Key West

I should have posted about this a long time ago, but we went to Key West for the Olympic Hockey Break and took Emmie with us. It was so beautiful and we had a blast!

Before and After

Emmie was given the doll bed that was Mike's cousin Vanessa's when she was a little girl. Vanessa is now 18 and about to graduate from high school! It was super cute, but I decided I would paint it for fun and make a new mattress for it. You can't see the fabric very well, but the little doll blankie to the left of the crib is the same fabric.

This is how it turned out!

I painted, distressed, and stained the edges.

I think she likes it!

Muffin Tin Monday

This weeks theme is blue/purple! We had toast with PB and blueberry All Fruit, blueberries, "Banilla" (Banana/Vanilla) yogurt with purple sprinkles, blueberry applesauce, blue and purple fruit snacks, and purple m&m's!

Never say never

I always imagined I would be this super cool mom who wouldn't change the way she lived just because she had a baby. I wouldn't change things like buying myself new clothes, going out on dinner dates with my husband, and I would NEVER drive a mini van. But there's something that happens from the moment of conception that changes your life. Everything you do and everything you think of revolves around that precious baby.

This past weekend, my besties Candy and Holly came to Tampa for a surprise visit with their little girls, Marley Clare and JoAnna. So, in order for the 6 of us girls to all get around together, Mike reserved a mini van for us. I loved it. I want one now. Who says moms who drive mini vans aren't cool?

Muffin Tin Monday (ok...Sunday)

I found this site via one of the websites I visit regularly, ohdeedoh. Every Monday, you serve your little one a meal in a muffin tin, in muffin cups, etc. There are regular themes, and this week's theme is the color green. It seemed like a fun way to introduce new foods, learn about different things, and just a fun way to have a meal. I decided to do it on Sunday, since it was easy to do this for lunch without excluding her from our regular meal at dinnertime with the family on Monday, since I would be working during lunchtime. We had green Apple Jacks, avacado, green Jello, green apples, a shamrock cookie, and green peas. Emmie only ate the cookie (of course), some peas, and apple jacks. She refused to even try the avacado and jello. Seriously, what kid doesn't like green jello?

I am going to try to do this regularly to see if she likes it!

Happy Valentine's Day!

One of her favorite things...

The wash rag, or as she calls it "washag."
She loves them. They are good for many things in this house.










Busted getting them out of the linen closet. I'm not sure why I even fold them most days. They never stay there. She is constantly getting them right back out of the closet.


















They are fun to put on your head. And fun to put on Momma and Daddy's head.


















They are great for a good ole game of Peek-A-Boo.


















They make great blankies for Bunny.

I think there are 3 or 4 of them in bed with her this night. Along with Elmo, "Yowa" (Yoda), Froggy, "Buhgug" (Thunderbug, the Lightning mascot), Bunny, and 2 blankies.

Strollin'

Emmie wanted to take her favorite friend, Bunny (original...I know), out for a walk today. Too cute.

Emmie's Boutique

Uncle Kyle, Aunt Meshell, Ryleigh and Kailyn Brooke sent Emmie this fun tent for Christmas! It even has a working door and dressing room inside with a mirror. She has so much fun in here!

Christmas 2009

Loving my new Barbie car from Nonnie and GrandBob!

I love my new kitchen!

Family Christmas 2009

Christmas pics

I love Auntie Lexi!

Loving my table and chairs from Gigi and Papa! Thank you!

Merry Christmas Y'all!

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! We had lots of family in town to visit us and it was wonderful to spend time with my parents, Mike's parents, Auntie Lexi, Uncle Aldo, Greg, Vanessa and all of our friends. We are truly blessed. This Christmas was tons of fun since Emmie loved everything about Christmas...the lights, Santa, all the decorations, music, her Advent calendar, and much much more. She really loved all of her Christmas presents! I'll post lots of pics to share...

Rockin' the Brownie Goose...check out Amy's designs at http://www.browniegoose.blogspot.com/

Emmie's momma designed the candy cane shirt :)

Thanksgiving 2009

We had a great Thanksgiving with our friends Tom, Kellie, Tyler, Zach and Abby Mulligan. We ate way too much and the kids had a blast playing together! Do you like Emmie's Turkey shirt I made her? Cute, huh?

A Star Wars geek...just like Daddy.

Other happenings...

Busch Garden Hippo

Sesame Street Live
Elmo's Green Thumb

T-Rex

In other news, we took Emmie to see Sesame Street Live and Walking with Dinosaurs last weekend. She LOVED Elmo and liked the dinosaurs until T-Rex came out...he was a little too scary and she was "all done!" We also went to Busch Gardens one afternoon while Gigi was in town to visit. We loved having her here for her fall break!

18 months

Emmie turned 18 months last week and we took her to the doctor for her 18 month appointment yesterday. She has FINALLY reached the 20 lb. milestone! Yay! We are so proud of her and she can now be "officially" turned forward facing in her car seat, although we turned her around a couple of months ago. Her stats are 20.5 lb (10 %ile) , 29 1/2 inches (10%ile), and her head circumference is 18 1/2 in (55%ile). She is doing so great with her language and motor skills. She is really getting to be a big girl!

Happy Fall!

I love fall. I love the smell of Yankee Candle Harvest and Pumpkin Spice candles, fall decorations, pumpkins and anything pumpkin to eat. I love the cool, sunny weather. (Although we have only had about 3 of those days here in Florida so far.) And Christmas is right around the corner. :)

Didn't your momma teach you not to do that?

I love Tampa, but there is too much crime here! First, our home was broken into in April. Someone pryed open our sliding glass door, walked in and took 2 laptops and a pair of diamond earrings and walked right out our front door. The Sheriff's Dept. fingerprinted but nothing came up and they creeps were never caught.

Then, on October 1, our friends' home (in a gated community) was broken into in the middle of the night while they were SLEEPING! The jerks raided tons of DVDs and electronics, went into their sleeping children's bedroom and took a pillow case to stash some of the stuff in, and then drove off in their minivan. Thankfully, our friends didn't wake up until after the burglars left their home. Their credit cards were also stolen and used at several stores around town. The video of the perpetrators using the cards while with their approximately 3 year old little girl was shown on the news and yesterday two of the three were arrested!!! The mini has also been found. The police know who the third is and have a warrant out for his arrest too.

And then today, some jerk backed into my new car and left a huge dent in the front fender that looks just like a trailer hitch. And they left after they did it. I am so fuming mad.

What is wrong with people???

A few pics...

The Plumber...workin' on a puzzle













Up...


















And down! Wheee!

911, What is your emergency?

Emmie called 911 this morning. All by herself.

She was playing with Mike's phone (with the keypad locked), and the next thing I know I hear someone saying hello?...so in a panic I hung up the phone. As I'm trying to hang it up (because the keypad is still locked), I notice it says emergency contact on it. Oh crap. I just hung up on 911. Needless to say, they called us right back to make sure there wasn't a real emergency.

Note to self, don't let Emmie play with the cell phone anymore.