shared his toys with her. It was so fun to see them playing together!

Emily actually posing for pictures in Grandma's backyard.

Emily absolutely LOVED riding in Jack's cars. He was so nice to drive her around :)

They drove the cars all around all weekend long.

Jack at his Tee-ball game.

Emily playing in the dirt at the game. Oh well-it kept her occupied.

They had their own little band. I love Emily's cheesy smile here!

Such a big girl heading in for Jack's preschool graduation.

Congratulations Jack!!!!

Of course more driving the next day.

It gave us adults time to sit, talk, relax (maybe a few drinks enjoyed too!).

Emily actually got on the little 4 wheeler all by herself as we were getting ready to go to Jack's graduation. Everyone was loading up the cars, we looked up and said "Where's Emily?" and right on cue you see Emily barreling out of the garage on the 4 wheeler-she ran right into a large flower pot that they had out on the driveway and knocked it over. Thankfully she didn't get hurt-just her pride. She was a little startled. We all thought that it was pretty funny though. Right as we asked where she was she comes out-as if it was staged or something! She was talking about it the rest of the day too. She learned her lesson!

So, after that, Aaron was helping her to do it by herself.

She was able to get the hang of it-she could barely reach the pedals!

Once again-Jack was so sweet to help her.

We propped her up so that she could reach the pedals on the Jeep. She looks all grown up. Yikes!!! Flash forward 14 more years!!!

We hardly have any pictures of us anymore.....so here's a self portrait....not the best-but it's us!!

We went to Build-a-Bear. It was Emily's first time. Jack is a pro. Emily was so excited!

The look on her face as they filled up her little lamb she pick out.

Of course-more riding.

He's such a cutie!

Cheese!!

Not sure what she's doing exactly.

Emily and Jack holding hands at the zoo.

As we were loading up the car to leave-Emily sleeping through it all-what a fun weekend!

We had such a great time! We were lucky to have decent weather. We got to do a bunch of fun stuff and also got to relax and just spend time together too. It was great! We can't wait to see them again soon!!

Circus

2009-07-03T20:48:00.006-05:00

We got to go to the circus! We had a great time! We got there early and got to go see all the animals before the show. We also got to go down on the floor to see a bunch of performers before the show too-it was neat to see them up close-Emily was in awe!!

Twisty twirly light up thingy-$22

Cotton Candy-$12 (can you believe it??!!)

(At least it came with a hat)

The look of pure joy on her face-Priceless :)

Tigers

Elephants

Family self portrait.

We decided after seeing these pictures that we had to get a new camera before we go to Disney in July. Aaron's been on a mission to find the best, most practical camera (in our price range of course). He gets to look into the technical stuff-and I get to play with a new camera!!!

Beco the baby elephant, and a new sandbox!

2009-06-16T11:24:00.006-05:00

A bunch of mommies from work met with our kids to see the new baby elephant at the zoo! We managed to not have to wait in line too long, and the kids were pretty excited to see Beco! Emily did pretty good for hanging out with new kids for the first time. She was pretty cute trying to join in with the girls that already knew each other. They all ended up playing well for the rest of the day!

Lunch break.

Why does she have to be showing off her belly??

Emily in front of the Rhino-actually smiling for a picture!

Baby and Mama were staying cool inside this afternoon. How little and yet at the same time-how big!

OK, so none of them are really looking...cute still.

Emily got a new sandbox! She loves to go out and play in it! She is truely just ignoring me...she never wants to look at the camera!

She must have gotten all those beads when she was showing her belly at the zoo :)

Sorry Em, it's the closest we've got to a beach around here.

Camden's first birthday

2009-06-16T11:08:00.003-05:00

We got to go celebrate Camden's first birthday with Aaron's family. It was a great time to get together-and the kids had a great time playing! Emily was a little unsure as to why it was someone else's birthday and not hers-but was just fine to have some cake regardless!

The birthday boy.

Emily was commenting on the mess that he was making. Has she not seen the floor after she eats??

Emily and Alexis running off to play.

Playin' the saxophone.

We were trying to get a picture of the kids. Emily wouldn't sit unless I was there though, so I got to be in the kid picture!

Aaron's cousin Kevin, his wife Krista (and baby #2!) and Camden getting into his cake.

Emily-just chillin'.

Silliness!!!!

2009-06-16T10:25:00.004-05:00

Just some cuteness from this spring. Thought I'd pass it along! Emily is so much fun! She always has something to say-I don't know where she'd get that from! She has a little (OK a lot!) of independence in her too. That can be a challenge, but we keep reminding ourselves that it's a good trait to have!

Messy cookie in the car!

It really hasn't been that cold-she just wanted to wear the hood from her winter coat-silly girl!

So close to the kangaroo at the zoo!! She wouldn't turn around though to let me get her face-she didn't trust the kangaroo enough to turn her back to it!!

She loves to play dress up!

This was just too funny! I think she was done with pictures for the day.

More Easter fun

2009-05-03T08:56:00.003-05:00

We went to Grammy and Papa's house to color Easter eggs.

Saylor was being ornery like Emily does-not wanting to smile for pictures.

We also looked for Easter eggs at Grammy and Papa's house.

The chocolate in her Easter basket was Emily's favorite!

They both got bouncy ball thingys and had a blast playing on them!

Of course, the favorite thing that she got from the Easter bunny -Chocolate!!!

Easter Egg Hunt

2009-05-03T08:40:00.005-05:00

Emily was a little nervous of the Easter Bunny at first. Then she realized that he was handing out candy-and could not get to him fast enough!!

She even gave him a little hug!

She wasted no time digging into her chocolate-of course!

When it came time to 'find' the eggs, she was ready to go.

Except, after she picked up each egg, she wanted to open it up and eat the candy that was inside. She was in no hurry!

Emily and I with Michelle and Saylor.

Daddy and Emily (she's obviously busy eating her candy!)

They were not too excited to be in the giant Easter basket.

World of Bounce

2009-04-21T20:18:00.004-05:00

A couple of weeks ago I met some girls from work with their kids at this fun new place in Grove City. It's called World of Bounce-and it is so fun!! It's full of inflatable jump castle type things. Huge jump things with mazes and slides-so fun!! Of course kids love it, but parents can get in there too. I was kinda wishing there was an adult night though-it was kinda hard to jump like you really want to when there's a bunch of kids around you. :) The only downside is that it's not any closer to us. It was a good 30 minutes or so-and bummer of it all Emily got carsick just as we were getting off the exit to get there. That was like the 4th or 5th time that she has gotten carsick-no fun!! Somehow I had thought ahead and had brought an extra outfit. She still had a blast-it just makes me hesitant to go again. Maybe they'll come up with something up here by us soon!

This was right before we left. She was all ready to go out in the rain! She refused to take the stickers off of her face. I think they were on there for a couple of days.

Pure bliss!

Through the little obstacle course.

Loving it!

Wheeeeee!!! She went down this little slide about a million times.

She wanted to go down the big slide though-I wouldn't do this one with her-I was scared of it!! I thought I was going to have to go get her too, but she was so brave-and loved it!!

Kept climbing up for more!

Look how big this thing is!!! It goes straight down too-I'm such a wuss-Emily loved it though!! What a big girl!

It was definitely worth the trip! So much fun! She played hard and was exhausted afterwards!

This is at Shell's (new) house afterwards. I'm bummed that I apparently can't aim my camera and she's about cut out-but so cute-my little bunny! :)

Zoo!!

2009-04-11T10:41:00.003-05:00

We went to the zoo with my friend Jen and her kids on their spring break. It was the first time this spring we got to go. It was kinda cool still, but not too bad-the sun was shining bright!

Emily really wanted to go on the merry-go-round. She had been scared in the past, but she was so adamant, that I figured we'd give it a try. At first, she was so excited.....

and then it started to move, and she was not so thrilled!!!! Every time that we would walk by the merry-go-round after this she would say that she didn't like it! Poor girl!! Maybe next year.

Owen and Sarah posing for a picture. Somehow I missed her other son Bailey in these pictures.

Emily wanted a picture on the mushrooms like she saw the big kids get!

Owen combing the goat.

This is the first time that Emily ever got this close! I think she wanted to be like the big kids again. :)

What a fun day!!!

Full of energy later that night.

flashback

2009-04-11T09:58:00.002-05:00

I was just looking at pictures and here's the picture from when Emily was at the beach as a baby. She was 6-7 weeks old I believe.

And here's her still cute little feet at the beach this past month...awwww....

OK, I thought it was kinda sweet......

Steph's pinning ceremony!

2009-04-11T09:29:00.007-05:00

Emily and I went up to Michigan for Stephanie's nursing pinning ceremony. Congratulations Steph-RN!!!!

On our way there-playing with Leilani.

Emily was entertaining herself (and the people in the row behind us) during the ceremony....under my chair.

YAY!!

I underestimated how much colder it was going to be up there. I left Emily's coat-and had to improvise.

She looked so sweet!

At a yummy dinner after the ceremony.

Leilani and Emily playing the next morning.

Silly girls!

It was a good little trip! We got to see Grandpa and Grandma Nancy while we were up there too (they probably have some better pictures of everyone). We also stopped at Grandma Walter's house on the way down to visit with her too! What a great time!

Sponsor Me at March for Babies!

2009-04-05T09:59:00.001-05:00

SC visit

2009-03-25T11:13:00.005-05:00

We finally made it down to Charleston to visit. I can't believe that it had been so long! We do not want to wait that long before the next visit for sure! We had so much fun staying with our friends Tom and Christine. Ella and Emily had a great time playing with each other!! We went to our friend Mac's surprise birthday party, went to (his wife) Rebecca's baby shower, and of course went to the beach!!! Emily hadn't been to the ocean since she was a baby, so we were excited about that. She kept saying that she wanted to go swimming in the ocean, but it was definitely too cold for that. We'll just have to go back soon when it's warm! Now that our life is mostly settled, we will have to get down there more often-it was so nice to be back down there!

We did notice that there are no adult pictures. All Emily. I swear that Aaron and I were down there and had fun with our friends too!!

Ella and Emily at Sam's club.

Emily liked sitting in the rocker on the porch!

What a tough life right there!

Ready to go!

She loved it-of course!

Not too sure about the water-in her defense-it was freezing!

She could have ran around out there all day!

Sleepy after a hard day playing at the beach.

Bath time!!! Getting both of their attention at the same time is such a task!

All clean :)

A chocolate milkshake on the drive home-yummy!

Silly Emily!

2009-03-25T10:39:00.003-05:00

Just a few pictures of Emily being silly! We get more than our daily dose here. She is such a goof ball sometimes-I have no idea where she'd get that! :)

Just chillin' in her baby dolls carrier, drinkin' her baby doll's bottle.

My little mommy.

Super-star!

Time Flies!!

2009-03-22T10:10:00.003-05:00

I have felt like I have been so busy lately-I'm not sure what it is though. We're really not doing that much stuff. I've been picking up a little bit of overtime-but still that shouldn't be enough to throw me off. However-life keeps going! I wish I could have just a day where time stands still while I catch up on things-cleaning, organizing, taxes, reading books! I have so much I want to do-but haven't figured out how to do it! Of course playing on here isn't helping me any, but that's something I want to do to-keep up to date-how do you do it super-moms??? How do you get everything done-and still have time for the fun stuff??

Emily painting-so much fun!

Emily is such a sweetheart with babies. She's always taking care of her doll babies, but she is also super sweet with 'real' babies! It is amazing to watch, just brings tears to my eyes every time I see how tender and caring she is. Calms right down to take care of them. I love it!!

Here' s Emily talking to our friend Julie's son Kelton.

She brought him toys to play with and just laid there talking sweetly to him.

I know it's blurry, but you can still see her being sweet. Kelton was a good sport about it all too-he didn't seem to mind all the attention!

We had brought the exersaucer up for Kelton, and of course Emily thought that was great!!! We did end up leaving it upstairs for a couple of weeks and she was probably in it at least once a day...goof ball! Just making sure we got our money's worth of course.

Finally caught up!!!

2009-01-26T18:01:00.003-06:00

So, January has brought us lots of cold weather- and a bit of snow! We've gone out to play in the snow a few times-Emily really enjoys it! However, she does completely boycott mittens....her poor hands get so cold-and we don't end up staying outside too long (good for Mommy!). I was a little bummed though because she is not interested in having hot chocolate when we come in-that is totally the best part of playing out in the snow!! Oh well, I have hot chocolate by myself-yummy!! So, here's what we've been up so far this month!

Emily was excited the first time she got to use the snow shovel she got for Christmas. I love her face in this picture-goofy girl!

Hard at work!

Just like Daddy!

She loves to make snakes and bouncy balls out of play-doh. Keeps her busy for quite a while :) Although, she has tried to actually use them as bouncy balls-doesn't go over so well-then you find dried play-doh all over the house! She actually said 'cheese' when I told her to smile for this picture-I don't know if I've ever told her to say cheese before-smart girl!

We went to the library one morning with Saylor and Aunt Shell, despite the picture they really did have fun!

She wanted the Buckeye hat-so she had to steal it off my head-she looks good in it though, so I couldn't argue!

Our snowman! Emily was super excited about the carrot nose-she talked about it all day before and after we made the snowman. (I wasn't thinking too much and she's looking right at the sun-that's why her eyes are all squinty-oops!)

Here she is making that cute face again! She makes me laugh!

Giving the snowman a hug (we finally added some arms to him).

Self portrait! Kinda into the sun-and no makeup-ick!!!

We had a couple days where it warmed up a little bit (snowman is looking a little rough out there) but we've got more snow headed our way over the next couple of days. More fun for Emily, but Aaron and I can't wait for winter to be over!!!

More Christmas!!!

2009-01-23T18:01:00.005-06:00

After Christmas we were able to go up to visit Aaron's mom and family as well. Much easier to drive 2 hours than 6 or 12 hours!!! It was great to get to catch up with everyone!

Emily playing with her new crayons and book-Thanks Aunt Jan!

Family picture with Grandma Esther.

Emily trying to show baby Macey the kitty cat under the tree.

Giving her Great Grandma a hug :)

Emily with Aunt Jan.

Emily loved this snow-globe music-box that Aaron's mom gave to her. She just sat and watched the carousel horse go around while the music played-mesmerized!

She loves it!!

Emily had a great time!

Christmas

2009-01-23T13:19:00.002-06:00

Christmas was so much fun this year!!! Emily enjoyed all of it! (OK, except sitting on Santa's lap). It was so neat to see the whole holiday season through her eyes. She took it all in! She's still singing 'Jingle Bells' and it's the middle of January! Being close to family for the holidays was great too. We got to see everyone, which really meant a lot!

Emily trying on her new Dora PJ's from Crystal and Katlynn.

Christmas morning on our way downstairs to see what Santa brought. She's not quite sure what to think yet.

She loved her new easel that Santa got her. We had to talk her into opening her other presents!

You can't tell here, but she took her time opening each one-one little piece at a time.

Then, she would play with that gift and we would have to convince her to open another one-we could have been opening presents for days! On second thought, we should have done it that way! She does a good job taking care of her babies though! :)

Taking a break.

Playing with her new tea set from Uncle Todd and Aunt Kristie-Thank you so much!!

Peek-a-boo!

Opening presents at Grammy and Papa's house.

Family pictures time!

Christmas cookies!!!

2009-01-22T15:44:00.004-06:00

I was so excited to make Christmas cookies this year. I knew Emily would have such a good time helping out. She's such a big helper anyways, and to be able to make such a big mess while she's doing it-I knew it'd be right up her alley!

Emily's all ready to go!

Helping Daddy roll out the dough.

Placing the cookie cutter just right.

Making another one.

Aaron showing her how to ice the cookies-this very quickly became her favorite part!

Most of the time the icing ended up in her mouth instead of on the cookie!

She kept saying she had to 'taste' it....she learned how that works pretty fast! She looks so grown up here to me.

Of course the sprinkles!!! Emily had a lot of fun with this!! I think it stressed Aaron out-all these little decorations and colored sugar rolling all over the floor! It was worth the mess though-she had a great time!

They were extra yummy in the end too!!

Tara's Wedding!

2009-01-22T13:37:00.004-06:00

My friend Tara got married December 13. It was a couple hours away, so Aaron and I got a hotel, Emily stayed at my mom's house, and we had an entire night away to ourselves!!! It was nice to not feel like we needed to get home or the thought of Emily waking us up really early while we still needed to sleep off a hangover! :) The hotel was right next to (shared the parking lot with) where the reception was-so that was real nice too-no need to drive!!! We fully took advantage of that! It was great to just have a night out together!! Of course great too to be with friends at a great wedding!! A lot of the girls that I used to work with at OSU were there-it was fun to be able to see all of them again too!

What a pretty cake!

Awwww...

The group of OSU staff (I'm hiding back there!)

Aaron was zooming in trying to get me, I suppose....

Jen and me.

Congratulations Tara and Dave!!!! What a fun time!!!

Saylor's Birthday Party

2009-01-15T16:17:00.009-06:00

Saylor's "other" grandma had family over to celebrate Saylor's 2nd birthday. It was a good time hanging out with the Rigsby's and the kids had soooo much fun and played very well together!

I'm pretty sure she had all the icing off the top of this cupcake.

They had a blast playing foosball!

The birthday boy-such a cutie!!

Emily enjoyed riding the rocking horse.

We discovered that Emily loves to play the drums!! Who knew?!

She would've sat there all day (if our ears could've handled it!).

She has such good form too-a natural!

Emily and Saylor were getting treadmill rides-and loved it!!

Happy Birthday (Dec 7) Saylor!

Christmas Decorations and 'sledding'

2009-01-15T13:05:00.004-06:00

Well, winter is finally here. We knew it was coming. All that warm weather that lasted late into fall sure was teasing us though! We've had a good time though, regardless of having to dress in layers. Emily enjoyed getting the Christmas decorations out and talking about Santa, reindeer, and snowmen. Emily taught Aaron and I that not only does Santa say "Ho Ho Ho," but snowmen do doo! Also, just in case you ever wondered, Old McDonald has both of them on his farm as well. We sing that song probably four thousand times a day. Never a dull moment.

Emily has learned to roll her tongue-so funny!

Actually smiling for a picture at dinner one night!

Helping Daddy put ornaments on the tree.

Putting ornaments on by herself.

We had a small layer of snow, that we took Emily out to play in. We spent more time getting her all dressed up!! She refused to wear her mittens though-and was paying for it later with freezing little fingers!

OK, so we don't have a sled, but Aaron had the idea that a boogie board would work just as well.

It sure did!!! Emily loved being pulled around the court on it!

This made me laugh though as I was walking behind them. The palm trees as it's gliding through the snow! Shows where we'd like to be about now!

Thanksgiving

2009-01-07T15:56:00.004-06:00

We had both Aaron's family and my family at our house for Thanksgiving. It was so nice to have everyone together. Lots of good company-and way too much good food!! Emily, Saylor and Jack had a good time playing too-everyone got along-it was perfect!

Jack and Emily waiting patiently for their food.

Aaron's brother Todd, Jack, Emily and Aaron.

Finally got their food!! Yummy!!

The next day-Aaron's Aunt, uncle, cousins and their kids all came over to hang out and eat lunch together. It had been awhile since we were all together-it was so nice to visit.

Aaron's cousin's baby Camden.

Everyone just hanging out and chatting. The kids were in and out of the princess castle all day-they had so much fun together!

It's kind of hard to get all of their attention at once!

Awww-cousin love!

We did manage to get a group picture of everyone.

Jack and Emily riding the motorcycle at dinner that night. Jack looks like a pro! It was his 5th birthday this night too and they sang happy birthday to him at the restaurant-so cool!

It has been nice to be closer to family so that we are able to get together for things like this. We're so glad that everyone was able to come visit with us. Hopefully we can do it again soon!

Tara's Bachelorette Party

2009-01-07T15:53:00.006-06:00

Tara had her bachelorette party-which was so much fun!!! We went to a few places in the arena district with plenty of drinks and dancing for all!

Some of the girls.

We practically pushed her up on stage-she wasn't too happy about that!! She did get a free shot out of it though. :)

Self-portrait.

After the bachelorette party, Jenny and Tiffany happened to be at the bar across the street. I stopped by-and enjoyed some non-alcoholic drinks for awhile! :)

What a fun night!

November fun

2009-01-06T14:53:00.004-06:00

The nice weather hung on into November (I know, I'm way behind!). We were able to get out and went to the zoo some more too. Emily and I took the train ride for the first time at this visit-she absolutely loved it!!! She sat there and took it all in. So fun to watch it all from the eyes of a child!

Amazed!

Chugga-chugga-choo-choo!!!!

Watching the animals as we passed by.

She was walking around in a pair of my slippers-silly girl!

During an unusually quiet moment, I check on her and see that she took apart a stack of post-its! It was too funny, I couldn't be upset!

She loves sitting on her jewelry box-perfect size for her-too cute!

Costume Party!

2009-01-06T14:14:00.005-06:00

So, what would Halloween be without a costume party!! Jenny and Tiffany had their annual costume party that I could actually come to this year! Aaron wasn't too much in the costume party mood (bah humbug!) so I went solo after work that day. I had to keep it simple (and cheap) since I was going after work-so I was a cat....classic....

The Big Bad Wolf (Jessica), Jenny and I. Her husband was Little Red Riding Hood-hysterical!!

Group picture of the girls. What was funny was all the guys taking our pictures....lots of them-we felt like we were being attacked by paparazzi!! It was also funny because she lives on a busy street-lots of car honks!!!

Me and Jenny. I don't know why I kept my 'tail' in my pocket all night long....

I think this is hysterical!!! Paul Bunyan and his kill.

Skye, me and Tiffany.

What a fun night!!! I'll work on my costume much earlier next year!

Halloween part 2

2009-01-06T13:29:00.004-06:00

On actual trick-or-treat night we had fun things to do too. One of the police stations right by us, where my uncle is the chief, has a Halloween night for kids too. There are games, food, and candy too of course! Most of the games were for a little bit bigger kids, but we had fun still. After we were there for awhile we still had time to go around our neighborhood too. We really just went to the houses that are in our court. That was plenty for Emily-it was almost bedtime! We still ended up with a ton of candy! :)

Just hanging out before we left.

My little Cinderella!

They like to hold hands.

Lovin' their suckers-and looking for more!

Saylor was all about it-Emily wasn't too sure about it. I do have to mention that right before this, we did spill an entire cup of hot chocolate...quite embarrassing....

We got to walk around the fire station too and see the big fire trucks with their ladders up!

Grammy and her grandkids.

Sitting content, still working on their suckers while the grown-ups talked. It didn't last long-they were chasing each other around soon after.

Movie star!

What a fun night!!

Halloween part 1

2009-01-06T09:04:00.005-06:00

We we to 'Trunk or Treat' at a church up the road from my parent's house. There were a bunch of games and things for the kids to do. There was yummy food too! :) Then the people at the church all sat in their trunks in the parking lot and handed out candy to the kids. It was a lot of fun-I'm not sure if I'm explaining it well though...

They're so cute when they hug!

Emily and Saylor had to play on the neighbor's swing-set before we left.

Wheeeee!!!!

His little mouse costume is so cute!

Playing in the jump castle. After this she realized her dress was holding her back, and the rest of the time, it was in my bag...oh well!

Emily was not a fan of the fire truck for some reason.

Aren't they sweet???

Pumpkin patch

2008-12-23T16:06:00.005-06:00

This fall we went to Circle S Farms to pick out a pumpkin. They have lots of fun things to do there. Grammy, Aunt Shell, Saylor, Julie and Kelton all came with us too-it was so much fun!

There's a barn full of hay to jump and play in-with two slides too! Emily had a rough first run going down by herself, so I went with her the next time.

Saylor and Emily were pretty content just taking it all in!

What a cutie!

Aaron and Emily were checking out the chickens. Aaron told her that's where chicken nuggets come from-I'm sure she is now scarred for life.

We took a hay ride out to the pumpkin patch-Emily picked out a good one!

Baby Kelton was so good while we were there!

More birthday fun-videos!

2008-12-10T20:05:00.004-06:00

I had gotten a giant Disney Princess balloon for Emily's birthday that sang Happy Birthday when you hit it. Emily was having a good time dancing (or jumping) every time she made the music play. This happened for days and days after her birthday too. It was fun to watch her play though. You can see Saylor not so much into the Princesses singing, but more into throwing golf clubs...such a boy!!!

Emily had gotten some dress up things for her birthday-including a pair of Cinderella shoes. They're just slip-ons with a little bit of a heel. This is Emily first trying them on and walking in them (surely a momentous moment for a girl-right??). Her Cinderella 'blip blops.' She actually wouldn't take them off the rest of the night and had to go to sleep with them on!!!

Emily is 2!!!!

2008-12-07T12:26:00.005-06:00

Emily turned two!!! (OK, so I'm pretty behind-her birthday was Oct. 3, but I'm just now finally getting it on here.) It's so hard to believe that she is two already-I know everyone says this, but it does all go by so fast!! We had a little birthday party for her and had a real good time. Emily loved opening presents and didn't take her long to enjoy being the center of attention!

Opening presents!

She loves all her new dress up stuff!

Checking out all her new things.

Sneaking some of her cake : )

Yummy!!!!

Trying on her Cinderella dress-so pretty!

The next morning was spent playing with all of her new things!

She loves to put on her jewelry.

And her 'make-up' too!

She figured out herself to make her bracelets into anklets...such the little girl.

Playing in her Cinderella dress.

Checkin' herself out!! What a cutie!

We had so much fun with our friends and family-Happy Birthday Emily!!!! I love you!!!!!

Cell phone random pictures

2008-10-08T09:36:00.005-05:00

I was going through my cell phone pictures and found a bunch of cute ones from this summer. Just thought I'd throw 'em on here.

This is when we were at Lakeside this summer. Emily and my sunglasses-go figure!

Just after we moved into our new house our neighborhood had a block party-conveniently in the court that we live in! Emily loved playing in the jump castle they had there!

She had so much fun!!

We have been introducing the 'potty.' Emily will sit (and play) every now and then.

Just reading.

Emily and I spent an afternoon at the pool. She was a little nervous in the big pool-but had a good time in the baby pool. Of course she loved that she could wear her sunglasses!

I think this one's cute-drinking her juice.

Helping me put together a bookcase.

We were getting pizza and Emily insisted that she wear her 'coat,' despite the fact that it was 90 degrees outside. Such the little style maven. Again with her sunglasses.

Keepin' Busy

2008-10-06T11:47:00.006-05:00

Just a few pictures of some fun we've had the last few weeks. Nothing too exciting-just keepin' busy! Emily is talking more and more every day-she'll repeat pretty much anything you want her too-which Aaron especially has fun with! She has replaced her previous Wiggles obsession with Cinderella. That has been fun though-she is definitely a girly girl-and I love it!

Emily playing on the playground at the rec center.

Wheeee!

I told her to pose for a picture-and this is what I get!

We went to the zoo with Michelle and Saylor. We were taking advantage of the cute little pumpkin photo-ops they had set up.

This is them giving each other hugs.

Impossible to get them both looking at the camera at the same time.

Emily's hugging the pumpkin.

We went to the park with Michelle and Saylor too. Emily likes the swings.

I love this picture!!!!

Yes, she still has her paci. She thought it was quite funny the other day to have two in her mouth. At this rate we'll never get off the paci!! I think the paci fairy is gonna have to come sometime this year....In her defense she woke up with pink eye the morning of this picture.

THE WIGGLES!!!!!!!

2008-09-04T09:20:00.005-05:00

OK, so this is an old one-finally getting it put up though! August 13 we went to go see The Wiggles!! We went to dinner right by the arena before the show. Emily was pretty observant-she noticed all the kids and all the Wiggles shirts and things that the kids had and she seemed to be getting pretty excited even before we got in there! Once we were in there and she saw all of the kids, the stage and Wiggles paraphernalia everywhere-she was in complete awe. Just looking around checking everything out!

Of course we had to get a few souvenirs.

She was not into taking a picture with me. That's the stage behind us-this was taken right by our seats-not too bad for the 'cheap seats.'

Just waiting for the show to start.

This was right when they first came out in the Big Red Car (of course!). She was so into it-taking it all in.

For some random reason she had to wear my sunglasses during part of the show-who knows!

We had gotten her a Henry stuffed animal before the show (that's the octopus she's holding in the pictures above for those of you who don't know). The first time that Henry came on stage her eyes got real big and she pointed to the stage 'Enry' then pointed to her doll 'Enry,' then back at the stage with a big smile!!! There were a few times during the show that she would start to sing or dance along-then she would look around at all the other people singing and dancing all around her and would get shy-sinking back into our laps.

Just a few pictures from the show (for those of you who know who The Wiggles are).

They put on a pretty good show-kept us entertained too. Aaron even asked before we left when they were going to be coming back. Who'da thought-Aaron, a closet Wiggles fan. :) The funniest thing about going though was that after we got home Emily seemed to not care about The Wiggles as much anymore! She used to be completely obsessed with them-we had to watch their movies or shows or be singing their songs 24/7-we really thought it was an addiction! Now we can go a day or two without even mentioning them. Sure she still likes her toys, and doesn't mind watching them-but not nearly as much as before. She got her fix, saw them in concert, she's done! :)

Love You!!

2008-08-27T17:11:00.000-05:00

Emily just said 'love you' for the first time!!!! I had just gotten home from night shift and she was leaving for daycare with Aaron. I was saying the usual 'bye-I love you' type thing. Emily looks back over her shoulder at me and says 'Bye bye Mommy. Love you!' Aaron and I both just stared at each other-the first time and clear as day! As I (of course) got teared up as they left she said it a couple more times. Aaahhh-moments like this is why it's so great to be a Mommy!!!! OK off to bed with such happy thoughts!

Yummy Chocolate!!

2008-08-23T20:13:00.005-05:00

It did not take Emily long to learn when it was a good time to help in the kitchen! She likes to hold the mixer, or help pour or stir of course. The main reason she likes to help is for the yummy reward in the end!!!

Mmmmmmm!!!

Make sure you get it all!

Perfect little treat!

The people that lived here before us had a big swing-set that had a little sandbox underneath it. Well, they took the swing-set with them, but the sandbox remains. We figured we'd worry about filling it in next spring. Apparently Emily doesn't mind though-she sat and played there for the longest time!! She sat and played with the random broken toy, or straw that was left in there poor thing!! Not to complain though-she seemed not to mind. Looks like we'll be getting a real sandbox sometime so she can really play!!

She went out there by herself, plopped herself down and had a blast!

It's quite the ghetto sandbox, but she had fun!!

Such a cutie!!!

Rainbows

2008-08-23T19:58:00.002-05:00

We've gotten a few good views of rainbows since we've moved into our new house. I finally got a some pictures of a good one the other day. I just think they are so amazing!! God is good!! We could practically see both ends of this one-isn't that supposed to mean something? Of course these pictures don't do it justice. You'll just have to trust me that it was amazing!

The Ohio State Fair

2008-08-22T19:53:00.008-05:00

Emily and I went to the State Fair with Crystal and Katelyn. We had a great time seeing all the animals and eating lots of yummy fair food!! I wasn't sure how well Emily would do there with all the people, and lots of walking around, but she did absolutely great!

Emily and Katelyn checking out the pigs. Emily loved the pigs!

Emily even caught a good nap while I got to do some shopping! :)

If I had an extra $2,500-this chair would be mine!!

Emily had a chocolate covered banana-with sprinkles. Does life get much better than this?

Emily and Katelyn in the petting zoo. Every time I was trying to get close to get a picture of them, a goat would reach through the bars and try to sniff my head!! It was quite hysterical!

Emily had a great time with the goats!

Emily and Katelyn being silly :)

All done!! What a fun day at the fair!

Dress up

2008-08-07T08:19:00.005-05:00

Emily has been wanting to wear my sweatshirt from work lately. It's really cute though when she has it on! She'll want it zipped up and everything, then she'll walk around for a bit, undo herself, and then ask for help to put it back on again-goofball!

Way too big!

A different day-but the same game. Can't even see her feet!

I got her some dress up jewelry because she likes to play with my jewelry all the time. She loves it!! She hands it to you and says "helllp, helllp." My little girly-girl!

Just fixing that last piece.

There! Sooo pretty!!

Weekend at Lakeside

2008-08-02T10:09:00.007-05:00

We spent the weekend at Lakeside for an anniversary party for my aunt and uncle. I don't even know how to explain this place-it's right on Lake Erie, and I kinda felt like we were in the movie "Dirty Dancing." It's a gated little town or community with all kinds of cabins and houses to rent. There's also a hotel you could stay at too. There's events going on all day long things at the church, or also classes-I swear there were dance classes (which was what made me think of "Dirty Dancing!"). There were also boating classes and a bunch of other things too. Every evening at the auditorium there was a show which is all included in the daily price that you pay to get into the community. (That did add up fast). The two nights we were there there was a magic show from some apparently famous magician (we didn't get to go to that one), and there was the OSU alumni band playing a concert. That was pretty cool-Emily loved to see the instruments and listen to them play. Although she did keep asking about the Wiggles-I don't know-the girl's obsessed! It was just a neat place to stay though. Everyone walks around or rides golf carts-kids are riding their bikes all over-a safe place to just let them roam. There were a few restaurants and shops to hang out at. We had the best homemade donuts that I think I ever have had in my life-delicious!!! It was almost like a step back in time-just really neat place! Anyways-I got a bunch of pictures to share!

Pretty sunset-who'da thought Lake Erie could be so pretty!

Emily hasn't been to the beach since she was a baby!

OK, so it's not quite the same as Charleston, but it'll do for now!

She had a good time playing-and at least learned what a "beach" was!

It was hard to get her away from playing.

The next day we took the ferry up to Put-In-Bay. Emily wasn't too sure about the boat ride to get there.

Lots of golf carts on the island. That's Grammy and Aunt Shell riding in front of us. The kids were both in car seats it was so cute-they loved it!! I wish I had a picture of them in their seats....maybe Aunt Shell does....

Emily and Saylor were playing well together. Emily grabbed his hand and was taking him all over the place.

They look like they're up to something here!

Worn out from the day-snuggling with Papa.

She was much more excited for the ride back-we went up top where we could feel the breeze!

Emily still hasn't figured out how self-portraits work.

She had so much fun on the boat with the wind in her face!

She was trying to catch it in her mouth too-hysterical to watch!

Saylor and Emily walking with Grammy and Papa to the anniversary party.

Just missed the kiss.

Just playin'.

We had a great trip up there. It was so good to see family-and for a good reason too-40 year anniversary!! We're already thinking about plans to go up there next summer!

Random Cuteness

2008-08-01T12:55:00.003-05:00

Just a few pictures from the last couple of weeks. I can't believe how fast she is growing up!!!

Coloring with Grandma.

Little Golf-Pro.

She loves to play with necklaces!

Hhhmmmm, I think those are from St.Patty's day in Savannah....

Emily really enjoys all the room she has in the basement for her toys!

Hugs!

2008-07-31T08:42:00.004-05:00

Emily tries to be nice and give hugs to Saylor. I just don't think that Saylor feels the love!

She pretty much does this every time they're playing together-here's from a few months ago.

I guess she just doesn't see how pummeling Saylor and laying on top of him to give him hugs isn't the best way of going about it. It's actually pretty funny to watch. Saylor does do okay once we get Emily off his back-you can't help but to watch it happen and laugh though!! I suppose at least it's for hugs and not to beat each other up (yet!).

Froggie Pool

2008-07-08T12:23:00.004-05:00

I caved in and bought an inflatable pool for Emily (and me!) to play in to stay cool this summer. Just a little one-but it looked like fun. However, when I got home I realized that our pump wouldn't work on it-I wasn't about to go buy another pump that cost more than the pool cost. So, away I blew. Took most of the morning, but I got it all blown up. Aaron did help for a couple minutes-so I can't say I did it all-but pretty much all of it. It doesn't seem that big until you're about to pass out huffing and puffing to get it blown up!! Oh well-the kids had fun and cooled off so it was worth it. Now if I could only get up the energy to blow it back up to play in it again!

Saylor and Michelle came over to play too-Saylor loved it right away!

Emily had to wear her hat too because Saylor had his on.

Emily was a little cautious at first, but ended up liking it...I don't think she ever sat down though, come to think of it.

She had more fun pulling up the cable line flags and waving them around the yard.

Then she just sat and chilled with the girls. Sunglasses upside-down of course!

Emily loves our new bathtub!

2008-07-08T12:00:00.005-05:00

Emily loves to take baths in the bathtub that's in Aaron and my room. She will walk up to it and turn the water on-"bat, bat" while she's pointing to it. She doesn't even sit down during her bath anymore. Just stands there playing with the water and toys. We just got these bath crayons that she can color on the tub with and she loves to do that! Just a few pictures of bath-time fun.

She'll test the water and say "cole" or "hhhot" We're starting to get "waahm" now too.

Coloring a pretty picture.

So much fun!!

Oreos...Mmmmmm

2008-07-08T11:54:00.003-05:00

So, I gave Emily what I think was her first Oreo cookie the other day. It was funny though because as soon as I gave it to her she was trying to twist it apart! Guess it doesn't take long to know the right way to eat an oreo. :)

Twisted apart and eating the filling!

Mmmmm!

Of course we made a mess-oh well it was yummy and worth it!

July 4th

2008-07-08T11:49:00.001-05:00

We didn't have too much planned for the 4th of July, but we ended up having quite a day! We had an impromptu cookout at our house with a few friends and family. Aaron was such a trooper out grilling hamburgers in the drizzlely rain. I think he was just excited to get to use his big grill again-it had been in storage for so long!

Emily dressed for the holiday.

Super-Cute!

She found one of her snow boots. She wants to wear it all the time! She'll wander all around the house for hours with one boot on. It's probably too small even, but she doesn't care!

Emily stayed up late to watch the fireworks.

She enjoyed them for the most part, but was pretty sleepy too-what a big day!

$300 wine

2008-07-08T11:48:00.002-05:00

So, a few years back, for whatever reason, Aaron's boss (at the time) had given us a bottle of wine. Apparently it was a very expensive bottle of wine. We had planned on waiting for a special occasion to drink it, and once we learned that we were going to be moving, we decided to have it in our new house. Well, we were thinking that was going to be in Chicago-so another year goes by-with no house, and not drinking our pricey wine. Now here we are in Ohio, finally in our house-and we decided to celebrate and drink up!

We first wanted to open it when we were done moving everything in-however we couldn't find our corkscrew to open it! On the 4th-between cooking out and fireworks-we decided again that it was time to try again. My parents were here along with my friend Crystal. We could still not find the corkscrew (I still can't-and I believe that every kitchen box is unpacked-hmmm). Crystal's friend Karl came over-and came to the rescue bringing a corkscrew for us to use!! We were excited to finally taste what a couple of hundred dollars tasted like in a wine.

Aaron goes to open it-and the cork splits in half!

We were unable to get the other half of the corkscrew out of the bottle. It became quite hilarious as we were trying to figure out what to do! We ended up shoving the other half into the wine (little cork pieces and all). Even jokingly got out the strainer to pour our wine!

It ended up working out okay-a few pieces of cork here and there to pick out of your teeth-but not too bad. The wine was actually very delicious-I wish I could describe it-just perfect!!! Too bad there wasn't a second bottle to go around! Oh well!!

House

2008-06-26T12:49:00.003-05:00

YYAAAYYY!!!!! We closed on our house this morning!! Everything went smoothly-much better than the first time we closed on a house. We will be moving mostly Sunday and Monday. I hope the next two days fly by-we can't wait to get in there! Apparently the house next door to us has a little girl Emily's age. We know that we've seen all kinds of kids outside playing. The people that we bought it from agreed that there are all kinds of kids in the neighborhood, and said that everyone by us is really nice. Sounds like there are lots of cook-outs and get togethers. We can't wait to get in there!!

Counting

2008-06-25T19:48:00.002-05:00

I had recently noticed when I am counting something out loud with Emily I'll say 'one' and then she'll say 'dooo.' I'll repeat 'two' and then she'll say 'freee' and I'll return 'three.' (She never starts with one by herself though). I kinda didn't think too much of it-was still trying to figure out if she really knew what she was saying. Well, 2 nights ago as I was putting her to bed. We had the same start as usual with the one, two, three. After she had said 'freee' I repeated 'three.' She then said 'fawr', I repeated 'four', then 'ive' (five), 'sis' (six), she skipped seven and went right to 'ate' (eight), 'nin' (nine). She was sitting on my lap looking at a book. My jaw just dropped as she kept going. I could not believe it! So much for winding down time-I called Aaron and my mom into the room-"Oh my gosh, I swear she just counted to nine!!" First Aaron comes in and says-well I've been working on it (with one of the counting books we have). Then when my mom comes in she too says that she's been reading that book a lot with her. I suppose I have too, because she always wants to read it, but I guess I never thought that it sunk in. I'm sure she doesn't really realize that she's counting. She's probably just reciting what she's heard us do so many times-but still it's crazy!! Just more proof that they really are soaking in everything that you say!! Besides-it's more fun to just brag on her and say how stinkin' smart she is!! :) Now, if we could only get her to do it again!

Sunglasses

2008-06-24T19:54:00.007-05:00

Emily has been obsessed with her sunglasses lately. She won't take them off-inside or out. We even dropped her off in the toddler room at church with them on. She reminds me of that kid in Adam Sandler's movie 'Big Daddy' when he wears the sunglasses all the time to be invisible. She always acts so cool when she's got them on too....where's she get that? :)

Whatchu lookin' at?

She puts them on all by herself (upside down a lot of the time).

My mom took this the other day while they were taking a walk. Apparently she sat like this the entire time!

I was looking around and found other pictures with her sunglasses on (somehow the same pair!). Just thought I'd throw them in here again. I can't believe how much she's grown-even from last summer! It's amazing. Everyone always says how quick they grow. Man, are they ever right!

Emily and Jack maybe May of 2007?

Hmmmm....so sophisticated...

At Geoff's high school graduation June 2007.

Swimming in the pool with Saylor-maybe June 2007??

Oh man, there was one more that I was trying to find of Emily with her sunglasses. We were actually at Kohl's and I put a pair of huge sunglasses on both of us. She and I both kept them on the rest of our time shopping there, and I took a picture of it. Of course it was on my phone that I can't get to the pictures because the screen broke. I have not given up on getting the pictures off it, and this is just one more reason to keep trying to get them....well, I suppose you could imagine what it looked like! Anyways-enjoy your sunglasses this summer!

The Park

2008-06-24T16:04:00.003-05:00

We went to the park with Saylor and Michelle the other day. Emily has so much fun every time we go! It's so much fun to watch her inquisitiveness (is that a word?).

Getting ready to go down the slide.

Should I do it?

Here I go!!!

She only likes the swings for a minute or two. She probably doesn't like being contained!

Whee-so much fun!

Wasn't too sure about this slide....went down it though!

She really loves music. She'll even sing you her own song as she's plays the piano herself!

Family visits

2008-06-24T15:20:00.006-05:00

Emily had a busy couple of days playing with some of her cousins that were in town visiting. Lots of playing, eating and shopping. Not a bad life! Aaron's brother was in town for business leaving Kristie and Jack with nothing to do besides go shopping with Emily and I! :) We usually can put quite a dent in the checking account when we're shopping together, but we didn't do too bad this time. We did still manage to find some good deals though! Emily is catching on quick too. She'll point out 'shoos' and will give her opinion-yes or no-if she wants them or not. She will be still to try them on-and then looks down and checks them out. I love it-she's already into shoe shopping...sometimes we don't quite agree on which ones are the cutest, but still-so great to have a daughter!!

Funny story-There are fun fountains to play in at Easton. The water just comes out of the ground at different times from different spots. Kids come in their swimsuits and play in it all day long. Emily has been scared so far to get too close, so I was trying to help her warm up. I thought that I had the timing down-well, not so much. Just as I was stepping over the last one it sprayed-right between my legs! I was soaking wet-probably scared Emily more than it got her used to it. It was hysterical though!! Then I was walking around Easton like I wet my pants-I just had to buy a new skirt so that I wasn't looking like such a dork!

Here's a picture of my soaking wet pants-kinda hard to tell too much-but you get the idea!

Awww, she's giving Jack a hug.

Jack, Emily and Kristie watching the train go around at Easton.

The kids could've watched it forever!

One of my cousins was in town from San Diego. We got together for dinner and play time iwith the kids. Their daughter Anabelle is 8 months older than Emily. It took a little while to warm up. Of course right before we left they decided to play together.

Anabelle and Emily running around.

Emily-so cut ein her pigtails!

We are so excited to move this weekend! We can not wait to finally have our own space again! Hopefully next time our friends and family are in town to visit, we'll be hosting the fun!!