Springtime Flowers

Emberlyn and I had a few days of gardening here at the house. We bought 2 flower pots for the patio and a bunch of flowers for the front. She was quite the helper when it came to digging holes and filling dirt in around each flower. But once that dirt gets on her toes, she's done! Emberlyn does not like to get messy. She also got a metal turtle that sits next to the flower pots. She picked it out herself.

First Trip to the Zoo

We met my friend Dynelle and her little girl, Evey, for a morning at the zoo. We beat the heat, but we certainly didn't beat the crowd. There were so many children, and of course Emmy didn't want to be in the stroller, watching all of these other kids running around. So, I let her out, and run she did! We had a short and sweet trip just to see the coolest of the animals, the elephants and giraffes. Emberlyn was in heaven. She was making the sound and flailing her arm to imitate the trunk of an elephant. It was really cute.



And she found the giraffes to be really neat. Well, until one turned her direction and started walking towards her. We were on a bridge above them, but got a really good view. That particular view was enough for Emberlyn. She ran the opposite direction and tried to hide. I can't wait to go back and take her through the rest of the zoo. She knows so many names of animals. I know she will find it to be nothing less than amazing!

17 Weeks Along...and Exhausted

Where did that boost of energy go? Last time, I got a great boost of energy into my second trimester. This time, exhaustion is setting in. It might have something to do with the fact that I've got a little one to take care of this time. I find it really hard to stay awake during the day, so I try and eat well, go on a walk daily, and get plenty of sleep at night. The pregnancy is going very well. I've started to feel him kicking around in there. I've even been able to feel little kicks while my hand is rested on my tummy. And if I watch carefully, I can see the kicks too! To think he's still so tiny... And I ask Emberlyn, "Where's your baby brother." Half the time, she'll touch her belly, but the other half, she'll touch mine. So, she's understanding that "baby brother" means "Mommy's tummy." But still has no idea that a baby is growing in there. She's been really interested in her baby doll. She carries it around like a little mommy. She feeds her baby her "bottle" which is Emmy's sippy cup. And she'll share her crackers with her baby. And she'll help wrap her baby up in a blanket. I know when this baby boy arrives, she's going to be so eager to help. What's new with Emberlyn: I've been sitting her on the potty after bath now, since I've discovered this is usually when she has to go. And she's gone pee-pee twice on the potty so far! And she'll clap her hands right away. I'm so proud of her! She is getting to be so big.

Easter Sunday

Today we got together for Easter dinner with our good friends the Corbetts and the Gorskis. The dads set up an Easter egg hunt for the kids. Emmy ran around as Wade and I pointed out the eggs to her. I took around 50 pictures of her, but here are a few of our sweet little miss.

Hunt Club Easter Eggstravaganza

We met some friends at the Hunt Club to ride some ponies and hunt some Easter eggs. Emberlyn had such a great time. It was Emberlyn's first ride on a pony. She hopped right on, held on, and off they went. She had such a great time. Then we went and hunted Easter eggs. I would point out where the eggs were, and she'd run over and pick them up one by one and toss them right into her Easter basket like a pro. And then we played on the swings and slides. Which she of course loved! She'll say, "ide!" Which means "slide." Then she went with Daddy to check out some animals. They took a close look at the goats which she was a little hesitant about when they started walking up to her. She LOVED looking at all the birds. There were peacocks, turkeys, ducks... And there was a lamb that kept "baaing" at her. And Emmy and I would "baa" back. And she ran around the field with her little friend, Grayson. She had an absolute ball!

Brother or Sister?

We went to our 4D ultrasound on Wednesday to see if we could get a sneak peek of the baby's gender. And within 10 seconds we knew! Emberlyn's going to have a little brother! We are SO excited. I've already started to buy our little guy some clothes, and it's such a switch! I've had to completely change my mindset from pink, flowers and cute little frills, to blue, boats, baseballs, and rock and roll tees. This week, I've been going through Emberlyn's baby clothes and it breaks my heart. But I don't think the little guy would enjoy wearing her clothes. All of Emmy's baby blankets and bath towels are pink and girly. There's absolutely nothing that I can pass down, so everything's gotta be new. So, I'm on the hunt for everything BOY. It's been a lot of fun. I never knew what was out there for boys, but I'm finding out that everything is dinosaurs, firetrucks, sharks, and trucks. If only I was a clothing designer. I would come out with a line of infant boy clothes that was less "themed." It's been a ton of fun so far. I just can't wait to meet him and introduce him to his big sister! They're going to have so much fun together. The name game has finally begun!

Mommy's Little Helper

Emberlyn is my little sidekick when it comes to doing chores around the house. Everytime I have a rag in my hand, she has to have one too. She helps me dust, wipe down the appliances, and clean her toys. She gets a Clorox wipe and wipes her highchair, her grocery cart, her books, her puzzle pieces, anything she can find. But her very favorite chore is emptying the dishwasher. And she does it all by herself. I'll pull down the dishwasher door, and first she'll start with the silverware. So, I open up the drawer, and she used to grab one utensil at a time and walk over to the drawer, and hand them to me one by one. But she's now consolidating. She grabs a handful of utensils and walks over to the drawer and tosses them in. So, once that task is done, she moves onto the plates. She takes out each plate, holds it up, and then I take it and put it up in the cabinet. And these are not plastic plates. Although, I've decided if she wants to continue with this chore, I should probably invest in more plasticware. So far, no accidents. And she does the same with the top drawer of the dishwasher. Although, she needs help getting the glasses down. It's so cute though, because she'll be in the living room playing, and I'll ask, "Emmy, do you want to help Mommy empty the dishwasher?" And all of a sudden I hear two feet racing into the kitchen. She LOVES helping me! Her least favorite chore... picking up her toys. As long as I sit on the floor and help her, then she'll help as well. She's at that fun stage now where she's gotta be doing what her Mommy's doing!

Who's a Big Girl Now!

Wade and I went to the mall with Emmy and I was thinking of something fun that we could do with her that day. I thought, we could go to Build-A-Bear... get her ears pierced... And Wade says, "Whatever you wanna do honey." So we took her into the store and there was a little girl, no older than 4 months old screaming! She had just gotten her ears pierced, and what a tragic sight! I slowly walked up to the cash register, half intending to run right out the door, but reluctantly told the lady that we were interested in getting Emmy's ears pierced. How could I do this to my daughter after seeing this poor, helpless baby bawling her eyes out? And for what, a mere accessory? So, I very slowly filled out the paperwork, while asking myself over and over, are you sure? Do we want to do this? I always said that I would wait until Emberlyn was old enough to ask me if she could get her ears pierced. If Wade wasn't there, I guarantee that Emmy and I would have made a run for it. So, Wade put her up on his lap, and I grabbed as many stuffed animals as I could off the shelves to help distract her. We had frogs, sheep, bunnies, cats... She was very interested, thankfully. The lady marked each ear, and we approved that they were centered. So, here goes nothing. She poked the first ear. Ouch! Emberlyn looked at me, and screamed! "How could you do this to me Mommy!?" Well, not really, but that's what I felt like she was saying to me. So, as she was crying we got a cup of suckers and she stopped and was like, "Ooooo! For me?" The fussing ended, and she was a happy girl with a blue sucker and a soon-to-be blue mouth. First ear, done. Now, they did the second. One at a time, I couldn't believe it. Our poor Emmy had to suffer all over again. Same thing, she cried, but we quickly distracted her with her sucker. I cleaned her ears, and twisted the earrings in her ear. Then we put her down, and she ran everywhere! She had totally forgotten what had just happened. This may sound like quite a dramatic story, but she really did well. All of the 12 year old girls in the store looked at her and said, "Well, if she can do it, then so can I!" Emmy is quite the trooper. I'm very proud of my little miss. But more than that, I'm glad that it's over.