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Halloween 2009

We had a good Halloween this year. Emily helped carve a pumpkin for the first time. She thought the inside of the pumpkin was "ewww" but enjoyed putting the spoon inside of it. This year was also the first time we took her trick or treating. She went with her cousins Logan,Greyson,and Jackson (with adult supervision of course). We dressed her up like a girl from the 50s. She had herself a good time. She even said "trick or treat" a couple of times and "thank you" a few times. She enjoyed getting candy and wouldn't let us take her pumpkin full of candy from her without a fight.

Fun with Photo Editing

So, So, Suck Her Toe

2 Year Update

Having a 2 year old is both challenging and fun. Emily's personality keeps me entertained but her will to do things she shouldn't can make me want to pull my hair out. Though lately she has gotten much much better at listening (hoping this isn't a fluke). She's actually being really good and now I'm wondering how long that will last. Optimism is not one of my strong points. Not that she's not a good kid but the "terrible twos" hasn't evaded my child. Though I wish it had. And I am thanking my lucky stars that she is doing better because for a little while there I thought I was going to have to move to Syberia to avoid having a break down. Just this past week she has been more easygoing again and when I tell her no she usually obeys. She's doing some new things (by new I mean within the last couple months or so). She knows most of her basic colors (blue, green, white, pink, yellow, red, and orange), can count to 10 and sometimes 13, and she's starting to string together 3-4 word sentences. She is also starting to sing along with songs. Though she does trail off and babble when she doesn't know the words. Quite endearing if you ask me. Some funny things she's doing is she can now fake snore (taught her that one), she'll sometimes tell herself "no ma'am" when she's doing something she shouldn't, will clap for herself and say "good job Emmy" when she does something right, she likes to tickle me and Josh from time to time, feeds her baby dolls a bottle and makes sucking sounds for them, and she will sometimes try to brush my teeth with her toothbrush and say "ahh" so I'll open my mouth. Another funny thing I've noticed that is true about most two year olds is that their ability to mimic your words and actions can be hilarious. Which is kinda funny since they're just doing what you're doing yet it somehow becomes hilarious when they do it. Emily is not just a bag of fun though. She can also be very sweet. She gives us unsolicited hugs and kisses, will pat you on the back when giving you those hugs, will tell you "it's okay" when you're sad, and will get things for you if she knows where they are. So far 2 is my favorite age. Not for the temper tantrums but for being able to see her personality emerge and her mind begin to comprehend things.

Two words to describe Emily lately: Encourager and Helper

Emily has become an encouraging child. For example, when her 4 year old cousin properly played with one of her toys she said "Good job, Jackson" and began clapping for him. She then asked him for a high five. The other day her cousin Jackson got upset and she followed him around telling him it would be okay by saying "it's okay, it's okay." She also did this with her cousin Greyson when he got upset and patted him on the back. Emily has also become a little helper. She will pick up things that people drop and hand them back to them. She will also offer toys to her cousins. When interacting with her baby cousin Aubrey she is very gentle and makes sure she has what she needs. She makes me so proud.

Hill Ridge Farms Round 2

Went back this year and it was more fun than last year since she's older. We went on a hayride, she went down a huge tube slide with her daddy, we looked at some animals, picked out some pumpkins,she swung with grandma, and she played in some corn kernels. It was a good time at the patch.

Emily's 2nd Birthday in Pictures

Emily had a good and exhausting birthday...

She rode on this carousel at Pullen Park


She rode this train too


And these kiddie boats (her favorite ride at Pullen)


She also walked around this pond with her aunt Jenn and uncle Scott


We then journeyed to grandma and grandpa Porter's for cake and presents.

Yo Gabba Gabba cake was a success and she was serious about it (in the last picture you might notice her eying her cousin Greyson suspiciously as his hand gets dangerously close to her icing covered Gabba figurine)






She got some good loot (fake bling and her kitchen were 2 of her faves)






We capped off the day at a Durham Bulls game (baseball is not our thing but my family wanted to go and so we gave it a whirl. It was pretty fun overall).


And then she conked out in the car on the way home (didn't capture that on film).

Happy 2nd Birthday Emmy!!

I know it's a day early but I won't have any time tomorrow with all the birthday festivities. Anyhoo,it seems like just a few months ago that we brought her home and she greatly blessed our lives. We are so thankful for her and are truly honored to be her parents. She continually amazes us and entertains us. We are looking forward to many more birthdays with her. Happy 2nd Birthday Emily Jane!! Here's the past 2 years of her life in pictures (just click on the picture collage to enlarge it)...

Bye Bye Mommy

No, the image above is not in celebration of Halloween. It's too early for all that. No, this is to show you what Emily said "bye bye mommy" to while at Lowe's today. I'm not sure if it's the exact model but it's very similar anyway. I spotted the witch in their Halloween section on our way into the store and on our way out I decided to take Emily to see it. Just to see what she thought. As we approached, the witch was perfectly still until we got closer. She then began speaking and stirring her witch's brew. Emily jumped a little, looked concerned, and then just stared at her timidly. As we walked away from her, Emily stopped, turned around to face the witch, and said "bye bye mommy." All I can say is thanks Emily for your high opinion of mommy.

Shoes

The girl loves her some shoes. She will rummage through our shoe basket almost on a daily basis and put them on her tiny feet (albeit fat feet but yet tiny at the same time). Often times she will then attempt to open the front door because "shoes on" means "bye bye". She's getting pretty good at walking in them too. Though she did learn a valuable lesson the other day while wearing her daddy's flip flops. She learned that attempting to escape the sight of the big scary vacuum while dragging a pair of men's size 12 on her feet is not an easy task. Anyway, here are some recent pictures and video of her in my shoes. I guess she is taking the saying "you should try walking in my shoes" literally.

Informing daddy that she's got shoes on and she's ready to go bye bye



Attempting to escape (doesn't she look snazzy in daddy's undershirt and my flip flops?)


Frustrated because putting shoes on didn't buy her a ticket out of here

Photos and Videos Aug 09

Bye Bye Water

In the words of Emily, we had to say "bye bye water." The week long beach trip to Emerald Isle, NC went very well. Emily traveled well (even slept in the pack and play well) and she loves water. Water in the ocean, water in the pool, water in the lake, water in the bath,water in a bowl etc. It doesn't matter where it is, water is tops with her. When we approached the edge of the ocean Emily looked amazed at the vast body of water in front of her. Her first instinct was to run into it. Not to worry, she didn't get very far before we held her hand. Eventually she plopped down on her butt in the surf and was delighted when the water washed over her legs. Bigger waves though, that's a different story. When taking her further out she seemed nervous and had a concerned look on her face. The last day we went to the beach, we took her into the smaller waves in an inflatable boat. She wasn't a fan and so we decided she likes the ocean as long as the waves don't toss her around. When taking her into the pool she tried to swim away from her cousin Haley who was holding her. She didn't want anything or anybody holding her back. Aside from all the playing in the water she had fun playing with her cousins,running on the beach, playing with seashells, and watching the fish swimming at the aquarium. Josh and I had fun too. We played in the ocean, had some good seafood, touched some stingrays at the aquarium,and finally got to see the newest Harry Potter movie. Josh also got to get in some fishing (he almost caught a small sand bar shark). Speaking of sharks, I got bit by something in the ocean on the last day. I have no clue what it was but with all the talk of sharks my heart did race a little and I just kept moving. Whatever it was it wasn't very big and it only drew a little bit of blood. My sisters and I joked that it was a shark. Just for a good story. If it was, it was the smallest shark out there. It was a good trip overall but by the last day I think we were all ready to be home.