Happy Halloween!

from our pumpkin patch, to yours!

See What We See

So, Emmy has been doing the soldier crawl across the room, and I've attached a clip of that.
Also, she's very into clapping and cheesy grins...see for yourself. She got a new Pooh bear from Fred & Lenny, and as is clearly evident, she loves it!

Finally!

Man, oh man, it's finally raining here. It started late yesterday afternoon, and has rained all day today. Last check of the rain gauge by Keith was about 4 inches! We've been in such a terrible drought all summer, so this was most definitely a much needed soaker. I think the rain will taper off by tomorrow morning, and hopefully the rain clouds won't stay away for so long again.

We had planned to go to Statesville on Saturday with some friends to attend Balloon Fest. They launch hot air balloons in the morning and afternoon, and it's supposed to be quite a sight to behold. It's a huge event, with an arts & crafts fair, tastings of NC wines, and live entertainment. Unfortunately, all the rain has made the fields a muddy mess, so we'll probably pass this year. Next year Emmy will enjoy it more anyway.

Emmy is participating in Kindermusik each Thursday at daycare. She's been clapping all week, so I think she's picking it up a little! I put the CD in the car today that the teacher sent home, and Emmy squealed all the way to daycare as we listened. I can't say this is going to be my favorite CD, so I think I'll have to look around for some decent Emmy tunes! (I don't think she's a fan of Morning Edition on NPR, but Mommy gets to choose the channel for now!)

Beach Trip

I had a CME conference in Virginia Beach this weekend, and Emmy & Keith came along for some beach time. The hotel where the event was taking place was a beachfront Hilton. We had an ocean front room on the 10th floor with a balcony that looked over the boardwalk and the sea. It was so nice to smell the salty air and see the waves crashing below. We took Emmy's swimsuit because there was an indoor pool...unfortunately, it was drained for maintenance! There was also a rooftop pool, but when Keith tried to get in, decided the water was too cold for Em. He snapped some pics of her in her suit (I had nothing to do with the fact that it's on backwards!), and then let her play in the tub. As long as she could splash, she was happy. After my conference, we went down to the beach and let her discover the sand. I got some really good shots of her on the beach that I'll share. Be sure to check out the photo gallery for the trip pics. Emmy and I walked down to the water and got our toes wet. We had an excellent seafood dinner Saturday night, and took a long walk down the boardwalk. We got up the next morning and walked the other direction on the boardwalk and had a nice breakfast at an open air cafe with a beach view and breeze. The weather was wonderful and it was a very nice way to spend the morning.

Emmy is so *SO* close the crawling. She gets very frustrated because she hasn't quite figured out the mechanics of the arm/leg motion, and she rocks back & forth ferociously! Then she howls because that doesn't move her across the room.

Happy Fall, Ya'll

We had a nice weekend...great fall weather with highs in the upper 60's/low 70's and lots of sunshine. This is really my favorite time of year! We had my Dad, his friend, and my brother visiting from Indiana this weekend. They drove down and brought a ton of frozen veggies from Dad's garden. We bought a small freezer chest to store all the goodies (unfortunately, the only place we have to put it is our bedroom...you might be a redneck...) We all went out for dinner Friday night to celebrate our 4th wedding anniversary. Everyone enjoyed their menu choices, and Emmy was totally happy as long as you kept feeding her. She is turning into a little oinker! She must be hitting a growth spurt, as she just can't seem to fill up! She ate mashed potatoes for the first time, and I'll attach a photo from that adventure. Good thing it was bath night. On Saturday, we visited a local farm to find a pumpkin. Emmy was less than thrilled with the whole thing, but I still managed to get a couple good pics. She was totally experiencing some stranger anxiety, and would screech everytime her Grandpa tried to hold her. Of course, the deep gravely voice and bushy goatee might have had something to do with that too. By the end of the weekend, she was trying to yank on his hair and smiling. We are entering into the separation anxiety stage as well...mama simply must NOT leave her line of sight, and Daddy is simply NOT an acceptable substitute! Dropping her off at daycare has become an ordeal, but it's not quite as bad if the other kids are already there as a distraction. She does love to play! I really think she'll be crawling within 2 weeks or so. She keeps getting up on all four's and rocking back & forth. She doesn't quite have the knees pulled up enough yet. She was doing the "soldier scoot" across the floor tonight...not quite the soldier crawl, but not rolling across the floor either. I was surprised to find her at my feet when she had just been 5-7 feet away!

Check It Out!

Thanks to my good friend, Chadman, I think I've finally found a photo gallery that will work well for everyone. Flickr seems to be a great tool, and it's easy to use. I've uploaded some new October photos of Em, so click on the Photo Gallery Link at the right and check them out. You should be able to save or print any of these photos (and even choose the size...after clicking the photo, look under additional info to choose photo size).

She Finally Said It!

We heard Emmy say "da-da" for the first time today! Keith was so excited....he said, "that's me!". Such a good baby girl!