I like to eat eat oatmeal & bananas

This past week I was in Orlando for work, of course I was very homesick so I had Chris send me pictures of Emerson to my phone! These are the ones that he sent!

This one was taken & sent during naptime



This one was taken and sent during breakfast and was titled "I like to eat eat oatmeal & bananas - - sung to the tune of Apples & Bananas

Boating Baby!

This weekend Emerson had her first boat trip and kiddie pool experience!! A good friend of Chris', Lynn, just moved here in January with his wife, Bethany, and 2 1/2 year old daughter Lyndsey. Chris & Lynn have not lived int he same city since college! We spend a lot of time with them and always have a BLAST - this weekend was no exception! They took out their new house boat on her maiden voyage and we there to take part! We were all nervous about having little ones aboard but it really worked out well! Bethany's sister, Amy, her husband , Lee and their 1 1/2 yr old daughter, Leah Kate came as well. All three little girls had the same swim suit - it was SOOOO cute but unfortunately we could not keep them still and together long enough for a group picture! Emerson's boyfriend, Brodie, and his parents, Katie and Brian came along as well... Ok so now you are probably doing the math - 2 toddlers and 2 infants all aboard a houseboat!!! Needless to say it was very different form past boating excursions when we had little to no responsibilities beyond ourselves!
Emerson's "Lil red Polka dot Bikini" that she wore for the first time on Memorial Day!

Getting Emerson & our luggage onto the boat!!

Lynn & Lyndsey on the jet ski

Mommy & Baby Emerson

Quarantined!

Growing SOOO Fast!

Emerson is growing so fast... she has 4 teeth and working on 2 more, she is beyond crawling and is more interested in standing and today she even had her FIRST trip to the pool, which she LOVED! I am not sure if she is determined, brave or fearless but regardless she is not afraid to pull up with one hand while using another to grab a toy and pose for a picture all at the same time! Only a girl can multi task like that!! YOU GO GIRL!
Here is a picture of her enjoying a strawberry - I put them in a teether so all she gets is the juice. She loves it, she makes all sorts of "YUM YUM sounds"!


At "school" she is very well liked and the feelings seem to be mutual. We get really good reports on her mood, sleep habits and appetite. These are the only criteria for this age yet is very comforting to know that she is doing so well while we are away. When she was younger, I would swirl into a downward spiral if one of these criteria were out of balance! All the "teachers" are so amazed with her demeanor despite the fact she is cutting so many teeth. She saves all her fury for mommy & daddy, I call it my "5 O'clock Cussing" b/c she is not afraid to let me know that she is unhappy! I get a lot of de de de de de and ba ba ba ba ba these tirades are usually accompanied by a red face, lots of tears and snot! It is great, just for fun you all should call me around 5:30 - 6:30 for a sample!

All jokes aside, she is a precious little girl and a true joy!! We constantly hear what a happy baby she is, which we agree with this observation. Emerson is always playing, laughing and ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE. I am looking forward to a long weekend with her!!

The Vinny

While at Murray Chris met one of the most amazing people EVER, Miss Valerie Kotys. Valerie has been a great friend to us over the years,she sang in our wedding (Ave Maria in LATIN), provided room & board for me when I first moved to St. Louis and much much more. She came in town this past weekend and invited us to "The Vinny", a celebrity charity golf tournament hosted by Vince Gill. We could not find a sitter for Emerson so I stayed home but Chris got to go and see several celebrities and watch them perform. Amongst the performances was Miss Valerie, she sang At Last by Etta James!!

Vince Gill


Chris with Amy and Jeff Fisher (Titans Head Coach)


Amy & Don Mattingly

It Takes Two!

With Emerson's new found mobility simple task such as changing a diaper & getting her dressed require the efforts of two people! She is so busy!! Today I sent her to school in her pajamas b/c I was too tired to wrestle with her to get her dressed! Changing her diaper exhausted me after she woke us up at 5:30am!! The last time that I saw these wee hours, I was single and coming in from a long night!! To make myself feel better about being a lazy mom I explained to her that on rainy days wearing your pajamas is completely acceptable and appropriate.

Time Flies

I cannot believe that it is already MAY!! It was about a year ago exactly that I found out that Emerson was Emerson and shortly after I went on bedrest for 3 weeks!

Emerson is so mobile, she can go from sitting, to laying, to crawling, to pulling up on her knees all with out any assistance. It is so neat when I actually stop & think about her developments and how far she has come in the past 6 weeks!

She moves all over her crib as well, I always find her 180 degrees from the way I placed her in there. I took this picture the other day b/c it cracks me up the way that she sleeps!