our new normal

Ok, so I have a LOT to catch up on. But I just wanted to upload pics from today. We're just now starting to feel normal again. It's been 3 weeks since our movers came and packed up our life in San Diego (that reminds me...I've got to come up with a new tagline for our blog name!) and now we're settling in back east. We're having a great time being back home. The heat doesn't even bother me right now, because, there's RAIN! And crickets! And so many other wonderful familiar things that make everything feel extra special.

We managed to move into our old house, and get everything set up for now. It's a looong road ahead - lots of house projects we want to accomplish. But we're totally loving the extra space. Emma literally runs around and dances in all the open areas. :)

Technically, we're still living by the 'water'. We traded the Pacific Ocean for the lake and even though we lived here before, it's awesome now with a little one! There is a 2 mile path around the lake, and a perfect tot lot just steps from our back door. We went exploring this morning before lunch.

checking out the ducks down by the dock:

Where on EARTH did she get those curls? And do you see that bow in her hair? Don't tell her it's there - she NEVER lets me go near her with one.

Putting the moves on Mason at the playground.

Enjoying the slide and the swing (or as she calls it, 'Whee!')

Poaching some sunscreen from Mason's grandma. She loves any kind of cream - she's definitely a girly girl. Just doesn't like bows!!

Checking out mom's shades. Hey - who's that in the reflection? hehe.

You may think I took this picture to show off her beautiful eyelashes. They are beautiful, but that's not what I was trying to show. I think hands down, one of my absolute FAVORITE things about my daughter, one of the things I hope she NEVER outgrows, is the thick, blonde, wispy layer of baby hair she has all over her face. It's so thick that it grows in two different directions around her forehead. It's so thick that it shows through the sunscreen. The hair on her head isn't super thick, but her baby hair is. I'm not sure if you can see the reflection of the sun on the blonde hair in the picture, but I wanted to remember it forever. She's my little fuzzy peach. I could just eat her.

And finally, she's still obsessed with those darn squirrels. Here she is following one up a tree as we walked back up to the house. What a great day!

goodbye beach bungalow!

It's the last night in our little beach cottage here in San Diego. Tomorrow come the packers. We had an extra soapy bubble bath tonight to commemorate our last night. More to come soon, but here's a placeholder for ya!

June Jamboree!

I think June gets the award for one of the busiest months we've had in a long time. I have a whole month to catch up on with blogging!

After Dad & Josh left, Gammie and Poppa came to visit. They got to visit Emma on her last day of school and participate in her graduation. Here she is with her diploma:

Here is Gammie presenting Emma with a new book. She knows how much Emma loves the touch-and-feel books. This one is called, "peekaboo! I love you!"

So the Emster finished school, I finished work and celebrated my birthday all in one week. After Gammie and Poppa left, we all traveled to Houston to visit Sarah, John and baby Jack. We got to stay with them in their gorgeous house! It was reallllly hot that weekend, so poor us, we had to spend most of the days at their incredible neighborhood pool - complete with baby pool and water slide. Emma couldn't get enough of the 'wawa'. It was the first thing she asked for in the morning, and the last thing she talked about before going to bed. She would have swam allll day long. There were so many pictures, so I decided to compile a slideshow (make sure you can read the descriptions):



We couldn't pass up the opportunity to get some video at the pool too. Luckily, our point and shoot is waterproof so we could take it in the pool with us. Fun! You can catch Emma enjoying the water slide (note the HUGE smile on her face) and chanting 'more! more!'. We'll definitely have to get this one some swimming lessons soon, she is FEARLESS.

It's been just as busy back at home. In fact, we're having so much fun that Emma has decided to stop sleeping. Lucky me! I kid, I kid - I think she's cutting her 2 year molars. We've been enjoying the summer with great weather and being outdoors as much as possible. This includes a little outdoor painting (note the various stages of undress):

yummy watermelon

trips to the playground with friends,

Here she is playing with her friend, Shae. Emma and Shae were born on the exact same day!

more pool time
and...I got to finally break in the portable studio I got for my birthday. I love it! I can't wait to use it more. Emma was happy to help me do some test shots, and she's sporting her very first ponytail (or 'ponie' as she calls it). :)

That's all folks!! It's the last day of June, so tomorrow starts another month of great fun! We're headed to Vermont to celebrate Opa's 60th birthday and then to New York for our friend Justin's wedding. We'll be back soon!

A girl and her garden

These pics were taken at Hotel Del Coronado - what an amazing place. We had a great visit from Pache and Uncle Josh this weekend, so we took the whole gang here to get a little photoshoot in. Someone seemed to enjoy the good weather...

Forrest Gump

"everywhere I went...I WAS RUNNING"

Busy Bee

Emma is a very busy bee. All of these pictures were taken within 5 minutes. She loves coloring:

and playing with her baby. Here she is telling me "Shhhh.....the baby is sleeping."

and singing and clapping:

and trying on mama's slippers:

and climbing into and jumping off of the ottomans:

Me: "Emma, are you allowed to draw on the furniture or walls?"
Her: "Ohhhh no, no, no" (complete with shaking a finger, just like I do!)

All of this playing makes me tired! I think I'll take a little nap.

20 months!

Emma is officially 20 months old today. I can't believe how these last few months snuck up on me. I feel like the first year went by....pretty fast. But it was all still so new that the ups and downs of being a new mother meant that I was always aware of where we were in the 'baby' stage - the first growth spurt, the longer stretches of sleep at night, the introduction of solids, etc.

Not that toddlers don't have milestones, but it just seems that everything happens gradually, and then there's a huge burst. Her language skills have blossomed tremendously since starting her 18-month class. She now understands even the most subtle of meanings - like a joke, or a silly phrase. She's a talker, let me tell you. She always has something to say, and she is LOUD.

Of course she's asserting her independence and loves to push the boundaries. Just today she swatted my hand away as I was trying to help guide her up a hill. She's so fearless, she'll try anything and isn't afraid of much. I just wanted to make sure she didn't fall backwards, but she let me know in that moment that it was ok to let go. It was so simple, and yet I almost cried. I can only imagine the metaphor this will come to mean in our future. At 20 months, she's still a happy, giggly, energetic, sweet, affectionate little twinkie who looooooves her Dada.

I thought I'd run down a list of her current faves:
Favorite food: Fruit! Mangos, blueberries, strawberries, kiwi, you name it
Favorite drink: Milk
Favorite snack: 'Teese!' (cheese)
Favorite book: The picture book that Mimi made for her :)
Favorite song: Alouette (a french song I learned at camp as a kid. it's a song about plucking a bird - Yikes!)
Favorite activity: go outside!
Favorite TV show: Elmo (we only get 1 channel, thankfully, it's PBS)
Favorite toy: her babies and the baby stroller
Favorte phrase: "Ohhhh no, no, no" (and shakes her finger. wonder where she learned that?)
Most recent attachment: she's already stuck to the binkie, but most recently she's started adding her blankie and pillow to the mix. Can I tell you how hard it is to keep all THREE of these in the same place at the same time?!
Favorite breakfast food: Pancakes. The girl puts away 6 at at time!
Favorite destination: the aquarium - more specifically, the Octopus tank
Favorite diddy: "Maaaa-ma, Daaa-da, Paaaa-pa, Eeeemmm-ma" (she sings a song she made up herself about mama, dada, parker and emma - her family) :)

Favorite thing of mine: her running into my arms, scooping her up, twirling around, while she wraps her arms around my me, tucks her head under my neck and squeezes me tight. Then, pats me on the back. My cup runneth over :)

Babies! Babies! Babies!

Last weekend I went to Atlanta to celebrate my sister's baby shower! It was a great weekend and sooo nice to hang out with Anna & Andy. They're going to be great parents. And doesn't she look AWESOME?! With good looking parents like them, that baby is going to be one gorgeous little bambino.

Pals in Portland

This past weekend I went to Portland (OR) to visit my best friend, Mary Kate. It was also my first night away from Emma. The time just felt right, and I really wanted to see MK8 before we both left the west coast. We had a great time, and Portland is a beauuuuutiful place - so lush and green. It reminded me a lot of home. I got to meet her friends, and see her apartment, ate yummy food and wine, went hiking at the Gorge and we shared lots of fun memories and laughs. MK is moving back east soon too, so along with our BFF Elizabeth, we'll all be reunited! Trouble! :)

Emma did great and had a blast with her Dada. She was happy and rested and excited to see me when I got back in time to celebrate Mother's Day with my family!

Love & Yogurt: A Play in Three Acts

We are SOOO ready for summer around here. Yes, I know we live in San Diego, but summer is still summer. The pools are out, the birds are singing, the flowers are blooming, the grills are cooking and the beer floweth.

Sunday was a gorgeous day, so we decided to hang outside. Lunchtime came around, and Emma wanted to share her yogurt with Parker. They are such sweet friends.

For those of you who know and love Parker, you'll be sad to hear that he is going deaf. This is my tribute to you, sweet Prince Parker.

Happy Easter from sunny Florida!