9 Months for Miss E

OK, so considering she is almost 11 months old, I would say I am a little behind. :) But with everything going on lately, I am going to cut myself a break this time. 

This little girl is learning so much everyday, it is hard for me to keep up! At 9 months some of her favorites were:

Crawling, especially up the stairs. The minute the gate is off she sprints towards them!

Her sippy cup

Pulling herself up on everything she can reach

Walking along the couch while holding on

"Bonking" people....this is a special one with Daddy. The boys used to do it too. She loves to bonk her forehead against other people's as a sign of love :)

Crazy Face- She loves to get a reaction from other people when she scruntches up her face, makes her eyes bulge, puts her hands into fists, and smiles her crazy little smile. It is adorable. 

Overall, she is pretty much adorable and we are all totally in love with her!!!!

Seaside For Mommy!

A few months ago my wonderful oldest friend Lindsay came up with a fabulous idea. :) She suggested that for our birthdays this year, we take a little trip down to Seaside Oregon for the weekend, just us girls. Well, with everything going on in my life right now, I pretty much jumped at the chance! So, we picked a date in March, got a great deal on a hotel, and we just drove! And honestly, what a great and relaxing weekend it was. We walked on the beach every day, for as long as we could or wanted, we ate when we wanted, we slept when we wanted, we drove down the beach just because we wanted to find a lighthouse.....it was FABULOUS! I had not been able to be that free and easy about anything in quite a while, so it was a special treat for me. And hanging out with my best buddy all weekend? AMAZING!!!!

Unfortunately, Linds and I didn't get any good pictures of the two of us together, of course. :) We were having too much fun to think about it! So, these were the best we could do....even though you can't see Cannon Beach in the background, at least we got one with both of us in it! :)

The second is my cheesy face with our treats of the day, and of course the last ones of the scenery of Seaside and Cannon Beach. The tree in the middle was literally blown over  by the crazy wind that day. Linds and I felt like we were being blown over as well!

And For My Next Trick.....

I will pull myself up on everything that I can reach!!!! Including the stairs, which makes Mommy SUPER happy!! :)

But look how darn cute I am??

February Birthdays

Teage and my birthdays are both in February, along with Valentine's Day as well, so there are usually quite a few celebrations for us. This year, however, had to be pretty low key. Teage's grandmother passed away just a few days before his birthday, so we were actually on a plane coming home from Utah on the day of. Then he went and blew out his knee just a few day after, so things for both Valentines and my birthday had to be low key as well. :) It was fine for both of us though. We had little dinners and some cake, and gave each other nice cards. :) The boys also love having an excuse to blow out some candles, it makes their day.

Happy Birthday my love! Sorry this year was such a crazy one! :)

Teage celebrating with his good friend Ty, who's birthday is just a week or so apart from his.

Me and my kiddo celebrating mine.

Proud Mama

Once in a while I really open my eyes long enough to see what amazing and special people my children are. I had one of those moments a few weeks ago, when I took the boys to the Bounce House on a rainy day. Unfortunately it was crazy inside, everyone had the same idea. I let the boys play for a while, and randomly, someone came up to me while I was watching them and asked if they were my boys. I said yes. The woman preceded to tell me how her little son was trying to get up a ladder on a bouncy slide and was taking a long time. Instead of just going by him, or pushing him aside like some of the other kids, both Lucas and Dylan waited for him the entire time, and even helped him up when they thought he was struggling. She said that it meant a lot to see other children who were considerate to her child who was much smaller. That just meant the world to me. Even when I wasn't looking, the boys took the time to be considerate and kind, helping other kids instead of getting impatient. I am so proud of my boys and how respectful they are.

Both boys are also loving to learn right now, and can't get enough of reading and asking questions. They also love to sort things, play difficult games like chess, and try their hardest to read the words on signs or stores, etc. They are also trying so hard in their swim lesson, even though the other two boys are more advanced. They will not give up. I have a lot to learn from these two!

So proud to be your Mommy Dylan and Lucas!!!

E is 8 months!

Feb 8th-

I was so excited to take some pictures of Miss Emery on the day she turned 8 months old. I have a dress that my mom kept from when I was a baby, and that I took my one year pictures in, and I was super excited to try it on little missy and see how they turned out. She is a little bit bigger then I was at the same age, so I decided to try the shoot now, before she grew out of it. :) And I have to say, she was adorable!!!!!

Some milestones and favorites at 8 months old:

-SO close to crawling....will happen any day now!

-Always so wiggly, will never sit still.

-Happy and smiley almost all of the time, as long as she is fed and has slept. :)

-Still needs Mommy ALL of the time! :)

Sometimes I look at this little girl and just can't believe she is my daughter. That I actually have a beautiful daughter! She is such a blessing in our lives, we all love her and are thankful for her sweet little spirit!

My Grandmother made this dress for me when I was a baby. I love to see it on my daughter now!

This is an adorable tutu dress she got from my best buddy Lindsay. She just looked adorable in it.

Little Sister

Miss Emery got this adorable 9 month outfit that says "Little Sister". I decided to ask the boys for an improptu photo session, and did get some adorable shots out of it. I am so thankful!!!! I love my kiddos and the boys are such wonderful big brothers! :)

Here We Come Mariner Season!

FANFEST was a few weeks ago, and even though it was cold and slightly rainy, we are Seattlites!! Of course we wouldn't miss it!!!!

My mom and Teage's sister Sunni and friend Stacy came with us this year and boy did we have fun. The boys were so excited to run the bases and be on the field. We tried to get some autographs as well, but the lines were so long and little Miss E couldn't wait. The boys didn't care. They were so good natured, and just having a ton of fun. Just with the prospect of being on the field was enough to take them away from the autograph line.

Running the bases at Safeco Field!!!!!!

In the dugout.....the boys were so stinkin excited. They really wanted to sit there forever!

And on the official King Felix chair, they are so excited to see him pitch this season!

Emery is 7 months!

On Jan 8th, Miss E turned 7 months old. This hilarious, loves to laugh kind of gal is such a blessing in our family! All of us just adore her, and she somehow is getting cuter by the day.

At 7 months her favorites are:

Her Mommy

WATER!!!! Sippy cup, Mommy's cup, it doesn't matter....

Screaming and yelling with glee (she LOVES to scream! It is pretty hilarious actually. She screams when someone is playing with her, when someone is tickling her, when brothers are being silly or just playing something on their own, when Daddy comes home, whenever she has the opportunity!)

Chewing on just about everything

Playing peek-a-boo with her brothers

Scooting around on her tummy and turning herself around in circles (she thinks she's crawling, pretty adorable)

Daddy coming home in the evening....she always has a huge smile for him when he walks in the door.

Miss E is definitely becoming a huge Mommy's girl. I am so thankful that I can soothe and calm her like no one else. Honestly, there are times when I wish I could have someone else hold her for two seconds so I can accomplish something, but I wouldn't change it for the world. At night when I put her to bed and she cuddles up with me, bink in her mouth and holding her softie, those are the most precious moments. We sit and rock, I sing her her favorite songs (Gonna make a pie, and We Thank God for this Day), and she just settles in calmly. I love those moments so much, and honestly cherish them every day.

I don't think you can see it well, but her shirt says "100% Mommy's Girl" (oops...I accidently wrote 'gift' instead of 'girl' at first, but that would work too :) )

The "Blackout"

Oh wonderful snow....

Many people in our area crave the snow every year. Me....not so much. I just don't like the snow, at all. Well, maybe for five minutes watching my kiddos play and have fun, but after that, it can go away and not come back. :)

This year the weather decided to give me a super big treat and have a full on blizzard for a week, including a power outage that lasted days. Yes, I am being a whiner and complaining. :) Honestly, the first day was fun. The boys had a blast building a huge snow fort with Daddy, the power was on so I could still do laundry and make dinner, etc. We had fun that day. Then, the lights went out. Again, trying to make the best of it, we made a huge fort around the fireplace, played a ton of games, and all slept in the living room that night. Miss E even did fine in her port-a-crib for the night. Then after about 24 hours I was done. I was especially worried about Emery being cold and not being able to nap, etc, so we went over to my wonderful stepmom's house for the rest of the blizzard days. Thankfully she did have power, and was willing to have company for a little while.....what a blessing!!! We waited out the rest of the craziness over there and had fun having a slumber party with Grammy. What a good sport she was! :) At least the boys thought the whole thing was a big adventure....that is the most important part, right? :)

All the boys making their snow fort and having a fabulous time!

With our beautiful neighbors outside the finished fort

All of the amazing snow and ice.....one of the most I have seen around here

Our fun fort in front of the fire