Good Morning!

Emma LOVES cereal for breakfast, especially shredded wheat. She was eating, as usual, I looked up, and she was drinking her milk from the bowl. Wonder who she learned that from? I don't do this, so I will give you one guess....

Cleaning out....

We have been in our new house just over a year now, and we can't believe it!! Living somewhere a year means we have accumulated quite a bit, so it was time to clean out once again! I went through the entire house...reorganizing, cleaning doors, baseboards, and of course cleaning out! I ended up with quite a pile in the garage, which we are donating to charity. They come to pick it up on the 20th of February, and I CANNOT wait for it to be gone! Pretty sad how excited I am about this, but for those of you who don't know, I HATE clutter and LOVE organization....sick, I know! I did my normal cleaning as well, and also cleaned out my file box and shredded the unnecessary documents. We were even able to go ahead and file our taxes, so needless to say, I have been busy! While I was BUSY, Emma enjoyed sitting on my file box.... :)

Emma's SURPRISE Valentine box!

Emma got a surprise in the mail today...a Valentine goody box from Papa C & Mama C & Aunt Ashley. For those of you who don't know, my mom LIVES for the holidays. I think the photo of what she sent will be proof enough. Emma ate every single kiss before I could turn around...she obviously enjoyed her goodies...thanks guys!!

Mouth FULL of chocolate!

Emma-the little momma!

Emma and I were just playing in the playroom the other day. We played dress up and everything in between. I thought she was awfully cute when she tucked Tigg and Giraffe in for bed. She did it just like me...wonder where she learned that?

Photos of the play room....

And....Emma reading her stories!

Where have we been?

Who knows!! All that I know is that I have been so busy that I can barely catch my breath! I have ZERO photos to add, and my video camera is full (so no videos either-I am dumping it right now). If I didn't know better, I would consider of officially missing! Even without photos, I will attempt to give a quick update, so here it goes....

One of Rob's sales reps was attacked just after Christmas. It is a long story, but all in all, he was stabbed in the temple, which severed his optic nerve. He will be blind in that eye forever. At first, we thought that he would be able to keep his "bad" eye, but in order to prevent infection setting in in his "good" eye, he actually had his "bad" eye removed yesterday. Rob and I both know him very well, afterall his reps are almost like family to us. So, all of this has been quite a roller coaster and also very difficult to take. We were both devastated. We have been trying to help out where we can, but nothing will ever take the place of losing his sight. He has been an inspiration to all of us, and we wish him the best with his recovery.

On another note, Mama C. came to visit for several days. Emma loved having her here! We did some shopping, wedding planning, working out, etc. She even kept Emma while Rob and I had a night out! Thanks Mom! We were so glad that she came, and we hope that she comes back soon!

Bo came for a visit last weekend, and Emma just loved him. She had so much fun with her new playmate. We hope he comes back soon!

I have also been working on Emma's NEW playroom. Yes, my child got so many toys for Christmas that they would no longer fit in the playroom downstairs, so we moved them up! It wasn't so much the quantity of toys as it was the SIZE of the toys. She got a castle and an activity table from Santa, and both of those things were pretty big. I started painting the playroom, and let's just say I would advise to NEVER paint turquoise. All in all, the playroom turned out great, it just took some extra effort. The walls are orange and yellow, and I made the curtains myself. I will post photos soon! I ordered a painting for the wall (alphabet)...found it online for $20!! I also plan to add some corkboard to display Emma's artwork. Otherwise, I am FINISHED!!!

I have been on a FAST preschool search for Emma!! These preschools around here are nuts!! The deadline to register for NEXT fall, yes NEXT fall, has already passed for many of the schools. So far, she has a spot at our church. We will find out more the first week of February when they post the classes, etc. I requested just one day a week for Emma. We wanted her to get used to going to school, and I figured it would be fun for her (and me :) too! Until then, I am going to keep looking around to see what all I can find.

My friend Juli convinced me to run a 10K with her, and even though I am terrified, I agreed. I start training this week. The race is March 14th...I think! It is 6.2 miles, which will be quite an accomplishment for me. I can already run 3 miles, but I have a little ways to go to reach 6.2. Hopefully I can drop a few more pounds along the way!

One of our New Year's Resolutions was to go to church more often, and we have been! Because of Emma's age, starting in two weeks, she will be going to Sunday School....we are so excited!

I registered Emma for Exer-Tots at the YMCA starting in February. She will go on Fridays, while I work out. They do parachutes, moon bouncing, and other physical activity things with the kids. I hope she likes it. We still go to storytime on either Wednesdays or Thursdays...which she LOVES!

As for Miss Emma, she is growing up SO fast!! She has been going to the potty, and I am so proud!! We haven't "potty trained" her yet, but we will be very soon!

She is still sleeping in her crib, but we are having some sleep issues. She seems to be afraid these days, so I got her a night light with a blue light bulb. She has also been waking up WAY too early, so I will be working on that the next few days too.

Emma is very independent these days. She says, "I can do it" about EVERYTHING!! We have had some power struggles, and I have also learned how to have TONS of patience, at least most of the time :)

Emma's language is amazing. She says new phrases everyday. She talks to us in complete sentences and can string 6-8 words together at a time. I have enjoyed watching her develop.

Well, I am going to run for now. Our new baby monitors just arrived, and I need to get them installed before naptime....