John's 28th Birthday :)

John turned 28 yesterday, wow-where does the time go? It's crazy to think I have known John since he was 19, and now he's closing in on 30.

We had a good time celebrating yesterday though. After work, I stopped by the grocery store for some grilling supplies, and found some sidewalk chalk for Emma to play with. It was about 60 degrees out, but very windy. Emma and I had fun running around outside and playing until John got home.

Emma also got her little red sled out of the garage and had me pull her around on it all over the grass, and she thought it was awesome. She kept asking for "more".

At around 6, John's parents and brother stopped by, and we grilled out for supper. Emma enjoyed all the company and attention, and just ran around like a crazy little toddler :) John's family hung around and visited for a while, and then it was time to put Emma to sleep, and they headed home.

It was a fun little birthday celebration and it's always nice to hang out with family.  It was so nice to have some warmer weather for a day as well. Today looks like 30s and some snow...boo.

So, my plans for today are to sit downstairs by the fireplace, catch up on some TV from this week, and catch up on some scrapbooking, I'm about 6 months behind. Afterwards, I will got pick Emma up from daycare and enjoy some bonding time and giggles.

Also, I hope to do some shopping and buy some things for Emma's easter basket. So excited :)

Workin' Mama

This past week has been pretty uneventful. It was a call-filled week for me at work, so I spent a lot of time at the hospital and not much time at home with Emma and John (boo).

Last Friday, I had the day off work, and spent some much needed time with Emma at home. We also had a photo shoot with Lifetouch for out church directory. I was a little nervous on how Emma would do, but she did ok. She didn't really smile in any of the family pictures, but the ones with her by herself are pretty adorable. So, we got suckered into buying some pictures. But we FINALLY have a professional photo of all 3 of us, it only took us almost 2 years :)

Over the weekend, I worked 12 hour day shifts, so there was not much time at home. Saturday night John and I went to a Skyforce game, but otherwise it was pretty much work, work, work.

John and Emma had a lot of bonding time over the weekend, and he kept me updated with some photos :)

John and I ended the weekend watching an episode of Game of Thrones and relaxing. I have today off, so I kept Emma home with me today, and we have been having fun playing the morning away. Right now, Emma is napping and I am enjoying a little quiet time.

Now, can we please get some nice weather so we could spend sometime outside please :)

Enjoying a beautiful spring day

Scootin'

Snack time

Snacking on the counter

Someone fell on the sidewalk and got a bump :(

New obsession: coloring :)

Family-filled Weekend

This past weekend, my mom, dad, and brother came to visit. They arrived on Friday night, as usual, and we spent the evening just visiting a little and getting them settled in.

Saturday was kind of a lazy day, but it was nice to hang out with my family without feeling stressed with the hustle and bustle of life. We spent the morning just hanging out in the house, and then after Emma's nap we headed out on the town for a while.

While the rest of the family shopped, I went to a hair salon and got my hair colored, cut, and styled. It has been so long since I colored my hair, so it was fun to spruce my hair up a little. I had a great stylist too, so it was a fun (and expensive) visit.

After my family was done at the mall, Kohls, Target, and Hy-Vee we went and checked out Costco and then finished the shopping spree with Lone Star, a wonderful Steakhouse.

Emma has a cold (again!) so she was a little crabby and restless during our outing, so it was a little exhausting trying to keep track of her all day. She's just at that fun age where she does not want to sit still at all.

Once we got back home again, we put Emma to bed, and the rest of us played some Sheephead for a while and visited some more. It was a great day!

On Sunday, we skipped church due to Emma being kinda crabby again, and we went to a Verizon store because Dad wanted to buy an Ipad to use in the tractor for something or other, and they ended up get the Ipad and mom and dad each got Iphones as well. How crazy is that? My dad now has a newer phone than me-that's a weird feeling!

We ate some lunch at Hu Hot and then mom, dad, and Ryan headed back home. It was a fun weekend, and Ryan got to spend some quality time with Emma which was really nice (and cute :)

Bedtime Snuggles with Uncle Ryan

Checking everyone out at Hu Hot

Mmmm, Bib

Grandpa Jack helping Emma eat

Fun at the zoo :)

Emma and I ended up going to the zoo today, and we had a great time. Emma spent most of the time toddling around and splashing in all the puddles, but she did look at some of the animals as well. Her favorites were the monkeys, ducks, and the penguins.

The weather was absolutely gorgeous, it was a perfect day for a little visit to the zoo. We literally walked the entire thing, and Emma did a lot of the walking herself, so it took quite a while. I think we were there about 2.5 hours total.

Checking out the penguins

Emma's got her game face on

We had a great time at the zoo :)

Selfie in front of the monkeys

Conquering the zoo-one small step at a time

Emma being Emma 

Ready to be carried now...

After walking around outside, we explored the indoor museum for a while. Emma absolutely loved being able to run around on her own, without me steering her away from all the mud puddles like I was doing outside.

She only wanted to drive this about 12 times

That's a carload

Once I was pooped out from chasing Emma around for close to 3 hours, we headed home to make some supper. Once John got home we went outside again to enjoy a little bit more of the beautiful day before it was gone.

Right now, Emma is peacefully sleeping, John is at a Summit League Basketball game with his dad, and I have a Game of Thrones book in my lap and a glass of wine in my hand. It is the perfect end to a great day :)

Think Spring

So, apparently it was really nice outside yesterday. Like, above average highs in the 50s. I wouldn't know, I was stuck at work for 18 hours. Yep, it was one long day of working.

Luckily, John and Emma came by to visit around lunchtime to just say hi. It was very much appreciated since I didn't get to see either one for the rest of the day.

After visiting me, they headed out to Jim and Barb's farm and Emma had a blast running around outside and playing in the greenhouses.

Good Morning :)

John told her to say "hi" to mommy

Having fun in the Greenhouse

Hard at work already

I sure missed out on some fun! Today, after blissfully sleeping in, I have some housework to do (of course) and then I am going to go pick up Emma and we may go walk around the zoo for a little while. We renewed our zoo membership for another year, and we are supposed to get up to a high around 58 degrees, so I plan to take full advantage of that.

I don't know how long the nice weather is supposed to last, because it is only the middle of March. I am sure we will have more snow before spring is officially here, but I plan to enjoy this beautiful sunshine while it's here.  :)

Emma-isms

Emma is turning into quiet the character, and it seems like every day she is learning new words. Lately, she puts her hand in the air and says "ta-da" anytime she is searching for some attention. She also says "butt", in reference to every time I change her I tell her I am changing her butt. She also says "hat", "coat", "blue", 'blocks", "milk", "more", "no", "yuck", "nose", "baby", "Elmo", "Emma", "ma-ma", "da-da", "buh-bye", Not all of these words are new, and these aren't all her words, but they are her most frequently used words.

I love seeing her vocabulary grow, it's amazing how fast she picks up on things and how quickly she's growing.

She also can tell us the sounds a kitty, puppy, cow, monkey, duck, and sheep makes. It's so cute to hear her make animal noises-she's so dramatic about it!!

She is such a little girl and loves screaming/squealing at things in excitement. Her reflection and her shadow gets her really excited. She also loves to be chased and running around the house. And let me tell you, Emma running on her little legs is the cutest thing ever.

We recently moved all of her toys into our basement living room, so as soon as we head downstairs with her she gets all excited because she knows whats coming. Her favorite toys right  now are her mega blocks. wooden blocks, coloring with crayons, and anything that makes music she can dance to.

Bedtime continues to go smoothly. We give her a pacifier, a sippy cup of water, her blanket, and lay her down, and typically she goes right to sleep. Most of the time she sleeps all night, unless a coughing fit wakes her up. I fear the day we have to disrupt our routine and move her to a big-girl bed. But so far, there has been no crawling out of her crib...

Emma sure is developing a personality and is sure growing into a little girl. Sometimes I am sad to think about how fast she is growing up, but it is so fun to watch her learning and growing. She will always be my little girl :)

Emma playing with her "blocks" 

Playing with her dollie house

Little Artist

Left Handed like mommy??

Cold and Sick

So, I haven't blogged in 2 weeks, but really not much has been going on around here, except terribly cold weather and all 3 of us hacking up a lot of mucous. Yummy, right?

Last week, Emma was sick with a double ear infection, so we had her on a hefty dose of amoxicillin. Luckily, we didn't have to miss any daycare or work, but it made for some long nights during the week. 

Last weekend, we had some fun when Jenny and Katie came to town and we went swimming in a hotel again with Emma. Two weekends in a row of swimming in February, that doesn't happen very often. Emma had a blast! She wasn't as scared about the water this time around, and she had a blast splashing around and playing. We even took her into the hot tub for a little bit. After swimming we went out to eat for some Mexican, and then headed back home. 

This past week was sort of a battle. John and I both got sick, and Emma continues to have her snotty nose and cough. So getting enough sleep this past week was a tough job. We survived though. I actually put in 43 hours this past week, which was a tall order when I was feeling like crap for about half of those. But I think we are all starting to perk up a little and are finally heading toward being healthy again! Yay!!!

The other battle lately has been the weather. It has been cold!! Yesterday was a high of -1 and today is about the same. This is not how I wanted to welcome March in. Luckily, it looks like it will warm up at the end of the week. I cannot wait. This cold weather is getting old. 

Because of the cold, we were housebound yesterday (and today). We got some organizing projects done that we had been procrastinating, so that was nice. We organized our front entry closet and Emma's closet. These were both big tasks that we had put off for a while, so if felt good to get something accomplished. 

Emma was a good little cutie pie all day. She played really well, took a 3 hour nap (guess she was tired?) and then played some more. It's nice to see her feeling a little better and back to her old self. We put her to bed around 8:30 and then John and I ended the evening with some wine and the season finale of Downton Abbey. It was a great day :)

Today, we went to church- we even made it to the early service! We made some brunch, and now Emma is napping while we are just enjoying the quiet. John's Keurig broke yesterday, so we are going to go out and get groceries and then find a replacement for him-since he may die if he doesn't get his coffee fix!!! 

Jim and Barb are going to come watch Emma while we do some shopping. We are going to go check out Costco, and then head to Target and maybe Lowe's. So we have some running around to do out in this cold. Yippy, can't wait. 

John and I are also started to plan out the trips we want to take this summer, and I am getting really excited. We are planning a couple smaller trips, and I am really looking forward to some of them!! Details to come in the future. 

Once again, I haven't taken many pictures of Emma lately, but I jacked John's phone and stole some from him- so here are some pictures of Emma to warm you up on this cold, cold day. Hope everyone has a great week :)

John and Emma getting the mail

Yep, sitting in a crockpot

Looking at the fish in Wal-mart

Blowing raspberries on the door at Puerto Vallerta 

Anticipating guests

She loves playing with kitchen towels

Driving a pontoon at the Sportsman's Show

Checking out the bears at the Sportsman's Show

Still loves bath time :)