Emma: 15 Months

Height: 29.5 inches (25%)

Weight: 21 lbs .5oz (25%)

Skills: Emma has learned some new words this month!  She can say thank you, bailey and light- note, she has made zero attempts to say starbucks.  When she says light, she loves to point at the light that is on.  Her favorite word is definitely bye bye.  When we are getting ready to go somewhere or leave somewhere and go home, we say Emma, “do you want to go bye bye?”.  Then she will walk around saying “bye bye bye” in the sweetest voice.  At the end of 15 months, she was able to identify where her belly is, where her head is, and where her nose is- when prompted.  She also makes the cutest monkey noise and motion.  She can still do elephant and lion, but gets them mixed up sometimes.  This month she has also been shaking her head “no” a ton.  At first it was cute (and it still mostly is), but sometimes it is a little annoying.  We were running through the list with her the other night.  Emma do you want to take a nap? Shakes head no.  Emma do you want a baby sister? Shakes head no.  Emma do you want to eat a strawberry? Shakes head no.  Emma, do you want $100? Shakes head no.  Emma, do you want to take a bath?  She runs to the stairs and starts climbing them very eager to take a bath!  It was hilarious (even granted that I know she didn’t know what we were saying when we asked her most of those questions).    

Likes: this baby likes to eat!  Her current favorite is anything with cheese on it!  You should have seen her devour some nachos (mainly cheese) at the ballpark.  She reminds me of a little Ally in this regards- my dad used to tell Ally she would turn into cheese since it was sometimes the only thing she would eat.  Her favorite fruit is strawberries and blackberries.  She loves milk, but has also started to drink a bit of Gatorade.  We found out at her doctor’s appointment, she drinks more milk than most kids her age.  She also loves to wear her shoes (I never thought I would be able to say this!).  And she loves to go!  She is happiest when she is on the move and we are introducing her to new things.  She has also taken a liking to her stuffed animals and will sometimes even carry them around the house.       

Struggles: We cannot get this girl to sit in her high chair through a whole dinner if we are eating out.  She tries to stand up immediately after going in there.  When we scold her and tell her that she has to sit down- she bursts into tears.  It is embarrassing.  I told Wes that I am not sure if we will eat out with our child for a few more years.  At home, she does just fine for the most part sitting in her chair.  I am tempted to bring the chair with us to the next restaurant we go too!  This has also been the month of faking whining and yelling.  I am pretty sure our girl found her vocal chords- the volume has increased three-fold.  The fake whining really is pretty funny- Emma turns her lips into all different kinds of shapes while fake whining and grunting.    

Superficial: She got two new teeth this month and it was much less traumatic than her other teething experiences bringing the grand total to 7 as you can see in the top picture.  She is still wearing size 3 diapers and mostly 12 – 18 month clothing.  Her hair is growing out but is really fine and a little bit curly in the back.  She still has the most beautiful blue eyes which are her most complimented feature. 

Here is a video (taken by Ally) a few days after she turned 15 months. I was showing my mom and Ally that it is hilarious how she lifts her dress to find her belly.

       

Baby Girl #2: 32 Weeks

How Far Along: 32 weeks!

How Big is Baby: the size of a head of lettuce (19 inches, 3.9 pounds)

Sleep: great!  I am still so exhausted that I fall right to sleep every night!  In addition, Emma is still sleeping through the night which we thank our lucky stars for!  Now her 6:30am wake up time every morning is not so fun on the weekends, but I will take it if that means she sleeps through the night J. 

Diet/Cravings/Aversions:  ice cream J Wes and I have a dipped ice cream cone from dairy queen this week- it was amazing J. 

Symptoms: still no stretch marks!  To say I am happy about this is an understatement- my mom gave me the best pregnancy genes I could have asked for!  However, I am starting to loathe the dark spots on my arm pits and I am just waiting for my neck to turn real dark again.  I can also feel my feet swelling by the end of every day, but not really swelling anywhere else yet, which is nice. 

Movement: all the time J this little girl is strong (and I have a feeling will be feisty)!

What I am worrying about: if we will ever come up with a name for this baby J.  I know we will figure it out, but it is so different this time around and its very weird.  As soon as I found out that Emma was a girl, we had named her within two weeks.  To be 32 weeks pregnant and not calling our little one by her name is just weird. 

What I am loving: being pregnant! Last week I feel like I was a little down- maybe it was a little hotter that week?  This week, I can’t believe that I get to meet our little one in just 8 short weeks!  I have been fantasizing what I will say first to this baby.  When Emma was born and Wes showed her to me, the first thing I said was “she looks exactly like you”.   I am hoping for something a little more eloquent this time around.       

What I am looking forward too:  my baby sprinkle is on Saturday!!!!! I am so excited and thankful that my mom is throwing this party for me and the new baby!  I love parties and I especially love parties that are centered around me J.  It is such a good feeling to know that family and friends will be celebrating my little one on the way.

Best Moment of the week: definitely the three day weekend J we had such a nice weekend and got to hang out with a lot of my family the whole weekend long- including two outdoor concerts!  Also, my dad got this baby her tree- so sweet.  Every time I see the tree, I think of our sweet daughter who has yet to be born.  Can’t wait to snap her picture by the tree.    

Put a Fork In It

I meant to include this video in last night's post- love Emma's face when she gets two chicken nuggets on her fork. We have been working with her consistently on using a fork over the last month- looks like she may have finally mastered it.  Turn up your volume and hear her say "mmmmm" after each bite.  This means she likes the food.  When she doesn't like the food- she immediately spits it out.  Watching our baby eat is one of life's little pleasures :).  Our baby girl is growing up way too fast!

Tidbits

All of the small things going on in our life that don't warrant an individual blog post :).  A little dark and blurry, but we took Emma for her first Hibachi experience.  She was unimpressed by everything but the fire and spilled water and soup all over me and Wes.  I think that may be Emma's last hibachi experience for awhile!

A whole post to come on all of the fun that we have had at the zoo this year- one weekend our friends Kelli and Cecil joined us at the zoo.  I heart this girl and thought it was a pretty picture of us :).

Every time this year, it seems that ducks wants to fly into our pool (and sometimes bring their babies).  Emma loves to stand at the gate and bang hard on it- hollering at the ducks.

Emma has learned how to brush her hair; also, this girl is obsessed with staring at herself in the mirror.

We got a bagful of clothes from one of my employee's- Emma loves her new pj's!

Wes is trying to warm Emma up to the pool by letting her stick her feet in- let's just say, the warming up is a slow process.  We want her to have healthy skepticism of the pool, but to also be excited about swimming- we will see where we end up.

I haven't updated my computer background since Emma was 3 months old until last week- sneak peek at her 1 year old photos.

On Memorial Day, we got snocones and headed down to the park by our house.  A church had rented out the pavilion and was offering horse rides.  Emma was obsessed with the horses, she kept pointing at them and inching herself closer and closer.  One of the nice people there asked Emma if she wanted to go on a ride.  She was a little timid at first, but ended up really enjoying it!

This is how Emma and I can be found on the weekend.  If Emma is napping, I am right there napping at her side even if its 10am!  Yes, our baby still naps in her swing.

The outdoor concerts at the Levitt Pavilion have started- we love these!  We went Saturday and Sunday evening.  On Saturday, we ended up getting our picture taken- can you spot us?

Ally's Graduation

My youngest sister graduated from college a few weekends ago- how is that even possible?  We are sending this girl out into the 'real world' to have a 'real' job and make 'real' decisions.

Just kidding- I am sure she will do great!  I have three sisters and we all went to the same University to get our bachelor degrees, so it is always a blast to go back and visit (and eat at my favorite places!).  We headed out Friday morning around 11.  Our only hiccup is that we missed the exit for the Czech stop :(.  We were blessed that our sweet baby slept all the way to Calvert (about 2 1/2 hours)!

When we arrived in College Station- our first pit stop was Blue Baker, my most favorite sandwich shop!  We split a sandwich and a bowl of soup.  Emma loved their baked potato soup.

Such a happy girl to be out of her car seat and eating some lunch.  I was a happy mamma that she loved one of my favorite places.

After we finished lunch, we checked into our hotel, changed Emma and went to Ally's Civil Engineering reception.  I wish I would have gotten a picture of Emma's name tag (it said Emma, class of '34)!  She was so happy to see Nonni and Grandpa George.  She was obsessed with getting some "iiiii" (ice) from Nonni.

We let her burn off some energy and run the halls.  This is a blurry picture, but Emma is running towards me and my mom.

Also, side story (no pictures), my parents ran into someone that they went to school with.  I was tired of standing up, so Wes, Emma and I went to sit down.  After about ten minutes, I told Emma, "so get Nonni and give her a kiss".  I had to tell her a few times, but then she ran over to Nonni and gave her a kiss.  It was the sweetest thing and I couldn't believe that she understood what I was saying.

After the reception, we went back to the hotel and lounged before dinner at Mr. G's.  I had never been there before, but their pizza was really good- one of the top 5 margharita pizza's that I have ever had.  Emma was a little obsessed with her Nonni this weekend.  She would put the pizza in Nonni's hand and then bend down and eat it by putting her mouth all over Nonni's hand.

After Mr G's, we went to Spoons (a frozen yogurt place).  Are you catching the drift- we ate all weekend long!  This was Emma's first time to ever have frozen yogurt and she was OBSESSED.  I can't blame her, can you?

Look at the frozen yogurt all over mouth, dress, hands, diaper, leg and chair!  Such a mess, but so fun to watch her enjoy it.  Posing for a picture with Ally and Travis!  Clearly, she wants to know what happened to the frozen yogurt!

Ally feeding Emma some frozen yogurt.

I love this next picture.  Ally turned to talk to someone and Emma is still going in for Ally to feed her some frozen yogurt!

Snuggles as a reward for the person that fed her the most frozen yogurt!

After frozen yogurt, we headed back to the hotel where Emma entertained everyone with her "hilarious" fake whining.

The next morning, we ate breakfast and headed to campus to take a walk and reminisce   These two were running late, so we encouraged them to pick up the pace in order to make up lost time.

We walked over and saw the new Memorial Student Center.  Emma found herself a friend.  I couldn't believe how calm this bird is and just stayed right there while Emma played with it.

We took a family picture outside of the MSC :).

Cute moment between Ally and Travis :).  I imagine that she is telling a really funny story.

Next up, we headed to one of my favorite spots on campus- the Century Tree.  This is where Wes proposed to me, so it holds a lot of special memories :).  Emma could not understand why we were asking her to walk under the tree!

And a close up.

Then, we got a family picture of all four of us under the Century Tree.  Hard to believe that this is where Wes asked me to start a family with him and then we were able to capture all four of us under here.

Another close up :).  Such special memories.

Shortly thereafter, we ended the walk.  My fingers were swollen to three times their normal size and we were all tired.

Once we made it back to the car, I convinced Wes to drive by my old dorms so I could get a picture with Emma outside of them (because you never know when they are going to knock these dorms down!).

Ahhhh, Haas Hall- you have so many great memories up there on the 3rd floor :).  I lived here for two years.

Wes, Emma and I headed to my most favorite place in College Station for lunch- Wings N' More (sadly no pictures).  Then, it was time for the main event- Ally's graduation.  To say we were nervous how Emma was going to act was an understatement.  This loveliness was happening before the ceremony even started.

Then so did playing in the soda/making a mess/having a breakdown when she lost the straw.

Wes had to take her out to play before the ceremony even started.  Then, after lots of waiting, this girl walked in (she is the one in the middle of the picture with the yellow sash on)!!!!

A closer view of Ally finding her seat.

Wes and Emma made their way back in- we pacified Emma with a bag of Cheetos (her favorite special treat).  Taking a self portrait on the iPhone!

Then, it was time for the Civil Engineering majors to graduate.  Ally lined up.

Walked up on the stage.

Hip bumped the President of Texas A&M University!!!!

And GRADUATED!!!! We are so proud of her!

Walking back to her seat with her 'fake' diploma in her hands.

After Ally graduated, Wes and I decided that Emma had probably had enough and took her outside to play. Love this picture, because even though she looks like such a big girl, she still reminds me of a baby since she is drinking out of her bottle.

At one point, she told us 'enough pictures'.  Poor baby girl, you didn't even know what was about to come.

An hour or so after Ally graduated, we walked back in and they were still calling names.  Luckily, it was over pretty soon.  Then we got to see Ally and take lots and lots and lots of pictures :).  Sisters plus Emma (we were missing Adge this weekend!).

Sisters minus Emma.

Bobbob and Ally!  We were all so happy that Bobbob could make it down for Ally's graduation (he is four for four on all of our graduations).

Travis and Ally.

A side shot of the Prochaska family- I will have to remember to look at my parents camera and see if they got a better shot!

And last but not least, Ally and Emma- can you tell that Emma is over the picture taking :) and she desperately needed a clip in her hair!

After all the picture taking, we headed out to dinner with some of Ally's friends at Johnny Carino's.  We love this girl and were so happy that we got to celebrate with her (all weekend long!).