Busy, busy, busy!

There has been so much going on lately that I feel like I've been in a whirlwind. I've been meaning to stop for a minute and write a new blog post, but I haven't had much spare time. So, here's a couple of weeks worth of blogging in one.

Emma's birthday was wonderful. We spent the day doing fun stuff - lunch with her Aunt Stacie and Grandmother at a Japanese restaurant. It also happened to be the same restaurant where Brad and I had our very first New Years Eve dinner - 10 years ago! My, how times have changed!

We went from there to Emma's favorite store - Petsmart. Emma picked Lucy out a few new toys and treats and headed home. After a big nap and a big dinner, we turned her loose on a slice of her smash cake that hadn't been touched from her party. She made short work of it! We put it on her special Birthday Plate that she will eat her birthday cake on each year. She did so well! Her Grammy even got to watch her tear it up via webcam. We went straight from the highchair to the baby pool - she was a mess!

We spent most of the week recovering from all of the fun festivities. Brad celebrated a nice first Father's Day. It's so hard to believe that last year on Father's Day, my water broke at 10:30 at night and Emma was born the next day. I like to say that she WAS his first Father's Day gift! This year, Emma gave him a grill light and a sweet card. Whenever I think of them grilling, I think of these pictures. So the gift was very appropriate! At least now, when he grills at night, he can see the grill before he throws her in! :)


We took a short trip to Carrollton this week. Only one night away from home. We had a great time, but, as always, it was too short for my taste. Emma slept ok - though she didn't think it was time to go to bed until around 11:00!

This was Emma eating lunch - think she was comfortable at Amber and Jason's house?? Hehe!

Speaking of sleeping, we have big news. Emma is sleeping UNSWADDLED for the very first time in her life! We've tried unsuccessfully several times to unswaddle her. We've tried to slowly loosen the blanket, leave one arm out for several nights in a row, gradually setting her free. It's never worked. She'd scream inconsolably and we'd eventually give in - after all, she was sleeping mostly through the night, so we chose to pick our battles.

Well, it finally became a battle I was ready to fight. She's one year old. I can now say that it's purely out of habit that she needs to be swaddled. AND, she was waking up 1-2 times a night when the swaddle would become loose from her moving around and have to be re-swaddled and nursed back to sleep each time. I was over it. So we did it. One arm free for about 5 days, then both. She's now in a sleepsack (a wearable blanket that zips up, sort of like a potato sack with arm holes). It's awesome. I'm SO proud of her! It was not easy. She screamed the first night or 2, and we swaddled her arms back in. Each night we'd try again, just getting her used to the idea. Eventually she was ok with it. Now if I can just get her to nap a little longer! She used to start to fuss a little and I'd put "pass" (her pacifier) back in and she'd fall back to sleep for awhile longer. Now she bolts right up onto her hands and knees and is ready to roll.

Tonight we left her with my Mom for a little while while we went to dinner. Mom called to let me know that she was refusing to play because all she wanted to do was curl up and go to sleep! Hopefully she'll be completely comfortable with her new-found freedom soon and will sleep a little sounder.

We spent the afternoon at the Yellow River Game Ranch today with Brad's parents and sister and Emma's cousin, Luke. Luke's parents are at an out of town concert and so he's spending the day with his grandparents. We had the best time! It was hot, but lots of fun! Look for lots of pictures of the trip in a later post.

They babysat Emma and Luke together last night so that the parents could all go see Eclipse and have Mexican food for dinner - a nice treat! Apparently, Emma ate her grandmother's meatloaf like it was going out of style, and even tried to eat off of Lukas's plate!

I spent this morning preparing my blog for printing. I ordered Emma's hardbound copy of all of the blog posts from the first time that I announced my pregnancy to her first birthday. It looks incredible online and I can't wait to see it!

Emma's got a new trick - she can make the "rooster sound!" It's the cutest thing in the world. It all started with a Little People farm that my parents got her to play with at their house. She loves it and started making the sound on her own, imitating the toy and my mom. She REALLY got to practice it today at the Game Ranch - we heard LOTS of roosters. I tried and tried and TRIED to get it on video, but she'd quit everytime she saw the camera. Maybe I'll catch her soon! She also sings along with music now - one of the sweetest things you've ever seen. I promise. I'll try to catch her doing that too.

We have a birthday party to attend on Sunday (July 4th) for Emma's friend Juliette. It should be fun! Guess what we have planned for next week?? NOTHING! We need to rest!!