Emmarie's 1st Birthday Party {Details}

This party was a labor of love.  Heavy emphasis on the word labor.  From the time she was about 4 months, I knew that she was going to have a Rainbow birthday party.  I saw several rainbow parties on blogs like Chickabug and Hostess With the Mostess, and I thought it was the funnest "non themey" idea for a 1st birthday.  It's not that I am not a fan of Mickey Mouse and Dora the Explorer, but Emmarie wasn't really a fan yet.  And, let's be honest, a lot of those party kits aren't really that cute.

I wanted a fun party with the kind of style and panache that would do both Emmarie and (my new love) Pinterest proud.  So 150 pins later, Emmy's party was born.  We had such a good time.  Rather write it all down in a chunk, I will attempt to recreate the scene through pictures and add words where needed.

We had lots of signs and decorations.

This is a picture that I took of her each of her first twelve months.



I also had a wall of her weekly photos.  This was a massive undertaking that took dedication and motivation on my part, but it is so worth it to have a picture of my little girl from every week of her first year.  She changed so quickly, and now I can see those changes frozen forever.







Her cake table was a little wild.




I absolutely loved Emmy's cake.  It was amazingly constructed and decorated beautifully.  Raeassia did a fantastic job on it!







There were also a few other decorative items that were Pinterest inspired.














I think this party will probably take me at least three posts to fully write up so stay tuned!

12 Months/ 1 Year Old!

We survived a whole year! I know it sounds silly, but there were a few times in the begining that I just wasn't sure we were gonna make it.  Emmy survived living with us, and Bradley and I survived being new parents.  We are now ready to go forth and conquer the world.

Emmy is getting really good at walking by herself.  This is bringing about a whole new set of problems that we didn't have before.  Like now when we are at church, we have to pick a pew that we can guard at both ends.  Our little "angel" likes to slowly make her way toward the open end of the pew and then sprint away as if hell hounds are at her heels.  Usually she heads toward the back of the church, but one night she made it all the way to the front where Mike was.  That was mortifying embarrassing.  She really isn't that bad.  It has been really sweet to watch her learn how to balance and move forward at the same time.  For the first while, she would only take a step or two and then she was ready to either sit down or grab the nearest chair.  One Wednesday night, we were sitting in the back so that we could slip out to the nursery if we needed to, and Emmy saw Andy across the aisle working on the sound board.  She had been playing in the side aisle where no one could see her, and she was doing a really good job of being quiet.  All of a sudden she just started taking steps toward him, one right after the other.  I was happy/excited that she was doing so well and anxious because I needed to run and get her before she ran away and caused a scene. All ended well.

Another thing that Emmy is into this month is playing with the pots and pans.  She hasn't invaded the cabinets yet, but my mom has started giving her pots and spoons to beat on in the kitchen at her house.  She LOVES it.  She will sit there content for at least ten minutes beating the pots or chewing on the spoon.

We had a little brush with danger this month.  While taking the pictures for Emmy's birthday invitations, I may have been a little too zealous in what I wanted from my little model.  I went to the store and spent 40 minutes in line to get 12 balloons, so by the time I got back to Mom's house to pick up Emmy and Britt (photo assistant extraordinaire), I was a little agitated.  I took Emmy to this distressed wall that I like to shoot photos at, and things were not going too well.  She did not want to sit on the box that I brought.  She kept trying to get off the box so that she could stand and try to get the balloons.  We thought we had this under control.  I would snap pictures like crazy, and Britt would stand close enough to her to spot her without being in the shot and she would try to make her smile.  Have I mentioned that I definitely don't pay Britt enough?  Well sure enough, Britt picked up a can of puffs to try to get Ems to smile and before either of us could react, BAM she dove head first off the box and face planted on the cement.  If you have ever cut your face or head, you know that it bleeds really badly.  Brittany was FREAKING out.  After I assessed the situation and figured out that Emmy was okay (she stopped crying after I handed her some puffs), I told Britt that the show must go on.  At this point, I thought she was going to punch me in the face.  She was like "REALLY?!?"  I told her that the invitations needed to be in the mail within the week, and I WAS NOT going to buy more balloons for pictures so we finished the pictures.  After a bit of Photoshop to take away the skinned up nose, I think the pictures turned out pretty cute.

Teeth: We have two bottom teeth now!  She is so adorable, and I am so glad that they came in before her party.  I was a little worried that she was going to be a toothless wonder at her party!

We finished up prom, and we made it through graduation.  By the time she turned one, we were footloose and fancy free because (enter rock beat) SCHOOL'S OUT FOR THE SUMMER!

Vocabulary update:  She says Ma, DaDa, Uh Oh, and other one syllable sounds.  There are several things that we know she is trying to say, but we aren't calling them official yet.

She likes: WALKING!, Pushing her walking toy all around the house, being outside (if it's not too hot), climbing, trying to run away or escape her Mommy, singing songs, reading books, playing with the markers at Nana's house (with the cap on of course), smiling, sitting on the floor and playing with toys, daycare, her teachers, snuggling (if it is her idea), music, being the center of attention, banging on pots and pans, playing peek a boo, and dancing around the house.

She dislikes: Being told no, waking up by herself, being put in her baby bed (still cries for 5-10 minutes when she has to go to sleep), the dark,  drinking from a sippy cup, being forced to eat her vegetables if she wants fruit or Mum Mums,  not having your complete attention (please do not try to check your phone if she is around), and being ignored/not picked up when she is ready for you to pick her up.

She eats: Mashed Potatoes, refried beans, Carrots, Peas, Squash, Sweet Potatoes, Vegetable Chicken Dinner, Turkey and Mixed Vegetables, Turkey, Chicken, Beef, Applesauce, Bananas, Mixed fruit, Chicken and Apples, Puffs, Mum-Mums, Apple Wagon Wheels, and baby Milk. After our doctor's visit this month, we are going to start trying all kinds of new stuff.




This is a picture from our first Mother's Day. She was so sweet!






With Aunt Kari, Annaliza, and Katelyn at Prom 2012.


One of her pictures before I edited them...you can see her poor nose.

11 Months

 Right at the end of April and the beginning of May, she started getting really brave about walking.  She would let go of the couch and stand on her own for a few seconds, slowly trying it out.  The first video I have of her taking "Solo Steps" is on May 1st, 2012.  She had already taken a few little half steps and stands before that, but as soon as I got out the camera or my phone, she would sit down.  I happened to get the following video after several more happy attempts.  Sadly, I had my phone on silent so it did not pick up the audio, but at least you can see video of some of her first real steps. :)



We are also in one of the busiest months of Emmy's little life so far. This month we have: prom, Aunt Kari's Graduation, and her party.  We also have all of the regular end of the year test, grading, and miscellaneous time suckers that this time of the year entails.  This may not seem like much of a list, but since I am the co-prom sponsor this year, I am at the school many hours every night.  My mom has graciously been watching Emmy for us, but I still feel guilty about not getting to be with her as much as I would like to during this big month of change for her.  I was so scared that I was not going to be there for her first steps, but thankfully, she waited for us.  I just keep telling myself that after this month, we will have 2 and a half months of solid "Mommy & Emmy" time.

Vocabulary update:  She says Ma, DaDa, Uh Oh, and other one syllable sounds.  She is trying to say NaNa but she can't quite get it yet.

She likes: WALKING!, Pushing her walking toy all around the house, riding in her stroller outside, being pushed around in her car, climbing, crawling around when we are trying to get her to walk, singing songs, reading books, playing with her dinosaur toy, laughing and smiling, sitting on the floor and playing with toys, daycare, her teachers, her new friends, snuggling, music, being the center of attention, "singing", trying to escape our pew at church, and dancing around the house.

She dislikes: Being told no, waking up by herself, being put in her baby bed (don't know how to fix this one), the dark, getting her diaper changed, drinking from a sippy cup, being forced to eat her vegetables if she wants fruit or Mum Mums, being picked up by "strangers" (or people she doesn't recognize), not having your complete attention (please do not try to check your phone if she is around), and being ignored/not picked up when she is ready for you to pick her up. Basically, she is spoiled and the whole world must obey or suffer the consequences. :)

She eats: Mashed Potatoes, refried beans, Carrots, Peas, Squash, Sweet Potatoes, Vegetable Chicken Dinner, Turkey and Mixed Vegetables, Turkey, Chicken, Beef, Applesauce, Bananas, Mixed fruit, Beef Vegetable Dinner (doesn't really like this one at all), Chicken and Apples (a new favorite!), Puffs, Mum-Mums, Apple Wagon Wheels, and baby Milk.

10 Months

 To say that Emmarie might be getting opinionated would be like saying that a hurricane usually brings a little rain.  While feeding her last week, Mom tried to get her to eat her squash.  She likes squash.  I would venture to say that it might be one of her favorite vegetables.  The problem was that Emmarie was not interested in having any vegetables at that moment.  So with every bite that we made her eat, she would let out a piercing scream that would put a banshee to shame.  Mom decided that as a grandma it was her prerogative to switch to fruit to see if that would suit the complex palette of the baby a little more favorably.  As soon as mom gave her a bite of the applesauce, she was instantly transformed into a smiling baby.  I.  AM. NOT. EXAGGERATING.  Instantly, she was transformed.  We thought this was funny, so we decided to try another bite of squash. She started screaming again like we were beating her.  Then we gave her a bite of applesauce and she laughed out loud at us.  Finally I made her eat another 6-7 bites of her squash and told Mom to give her the rest of the applesauce and be done with it.  Spoiled is an understatement.

She also does not particularly enjoy eating meats.  If we want her to eat turkey or chicken mixed with vegetables, we have to bribe her with Gerber Puffs.  Two puffs=one bite of food.  Every once in a while if I have her distracted, I can sneak in a one-to-one puff-turkey ratio.  If you are sensing a pattern, don't feel bad, we are too.

Although the previous paragraphs may seem to contradict this next part, it is completely true.  I am proud to announce that we have our sweet Emmarie back.  Or our version of sweet anyway.  After being sick, it seemed to take a toll on her little personality.  Long gone was the smiling-go-lucky baby of the past, and in her place was a clingy mini-monster who wanted to be held 24/7.  I say all this in the most loving motherly way possible.  She is finally starting to want to explore on her own again and not feel like she needs to be a ruler length away from me at all times.  I could not be happier.  I am so ready for her to be adventurous again.  Although I love that she wants to snuggle and be held all the time, I also want her to learn how to play independently and self soothe.  Anyway, I am glad that the sweet baby is back.

Emmy has finally moved to the Nursery II class at daycare. I was a little sad that she was going to have to part with her teacher ( I would swear to you most days that she loves her more than me), but it was time for her to move.  Several times I came to pick her up and she was trying to climb into the bouncer with some of the little babies.   Her new class is like a fantastic adventure.  There are all of these big kids that she gets to follow around and try to copy.  There is also a whole new room full of toys that she hasn't tried.  I think that this is going to be a spring board for new skills for Emmy.  I will keep you posted on this front.

Emmarie and her new favorite toy!

St. Patrick's day was a day of fun.  The Collins family came to El Campo to visit us.  We had a great time playing and taking pictures all day.  Below is a picture of my little Irish baby (even her eye brows are red).


Vocabulary update:  She says Ma, DaDa, Uh Oh, and a ton of other one syllable sounds.  She likes to jibber jabber like she is holding a conversation with you...luckily for us, we cannot understand her yet so we do not know that she is insulting us.

She loves: Pushing her walking toy all around the house, riding in her stroller outside, being pushed around in her car, climbing/pulling herself up on stuff, crawling out of the room and hiding around the corner to see if anyone misses her, singing songs, reading books, playing with her dinosaur toy, walking around the furniture, LAUGING (oh how I missed this last month), sitting on the floor and playing with toys, daycare (I missed this too), snuggling, music, being the center of attention (you should have seen her at Kari's birthday party...can you say in her ELEMENT), and dancing around the house.

She hates: Being told no (gets a shrieking cry every time), waking up by herself, being put in her baby bed (don't know how to fix this one), the dark, getting her diaper changed, having her nose wiped (allergies are getting bad right now), drinking from a sippy cup, being forced to eat her vegetables if she wants fruit or Mum Mums, being picked up by "strangers" (or people she doesn't recognize), and being ignored/not picked up when she is ready for you to pick her up.

She eats: Mashed Potatoes (ate a whole restaurant serving twice in a week!), refried beans (I feel a little guilty about this one), Carrots, Peas, Squash, Sweet Potatoes, Vegetable Chicken Dinner, Turkey and Mixed Vegetables, Turkey, Chicken, Beef, Applesauce, Bananas, Mixed fruit, Puffs, Mum-Mums, Apple Wagon Wheels, and baby Milk.








Her first couple of nights in her bed were really rough.  I checked on her so many times during the night, and a couple of the times that I checked on her, she was sleeping sitting up sniffling.  Saddest thing I have ever seen. :(

I sitll need to add her 43 week picture, but it is on a different computer. :)


Posing with Aunt Kari at her party.

She's a Sneaky Baby!

We are currently trying to teach Emmarie not to put coins in her mouth.  I know that in a perfect world, I would be a super mom, and there would never be any choking hazards available to Emmarie. BUT this is reality, and coins tend to make a beeline for the floor at our house. 

We have tried to make a game out of putting spare change into her piggy bank.  We hope this will make her WANT to put money in there instead of her mouth.  I might also be trying to subconsciously make her think that saving money is fun and the "cool" thing to do. 

Dave Ramsey would be so proud of me. 

So last night, I found a penny and a couple of dimes on the floor (*These were not on my side of the bed.)  While Brad was holding her, I picked up the coins and went to her room to get her bank.  When I got back, I made a big deal about making the coins dance over to the edge of the coin slot and then said "Yay!" as they dropped in.  Emmarie thought this looked like fun so I let her try.  She acted like she was going to put the coin in and then like The Flash she was trying to put that penny in her mouth.  I grabbed her arm and said No!  At the same time Brad was yelling "No, No Emmarie!!"  She took one look at him and started to cry.

This was not turning out like I had imagined.

I settled her down, and I convinced her that no one was upset with her.  FINALLY, she was ready to try again. 

She did the exact same thing.

This time I took her hand and put the coin between her two fingers and moved her hand over to drop in the coin.  This worked.  She smiled and reached for another coin.  The teacher inside of me was smirking and thinking that I was turning her into a baby genius.  I handed her another coin.

This time I let her do it on her own.  She made a motion like she was going to put the coin in her mouth, but she saw my face and slowly put her hand back down.  This is where the story takes an unexpected twist.

She then proceeds to pretend to put the coin to the slot to drop it in and casually puts her hand back down and under her leg.  Since I am a grown up and know that coins clink when they hit the other coins, I knew she still had the coin in her hand.  I asked to see her hand. Surprisingly when she brought her hand up, there was not coin to be found.  Still suspicious, I moved her leg and she jerked back in surprise.  Deep under the rolls of her chubby little thighs, I found a nickel.  She looked at me and gave me little smile like "Now how did that get there?"

I was hesitant, but I knew that we needed to try again because it could have been a fluke that the coin ended up under her leg.  I gave her another coin.  Once again she pretended to drop it into the piggy bank while actually hiding it under her leg.  I showed her how to actually drop the coin in the bank again, and we both tried valiantly to hide our laughter. We were not successful, and she reveled in the show she was putting on without actually knowing what we were laughing at.  I can only imagine the things she will try to "hide" next.  She is certainly a sneaky baby!

Oliver's Dedication

We went to Life Church for Oliver's dedication.  He did SO much better than Emmy did. He didn't cry, and he actually looked up at Pastor Jim Kilgore and smiled.

April. is. so. lucky.

After church, we took pictures and went out to eat at Chile's.  The food and company were both wonderful.  After lunch, we went back to Ollie's house for cake and juice.  We have so much fun every time we get together, and I wish that we all lived closer!






The whole group posing with the newly dedicated little boy.

9 Months

This month started a little roughly for us.  On Sunday, while we were at church, Emmy was playing in the nursery.  After church we went to visit with everyone and out of nowhere, Emmy threw up all over herself.  I hurriedly took her to the restroom and cleaned her up.  Within the next hour, she threw up three more times. By this time, I was getting worried so I went to the store and started her on pedialyte.  She continually kept throwing up everything that I gave her so I took her to the doctor on Monday before school.  Since Mondays is a crazy morning at the clinic, I made sure we were there as they opened so that I would for sure be done before school started.  Our regular pediatrician wasn't on call, so we had to see someone else.  The doctor said she probably had a virus and that I should give her pedialyte and monitor her fluids.  Um, thanks.  I was already doing that.  She also said to give her smaller amounts every 30 minutes.  Thankfully Britt was still at home from the weekend, so she agreed to watch Emmy for the morning so that I would only have to take off from school the afternoon. 

After staying with her all afternoon, I ended up getting sick as well.  I spent the better part of the night in the restroom, and I was thanking God for giving me such a great Mom that helped me take care of the baby while I was sick.  She was paid back by getting the virus from Emmy and I.  So Tuesday Mom, Emmy, and I were home sick all day.  I was still feeling sick the next morning, but I knew I had to go to school since we were giving the TAKS test to juniors and sophomores.  I made it threw the day and Mom watched Emmy since she was still throwing up and couldn't go to daycare.  I decided to take her back in to the doctor Thursday morning before school.  This time, we saw our doctor, and he said that she had lost almost two pounds.  I told him that she had been throwing up for several days, but I was pumping her with fluids so she was still "functioning" normally.  He said that we needed to get some calories into that kid fast, so he had me start diluting her milk and giving her 1/2 an ounce every 45 minutes.  He also told me that she looked a little dry and if she wasn't peeing every 6 hour by the next day, they needed to admit her in the hospital.  SAY WHAT!!?!  I was on a mission because we could not spend Spring Break in the hospital (and I was worried about Emmy...).

After drinking pedialyte for the better part of the week, she was none too thrilled about watery milk.  To add to the dilemma, I needed to be at school, and Mom was finally feeling well enough to get back to work.  So Bradley graciously volunteered to stay up with her (even though he had been working all night).  So Emmy got to spend some quality Daddy time.  On Friday, Brittany was back home so she kept watch over Emmarie so all was well.  After that week, I was never so happy to see Spring Break. 

We had family pictures planned for Saturday, but since she was still throwing up, I was scared about how that was going to work.  Thankfully, Sarah called me to reschedule since the weather was so bad in College Station.  We went on vacation, and finally by Tuesday, Emmy was feeling better and able to keep everything down.

So, can you sense the source of my frustration?

Being sick also had some effects on her socially.  Since she didn't go to daycare for almost two weeks, she got really used to being held and coddled and being with Mommy, Nana, or some other family member.  This made her very attached to us, and a little cranky with anyone that deemed their self bold enough to try to pick up Lady Emmarie.  She was also on the verge of walking, and sadly this has fallen off her "to-do" list for right now.

She loves: Being held (refusing to be put down), puffs, cheeto puffs, playing the piano, the dinosaur ball popper that Granny and Papa got her for Christmas, grape pedialyte, "singing" and dancing (she can drop it), touching EVERYTHING, putting random household items into her mouth, and any iPhone she can get her little fingers on!

She doesn't like: Being put down, the walker, being told no, changing clothes, diaper changes, Mommy's laptop (she closes the lid on my fingers or tries to sit on it), strangers, not being the center of attention, drinking juice from a bottle, peas, and being put in her bed.

She eats: JELLO (not a fan, might be the consistency), Carrots, Peas, Squash, Sweet Potatoes, Vegetable Chicken Dinner, Turkey and Mixed Vegetables, Turkey, Chicken, Beef and Veggies (NOT a favorite), Applesauce, Bananas, Mixed fruit, Puffs, and Milk.

BTW: We did get to reschedule her 9 month pictures with Sarah Giles of Butterfly Chaser Photography, and we are super pumped to see those!  Emmy did such and good job, and she acted like a big girl for Sarah the whole time. Below is a picture I took of Emmy and her Daddy on Spring Break. Aren't they both just breath taking in blue?

Below are some of our family pictures from our first shoot with Butterfly Chaser Photography.  I was so very happy with the results!