Just as I predicted...

I blogged 3 days ago that you weren't quite walking and yesterday you took off, completely calm, cool and collected. I'm simply amazed.

Love you,

Mama

This Past Year

I need to start off my saying that you are the coolest little person I know! I simply can not believe that an entire year has passed since you were born; I'm convinced that this has been the fastest year of our life and I wish that some how, some way I could make it slow down just a tad. It's hard to put into words what you mean to us. But you my dear, have taught me about life, love, patience and what is truly important in this world. Thinking back about the first year, months 1-3 were definitely the roughest. Since then though, we've settled into a nice routine and I have to say that you are an incredibly easy baby. For that I am so grateful. Every day your bright smile brings so much joy to the lives of those around you, especially your daddy and I. 

A couple photos from your one year shoot:

(This wasn't a face we were trying to get you to make. It just happened and I love love love it.)

Some awesome things that you're doing at or around 1 year. 

Playing peekaboo! You've been doing this for a while, but I just barely got around to recording it.

You love to terrorize the dogs. When I use the word terrorize, I mean it in the nicest way because I'm pretty sure they like it... 

Daddy might not like me sharing this because he likes his music to be perfect. Thankfully though, you don't demand perfection. It's so sweet to watch you sit there while he plays.

Words you say:

Dada

Mama

Uh oh

Jared (pronounced "air wed")

Sadie (pronounced "aid e")

Yes!
Hi

Doggies

"Das" (We're not quite sure what that one is but you say it all the time so it must be something important!)

Favorite foods:

Bananas
Strawberries

Avacados
Sweet Potatoes

Green Beans

Noodles

Chicken
You just recently started to love strawberries. We gave you some the other day straight out of the refrigerator. They were cold and the face you made as you were eating them was hilarious.

Teeth:
NINE--(Front, top & bottom teeth have been in for quite some time and you recently got a molar on the bottom) As always, you're a teething champ. Thank you for that.
Sleeping:
You're basically a rock star when it comes to sleeping too. Although there have been a few nights here and there that you wake up in the night and end up in our bed, you mostly sleep all night in your own bed. We put you down between 7:30 and 8:30 and you usually toss and turn or play peekaboo with yourself before you finally pass out and then you wake up between 5:30 and 6:30 am. It's great. I couldn't have asked for anything more.
Walking:
You've been standing and taking steps for over a month now, but I wouldn't say you're "walking" yet. I have a feeling we're going to wake up tomorrow or the next day and you're not only going to be walking, you're going to be running. I'm in no hurry for that. I'll hold and carry for you as long as you'll let me!

I love that you're goofy. We have such a good time together :)

Like all my messages before, I want you to know how much you are adored and how special you are. You are the center of our universe. I finally understand the deepest love a person can feel, a love so strong that it almost hurts. I want for nothing bad or sad to ever happen to you and I will do my best to protect you and make sure that you have the best life that we can give you. I look forward to the years to come, seeing you grow and hopefully giving you a playmate or two :)

I love you Emilee Grayce

Mama

Giggles and more giggles

You've been keeping this Mama of yours quite busy as of late. I have to share a quick video with you though. We were BBQing Sunday night and a bunch of flies got in the house since we were going in and out quite a bit. So, needless to say, last night I decided to kill them all. You were in your little walker buzzing all around watching me and every time I'd swat at one, you'd laugh and giggle sooooo hard. So naturally Daddy grabbed the camera and started taping and I had pretend I was still trying to get some. Your laughter is contagious & I just can't get enough of it. So enjoy & I'll blog more about the last couple of months soon!

I love you Emilee Grayce.
Mama

Creeping and....CRAWLING!

Just wanted to give a quick update on something kind of big... You're into EVERYTHING now :) You've been doing this "army crawl" thing for the past month or so.

In the past couple of days though you've mastered actually crawling the traditional way and you get wherever you want to go in a hurry. It's so cute to watch you go.

You're growing up too fast but I'm loving every minute of it. I weighed you last night. Boom, 17.7 pounds!

One more thing before I go. You have another tooth! You smiled this morning and I couldn't believe what I saw. So that makes 5 and I think you're working on #6. But you're so happy all the time that we barely know when they're coming! Well that's all for now.

I love you Emilee Grayce.
Mama

Well Hello Beautiful

This last few weeks have been some of my favorite with you because you're talking so much and you're really interactive now! You love to hear yourself squeal and make noise. Although we're not quite sure what you're trying to say yet, we know it must be very important!

June 5th- Your first word, "Dada" and you've been shouting it ever since, sometimes at the top of your lungs. It's so cute!

Here you are sitting up playing your piano!

You've always loved the water! We finally took you swimming for the first time. Not only did you look cute as a button in your bathing suit, you loved splashing around in the water :) 

You attacked Grammy's chin!

Here are some pictures from your 6 month photo shoot:

You love being on your tummy! We have to watch you like a hawk now though because you roll over like crazy! Although I wouldn't say you're crawling yet, you definitely have the scooting part down and if you see something you want in the distance, you find a way to get to it. Oh and once you make all that effort to get to it, you let us know your displeasure if we don't let you have it. ;)

We just got home from your very first trip to the beach and the San Diego Zoo! You loved every bit of it, except the 12 hour car ride of course! You did great though. We'll be going to the beach a lot more once you get bigger!

You & Grandma!

Us doing what we do best, being silly :)

Just watching the waves crash..

One more picture: You swimming with Uncle Jared- You just love the water, that's for sure!!! Your face says it all. :)

Well that's all for now.

I love you baby girl.

Mama

Day 181

As of today, May 25th 2013 you are 6 months old! It's hard to believe you have been in our lives for half of an entire year already. In some ways it seems like you were just born yesterday; in others it seems like you have been here forever. Daddy and I can't remember what life was like before you were born. That's how awesome it has been since November 25th. So here you are, growing up right before our eyes....

But let's go back a few weeks. You discovered how to make a noise with your mouth, while simultaneously blowing spit everywhere.  And I must say, we find it completely hilarious and we egg you on at times when it is completely inappropriate :)

You're eating real food now, not just milk. At about 5 months, we introduced rice to you. You weren't too sure about it, so we didn't give you much more...

But a few weeks later, we smashed up some butternut squash and you LOVED it. Now you're eating lots of that, along with bananas, carrots, and avocados. At times, we can't get it in your mouth fast enough :)

Squash, yuuum.

First trip to the zoo! As you'll see, you slept for the first hour or so. Once you woke up, you loved watching all of the people, especially the kids. It was hard for you to focus on most of the animals but you did like the giraffes and apes. In a couple of months, you'll like the zoo much more :)

                                    Daddy showing you the noises that monkeys make! 

Bath time has gotten much more exciting because you can sit up on your own and splash and play. 

 

Oh Daddy, you're so silly!

Helping Mama work!

You haven't always loved tummy time. It takes a little effort but you're strong now and you love to be on your stomach and you usually end up rolling over, and then rolling some more.

First time in a restaurant high chair! Look at you big girl, sitting up all by yourself :)

Playing around with Daddy. Ah, you're so cute. I just want to squeeze you!

You have two teeth! They just popped through this week. We could hardly believe it because most babies get fussy and upset, because getting your teeth hurts! But not you- we seriously had no idea until you bit down on Daddy's hand. You're one tough girl. Hopefully, your whole mouth of teeth will be as simple as these two. I tried to get a picture of them but this is the best I could do. Every time I got the camera close to your mouth, you decided you wanted to eat it :)

I'll sneak a picture of those cute little teeth for next time ;)

One more picture.. This has been one of my favorite pictures of you for a while. Your eyes, they're so blue. 

That's all for now. I love you Emilee Grayce.

Mama

You're rockin' and rollin'

Hello my beautiful girl,

You're going to be 5 months old soon! Daddy and I have hardly been able to put the camera down but thankfully you hardly mind. :) In fact, you love having your picture taken so needless to say, I have a bunch of stuff to share with you.

You are quite the chatterbox. You love to blab. We read and talk to you all the time and you jibber jabber right back at us :) Daddy took this video of you. We have watched it so many times. In fact, at night while you are sleeping in your room, we'll lay in bed and watch it over and over, laughing a little more each time.

The day I took this picture was a rough one. You hadn't been feeling too good and we were out all day. But once we got home, you laid down and stretched out and then you were a happy camper. You even rolled over for the first time, from your stomach to your back! I caught it on video but it's a bit dark....

You love going for rides in your stroller. It used to put you right to sleep but lately, you try your hardest to stay awake and check out the scenery. To me, you look like a porcelain doll here. :)

Grammy loves you so much...

And Papa does too!

First Memorial photos:

Tormenting the dogs has begun... I think Lola actually liked this though because she loves any kind of attention. The look on your face is hilarious. I've inserted captions below each photo of what I think you were thinking...

"Stop barking when I'm trying to take a nap. I need my beauty rest!!"

"Seriously, I'm not kidding..."

"Mom, are you going to tell her too?"

"Okay good, you understand that I mean business!"

Painting your toenails was a bit of a challenge. To my surprise, I had to do most of them when you were awake because when you were asleep and I would attempt to touch your toes, you would twitch and wake up. One thing I have learned is, NEVER WAKE A SLEEPING BABY. You're much happier when you're well rested. But hey, so am I :)

Today you got your second round of shots. You did great once again. You whimpered a little and then you were fine!  You weigh 14 pounds and you're 24 inches long! You're such a great baby, always smiling and laughing and you're just the greatest joy to have in our lives.

Those eyes and that smile melt my heart.

I love you baby girl,

Mama

Emilee--Three months

Hello my beautiful blue eyed girl,

Time is flying and you're getting so big! Sometimes we feel sad that you're growing up so fast but we're mostly happy because you are changing and learning so much. It's neat to see you go from a small helpless baby that just eats and sleeps all the time to this precious (little bit bigger) baby that likes to play and smile and laugh. Going back a few weeks though,  you were very colic. Your digestive system had a really hard time because you weren't used to eating for yourself. That lasted about six weeks and during those six weeks, we tried just about everything to make you feel better.  We felt so sad and helpless because you would just cry and cry and cry. But you grew out of that and you are such a happy baby now :]

We took you on your first airplane ride to California. You were seriously a champ. I was so worried that your ears were going to hurt. But on our way, you fell asleep before the plane even took off!

(right before takeoff)

While we were in California, you got to see Uncles and Aunts and lots of your cousins.  We went shopping while we were out there too. You were one happy camper:

On our way home, a TV star from a show that Mama and Daddy like to watch was on our plane. We talked to him a bit and he wanted to hold you. He made the mistake of picking you up and facing you toward him though. You do not like that. You like to be facing outward so you can see the world. Can't say I blame you...

(You with Aaron Paul)

You've always had such great control of your neck and head. I took this video of you when you were about 10 weeks. You remind me of a little bobble head :]

Here you are, sleeping with Daddy. So peaceful...

You're so fun to play with. One night you had some boogers and I was trying to get them out. I noticed that every time I touched your nose, you opened your mouth. So sure enough, I had to whip out the camera and keep at it, even though there was no need to anymore... I'm sorry- you were just making me laugh and I couldn't resist!

You love your pacifier but when you don't have one, you improvise with your fingers. You're one resourceful gal ;]

Daddy took this picture.. Apparently you were deep in thought while napping:

The endless laughter and smiles just melt our hearts. Ahhhhh......

Everyone says that you look like your Uncle Jared. I'd have to agree. And not only do you look like him, your personality reminds me alot of his too when he was a baby. You LOVE to talk. You jibber jabber all the time. It's so cute! See what I mean:

We had to take you to the doctor for your first round of shots and I'm almost positive it was more painful for me than it was for you. You had to get 3 shots. For the first two you whimpered. By the third, you barely even flinched.  You're pretty much so a rock star! The other night, you found your feet. It was so much fun watching you look at them, wiggling around.

Although we snap photos of you on our phone all the time, we also got some professional pictures taken of you. Here you are at 3 months, almost to the day. You're a ham, without a doubt :]

 

You're currently napping, in your own bed (woohoo) so I better go do some work!

I love you Emilee Grayce.

Mama