The Bolling's

Family Photo's

2011-06-06T12:12:00.000-07:00

Since we did Emalee's 2 year pictures ourselves, we didn't get a family picture last year. So We decided to go to a studio this year since our last family photo was when Emalee 18 months old :) I am really happy with how they turned out, and glad that Emalee cooperated!

My baby is 3!

2011-05-16T09:15:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that Emalee is 3 already. I still remember the day she was born like it was yesterday. She brings so much joy to our lives. She is full of energy, humor, and she is sometimes too smart for her own good!

She is going to be tall like her Daddy! At her 3 year check-up the new pediatrician took a double take at her chart and said "This is a 3 year check-up?" Her favorite things to do are sing her ABC’s, counting to 10 (sometimes you go to 15), playing with her kitchen, and all things princess. She talks all the time. She also enjoys being outside with Daddy in the garden, she even has her own watering pail, gloves, and gardening tools.

This year for her birthday party we went to Chuck E. Cheese…her favorite place. Her friends Carson and Skyla came, along with cousin Nate. She played her heart out, got to meet Chuck E., and cried when we had to leave. She loves playing all of the games there, but most of all she loves earning the tickets!

Mommy and Daddy love you very much Emalee. You give each day meaning, and you teach us every day to stop and smell the roses and appreciate all of the “little” things life has to offer. Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

Children's Museum

2011-04-13T08:29:00.001-07:00

I had been wanting to take Emalee to the children's museum since we moved here. Since we had my nephew Nathan over the weekend, we thought it would be the perfect time to go check it out.

Both of the kids had a blast! Emalee was running from place to place. A lot of the exhibits are built to smaller scale, so they were just her size. We had to pull her out of the play house, she absolutely loves to play in the kitchen and make "coffee." There was also a bank where she got to be the banker, a grocery store where she got to shop using a miniature shopping cart and the boys were the cashier and the bagger. I think the two older boy (Nate and Tommy of course) had just as much fun as Emalee.

There was also space station area, a shadow area, a hospital, and an outdoor water area. There was so much to see and do. This will definatle be a place that revisit, espceially during the hot ummer months when playing indoors is ideal!

River Walk

2011-04-12T20:14:00.000-07:00

We took a trip down to the San Antonio River Walk the other day. This is considered a "tourist" spot to Texas locals, kind of like the strip is to Vegas locals. :) We took the boat tour and learned a lot of history about San Antonio, and Texas, and really enjoyed ourselves. We are trying to get out and wee all the things there are to do here. The hardest factor right now it TIME...there just doesn't seem to be enough of it! :)

Feeding the Ducks!

2011-01-28T11:57:00.000-08:00

Today Emalee and I went to Landa Park, and this time I remembered my camera! It is a great park, with a lot to do. There are different play areas, each one geared to specific age group, a few different lakes/ponds, a train that goes around the park, walking trails...you could spend the entire day there! Emalee likes to play on the big kid toys, but that causes Mommy heart failure, so we try to stick to the toddler area. :)

After we played for a bit, we headed over to feed the ducks. This is an activity that usually involves Daddy because I do NOT like birds, ducks, or any other kind of feathered creature. But I figured it was time to suck it up. Emalee was a little hesitant of the the loud noises they were making, and didn't like it when they came towards her. But she warmed up to the idea and eventually would yell at the ducks "Get here ducks!" It was to funny.

Landa Park also has an amazing tree, every time I have been there I am just in awe by it. It is over 300 years old, and the pictures just do not do it justice. I can literally sit there and just stare at it.

As we walked back to the car Emalee decided she wanted to stop and sit on a bench in the park, so I stopped and sat with her. Little did I know that doing that would make her want to stop and sit on EVERY bench along the way...and the park is full of them! :)

Holidays

2011-01-24T14:31:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's been a long time since my last post, and it seems like so much has happened. In October our laptop crashed and I lost A LOT of my stuff...like my Halloween pictures! Now I make sure that every time I upload pictures, I also save them to a jump drive right away. Lesson learned! Right before the holiday season hit full blast, I was blessed with a job! This is the first job I've had since Emalee was born, not counting helping with the construction business we had back home. I am working nights and weekends at Dressbarn. Retail is a whole new world for me, it's not rocket science, but it IS a lot of hard work!

This was our first holiday away from our family. It was nice to not be completely alone, having my brother and his family here sure helps, but it's still not the same. We spent Thanksgiving at their house, and we had a nice relaxing day, and I had my first ever barbecued turkey! :)

Christmas Eve I worked until 6:30 and came home to a house full, and my husband making "Grandma Betty Burritos" which are a family tradition. They were amazing!! I was beat, and we had to get the house ready for Santa so we skipped out on the other family tradition of playing Pictionary, and were in bed by 10:00!

Christmas day was also very relaxed this year. We let Emalee sleep in, took our time opening our gifts, and then headed over to Kim & Tim's. We had Christmas dinner over there and had a blast playing with Nate's new Kinect. The only thing that was missing was the rest of our family.

January seems to be rushing by! Tommy and I work split shifts so it feels like we never see each other. Sometimes we pass on the sidewalk as he gets home from work with a quick "Hello, Goodbye, I love you" all in the same breath. Emalee is growing like a weed! She loves to sing her ABC's, she can count from 1-10 (now were working on going to 15) and she loves to read and color. She also loves to play with her new kitchen she got for Christmas...her favorite thing to make is coffee! :)

I am hoping to do a better job of keeping up with our blog, now that we are in somewhat of a routine.

San Antonio Zoo

2010-10-09T14:06:00.000-07:00

Today we took our first family outing since the big move. We visited the San Antonio Zoo! We had a great time, enjoying the beautiful surroundings and going through all of the animal exhibits. They have an area designated just for tots that is very interactive and everything is their size. We will definitely be returning to the Zoo!

The Big Move

2010-10-05T12:45:00.000-07:00

Well, we finally did it! After talking about, and wanting, to move for well over the past year and a half, Tommy got a job offer in Texas and we jumped in head first. We did think about it a lot before we made our final decision, but in the end we both realized it was what was best for us and our family.

Tommy headed to Texas before Emalee and I. He was here for a month getting into the groove of his new job and finding us a place to live. Emalee and I stayed behind at my parents house which allowed the rest of the family to spend time with her. We even made a trip down to California to see her Great Grandparents, Great Aunts & Uncles, and her cousins.

Our moving weekend started off great, but didn't end so well. Our moving truck broke down TWICE, and ended up being towed the last 176 miles to our new house. We did our best to keep positive about the whole situation even though it added more stress then we would have liked to have.

We are settling in our new place. I have a few stray boxes here and there, but for the most part we are unpacked. All of our neighbors are extremely friendly and we have received a warm welcome to the neighborhood. We even had an unexpected visitor the other day, the Mayor of Selma (the town we live in) showed up to welcome us and see if there was anything we needed! I have heard all the talk about Texas hospitality, but I really wasn't expecting it to this extent. :)

Not a day goes by where I don't miss my family and friends back home, but we are so excited to begin this new chapter in our life. There are so many new and exciting adventures to be had!

Family Vacation

2010-07-12T09:09:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we took a little family trip down to Long Beach, CA. We went to El Dorado Park (the park is huge!) where we rode the train, attempted to feed the ducks, and had a nice picnic lunch. After that we headed down to the Long Beach Aquarium. Once we got there we realized how CROWDED the place was, but decided to make the best of it. You could spend the entire day there, there is a lot to see and Emalee loves animals, all she kept saying was "Fishy." We were all getting a little overwhelmed with the crowd, it was hard to see or do anything with the number of people that were there. We then decided to head outside and walk around in Shoreline Village. Emalee rode the carousel, we shopped a little, and just enjoyed being down on the water.

For dinner we headed down to one of our favorite spots, Ruby's Diner at the end of the Seal Beach Pier. Tommy and I hadn't been there since I was pregnant...which was a long time ago!

Over all we had a great trip. We enjoyed spending time with Aunt Cathy and Uncle Tim (my godparents) and we all had a great time!

4th of July

2010-07-08T22:42:00.000-07:00

We weren't sure how this year would turn out. Last year we were out of town on the 4th and the firework display was much smaller then Pahrump's. We spent the afternoon at my parents swimming and barbecuing, then headed to the park once the sun started to set. Emalee did fine, she wasn't scared, there were no tears...but she fell asleep! She slept next to my mom for most of the fireworks, until the finale woke her up :)

Our little fish

2010-06-08T22:20:00.000-07:00

Emalee absolutely LOVES the water...she gets mad when she has to get out!

Swimming with Shuggie

Just came down the slide, we did this for hours! :)

Loving the pool

Emalee turns 2!

2010-05-21T10:29:00.000-07:00

I am still kind of in shock that Emalee is 2 ALREADY!! Time has literally flown by :)

We had a birthday party for her over the weekend. We had her favorite...hot dogs (with ketchup, of course), and I made cupcakes for her. Her Great Grandparents came in from California for the weekend, which is always a special treat.

She was spoiled rotten by all of our family and friends. She got adorable outfits, jammies, dress up clothes, movies, money, a scooter, a tricycle, swim toys, a baby doll & a stroller, and Leap Frog ABC's. She is a 100% GIRL and loves to dress up in her Tinkerbell costume and her tutu. She is also very into baby dolls and being a "Mommy" so the stroller and baby doll have gone just about everywhere with us. She also loves her new tricycle and scooter...Mommy just needs to get the helmet to go with!! :)

At her 2 year check up we were told that she growing just fine, measuring in at 3 feet tall already...I think she's going to be very tall like her Daddy!! We are looking forward to all the new adventures of toddler hood. :)

Mommy & Daddy love you Emalee...Happy 2nd Birthday!!

Emalee's 2 Year Pictures

2010-04-18T22:22:00.000-07:00

Today was our first attempt at taking "professional" style pictures without the professional! ;) Since the picture place we've used since birth is now closed, we figured why not try and do it on our own?!

There were definitely challenging moments, when our "almost 2 year old" didn't really want to sit still and pose, so we had to be quick and ready to snap a shot at any moment.

We aren't quite sure if we will do this all the time, but it was a fun experience, and as she gets older it should only get easier...hopefully! :)

Hippity Hoppity!

2010-04-05T14:35:00.000-07:00

We had a great Easter this year! It was so fun watching Emalee understand the concept of hunting for eggs. Last year she wasn't walking yet, so she basically crawled around and payed with the eggs on the living room floor. :)

Tommy and I hosted Easter dinner at our house which was nice, I can't remember the last holiday were we didn't have to go all over town visiting all 3 sets of parents. We had 15 plus Emalee and my little niece Brodi. All of our parents, my sister, my little brother, Tommy's little sister, and some of our niece's & nephews.

It was a beautiful day and so nice being surrounded by our family!

Planting Flowers

2010-04-05T13:52:00.000-07:00

We recently took a trip down to California to visit Emalee's Great Grandparents. She had fun helping Nana (my mom) plant flowers in Great Nana's yard. She wasn't too sure about the dirt and being dirty at first, but once she realized she liked it, it was all over!! She loves using her new gardening tools that Great Nana & Great Papa got her! She was also very fascinated by the snails; thank God she didn't try to put them in her mouth. She picked it up, looked at it, and then dropped it back on the ground. :)

Give a Day. Get a Disney Day!

2010-03-10T14:12:00.000-08:00

We did a "family project" this past week. Not only did we contribute to a good cause, we also earned TWO free tickets to Disneyland...which we are very excited about.

Tommy and I (with Emalee's help of course) each made a fleece, no sew, blanket. The blankets were sent to "Project Linus" an organization that offers blankets to terminally ill and traumatized children. We enjoyed doing a little something to help out those in need, to know that we did something that just might make a difference in the life of a child...it's a great feeling!

Snow Day

2010-03-09T16:46:00.000-08:00

Pahrump had it's second "Snow Day" of the year today...yeah in March!! Not only do we usually not get snow, but it has been in the high 60's low 70's, then out of nowhere we have snow on the ground.

Emalee loved it, she just stood outside letting the snow hit her face, and touching whatever she could reach that had snow on it. :)

Happy Valentine's Day

2010-02-16T16:00:00.000-08:00

We spent Valentine's Day at the park with some good friends of ours, Mindy & Tony, and their little boy AJ a.k.a Emalee's boyfriend :) The two had fun playing on the slides and the swings. Emalee would run away crying whenever AJ got too close, and of course Tommy would say "That's a good girl, boys have cooties!"

All in all it was beautiful day to be outside, and the kids had a blast!

Christmas Festivities

2010-01-04T21:17:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful, fun filled Christmas this year. Our family tradition is to spend Christmas Eve with Tommy's mom and step dad, we do Christmas morning at home, then head over to Tommy's dad and step mom's, then lastly my parents house for Christmas dinner. It is a very busy two days. :)

Christmas Eve at Mark & Janet's is always celebrated with famous Grandma Betty (Betty Bolling) burritos. It is the ONE time each year we have them, they are delish! Then we open presents and play games. Shuggie and Paca Mark got Emalee a fold-out couch, she drug it around the house for the rest of the night. :) This year, we had a smaller crowd and a few people fighting colds, so we skipped the games and just visited with each other. We were home at a decent time, that way we could get everything ready for "Santa."

Christmas morning came and Tommy and I were awake first...we actually had to wake Emalee up, poor baby. :( She wasn't too sure what was going on at first, but once she saw her new car she woke RIGHT up! Emalee also opened her gifts from Aunt Cathy, my wonderful Godmother who spoils us both rotten. Her most favorite gift from her was her talking My Little Pony doll. You feed it a bottle or food, and it sings songs. Emalee also got her first pairs of dress-up shoes, tiara, and earrings from Aunt Diana and Uncle Kevin. We enjoyed our morning at home, opening gifts and having cinnamon rolls for breakfast. I think I had the most fun this year, seeing Emalee open her gifts and actually knowing what she was doing this year, I can't wait for next year when she's yet another year older.

We headed over to Tommy's dad and step mom's around 11. Emalee opened her new talking baby doll (yes it makes noises, sometimes it's a little freaky) and she was in heaven! We spent an hour or so there visiting with them, and Tommy's sister Haley and her boyfriend Sean. I was ready for a nap already and we were barely half way through the day. :)

Once we got to my parents house, we did round three of gifts. Emalee loved her new Tinkerbell chair from Nana and Papa. Dae Dae (Uncle Jarrod) got her a play camera so her new favorite thing is to walk around with it and say "Cheese!" Uncle Tim & Aunt Kim got Emalee her first Lego's, she actually understands the concept and does really well with them. Aunt Shannon got Emalee an adorable outfit and new jammies.

Mom does Christmas dinner very year. We have ham, Grandma Joan's cheese potatoes, strawberry jello, and cornbread casserole. After dinner we played some Flash Uno...it's a great game. It's fast paced, so you have to pay attention to everything.

We had a wonderful Christmas. It's so nice to be surrounded by family. We aren't sure what we will do if we end up moving and have to spend Christmas apart. Emalee was spoiled by EVERYONE this year! There is not one more thing she needs. Santa, her great grandparents, grandparents, aunts, uncles...they all spoiled her rotten!

We are ready for a new year and all of the excited possibilities that are to come.

Tis the Season!

2009-12-21T20:00:00.000-08:00

I am behind on my posts...sorry! December has been a very busy month so far, but we are still finding the time to enjoy the season. What a difference a year has made, Emalee is so into everything this Christmas - the lights, the baking, the wrapping...she loves it all!

We made a trip to Reno at the beginning of the month to see my little brother Jarrod graduate from UNR. The whole family stayed in a vacation home together, so it was nice to be able and spend our time with each other instead of being couped up in a hotel room.

Emalee got to help my mom "Nana" bake cookies this year. Her favorite part was playing in the flour and sprinkles, and I think she may have eaten more dough then we think :) We took her to look at Christmas lights and out of nowhere said "Pretty, pretty!" Her vocabulary seems to be growing daily :)

We went up to the snow the other day, and Emalee smiled and laughed the WHOLE time, she did NOT want to leave. She caught on real quick to the idea of throwing the snow...thanks to Daddy. She loves to mimic right now, if you do it you can almost bet she is going to do it too. I love seeing her grow each and every day.

My grandparents, Emalee's Great Grandparents, came out at the beginning of the month and we had our gift exchange. That made me even more anxious for Christmas morning!

Halloween

2009-11-01T19:52:00.000-08:00

We had a very fun Halloween this year! On Friday we took Emalee to a Halloween Party at our friends house. There were quite a few kids there. They played games, went trick-or-treating, and had played their hearts out. Emalee spent most of time "grazing" (eating all the other kids food off their plates) while they played, but she had a blast!

On Halloween we made our rounds to all the grandparents and great grandparents houses, and then headed out to go trick-or-treating!! We spent about 2 hours in a small subdivision of homes, and got a lot of candy. Emalee was a trooper, she walked her little feet for as long as she could, but in the end ended up in her stroller while my niece and nephew (Meghan & Devin) literally ran from house to house. What a difference a year made, I can't wait for next year when she is even older and will enjoy going trick-or-treating even more!

Pumpkin Carving

2009-10-30T20:27:00.000-07:00

Emalee wasn't too sure about helping Daddy clean out the pumpkin...but she did take a little sample tasting to make sure it wasn't something she'd like to be eating :) Tommy spent a lot of time carving our pumpkin this year, and I think he did a fabulous job!

Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-25T15:12:00.000-07:00

Last year Emalee was still too little to really enjoy going to a pumpkin patch, but I was pretty sure she was old enough this year. After driving all over Las Vegas trying to find one, we finally found one. It was not only a pumpkin patch but also had rides for the little ones, a petting zoo, and a huge blow-up slide. Emalee walked around like she owned the place :) She got to play with, and pet, goats for the first time, she and Daddy went down the big slide twice, and she rode on the swings. We all enjoyed ourselves and can't wait to do it again next year!

Playing in the hay

In the petting zoo!

Slidin' with Daddy :)

Riding the swings!

Emalee's 1st Hair Cut!

2009-10-19T12:50:00.000-07:00

She wasn't too sure what was going on...

But surprisingly she sat really still!

All done!

Washington Trip

2009-10-19T12:18:00.000-07:00

We took an impromptu trip to Washington at the end of September. It was supposed to be a solo trip for Tommy, but Emalee and I joined him a week into his trip. It was nice getting to spend time with Diana, Kevin, and the 4 boys...and it was so green and beautiful up there!! Tommy was hoping to get a lead on a job, and he put in lots of applications. We know that everything happens for a reason, and when the time/job is right it will all work out!

Ryan & Emalee playing soccer

Ryan & Emalee

Logan & Emalee attempting to share toys :)

Daddy & Emalee playing at a soccer game.

What a BUSY Month!

2009-08-29T13:49:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that August has already come and gone. This month has been very active. We had our final family vacation for the summer, we had quite a few birthday's, and we also had a very sudden loss in the family. It feels like there was something going on at all times.

As most of you already read, we traveled to California at the beginning of the month to see my Grandma in the rehabilitation hospital and also visited San Diego. It was a great trip, and even though Grandma isn't 100% yet I am very hopeful... she is a very determined, strong woman, who is making progress every day. In fact she is the proud new owner of an electric wheelchair so she has some of her freedom back! :)

While on our vacation we received a phone call that my great aunt had passed away. It was very sudden, and unexpected. She was the closest person I had left to my paternal Grandma who passed away 18 years ago. My Auntie Sheryl LOVED to talk, we spent numerous hours talking about anything and everything. She had answers for everything, you may not always like her answers, but she HAD them. :) She would tell me stories about my Grandma, things that I never knew because I was so young when she passed. I miss her every day, and I still can't believe that she's gone. I find peace knowing that she isn't hurting anymore, and that she and my Grandma are back together again.

On to a lighter note, I also had a birthday this month. My husband out-did himself and really surprised me this year. We had birthday dinner with my parents a few days early since my brother was home from Reno. Then Tommy cooked me an awesome homemade dinner and cake on my actual birthday. Chicken w/Artichoke & Mushroom Wine Sauce and for dessert...Better Then Sex Cake, which is my all time favorite cake. On Friday we headed to Vegas to go to dinner and movie, but Tommy had also planned a little surprise. He took me shopping!!! I know sounds a little strange that I'm so excited about this, but Tommy and I have been married for 3 years and we had NEVER been clothes shopping together because I like to try things on (sometimes more then once) and he just grabs and goes!! We had a great time and I was pretty shocked by his fashion sense. ;)

Here we are at the end of the month. I was hoping to be going back into the classroom this year, but due to state budget cuts I am unemployed. It's a blessing in disguise...I get to be home with Emalee for a little while longer :) This month has reaffirmed my belief that everything happens for a reason, even though we may not see the reason in black & white. I am ready for September, and hopefully some cooler weather!! :)

San Diego Zoo

2009-08-14T13:39:00.000-07:00

The daytime view from our room, and the night time view, it was so beautiful!

This past weekend we headed down to California for our family vacation to the San Diego Zoo. We were a little hesitant at first, we weren't sure if Emalee was old enough for the Zoo, but boy were we wrong!!! We left on Thursday and made a pit stop to see my Grandma who is still in the hospital since her March 17th surgery. She is doing much better, but still not walking or sitting up on her own. Her expression was priceless when we walked into her room with Emalee toddling beside us...she hadn't seen her December!! We spent the rest of the day with her, spent the night at my grandparents house in Long Beach, and then on Friday headed to San Diego! We arrived at the hotel and couldn't wait to venture down to the pool and show Emalee all boats on the water. That night at dinner we discovered Emalee LOVES onion rings, and yes she actually ate the onion, not just the batter!!

Emalee and her onion ring :) and playing with the Orangutan!

We met up with my Godparents the following morning to head to the Zoo!! There was a pretty large crowd, so we weren't sure how the day would evolve, but Emalee had a blast!! We walked the ENTIRE Zoo...having the stroller, taking the shuttle bus would have been WAY too much work. I think Emalee enjoyed the monkeys the most, they were the most active, and they even made her laugh a few times. I think my favorite part of the whole day was seeing the panda bears....it was so surreal! We also enjoyed the new Elephant Odyssey exhibit. There were lots of fun things for kids in there, and the elephants have a nice new place to roam and play. We finally made it back to our room around 11 pm with one very exhausted little girl!!

My Godmother Cathy, Tim, Tommy, and Emalee in the Elephant Odyssey. Me & Emalee in an Aviary.

On Sunday we went back Long Beach to spend more time with my grandparents...I so wish we lived closer so I could spend more time with them and be there to help out during this difficult time for them. We are keeping positive that Grandma WILL walk again, she is a fighter.

We made it back home on Monday, it sure felt like we were gone for longer then we really were. We had a great trip, and can't wait for the next adventure with Emalee. I think Sea World is next! :)

Reno

2009-07-22T13:37:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Tommy and I headed up to Reno for our friend Levi Tudor's wedding. We were both a little excited and a little hesitant to leave. You see, it was our first EVER weekend away from Emalee and neither one of us was sure how we would react. The first few hours were rough, we felt like we were forgetting something, or that we were neglecting our child in the back seat :) Once we actually got to Reno, had phone signal again, and realized that we needed to ENJOY our time together everything was fine. We had a nice dinner on Friday night, and went to a fabulous wedding on Saturday. The wedding allowed us to visit with old friends, we had such a great time catching up and talking with them, some of them we hadn't seen since we got married almost 3 years ago. So crazy that practically all of us are married, and most of us have a kid or kids or a bun in the oven. :)

This trip also led us to some make some pretty drastic decisions...I applied for 4 jobs with the Washoe County School District. If all I can do is sit on a call back list here in Nye County, what harm could it do to TRY and get a job somewhere else? A change might be in store for the Bolling Family!!

As for Emalee...she surived without us, Nana & Papa took extra good care of her!!!

2009-07-12T21:31:00.000-07:00

4th of July at Mammoth Lakes

2009-07-12T20:43:00.001-07:00

We had been planning our trip to Mammoth Lakes, CA for almost 4 months and we were anxious to get out of town!! It was nice, quality family time. In all there were 10 of us. Tommy, Emalee, myself, my mom, my dad, my brother Tim, my sister-in-law Kim, my nephew Nathan, my little brother Jarrod, and his girlfriend Emily. We had beautiful weather, we even got to wear sweatshirts a few times :) We did lots of site seeing, some shopping, some relaxing, and the boys did lots of fishing. It was a nice change of pace to the "normal" Pahrump festivities. The fireworks in Mammoth were nothing compared to what we are used to, but we were also surrounded by huge pine trees which makes you wonder how they did any fireworks at all. The fireworks were actually on July 3rd, and then on July 4th there was an early morning parade, an art show, and vendors of all sorts set up.

The highlight of our trip was the last night we were there. We had a bear visit our porch...no one has any pictures and only Jarrod and Emily actually saw the bear, but Tommy and I came home with enough proof. We have some very nice bear teeth marks in the lid of our cooler....poor bear all he got was some bottled water and some lighter fluid. :)

Water Baby!!

2009-06-27T10:18:00.000-07:00

It's official....Emalee LOVES the water! We weren't too sure what she would think about the swimming pool, but since she loves playing in the bath and the shower, we were pretty sure she'd like the pool too. I think the only time she cried was when we had to take her out. :) We need to work on a few things, like not swallowing the water, but I have a feeling we are going to spend a lot of time at Nana and Papa's this summer!

Emalee & Mommy

Emalee & Nana

2009-05-29T14:41:00.000-07:00

2009-05-29T14:36:00.001-07:00

Emalee's Party

2009-05-29T13:43:00.000-07:00

Geez it has taken me forever to actually sit down and do this! Emalee's 1st birthday party was a such a blast! Thankfully the nasty flu bug that she had went away just in time for her big birthday bash. We were surrounded by family and friend's and Emalee was showered with love. She received a lot of "big girl" toys, which she constantly plays with. A little part of me was sad to pack up all of the baby toys. :( And of course her favorite part of the whole party was playing in her cake!! Thank goodness the frosting didn't stain her! It was such a great day, a little bitter sweet, but everyone had a good time especially Emalee. :)

Happy Birthday Emalee!!

2009-05-12T14:15:00.000-07:00

Well we made it through the first year...I can't believe it's already been that long!! It seems like yesterday I was in the hospital being rushed around for an emergency c-section. Then we endured the 15 day NICU stay that I thought I would never survive. To think that Emalee was a preemie...if you saw her now you'd know she has no preemie side effects! :)

We are looking forward to spending this weekend with family and friends as we celebrate our beautiful baby girl's 1st birthday.

Happy Birthday Emalee, Mommy & Daddy Love You!!

Emalee's First Year

2009-05-12T14:00:00.000-07:00

5 days and counting....

2009-05-07T13:28:00.000-07:00

I can't believe in only 5 days my little princess is going to be a year old!! She is growing so fast, it seems like only yesterday we were rushing to the hospital to have her (6 weeks early)! She truly is my reason for living. She brings a smile to my face every day, and I have enjoyed being home with her, watching her reach each and every milestone. Her newest discoveries are giving kisses (yes, sometimes with an open mouth), feeding you her food, and clapping when you say "Yay Emalee!!" She has the cutest little giggle and she smiles all the time, even when she's throwing a fit :) I will be sure to post her birthday bash pictures, along with all the others that I have from her first year!

Work in Progress

2009-04-28T11:11:00.000-07:00

Ok so I've never been a "blogger" but I figured I'd give it a try! So be patient with me while I figure it all out....I'm planning on having all of our updates and photos posted soon. :)