Cupcakes!

Thanks to Brita Meyer, I was able to pull off some cute cupcakes for Nicole and her colleague's birthday party. 

Emma's Feelings on Rice Cereal!

Tonight, I started feeding Emma rice cereal. 

Here's how she feels about it. 

Hmmm...

She was loving chewing on the spoon.

Not quite sure how she feels about this.... 

She kind of looks angry....

But she's not!
She was sooo excited whenever the spoon got close to her mouth.

Diving in!

Overall I believe it was a success and we'll do it again tomorrow night!

Thanks MaryBeth for taking pictures!!!

M:C

This past weekend, our church had our own little mission trip. We didn't take a plane out of the country but stayed right here in West Des Moines! We split up into 4 different groups and accomplished so much in 4 days! 

Some of the activities our group did were: our service team projects, cleaning, handing out water and granola bars at Gray's Lake, Raccoon River outreach, and a car wash! The other groups did a lot of the same things but also a few other activities were added to their schedules. I believe the Lord is doing some work here on the West Side :) It was great to see how soft and receptive people were to God's love. 

Our days started between 8:30 and 10 with breakfast and worship and we headed home most nights in time to tuck Emma in to bed around 8-8:30. I came home with her for an hour or so for some down time, but the days were long but good. We're blessed to be part of such a gospel minded church. Here's a few pictures from the car wash. 

Pat stood in front of Hy-Vee for 4 hours
advertising in unique ways for the car wash!

Busy Busy

What a hard working crew!

Emma spent most of Mission Community (M:C) in her stroller. She's pretty comfortable in it as you can see from the pictures. These are from a day we went on a walk, but she loves being in her stroller and can sit in there for hours sometimes!

The cutest little booties!

Just chillin'

Working on more tummy time!

Intently checking out the elephant.

She loves looking at herself in the mirror!

Our baby

Outgrowing the Whale!

Emma has been taking her baths in the whale bathtub that my sister borrowed to us. She's getting a little big for it, BUT we don't have a bathtub in our house. BUT.... we do have a jacuzzi. Today's weather is keeping us inside, so I thought why not try out the big tub! I think she loves it!

Emma and all her bath friends.

Her response when I asked her if she wanted to get out.

She loves kicking her feet now days and seeing what she can move.... So of course she loved being in water that is constantly moving!

Last, along with moving her feet, Emma's face is becoming more and more animated. She has some amazing eyebrow movement.

5 Month Photo Shoot!

Her "you just tickled my neck" look.

I'm ready!!!

JK.

No, really mom; I'm ready.

What a lady

My favorite!

She may be grunting in this picture. 

She's beginning to eat her dress....

So cute!

Check out her eyebrows!

Emma's surprised look!

A good last picture!

It's crazy to think 5 months have gone by since she was born. She's a blessing to us in so many ways!

Happy Father's Day!!!

I know I'm a few days early.... but we got Jay's Father's Day gift in the mail and we couldn't resist giving it to him. Here's a few pictures of our Father's Day event!

I tried to take a picture of Emma & her gift for daddy, but she's much more interested in the cup of milk.

Jay was CONVINCED we got him a coffee
cup with a picture of Emma on it.

Gotcha!!!!

We got him!!! His gift was a deck of cards with Emma's picture on it.

Celebrating Father's Day! Emma & her card & gift for daddy!

My amazing family!!!

The picture I used for the cards!!! What a doll!

Emma is enjoying tummy time a little more thanks to Grandma Udey's help!!

I have been wanting to see a chipmunk walk into our trap since we started catching them. Perfect timing!

6 strollers, 7 moms, & 11 kids! Yikes!

Jay's parents came down this past weekend to spend time with us and to see Emma. Jay and I were able to go to a hang out for a bit and I came home to Jay's dad dancing in order to keep Emma awake until her bedtime while his mom held her. It was quite the work out but much appreciated! Darlynn also worked on tummy time with Emma. She's getting a little bit better each day! We were also able to go to my good friend Dayna's wedding baby-less. It was strange to not have Emma with us but was also relaxing to be able to enjoy a wedding without standing, rocking, or swaying. Cara was our date :)

A good mid-laugh picture

Emma enjoying time with Grandpa

 And now to the title... Emma and I went to the zoo for the first time! A group of us moms from West Town Church meet quite a few days a week to stay encouraged, have some play time for our kids, and to stay sane. This week, we went to the zoo. We had quite the group as the title has mentioned. 

Here's some of the group.

She was sooooo excited to be there. 

Checking out the monkeys.

Someone didn't make it through the whole zoo.

Last bit-

Emma is getting more entertained with holding things, putting them in her mouth, drooling, and chewing. All of these things were put together during bath time recently. She learned to put the tail of her killer whale in her mouth. It hits the sides of her mouth just perfectly to chew on. Must feel good. 

What a crazy girl!