She can write her name!

For the last few weeks Jillian and I have been working on learning the spelling of her name and how to write her name. She has seemed to catch on. She is getting so big :(

Here are few pictures from the last few months:



When Mark was at the airport preparing to return to Iraq, the USO offered a service in the airport for military parents. He was able to pick a book for both girls and record himself reading the books to the girls. The airport then mailed the DVD and books to the girls. It was a nice surpise after his sad departure.
Here is a picture of Jillian reading with daddy.

Better late than never, right??!!

I have been quite the slacker. Well really lazy would be the best term...in regards to my blog that is. I have been meaning to post pics of Emma's 1st birthday party (Feb 14) for o, 6 weeks now. So here ya go!

We had a fun "Valentine's" Themed party at Chick-Fil-A. All of our friends and family (in Texas) came and celebrated with us...except for Daddy:( Although it has been 6 weeks, I still can't believe our little baby is 1.

The day we've all been waiting for..

..or at least mommy has been waiting for:)

Emma has a "ponytail"! Although it might a lame excuse for one, it's there!

A little bit of rest and relaxation

Mark arrived home 2 weeks ago for his R&R. We were so excited to finally have him home, if only for a short while.
Jillian was ecstatic and Emma was unsure. After only a short while daddy was covered in hugs and kisses by all of his girls.

During his visit we all stayed pretty busy, but we had a ton of fun! Here are some pictures of his visit:


Our Trip to Vegas

Jillian ice skating

Mark got a Snuggie for his birthday while home...

Yes, that's right, you can even play Rock Bank while wearing the Snuggie :)

Jillan also enjoyed the Snuggie...and the book light. But really, that whole "one size fits all" thing..totally a gimmick.

Daddy and his girls

That's right, Emma started walking the DAY Mark got home. That's my girl!

Our Family

My Sweet Valentine...

Emma Cate, I love you because, you are so sweet. You were such the cuddler when you were first born. Even now you prefer to be held and loved by someone than do anything on your own. You are very picky. When you were just days old you were very particular about the way you would eat, when you would eat, how fast or slow you would eat. That has never changed.
You love T.V. I never knew a little baby could be so intrigued with something. You love to watch T.V. as you head off to slumber land, just like your mommy.
You truly love. When you love someone, you let them know. You have proved that by becoming so verbal and aware of who your daddy is. From the moment I discovered we were expecting you, I worried about the next deployment and how that would affect your relationship with him. I now know my worries were unnecessary. You love your daddy! Although you believe he is the phone and the computer, as soon as you hear his voice or see his face, yours lights up.
You are a mommas girl. I rarely ever get anything done during your waking hours as you would much rather be on my hip than anywhere else.

I have been told you are just like me when I was little..I love this.
You are also on the go Emma. You could win any crawling race, hands down. Especially if I were at the finish line :)
Someone always has to be right behind to remove whatever new object you have put into your mouth.
You talk. constantly. I love that you are so verbal.
Emma, I never imagined I would be a mommy of two little girls. But because of you, I enjoy it so much more. I have loved buying tons of bows to decorate that bald head. I love dressing you and your sister alike and love seeing you two together.

I believe your birthday fits your personality.
Emma, you are my sweetheart, my baby girl.
For these reasons and so many more, I love you.

I did it!

Emma

Emma is really getting bigger by the day. Recently she has learned to drink from a sippy cup, got her 4th tooth and has no interest in standing, let alone walking:)

Be Thankful

Today I am thankful for our two beautiful girls. Jillian has a contagious laugh and Emma's smile can't help but make you like up too. I love to watch them grow, learn new things, bring out the kid in me, and even in the hardest times and toughest days...these little girls are what keep me going.

Here are some pictures I took of them in their Christmas dresses for my very amateur attempt at "cheap" Christmas pictures:)

Daddy!

Emma is 9 months old! I can't believe how fast she is growing. She seems to be expanding her vocabulary more every day. She is currently back to saying momma (yeah for me!), daddy, doggie, no, attempts "baby" and of course daddy...her favorite.

She woke up saturday (nov. 14) with her 3rd tooth, (her right front one). She can cruise along objects, push the push toy around the couch, bounces in the jumperoo like a crazy woman. She is doing well at attempting the sippy cup and insists on feeding herself. She is pretty much off of baby food, but we are trying to take it slow with table foods as she chokes pretty easy and has issues with digestion.

She LOVES: quesadillas, mum mums, babies, toast, "Kung Fu Panda" commercials..and LIFE!

She is a beautiful, happy, healthy growing girl!

the Baker and the Bee

Jillian bowling

Jillian in the bounce house

Mommy and her girls

Emma the bee

Jillian the baker

Halloween 2008

Here are some pictures of our growing girls on this fun filled Halloween night. Emma was an adorable bee and Jillian was a baker...they were adorable!

Friends, Fondue & Fun

This weekend 2 of my greatest pals came to visit me and the girls. Katie came from Minnesota and Kim from Colorado. We had a great time hanging out, playing with the girls and catching up. I even took them on a really boring tour of Greenville;)


Katie, Me, Kim, Elizabeth, Denyse and FONDUE!!

growing girls

Emma is growing so fast!
So for the official record:
Weight (as of 15 Sept): 18.5 lbs
First tooth: Oct 4, 2008 (bottom right) at 7 mo
Started pulling up: October 3, 2008 at 7mo
Crusing around furniture: October 5, 2008 at 7mo
Waves bye-bye, says her name
Loves: people, baby food, putting anything in her mouth
Hates: to be alone

Jillian, is not really growing (i think she will be this size forever:),but she is learning tons in her preschool class. She has been learning about shapes and colors, triangles and pink are her favorite. She is learning to draw straight and curved lines to prepare her for writing her name. She is learnig a new bible verse each week (for Awanas). She enjoys coloring, watching cartoons, doing anything with Auntie Gabi, taking pictures, eating fruit snacks...and of course being the center of attention:)

Emma Cate

Emma loves looking at pictures of daddy. Her face just lights up when she sees him. We have tons of pictures around the house for the girls all the time. This morning after breakfast while she was staring at daddy's picture, she was talking up a storm, saying Dada:) So I tried to get it on tape. Not much success, oh well, she is still cute:)



a video just so daddy can see me crawl:)

Emma is crawling

After a couple of weeks of the inch worm and scooting across the flow, she is now really crawling. It is so cute:) I think she is determined to keep up with Jillian and Gabi.

So since I can never remember anything, I am officially blogging this info and will eventually transfer it over to her baby book..once I get one:)

Emma Cate:
Crawling 9/11/09

other info, just so I have it.
@ 6mo, weight 16.7 lbs, 26inches long
currently eating 24oz a day, 4 container of baby food a day (stage 2), and enjoys mum mum snacks.

First word..

Emma said her first word yesterday, and because I am terrible about remembering or writing things down or both, here it is...officially on August 3, 2008, Emma said her first word.....Dada! (this was also Jillian's first word:)

Emma's Earrings

We got Emma's ear's pierced today...and they are so cute. I thought I was going to hypervinalate (sp?) just watching:) So Mark held her and I shopped:) I was totally not like that with Jillian.

2 month dr. visit

So Emma had a her 2mo appointment (even though she is 10 1/2 weeks) which included a checkup and of course vaccinations.

Her current stats:
11 lbs, 10oz (50 percentile)
23 in. long (50-75 percentile)

She is very healthy, eating plenty, and a little slobber bucket:)

Emma

Here is a very amatuer attempt ao photographing miss Emma...

Babies, Babies, Babies

On April 1, our good friends Mike & Kim welcomed a new baby, Ava Juliet. Kim is the wonderful photography who has taken the girls/family pictures for us. They also has a little girl Allison who is Jillian's age.

Some other good friends, Matt & Gaby also recently welcomed a new little girl, Melanie Paige (she is two weeks older than Emma). And yes, they too have another little girl, Madison, who is also Jillian's age.

So it was only appropriate that we take a picture of the babies (Madison & Jillian were available for photographs).




Gaby, Kim & I had a great time experiencing our pregnancies together. It was so nice to alwways have someone to chat to about the life growing inside of you. Gaby & I both knew the genders of our babies, but for Kim, it was a surprise. And boy was it! What are the chances we would all end up with two girls! The hubbies are in all in for an exciting ride.

5 Amazing Weeks!

It has now been almost 5 weeks since our little Emma arrived and it has been an amazing journey thus far. Emma is growing and changing so much everyday. Jillian definetly loves baby "Ma" and constantly wants to pat her, it is very sweet. My mom was in Colorado when Emma was born, which was so wonderful and she stayed for two more weeks. Mark had to return to work a little early so the girls and I decided to travel back down to Texas with Gamma for a little while. The trip was...LONG!!! With two little ones it was crazy, but after 15 hours, we finally made it to Greenville. Since we have been here Emma has been able to meet almost everyone possible and that has been great. She is a snuggler and very lovey and no one can get enough:) But she also does not do real well with lots of noise and stimulation so she cries a lot. She is still eating a ton and is doing well with sleeping at night. She is really a great baby and so dang beautiful! she is absolutely wonderful!!
We are still working on getting the whole 2 kid thing down, but really have not had to worry about practicing that too much because since she has been born as we have had constant help..THANK GOD! We are definetly blessed! I guess we will get some real practice soon once we get back to Colorado.
We have taken tons of pictures and I will get them posted very soon.