Emily 2 year/Holiday Pictures

Since Emmy's birthday falls close to the holiday's, we take advantage of the 2 for 1 and do her year 2 pictures, with our Christmas card photos. We had Kim Jackson come out again this year, and we love what she was able to capture. These pictures are totally Emmy. Because the weather was not great (it snowed the entire night before), we did them at our house again, which worked out perfect because Em was in her element. Here are the moments she captured and how our card turned out! (A little late I know, but better late than never). I had to put them in a slide show because they were way to big to upload. Enjoy!



I have a bunch of posts in draft including a bump date (don't get too excited, I have been HORRIBLE about taking pictures weekly), Christmas, and most importantly, A POTTY POST!!

Forward Facing

At 2 years and almost 2 months, Zig and I finally made the decision that it was a good time to turn Emmy around and start forward facining her. I will try not to be too preachy when I write this post, because this is a totally positive expereince for us and I don't care what you chose to do either way. We chose extended rear facing for many reasons, but the biggest reason was because it was truly what was best for our Emily and our family. Plus I watched way to many videos that showed the way the impact of a crash is distributed through the body of a child rear facing vs. forward facing. Emily is petite and her safety was far more important to us than her reaching any other milestones. Honestly, this was just not a milestone we wanted to rush. Was she ready earlier, probably. We knew that we wanted to rear face for at least 2 years. I am so happy we made it past that. And I can honestly say, that if we were not expecting another baby in less than 2 months (OMG), we probably would have kept her rear facing longer. My car would just not allow her seat to rear face anywhere other than the middle seat, and with 2 seats next to eachother, things would have been tight. It's funny because I received a lot of criticizing questions and comments about our decision. I got a lot of "it seems cruel to make her sit like that, she must be so uncomfortable sitting like that, or she must be so bored" Fact of the matter is, she was not uncomfortable and she was not bored. When her legs got longer, she just crossed them. Kids are super flexible. Heck, she is still sitting with the crossed half the time when I look back at her. And there is not a single documented case of a child's legs, hips, etc being injured or broken during a crash while rearfacing, yet there are plenty of cases of spinal, head and neck injury in forward facing children. And to the bored comment, she doesn't know any differently. So no she was not bored. I don't judge those who choose to forward face earlier, so it always irriated me that people chose to judge me. Even though I think people make up ridiculous excuses to turn their children around earlier. To me, it was about Emily and Emily alone. By the way, the AAP does recommend rear facing to 2 now, just sayin. So is extended rear facing for everyone. Maybe not, but I do encourage people to research the topic a little bit before making the decision that is best for them.

So how is Emmy doing with it. She thinks it's great. She tells us all the time that she really is a big girl now. And she likes that she can see us. She tells me countless times on our 15 min drive home from school "I see you Mommy." So she is doing great and we could not be happier with our decision!

Emily is 2!

Well, this is only a month late. Mother of the year right here. The holidays really caught up with us this year and I can't believe 2011 is almost over. I will not be sad to see it go. This was a hard year for me personally, but that is a whole other story and not what this post is about.

EMILY IS TWO!!!! Or in Emmy's words "I gonna be 2" said while desperately trying to hold only two fingers up. She is such a sweetheart. We had her party on the Saturday before her birthday and she was surrounded by lots of family and friends. next year we will for sure tone it down a bit and take her and some of her friends to more of a play place, but I think all the kids that made it had a fun time. I forgot my camera (I tell you mother of the year) but thankfully Papa Robert was able to capture some moments for us.

About the Party
I don't have any pictures of the details, but it was a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme. Here is the invite.



We had snack type appetizers including "Plutos Punch" (sherbet punch), Minnie's Mac n' Cheese, Goofy's Grapes, Mickey's jiggly jello, Donald's vegetable garden (veggie tray), Daisy's Daises (cheese slices cut into flower shapes, and of course hot dogs. My mom and I made cupcakes and put on large oreo and two minis to form a Mickey head on top. They turned out great. The party was a lot of fun. Emmy was definitely spoiled that is for sure! She is one lucky girl to have so many people in this world who love her.

About Emily
Emmy totally blows my mind. Her vocabulary doubles nearly every day and she is amazing at using her words to communicate. She says the silliest things and always keeps us laughing. She is such a happy little girl. We truly are so blessed to have such a well behaved child. Don't get me wrong, we have our moments and lately our share of serious tantrums. She is definitely testing her limits these days and it is so hard for Zig and I not to give in, but in the long run, us being a little bit more strict now will pay off down the road.

We had Em's 2 year check up and she is still on the same curve she was at her last check up and the doctor was really happy with how she was developing both physically and mentally. She said she is still small (25lbs 33 1/4 inches long, 10-25th percentile overall) but that's ok. As far as gross and fine motor skills she is a little ahead of the curve, and vocabulary wise she is doing awesome. She says full sentences, and is pretty easy to understand to most people. Zig and I pretty much understand everything she says clear as day, but there are some things she says that we have to translate.

Here are just some little fun facts:
-Emmy still loves her "buddies" and they have multiplied to over a dozen over the last few months. We had to make a special shelf in her room for them to sit at night so they all don't end up in her bed (more on her big girl room to come).
-She loves to give kisses, especially on the cheek and makes the sweetest little smacking sound when she does it. She is also the best hug giver.
-She sleeps amazing in her big girl bed. Seriously, that may have been the easiest transition yet. She quickly blew off the baby room and traded up for the big girl room no problems. I don't blame her. Her new room is pretty awesome. Christmas threw her schedule off a little bit and we are having some issues with naps and bed time but we are working through them. She likes for me to lay down and sing to her till she falls asleep and honestly, I can't complain. She is not going to let me do that forever, so for now, we just do what works.
-She loves all her family. She talks about them all the time. Noni, Papa, Papa, Grandma, all the aunts and uncles. You name it!
-She wears 18-24 month pants and 2 t shirts. She has a long upper body and a teenie tiny waist. She does have quite the belly though so it has been tough to find pants that accommodate that and aren't super long. She is still in size 4 diapers and between a 4 and 5 shoe.
-I love the way she says mommy and daddy. She will also tell people that my name is Michele and daddy's name is Sean (said almost with a Jersey accent). She will also tell people her full name, although her pronunciation of her last name is a little off. I don't blame her, it's tough to pronounce clearly.
-She is very much into Princesses and dress up. She loves Tinkerbell.
-She loves to sing, although I am quite positive she has no future on American Idol. Her favorites to sing are her ABC's, Jingle Bells, and Santa Clause is coming to town!!!!.
-She is getting good about sitting on the potty and we have had quite a few successes, but we have a long way to go. I think once we stay consistent, she is going to be a breeze to potty train. For now, with the holidays and us moving her to her big girl room, we didn't want to throw too much at her at once. We started putting panties on over her diaper so she can get comfortable pulling them on and off and I will probably take a long weekend in January to try and get the ball rolling. In the mean time, Steph changes her diaper in the bathroom and she sits on the potty with each diaper change. I would love to have her trained before the baby, and fully expect some set backs after the baby arrives, but I won't push her if she is not ready.

This post could go on all day if I let it. For now, I will just leave you with some pictures of Emily from her party day!

Bumpdate

I realize I am seriously behind on this. The last month and a half has been insane! I have been super busy with work deadlines, I went on a cruise for my cousin Breanna's wedding, I planned a 2 year olds birthday and big girl bedroom, and I moved offices at work. Busy really is an understatment. I have been SWAMPED and I can't believe the entire month of November and have of December have passed me by!!

I have pictures, for the most part. I didn't get pictures of week 23 because I was on the cruise, and I didn't get week 27 because we spent the entire weekend prepping for Emmy's big girl room, but considering how busy we were, I think we did pretty good.

Instead of doing the survey, I will just give a recap of the last several weeks because I am sure you don't want me to post the longest blog post in the world anyway. I have been feeling great. I am starting to get tired, mainly because I haven't been sleeping great. No so much because I am comfortable, I just wake up in the middle of the night and am wide awake. I think I remember that happening with Emily too. I went to the doctor 2 weeks ago and I am up 10 lbs. (5 of which I accumulated over my cruise and Thanksgiving! oops) but my doctor is very happy with my progress and not concerned by my gain at all. I feel very large. People tell me I am still small, but I think they are just humoring me. We don't have a name yet, but we are talking about. Hopefully something will come to us soon. We both have names we really like, unfortunately we have none of those names in common. We aren't rushing into it, but I think we are narrowing our lists down a bit. No new stretch marks to speak of, thankfully. I passed my glucose test, but I am anemic again this go round. I am going to try and increase my iron naturally, because last time I had to stop taking the supplements because they made me so sick. I am going to be all Popeye with the spinach if I have too. :) Chicken still grosses me out, but I am semi ok with beef. I can't wait till my love of cooking comes back again and doesn't repulse me so we start eating a little better overall. Zig has been amazing these last few months and has completly taken over the meal planning and I love him for it!

Anyway, here are some pictures!! Here you can find weeks 23, 24, 25, I skipped 26 last go round, 27, and 28 from my pregnancy with Emily. I promise to be better about posting. Seriously. I can't believe I am already in my third trimester!!

Week 24



Week 25



Week 26



Week 28

Happy Birthday Emmy!

This is a quick fly by post to wish my sweet little Emily the happiest of birthdays. You have no idea the impact you have had on your daddy or my life.. You are amazing. You are independent and caring and so super smart. The things you say keep us laughing all the time. Thank you for everything you have done to truly complete our lives. We love you with all our hearts, more than anything in the world. What an amazing experience these last 2 years have been! We cannot wait to continue to watch you grow! I love you so much my sweet angel!

So blogger is now blocked at my work which is why I am typing this from my phone. And partially why I have been so bad about blogging. I will post some birthday party pictures and baby #2 update here soon. Promise!

Emily is 23 months!

Dude. That's all I can say is dude. I can't believe the holidays are just around the corner. We are in party planning mode right now for Emily's big 2 birthday. We are going with a Mickey Mouse theme since she is pretty much obsessed. I am excited, but feel very behind in my planning already!

I don't know if any of this is "new," but this is what she is up too...

*She loves to sing. She sings a lot of songs we understand, and a million we don't but her voice is so so sweet.

*She can sing her ABC's and make all the letter sounds. She loves the Letter Factory by Leap Frog. It has been a great learning tool for her. She runs around telling us all the sounds the letters make.

*She is very independent. She says "Emmy do it" to pretty much everything. She loves putting her shoes on, or anyone's shoes on really. She is pretty good at it. Not always the right foot, but a good effort.

*She is a girly girl. She LOVES to dress up. And she loves heels. She is really good at walking in them too. She has been putting my heels on for months now, but she wears little princess dress up shoes at school a lot and can literally run in them. That's my girl!





*Howie, Lamby and Sophie are all her best friends. Really, not sure if that will ever change. Zig took a video of her last night putting them all to sleep in her bed. I will have to upload it.

*She seems so much bigger to me these days, but I think she is still probably a peanut. Especially when I found clothes that she wore last winter are still fitting her! She wears 18 month pants that are giant on her waist, 18-24 month shirts, size 4 diapers, and between 4 and 5 shoes.

*Sleeping in her bed is going great! She has only gotten out of bed once since we made the move. She opened the door and yelled down to Zig and I "I go down stairs now, Ok mommy!" It was really cute.

*Want to know what happens when your daughter silently wakes up from a nap and plays in her room for who knows how long...


I walked in to find her laundry basket EXPLODED all over the room and she was sporting this little get up. Hysterical.

*She loves to read books. She will ALWAYS ask for another one before bed.

*She loves pink and princesses.

*She especially loves to have her nails painted.

*She says the funniest things. She always has us laughing. This truly may be my favorite age. She is a riot.

We did take her "trick or treating" on Monday. I use the term loosely because we only went to Noni's house and to see Papa (Grandma was out of town.) She loved her little outfit. I personally am not a big Halloween fan, but I will play along with the kids. I really wanted her to re wear her tutu from my sisters wedding, so I paired it with some leopard ears and a tail and she was a little cat. According to my brother, she was not a leopard, since her body was sans spots, but whatever. She was more of a hybrid panther/leopard, but it was still adorable and she loved it.

Weeks 21 and 22!

Another few weeks past. I saw the doctor on Monday and everything is looking good. Little girl is really active, which I really do love, and measuring right on track. I feel great. Better than I have ever felt actually. I don't remember 2nd tri with Em as much, but my energy seems to be back for the most part, food is amazing, other than chicken. I can't get enough water. I just feel good. Other than that there really isn't a lot to update. We are trying to sell our bedroom set so we can get Emmy's big girl room done. And we are in the midst of planning a birthday party for our sweet little girl. ::TEARS::. #Areyoufreakingkiddingmethatmylittleangelisgoingtobe2!!

Anyway, here is a little update
Pregnancy Highlights:
How Far Along: 21 and 22 weeks
Size of baby: According to the Bump, at 21 weeks the size of a banana. And month 5 which is weeks 22-24 she is the size of a papaya. So I guess it goes by months from here on out. Boring.
Total Weight Gain/Loss:up 8 lbs total. Could be worse. I expected worse with the amount of pumpkin bars and junk I have been consuming these days.
Maternity Clothes: Yep
Movement: Lots of movement. Swoon...
Sleep:Still not bad. I really can't complain
What I miss: I can't really think of anything? I miss my sister I guess. Not really pregnancy related, but true
Cravings: Food in general. I can't get enough. Same as last week. I really just want to eat all the time. Nothing specific though.
Symptoms: Um, giant belly? No other "symptoms" per say.
Best moment this week:I would say that over the last few weeks, I have really enjoyed spending time with family. Emmy is such a blast these days!

You can find belly pics from week 21 and 22 from my last pregnancy here!

Week 21-Baby #2


Week 22-Baby #2