Pumpkins and a Strawberry

We packed in a bunch of fun fall and Halloween activities in the last couple of weeks! There is just something about fall...it's my favorite! Emery was only 7 months old last year around Halloween, so we didn't do much more than trunk or treat at our church and a little trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. This year, we got to introduce her to all kinds of fun fall activities!

The weekend before Halloween, we took Emery to the pumpkin patch! This hay bale was painted like a jack-o-lantern which didn't quite make it in the picture...oops. She loved sitting up here!

She kept trying to pick up giant pumpkins!

Nothing sweeter than her reaching up to hold my hand.

Emery also tried to sit down on several pumpkins. It was too funny! Just taking a little rest...

Walking with Daddy... I love this picture so much.

This one looks like a good one to sit on! I can't even. This just cracks me up.

Maybe if Daddy helps, she can pick it up. :)

My sweet girl and me. I love her so much.

She finally found a pumpkin she could pick up! She kept throwing this little one off the truck!

The next day we got to get dressed up and go to our church's trunk or treat. Our sweet little strawberry! She caught on really fast that we were going from trunk to trunk collecting candy. She put some of it in her bag, but she always had a piece or two in her hand saying, "open? open?" I have no idea how much she ate, but she did not go to sleep that night until after 10:00!!

Emery also got her first taste of popcorn and was definitely a fan. We heard lots of "more"!

We also got to see Super Girl and walk around with her for a little bit! And my little strawberry is smiling! {But of course she's not looking...most of the time it's either one or the other!}

I love this...it's so cute of Vanna, but Emery is way more interested in the fact that Vanna has M&Ms!

Creeping a little closer to the M&Ms... {By the way, Vanna definitely shared! She loves to share with Emery!}

A couple of nights before Halloween, we carved a pumpkin! It had an Elmo face...of course. ;)

She watched Daniel for a few minutes and then she decided to throw leaves instead. She throws them up and says "yay!!!"

She *loved* the Elmo pumpkin! She still goes to the window and says "Elmo?" and "hello!" We had to turn it around so she could see the face from inside. :)

The weather for Halloween was supposed to be super rainy, so we headed to Publix that night to do a little early trick-or-treating. It was so cute! They passed out candy in every department and had little games that the kids could play.

Of course, as soon as she saw candy she kept saying "open? open?" This girl loves her some candy! {Just like mama...and daddy.}

Once we got home, it was starting to mist, so we decided to head out and do a little trick-or-treating in the neighborhood.

I think she knew we were about to get more candy!

Love my little strawberry girl.

We did about 6 houses and it just kept raining harder and harder...so we headed home. :( We still got several trick-or-treaters, though! Emery loved going to the door and saying "hey!"

Emery was very timid when we were out trick-or-treating and would only take one or two pieces of candy, but once we were home, she dug in to our candy bowl with both hands!

An appropriate place to end...a mouthful of candy. ;)

  

Life Lately

We've had a busy few weeks! I always tell myself I'm going to try to do a blog post at lease once a week so they don't take me as long {and aren't super long posts}, but the days just always fly by so fast and time gets away from me. So, now at 10:00 on a Thursday night, I'm finally getting around to it. Here are some little glimpses into our life lately...sweet little memories that I might otherwise forget. :)

Emery does this when it's time to pray. <3 We had my dad's birthday dinner at our house a couple of weeks ago and Emery sat in her high chair with her hands like this for probably five minutes!! Maybe all that talking about patience is sinking in?! Usually, when she knows it's almost dinner time, she gets pretty impatient {that's kind of an understatement}...or at the very least, she grabs a few bites off her plate while we're praying.

If Emery sees me getting food ready, she'll say "more" to ask for a bite. Sometimes, she'll walk off eating whatever I give her and then come right back in the kitchen saying "more? more?" I love how she says "more" and "cheese"!



Two sweet {matching} cousins. I think I'm going to have to frame this one. Emery calls Vanna "Nana".

Daniel had a meeting at church on Saturday morning a couple of weeks ago, so I took Emery to the fall festival in the little town just a few minutes away from our house. The weather was perfect for Starbucks, boots, and a jacket...what could say "fall" more, right? It was a pretty perfect morning until I spilled my coffee *twice* because I hit bumps in the sidewalk. :-\

Emery knows and loves the Starbucks cup! She managed to get a hold of the cup after this picture and spilled some on herself. I'm pretty sure that was a cursed cup of coffee.

I love peeking in the back seat and seeing these precious little feet back there...especially the kitty feet.

Later I looked back and she had her legs sticking straight up. So funny!

First little ponytail!

If she can't grab my hand, she's holding on to my clothes. It's like I'm on a leash. ;) It can get a little challenging at times, but I know one day I'll miss that little hand constantly reaching for me. {Okay, seriously...I'm tearing up.}

Emery loves playing with the little pumpkins on the porch...and she always tries to pick up the big one. :)

We've been going to Kindermusik classes for a several weeks and Emery is really coming out of her shell! She used to never leave my side to get an instrument or listen to the story, but now she pops right up when the instruments come out and will leave my lap to go sit with the teacher when she reads the story. She also always puts the instruments away when it's time without crying...the first week she had a come apart when it was time to put away the ball. It makes me so proud of her that she's becoming more independent, but also a little sad, too.

Waiting to get her sticker...all by herself.

This silly girl walks around with her Mega Bloks bag on her head saying "peeeeek!"

Watching Elmo on a rainy morning. I'm pretty sure she was trying to give Elmo kisses.

She climbed up on our bed the other day and opened my Bible. She can say "Bible" and she knows to be careful with it. She was turning the pages so carefully. Moments like this make me pray even more that she grows up to be a woman who loves and serves the Lord!

And I have to end with a precious video I got this week. Emery loves "beeping" noses and thinks it's pretty hilarious. If you watch all the way to the end, you'll hear the cutest little "yay!!" She says it all. the. time. I love it! <3

  

Life Lately

Well, it's been almost a month already since I last posted...how that happened is beyond me. I just can't keep us with how fast the days go by! Here's what's been going on our in our little life lately...

Emery got to try out coloring this month! She loved it and was super focused the whole time.

She's now tall enough to reach our kitchen drawers and she *loves* the drawer with my measuring cups and spoons. Sometimes she'll bring me one measuring spoon at a time and pretend like she's feeding me something.

These sweet girls love riding in their car at my parents' house. Vanna is such a good little driver. Every time they come to a stop, Emery says "uggie" because she wants to go again. :)

Daddy picked Buffalo Wild Wings for his birthday dinner. It was pretty cruel if you ask me. He'd been saying he wanted to go to Cheesecake Factory all week and changed his mind at the last minute.

Emery loves her Sesame Street place mats. She says "Elmo" and "Cookie" for Cookie Monster...

...and she does this for Oscar the Grouch. We die laughing every time she does it. It's like the least grouchy thing ever.



Trying on her new winter coat...I can't hardly stand how cute it is!

I can't hardly believe my baby is big enough to walk with me and hold my hand. She's constantly reaching for our fingers to hold and wanting to take us places {usually to the spot where we keep M&Ms "emmys"}.

Playing peekaboo with herself in her crib. She'll cover herself up, say "Emmmyeeeee", pull the blanket off, and laugh hysterically. It is just too funny. <3

Celebrating my birthday at Chuy's!

Since our birthdays are just a few days apart, we always go out on a joint birthday date. We went to Starbucks after dinner and sat in the same spot where we sat on our second date. <3

One of Emery's newest phrases is "no way!" Oh yes. Sometimes it's hilarious and sometimes, not so much. This video makes me laugh every single time, though. I'm glad I caught it on video, and now that I have it forever she can stop saying it!


My sweet, sweet little pumpkin!!! How can this sweet little person yell "no way!"?? :)

Daniel was out of town last Sunday and I was scheduled to sing on praise team, so I had to take Emery with me to rehearsal on Sunday morning. I couldn't have asked for her to be any better! She played with her blocks and entertained everybody with her dancing.

This girl *loves* music and will dance to just about anything! I love how she tries to tuck the block under her chin so she can clap!!



Daddy got home Sunday night and Emery got in some extra snuggles. <3

We had a bunch of gloomy days, so when we finally had a sunny morning last week, we went to the park! I just love how she holds my hand.

She's all over the park now! It amazes me!

We went to our first fall festival of the season this past weekend. Vanna was so sweet and wanted to carry Emery's backpack. :)

These girls are just too sweet. There was music playing, so of course Emery was dancing. And how adorable are those little cat flats?!

Emery was worn out from all the fall festival fun.

I rode a spinning ride with Vanna that night and I have to say, I was definitely feeling my age. These spinning rides used to be my absolute favorite! I could ride them over and over again, but wow, I was pretty glad when this thing finally slowed down. We had so much fun together, though! {And look at that sweet little snow cone face!}

I bought this fun little cookie pop kit at Walmart and we had so much fun making these jack-o-lantern Oreos! Emery was hanging out in the big chair watching Elmo...her current favorite!

What a cute little pumpkin princess!

We had lunch at church with our deacon family today and Emery made her way around the room collecting name tags. She's really starting to get into stickers. :) Vanna wrote some of the name tags and on my dad's she wrote, "Mike Gampa" because she calls him Gampa. I just thought that was too cute and funny! She wrote Emery's name tag, too. I love that sweet handwriting.

Emery kept coming to get Nana and Gampa so she could get them to walk around the halls with her.

Then we came home and had some Sunday afternoon snuggles.

It really doesn't get much better than this.

Daniel had a deacons' meeting tonight at church so Emery and I went outside to check out the leaves and acorns. I'm not sure what was so fun about it, but she loved throwing these acorns off the bench.

We are just absolutely *loving* this stage she's in right now! We are so thankful for her and the joy she brings to us!