The Cutest Little Cupcake!

Let me start this post by saying that this baby girl is really special to me.  Marlee Addison is the daughter of one my best friends/cousins.  Wendy and I have been super-sister-close since we were born.  She is three months older than me, and we were always inseparable...until she moved away our freshman year of high school.  Despite the distance, we stayed close and we try to spend as much time together as we can.  When we can't, we spend hours on the phone.  When Wendy was pregnant, my biggest (selfish) wish was that she would have a little girl as well so that they could be close like we were.  Well my wish came true!

Marlee's party was cupcake themed, and it was adorable.  She used all of the bright versions of the pastels, and she had lots of little personal touches sprinkled (haha) in around the house.

















Marlee's cake was one of my favorite decorations.  Her aunt and uncle bought her cake, and I think they did a really good job picking it out.



Marlee was an angel during her cake smash.  She ate the cake, offered to share with others, and didn't melt down even once. 

















After she was done with her cake, we took the little kids outside to join the big kids for water fun.



Mikayla really enjoyed the slide.



Emmy liked the pool, but Marlee enjoyed drinking the water.



Joey & Michael did canon balls in the big kid pool.



After Marlee had enjoyed the pool long enough, we went back inside to open presents.  We bought Marlee a couple of outfits and a pair of matching shoes, but I had to buy her a fun gift too. We got her a Minnie Mouse stuffed animal that matches Emmy's.  I think she liked it!



We ran outside to snap a family pic before Marlee could fall asleep.





Emmy enjoyed hanging out with Joe.



Happy 1st Birthday Marlee!  We sure do love you girly! :)

Mother's Day 2013

This year's Mother's Day was a little unusual.  In our back yard, there was a tree that was slowly falling down, and as it disintegrated, it dropped huge branches.  My biggest fear was that one of them was going to fall down and hurt someone when we were in the back yard (since we spend so much time there...haha). 



So, after church on Mother's Day, we headed to Lowe's to buy some supplies.  We bought an electric tree pruner, a new ceiling fan, and an axe.  We also called my dad and borrowed his chainsaw.

I started trimming some limbs from other trees in our backyard that were getting close to the power lines (don't worry, we were careful).  While I was doing this, Bradley started the hard work.





I don't want to sound like the epitome of an anti-feminist, but there is just something amazing about a guy who will chop down a tree for you all by himself. :)



It took ALL afternoon. It looked like that tree was being held up by a toothpick.  But finally, oh finally, it fell.





After getting it all cleaned up, our yard was ready for a surprise for our little lady.  But that's a post all in itself.   It was a wonderful mother's day, and I thank God everyday for the sweet, sassy, and beautiful hellion that made me into a Mommy.

H&M

You know those moments in your life when you can just feel that something has changed?

I have had one of those moments.  I am not going to go into a lot of details because this isn't a melodramatic pity blog or anything like that, but I have not been super happy with my self image since Emmy was born.  It just seems that none of my clothes fit just the way I want them to, and when I try to buy new clothes, I can never find anything that suits my taste.  Everything is either stuff that my grandmother would wear or something the little girls at school would wear.

I usually end my shopping trips discouraged and empty handed...at least for myself.  I can always find a million cute things for Emmy.

Well all of this ended while I was in Santa Monica last month. I went in a H&M store to buy Britt and Kari something for their birthdays.  I had heard about the store from shows like What Not to Wear, and I knew that they had nice but affordable clothes that were fashionable.

As I walked into the store, it was as if the Mother ship had called me home. I immediately saw twenty things that I would want to wear.  Well needless to say, I picked out some things for Brittany and Kari, but because we were in a hurry and I was not feeling my best, I did not buy myself anything.

While we were in Austin, I made asked Bradley to take me to the new H&M there.  I have never left a store so happy.  I found so many amazing outfits, cardigans, shirts, and accessories. I also found our whole family coordinating outfits for our pictures in June because (SCORE!) they have a Men's and Children's department too.

Needless to say, this is my few favorite store. Ever.



The End.

I'm in Love With All These "Little Things"

Yesterday, when we got home from school, I went into our bathroom to empty the trashcan downstairs.  Emmy followed me in a few seconds later with two babies.  She had her Minnie Mouse stuffed animal and a doll that my mom bought her at Wal-Mart a couple of weeks ago.  She told me, "Hold the Babies for me, Mommy."  I picked up one of the babies, and she said, "Hold two babies, Mommy."  After a few seconds, she wanted them back.  I asked her what her babies names were.  She told me that this was Minnie.  I then asked her what her other baby's name was. 

At this question she paused for a moment.  Then she looked at me and answered, "Baby."  I laughed and said, "No, Emmy.  What is her name?"  She thought about it for a second again, and then answered with a strait face, "She's Dolly."

That's my girl.

Here are a couple of pictures of her and a few of her beloved babies. :)



Emmy was sitting watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and trying to use socks as mittens.  Her babies were taking a nap.



Above she was walking around soothing both of her babies.



Still watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse with her "girls."



Smiles for Mommy!



Big hugs going on in that easy chair.

23 Months

We have really tried to get Emmy outside more this month. The weather has been beautiful, so we have been taking her on walks to the track in her stroller. She loves being outside in the sunshine, and for the most part, she doesn’t even get upset that she can’t get out and walk. We just make sure that we take a snack and a cup, and she’s good to go.





We got to spend a lot of extra time together this month because she was sick several times. Her Nana and I alternated taking the day off and staying home with her. I am so very blessed to live near family that is willing/happy to take off and stay home with Emmy. She had a virus at the beginning of the month that seemed to have effects lasting around 16 days. Then we had about a week and a half of good health before she came down with strep throat. I hope that all of the sicknesses have run their course because I am ready for her to be her normal healthy self again!





Emmarie got to celebrate Aunt B’s birthday this month. We had dinner with her at the Country Club, and everything was wonderful. I of course had to get chicken strips so that I could share with Emmy. She ate so much, and then when dessert came, she wanted some of that too. I guess it was good that she was stocking up since she ended up losing about 4 ½ pounds over the course of being sick this month. Emmy sure does love her Aunt B!







If you are a follower of this blog (all four of you), you know that I won a trip to the MTV Movie Awards in Los Angeles. While I was there, Emmy experienced her longest stay without Mommy or Daddy. She of course stayed with my Mom and Dad and had a great time. In fact, when I went to see her the morning we got back, she cried because she didn’t want to leave my mom. (She sure knows how to make her mommy feel great.) While we were gone, they sent us lots of pictures and texts so we wouldn’t miss her so much. We still missed her and felt guilty for leaving her behind, but we knew she was in good hands. When I went to pick her up from daycare that afternoon, I finally got the reunion that I wanted. She ran across the playground screaming “Mommy” at the top of her lungs. (Insert satisfied sigh)





If my going away for an extended weekend wasn’t enough to give her security issues, the very next weekend I abandoned left her again. I am a sponsor for UIL Ready Writing at school, and my student advanced to Regionals…so I had to go to Corpus Christi for the weekend. I was a little worried. In fact, I was more worried about leaving her alone with her dad for two days than I was about leaving her with my mom and being half way across the country. Brad is a great dad, but he hasn’t ever really had to watch her by himself for any extended time. They ate McDonald's, Sonic, and Speedy Stop for every meal, but they survived without me!

After all of that time being away from her, I decided that she needed some retail therapy. She got some new Spring/Summer clothes, and I let her open her last Cabbage Patch Doll that she had from Christmas. (I am a mean mom, and we don’t open all of the boxes at once and play with them. I put some stuff in the utility room and get them out here and there.)





Emmy's cousin, Trey, turned 4 this month.  He always has the coolest birthday parties, and this year's party was as amazing as ever.  He is very into super heroes right now, so the theme was Batman.  I LOVED his cake. His mom, Raeassia, is a cake designer, and she is beyond talented.  Her cakes are both delicious and beautiful.  Emmy enjoyed eating all of the snacks and playing in the bounce house.  In fact, while everyone else was doing the pinata, Emmy stayed in the bounce house and played all on her own.  It was wonderful!









We went to visit the Barnes/Foster clan in Cedar Park this month as well. Emmy had so much fun playing with Grandma Susan and Christopher. There was a little resentment at first because he isn’t used to having to share “his” grandma and toys with anyone, but he got over it. There were also some extended family members there with their kids. Emmy played with Pauline all afternoon on Saturday. She is in second grade, and she was so good with Emmarie.











Our last and possibly biggest change this month is that Emmy LOVES to watch TV now. While she was sick, she was not feeling up to running all over the house. She just laid on the couch or in the chair and rested. I would put on shows on and for once, she actually watched them. She is currently IN LOVE with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Despicable Me. When I say love, I mean she asks to watch them as soon as we walk into the house. “Mommy, TV! Mickay Mouse Cubhouse?” And she insists on watching Despicable Me as soon as we go upstairs at night. We were bad parents and while she was sick, we let her sleep in our bed and watch TV. Now she thinks that it is her right to watch shows until she passes out. We are slowly weaning off of this process. I can now quote most of Despicable Me…good thing it is a pretty cute movie.





Here is an Emmy Update:

She likes: Going on walks in the stroller, playing with her baby dolls (specifically the Cabbage Patch ones), reading books (she likes us to read, but sometimes it has to be all her!), the puppies (especially “Sawsha”), drinking out of "big people cups", giving hugs and kisses, having her way, dancing (she is starting to move her hips not just doing the head/shoulder bob), being outside, bath time (especially splashing), Shoes (anyone’s will do), parroting our every move and word, "singing", CLIMBING ON EVERYTHING (still), twirling around in circles (as fast as she possibly can), talking on Facetime with Rah Rah, having small battle of the wills, Despicable Me, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Piston Pete, her Minnie Mouse, her Mickey Mouse doll, "working out", and visiting at Nana's house.

She dislikes: Being told no, having to share her string cheese, waking up in the morning for school (probably because she stays up watching TV), sitting in the cart at the store buckled in, not getting the huge car cart at HEB, having to apologize if she does something wrong, time-out, being asked to smile for pictures if she is not feeling it, and having to help clean up/put away toys (she thinks they should stay out all the time).

She eats: Just about anything, but she does have favorites: chicken nuggets, PIZZA (still her favorite), apple breakfast bars, ice cream, Smarties, pizza bites, CHICKEN, animal crackers, fruit grain bars, eggs, STRING CHEESE, and apple slices. She is starting to like hamburgers too, but really just the ones from McDonald's. I think it’s because they are so soft and tender.

She Says: She can pretty much repeat anything we say now, and I am not sure whether that is a good thing or not (LOL). She is getting better about saying please (peas) and sometimes thank you (tank you), but I still remind her. She can identify body parts. One of her favorite phrases is still, “No No.” So everything is “No No Sasha” or “No No Daddy.” She also is adding wonderful phrases such as "huh" and "what?" to her vocabulary. She pretends like she doesn’t hear us when we ask her to do something or stop doing something. She makes up her own sentences now, and she brings up new topics on her own. Before, she would “talk” to us, but she was really just repeating words she had just heard us using. Now, she will ask about stuff that interests her or she wants (like TV or MMC). We were riding along in the car the other day and we heard her start counting to 12. She did it right all by herself. Now she did it again and missed a couple of numbers, but I thought it was awesome that she did it at all. She is also starting to sing her ABCs. She was sitting in her car seat, and I heard her start singing them. Right now, they change pretty regularly. I know for sure it went like this the other day: “A, B, C, D…T, U, V…X, Z. I know my ABCs…Sing with me.”

Teeth: 14 teeth all the way in, two breaking through, and two right there on the surface in the front. Come on for 2 year pictures!!