A Few Milestones....

Well, there may be an overload of pictures on this post, but there's so much to update on! We've tried to get Emma to wear shoes since she's loving standing. But, we haven't found the right pair quite yet. Here's a few pictures of her in the shoes we fit her in. 

Emma's begun working out... sorta. I'm convinced she was doing a side plank when I took this photo.

Emma and I headed to the splash park with the WTC moms for the first time. I got a picture of her before hand because I knew I'd end up sitting in the water with her to make sure she didn't tip over. One of our friends snapped a few pictures of when Emma was in the water. So, thanks to Jennifer we got her first splash park adventure fully documented.

Someone enjoys splashing.

Trying to catch the waves.

Shades.... well fun ones. I found these glasses that I had grabbed from a free box at a garage sale. She was making the funniest faces while wearing them. 

Emma and I eat breakfast together. On two separate mornings, I captured what goes on most mornings at the Udeys. The video is Emma's normal wake up song she sings after breakfast. What music to my ears. The picture is from a morning I was eating my breakfast and looked down to this.

Everything ages, including my car. My car, Stuart, has been with me since the early years of high school and hit a milestone this week.

Pray he sticks around!

Standing!!! She still isn't the biggest fan of being on her tummy, but she is in love with standing. She does pretty well on her own. I'm still behind her for the moments she gets excited and falls backwards. 

Last, for all you who think all kids are sweet and innocent. 

Let this picture tell the story. 

A close up.

Of course, I am only joking. Emma is a wonderful child and a delight. I just happened to catch her while she was glancing in the right direction. 

Here she is in the same outfit but way cuter!

Well the last, last.... Emma's getting a tooth!!!!!!! A tooth on her bottom gums is starting to poke through. How exciting!!!! I'm sure there will be many pictures when it pops through but until then....

Home Makeover Udey Edition

Jay's parents came down this past Thursday morning (8/18) and left only a few hours ago (8/20). Two rooms in our house got an amazing makeover in those two days! Here's the before and after pictures. 

Kitchen Before

Kitchen After

I think the next one is the most amazingly transformed room in our house.

Master Bathroom Before

Master Bathroom After

I had to throw this extra picture in because I think it captures the beautiful floor that was hidden under carpet!

I am sooooooooooooo thankful for the work done on our house. What a great birthday gift! Speaking of that. I want to thank those that so graciously gave me a gift(s) on my birthday. Although I loved them all, I think my husband beats everyone. Sorry! :) There's a little back story to this one:

In the spring of 2009, Jay and I started dating. That year, on my birthday he was traveling for work and was out of town but sent me a dozen pink roses and even had them delivered at work. The next year rolls around and the same thing happens. Of course, we enjoy time together on other days surrounding my birthday, but there is something about the DAY that would be nice to spend with him. 

So, this year, his parents were in town and he did a little planning behind my back. He went to work and his parents started working on the house. I just continued to clean and put things back in their place. When Emma woke up from her nap, I was changing her diaper and heard the door open and thought it was his mom and instead it was JAY!!!!! He took the afternoon off to spend with me! We enjoyed the day downtown and in the East Village just walking, going in stores that we can't with Emma, and even had lunch down there. Then, we enjoyed a cup of coffee and dessert at La Mie and even packed in a few errands together. It was more than I could have asked for and was a wonderful surprise. 

And, just like I said in one of my recent posts, a post is complete without some Emma. We had a water day in our backyard. Here's the little princess.

After a while, she was more interested in the grass. 

Ladies Night Out!!!

At one of our moms hang outs, Colleen mentioned that we should all go out to eat, childless. Do you think any of us were opposed to that idea? NO!!!!

Last night, the married women hit the town. We went to Spaghetti Works for dinner and then headed to Smokey Row for desserts. It was so refreshing to be around women who I see every day but in a different environment. For once we weren't turning our heads to see what kid had just fallen and started screaming, which ones are fighting over the same toy, or trying to dig something out of a little ones mouth that they aren't suppose to be eating. It was amazing and so relaxing. Here's a picture of the whole group!

What beautiful women!

Of course, a blog post wouldn't be complete without a little bit of Emma in it. I asked her if we could take a picture together.... the result.....

Cara came over and we tried to do the same thing. 

I'd say Emma did pretty good. 

Last, each night before Emma goes to bed, we spend a little time in front of the mirrors in her room. Since she has almost mastered sitting up, she really loves the mirrors.

Sleep is good!!

An update from my last post. (The part in red if you missed it)

Emma has been sleeping sooo much better! She had been getting up 1-2 times during the night for no reason and then waking up at like 5:45ish ready for the day. I know it was probably a combination of things, but here's the kicker. Our baby had her first ear infection. Sad I know :( We have her on medicine now and she's been "sleeping like a baby". She heads to bed about 8-8:30 and wakes up about 7:30-8:30. It's amazing! So, things in our house are getting a little better on the sleep side. 

We've been able to enjoy some time at the park! It's so much fun to watch other kids grow up along with our own. This was too sweet not to capture.

The little girl in our life has almost mastered sitting up!!! She still falls backwards now and then but is doing pretty good!

This was the day she was sick :( Here eyes are a little puffy still. 

The Next Michael Jordan?????

Emma has started the Michael Jordan signature of sticking her tongue out. These are only a few that I took today. She loves doing it, hopefully not forever though! 

She's also learned the art of spitting her drool all over the place. Once again, the blog won't let me upload the video. Here's the Facebook link. Video

Emma's been on the go...no, not crawling yet. She had a play date this last Saturday with her new friend Mason. Jay was helping Austin, Mason's dad, put together the swing set he got for his 1st birthday! It took the whole day, but I'm excited for another play date so we can see the finished product! Michelle, Mason's mom, and I made my first batch of homemade baby food. Overall, it was a very productive day!

"Lock Up Your Daughters" Love Mason's shirt!

A video of Emma's true giggle. Giggly Girl

We didn't have much going on today. So, I took a few pictures of our little girl who is growing up too fast. I simply asked her to smile. 

It finally cooled off enough this week that Emma and I were able to join Auntie Cara in the pool! We got before pictures and after pictures but no during :(  I'm okay with it this time, mainly because I'd rather have 2 of us watching this little one anytime.

By the time we had dinner and put Emma's pajamas on, she was ready to kick back for a few minutes before bed. I think swimming tuckered her out. I'll have to keep this in mind!

Any moms out there??? Question: What have you tried when your child decides their new wake up time is 5:45-6:15? Does putting them to bed earlier work? Do you feed them anything specific? I'm just asking around. Emma has decided to get up a little earlier than she normally does. :(

I'll saved the picture that made me laugh the most until the end.

Growing up!

Here are some pictures I forgot I had taken with my phone. 

Emma's first time in a swing! She loved it and even fell asleep for a little bit! 

A group of mom's from WTC get together a few times a week. Our goal was to hit up the parks and enjoy the outdoors together and with our kids. BUT.... the first portion of the summer was filled with rain and the second portion was too hot!!! Hoping the end of the summer will treat us better! Even though it was a bit warm this day, we snuck an outing to the park in. Here's Emma with the little girl Kayla watches. 

Working on sitting up!

 If we're not at the park, you can find us in the WCCC nursery. This place has hosted us more times than any of us can count! Payton is working on being a great big sister by helping me out and giving Emma her bottle. What a great helper! 

Jay's parents went on vacation out west and brought us back some souvenirs! 

Here's the shirts they got us!

Last, we got a break from the heat this week and took a trip to the zoo. 

There were many great pictures from the zoo this trip, but I'll just share 2.

Michelle is the newest lady to our crew and her boy Mason. (bottom left in the big picture) She was the only one not holding a child or pushing a stroller. So... I coaxed her into getting close to this goose/bird thing in the Australian part of the zoo.

Here's the whole crew that made it! Jack's hiding from the camera but he was definitely there and a big helper with the doors!

These ladies are amazing and have helped me through the first 6 months as a mom. I'm so thankful for them and can't wait to continue to do this 'mom' thing with them!