Swimming

Emma and Jack at the pool!

This summer we've been so lucky to be able to swim with our friends Jack, Peter and Naomi! Emma has always loved bath time - and she loves the pool too! I'm so glad because I could live in the water I think! I'm really bad about getting photos of her swimming though because I'm always in the pool with her - so here are a few of her lounging around with Jack poolside.

Emma taking a break from the water

Jack and Emma eating Bananas!

Still eating - and Jack's modeling Emma's life jacket!

We swam twice in 2 days this weekend and it was GREAT! Emma got to try out her new life jacket that Grandma Denise brought down on thier last trip. She LOVES it. She hasn't mastered staying upright in it alone yet - but can kick her legs and move her arms if you just barely hold onto the back of it and she can swim around. She Loves to splash and play "chase" with Jack in the pool and she even likes being dunked under water and blowing bubbles. She's a natural! I'll try to get some action shots of her in the pool later this week when we go again.

On a sad note - Zach left today for KC to help open the Chiefs stadium. He'll be gone until next Sunday night. We're not excited to spend the week alone, but have lots of things to do this week to get ready for baby! I have another doctor appointment on Tuesday so more updating then!

Adventures with Collin

Emma's boyfriend, Collin, spent the afternoons with us last week. We had so much fun! Emma really did well with him here...although she still doesn't get "gentle" or that Collin can't eat fruit loops and things like that. Collin can't crawl yet so we really worked hard on trying to show him how! Emma loves to mimic Collin - as you can see in the video - and also was quite the mother and helper. She would run right to him if he cried to give him a hug and would wipe his mouth with his bib if she saw him drool.

Title: No babies were hurt in the filming of this video...

Collin trying to crawl...he's so close!

Between keeping Emma from throwing toys at Colling (which - hey - we're sharing so I can't be too mad right!) and keeping her from jumping right on him (sorry Collin - but if you'd just crawl you'd have a fighting chance!) it was quite the week!

We'll keep you anytime Collin! Can't wait for your next visit!

Congrats Daddy!

Zach ran another race today here in Louisville. This one was a 4 mile race which Zach hoped to run in under 32 minutes. Emma and I had a great time waiting for him at the finish line - and were not suprised at all to see him cross the finish line in just over 27 minutes!!! He came in 21st out of 220 runners - Huge Accomplishment!!! He definately beat his goal! Naomi and Jeff, who both work with Zach, also ran and both beat their goal times as well. Jeff and Zach were both 3rd in their age group and Naomi came in 1st in her age group. Congrats you guys! Here's a few pictures from the morning!

Emma waiting for Daddy at the Finish Line!

Here He Comes!

Ahh - what a great race!

Zach, Naomi and Jeff

Zach and Emma after the race

Zach was 3rd in his age group! Congrats Daddy!!!

We also wanted to say Congrats to our friend Hillary who completed her 1st Triathlon today and did GREAT! Congrats you ambitious people! We're so proud of all of you - but I think I'll stick to watching until after little buckaroo makes his entrance into the world. I'm pretty sure I couldn't even walk 4 miles today - I'm Exhausted!

100th Post Thoughts

What a face!

So as I started to blog today I noticed that this will be the 100th Post on this blog. So happy anniversary I guess right! I have been having lots of random thoughts lately - so I'll just use this as an excuse to talk about a few of them.

My first thought is about how big my little baby Emma has gotten. She's 17 1/2 months old going on 30...okay maybe 20. Either way - she's not a baby anymore. Yesterday, I was sitting in the rocking chair in our loft and she crawled up on to the couch, sat down with her pillows pulled in next to her and started watching TV...She thought she was such a big girl. (And I guess that goes to show you that her mom should watch a little less TV huh!) She has grown up in every way. Last night I even put her to sleep in her toddler bed - Yes - we're back in our toddler bed and doing GREAT! We wake up once in a while, but usually go right back to bed. It took me realizing that I didn't need to ease her into it by staying in her room with her for it to click with her. One day I just dropped her in her bed after our regular night time routine and said goodnight and walked out the door - just like I would have done in her crib. She cried for less than 5 minutes at the door before running back to bed and falling alseep. Each night was less and less crying until last night - NO Crying At ALL! What a big girl!!!

Now since we're talking about bed - my next thought is about Emma sleeping after the new baby arrives. My child dosen't sleep through any noises anymore. Months ago - you could vacuum in her room while she was sleeping and it wouldn't even phase her. Now - you can hardly even open the door to see if she's alive without her waking up. The past week we've had Collin in the afternoons and when he cries (softly and downstairs) she wakes up instantly. So how in the world is she going to deal with a crying infant all night. I know we'll all adjust - but boy - I think we're in for some long nights awake with both our kids in stead of just the hungary newborn. Any advice from moms of kids close in age is very welcome advice!!!

Emma painting her room with a little help from Daddy!

My 3rd thought for the day - As crazy as it sounds, I've NEVER spent the night away from my baby. Yes, in 17 months I have been with her each and every night. In fact, I can probably count on one hand the nights that I haven't been here when she's fallen asleep. I never thought I would be that mom - and actually - I'd love not to be, but when you live far away from friends and family - that's just what happens. So August 27th - the day we have our 2nd child - will be the 1st time I sleep away from Emma. I'm almost more nervous about this than I am about having #2. Sounds silly - but how will she do without us for those 4 nights. Okay - it's my very easy going, no fears, go with the flo Emma - she'll be fine. And she'll have great company - Thanks again Barb and Renee - you're the BEST! It really is me that will have the hard time! Who would have ever guessed huh!

And a last thought - I am so lucky to have such a wonderful mom and grandma. Weeks ago, Zach and I found a baby blanket that we liked the design. So we decided that we would pick out some fabric and make one for our little buckaroo because we weren't finding bedding that we liked in the stores. My mom and grandma of course were the 1st call because you all know that I was not going to make it! They said sure - but probably would have said "no way" had they known what fabrics I had chosen! Sorry Grandma! This is the final product!!! We LOVE it! It's perfect for the bed and has a ton of different colors in it. Mom even made me a dust ruffle for the crib as well. This is just one example of the millions of things they do for us and why we can't ever say enough - "Thanks and we Love you!"

Buckaroo's new bedding - and the pictures don't do it justice at all!

Zoo and Splash Park

Grandma Denise and Grandpa Knute came to visit this weekend and we took a trip to the Zoo on Monday. Emma had a great time getting to show off in the splash park especially. We also took in a baseball game and hosted a party in one of the Suites at Slugger Field with a bunch of friends but I forgot the camera. (Probably best considering I spilled chocolate down my shirt on my large belly within the 1st 5 minutes we were there! Ha!)

Elephant is our newest animal sound so we had to get a picture!

Grandpa Knute, Emma and Grandma Denise in front of the Elephants

Emma started sleeping in her toddler bed on Saturday. So far it's gone pretty well. It's taking some time to get her to sleep at night, but getting better each night. Today for her nap I just laid her down after lunch like I normally do in her crib and walked out and shut the door. She cried for a minute and then the room went quiet. I'm hoping that means she's in her bed sleeping! And last night around 11 PM I heard a big Thud and went in and she had fallen out. She was sitting on her rug rubbing her eyes looking puzzled. I put her back in bed and she fell right back asleep - so we're ahead of where we were the last time we tried this transition.

At the Splash Park - She Loves the water!

This is our favorite fountain to play in.

Not much else new going on here. I had a doctor appointment on Monday and little buckaroo is doing great. I gained another pound - making the total 10 lbs so far. My goal is to stay around 15 so with 5 weeks left to go that seems possible. We have set the date for August 27th so it's right around the corner!!!

Friday and Emma saying Goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa

And the Birthday Is...

Yes - we now have a Birthday for little buckaroo! August 27th at 7:30 AM is the official day and time...okay - well the time might be a little off but it will be right around then! My doctor is doing our c-section and has offered to do it on that day for us even though she is not scheduled to be at the hospital that day. She's coming in before office hours to do the c-section for us - which is great because then we know we won't have to wait all day in anticipation! As for how he's currently doing - sounds like (and feels like) really well. Dr Dutton thinks he's around 4 lbs now and I only gained 2 lbs in the last month for a total of 9 lbs in 32 weeks. Not bad right! We're going back every 2 weeks now until August and then it's every week until the 27th! We can hardly wait!

We've been busy here, but not doing anything to write about really. And I haven't taken any pictures lately to share either. I'm sure we'll take some this weekend - we have Grandma Denise and Grandpa Knute coming to town and a zoo trip and ballgame planned already! In the mean time - details about the upcoming birthday will have to do!

A few more 1st's...

So in the past weeks we've had a few more 1st's.

Cheesy Grin at the Drive-In

Emma had her 1st night at the drive in last Thursday night. It was a beautiful night and Zach had taken the day off so we spent the day swimming with Jack and Peter and then headed to the drive-in. Unfortunately the closest one is in Indiana - but it's only about 40 minutes away. So we left right about bedtime for Emma - hoping she would actually fall asleep on the car ride and snooze through the movie...No Such Luck!!! She was too excited to be going somewhere I guess. But she was really good the whole night. She fought sleep and stayed awake for all of the new Transformers movie. We left around 12:30 am after the movie (too late to stay for the 2nd movie) and Emma instantly fell asleep on the ride home.

Nice spot for a tree right?

Another 1st in the last few weeks - we had a tree fall on our house...well, it was really a little more than 1/2 a tree...but none the less...it was still on our house. Emma had to miss swimming for a few days because, as you can see, it fell on her pool. Our neighbors cut and pulled it off the house and deck and we spent a few hours on Father's day cutting and bundling branches to get it out of the back yard. Hard work - but the tree is gone and no real damage was done.

No Swimming this week I guess...

We're taking it easy this week and enjoying Zach being home at night. He has a 2 game homestand starting on Thursday - and then just a few events between now and the 10th. On the 10th startes a LONG July schedule with 19 games in like 25 days or something...so we're getting all our daddy love we can before then!