Happy Birthday Andy!!

Andy has had tons of celebrating going on b/c not only was Father's Day this weekend but his birthday is today. We kicked off the birthday fun Saturday night with a dinner at PF Changs and then ice cream from Amy's Ice Cream (Andy's favorite). Then we had some birthday cake and dinner at my parent's house last night and a quiet night in tonight with Andy's favorite meal. Lucky guy!

Happy birthday to my amazing husband!!


The birthday boy enjoying his ice cream.


Andy with his cake. We never seem to have the right candles on hand so we had to improvise with a number 3 and three single candles.


Andy and Emma blowing out the candles. Little did we know that the candles we put on the cake were trick candles. Andy had many wishes that night b/c the candles did not want to stay blown out. It was too funny!!

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to Andy, my dad, and my father-in-law!! We were able to celebrate the day with Andy and my dad. To celebrate, we cooked up some pancakes. Now these were no ordinary pancakes, they were Star Wars pancakes. I saw these molds in a Williams & Sonoma catalog and just thought they would be perfect for Father's Day. Andy was very surprised when he saw what was on his plate this morning. He was a big fan growing up and for some reason Star Wars never goes out of style.


The pancakes!


The wonderful father who deserved a morning off!!


Me and my awesome father. I found this old photo when cleaning out Emma's new room. I was so excited b/c I can still remember that Halloween party. I think I was in second grade in this photo.

Hello Third Trimester!

Well we are in the home stretch of this pregnancy. Only 11 weeks left to go (give or take a few days or weeks)! We had our 28 week appt. today (I will be 29 weeks tomorrow). Nothing too exciting going on. My glucose test came back great. Yippee!! On the other hand it appears this child is sucking all my iron so I have become anemic. So hello iron supplement and all the fun stuff that comes with it. Oh well, this is no surprise to me b/c I had this after Emma was born.

Other than that not much is happening. I am trying my best to work out everyday of the week. I feel this will help me with my natural delivery choice. I feel with Emma the reason I went so fast was because I was on my feet all day and worked out. So we will see if that happens again. The only difference is that I am not on my feet as much b/c I am not teaching anymore. I do carry Emma every where so maybe that will help. I do need to try and get her to walk more but I selfishly enjoy the cuddle time.

As far as Emma goes, her room is coming along. Her dresser will be here next week. All her bedding and curtains came right before we left for Colorado. And this weekend we will go pick out her paint so Andy can start that task. I cannot wait to put everything together. I know there are still some odds and ends we need like a mirror and lamp and some wall decorations. Soon we will have a big girl room. I only hope Emma takes to her big girl room.

Colorado 2010

We just got back from a lovely vacation in Colorado visiting my brother, sister-in-law, and my niece and nephew. It was our last vacation as a family of three, since I cannot fly after July 3rd. We tried to make the most of it and take advantage of the cooler weather. The first part of the vacation was wonderful but the second half was slightly different. Andy and Emma both got struck with some horrible stomach bug. It made part of the vacation a little rough. Thankfully both were feeling better by our last day that we were able to have one more outing.


Emma and Kate starting the vacation off with a stroller ride to the park. Had to take advantage of this since it is too hot here to go.


Emma and her swinging buddy.


I just love this pic. It is so sweet how Kate and Emma are holding hands.


Buddies!


Emma at her first soccer camp. My sister-in-law was hosting the event to raise money for her nonprofit, Read To Me.


Emma learning to kick the ball.


I will take two soccer balls please.


One day we packed up the girls and headed down to the zoo in Colorado Springs. It was just lovely! I think out of all the zoos we have been to this is my favorite. It is built into the side of a mountain and the attractions are fabulous.
This is Andy and Emma admiring the giraffes.


Riding the choo choo with Kate. Emma kept wanting more train. No surprise there!


On the carousal with daddy. I really do not think she likes carousals. Maybe b/c this one was very fast and long.


Emma running in and out of a tree trunk at the zoo.


Kate loving the tree trunk too.


Andy managing two girls. I think he was getting some practice. =)


On our last day we decided to do an indoor activity b/c it was cold and raining. We headed to the aquarium in downtown Denver and admired many different fish.


Emma checking out the tigers at the aquarium. We were surprised to see Tigers there.


Emma taking Kate and Nolan's car for a spin. Can you tell it is cold by the way she is bundled up!


Kate learning to ride her new bike that she got for her 3rd birthday. She is very thankful to Gammie and Papa.


Kate taking Emma for a spin.


The vehicles of choice.


On our last night we celebrated Kate's 3rd birthday. Hard to believe she will be three in less than a week. I can still remember getting the call that she was born and driving over to see her on her first day of life. You are one special girl Kate and we miss having you around, but we have a great excuse for visiting Colorado!!

Music Class

For the past 6 weeks, Emma has been participating in a music class. A friend of ours told us about the class and the benefits it has for children with speech issues. I am very glad we enrolled b/c it has been a blast watching Emma develop through music. We started the session off with Emma never leaving my lap, to her running around the room and dancing.

Our teacher, Ms. Edie was amazing and a big help in Emma's development. She has a deep love for music and children. She is extremely talented in singing and guitar playing. We were blessed to have had her and will miss her during our next session (she will be vacationing in New Mexico).

This session Emma has enjoyed playing many different instruments, learning songs and hand gestures to go with the songs, strumming Ms. Edie's guitar, and singing along to the songs. We are both looking forward to the upcoming summer season.


Emma dancing!



Dancing with scarfs.




Free play with the instruments. One of Emma's favorite activities.

Emma's New Chair

Emma's personalized chair arrived yesterday and I think she is in love with it!! Thank you Gammie and Papa!!

Memorial Weekend Fun!

I feel like I have not blogged in forever. We have just been so busy that I have not had time.

This past weekend was wonderful. It was great having Andy home for three days and we packed in as much fun as we could. We started the weekend off with a trip to see Sesame Street Live. I was slightly worried that Emma was going to be freaked out by all the giant characters, especially since she did not like the Easter Bunny this past Easter. Well I was wrong, thank goodness. Emma was in love with the show. She did great sitting through the two hour production. Andy got us front and center seats so I think that helped b/c she did not have anything disrupting her view. Thanks Andy for going all out for your little girl!


Andy and Emma before the show.


Emma and me before the show. I think she is getting excited!!


Elmo came over and said hi. I think Emma was in love.


Our happy girl!


Later on that day we invited the Anderson's over to go swimming and grill out. This was their first time to our pool this season and they had two kids to handle. It was a blast having them for some Saturday night fun! The girls loved the pool and we enjoyed the lovely company. We had a few mishaps while our guest we over. First it started to thunder so we had to hold off on going to the pool and then right as Andy was getting ready to grill he discovered a huge wasp nest in the grill. My advice was don't get stung. Thankfully everything turned out good and the wasp are gone.


Emma playing in the sprinkler.


Cute Emma in her 50's style bathing suit.


Emma and Kenzie playing in the baby pool.


Emma and Kenzie checking out what was in the cabinets. I think Emma wanted to show off her big stand mixer that she uses to help me bake yummy food.

We finished the weekend off with a trip to music class and then some fun in the sun at my parent's pool. We initially were going to take Emma to our pool but there were too many people so thankfully my parents came to the rescue and took us to their pool. Emma had a blast going on this huge slide with Andy. She just wanted more, more, more! Can you tell she loves the pool.


Going down the slide with Andy. I think she is going to love waterparks.