Nearly Walkin' and Talkin', but Always Cute as a Button

She's almost a-walkin' and a-talkin'! Not too much longer! She's getting really good at holding our hands and walking EVERYWHERE! She likes to grab onto the back of my legs and walk around the kitchen with me while I'm doing the dishes and doing laundry. She's a character! And when she feels adventurous, she'll only hold onto one of my hands and attempt to walk next to me. Here are a few recent pictures of our little lady... 13 1/2 months already!

Emmy the Ladybug With Her Pumpkin Too

Happy Halloween! Meet Emmy the ladybug!

She's cute, fun, and such a big girl!
Stand up and give a twirl.
You are the cutest bug we've seen.
Emmy, Happy Halloween!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

It's hard to believe that was us exactly one year ago!

It's Wade's birthday today! And we just want to say thanks for being a fabulous husband, a fantastic father, and an incredible best friend. Here's to another amazing year! Love you more than anything! Happy Birthday!!!

Emmy's Search for the Perfect Pumpkin...and a Few Farm Friends Too

The 3 of us headed to the Hunt Club Farm to find Emberlyn a pumpkin. And she had an absolute blast! They have so many activities for the kids including carnival rides, pony rides, hayrides, and a petting zoo. She was in love with the horses, but unfortunately, was just a little too small to ride them. The weather was absolutely perfect too. We couldn't have done it on a better day. So here are some pictures of Emberlyn's little adventure. Enjoy!

The Botanical Gardens Photoshoot

Emmy and I have been sick this past week. I caught a sore throat last week that I couldn't shake. I lost my voice and felt miserable. Then a couple days later, Emmy was stricken with an ear infection. It's been a pretty difficult week for us. But fortunately, the photoshoot came just in time. Last Sunday, we headed to the Botanical Gardens in Norfolk. What a neat place! We were so lucky to have perfect weather too! Our great friend, Lindsay, took some AMAZING shots of us. Emberlyn did wonderful. She's a natural! She needed no direction. She knew just what to do. We had a really great time! Lindsay sent me the top 85 pictures, yes 85, and Wade and I can't seem to narrow it down. They're all TOO good! She posted just a few on her photography blog. So if you'd like to take a peek...
http://ltcphotos.blogspot.com/

On the Move

Emberlyn has been on the go! She has finally learned to pull up! She first started learning in her crib two weeks ago, and this last week she's learned to pull up on tables, toys, walls, Mommy and Daddy...anything she can get her little hands on. She's even started crawling up the stairs! Daddy was so impressed. They crawled up the stairs together 3 times! Now, we're trying to teach her to go down them backwards. She's getting brave these days! She's been learning to walk behind her walker. It's a toy that she can stand behind and push. And she smiles the whole time. She even lets go of things to balance. She can balance for a couple seconds, and then quickly grabs back on. It's the cutest thing to watch. Her newest game is being chased. I'll say, "I'm going to get you!" And she'll start crawling away, faster and faster while giggling! We are having so much fun watching how independent she's getting. But I think she's even more excited about it! She loves to have conversations with us. We'll say something to her, and she'll babble back at us. And it goes back and forth. It's funny how she's starting to learn how when one person stops talking, then it's the other person's turn. Daddy always comments on how much she analyzes. We can tell that she's always thinking about something. She's such a relaxed little girl who sits back and takes things in. She's really picking up on the signs that I've been teaching her the last couple months. She can sign the words: hat, flower, dog (which is also "flower" for her, so we're working on this one), book, more, milk, drink, and eat. And she has discovered her tongue! She talks with her tongue hanging out. And she crawls like a little puppy, panting and everything! I think she's imitating our dog, Avery. Emmy loves to make people laugh! We've got some more fun things to do this month! Coming up: trip to the pumpkin patch to find Emmy a pumpkin, Emmy's 1 year pictures that will be taken by my good friend, celebrate Daddy's birthday, and play dress-up for Halloween. This will be her second Halloween, but FIRST Halloween costume, very exciting! Many more pictures to come!

It's Party Time!

We had her first birthday party on Saturday, which according to Wade, should have been the day she was born on. Wade's birthday is October 27, mine is November 27, and Emberlyn's is September 26. Just one day shy of each birthday being exactly one month apart. What can you do...she just couldn't wait any longer to see the world!

We had such a fun day with all of our friends! Wade did all the cooking and preparing, while I ran all the errands. It worked out very well. We all know that I'm not much help in the kitchen. Emberlyn looked so cute in her party dress! I'm so bad at remembering to take pictures, so I didn't get many. But I'm already planning a future photoshoot of her in that dress! She was absolutely adorable! Being the great host that Wade is, he was behind the scenes, serving people left and right. So, a photoshoot with him and Emmy is also in the process! She had a cute polka dot cake from Sugar Plum Bakery in town, which I highly recommend. It was fabulous! And of course the only pictures of it I got, were in the box! I'm horrible! After we sang Happy Birthday and put her very own mini version of the cake in front of her, she went to town! At first she was delicate, and scraped the top frosting with her two fingers. But then, she scraped both hands across the top and mashed it all over her face, and rubbed it in her hair! We had a ball watching her! She loved it and thought it was hilarious! One quick bath later, we joined the party, and played with all the other kids. Emberlyn had a wonderful day and two good, long naps to finish it off. I still can't believe she's 1!