11.29.2011

8 months: yesterday


Yesterday marked Emma's 8 month birthday.

Yesterday also marked two years since the last time I got to tell my dad that I loved him.


I didn't get the chance to blog about any of it because I stayed up too late making crepes with my cousins. It was a nice distraction. Laughing, eating too much (nutella filled crepes...yum!), and being with family.


Dear Emma, it's hard to believe that you are already 8 months old. I'm not quite sure how that happened. You are changing so much every day. We have loved watching you take it all in this month.

I don't think it will be long before you will be completely mobile. If you are on the floor, you are up on all fours, lunging around. You just haven't quite figured out how to coordinate the legs and arms at the same time.

You have the sweetest smile. It's a joy to watch you laugh and babble. You finally have a little tooth poking through on the bottom. Your toothless grin will soon be a thing of the past.

This month, you:
~eat just about anything (new foods: egg yolks, chicken, turkey, cheese)
~love to feed yourself
~have pushed yourself up from laying down to sitting a couple times
~have pulled yourself up
~only slept through the night twice
~are very entertained by Mason
~take two naps a day
~love to play in the bathtub
~play with toys
~sing out during church and giggle at your brother

I think we fall more in love with you every day. You are pure joy, Emma girl.

xoxo,
mommy

11.24.2011

thanksgiving

I really enjoyed an extra day home with my kids this week. We spent yesterday playing and preparing for today. My house is the cleanest it's been in months. Lots of good pumpkins smells are coming from the kitchen. We are busy with last minute preparations while we wait for family to come over.



Emma is busy smearing her breakfast all over her face. Mason is busy decorating our table for Thanksgiving.




We have so much to be thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving!

11.20.2011

weekend notes

Ryan and Grandpa spent most of the weeknd working on this:With lots of help from their number one fan:Emma spent most of the weekend rolling around on the floor, pulling herself up (twice!) and popping up on all fours. She hasn't moved forward yet, but she sure is getting ready. I think she enjoyed playing by herself while Mason was outside helping the guys. No one was in her face, stealing her toys, or copying her every move. I spent most of the weekend cleaning and baking. And staying up way too late making cards with friends. I think I may have found a new favorite dinner roll recipe and it involves pumpkin and cloves. Mason and I made a huge batch of hot cocoa mix and Emma has mastered the finger foods....pieces of bread, rice, cheese, banana and avacodo. She chomps down pretty good for still being toothless.

Church was great today. I enjoyed both the message and the Thanksgiving meal we shared afterwards. Mason couldn't get enough turkey dipped in cranberry sauce and I think he talked four different people into sharing their dessert with him. I am so thankful for the friends we have to gather with each week.


I'm looking forward to a short week of school and finishing up some Christmas projects (we're celebrating with some extended family during Thanksgiving, so the clock is ticking!). We have two meals to look forward to at the end of the week, first with Ryan's family and then with mine. I can't stop looking through my cookbooks and making final decisions about what to prepare. I really enjoy our weekends of working on projects together, eating meals together, and playing with our sweet kids. I feel so blessed.

11.16.2011

projects

It's always something around here. We have plenty to accomplish on our to-do list. Ryan spent the weekend putting up a pole barn with the help of Tim, Grandpa and Grammie. It was plenty cold and windy for sure. They still have a little ways to go before it's finished (siding and roof) but they got a great start. I stayed inside with the kids making cookies and hot chocolate. Mason spent the morning sorting his blocks (numbers on the right and letters on the left).And stealing cuddles with Grandpa during a break from the cold.We have plenty of projects going on inside too. I spent Mondy night painting in the kitchen. We now have cabinets on a wall that has been waiting for them for far too long. We are still waiting for our countertop. It turns out they don't make the same countertop that we have in the rest of our kitchen anymore, but Ryan finally found a place where he could special order it.


We spent last night hanging wood...the beginning of our beams that will cover the pipes going through our kitchen from the addition. Mason was a huge help taking measurements and hammering. Also, everytime he got his drill he would go over to Emma (who was just taking it all in) and say "Emma...it might be loud". Then he would fire up his little drill with the biggest grin on his face.




It's so fun to watch him help daddy!

11.11.2011

another week



Another week has flown by. This week has pretty much been categorized by sleepless nights, report cards, Emma squeals, hundreds of questions from Mason, homemade bread baked in our woodcook stove, snow, salads from our greenhouse, bible study, and dinner with my cousins.


Last weekend me and the kiddos headed north for a weekend with my sister's family and Nana. My mom watched the kids while Kati and I scrapbooked the weekend away. I think I set a record for the most number of pages I've ever scrapbooked in a 24 hour period. I may have also set a record for the amount of chai I consumed.




I am so thankful that my sister lives close enough for weekend visits. We had such a good time chatting, scrapbooking, and laughing at the kids. It has been so fun to journey through motherhood together! I just can't get enough of my sweet little nephew...his chubby cheeks, tiny teeth peeking through when he smiles and his dinosaur growls. And he totally busted out the crawling moves while we were there. The real thing--on all fours. It was great to watch my sister and brother-in-law take it all in. I think Emma was taking notes too.

Mason was almost overwhelmed by the toys at Nana's house. Since she does home day-care she had so many different learning stations and Mason played from morning to night. I know my mom had a blast with the kids.

On the way home we stopped at my best friend's house to meet a new little baby girl. Mindy and Raul welcomed precious Natalie into their family last week. At just a couple days old, she already has more hair than Emma. It was wonderful to visit with them.

Ryan and I were able to sneak away for a little date night tonight...dinner out (Mason informed us that he ate dinner in). Mason also informed me this morning that my hair looked like a rooster and I needed to comb it. The rest of the weekend will be filled with friends, projects, homemade granola, and hopefully some rest.