Good surprise!

Auntie Lauren is coming to town for my baptism and I cannot wait to meet her! Mommy says she met her when she was 9 years old. That's a loooooong time ago! Maybe she'll bring my cousin Emerson so we can plan too!!!

6/12

Some day Emma you will learn that you should reduce fractions. 6/12 = 1/2. One half of a year has gone by since you entered our world. How is that even possible??? It is incredible to think of all you have learned and done in the past year and even more incredible to think of all that is ahead! You are so close to crawling, eating "people" food, working your hardest to show some teeth, and bring endless amounts of joy to everyone you meet! (Seriously, EVERYONE. You made so many friends just strolling around Chicago it was incredible! You are a beautiful, friendly, joy-full baby and people are just drawn to you! And I'm not just saying this because I'm your momma and think you are the BEST.BABY.EVER.)

So Happy Half Birthday my little love!!!

Falling Behind. . .

St. Patty's Day outfit

Spring coat, snug as a bug with Sophie










is such an easy thing to do when you're chasing after a 6 month old! (That and I've been trying to separate from the internet a bit, which means less time for blogging, emailing, facebooking - how am I surviving?!?!)

SOOO much has been happening for the Diving Miss Em (as named by her grammy) the past few weeks. She's really getting the creep thing down, even starting to do something that resembles the worm to get what she wants. Crawling could be soon or she could stay at this stage for a while, time will tell. It's fun to watch her grow and expand her world, even though it means we've got more world to be watching at all times!!

Her momma also finally got over her fear of solid foods and has begun leading Emma on that journey. We started with organic brown rice cereal, which Em's not a huge fan. Then we tried avocado to mixed reviews. Sweet potatoes the other day seemed the most enjoyable. It's fun to start making and trying new things!!

Emma went to her 4th state last weekend to accompany her daddy to a conference and see her Auntie Ellie & Uncle Davey. Mommy, Ellie, and Emma had a GREAT time in the windy (snowy, rainy, cold) city on Saturday - ate lots of cupcakes, got Garrett's, took her first ride on a city bus, etc. It was great!

Around the house, Steve has (finally) finished our family room! Hooray! Now to settle in, but it's been so nice to have the TV off of the main floor and the extra space added to the house. We spent most of the day cleaning in the laundry room to get it ready to be painted tomorrow. Our house has almost doubled in size and the storage space is absolutely fantastic now! We'll be slowly adding pictures to the walls and figuring out the best use of the space, but days without dust (at least construction dust) are coming to a close. Hooray.

We've also had Grandma Bonnie stay with us for 2 of her 3 weeks this month. It has been soooo wonderful to have a live in grandma playing, playing, playing with Emma and seeming to magically straighten everything she touches around the house. It's been really just delightful to get the time with her - we are so blessed!

Phew! Time for bed and to shut down the computer! I hope to get in a more regular routine again, someday! :o)

THANK YOU!!

Sometimes those words really just are not enough, but since it's what we've got, we'll use 'em. Since I went back to work in November, my aunt (and uncle) have been watching Emma for us. I can't express enough how much easier it was returning to work knowing that my tiny baby was in loving arms. Now, I'm sure had we needed to find a daycare, they would have been capable, caring arms, but probably not genuine, light up when I see you, loving arms. My aunt has those for Em. She has rearranged her life for the past 4 months to care for our daughter and we are so grateful.

I'm also in awe. This offer was made almost a year ago about this baby who was busy growing in my belly and now she's almost 6 months old. Where does time go?! Emma now gets to enjoy the company of her Grandma Bonnie for 3 weeks in March, followed by her Grandpa Larry (or Wilson or Oscar - his name is yet to be determined), with Grammy ending the line up at the end of April. This is one blessed baby to have so many people making so many adjustments to their lives and busy schedules to take care of her. (Although people seem to enjoy their time with Emma so much that really I think these are two blessed parents - the baby & relatives may be neutralizing their blessings to each other!).

Following the musical grandparents, my aunt will pick her Thursday afernoons with Emma up again while a student Steve works will takes over for the summer. What started as an effort to keep her from having to go to daycare as a tiny baby may now allow her to stay home for at least her first year. Amazing!

So thank you to everyone who has had a hand (or will have a hand) in our Emma care, but for today, a special shout out to Aunt Kathy (and Uncle Toad).