10 Months Old

Emma started crawling the day she turned 9 months old. She has not slowed down since hence the lack in blogging. I sit down for a second, look up, and she is gone. It has been amazing wathing Emma explore and discover her world. Everyone said I would regret the day she started crawling but honestly I love it. Everyting is so wonderful to her. We have stayed busy during her 10th month but I honestly can not remember what we did. USC football has started back up so Michael has either been at the game or has has it on at our house. Michael's mom generously kept Emma for us so I could go to the USC/Wofford game. We enjoyed having friends in town and watching the Terriers play even if they did lose. This month was a sad month for us also. My grandfather passed away after a 5 year fight with congestive heart failure. As sad as it was to see him go we know he is in Heaven looking down on us. I know he is up there having the time of his life playing tennis, fishing, and hunting. One of Michael's good friend's father passed away the day after my grandfather. Unfortunately, it was a month of funerals and sadness. But we are able to relish in the joy of the precious daughter the Lord has blessed us with. I have been slack in taking pictures of Emma. I have been enjoying watching Emma and playing with her instead of spending the time taking pictures of her. I do regreat not having anymore pictures.

Emma dancing with Meme Haizlip.

Looking for the puppy dogs. Daddy attempting to read to Emma.
Still attempting to read to her. She was obviously more interested in making faces at mommy!

Nine Months Old

Where has my baby gone? It is hard to believe Emma is 9 months old. I think I say that every month. I am now officially one of those parent's that always says, " They just grow up too fast." Emma has had a busy 9th month. A few weeks ago, she was somehow scooting around. We would put her down in one place then come back a few seconds later to find her somewhere else. Then she began rolling over then sitting up on her own. Finally, I am happy to report she started crawling. It is pitiful at times. She will cry because she has to work to get to us. Also during this month she went on her first vacation to the beach. She loved it so much that her Doc is going to make her, her very own beach at the lake. Emma has really turned into a ham. She gets a kick out of us when we laugh at her. She is saying mama and dada. She is eating 3 meals a day. We are gradually starting to introduce more real foods. I am a little nervous about it because I do not want her to choke. She seems to like Cheerios. Everyday with Emma just becomes more and more fun. Michael and I look forward to all the fun times ahead. It is hard to believe in 3 short months we will have a one year old.

This is one of her recent faces. She would wrinkle her nose and blow out of it. Of course we all got a laugh our of it so she would do it again.

This is where we found her one day. We put her down in the middle of the rug in the den. I left for a second and came back in to find her pulling her toys out. This was before she was crawling.
She was so fascinated with the water. She studied it for the longest time.

Beach Bums Part 2

From Perdido Key we drove to Daytona Beach to spend a week with Michael's family. We stopped halfway to break up the trip. This trip was not as relaxing for me because Michael had to be in Lake Las Vegas for 3 days for a work conference. That meant I had to haul all the beach gear and Emma to the beach. Somehow we managed! I am happy to report I only fell down the stairs once. Emma got plenty of good attention from her grandparents, great-grandmother, and cousins. Needless to say since we have been home Emma has been fussy and all out of sorts. I can't tell if that is because she is readjusting to being home or because there is no one paying her attention constantly. Michael and I enjoyed our time away but we were ready to get home.

Beach Bums

For the past two weeks, Michael, Emma, and I have been on vacation. It was our first family vacation besides going to the lake. Our trip started off by us driving to Birmingham to meet up with the Johnson's. From there we all drove to Perdido Key, Flordia where we spent a week with the Johnson's and the Wansley's. We stayed in the Johnson's condo which by far is the nicest place I have ever stayed. It definitley spoiled me. Emma was the youngest of all the kids, and she loved all the excitment. She would watch all the kids running around. She also loved, loved the beach. She was not too sure about the ocean. Alot of that has to do with the fact that Michael took her out into the ocean and they immediately got knocked down by a huge wave. It was a very relaxing and much needed vacation.

Emma and Daddy right after they were knocked down by a wave. Michael did a good job of holding onto Emma.



Emma ate sand daily!!!

8 Months Old

Emma's first experience with Puffs. She seems to like them and will pick them up, but makes NO effort to put them in her mouth. She will eat them out of our hand but has no desire to feed herself.

These 2 pictures were of Emma after we went swimming at Michael's parent's house. She seriously stayed in the pool for at least an hour. She had a great time splashing, laughing, swimming, and watching her older cousins. By the time we pulled out of their driveway, she was out cold. She did not want to be bothered with. Emma is so cute when she is ready for bed. She throws her arm up over her head, turns her head towards her arm, and sucks on her bottom lip.
Emma is supposed to be working on crawling here but she decided to rest her little head instead.

Time is getting away from me. I missed posting a 7 month post about Emma and now all of a sudden she is 8 months old. Emma was with my parents this past week because Emma's caretaker was on vacation. My mom reluctantly offered to keep her. Michael and I were totally bored while we were home. We did not know what to do with our time. The house was way too quiet and calm. Don't get me wrong it was nice to relax and not have to work around Emma's schedule, but man we missed her a lot. It is hard to believe she is 8 months old. She seems to grow overnight. It is so much fun to watch her interact with her world. She is a great eater for the most part. I have not found a food she does not like except for peaches. She was not too fond of those. She does okay with veggies but usually after the second bite she refuses to eat anymore. Michael and I have started putting a little bit on the spoon then covering it in a fruit. Emma is not a great napper. Somedays she takes great naps then other days it is all I can do to get her to stay down for a nap. I put her down at the same time, let her cry, soothe her, etc but she just does not want to nap. Any advice is greatly appreciated!!!!! She sleeps well at night. She is the most sporadic sleeper though. She wakes up at different times every morning. Somedays it is as early as 6:20 then a couple of times it has been as late as 9:00. She is not crawling and does not seem to be making too many strides in that direction. She is lazy like her daddy. I have even tried putting a toy she is interested in out of her reach. She will try reaching for it a few times but then decides the carpet is a lot more interesting. So she proceeds to play with the carpet or the floor and pick the dirt up. She is sitting up well, appears to be waving, smiles for the camera, passes toys from one hand to the other, and has just recently discovered the uh-oh game. She, like most babies, loves that game. She even played it with my mom's palm pilot and that did not go over too well for the palm pilot. She also has 4 teeth now and loves to grind them together. It is enought to drive one crazy. Enough jibber-jabber, here are a few pics from this past month.

Happy July 4th!

For Emma's first Fourth of July, we headed up to NC to visit the Wansley's. We all had a great time. The girls shopped and the boys got to hang out. The Wansley's hosted a cookout for the 4th. It was a nice evening and would have been better if a storm had not come up. I think we saw one set of fireworks. It is so much fun seeing Emma and Libby interact now. Even though Libby runs laps and is everywhere, they still like to watch each other.

Based on this picture, you would think Emma was not too fond of Libby but actually Emma adores Libby. At one point last weekend, Emma cried everytime Libby left her sight. Emma would just watch Libby play and run (Libby does not walk or sit still) around. Libby kept wanting to hold her and got upset when Emma was on her tummy fussing.

Yikes! Where has the time gone!

Future Wofford Terrier!! At least we hope we can afford the tution by the time she is old enough to attend Wofford.
Even though she looks a little nervous, she did enjoy her swimming time.

I am way behind on our blog. I keep meaning to sit down to post some pictures but I always end up doing something else. Miss Emma is growing everyday. She is 8 months old today. It is sad to think she is 4 months away from being a year old. She has had a busy 2 months. Michael and I were in Florida the first part of June for Amy Imfeld's wedding. Emma stayed with my parents for 3 whole nights. That was the first time we had been apart. Michael and I enjoyed our time away, but we were ready to get back to see Emma. Emma did great with my parents. I don't think she even missed us. Since then we have been going to the lake most weekends and staying busy at home. Emma also had her first experience in the swimming pool. She loved it! I think she would spend hours in there if we let her. She tries to grab the bubbles and likes to put her face in the water. I hope this love for swimming continues. I have gone back to work 2 days a week. This mommy needed a break from diaper duty. It has worked out well especially since Emma is in good hands. Here are 2 cute pictures of Miss Priss.