A Million Dollar Smile

Today our handsome dude is 7 months old! Aiden has one of those smiles that will melt your heart before you even have a chance to fight it. He is truly the happiest baby and loves it when we sing to him. His favorite song is 'The Noble Duke of York' and he will laugh as we take him for a ride as we sing it to him. Aiden is working hard at learning how to sit up, but he has become a master at getting around the house. He gets around by rolling and scooting, but is very close to 'real' crawling. Emily and Aiden are the best of friends and I love watching them interact. These guys really make life worth it!

The Many Faces of Emily Sue

Before I begin, let me clarify for Aunt Holly and Aunt Melanie that Emily's middle name is still Renee and has not been changed to Sue ;). Now that that is out of the way, Emily is the queen of funny faces. She still does not talk in words we can understand, but her face says it all! Here are some pictures taken at dinner one night where Emily was definitely performing for the camera.

Big Girl Milestones

Emily had a very busy weekend growing and changing before our very eyes. On Friday afternoon we went to Target and bought her a potty chair! We are slowly introducing it to her, but she thinks it is a great place to sit and read. So far, that is as far as we have gotten. Saturday morning started with a BANG! We awoke to a loud crash coming from Emily's room. We rush in there to find Emily laying on the floor looking up at us and the crib that she had just escaped from. After a quick hug from Mommy, she wanted down and ran out of the room, obviously pleased with her accomplishment. Needless to say her crib was converted to a toddler bed that evening. The first night in her big girl bed was an adjustment but overall we were very impressed with how well she transitioned. At first she would get out of bed and quietly knock on her door for us to let her out. When that did not work, she ended up falling asleep standing up with her head on the mattress. After just a few nights, she became a pro! Emily, we love you so much, but would you please stop growing up so quickly???

Waltz across Texas

Daddy had to go to Florida for a week for work, so I decided to pack the kids up for a mini vacation of our own. The first part of our trip was to Plano to see Aunt Cheryl, Uncle Mike, Drew and Matthew. I thought I was going to be really smart and travel there at night so the kids would sleep. Well, at 12:30 am, Emily finally fell asleep...just in time for us to pull in the driveway! She woke up screaming and took a while to calm down. However, after a good nights rest, she woke up in a better mood and was ready to be social. We had so much fun swimming, shopping and playing with everyone...especially Matthew. Both kids really took to Matt and he was so good with them! He looked for bugs with Emmy, read books to her, and was even seen carrying Aiden around. He is such a great cousin! Emily swam 3 times on our first day there! She was in heaven!!! Aunt Cheryl also treated us to the Dallas Aquarium one day and Emily and Aiden had a ball! They loved watching the fish and sharks swim through the tunnels around them. At one point, Emily tried getting through the glass by laying on her tummy and inching herself backwards so she could swim with them!

After spending a few days with in Plano, I loaded the car back up and headed south to Georgetown to visit Mimi and Poppi, the kids' great grandparents. The kids were nice and spoiled here! Aiden loved cuddling with his Mimi and Poppi while Emmy loved exploring the house and Poppi's office. We tried to take the kids swimming one day, but at that pool the kids had to be 4 years old so we had to turn around and come back home. Even though we were kind of bummed about it, when we got back to the house, Emily took a long nap, so it ended up working out. Mimi and I also drove to a mall to let Emily play at the indoor playground. She had so much fun running around and interacting with the other kids while Aiden enjoyed watching from his seat in Mimi's lap. :)

We had such a fun time visting our family! Thank you so much for having us! We can't wait to come visit again!!!

Well Visits

Last week we took Emily in for her 18 month check up and Aiden in for his 6 month check up. Both kids had shots on their agenda, but otherwise checked out nicely. This was our first experience in dealing with both kids at the same time at the doctor so it was very nice that Daddy was able to be there to help. Emily weighed in at 25 lbs (55%), was 31 inches long (45%) and her head was 19 inches (90%). She is being referred to speech therapy but other than that, the doctor was pleased with her development. Aiden now weighs 15.6 lbs (25%), is 26 inches long (50%) and his head is 17 inches (30%). The kids are growing up so quickly and I sometimes wish there was a pause button I could push to freeze these precious moments. Since no such button exists, we try and cherish every day and soak up every cuddle, kiss and snuggle we can!

Happy 4th of July!

We had a wonderful 4th of July that was full of parades, good food, family fun and fireworks! We started our day off by participating in the Memorial 4th of July Parade with cousins Abi and Hailey. Even though it was HOT, the kids really enjoyed it. When we got to the end of the parade route there was lots of free food, drinks and entertainment. Emily loved the watermelon and wore the proof on her dress! :) After the parade we went home to put the kids down for a quick nap before meeting Cappy for a BBQ lunch. We went straight from lunch over to Uncle Chris and Aunt Kim's house for the girls to swim. Emily and Hailey had a great time playing in the water and eating cupcakes! When we got home, both Emily and Aiden were exhausted! Mommy really wanted them to see the fireworks but none of our neighbors were doing any. Disappointed, I put them to bed only to hear fireworks starting up about an hour later. So I did what any crazy mommy would do. I woke them up! We went outside and Emily's eyes instantly lit up with excitement! She was running up and down our sidewalk pointing and babbling nonstop. Aiden relaxed in daddy's lap but was not nearly as excited as his sister. Let's just say I was glad I woke them up...it was the perfect end to our very busy 4th of July. We hope you had a wonderful 4th of July full of many memories with your friends and family!

Emily was too busy calling all her friends telling them "Happy 4th of July" to take a picture with Aiden!