Emmett's 1st Birthday

I can't believe it's already been a year since Emmett was born. In some ways it feels like a short time but others it feels like he's always been with us. He is such a sweet and happy boy. Easy going is the best way to describe him. He loves to cuddle and has a tight grip when he wraps his soft, squishy arms around  my neck. Smiling comes easy and he's not picky with who he shares his smiles with. 

He had his first walking attempt a week before his birthday and has been practicing non-stop since then. I think he is walking more than crawling at this point. He's still a big eater and getting bigger everyday. His weight and height testify to that. Emmett plays great on his own but really lights up when Lila and Calvin play with him. Also, he loves his daddy time. Both Chris and Emmett really enjoy their play time. I always hear them laughing and see them hugging when Chris comes home from work. He has eight teeth right now (one partially chipped due to playing with Calvin). His stats from his 12 month checkup are:

Height: 31.25 inches (92nd %)

Weight: 24 lb 3.2 oz (88th %)

Head: 47 cm (76th %)

We had a lot of fun celebrating his birthday in CA with Chris' side of the family. We spent the day at Fairy Tale Town and then went swimming. That evening we sang to him and watched him eat his own cake. We stopped him before he could eat it all because we're good parents like that. He opened some presents than said goodnight and went to bed. It was a great day. We love our Emmett and look forward to many great days with him!

Here's pics from his birthday:

(Our niece, Kiley, took some great photos of Emmett while he played in Sherwood forest.)

Happy Birthday Emmett, we love you!

Sacramento Trip 2013

We survived:) Not only survived, but had a ton of fun! Traveling with 3 small children will never be easy but the kids did as well as expected. We lucked out on a couple of flights by having some empty seats next to us. Our first day was spent adjusting to the time change and lounging around. The next two days we rented a van to get out and about on our vacation. We went to Fairy Tale Town on Emmett's birthday, then the zoo and the outlet mall the following day. Chris and I even got to go on a date too. We met up with two of his long time friends and their wives for dinner at Garcia's. We had a lot of fun visiting and I haven't seen Chris laugh that hard in awhile. Nothing like catching up with old friends. Another day, all the girls headed to the nail salon. Lila loves getting her nails painted. She picked out the color and they added some flowers and sparkles. She loved it! We spent almost every afternoon swimming. At the end of the week was Chris' sister, Ashley's wedding. The whole trip was fun and it was so great to see everyone. I love how much Chris' family laughs. It's really a non-stop party when they all get together. The kids loved playing with their cousins. They still ask to go back to California and play with their cousins. I'm grateful we were able to celebrate Emmett's birthday with extended family too. (I'll blog more about that later) It was a great time!

Here are pics from our trip:

 

Baby On The Way

I'm pregnant, again, for the 4th time in 4 years. But who's keeping track, right? 

I'm 21 weeks and the due date is January 6th, 2014. This pregnancy is going well. I was sick and exhausted the first trimester. The sickness has mostly gone away but I still feel very tired most days. I doubt that will ever go away. However, both me and baby are healthy and I'm grateful for that. 

We just found out the sex of our baby. Chris is always trying to keep things interesting. He decided to get a cake and do our own 'reveal party' with us and the kids, rather than have the ultrasound tech tell us boy or girl. It was a lot of fun to see the kids reactions and share this moment with them. We are excited to add one more to our family. January will be here before we know it.

Here's the videos:

Columbia Zoo

We've been wanting to check out the Columbia zoo for awhile. So, yesterday, after the kids waited patiently while Chris and I took turns going to the temple, we headed off to zoo. The air smelled of elephant poop and funnel cakes. Maybe I was the only one affected by the smell. Anyway, the kids loved seeing the animals at a different zoo. We saw some bears, zebras, an ostrich, and walked through a kangaroo stomping ground. All of which are not at our local zoo. We were bummed the tigers were unavailable but Calvin was satisfied when he saw all the giraffes. Both Lila and Calvin loved seeing the different animals. Their day got even better when Lila rode on a real-life pony and Calvin took a train ride. Emmett enjoyed it all too. He's still easy to please as long as he's got food. It was a great day!

Here's pics from the zoo:

As Of Late

I've kind of been on a blogging break. Unintentionally, of course. This is my attempt at catching up.

Here's Lila and Calvin playing under a chair together. 

 I love overhearing them talk to each other and having fun together.

We went peach picking with some friends. It was a fun family outing and the peaches are delicious. Yet, another reason we love SC. Here's some pictures from that.

Lila asked me to do her hair this way then requested I take a picture. 

I love the sequence of the next 2 pictures. 

 She grabs and hugs Emmett all the time as if he's one of her stuffed animals. He doesn't seem to mind it, most of the time:)

Emmett is standing and cruising along the couch. 

Here's a video of Lila "reading".

And Just Like That...

Emmett is almost 11 months old and changing quickly. His most recent stats are from his 9 month appointment. He's definitely gotten heavier since then and may even weigh the same as Lila. It certainly feels like it. He's outgrown the infant car seat and is now in a bigger car seat, which I'm sure is more comfortable.

His 9 month stats are:
Weight: 21 lb 13 oz (83rd percentile)
Height: 30 inches (96th percentile)
Head Circumference: 46 1/4 cm

He is soooo big, and squishy, and a cuddle bug, and always smiling! We just love him and love being around him. It's been awhile since my last post and there's been numerous changes with his growth and development. A little before six months he was starting to pull himself around. He pretty much used his arms and his legs would drag behind. Occasionally he would use his legs to push. He started doing the traditional crawl and sitting up around 7 or 8 months. Then at 9 months he was pulling himself up to standing position. Around 10 months he started walking along furniture and will walk with me while I hold his hands. He has let go and stood on his own a few times as well. It's all happened quickly. We anticipate he will walk soon because of how quickly he's done everything else, but who knows. He is a fast crawler. Lila and Calvin are constantly running around and Emmett just smiles and tries to keep up. He gets very excited when Chris comes home each day. He laughs and squeals then crawls to where Chris is and waits to be picked up. It is a fun sight to see.

I'm having technical difficulties and I can't post pictures, which is a bummer because Emmett keeps getting cuter.

Strawberries Galore

We went on our annual strawberry picking outing. This time we picked 3 baskets so we could make strawberry jam.

We had a lot of fun going with friends again. Calvin was hilarious and loved the freedom to run around and put stuff in his basket. In the beginning he was picking green strawberries, mashed strawberries and weeds. Luckily, he dropped his basket a few times and we were able to clear out all the stuff we didn't want. Lila and Calvin had a lot of fun being with their friends and eating the delicious berries. It was chilly, so Emmett probably didn't love it as much. All in all we had a successful day.

While trying to take pictures of all the kids, Chris was behind me getting their attention and making them laugh. Calvin decided to imitate instead and was making us laugh. I love him in these pictures.

 I guess we'll have to come up with a new strategy:)

Our little family is getting so big!