8 Months, College Station, Graduation and Camping...Oh MY!

As you can tell by the title, we have had quite a lot going on around here! This is actually going to be 4 posts crammed into one...so bear with me! :)

8 Months:

Once again another monthly marker has rolled by and I just can't believe it. 8 months sounds so old, and really close to a year. She is changing every day and her personality is really coming out. Each stage just gets more and more fun! Here is what she's up to these days:

-She rolls and scoots everywhere and she is getting really fast! She can roll clear across the room (and the bed - which is a sad story I'd like to forget about!) in no time.

-She is still getting up on all fours, but has yet to crawl...we think it's coming any day now.

-Her favorite thing to do is walk around the room holding your fingers. I'm hoping she figures out the crawling thing before the walking!

-She STILL doesn't have any teeth. We have seriously been saying for the last two months that they were coming any day now, but they are still not here! A couple of weeks ago we thought we felt one, but the next day it was gone. All I can say is thank goodness for Tylenol and teething tablets!

-We have said farewell to a few "baby" items around the house, the swing, the bouncer, the baby bath, and the play mat. (it was a sad day to see her beloved swing go!)

-She finally started napping in her crib a few weeks ago and although she doesn't sleep near as long she is doing really well at going right to sleep on her own!

-She makes all kinds of funny noises and faces now. We are constantly laughing at her. My favorites are her new squeal and how she kind of pants when she gets really excited!

-She loves watching other kids play...and she gets really excited when she sees kids on her Baby Einstein movies or on Signing Time.

-She has started to really examine everything and she is constantly touching things with just her pointer finger. (like in the picture below)

-She has started trying to clap her hands, but right now it's looking more like a giant wave!


College Station:

2 weekends ago my mom, my sister Maddie, Emma Kate and I loaded up the car and headed south to College Station to visit my older sister Stephanie and her husband Aaron. Stephanie celebrated her last birthday in the twenties on the 1st, so we thought we would go down and help her celebrate. It was a quick trip, but we had a great time hanging out "just the girls" most of the time! I say it was a quick trip, actually the time we spent in CS was quick , but the time it took to get there and back was definitely not what I would describe as quick. College Station is really far!! Nine hours in a car seat is pretty much torture, and I'm pretty sure our days in the little car seat are numbered. Emma Kate was such a trooper though and survived her first long road trip!

She was not too happy about me putting her in her bag, but she looked so cute I couldn't resist taking a picture!

All packed and ready to go!

Enjoying some pie at one of our many stops!

The girls at Paddock Lane (Stephanie and Aaron's bar)

Yes, we had a baby...at a bar! (at least it wasn't actually open)

Pooped out in her car seat.

EK and Aunt Teppy our last morning there.

Graduation:

Brice graduated this past Saturday from Tech with a Masters in Personal Financial Planning and we are SO proud of him!! He has worked so hard over the last 2 years working during the day day, going to school in the evening, and keeping up with all the other organizations he is involved in. The past couple of weeks were really tough as he was trying to finish up his final project, a 75 page complete financial plan, and we're glad to say he's finally DONE! In November he will sit for the CFP (which he could really use your prayers for!) to officially complete the program. Way to go Brice!!

Brice's graduation announcements, aren't they cute?! (thanks Denae!)

Trying to entertain Miss Priss!

The happy family! (and one tired baby!)

Isn't Brice's cake cool?? It's a Wall Street Journal!

Camping:

Saturday after a nice graduation lunch at Las Brisas we packed up again and headed to Roaring Springs to camp with some of my good friends from school. This was the first time we had been with all the kids (10 including EK!!) and it was so much fun!! We went swimming, riding around on 4-wheelers and golf carts (EK's favorite...she squealed the whole time), and cooked out. I have decided that camping is the greatest family get away. The kids loved it and the adults did too! We stayed in a camper with our friends Brooke and Wade and their 15 month old, Kyler. We set up Emma Kate and Kyler's pack and plays right next to each other and it was too cute, however getting them to go to sleep wasn't too cute! :) She did decide to catch up on her sleep once we got home though. She went to bed at 5:30 last night and didn't wake up until 7:30 this morning...I guess camping really wore her out!!

And I'm so sad to say, but this is the only picture I took while we were camping!! The guys and babies on the Ranger at Frog City (a pond that had 100's of frogs, they looked like little rocks but when you drove down in there they all started hopping away, it was crazy!) I'm really disappointed I didn't get a picture of Mandy and I getting stuck in the mud and then nearly tipping the 4-wheeler over...maybe next time! :)

Today Emma Kate and I have been hanging out in our jammies all day watching the Olympics...aren't they fantastic!?! Really, I just can't get enough. I usually try not to watch too much tv during the day, but I'm pretty sure we will be glued to the tv for the next 2 weeks!