Emma's antics!

I've decided that Emma truly is her papa's girl.  I have four reasons for this belief.

1. The obvious - She looks just like him!

2. She LOVES meatloaf.  I made Danny his favorite dish, my (or my Grandma Binger's) homemade meatloaf recipe for his birthday dinner last weekend.  I thought it was a bit spicy, but Emma and Danny devoured it! :-)  That takes me to my next point...

3. She handles spicy food way better than I do.  She had some of my salsa chicken today, which I thought was very spicy.  Emma ate almost an entire plate full!

4. She sure knows how to milk an illness/sickness.  Yesterday she was reading a book (specifically her new Jesus Storybook Bible) and was getting kind of rough with the pages.  I told her she needed to be careful, and with her typical Emma stubbornness, she looked me straight in the eye and began ripping a page.  I quickly took the book from her and she began to cry.  I assumed the tears were over the fact that she still wanted to read it so I told her she was fine, and that she needed to listen to mama.  A couple of minutes later I noticed her staring down at her hands.  It's then that I realized that in pulling the book out of her hand I had given her a small paper cut, which is probably why she was crying. I, of course felt horrible, and snuggled her, kissed it, and told her I was very sorry for hurting her.  So, as she sat happily reading another book, she would occasionally look at her hand, give me a sad look, go "oooooh" which is kind of the sound I make when I'm comforting her, and reach for a hug from me.  I'd hug and snuggle her and then she'd go back to reading her book only to do it all over again a few minutes later.  She knew I felt bad and realized she could easily milk that situation! :-)

Another cute story.  Lately, when she wants something, she has come to her own conclusion that she needs to sit down and be patient (I guess that's what she's thinking).  When I ask her if she wants a snack, she will take her bink (if she has it) and place it on the closest surface she can find and then sit down in the middle of the floor.  I have NO IDEA what made her start doing this.  The other day, I asked her what she wanted for a snack.  I would offer her ideas and she would just shake her head no.  When I asked if she wanted a smoothie, she quickly took her bink, put it on a chair behind her, and sat down right outside the kitchen door.  So, I thought at first it must be that she's use to sitting down to eat, so she was just sitting there since I hadn't already put her in her high chair.  But then, tonight she did it while waiting for a bath.  She LOVES taking baths, so when I said it was bath time she quickly headed in there.  She started to get things ready, and as soon as she heard the water come one, she quickly sat down on the floor behind me and waited until I was ready to take her clothes off.  I'm not sure how long this will last, but it's cute and can be quite helpful in some situations, so I'll take it! :-)

It's been too long...

So, I'm not sure where the time has gone.  It's been way too long since I've posted anything on this blog.  I don't want to just stop posting all together, so I'm going to try to make it more of a habit to update everyone on our lives.

In January, Emma was a very active and fun 8-month-old.  Now, we have an extremely active and funny 16 month old.  Oh, how time flies.  She isn't talking a lot yet, but she definitely understands more than we would have thought.  She has recently went from not walking to walking up and down steps without help and running around everywhere!  She's definitely an independent little girl!  She really thinks she's got it all under control and doesn't need our help anymore when it comes to climbing and playing.  She loves to climb up and down the stairs on the climbing frame at the park and walking too and from the car on her own.  It's so cute to see her independence shining through!

She's starting to talk a little.  Her favorite word is ball, and she will say ball anytime we point to something and ask her what it is.  She can sign more and all done and says the cutest little uh oh ever!  We're working on some other words, but it's coming slowly.

So, now we're taking on the effort of starting a daycare.  I've had one child coming for the past two and a half months, and now I have two other children starting in September.  It's an exciting time!  Emma has finally gotten used to another baby being here two days a week, so we'll see what she does when one is here five days!  I'm hoping the transition goes okay, and she likes having new playmates in the house.  This will hopefully prepare her for the day in the [distant] future that she has a sibling! :-)

So, it's short but for now that's all I have.  Things have busy, and it looks like it's going to be a busy fall.  Hopefully I can start trying to do this about once a week or every other week!  Here's a couple of cute Emma pics before I go!

I have a feeling this one is going to keep us on our toes! :-)

Kicking back in the rocker with a book and... the green ball.  We can't leave out the green ball!

She is determined to eat a raw carrot like me... :-)  Miss Independent!

Her new rain boots from Great-grandma Binger!  She LOVES them!

Playing the drum at the zoo.  She had such a good time!

Gymnastics...

One of the things I want to work on this year is spending more time focused on Emma.  I want to make it a priority to spend uninterrupted time with her each day!  So, for the time being, one of the ways we're doing that through mommy and me classes at My Gym.  We started with a month of free classes at The Little Gym, and then Riri bought Emma some classes for Christmas.  I have taken all of the kids I nannied for to My Gym, so when it came time to actually pay for classes somewhere, I chose to go to My Gym.  So, here are some cute pictures of my baby girl enjoying her class!

This was taken on my old phone, which was always blurry.  She was playing on the air mattress here!

We were doing her "exercises" here!

Playing on the parachute!

Climbing around, exploring the gym! She gets so excited about a whole room full of stuff she can touch!

Playing (eating) the shakers!

All of the above pictures were taken at Little Gym, and the below are all at My Gym!

Here she is at My Gym exploring the ball pit!

Again, crawling around and exploring the gym!

She turned over the tube next to her, and discovered it was full of pompoms!

Swinging on the trapeze!

Chillin in the swings!

She enjoyed the trampoline, even if she couldn't jump on it!

And, when I said enjoyed the trampoline, I meant chewed on the trampoline! :-)

I am excited to see her grow through these classes.  She's already started to figure out how to crawl on things, and she's figuring out how to get off of things somewhat safely.  It's so much fun to watch her explore and discover new things!

Year End...

So, it's been a few weeks (okay, more like 8) since I have written anything on here.  Life has been pretty busy and crazy during that time, with holiday fun and traveling to Illinois, so I just didn't have a ton of time to sit down and type.  But, as 2012 is beginning, I thought now would be a good time to reflect on this past year, and share some of the lessons I have learned along the way!

I will start by saying this year has been one with many ups and downs, some rather big while others were small.  Let's look back on this past year!

It started out with a small "up" when after finding out we were going to have a baby girl in December, we finally chose to name her Emma Moses! :-)

This was followed quickly by the hardest part of my year, the death of my father.  I found out he was sick in early January, and within a few weeks it went from something that would "easily" be cured, to something that quickly took his life.  While I expected to some day have to bury my dad, I definitely didn't think it would be anytime soon.  I think one of the hardest parts for me now is that he never got to meet his granddaughter!  I know how proud of her he would have been and how much he would have loved her!

In March, there was a major event that can be looked at as a sad as well as a happy one.  I had my last day of work, taking care of Isobel and Rudie, after 4+ years with them.  It was sad because they had become almost like family to me (the kids as well as their parents) and happy because I was leaving to take care of my own baby!

The end of April brought a couple of weeks that seemed very difficult at the time... Emma being almost a full 2 weeks late!  All I wanted was to meet her, snuggle her, and begin sharing our lives with her.  And, she just wanted to stay right where she was.

Which brings us to May 2 and the biggest and happiest event of the year, the birth of our beautiful Emma!  Weighing in at 8 lbs 7 oz, and needing to be "forced"out via pitocin and a c-section, she finally made her appearance.  And, she captured our hearts from the very beginning! :-)

Emma and I had the pleasure of attending the wedding of one of my very best girl friends, Wendi Anderson!  It was a jammed packed but fun weekend of weeding fun in Nashville when Emma was just 5 weeks old.  She did well and delighted everyone she met!

The rest of the summer adjusting to being a family of three. That took a little time as we had to work through sleep issues, work around home construction, and had a steady stream of family visiting and other house guests that, as welcome as they may be, still put a kink in the normal schedule!  Overall it was a very enjoyable and relaxing summer.

Our fall has been full of exciting developments as Emma went from an immobile little girl to one who is crawling all over the floor, getting into any and everything she can, and even learning to cruise along the couch.  We got to take her to a pumpkin patch, trick-or-treating, to walk through Christmas lights, and to meet Santa for the first time.  It is so exciting to see her start to explore and figure out the world around her.  I know the next year will be full of even more developments and excitement!

This year has also brought with it a lot of lessons, mainly dealing with becoming a new parent (and some about becoming home owners).  Some of these lessons I should have already known, but apparently still needed to be taught anyway, while others were completely new!  Here are just a few of them:

• All of the best and worst things you've heard about pregnancy are all true!  Pregnancy is one of the most exciting things I have ever went through, but there were definitely many hard and uncomfortable times.  Still, ever bit of it was worth it!
• Getting up every couple of hours to empty the pan under a leaky toilet is way more frustrating than waking up to feed a baby, no matter how often that baby needs you.  The toilet just isn't near as cute! :-)
• Everyone always says they forget all of the "hard" parts of pregnancy and childbirth.  I never understood that until now.  They hand you this precious little baby and every frustrating moment, every bit of pain you've been through, and every moment you were ready to give up, disappear from your mind completely.  I guess when your heart is so full of love for this new, beautiful little one, there is no longer room for all of the "bad" stuff!
• Taking care of other's children will never be the same as taking care of your own, no matter how much you care about them or how much like family they become!  There is just a deeper attachment for your own children that is there from the start, than could ever develop from a child you aren't actually parenting! *note, when I say "your own" I am considering in that kids you have adopted.  Kids that aren't your own are those you are only taking care of part of the time!
• Work really is work, and no matter how much you enjoy your job, not having a job but instead staying home to take care of my baby, will always be more appealing, even though that in and of itself is work! (at least for me)
• You can't, no matter how hard you try, make a baby sleep.  No amount of bouncing, shushing, singing, rocking, nursing, or soothing will put a baby to sleep, when that baby is determined to stay awake.
• A hole in the house must be fixed immediately.  There is no choice to call someone else, wait until morning, or give up!  Even if it is very late at night, neighbors are screaming for you to stop, and there are bugs biting you everywhere, work must continue until the hole in the wall is gone! (This one was a lesson Danny learned)
• With babies, there will be good sleep days and bad sleep days.  Good days are those in which the baby could sleep through the house falling down around her.  Bad days are those on which one of her grandmas, living in IL, could whisper her name, and she would wake up ready to play.  There is no way of knowing which day it is on any given day without testing out the proverbial whisper (ie, vacuuming too close to her room, dumping recycling in the bin outside her bedroom window, or simply stepping too close to her door while she's sleeping).  Also, on some "bad" days she'll wake up and go right back under while others she will be awake for good.  Again, there is no way of knowing what day it is without trying to put the screaming baby girl back to sleep. :-)
• When doing any type of home construction, make sure you have ALL the details figured out before you start the project, to avoid paying someone to come in a redo part of the project!
• Also, know the height of the chairs you're going to put in the back row as well as the front row, so you can be sure before you pay the price for them that the person sitting in the back row will be able to see over your head!
• Learning to be a "couple" again when there is a third person added in there is more difficult than some may guess.
• After having a baby, it's amazing how cute fingers, toes, teeth, sneezes, hiccups, and even disobedience can become! :-)
• Home repair will always take longer than you think, be more expensive than you think, and in the middle will leave you ready to just quit!  But, in the end, it will all be worth it!
• It is amazing as to the sheer amount of people who think it is their place to touch your baby, squeeze her cheeks, rub her head, hold her hand, and even hold her!  And, some of those people don't get the gentle reminders you try to give, but instead require a very blunt, "Please don't touch my baby!"
• Traveling with a baby under 1 should probably be avoided!
• After buying a house, money takes on a whole new meaning... In the past, something costing $300 was a lot of money!  Now, hearing a new roof will cost around $7000 is considered very reasonable!

So that was how our last year rounded out!  Overall it was a fantastic year, and hopefully 2012 will be just as wonderful!  God has richly blessed our family with a wonderful house, a beautiful baby girl, and a very fun, and easy relationship between Danny and I!  We have enjoyed moving in, making renovations, and daydreaming about what we'll do next to our house!  We've also truly enjoyed watching Miss Emma learn and grow into the little mover and shaker she is now!  I can't wait to see what this year holds!

Feeling richly blessed,

Brandi