Pictures by Emma

Emma loves to take pictures. We actually bought her her own camera for her birthday, which she loves. But she still prefers Mommy's. She is getting much better at not cutting off our heads and not getting a frame full of someone's pre-Jenny Craig sized belly or bottom! Here is the one she took of Cole and me the other day. Cole looks pretty tired, I think this is just before his nap. Jenny Craig is working, I am down about 13 lbs.

Emma is 3

I have been terrible at keeping my Blog current. If you look over at Andrew's blog you will see even he has done better this past month than I have. I am so ashamed. Emma celebrated her 3rd birthday at the beginning of August. It is really something to think she is 3. The time has gone by so quickly. Here is a snapshot of the past 3 years:

Newborn

3 Months

6 Months

9 Months
1st Birthday

2nd Birthday

3rd Birthday

The celebrating started off with a visit from Papa and Oma. We had lunch at a local resturant which has the best dessert for kids (and adults who are watching their calories). a spoon sundae! They put a spoonful of vanilla ice cream on a plate and drizzle chocolate sauce on it with a bit of whip cream. It was the perfect treat for Em's birthday.

This year we had her party at The Little Gym. We had 11 kids including Emma and Cole. All the kids had lots of smiles on their faces, you can't ask for more than that. Emma's best buddy, Callie, and Daddy helped break the ice and get Emma comfortable. She was very shy and felt a bit overwhelmed with all of the attention. But once she got used to it, she had a great time. Over the course of the month she has gotten a few additional gifts and she is really funny about them..."but it is not my birthday". However, she has not offered to return anything. Take a look at the pictures on Shutterfly from all of the fesitivies.

Looking back at her pictures from the past 3 years I really wonder how we made it without her for so long. Everyday she puts a smile on our faces. Of course Cole does too! We are so blessed.

Thanks Dad!

Yesterday Emma was out running around on the deck and her feet were filthy! I was putting Cole to bed so I left Daddy in charge of cleaning her up and getting her ready for bed. Today I left her in the bathroom washing her hands and came back to this.



Her feet were clean at least when she went to bed last night!

Pea in your Pants

I am oh so sorry I do not have a picture for this story, but I am quite sure Daddy is very happy the camera wasn't close by. Over the weekend we were preparing lunch. As is normal after a dining experience with Cole, Andrew was picking up the peas and carrots off of the floor. All of a sudden I heard commotion and turned to find Cole pouring the rest of his peas and carrots down the back of Andrew's pants! It was hysterical! I bet Andrew is glad he keeps his shirts tucked in :-)

Vacation in San Diego

We recently went to San Diego for our first real "family" type vacation, complete with theme parks. We started the trip at Sea World and everyone had a great time. We had breakfast with Shamu and it was really amazing. We were so close to the whales, you really could smell them :-) It was such a great treat and one I would highly recommend to anyone going to Sea World. Where else could you get a picture like this?

Emma of course loved Shamu so she had to have a near life sized stuffed animal. She was just dead to the world after her fun packed day.

Day 2 was devoted to the SD zoo and here Emma's favorite seemed to be the polar bear. We stayed and watched him for quite a while. Cole and I hung out while he napped (he did alot of that!). Emma finally ended up falling asleep in the stroller towards the end of the afternoon, when Cole was wide awake. We found a nice quiet place for our new walker to explore. He had a great time chasing the little black birds. We could have been anywhere! Poor Andrew ended up pushing the double stroller up a MASSIVE hill. Emma weighs about 36 lbs, Cole about 23 and, when empty, the stroller weighs 40! Talk about a work out.

We drove past our old house and enjoyed looking at the great curb appeal created with the landscaping we put in just before we sold it. It is still a great house and great neighborhood, although very built up now. We also saw our good friend Stacy, which was a real treat.

Day 3 took us to Legoland. It was alot of fun, although Emma was probably about 2 years too young for it. We tried to get her face painted twice and she would wait in line and then when it was her turn, she wouldn't do it. We were walking past a very young girl who was alone with no customers and Emma says "I want to get my face painted". Of course when we got up there, she wouldn't have anything to do with it. I think since the girl was without customers, she offered to paint a flower on Emma's hand....after that Emma was hooked. It was very cute.

And of course at the end of the day Emma was out like a light in the stroller and Cole was ready to go. The hotel we were at had a great play area for the kids. Cole was able to explore on his own while Emma slept peacefully nearby.

It was a wonderful vacation. I am sure we will make the trip south again when Cole is old enough to participate.

Mr.Man is walking!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Last night when I was doing all of my entries, I was wondering how long it would be before I would be posting about Cole walking. Here I am 24 hours later with the big news! I knew he would be doing it soon because he has been close to running with his push toys and seeking them out instead of crawling. Tonight he grabbed a very large ball and started walking with it. Andrew and I were both scrambling to get video of it. Thankfully, he just kept doing it, so we were able to get quite a bit of footage. His favorite was going into the kitchen where he could make the ball bounce.

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His giggle was infectious and he had all of us, including Emma, laughing and cheering him on. He even walked to her, which made her feel very happy. She absolutely loves her baby brother. I am not sure the dogs share every one's enthusiasm for Cole's new accomplishment. Shelby was walking around nervously and Harley slept through it all. When I told Cole to walk to Harley he did it! I think Harley is his favorite.

H A R L E Y at it again

We have adopted a new addition to our family and his name is Harley. Harley came to us at about 45 lbs. He was very skinny, he now weighs 55lbs, right where he should be. Harley is full of energy and very loyal and faithful. For those of you who are dog lovers and readers, He could be "Marley's" long lost Boxer brother(from the book Marley and Me) We have had him almost 3 months now and not a week goes by that he doesn't do something very dog-like! Well this week was no exception. When we came home from a recent outing, he came running into the garage from outside. I looked as he ran like a blur past me and there was something in his mouth that resembled a stuffed animal. Well noooooo it was a dead gopher! I originally thought he had caught it, but we now think it had met its fate long before Harley found it. He was however, quite proud of his find. He laid it almost at my feet, with his nubby little tail wagging the whole time. G R O S S! You would think he could have at least taken it outside for me. Looking back on it a day later, it is funny, but not at the time. I had to go across the street where they are building a house and ask one of the construction guys to come get it out of the garage for me. I know, I am a wimp, but it really gave me the creeps to think about moving it.

He is lucky we love him so much! I, thankfully have no picture of the gopher, but how can I get mad at this face?