Happy Birthday Allen

Allen's Birthday was yesterday that 25th and we had a little birthday celebration for him at home last night. We had a really tasty shrimp and steak dinner and then had a birthday cupcake for dessert. Allen received a lot of his birthday gifts earlier in the month, but we wanted him to have something to open on his birthday and we got him a really nice clock to go in his workshop in the garage - he's always commenting on how he loses track of time when he is out there working so it was a very practical present - and of course it's orange! Emma was very enamored with the birthday singing, blowing out the candle and opening of presents - there are some cute shots of her helping Allen read his card tearing through the wrapping paper.

Happy Birthday darlin' - we love you!!!

Tickle Me Emma

We were able to catch Emma on video of her giggling with me this evening. We are definitely discovering her tickle spots. Enjoy both clips; we thought each of them were equally cute so we posted both of them!

First Father's Day!

We spent our first Father's Day at the park. There is a park in town called Martha's Park, which is complete with a jungle gym, picnic benches, swing-set and a water play-yard. It is an adorable place for kids and families - I think I'll probably be taking Megan, Michelle and Blair for when they come down for their visit in July. This was our first visit there and although it was very hot and humid today, we had a good time introducing Emma to some new things. Daddy took her down the slide and we were able to push her in the swing for a little bit. We didn't experience the water park today, she's not quite ready for that, but it was fun watching the other kids and parents play from our little spot we picked under a shady tree. I packed a picnic lunch and gave Allen his father's day gifts - this was also a joint birthday outing since his birthday will be on Thursday. After about an hour we packed it in, miss Emma had her lunch and so we took a little ride around town while she (we) enjoyed her afternoon nap. It is hard to believe that Emma turned 5 months old on Saturday - she's pretty much sitting up on her own now, smiles like crazy, making noises all the time and doing very well with eating her fruits and cereal. Something that she has started doing that melts my heart is that when I pick her up from daycare and she realizes that I'm there, her face lights up with a huge grin and reaches her arms out for me - it's an amazing feeling! Hope everyone has a great week!

Apples, Bananas & Pears - YUMMM!

Emma is almost on her third week of eating solid foods and she is doing so well at eating from a spoon. We've tried and been successful with adding bananas, apples and pears to our rice cereal. In the next few days we'll try peaches. I swear it has been helping so much with her sleeping at night!

A Wisconsin Wedding

It was such a pleasure to watch Courtney and Austin get married; I'm so glad that we were able to make the trip and I was thrilled to be in the wedding. Courtney was an exquisite bride and Austin looked very handsome in his dress whites - the setting was beautiful, they had perfect weather and Courtney did an amazing job with the church and the reception site! We were also grateful to be able to spend some time with Nick, Michelle and Blair - I am so amazed at how big Blair is and that she just turned a year old - time goes by so fast! Enjoy the pictures...

Activity Center & Playtime

My family came down to NC to watch Emma while Allen and I went to Courtney and Austin's wedding in Wisconsin. Emma did great while we were gone, admittedly it was a little strange not having her with us, but it certainly was nice to have a few nights of interrupted sleep. One of the reasons she did so well was probably because she had a new toy to keep her occupied - she loves her new exer-saucer. There is one at daycare that she absolutely loves so we knew that she had to have one at home. It's great to watch her discover all the bells and whistles that this toy has, she is becoming more interactive every day!

First Feeding

Despite the fact that early yesterday evening we discovered that Emma had "pink eye" and was absolutely miserable, she looks much better today and we decided to give her her first rice cereal feeding for breakfast! She did really well - much better than expected. We probably got through half of the mixture of the cereal and although most of it ended up on her bib and face, I think she'll get the whole spoon feeding thing down pretty quickly! As you will see from the pictures she started out all content and with a smile on her face, but then quickly grew frustrated and felt at ease when we gave her the bottle to finish her meal. This is certainly a milestone for all of us - enjoy the messy pictures!