A new chapter

Dear GranMollie,
I had so much fun at your retirement party, you work with so many neat people that think very highly of you. I am very proud to have such a neat, well-liked person to call my "Gran Mollie". I hope that you enjoy the next chapter of your life & I hope it is filled with lots of visits to see me!!

Love, Emerson

Lazy hazy days of summer

Here are a few pictures taken of Emerson over the weekend!

Birthday Party

Over the weekend Emerson went to Sadie Marcy's 1st Birthday party. Now Emerson is so excited to have her Birthday party!

Here is a picture of Jay, Sadie, Emerson & Chris

Graduation

Emerson learns so much from her teachers and other classmates, they read to them, she participates in arts & crafts, she is taught sign language and so much more. For these reasons I refer to her daycare as "school". I use to laugh at my friend, Candace when she would refer to her son's daycare as school but she said it made her feel better & less guilty to call it school. I guess it does make me feel better as well but also it just feels more like a school than a day care. She started her "school" on March 31 & was in the Infant II classroom until last friday, we reached a milestone on Friday as this marked the last day in Infant II on Monday she starts in her new classroom and although there were no formal commencement ceremonies I definitely made a big deal about this milestone!

Attached is a picture on her first day at her new "school", March 31, 2008.

Here are some pictures taken at "school" on Friday, July 18
Emerson & the same saucer only now she prefers to "cruise" around it and play rather than sit in it( Sometimes, as illustrated in the picture, she gets fancy and tries the splits while showing off for her friends)

Here is Emerson with her teachers. Miss Miriam & Miss Jamie have been AWESOME and we will miss them very much but thankfully they are right next door!
Miss Miriam

Miss Jamie

The horse bouncer has always been a favorite of Emerson's but she is getting a little too tall for it! It is hilarious to watch her bounce in this, she jumps so high and just squeals in laughter the whole time. The teachers next door say that they can always tell when Emerson is in the bouncy, you can hear her yet all you can see, from their angle, is a little head bobbing above the counter periodically! Sorry it is sideways, not sure why it is like that.


Here is a picture of her friends that she has made over the past 3 1/2 months. From left to right.. Ainsley (who is also graduating to Infant II on Monday), David, Happy Girl Emerson, Audrey and Keller

Here are a few pictures of Emerson playing. According to her teachers Emerson is the most active, curious and busy! They are sad to see her go but agree that the new classroom will be more accomodating for her active lifestyle.



Emerson in her crib sleeping in her favorite position

Last but not least is Brodie, her "Special Interest". This has been the hardest part of graduation b/c Brodie will not be coming to the new classroom for about 2 months & at that time Emerson will be moving to Toddler I.

Standing on Sunday

This past Sunday it rained all day which meant we were all couped up for the entire day. We played a lot, Emerson & I took a long nap and Chris watched a few movies. Here are a few pictures of Emerson showing off her standing skills!



Here is Emerson, once again showing off her teeth - she now has 8!

Fourth of July!

We celebrated Fourth of July & Lucas' birthday on the lake at our 2nd annual family "get away" Although it was hot and at times rainy we had a great time! Emerson had a great time celebrating her first 4th of July, she had several independence day dresses to display her "red, white & blue" pride plus one that I even left at home!
While there we stayed busy which meant Emerson learned that her stroller dubs as a great bed!

Confession

Ok, So I am not quiet the "Iron Mommy" that I thought! My odometer is wrong on my stroller therefore I have no idea how many kilometers or miles I have walked. I thought that 45 miles sounded like a lot so I did a quick investigation and sure enough the odometer is trying to stroke my ego!! On a positive note I am walking Emerson to and from school each day which is about 3 miles a day. This is nothing compared to what I use to do but at least I am moving and sweating a lot!!

IronMommy

Today I took on a major task ultimately in the name of fashion!!!! My friend Katie got a promotion, for this reason her husband wanted to celebrate by taking her out for dinner so he asked me to babysit Brodie. I am always thrilled to babysit this little cutie however I also had a prior engagement - a handbag and sunglasses party that was in the neighborhood! I was not willing to sacrifice either engagement so I took them both on - babysitting and the party!! I did not have 2 car seats and did not want the task of strapping in 2 babies so I decide to walk. I do not have a double stroller so I did the next best thing - 1 Baby Bjorn and 1 running stroller. I walked about 2 miles like this!! It really was not bad but kind of hot!! We survived and I had friends at the party that were very helpful - thank you Beth and Bethany!!!



Stroller Challenge status: Miles as of June 23 = 45. Miles as of June 24 (this marks the start of the contest between Katie and I) = 39 miles! Katie and I are competing to see who can get the most miles on our stroller between now and Sept 24 (3mos)!! The loser buys the winner a smoothie - I know, I know there is a lot at stake!