2008

January

February

It's a girl!!

MarchGetting E's room ready!!

April

May

June

July

August
September
October
NovemberDecember

Emily the Grouch

Cantankerous, thy name is E!

I am not going to lie, you were a big doody-head today.

WOW!

Lina, your alter ego, was rearing her crabby head today…in full effect.

I get it; you can’t be the wonderful, sweet, loving angel that you are 99% of the time. Today was the 1% day…
I suspect the root of all this hostility is due to the fact that you did not want to sleep last night. And, you really didn’t want to be awake, either. See, there was no pleasing you last night. Binky…pshhh Bottle…whatever Snuggles…get real.

In other words, you fussed all night.
Not to be outdone, you fussed all day, too. A sample conversation between you and I today:

The Mommy: “E, it appears that you are tired and not yourself. Perhaps you would like to take a nap?”
Lina: Screaming, translation: “Woman, are you insane? This is my 1% day, and I am taking full advantage of it.”

The Mommy: “Maybe you would sleep better if you had a full belly?”
Lina: “Yes, feed me! I need to feed and gather my strength. It is going to be a long day, lady. *Evil laugh*”

The Mommy: “Ok, lets try that nap again. I tell you what, how about Mommy lays down and takes a nap with you?”
Lina: Screaming, translation: “How dare you suggest that I need a nap! You will feel my wrath!”

The Mommy: “Emily Ryan, how about we play with one of your new toys?”
Lina: Screaming, translation: “Beotch, please!”

When The Daddy got home this afternoon, he could not believe what I had told him about our day. After 20 minutes, I rescued him from your shrieking…

The Daddy: “She is fighting demons!”

Oddly enough, this picture was taken today...

Peas or demon baby spewage? The jury is still out on this one...

PS: Don't think I don't recognize the irony of this posting and yesterday's...

Loving It

The Daddy and I are entering into the final week of Christmas break. Even though it is going a little faster than I would like, I am thoroughly enjoying my time.

I am banking a lot of extra sleep hours to prepare myself for being AT work at 6:30 am (more on this later).

I am able to spend so much time with my sweet girl. Oh, how I enjoy her!! She is so much fun and is developing the sweetest personality. And she is starting to look for me when I am in a different room. She makes my heart smile. I love this precious time with her.

Aunt Ami and I have been hitting the gym on a regular basis. I am happy to report that I no longer feel like I am going to vomit after a workout, and actually look forward to going! I know, who are you and what have you done with Ashley??

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

Emily's First Christmas

this one is for me too, right..

Giraffe kisses!Mush, elephant!

Mommy with her favorite presentLook who's sitting up by herself with the Daddy

Black sheep and snails...that's how E rolls!

Wishing you all the joys and blessings of this Christmas season.

A Christmas Eve Tale

So, we are on Christmas break...and letting it all hang out.

Chilling with Grandpa


Getting all dressed up to go to church and dinner.


Leaving Santa a little treat...


and a bribe.

The best present of all...

P.S.: Merry Christmas to Max, who is locked up in kitty jail :(

6 Month Check Up

What screams Christmas cheer more than 3 vaccines?! Hooray! And that was only half of what was due today...

Background on E's diet...she eats like a horse.
3-4 6-8oz bottles of milk or formula; nurses twice a day; 2 bowls of cereal; 2 jars of fruit; 2 jars of vegetables.
According to this, you would think she would weigh 25lbs by now...she is barely above the 25th percentile mark on the growth chart at a slim 15.1lbs.
She is still a mini giant at 27.75"; well above the 95th percentile. Long and lean, the String Bean Lady.

Speaking of string beans, how nasty are they? They are our newest veggie and could not be any grosser. I try everything that E eats, and I almost had a seizure, they were so awful. I am nauseated just thinking about it.

Road Trip!

We are home from Christmas with Memaw and Pawpaw in East Texas. Emmalina did really well on the ride home considering 4 hours is a really long time to be awake in a car seat and we were down to our very last packed diaper. (way to go mom for under-estimating the frequency of E's peepee schedule.)

Aunt Susan, Aunt Carla and Megan came up Saturday for a visit and we had a nice dinner. E met Jett (Boomer Sooner) and Laura (Red Raider) and sensed the bad right away. She even told Jett how Texas was robbed, but he wasn't hearing any of it; so, she pooped on him. (That's my girl!)

Look what Emily got for Christmas from Memaw and Pawpaw:

Girl, what happened to your pants???

To Emily, on Your 6th Month

My sweet Emmalina,

Happy Half-Birthday! I can’t believe you are 6 months old. The time really has flown by. Maybe it is because the days run together, since we haven’t had an uninterrupted night’s sleep since then… Or maybe it is because time really does fly when you are having fun.

God is so good to us. Everything about you has been a blessing. Your Dad and I know that we are getting tricked into thinking that all babies will be as wonderful as you…We are sure that your sibling will be a demon spawn to balance out your angelic behavior. (Mommy’s apologies to future children for that statement)

I tell you that I love you at least fifty times a day. Maybe you would like to know a few reasons why…

What morning grouch doesn’t want to wake up to a happy, smiling baby?? Thank you for making my mornings so sunny. Your sweet smile makes getting up before the sun acceptable.

One of your favorite forms of communication is growling. You growl at your binkies, Cookie Monster, your hands...pure adorable.

I love the new elated, ear-piercing shriek that you have recently developed! I feel very connected to you in that I was the former queen of the ear-piercing shriek. AND, I love our “shrieking conversations” that we have with each other.

You smile when you get kisses.

I find you sitting and posing like a little lady all the time…with your hands clasped together, looking so prim and proper.

You toot when you roll over in your sleep.

You’re a snuggle bug AND are starting to give “hugs”.

You are so smart and precocious. I hope you use your powers for good!

You are so good at giving the stink eye…I wonder where you learned that??

Splishy Fish is still as fun and exciting as it was two months ago.

You bring so much joy to our lives. I can’t wait to see what the next six months has in store.

Love,

Mama

Then...

Now...

A Glimpse into E's Day at School

Lunch Time!!

(thanks Marisa for sending these!)

And check out some of E's artwork!!

How stinking cute is that??

You know it is hanging on the fridge :)

Fairy Godfather

Happy Birthday Uncle Brian!

We love you!

Emily is so lucky to be surrounded by all these Sagittarians!

December 13, 1982

Happy 26th to the mommy!

I am a little disturbed that I am now in my mid-late twenties...30 is right around the corner.

But, I am not going to think about that right now.

So what did I do for my bday?

Billy took the E first thing this morning, so I could sleep in. Then I was greeted with breakfast in bed and a sweet card from my girl and her daddy. Billy toiled diligently to clean the house, so I wouldn't have to do any housework on my special day.

We ended the day going to dinner with two of our favorite people, Ami and Scott. I enjoyed my fried pickles and sweet tea immensely. And E even sang "Happy Birthday" to me at the restaurant.

:)

Officially Crossed the Line

We have become "those parents".

You know the ones that are sitting obliviously behind you in the restaurant booth, while their kid hangs over the top of the booth staring at you and body slamming the seat every 10 seconds. The ones that let their kids run all over the grocery and block the aisles. The ones that you wish would just leave and take their spawn with them!!

Yep, put our names down on the list.

Tonight was our Christmas Party at work and everyone wanted us to bring E along. This sounded like a good idea because Emily is usually all smiles.

Not so much today.

See she missed her afternoon nap because we picked her up from daycare early...'Lina needs her beauty rest. The child screamed bloody murder almost non-stop the entire time we were at the party. But, don't think an inconsolable baby would prompt us to leave the party in any hurried fashion.

Finally, after almost 3 hours of walking around, bribing with binkies and bottles and passing her around, we took the irate pumpkin home. She passed out less than 50 feet from the parking lot.

What's really bad, is that we contemplated going back for just a split second.

And the "Parents of the Year" award goes to...

Oh Christmas Tree!

Fernando

There was something to Guillermo's right

The enamel was bright

Fernando!

(got to love ABBA)

Yes, Emily has a new tooth to keep Guillermo (the first tooth) company.

I tried to get a picture of the chompers, but they were shy...again!

But, I am not complaining too much, because I got these in the process.

And my personal favorite...

Prayers Needed!!

Wonderful things could be in the works for two good friends of ours.

Please, please keep them in your prayers over the next couple of days. I will give you a hint, it involves babies. Both couples would be so grateful to have a child to love and shower with affection. They would be great parents. And in one of the cases, the child is already here, and it would make the biggest difference in his life! He needs to be with them!

Please pray!!

I want an Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle!

We took Emily to see Santa yesterday. She asked for a pony, diamonds, a Bentley and a year's supply of diapers, formula and baby carrots.

Here are two videos from our Santa Encounter:

Unfortunately, events took a traumatic turn when E realized that Santa was uber creepy and wailed for the whole North Pole to hear! We are still pretty confident that she will stay on the "nice list".

Fairy Godmother

Happy Birthday Aunt Ami!!

You're the bestest GodMaMa ever.

We love you!

Christmas Angel

Check out our Christmas pictures taken this past weekend: http://www.robinwinklesphotography.com/Favorites/golden.htm.

Robin, the photographer, is wonderful!!

If you live in the Austin area, you must make an appointment to see her. We started with maternity photos and have taken Emily every 3 months for portraits.

Amazing and beautiful photos every time!

Plus, she has an awesome blog! I look at it all the time, even when I am not waiting for pictures.

Be sure to check her and her blog out:

www.robinwinklesphotography.com