Highlights of 2010

2010 is now ending and 2011 is about to begin. The year was filled with many memories and here are a few of our favorites.

-The biggest event was the birth of baby Abigail. I was so thrilled to have another girl and was even prouder to name her after my grandmother. She is a very special girl and we are so blessed to be her parents. Love you Abby!!

-Emma's speech has taken off! It is so amazing to hear her sweet little voice. It was struggle for us to hear other children her age be able to communicate and know that she was not at that point. But now we have a chatty Kathy on our hands and we love it!

-Andy accomplished some major goals at work, including creating 7 patents and achieving a patent plateau. There will be a blog post on this later when he gets his award. So proud of all his hard work and dedication.

-Emma now sleeps in her big girl bed. So wonderful!!

-We got to travel to Colorado again for a fun filled vacation with my side of the family. I always enjoy those trips.

-We also got to travel to Jersey and celebrate Andy's grandmother's 90th birthday. It was wonderful for her to have her whole family together to celebrate her very special day.

-We found a great school for Emma that will help her with her needs and she LOVES it!

-Emma told me that she loves me. So sweet!

Things on the short-term list for 2011

-Get Abby to sleep in her crib

-Train for and run the Capital 10k

-Continue to help Emma with her speech

-Complete the book The Pillars of the Earth (it is a HUGE book)

-Have more date nights

-Help my grandfather celebrate his 80th birthday

-Do more crafts with Emma

-Continue to be fabulous parents to our fabulous children

Last I must give a shout out to Kristen Gohean for the blogpost idea.

Emma at 3

My little lady had her 3 year well check today and I thought this would be a good time to talk about all the things my 3 year old is up too. I just don't want to forget these precious moments.

First her stats:

Weight: 23 lbs (not on the growth chart)
Height: 34 inches (not on the growth chart)

Next all the things Emma is up too:

-Starting drinking from a straw!! So excited about this!
-Still a very picky eater but has added lettuce, spinach, chocolate chips, sometimes pasta, raisins and grapes to her diet
-Loves to sing, especially Happy Birthday, Twinkle Twinkle, Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, and Frosty the Snowman
-Can spell her name and Abby's name
-Can count from 1-30
-Can count by tens from 10 - 90
-Can count from 1-10 in spanish
-Knows her alphabet
-Learning her days of the week
-Knows a handful of opposites like, up and down, hot and cold, on and off, tall and short
-Talking up a storm! She is talking in three to five word sentences. 6 months ago it was difficult just getting her to talk with one or two words. Great job Emma!!
-Loves to play at the park.
-Enjoys being outdoors and discovering all it has to offer
-Still loves to bake and is always asking to make cookies. She can recite the chocolate chip cookie recipe.
-Says "I love you" and it melts my heart
-Learning to brush her own teeth
-Always wants a pretty bow in her hair
-Loves her new school and can't stop talking about all her teachers and friends
-Must sit at the steering wheel when we get home from school and pretend to drive
-Is a fabulous big sister to Abby
-Loves to play in her playroom. Her favorite activities are making cookies, bowling, playing the memory game, listening to her record player, playing choo choo, taking care of her baby, and jumping on her trampoline
-Cannot get enough of reading books
-Overall a great toddler! It is rare that we need discipline her.

A Very Merry Christmas

Our family had a wonderful Christmas this year. We celebrated with my parents and enjoyed a quiet Christmas at home. It was great thinking about all our blessings, especially our kiddos. They both are the best presents we could ever receive and we try very hard to make their days joyous. I find it interesting that growing up I was always quick to know what I want for Christmas and I was still that way until I had kids. Now I find myself in my parent's shoes, where I really don't need anything and I care more about what the kids are getting. I never thought I would see that day b/c I have always enjoyed unwrapping presents and don't get me wrong I still do, but the fun the kids have is so much more important to me.

We started our Christmas celebration the night before with going to church and putting cookies out for Santa.


Emma in the winter scene they had at church. If you recall, this is the same dress she wore last year. I decided to go with it again b/c it fit perfectly.



Family photo at church. We had to get there early to get front row seats to hear Rick Trevino (a well known Texas singer) preform. Honestly I had no idea he would be singing until after the service and I saw his cd for sale. Then I put two and two together.


Putting out our cookies that we made with Gammie for Santa. Emma tried to eat some but we were able to wrestle a few for Santa.


Christmas morning! Emma was so excited to open gifts. She had even tried opening a few the day before. This is her waiting for Gammie and Papa to arrive.


Emma with all the presents. I think she was overwhelmed with the amount of gifts to open.


Me and my girls, the best presents ever!! Emma being born so close to Christmas and we found out we were pregnant with Abby the day after Christmas last year. Such a special time of year.


A family photo. The girls did have matching pjs but a very cute baby decided to change things up by taking matters into her own hands.


Emma with her new mixer that Santa brought. Now she can bake right along side her mommy.


Where is Abby? She blends in with all the presents.


My little cutie!


My husband did well! He knows my love for designer purses and I am always wanting to add to my collection, so he got me a Louis Vuitton. Thanks Andy!!


Andy's surprise gift was a new ipod nano.


I think my mom got the best surprise of all, a brand new color Nook from my dad. She had no clue and was brought to tears. If you know my mom then you know she loves to read and the Nook is all she has been talking about.


Someone was worn out from all the unwrapping.


Emma with her new ride, a wagon. This is all she has been asking for from Santa. I am so glad he brought her one.

Now it is time to play with all the new goodies!!

Santa Came Early

Santa stopped by our house a few days early to drop off a Christmas gift for the girls. He did need some help from the men in the family to put it together and there was a very cute toddler that could not resist getting her gift right away. I thought I might be able to hide it until Christmas but lets be realistic it is kind of hard to hide.

Emma's Special Day

For Emma's birthday celebration we kept things small and simple but very special. Emma was very excited to celebrate her birthday. I love that she is now starting to understand celebrations like birthdays. What is funny is Andy pointed out that her special day was not too different from any other day b/c she is always spoiled with love and she usually does get what she wants.


The night before we decorated the kitchen and then Andy woke up very early on the day of her birthday to go buy her balloons.


We could not resist lighting candles and singing "Happy Birthday" right away.


Emma trying to blow out her candles.


To keep with our birthday tradition, we headed to the park for tons of playtime.


After lunch we revealed one of Emma's presents to her. As you can see it is something for the outdoors.


Do you like our wrapping paper? Haha. We used an old car cover to wrap her present. Can you guess what it is?


Emma unwrapping her gift.


Emma's new playhouse!! She is in love with this gift and so am I.


Emma could not resist opening some presents. Emma's auntie Elizabeth (my best friend since high school) made Emma this cute painting.


Since Emma is so into cookies, I made her a double decker chocolate chip cookie cake. Yum!!


Time to blow out the candles.


Emma's party guests, all her grandparents. Thanks for celebrating with us!

Happy Birthday Emma Irene!

Our sweet little girl is now 3 years old!! We are truly blessed to have Emma in our lives. The joy and happiness she brings to us is something we never could have imagined. Our love and faith in each other runs deep and there is nothing better in life then having the love of our Emma and Abby.


Emma on the day she was born.


Emma at 6 months of age.


Emma on her 1st birthday.


Emma at 1 1/2 years of age.


Emma on her 2nd birthday.


Emma at 2 1/2 years of age.


Emma at 2 1/2 years of age.


Emma on her third birthday.


Emma and me on her third birthday.

We love you Emma more and more everyday. There is never a day that goes by that we are not amazed by you and all the accomplishments and hurdles you have overcome in your life. You are a true gift from God and we are blessed to be your parents. Thank you for your unconditional love.

Christmas Card Outtakes

Could we get a little closer girls?


Emma copying Abby's hand move.


Mom, she is in my way!


Kisses!!


Abby showing off her Zoolander look.


Is she really about to be 3 b/c she looks like a teenager.