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!

7 Month Pictures

I just love that little smirk!

"Mom get me away from that silly girl!"

Home on the Range

Brice went out of town this weekend for a bank trip (I guess you could call it that...it's really just a bunch of grown men playing down at PK!), so Emma Kate and I decided to enjoy a nice long weekend at the Bar M (aka my parents' new place)! We have had so much fun just hanging out and doing nothing. Emma Kate loves her LaLa and Pop so much!

Looking at the horses

Emma Kate has her very own pony, Coco

Bathtime is so much fun!

Watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

Playing on LaLa's bed....you have to wear overalls when you're in the country!

Hope you're enjoying your weekend too!

PSA

I know you were all dying for and update on EK, however, I have a public service announcement to make first: Never, I repeat, NEVER buy a Dell laptop!! We have only had our "hunk of junk" (as I like to call it) for a little over a year and a half and we have had SO many problems with it. I should have known we were in for trouble when after having owned it for less than 6 months the motherboard somehow mysteriously "crashed". Luckily it was under warranty, and although it took them forever, Dell "fixed" the problem...or so we thought. Currently the wireless Internet isn't working, the battery (that it came with) "cannot be detected", it takes like 5 minutes for what you typed to show up on the screen, and it turns itself off after about 2 minutes and has to reboot to come back on! And unfortunately the warranty has expired and now Dell won't even talk to you about the problem without charging you $69.95.

OK, rant over...lesson learned!

(maybe when I have more patience I will update with 7 month pictures) :)

7 Months and a Fun-filled 4th!

Emma Kate turned 7 months on the 4th...wow, I can't believe my baby is already 7 months old! We started out the day with the exciting 4th on Broadway parade. It was quite the parade let me tell ya. Actually I'm sad to say the only float I really even remember was this random float with a giant Winnie the Pooh on top! I guess Will and Emma Kate were just more entertaining! :)

Awww...too cute!

Will chillin' in his shades

Lovin' their paci's!

After the parade we decided to fight crowds and walk down to the street fair. I'm pretty sure everyone in Lubbock with a dog or a stroller was there also....I'm still trying to decide if a Church on the Rock corn dog is worth the hassle! For now I will say, YES, because they are delicious! But if there is ever more than one child in the picture I might just have to wait for fair time to get my corn dog fix.

The parade wore her out!

She decided if we were eating she needed to too!

After loading up on junk food we came home and all enjoyed a nice long nap! There's nothing better than a good afternoon nap. And I'm proud to say that Emma Kate enjoyed her nap in her bed instead of the swing where she usually insists on napping! Later on that evening we loaded back up and went out to the country club with some of Brice's co-workers for the "4th on the Range" celebration. It was quite the set up!! They had a live band, tons of huge jumpers for the kids, and a big buffet all set up on the driving range. And after the sun went down they had their own fireworks show too. It was definitely an up close and personal fireworks show...there were several times that big pieces of burned cardboard from the fireworks landed on us. Emma Kate was such a trooper, she fell asleep right before the fireworks started and woke up just before the big finale. I was afraid she might be scared of the loud noise but it didn't faze her a bit...she just stared wide-eyed as the fireworks went off. I wish I had of gotten a picture of her watching, it was too cute!!

Saturday morning we got up and drove to Lazbuddie to enjoy a nice weekend with Brice's parents and grandparents. Emma Kate got spoiled as usual and we did too!

With MeMe and PaPaw...her PaPaw just can't get enough of her!!

Playing on the floor with Chebie...she loved grabbing his hair, and she's the ONLY person he lets touch his hair!

Hanging out in her new Radio Flyer

Dad tried to set up a patriotic photo shoot, but unfortunately she was in the shade

Her first taste of watermelon...she didn't know what to think!

One more ride in the wagon before heading home

With Chebie and Bop/Grandma

Oh and I almost forgot to mention, I tried out several recipes from The Pioneer Woman for a pre-4th get together Thursday night and they turned out GREAT!! I was especially proud of my red, white and blue cake!

And finally here's an update on our big 7 month old:

• at her 6 month check up 2 weeks ago she weighed 17 lbs (50th percentile) and was still 27 inches (50th percentile)...we teased her and said she was growing out instead of up! :)
• she sits up great on her own now, and would actually rather be sitting up playing with toys than laying down
• she is doing great with solids, and she now eats sweet potatoes, green beans, squash, carrots, peaches, apple sauce, and bananas
• for the most part she is still sleeping really well at night. she usually goes to bed around 7 and wakes up at 7
• she is starting to reach for people...and oh my goodness that is the sweetest thing ever when she reaches for you!
• she can push up on all fours, but I think it will still be a while before she's crawling!
• she still doesn't have any teeth, but we keep thinking they are going to pop through any day now! she drools like crazy and chews on anything she can get her hands on
• she has now found the bows!! anytime we put a bow on her she reaches up and yanks it right off!
• she starting to get a little fuzz on her head, but she'll probably be 2 before she has enough hair to clip a bow into! :)
• she just started trying to sit up while she's in her car seat or bouncer seat, it's like she realizes that she can't see everything and she doesn't like it at all!

Happy 4th of July!!

If this doesn't make you smile, I don't know what will....I can almost hear her laughing when I look at this picture! Hope you're all enjoying the holiday weekend! :)