Lately

This is just a random assortment of photos from what Emily has been up to lately. She turned 16 months old recently, and she is just growing every day. She talks ALL the time - and tries to repeat everything we say!
Her best words are Dada, Mama, puppy (comes out puppo) - and then she follows that with an "oof oof" noise and bounces up and down...apparently that is what puppies do? She says banana, turtle, purple, bubble, milk, night night (complete with snoring sounds) and everything you ask her is answered with "uh huhhhh".
She can point to all the "parts" of her face, and she loves to show off her belly. She also tries to lift our shirts to see our bellies - mine is especially fascinating and she tries to poke my bellybutton back in (ouch).
Only 12 more weeks until she is officially a big sister!

A little reading before her first Pred's game. I tried to offset the boy-ness of her outfit with this headband, but she wouldn't keep it on, so she got called "buddy" and told she was handsome all night. Sigh.

Fascinated by the Jumbo-tron.

A very accurate commentary on the Preds play this season.

Walking the "gold" carpet with Daddy before the game.

We all had a great time at the game. Emily loved the lights and music. I see many more games in our future!

On the way home from school one day, Mama needed cheese sticks. Em woke up just as they were being delivered so of course I had to share with her. Not gonna lie, it hurt a little. But she ate the whole thing, so that was worth it!

Diapers boxes are apparently wonderful climbing toys.

If only we had some zebra print to throw in here....

Cuddling with Dada. I was very jealous.

Playing with the camera on Titi Katie's phone while enjoying a donut, on a recent trip to Atlanta.

Poor bug had a nasty respiratory illness recently. This was actually when she was on the mend - I couldn't make myself take photos of her with her eyes crusted shut.

Of course, Mikey and I both got it after she did, and we were all sick for about 2 weeks.

Good times!

A trip to the playground.

She was fascinated with watching the big kids run around and wouldn't move from this spot for the first 5 minutes that we were there.

I left the room for a second and came back to find her watching TV just like this.

Relaxin'!

Not sure who is comforting who here...

Anyone who has met my elderly cat Wally can attest to what a special brand of a-hole he is. He has literally cornered people up on chairs before. But for some reason, he is head over heels in love with Emily.

He tolerates her petting and kissing him, and he will rub all over her if she will stand still.

He will still let her know when he has had enough, but only by growling and running away, not by attaching himself to her face, as he would have done in his younger years.

Good boy Wally, you make me proud!

Hot stuff, at the doctor's office for her 15 month check up.

Selfie!

She kept calling the model on this bag "Dada" and leaning over to give him kisses.

So clearly she needs her vision checked....

And the most recent photo of my girl, on her way home from an exciting day at the farm on Sunday.

She looks SO grown here, I can't stand it!

She is changing and growing up every day and I am so excited for what the next few months have in store for the Smiths!

My Funny Valentine

Lil Missy has been in quite a good mood lately (knock on wood) and her antics keep us laughing every day. I honestly wish I could just video tape her all day to show people the silly things she does. Wouldn't that make me popular?! But, I figure if you are reading a blog dedicated to Emily, you came here for some stories, so here goes!

Last Sunday we went out for breakfast and when we came home, she refused to take off her coat. She is obsessed with this pink leopard coat lately and when she isn't wearing it, she is dragging it around the house with her.

She also decided the outfit wasn't complete without a sun hat.

I was getting ready for work one morning and I noticed that I couldn't hear her usual chatter coming from my room. Never a good sign.

I peeked around the corner and found that Emily was "wearing" my glasses and practicing her new paper tearing skills on a box of tissues.

So proud.

Since it was Valentines week, I tried to dress her in hearts as much as I could. Turns out, she has lots of outfits with hearts on them!

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday*

(doesn't count because her heart outfit was too small to fit over her head, but for the sake of continuity- and because she looked cute anyway- I am including it)

Thursday

Friday

Friday was also pajama day at school

And - in no particular order - some random pics and stories from the week.

This is the face we see alot these days - any time she isn't getting what she wants (in this case, my phone) she scowls those little blonde eyebrows at us.

Intimidating!

She has become quite the little tycoon lately! She loves putting change in her piggy bank and then immediately flipping it over to take the stopper out and empty it. 

She is really working hard lately at figuring out how things work.

We were handed down a double stroller recently, and before we could get it put away, Emily commandeered it. If you need her, she can most often be found sitting in it, or crawling in and out of it, and looking out the window.

Wearing her backpack, eating crackers and watching TV.

Always on the go!

Life is good!

Bahama Mama

Our whole crazy crew just got back from an amazing cruise to the Bahamas to celebrate the recent wedding of these two lovebirds.

Obviously, my cousin Leslie is one of our favorite people on the planet, and we are so thrilled that she met and married Mister Paul and brought him in to our family.

We could not be happier for them!

Especially since they provided us with the perfect excuse to escape this awful winter weather for a few days!

Emily was so excited to leave, she couldn't even sleep.

Oh, wait....

Once we untangled her from her crib, we headed to the airport and made sure she would qualify as a carry on.

yep, we're good

One quick outfit change later and we were off! She slept the whole way.

The next morning, we woke up to blue seas and sunny skies. 

Our cabin had a balcony and Emily walked out the first morning, saw all that ocean and said

"whoa".

That one word was worth every penny!

She played with her Uncle Tyler a bit, and then it was time to explore Freeport.

She thinks he is hilarious! Every time she sees him, she laughs and points.

(Don't we all)

She loved riding in her stroller on this trip. You can't tell here, but she was swinging her legs and throwing her body forward like she was trying to move herself along faster.

Family photo!

 

We stopped in Senor Frogs, as all people with babies do, but she was unhappy with the slow service.

Baby needs her 'rita, NOW!

We got back on the ship and she ran all around the pool area. I don't think she even knew that getting in the pool was an option - which technically it wasn't for her, since she isn't potty trained.
She was perfectly happy to play on this wall.

That night was formal night at dinner, so Em slid on her fancy gold sandals and took her best stuffed animal out for a night on the town.

The sandals lasted about 10 minutes and then she was running around the ship barefoot.
Oh well.

The next morning we were up bright and early and watched the ship dock in Nassau.

We all went to a local resort and got day passes so we could enjoy the amenities.

Emily badly needed a nap at this point, but you couldn't have convinced her of that. 

She finally fell asleep on her daddy in the hammock and it was about the sweetest thing ever.
You will have to trust me, because I didn't get a picture of it.

She hated the sand on her feet, but she loved the chicken fingers!
(contrary to the look on her face here)

We went shopping at a small market nearby and the ladies tried to get us to buy one of everything for Emily.

We managed to keep it to only a shirt and a dress.

She wasn't feeling the hat.

When we got back on board she was exhausted. We all went to sleep about 5pm and slept through dinner.

We decided to take a chance and let her sleep, so of course she was up at 2am, ready to party.

Our last day was our "fun day at sea".

We brought her this pool since she couldn't get in the big one.

A few water glasses and a beer bucket were all she needed for fun times!

 
She had a lot of fun just playing around in our room as well. She climbed in and out of the bathroom about a million times. She only fell out backwards twice!

Aunt Katie bought her a straw purse and every time you would hand it to her, she would put it on her arm and then walk to the door of the cabin.

The last night on the ship was the Super Bowl, but clearly Emily found that about as entertaining as alot of us did.

And that was our cruise!

A slightly different experience from previous cruises, since I am pregnant and chasing a one year old around, but still a great time.

I am always up for getting away from home, letting someone else cook and spending time with my family!

Big Sis

Emily is going to be a big sister!

Baby Smith #2 is due in late June 2014.

To say we were shocked would be an understatement. Obviously we know where babies come from, and we weren't trying NOT to have another one, but given our history, it was a little unexpected to get pregnant without trying.

We always said we would love two kids, but we also agreed that we could not go through the emotional roller-coaster of infertility again.

I was truly fine with just having Emily.

She is perfection personified - who could ask for more!

It was a bit of a rough adjustment for me mentally at first, I am not going to lie.

I am still nervous about two little ones so close together, and I worry that my relationship with Emily will be weakened when I have to give so much attention to the new baby.

But I am also really excited and oh so thankful!

Especially when I find little newborn diapers and remember those sweet first moments of getting to know your new love.

We told our families at Emily's birthday party by having her unwrap one last present "from Mom and Dad".

We had already told Katie and Tyler (I couldn't keep that from her!) but no one else knew.

Seeing everyone's faces as the read the shirt and it slowly sank in what we were telling them  - priceless!

I know Emily will be an amazing big sis and I am so glad that we get the chance to give her a sibling.

I know that our relationships with our sisters are something Mikey and I cherish very much.

Thumbs up for siblings!

(and spaghetti)