Emma is now all signed up for her first ever Junior Tumble-Bees class!! We will start in Septemeber and it runs through December and Emma is going to be joining one of her BFF's Meredith in class!!

Side note: Emma & Mere are total BFFs. The other day we went out to dinner with Mere and her big brother Preston and their parents and the whole way there Emma was in the back seat saying "Meeeeerrrrrrrrr", "Meeeeaaaaarrrrrrrr"....etc. It was adorable.

Junior Tumble-Bees is a parent-tot class which will allow Emma to explore, play, develop, and learn. Swinging, rolling, climbing, and jumping are all part of the curriculum as Emma will explore donut shapes, ladders, beams, bars, inclined mats, tunnels, trampoline, and parachutes. One of my favorite things about when Emma was in swimming lessons was that it was a dedicated 30 minutes every week that just Mommy and baby spent together. I am sure Daddy will come some too but I can't wait to have another set of special time with my baby!! I hope she loves it!!

The best part of this is that Emma gets to run around in a little tiny leotard!! Adorable!!

The Big First Birthday!

So I know this is super late again, but here is a quick recap of Emma's First Birthday.

Amazing. :)

I thought that I was going to be a complete and utter mess that day but I held it in surprisingly well. At least until Emma's Mimi brought in the little rocking chair that I got for a present on my first Birthday which she was passing down to Emma. I couldn't hold back the tears! All in all though, it was an amazing day!!

We were lucky enough to have both of our families and Emma's two sets of grandparents celebrate this awesome day with us (since they are on opposite coasts of the United States). Emma was surrounded my friends and family on her actual first Birthday and although it took almost 3 months to plan, and it got very hectic before hand because of me being on travel, it was worth every second and every penny. You only turn One once right?!?! I pretty much knew that I was going to go totally overboard so I tried to save money where I could. For example, I had little flower vases already, bought some pink and green ribbon and flowers from the local grocery store and tried to put some arrangements together myself.

I still need to get some pictures from family members because it was a whirlwind of a day and I only got one picture of Emma in her Birthday tutu (that I also made) on my camera but here it is! :)

Emma made out like a bandit just from Mommy and Daddy with her new Radio Flyer wagon filled with goodies. :) She got a new 4th of July outfit, beach ball, some summer clothes for next year, new bathing suit for next year, a tea-set, jewelry box (complete with dancing ballerina) and a beach towel embroidered with her name. Shew! We can't thank everyone else enough for all the wonderful gifts that Emma got for her Birthday!!

The theme of the party was "pink and green" so I tried as best as I could to get everything in pink or green. Some of my plans were foiled because it was literally over 105 degrees outside so everything that I had planned for the little ones to play outside was put off because it was soooo hot! Here is another example of how I tried to "save money" by making a little Happy Birthday banner myself. I suppose the better idea would have been to NOT have a banner haha, but it was fun and something that I really enjoyed doing for my baby.

There are a ton more pictures of her Birthday but I am exhausted and am very much looking forward to going to be early, so these will have to do. :)

Lots of Catching Up to Do!

W.H.O.A.

What a month!!

I cannot believe that it has been over a month since the last time I was able to update the blog! I don't even know where to start!! Things have been absolutely crazy around here, starting with my trip to Virgina, which was the last time that I had 30 seconds to blog. So please, hang in there while I try to catch you up on our lives over the past month and a half.

I first have to send a big THANK YOU to my cousin Kim, who sent me the kindest, sweetest, most uplifting email after my last blog entry, when I was wondering if it was worth it. Kim, you have no idea what your email did to lift my spirits that week that I was gone away from Emma and I can't thank you enough for all the encouraging words that you sent!! I still don't know the answer to the question, if it was worth it or not, but I can at least say that I made peace with my decision and that great things have happened with my career in the past month and a half, that have made it at least seem, like it was worth it.

The second big THANK YOU I have to send (not in order of importance) is to my amazing husband, and Emma's amazing father. I wouldn't have been able to survive these past couple of CRAZY weeks without him. It's clear that the relationship that he has had with Emma has grown because of it, and its amazing to watch.

Okay....so....now on to the updates. I'm not even going to try to pretend to remember everything that has happened over the past month and a half but here is the Emma 101 overview....

• My baby turned ONE on Sunday, June 27th 2010 (lots more to come on the 1st Birthday)


• My baby can WALK! She took her first steps on Tuesday, July 13th and I saw her take 5 steps towards me just two days later.


• My baby cut her 8th tooth just this past weekend.


• Emma is almost fully transitioned to whole milk at this point. We are about to drop two small bottles during the day so she can drink milk out of the cups at daycare with breakfast and lunch.


• She is now getting a 6 ounce bottle of milk in the morning, with her vitamins, two small bottles of milk for her meals at daycare, and then one afternoon bottle with a milk/formula mixture just so we can use up the last bit of formula, than a small milk bottle before bed.


• Emma is still our amazing sleeper. More often than not, she is in bed by 6:30PM and sleeps until about 6:00AM.


• Right before her first Birthday, we took away her pacifier and she did amazing. So she no longer uses a pacifier at all. The first two days of naps were a bit rough, but as long as she has her pink bear, that's all that matters. :)


• Emma is definitely going to be the "talker" in school, just like her Mommy. She can say...Mama, Dada, Duck, Fan, Cracker, Cupcake, Crab, Car, Cup, Pop, Papa, Dog, Ball, Emma and a couple of others that I am probably forgetting.


• If you ask Emma what sound a dog makes, she responds with "ooooh ooooh ooooh ooooh" which is her version of barking. :) If you ask her what sound a Lion makes (from one of her new puzzles) she says "aaaaaaaaahahhhhhhhhhhh", which is her version of a "roar". :) The same applies to a cow....with a response of "Mmmmmmmmm", her version of "moo". :)

So hopefully now I will be able to keep up to date with this to keep everyone updated on all the fun stuff that is happening now! Like I said before, I am sure there is a ton of stuff that I am missing, so as I remember, I will try to not fall so far behind this time!!