Emmett at 15 Months

Our lovable, squeezable, and smiley Emmett turned 15 months in early December. He has changed a lot these past few months. He not only walks but runs everywhere he goes. His arms stick straight out in front of him when he runs which makes him look like Frankenstein. Some other things he is often found doing are:

Smiling and eating,

 putting toys in his mouth, 

 being held, snuggled and adored by his daddy,

 sitting in the stroller,

(he's a good sport about this one)

 playing with Lila and Calvin,

 and after playing hard, he loves a good bath:)

Emmett has also been talking more and more. His favorite word is still 'hi'. Which he says to anyone and everyone all day. We never tire of hearing it though. He says dadda,  Lila, and I have heard him say mama a few times. Lately he's been trying to express himself even more with pointing and jibber jabber. Even though his vocabulary is limited, he understands what we are saying to him. He goes right to his chair if I ask him if he wants to eat. He will follow simple instructions such as when I ask him to bring something to me or daddy. He loves putting his socks, shoes, and coat on when we are getting ready to leave the house. He is the first one at the door when I say 'ok, let's go'. He is so much fun to watch as he plays with his toys.He's just so great in every way!! This boy has stolen all of our hearts! I love watching my kids play together and hearing them say how much they love each other. They really are friends and I hope they always will be. 

Emmett had his checkup and here's his stats:

Height- 33 inches (97th percentile)

Weight- 24 lb 10 oz (73rd percentile)

He's still a big boy. A gentle giant as I see him and we love him just the way he is:)

Thanksgiving

We went to Florida for Thanksgiving weekend. The big meal was delicious and it was fun to spend time with family:) There were a couple pee incidents at my brother's house on Thanksgiving. The first was Calvin peeing through his diaper which came pouring out on the big wheel and porch floor. The second was Emmett sneaking into the bathroom and playing in the pee water in the toilet. Both ended with baths and me grossed out. On another note, we discovered Lila is really good at Hot Shot Basketball. She gets that from me:) Family pictures attempt number 1 also occurred. I always anticipate multiple attempts. We didn't get a family pic I liked but came away with a few good pics with the kids. We went to the Florida Aquarium another day and the kids really liked it. The following day we went to a park to meet up with my friend Tess and sister-in-law, Laura. Our visit ended abruptly because of really loud and inappropriate music being played by a wanna-be DJ for a little kid's birthday party. One of the little kids stopped in the middle of being chased and started dancing. I remember thinking, 'I don't know what twerking is but I'm pretty sure that's what he is doing.'. We also did a little Black Friday shopping. It was a fun filled trip. 

Here's pics from the trip.

34 Weeks

So here we are, 34 weeks and counting. Baby and I are healthy and I pray we continue to stay that way. I'm measuring consistently 1 week behind my actual gestational week. Which means I appear a tiny bit small but this baby feels huge and heavy inside of me. He's a mover, which is comforting to feel him regularly. It's hard to imagine life with 4 little ones but  for the most part I'm not sitting around feeling anxious about it. I'm too busy with Lila, Calvin, and Emmett for that. Plus, I do remember worrying if I could handle 3 kiddos before Emmett arrived and though it's a lot of work, we figured out a system and things are good great:). So, I guess that's my theory on how we'll make it work with 4 little ones. 

This pregnancy has been a roller coaster. I don't know how I'll feel when it's over. I wonder if I will miss these pregnant days. In the difficult and uncomfortable moments, I find it hard to believe I could ever miss it. I'm trying my best to live in the moment. I'm not sure why it's so hard, but sometimes it is. I have to tell myself to stop wishing away the difficult times and to relax and enjoy whatever is happening when it's happening. That's one thing my children are teaching me about. They definitely live in the moment. I wonder what baby boy #3 (nope, we still can't agree on a name) will be like. I wonder what he will look like. We are excited to meet him and hold him. Just a few more weeks and we will:)

After receiving a few compliments today at church, I felt confident enough to take some pregnancy pics.

Lila the Gymnast

Lila started gymnastics and loves it! It's so much fun to watch her too. Her friend Eva is in her class as well, so that's an added bonus. Every other day Lila asks when she can go to 'nastics'. Then she asks if Eva will be there and also tell me how she likes her new friends in the class. She told me she wants to keep going and that she's going to practice to become better. It's so cute to see her grow up little by little. Plus, doesn't she look adorable in her leotard?

Here's a couple pics and a video.

The Perfect Picture

I took some pictures of the kids today to hang on the wall. I'm always hoping to catch the perfect picture. It's really hard to get them to look at the camera and smile at the same time. Today I got lucky. Here's some of my favorites:

AZ for Ash's Wedding

I've never done so much traveling during a pregnancy but this was one trip I couldn't pass up. My friend Ash-a-ley got married this past weekend!! Oh and added bonus, 'The Square' was reunited:) It's been more than 4 years since we were all together. Oh how I've missed these girls. Of course I didn't get to spend as much time with the bride to be as I would have liked but I'm grateful I was able to be there on her special day. Mostly it was me, Kathy Cakes, and Kzimbo laughing and talking about the days we all lived together. Throw in some decorating with Kayela for the wedding and visiting with other old friends and that sums it up.

 I put together my first flower arrangement and I'm super proud of it, which is why I took a picture.

The ceremony was beautiful and afterward, while waiting for the newlyweds, I took some pics.

The happy couple:) Ashley's dress was beautiful and she looked amazing!

Their reception was fair themed and all the details made it come to life. They even had cotton candy and a Ferris wheel!

The Square.

 Living with these 3 girls was some of the best times in my life. I love them and miss them a lot:)

A Bee, 2 Pirates and their Parrot, with a Witch on the Side

We didn't have a complete family theme this year for our costumes but we had a lot of fun. The kids were anxious all month to wear their costumes. I'm positive they asked at least once a day if it was Halloween yet. So, we filled the time with making ghosts, coloring/carving pumpkins, and watching a few Halloween movies. On the big night, Lila and Calvin were prepped with what to say when we knocked on the door and they sounded so cute saying 'trick or treat'. They did manage to say thank you after getting candy, but before the people could even shut the front door, Lila was asking if we could go to another house and get more candy. There were a few times when Calvin opened the door and walked right in. He's not very shy. All in all it was a fun Halloween season.

Here's pics from the month: