Angel baby or..

Devil child?That is the question..
Who is this sweet child we held in our arms mere months ago..could it be the same tot that people often point out to be my "wild child"??
Could she have really gone from my laid back, smiling baby to this biting, hair pulling, 'Nooo' yelling, spitting in revolt, food throwing monster??

No, of course not..it must just be the terrible twos!
Wait, she is only 17 months.
Darn it.

Let's Rodeo

What have Daniel and I been up to?? We headed to the Rodeo for the final night of fun and charades. Daniel got us tickets through work in the suite, so we got to experience it all in style, with free stuff..which is always nice. Our good friends, the McLeans, watched the girls for us overnight so we could really relax! Thank you to them for hosting the girls and taking care of G when she wasn't feeling well!! Next year I want to take the girls again and let them actually see a show and the events of the rodeo. I know Emma would love sitting in her seat, all dressed up, with her cotton candy!

What have me and the girls been up to?? Staying just busy enough but nothing too exciting..We did see "If you give a moose a muffin" at the Magic Theatre with MOPS, that was fun and different..and makes me want to go downtown more often. We ate lunch with a group of friends, 5 moms & 8 kids..it was yummy, but the kids were crazy and running all over the place..the service was slow which is not how you should treat so many young children..I think they were ready for us to leave!

Friday Daniel was off work so we played around the town, ate lunch out, and shopped a little bit. We were going to Dollar Day at the Rodeo, but it was misting, so we had an impromptu campfire with our friends..there was hotdogs, smores & lots of story telling..even some kerosene thrown in the fire for good measure!

Daniel is off to Boca this week for work...I know, poor guy..then the girls and I are meeting him in Houston to see his family. It will be a sort of whirlwind visit, but nice to get away for a bit!lunch with friends
Here's hoping I have enough energy to drive to Houston by myself after being alone for a few days!

The Olympics have been running our lives, fun but exhausting trying to keep up with all the excitement!

Be Mine!!

or "mine, mine" - with a gimme motion with her hands and clutching whatever her heart's desire. That is how Georgia rolls these days.

Emma is more of a "That's Mine!" kindof girl with a swift swing of her arms to her side holding on for dear life, but ready for a push if need be, to protect her beloved item of the moment.

And Daniel..well, he's mine! He was an All-Star this weekend! I was feeling under the weather with a cold, but still had plans to have a girls night out on Friday..first to Coco's then to see Valentines Day. It was good..we had a blast just hanging out with girls and relaxing. It was a much needed night away. And he even bathed the girlies, so they were all fresh and clean!!

Saturday, we worked in the yard, after a yummy homemade breakfast, and got so much done..Emma and Daniel ran errands then we hung out with friends and grabbed lunch at Bigz, napped and watched the Olympics. A perfect day..
Sunday, after I slept in, I woke up to homemade blueberry waffles and Emma handed me a gift that her and Daddy had picked out..they even wrapped it!! It was some new cowgirl boots and tickets to the Rodeo on closing night!!!..I am so excited..I have been wanting to go and he "lied" to me saying he couldn't get tickets..OH, you little sneaky ..
So needless to say I was so excited..and Emma picked out a pretty blouse that Daniel said he couldn't leave the store without buying! It is cute..the girl has taste..though she was sweet and tried to buy me the small! HA - the medium is um, a little too tight..:( Anyways, we played and worked outside..took long naps between Olympics and Nascar, and then made homemade Chicken & Dumplings! YUM-MO!!

So, the rockstar Daddy and Husband award for this weekend goes to Daniel!!
And no, there are no ties!

Oh, something random..We have this Bible book..and it has little snippets of stories about famous characters, like David, Esther, Moses, Noah, etc..anyways, there is one asking you to guess who was in the lions' den and Emma always says, "Daddy"..it is so cute..I say, "yes, sort of, Daniel!" - I just wanted to remember that...

Hope your Valentine's Day was special!

Valentine fun!!

We have been so busy around here with Valentine parties, between MOPS, school, and just decorating with friends..all I see is pink, purple & red..sprinkles, stickers, hearts, glue, chocolate..it is everywhere. I am pretty sure we will have sprinkles in our house til we move out..however many years down the road that is..
Another impromptu celebration occured with our friends, Ainsley & Britton..

We hosted a party at our house for some of Emma's MDO friends..it was so much fun and almost made up of entirely girls..I love that Emma has friends that she is excited to see and talk about when she is not at school! She is even already asking for friends to spend the night...she has been begging me every morning for the last few days for "Ainsley (she says it like "E-ey") to spend the night"..then I say no, not today because...and she says, "tomorrow is a good day.." It is really sweet and funny..I never really thought she would be so into that so early.Emma & Ainsley, dressed up as usual!
Anyways, I digress, oh, while I am in the middle of digressing..have you ever noticed how many adults say "Member"..for remember?? It is weird..I mean I find myself saying it, but it is just a random thing I have noticed lately..
look at all those girls!!
Ok, so 12 kids and 5 moms and we had a house full..it was fun and the girls had a blast with just foam hearts and stickers..we didn't even bust out the glue or paint!! Then on to cookies..we decorated heart cookies with every color of the rainbow and then lots of other candies. There was a sugar high around the table for sure. We also had cute bug banana cakes..I helped myself to that!!E's heart she made with her friends
G opening up her goodies from MDO
G in her pigtails..love 'em
She loves to say, "No, no, NOOOO!" and she also holds her arms up to me, scrunching her fingers, and says, "Ol me, ol me!" (hold me)- melts my heart everytime...seriously I have to stop what I'm doing right away and pick her up!

Long-Johnson wedding

Our friends got married..and yes, that is their last names!
The Johnson part of the wedding is a good guy friend from highschool and through college. Daniel and him became great friends while we were dating and he was in the wedding!
I know Daniel loved being a part of everything and hanging out with the guys!
The crazy thing about this wedding was that the ceremony was outside - as in Fort Worth, Texas in January..there were cars with snow on them driving around..there were snow flurries falling as we drove in on Friday night.
Needless to say, it was COLD..and the real kicker is that I didn't know it was going to be outside until I had already left the house for the weekend. Luckily, with a few phone calls, my mom lent me her fur coat (yeah, it was real..don't get all PETA on me) and gloves, and Carrie brought me a back up sweater dress to wear. It was a success, though I didn't feel so pretty..kindof plain, but way better than the spaghetti strap dress I had planned to wear.
So I was very thankful for what I got to borrow and it was a blast seeing all my old highschool friends again. We discussed that we are running out of weddings to have as an excuse to hang out..more baby showers now..but let's be real, those aren't the same thing!cigar time!!
me, Brad & Carrie
It was also great to see Jevon's mom, Ms. Rose..she was a teacher in our highschool and everyone loves her..Treva is one of those moms who is everyone's mom! It was great to catch up with her and have breakfast with her!
I am bummed I didn't take more pics but that seems to happen a lot lately.
The groom's cake was the highlight for me..and the chocolate covered strawberries..also they had a potato bar, with mashed and sweet potatoes in martini glasses, then you got to pick your toppings!! That was yummy too!!
Our guys did the usual toasts and danced and got crazy. They are so much fun!
It was also a nice weekend away from the girls..they got to see Mama and Pop..and get spoiled, while we got to sleep in and relax all day and have yummy food. me & my usher
Chuck, Brad, D-Tice, Matt & Ry
Chuck & Pepper
Carrie & Craig
Pauline & Daniel

What has Emma been up to??

This fast-talking, outfit-changing, candy-eating girl is quickly approaching 3!!
She is really funny and so full of energy. She loves her "school". Her teachers send "tattlers" home, which tell of their day. Isn't that such a cute name?! It will say on the sheet how much she loves to do hand motions during music, how she was chasing some boys around the playground (Daniel wasn't liking that one), how she was having so much fun she was laughing out loud during chapel and how well she follows directions during fitness! I love getting an insight into how she spends her time away from me.

Emma has hit a growth spurt too..she seems tall and really thinned out. Her teachers say she is one of the best eaters, so at least she is eating food somewhere..She can easily be bribed with dessert to eat her broccoli, though.

She has been really helping Momma out by throwing away G's diapers, trying to change G's diapers, cleaning up (though we are still really working on this one), washing her own hair and brushing her teeth, taking her dishes to the sink, buckling herself in and out of the carseat! I am sure there are more, but who has time to remember all that?!!

She is also just starting to try and come in Mom & Dad's bed. It is not fun. Last night she woke up 3 different times, twice crying, and wanting to climb in. She finally fell asleep..in her bed..but then I couldn't sleep. AHH! I would love to say I don't know where she is getting this idea from, but if it is early in the moring, like 7ish (yes, that is early to ME)and she comes in the room, then I let her lay with me so I can sleep some more..Daniel is already gone at this point. I guess that is a bad habit, but a girl has got to sleep, right?!
She is also really mimicking things/movements/sayings that I do on a regular basis..that is really a fun (sobering) part of motherhood!! Daniel thinks she will be a pro at rolling her eyes long before her tween years. Whatever! - that is another thing I am sure she will be spouting off to me soon..my parents actually bought me a t-shirt that said that on it way back when! Wish I still had it, I could hand it down..! Her & Georgia are getting along much better these days. She is full of hugs and kisses and "it's ok" or "I love you". G is now the one who is taking her aggression out on her "Sissy"..she pulls hair, scratches, pushes, hits, yells "Nooo"...it is really fun! Emma is getting paid back in full, that is for sure. Finally, Emma is attending speech therapy once a week. I started to feel that "mommy" feeling that she wasn't speaking as clearly as she should be. Her speech had not improved like I felt it should, so I wanted to get her checked out. I was receiving mixed opinions on how different people felt and thought about this, but I wanted to do what I needed to help her.
She was assessed and her evaluation came back reassuring. She is doing great in most areas, has an extensive vocabulary and sentence structure, but is lazy or has bad habits in some speech patterns. The good news is she can make all the right sounds she just needs some help in realizing she is not using them. So that is where we are at so far. I am hoping this is a quick fix, of course, but it seems to be a thing where Emma is really going to have to participate, so I am really praying she doesn't shut down and not talk! The #1 blessing so far has been our insurance is covering it 100%..I am so thankful as I have heard how expensive it can be.
OK, this is long..too long, off to plan Emma's princess party!! Any fun ideas??