Picture update

Proof that my son does let me put him down every once in a while and will play by himself.  I was washing dishes while he was playing and got to enjoy both of my hands for about 20 minutes.

Emery gave Luke a blue sucker from the 4th of July parade.  He thought it was pretty awesome.  He was a fur covered sticky mess pretty quickly and required a bath.

David had a big white backdrop set up in our living room for about a week for some photo sessions so when he took it down, it became drawing paper for Emery.  We had a lot of fun yesterday tracing each other.  I was cracking up as Emery traced me.  I could tell she was not doing a very accurate job but just let her do her thing.  Check out my lovely legs and my ginormous arms.  I also don't have a neck and my head is about double what it should be.   Emery got a kick out of being traced.  She wiggled and said, "that tickles!" about 20 times.  Her outline is pretty accurate if I say so myself.  It makes me sad now though looking at how long her legs look and how tall she's getting.  

At one point Emery colored between her legs and informed me she was coloring her peepee.  You can see in the picture, it's still colored and we desperately need to put some clothes on her.  She has on a partial shirt that she refused to let me help her finish, some pink socks, and green shoes.  I'm not sure what's going on with the orange coming out of her stomach...we have some work to do tomorrow.

Luke eating a banana this morning.  He looks pretty intense.

The next few photos are random.  I'm just going to write in the captions...

Emery and Madeline playing in the foam pit at Cheer Texas last friday.  Emery kept calling the foam blocks marshmallos.

Luke "organizing" the DVD's.  AKA throwing all of them off the shelf as quickly as possible and then prying them open so that he can scratch all of the DVD's and stress out his daddy.

Luke had on one of my old necklaces that he found in Emery's dress-up basket.  This picture is dark but you can see it going across his body.  It reminds me of Rambo and his bullets.  He does have a little necklace around his neck too.  David doesn't think it's very manly or that it even works but it's one of those amber teething necklaces.  I feel like I have to explain it to everyone...

His favorite pose - up on one knee.

Arms up!

Eating an orange.  Random...

Rambo decided to help with the dishes...

So stinkin' cute.

Tonight Luke decided to feed himself some yogurt.  He did an excellent job and was very proud of himself.

After I fed the kids tonight we headed up to one of the high schools to meet up with some friends.  The guys did a running workout on the track and Niki and I had plans of run/walking around the track.  Emery and Madeline insisted on riding together so Niki pushed them and I pushed Luke and Anna.  This lasted about 3 laps and then Anna was done with the stroller and the older girls wanted to "race."  They had a blast running around on the astroturf and getting filthy in the sand pit.  It is actually summer here despite the fact that our kids look like they are all bundled.  It has rained the past couple of days and the weather has been so nice!

One final photo to finish up.  Here's Emery modeling her new headband and necklace.  I did buy a glue gun a few months ago and this is our first time to use it together.  Thanks to Barrett (David's friend and photo assistant) Emery got a bunch of fake flowers to play with.  We decided to get crafty this afternoon!  Lots of fun for this momma who wants to avoid "tending"!

Goodnight!

You look like a...

So here's a story I've been needing to write down for a while.

At the end of the school year, David wasn't feeling well and asked me to get him some Sudafed.  So, I was out with the kids and stopped in at United to get a few groceries and his medicine.   We go up to the pharmacy to fill out the ridiculous paperwork for Sudafed and I notice this woman sitting on the bench by the pharmacy talking on her phone.  Now, I haven't had many experiences where Emery has said embarrassing things to people but you just never know what a 3-year-old is going to say.  I notice that this woman is missing some teeth and her two front teeth are rather long and stick out some.  I say a little prayer to myself that Emery doesn't notice.  Wishful thinking.  We go up to the counter.  Of course, Luke is annoyed with being in the cart so I'm holding him and talking to David on the phone who is instructing on which Sudafed he needs.  I'm trying to talk to the pharmacist and filling out the paperwork for the stupid medicine when I notice Emery is no longer standing by me.  That's right, she's walked over to the nice lady who is minding her own business, talking on the phone.  Then I see her arm go up and her finger pointing up high toward the woman's face.   Then my stomach drops as I hear her say in her cute high pitched voice, "Yooouuu look like a raaaaaaaabbit."  She likes to draw her words out really long sometimes when she talks.  Well, I call her back over to me and finish up with the pharmacist.  I quickly walk by the woman who is still on her phone and give her an embarrassed smile and apologize.  I was mortified.  We check out and go out to the car.  On the way home, we had this conversation.

Me:  Hey, Emery, do remember what you said to that lady in the store?
Emery:  Huh?
Me:  Remember how you told that lady that she looked like a rabbit?
Emery:  Oh yeah!
Me:  Do you think that's a good thing or a bad thing?
Emery:  Good thing!!
Me:  Do you think she likes looking like a rabbit?
Emery:  Yeah!!!!
Me:  Okay, from now on, we don't tell anyone they look like any animal.  Deal?
Emery:  Okay, mommy.

Oh my goodness.  So funny now, but I really hope she didn't hurt that woman's feelings.  I'm sure she did, but hopefully the fact that it came from a 3-year-old makes it hurt a little less...

Funny things Emery says...

I definitely need to sit down and write some funny stories about Emery but for now, I'll just post these two pictures and what Emery calls these items. 

These are called, "hookers" according to Emery.  Let's hope she doesn't go around telling people we have lots of hookers.

And these are "trappers." 

She cracks me up. 

The past couple of days...

Well, on the 4th we celebrated with our little neighborhood parade, cooked out and then watched the fireworks that night. It was a fun day and a late night. The fireworks only went off two hours late...no big deal. Seriously, we got out to our church at 8:30 expecting the fireworks to go off around 9:30 or so. Apparently the company they hired had some "technical difficulties" and could not get the show going until 11:20. My kids were exhausted and I'm sure the neighbors were less than thrilled by the noise. Needless to say, the church was not charged for the fireworks...and they'll probably go with a different company next year. 

Here's Emery riding her tricycle in the parade. We have more pictures that I'll have to post later because they are on the computer and I don't feel like pulling them up right now!

Watching the fireworks. Luke was into them for about 2 minutes. Then David took him to the car to sleep. 

Yesterday the kids and I went to the discovery center. I was trying to avoid playing "tend" with Emery so I had to get out of the house. There's a great dinosaur exhibit there so that's always a huge hit with Emery. She LOVES dinosaurs. So we walked around for a while and then we heard someone announce that there was going to be face painting in the kids area. We hurried over there to get in line. Thankfully we got there first and did not have to wait. Emery does not wait her turn very well so I was relieved to not have to. One of my former track kids happened to be the face painter for the day. When he asked her what she wanted on her face she quickly responded that she wanted to be a tiger. She loves lions and tigers almost as much as dinosaurs. So, here she is with half of her face painted. Now she is requesting face paints for her birthday which is 5 months away. 

We got home and put Luke down for a nap. I still wanted to avoid playing "tend" so I googled Pre-k crafts hoping I would have some supplies on hand. We went and found some rocks in the alley and painted them. 

She would tell me who each rock was for as she painted it and how much that person was going to love it.  

Then I needed to cook dinner so she worked on this apple. 

This is what you call busy work for a 3 year old. Here, tear up some red paper and glue it to a paper plate! So much fun!

I thought it would keep her occupied but I think I did most of the tearing and gluing. I would put down lots of drops of glue and she would place the pieces of paper that I tore. Basically I created more work for myself as I was trying to cook. 

Today a friend came by to pick up some photos and we chatted for a while in the living room. Emery was in the back room watching a show and was really quiet. When Jessica left, I went back there to check on her and found her like this. 

She proudly announced, "Mommy! I got an ice cream sandwich ALL BY MYSELF!"  I will not say how many of these I have been eating a day. They are mini ice cream sandwiches. You cannot just eat one. Well, at least I can't. 

After we cleaned up her hands and face, she wanted to paint her rocks some more and then moved on to the easel. She didn't want to get her dress dirty. Instead of wearing her cute little smock, she opted to paint in her underpants. Isn't this how all artists do their best work?

We hung out with some good friends tonight. David was shooting a wedding so I was all alone with the kids. They were great and I feel like I actually got to hang out for a little bit! Sometimes it feels like its not worth it when I'm having to keep up with the kids the whole time but it was a lot of fun tonight. 

Here are the kids doing a puzzle. I wish I had gotten pictures of all of the kids there. 

Love these sweet babies. I'm so glad they're mine and they love me just the way I am, with all of my flaws and mistakes I make every single day. I have really been trying to be patient with Emery and not yell or talk to her in my "mean" voice. Sometimes she just gets too busy and has accidents or makes messes when she's not being careful. I've been trying really hard to help her fix these situations rather than get frustrated when she does something.  We have had much happier days and I have been so much less frustrated since I have consciously made an effort to stay calm and not overreact. It's been a while now since she has told me she doesn't like it when I am a "mean mommy." Ugh. Not what I want to be known as. Instead, she has been telling me lately that I am her best friend.  Melts my heart.  Today, I bumped my back up against our stone fireplace when we were playing on the floor and she immediately looked at me with such concern on her face and asked me where it hurt. She came over to me and kissed my back and asked me if it felt better. I love her heart.  I can learn a few things from her, that's for sure. 

Just saw how late it is. Guess David's stuck at a long reception. Good night!

One year already

I'm not sure how a year has already gone by, but it has. Luke you are such a sweet sweet boy. Your daddy and I love you so much and are so thankful God chose us to be your parents. 

At one year you are:

17 lbs 7 oz (not on the chart) 

28.75 inches long 25-50th percentile

Standing on your own but not interested in walking just yet

You can go up and down the steps to the back room

You have learned to get on and off the couch by yourself

You LOVE blueberries, green juice, grilled cheese sandwiches, eggs, strawberries, applesauce, yogurt, milk

You can't live without your bear blankie

You say momma and it melts my heart

You have done the sign for "more" but not all the time

You light up any time you see your sister or daddy

You love to be held but aren't really into being rocked at bed time

You love your bed 

You love baths and playing in water in general

You love dogs

Your bottom two teeth are in and your top two just broke through

You love music and are quite vocal

You love playing in sister's room

You don't like your diaper changed and roll over every time!

Your thumb goes in your mouth as soon as I hand you your blankie

Your nicknames are brother, bubbies, brubber, buddy, lukers, and lukie

I'm sure I'm forgetting so many things. I may have to add more later. 

I love you sweet boy and can't imagine my life without you. Happy first birthday! 

2 months old here

Three months

Four months

Five months 

Six months

Seven months?

8 months?

9 months

10 months?

11months

12 months!