It's Not Halloween Yet, Is It?

The other day Rilyn was playing in her room and then I realized it had gotten pretty quiet. I called and asked her what she was doing and she told me it was a surprise. Lately, most of her surprises these days aren't the good kind, but I figured I would wait and see. Just then she ran out in Emerson's caterpillar bunting costume from last Halloween and said "Surprise!". I thought it was hilarious. I was surprised she actually got the costume on herself. She had a great time crawling around on the floor like a caterpillar, until she decided she was too hot being one. Kids, they always seem to keep us entertained! My little caterpillar and Duckie, of course!

Emerson watching her Sissy entertain her as well.

I am assuming this is normal, but lately Rilyn is all over Emerson, mostly in a "loving" way, giving hugs and kisses. Unfortunately, she is too rough most the time, squeezing too hard or running straight into her when she goes in for a hug. Emerson is definitely taking much more of a beating than Rilyn ever did. She has definitely learned quickly to become one tough little cookie. Notice in this picture how Emerson is thinking....okay, okay, easy.......

Then in this next picture Emerson's face is priceless, she is all scrunched up, preparing herself for Rilyn's "love".
My little Boo-Boo.

The Adventure Of Our Friend Duckie

I have to start by saying this situation was inevitable, I am just surprised it didn't happen sooner. For all those who have ever been around my daughter you know how her best friend is her Duckie. He goes practically everywhere with us and sleeps with her every night. There has been many times I have told myself that I should keep a back-up Duckie in case of emergencies, but of course, never took the time to order one. Well, it finally happened, Duckie became lost and Rilyn was panicking. Our house was turned upside down, and no Duckie was to be found. I had to think quick, so I grabbed the computer (thank you internet shopping) and told Rilyn to come look. On the screen I had pulled up the site that sells the blankies and had Duckie in our shopping cart, but to Rilyn all she realized is that she could see Duckie on the screen. I told her that he wanted to go on a vacation, but would fly home since she missed him so much. I then grabbed my Southwest Visa, which has the airplane on the card and told Rilyn that Duckie was going to fly home on that plane in a couple days. She totally bought it, THANK GOD!! For the next couple days she would ask if Duckie was getting back yet and I was so thankful that it only took 3 days to ship and arrive. The "Big Day" was so exciting, when the UPS guys rang the bell Rilyn knew right away it was Duckie! She open the packaging and pulled Duckie #2 out, but noticed he looked a little different (clean and new). I mentioned how he was well rested and had taken a bath and that seemed to be enough reason to fall in love again with her friend. Now, within hours I hear a squeal in our bedroom and then Rilyn comes running out yelling "my Duckie, my Duckie" and I see she is holding her old Duckie. Isn't this always how things happen? As soon as the new Duckie arrived, she found her old Duckie after 4 days of him missing! I quickly placed the new Duckie away and was surprised when Rilyn didn't mention anything about there being two Duckies. Crisis adverted! Life is normal again......for now :) Duckie #1 and Duckie #2, pretty obvious the difference between them.

The ultimate hiding spot, Duckie was stuffed in the side pocket of Emerson's swing.

A love reunited.

More Pictures From Nana's Visit.....

We kept my family busy while they were here between going to the pool, movies, playing in the sprinklers, going to Jeepers (an indoor "amusement park"), the mall, out to lunch, out to brunch, dance class and just having fun hanging around the house. My girls loved all the attention they got, it is definitely nice for them considering it is always usually just us. It always makes me sad though when our families leave, I wish we lived closer to both our families!!

Nana, Gramps and Grandma Mary's Visit

Here's the first batch of pictures from my parents trip out here for my Mom's birthday. We had a great time, with days packed with fun filled activities. In this picture my Mom let Rilyn use her camera to catch a picture of me and my Grandma. Rilyn loves looking at her pictures after she takes them, that is her favorite part.

Rilyn is patiently waiting for Nana to make a wish a blow those candles out so that she can finally have a piece of the cake she has been wanting forever!
Happy Birthday Nana, thank you for spending it with us!

I think you can see she is enjoying her cake! Breakfast brunch for my Mom's birthday. Yes, we sat outside in the AZ heat, but surprisingly with the breeze, shade and misters, it wasn't too bad. We would've waited for indoor seating if we didn't have two kids that you never know how long they will last. :) Here is a bunch of pictures from our morning "photo shoot". Everyone wanted a picture with the girls.

More pictures to come.......

Emerson Is 9 Months!

Emerson is now 9 months, so sad that in a short three months my baby will already be 1! We had her well baby check up yesterday and she is coming in at a healthy 19lbs 9oz. and is nearly 30in. long. She is still off the chart for her height, which the Dr. said is unusual for her not to be topping off at this point. What was she trying to tell me, that we might have an amazon child on our hands?? It is funny to see her in her carseat with her legs halfway up the back of the seat. Either way, our little one is growing and continuing to bring us so much enjoyment and happiness each day. She has been on the move now for quite awhile and is extremely fast at getting wherever it is she wants to go. She cruises along all the furniture in search for anything and everything that she shouldn't be getting into. She is a great eater and definitely prefers finger foods to baby food. Her favorites are black beans, kiwi, bananas, quesadillas and yogurt. She still loves to follow her sissy around and Rilyn can still get her to laugh the most. There are only two teeth on the bottom, but we can see four on the top that are coming in. On most nights she goes to bed by 8pm and wakes around 5am for a quick snack before snoozing again for another hour. Her smile continues to melt our hearts and more than anything we wish we could just slow down how quickly she is growing.
This is typically what I see when I walk into her room to get her :)

Out Of The Loop!

I feel so out of the loop with my blogging! I need to apologize to all my loyal followers for not posting in such a long while. We have had a fun, but busy July. To start the month off we had Jeff's birthday, with all those who were able to come surprise and celebrate with us. It was nice to also have Grammy and Papa stay for a few days after to play with the girls and give me a little bit of a break. Their 4 dogs alone kept Rilyn entertained for the week! Next, my parents and Grandma came into town for my Mom's birthday. I will definitely post picture from that week once my mom uploads and sends them to me. Next, we had Jeff's Uncle Tim and his family come visit for a night. I have to say, they made one of the best margaritas I have ever had, YUM! Last night we had our friends the Snyder's over for dinner, they are in town while Brad rehabs. Again, I always welcome any adult conversation and company, considering Jeff is gone every night. I don't think Rilyn fell asleep until after 11pm, she could not stop trying to lure their dog Sophie into bed with her.
Here is Rilyn with Sophie, I felt like I was trying to get a picture of my girls. It was almost impossible to get them to both look at the same time :)

Here is Rilyn with one of Grammy's doggies, Zoe. Again, Zoe and the rest of the doggie clan were very patient with Rilyn, letting her carry them around everywhere.
Thought I would post these just for the heck of it. Every since Emerson has become mobile our house looks like a tornado has passed through it everyday. I guess this is what you call life with two kids!

Who needs a nightstand anyways?? There is always a "parade" that leads from the living room straight through our bedroom. Believe me, I do like a clean and organized house, but this is one battle I have lost to my kids. Oh well, like they say, it won't last long and there will come a day when I miss having parades of toys throughout my house.

SURPRISE!!

Finally, after 2 1/2 months of planning, we pulled it off and surprised Jeff for his 35th birthday. I figured that since this was his first year not away playing some where, there was a good chance I could manage to get his family and friends to help celebrate with us. It was awesome to see his face when about 20 0f us showed up to his game unexpectedly on his birthday (the 4th). I think he was a little embarrassed though considering we were some of the only fans and we made such a scene. I guess I must have been busy this past weekend considering I didn't take even one picture! Here are some that his sister luckily took and I will post more if anyone else sends me some.

Coach Harris approaching his fan club. Here is Rilyn and her friend Abigail watching the game with front row seats.

Birthday cake, yum!

Jeff's sister Jenn and his nephew Michael.

Emerson playing in the backyard, probably watching Rilyn run through the sprinklers.

Discovering a ball and obviously intrigued by Nemo.

The kids trying to stay cool at the pool.

Our fun night out for Jeff's birthday.

Keri and Aaron, our good friends from the Mariners organization.

You can tell Jeff is enjoying his night.

Keri and Lance, my best friend from home and his friend from when he played Independent ball in my hometown.

This is what happens to parents that don't get out much! Thank you to all of you who made Jeff's birthday one to remember!!