Emery Tracker: Twenty One Months

The Story
On December 6th our darling Emykins turned 21 months old.  For those of you who are more fractionally inclined, that is 1.75 years old.  For those of you who are mothers, that is dangerously close to having a mental breakdown over how your tiny baby is somehow well on her way to a little girl and not a toddler.

I have re-read her 18 month post about 10x now and I'm still not even sure where to start in terms of documenting all that's happened in the last 3 months.  Somehow, I'm not sure when, our angel went from barely-a-toddler to a toddler-going-on-preteen.  This kid is nothing if not sassy.  Okay, maybe hilarious also.  She has added too many words for me to even list out here.  The most commonly used ones are directive - "go!," "move!," "up!," and her standby - "NO!"  These words are first shouted and then if you don't heed her managerial skills quickly enough, can be soon followed up with physical action via either pulling you by the hand or "gently" guiding you with a shove to the shin.

Oh!  Why, hello.  Please come into my den.  (Note that pictures did not go well this day.  Sorry, little love.)

In addition to honing her delegating skills this past quarter, she has also really mastered people's names.  In addition to Mama, Daddy, Nonnie & Pawpaw from 18 months, she's now added quite a few of her classmates (Kalyn, Kate, Olivia, and Allen) to the mix plus more family members (Grandma, Kylie and Matt).  Just beyond 21 months, over Christmas, she also picked up Julie (Gulie) and David.  She also has started to really remember people and ask about them when they aren't around.  She can frequently be found "calling" either "Mott", Pawpaw, Nonnie or Kylie on the remote.  She has also learned who she is and typically refers to herself as "Meme," which turned into "Emy" shortly before Christmas and just after her 21 month birthday.

Her favorite game as of late is going through pictures on your phone and pointing out, very dramatically, who everyone is.  She will first excitedly exclaim who is in the picture and then point at them.  I don't recommend starting this game up though because no matter how long you have played it, if you try to stop you will be met with some loud "MOW! MOW!"ing complete with furious signing for "more."

As I mentioned previously in a post, Brynn is still referred to only as "da bebe."  If you ask her da bebe's name she generally refers to her as "Minnie," but if you ask her where Brynn is she will take you to the baby.  I promise she's saying Minnie because when prompted she CAN say Brynn.  So perhaps it's just her way of expressing disapproval for our naming skills?  Or maybe she's wishfully thinking that it would have been cool if we had brought home a real Minnie as opposed to a baby?  Neither answer would surprise me from this one.

Actually, maybe I don't want you in my den.

Emery now knows just about every (standard) animal I can think of and to say she loves them would be an understatement.  She is actually kind of obsessed with them.  She adores looking at them, telling you what they are and making the accompany sounds or hand gestures (hand gestures go with alligators and elephants).  She can't say every single one (flamingo) but if you see one in a sea of other animals, she can point to it.  Just recently she learned "walrus"- so any she doesn't recognize have now become "walrus".

Another thing I find hilarious that she's picked up is blaming things on other people.  She knows what "tooting" and "poo-pooing" are.  Generally if you hear her do it, her eyes will get wide.  If you ask her who did it, she tells you that "bebe" did it.  If you tell her bebe didn't do it, then she tells you "Da-ee" did it.  If you tell her it definitely wasn't Daddy then she tells you "Mama!"  I think you get the point. It's endlessly amusing to Ryan and I.  Which probably isn't helping to deter this behavior.  Such a goober.

In case you are worried that this child can tell no truth, don't worry.  If you "hit" her in any capacity, she is going to let us know.  Lola "hit" her with her tail probably 4 weeks ago and she reminds us of it nearly every other day.

Emery: "Back?"
Ryan/Me: "What happened to your back, honey?"
Emery: "Hit!"
Ryan/Me: "Who hit you?"
Emery: "WOWA!"  (complete with aggressive, accusatory pointing)

Hitting isn't relegated just to live creatures either.  Inanimate objects are equally as guilty of hitting.  The other day she plowed into Brynn's car seat as we were shuffling in from school pick up.  She wouldn't walk in the door until I acknowledged that the carseat had hit her head.  "Head!  Hit!"

Maybe I don't even want to be in this den.

Most of the things I talked about regarding her personality in her 18 month post continue to ring true. She's still a complete and total Da-ee's girl.  She has mainly stopped throwing jealous fits about Brynn but every once in a while Daddy picking up Brynn can ignite one.  As noted above, she continues to be well on her way to a career in middle management.  Generally she is just her own little sweet, sassy bag o' tricks and  I wouldn't trade her for a million Gingerbread lattes the world.

I could seriously go on forever about all the hysterical things I love about this age.  I know eventually I need to cut this bad boy off though.  So let me close this portion out with a couple of my favorite things she says and does currently... 1) the way she says beak ("bik"), 2) the way she says "dough cry," while vehemently shaking her head, any time she hears Brynn fussing, 3) if you ask her if she's funny she maniacally laughs while throwing her head back, 4) the way she says "weeeeeeeeet" (wait) while throwing both hands out to her sides when we talk about how Daddy is at "wurk" and coming home soon, 5) how she says "bwoke" on the pages that she ripped the flaps off of in her books.  I know there are more, but these are the ones that come to mind most readily.  I just could not love my little pumpkin pie any more and genuinely hope these things stay imprinted in my mind forever.

Do I look more into pics from this angle?  No?

The School Stuff

Emery continues to loooooooves school.  She happily leaves her Daddy in the dust each day when she gets there and doesn't look back.  The baby dolls and the reading corner are still the places I am most likely to find her each day when I pick her up.  She has started to talk about some of her classmates when she comes home from school.  When I say "talk" about I mean sometimes if you ask her what something's name is, she will use a name of one of her friends from school.  Also from time to time when I ask her if she played with her friends at school, she will say one of their names.  If I pull a picture up on my phone from their Facebook page and show her them, she can excitedly point out who they all are.

As you can likely tell from the above, she's picking up and learning all the things you would expect of toddlers.  There are plenty of incident reports (see: hitting, biting) to evidence this.  Before Miss Brynn arrived, one of her teachers was asking me about the new baby.  She echoed my sentiments before I even shared them by saying, "she really loves the baby dolls- so that's good, but she's just a liiiiiittle bit territorial."  Mmmmhmm, you can say that again.  Good to know she's completely herself at school?

Great - I'm outta here then.

The Stats:

• Height:  33"?  (We are terrible at measuring her and there's no dr appointment)
• Weight: 29 pounds
• Head:  HA!  Good luck getting her to sit still for that.  Big enough that the 2T-4T hat I ordered her is already too small
• Diaper Size:  We bit the bullet and moved up to 5
• Clothes: Mainly 18-24 months but towards the end of this time frame the pants were looking a little short and some 2T things were getting worked into the rotation
• Shoes:  Can still fit in size 5's but we sometimes put her in 6's
• Beverages:  Water and milk ("moke")... she used to alternate but as I write this she ONLY wants milk
• Food Likes:  Loves sweets (envision an endless stream of "mow, mow"ing) and carbs.  She's for sure her mama's child, anything in a pouch, generally always likes yogurt and fruit
• Food Dislikes:  On any given day she could hate anything but on pretty much every day she hates veggies (sad face)
• Words:  Oh so many as pointed out above.  The main takeaway from the quarter is how rapidly her vocabulary has expanded.  She can say SO MANY more words than she did before.  There are also many that she can't say but that she understands.  She also has started to string some words together to make tiny, directive sentences "Mama sit there," "Wowa, move," etc.
• Games:  As I said above her favorite thing is looking at pictures on people's phones and pointing out the things she recognizes.  
• Favorite Toys:  She loves her animals and treats them like babies.  She will put them in Brynn's swing, bouncer.  She covers them up with blankets to go night-night.  She also loves books- primarily for the pictures.
• Other Notables:  She's hysterical.  Not a day goes by that Ryan and I don't laugh at her.  She might be the funniest toddler on the planet.  Totally not biased.  

That tree looks like something I would like to get into though.  See you guys again at 2 years!

Thanksgiving

Welcoming a new member of the family 9 days before Thanksgiving caused the Martin family holiday plan to deviate slightly from our standard routine.  The idea of packing up a newborn with an erratic eating schedule, and exhibiting signs of disdain for car seats akin to her older sisters, to be chauffeured by two sleep-deprived parents on a tour o' the city frankly caused Ryan and I to break out in hives.  Luckily our generous families understood and appeased our anxiety by agreeing to bring Thanksgiving to our house.

On Thursday November 27th, the actual day of Thanksgiving, Ryan's parents, Kylie & Tiffany played meals on wheels and brought a delectable spread with all the trimmings over to eat with us.  Thanks to the general scatterbrained state I was in, I took no pictures during the actual event.  Way to go, Mom.  Small silver lining?  I did manage to snap a few, albeit awful, photos of Emery & Brynn beforehand.  You'll just have to take my word that everyone was there and that we had a wonderful time.

I wasn't sure exactly when this lovebug would grace us with her presence, or how large she would be, so I didn't purchase any Thanksgiving duds for her.  Get used to these types of #mamafails, honey pie.

This one had zero interest in posing as requested.  Punishment?  A shot from behind.  At her age it's really not nearly as effective a disciplinary action as it is once you're my age.

Em really dug her turkey skirt.  Can't blame her- girlfriend looked good.

The next day, Friday November 28th (Happy Birthday Grandma!) my parents, Matt, Julie &David tried their hand at playing Meals on Wheels by delivering yet ANOTHER incredible feast to our newly minted family of four.  Once again- I took no pictures except before everyone arrived of our own little turkeys.  Maybe next year I'll have evidence that we actually hang out with others?  No promises though.  As always, the food was second only to the company.

What else do I need to put into my cart?  Is 48 animals enough?  Can I squeeze a 49th in?  Being 20 months old comes with such tough decisions.

Admiring bebe.  Then showing off her manual bouncing skills.

If you can't eat any of the goodies, you may as well just sleep.

I know this isn't my most verbose or picture heavy post, but Thanksgiving is not only one of my favorite holidays but it couldn't be a more appropriate one to celebrate right after having my second little miracle.  I truly can't thank our families enough for agreeing to bring the celebration to us.  We'll never be able to accurately express just how much it meant to us.  You guys are definitely the reason for the season!  I look forward to attempting to repay you all in 2015!

Sister Act

In the late afternoon on November 18th, Nonnie went and picked Emery up from school to come up to the hospital to meet her little sister.  The introduction was a moment that I'd been anticipating from the second I found out I was pregnant, and even more so when I found out that Bucket was a girl.  I've always been so grateful for the siblings my parents gifted me and I pray that my girls feel the same way.

Given her age and how well I know my little boog, I have to admit that I was slightly worried.  (Slightly might be an understatement.)  Sure, I had no doubt that she loooooved herself some baby as noted in her 18 month post, I just wasn't sure how she would feel about the screaming variety as opposed to the type you put in a bucket.  I figured any screaming she would have to endure would just be karma though. My main concern was how she would handle sharing "her people."  Emery had grown attached to "her" support system over her 20 month reign as queen of the Martin household.

Luckily from the second she walked into that hospital room door Emery has been VERY excited about "da bebe" (she has yet to adopt calling her sister or Brynn even as I sit here writing this a month later).  She loves looking at bebe and pointing her out to people.  She loves to show you, and bring you, the things that belong to bebe.  However, as I suspected, she does NOT like when one of "her people" picks bebe up.  The first few times that happened Emery launched into an Oscar-winning fit that was more than a little heart wrenching.  Over time, thankfully, this has subsided.  Are things perfect?  Definitely not but there are more aww-inducing moments than "omg-do-I-need-to-give-one-away" incidents.

I remember the first time I watched Ryan hold Emery, and then again with Brynn, thinking that my heart could not possibly feel any more full.  It turns out I was wrong.  Watching my girls together, even if one or both or screaming, truly takes the cake.  There is something so indescribably special about knowing that she has a built-in best friend.  I feel confident that one day these two will grow to love each other as much, and share the same type of bond, that I do with my own sister.  Hopefully they will look back on these pictures with as much pride and joy in their hearts as I do knowing that this is where it all began.

This was the first look Emery got at Brynn.  Please note the size of that beam.

This is a familiar sight around here - Emery pointing and saying "bebe!"

Just 2 mamas with their girl(s).

Emery is probably telling Aunt Googoo she better not dare touch that baby.

She reallllly wanted to hold baby.  Unfortunately her idea of holding is aggressively showing us Brynn's "mouth," "nowse," and "eeeyes."  It's a wonder Brynn still has both eyes at this point.

Not a great picture of any of us but man do I love it anyway.  (P.S. When Emery came home from school with that scratch on Monday I told Ryan that it was a sure sign I'd have the baby the next day so that it would be forever immortalized in pictures.  Turns out I was totally right.)

Brynn brought her big sister a present- a crawling Minnie and a book about sisters.

You know.  Just hanging out in bed with Minnie.

Popping a squat...

.... and subsequently making everyone else follow suit.  It may have been Brynn's day but Emery was the dictator.

That's a wrap.  Did I mention this was (tied for) the best day of my life?

My Favorite Birthday

You may have noticed that this post is titled "My Favorite Birthday."  This might lead you to worry that upon her arrival our newest edition ousted big sister from her thrown.  Do not fear, that is the title of Emery's birthday post as well.  Why not a sequel like my pregnancy posts?  Because they are both legitimately my favorite birthdays.  Neither is more special, sacred or important to me than the other.  That might sound like I'm trying to be diplomatic, but it's sincerely just the truth.  Before you have your second you wonder how on earth you can love another creature as much as you love your existing earth-dwelling child.  At 10:14 AM on November 18th when our newest pride and joy, Miss Brynn Marie, arrived - I suddenly understood.

As I mentioned before, I was stubbornly resisting a scheduled induction.  The last few weeks at my regular appointments Brynn was measuring large (7 lbs 9 oz at 36 weeks and 8 lbs and 9 oz at 38.5 weeks), I was making good progress (4 cm & 70% at 38 weeks) and my doctor reminded me regularly that she would be happy to schedule an induction if I wanted.  I felt very strongly that I wanted Brynn to pick her own birthday though.  Heaven knows I'll control enough other things in her life, whether I mean to or not.

November 17th, her due date, came and went with no baby arrival much to mine and Nonnie's chagrin.  I'd been having irritating contractions for weeks, so I didn't think too much of the contractions I felt that day during my lunch-time walk nor than evening before Ryan and I went to sleep.  When I term them "irritating", I believe it's warranted.  I kept having what I'd deem peek-a-boo contractions.  They would come very regularly for about an hour and then just... disappear.  I thought on the evening of November 17th that they were a little stronger but given my history I was pretty hesitant to tell anyone that.

At 4:30 am on Tuesday November 18th I woke up, as I'd done many times in the weeks leading up to it, and felt a contraction.  I opened my iPhone timing app and started timing.  The same way I had maaaaaany times in the 3 weeks before.  After 2 contractions I felt in my gut that this was probably the real deal.  I figured I should go ahead and take a shower to make sure they hung around before I got anyone worked up.  After a quick shower I told Ryan he needed to wake up because I thought we needed to go to the hospital.  Sleepy Papa Bear kindly responded, "why?"  Even he didn't trust my contractions at this point.  After he witnessed a yelp during a contraction he called his Dad to come stay with Emery and quickly got ready himself.

The wait for Ryan's dad to arrive around 6:15 felt like the longest 45 minutes of my life.  My contractions continued to get stronger and by the end I was hunching over and squeezing the crap out of Ryan's hand during them.  We got to the hospital around 6:30 and they wheeled me up to Labor & Delivery.  They sent me to triage where more waiting that felt like years ensued.  By the time they finally checked me the nurse said "Oh- we're going to have a baby.  Soon."  I was at 7 cm and I immediately burst into tears as I was sure that meant I wasn't going to get an epidural.

Around 7:30 they got me into a room and my Mom arrived.  By the time they checked me then I was at an 8 bordering on 9.  Thankfully they got the anesthesiologist in there stat and I got my epidural around 8:35.  My doctor also came by and broke my water.  Life got a lot better post epidural.  Puppy dogs and rainbows, people.

As you may recall from Emery's birth story, Ryan finds documentation of traffic conditions imperative.  Here are the roadways from Sir Hospital Sky Eye on Brynn's birthday.

Ryan talked me into "one last pregnant picture."  I blame that on how excited I was for the relief the epidural provided.

Around 9:25 or so the nurse came by and told me I was at a solid 9 but that Brynn's head wasn't positioned exactly correctly.  She rotated me into some very yoga-esque pose and told me she'd be back to check on me in 30 minutes but that I should call if I thought I needed her before.  About 5 minutes later I stopped my Mom mid-sentence and told her to call the nurse.  The nurse came and confirmed it was go time.  

Again- more waiting.  It felt like it took forevvvvver for my doctor to make it from the medical building next door.  Then, miraculously, at 10:14 am our darling lovebug joined us.  She had a head full of dark hair, the cutest chipmunk cheeks anyone has ever seen and dark eyes.  Love at first sight is equally as fulfilling the second time around as it is the first.  

Oh, and she tipped the scales at 9 lbs 4 oz and 21" long.  This is funny because at 36 weeks the two measured EXACTLY the same size.  With Emery, everyone was convinced she was going to be a big girl.  When she was born (8 lbs and 21.5") my doctor's direct quote was "Oh, you aren't as big as I thought you'd be."  So I assumed that Brynn would be roughly the same size.  This time around everyone was surprised at, and commented on, how big she was.  Not the last time that these two will surprise us, I'm sure.

Just getting her stretches in.  Emery warned her the real world is rough.

Pondering why she decided to ditch her previous abode for THIS.

Footprints.  Baby's first autograph.

Do you not just want to pinch those cheeks through your screen?  No?  Just me?

For about an hour, Miss Brynn hung out with just Mama, Daddy & Nonnie.  The bonus of the second time around is that you know how special those first few moments of soaking her in on your own are and I was so much better at actively doing it.  After our initial bonding sesh, Brynn's fan club started to arrive.  First Grandma came by to see her.  

Hi Grandma!

At some point, I don't even know what time because who can keep track of such things when there's a gorgeous baby to snuggle, we got transferred to our post partum room.  Then Aunt Julie came by, bearing Panera I might add, to meet the newest target of all her spoiling.  Bringing Panera might have made her my second favorite person that day (after Brynn- duh).  She knows that the way to all good Boarman women's hearts is through their tummy.

Ugh.  Guys.  Enough with these pictures.  Can't a girl just get some sleep?

Proud Grandma.

Proud Auntie.

Gah, I just love her.

Proud parents.  Not sure Brynn was so proud to call us her's with that hair I was rocking.

Later that evening, both Pawpaws, David, Jen and Brendan came by to dote on baby B as well.  Of COURSE, Brynn also got to meet her big sister that day but I'm saving that for it's own post just because being gifted a sister will hopefully be one of the most important moments in both of their lives.  Obviously that deserves it's own moment in the sun.  Plus... there are probably too many pictures.  Shocking?

Jen and Brendan.  I promise they didn't actually look like they were interviewing Julie about her new child in real life.

As with Emery, and I am sure any new parents' stay in the hospital, those first few days are a total whirlwind of sleeplessness, groggy discussions with doctors and much screaming... typically by baby.  Photographic documentation of this time:

Awake and just admiring her Daddy.

My precious baby.

We got to take our newest family member home on Thursday November 20th to start life as a family of four, which we were so, so ready to do.

Oh #*%#.  Do they know you guys think you're going to take me from here?  I hear there's a needy dog and a noisy kid where you live.  I'm not sure I'm on board.

Mom, does this giant flower make me look fat?

So you're my chauffeur for the past 9 months, huh?  Let's talk about that singing, shall we?

Sister told me genetically I'm supposed to hate this thing.

Once again, November 18th was the greatest day of my life.  I can't thank my team enough for all their love, support and encouragement.  From texts to phone calls to emails to flowers to bringing us food- you all helped immensely.  As if meeting the newest love of your life isn't smile-inducing enough, being reminded of how loved you are through others' thoughtfulness and actions truly makes your heart feel like it might burst.  Of course, very special thank yous to my amazing husband, who knows when to make me laugh and when to just let me squeeze the crap out of his hand, and to my mother, because there's no one who can soothe your soul the way your mama can.  I am not sure what I would have done without either of you.  We are just almost as blessed to have you in our lives as we are to have two healthy, gorgeous daughters to call our own.  In conclusion- happiest of birthdays to the piece of our family we didn't realize was missing.  We all love you to bits Brynn Marie!

The 40 (Week) Old... Pregnant Lady

Why HELLO there long-lost blog world.  Are you getting tired of hearing that phrase this year?  I'm getting tired of typing it, that's for shizzle.  Maybe more timely blogging will be my 2015 resolution?  We will see what my bosses (read: children) have to say about that.

For now, let's turn back the hands of time to the days of yore.  The days when sweet baby sister was still in my belly and I was desperate to change that, shall we?  It feels like so long ago now...  Did you notice that this post wasn't a sequel?  That's because I didn't make it to 40 weeks with Miss Emery.  I induced with her at 39 weeks and 3 days.  Because that wasn't the smoothest ride for me, I was bound and determined not to do that this time around.  I succeeded!

So, I hit 40 weeks on November 17th, my due date.  I honestly did not expect to hit 40 weeks.  Why, you ask?  Oh, because on Sunday October 26th (36 weeks & 6 days), Ryan, Baby Sister and I spent the night in the hospital because I was vomiting and having contractions 3 minutes apart.  I was pretttty nervous that her highness was about to pull an Amy and make her world debut far ahead of schedule.  I didn't even have my bag packed, guys.  Luckily we learned that I had an infection and that is what was causing my contractions.  I was put on antibiotics and that slowed them down.  So on October 27th we were sent on our way expecting that based on the progress the contractions had made that I would be back in a week or so.  Little Miss didn't get that memo though, apparently.  I guess she just felt pretty strongly that a warning shot needed to be fired to get me to tackle the last few things on my to-do list.  She knows me well because the message was received and heeded.

Thanks to the little practice run, the last 3 weeks and change were brutal for me because I expected that at any moment my water could break and it would be go time.  Had it not been for the little mishap above, I'd have gone about my business as normal expecting that this baby would come around her due date if not later because if I learned anything from Emery, it's that my tummy makes for a very comfy abode.  Not one that's easy to leave.  This elevated level of anticipation plus heightening discomfort made me fairly unpleasant to be around.

To save my co-workers from potentially having to rush me to the hospital, and/or dealing with my grouchiness, I worked from home starting on Monday November 9th.  If you know me, you know I'm not big on working from home.  I'm not that fun to be around and my only colleague (Lola) during that time did a lot of farting.  I was so ready guys.  So ready.

That's about all I can remember from the last 4 weeks or so.  At this point as I sit here watching my precious angel sleep I am too excited to remember all the nuances and/or want to document them.  I'm ready to skip ahead to the fun part... when she made her world debut.  Hopefully I get to that part soon.  In the meantime, enjoy a few pics from the farewell tour of the baby bump.

37 weeks - post evening in the hospital.  I really wasn't interested in dressing up for this photo op, clearly.

38 weeks.  Baby girl was pretttttty prominent.

39 weeks.  I apparently thought a scarf might distract from my large bump.  Wishful thinking.

40 Weeks & 1 day.  This was my last pregnant belly pic at 5:00 am before we hopped in the car to head to the hospital.

What was I doing during my last week of work from the Katy Office, you ask?  Well, working, but also this.  I thought maybe if I gave her a place to sit it might inspire her to get her booty out.

Also this.  A LOT of walking.  This is a true testament to how badly I wanted her here with us.  It was very cold the week before baby girl was born and I walked every day at lunch.  With earmuffs.  And fuzzy socks.  My girls will be embarrassed of me one day- why not start now?

HalloBEEn 2014

In my younger years I don't ever recall being a fan of Halloween.  I'm not much for dressing up.  However, as an adult I've found that I love it because it means that I'm bombarded with pictures of people's adorable pets and kids.  Plus, hey, free candy!  Somehow this perk never fully resonated with me before- maybe it's the pregnancy?  Having a tiny minion to go out and do the dirty work that I benefit from is definitely something I've learned to get on board with.

Obviously, as with any Holiday, a one-use outfit was required.  As was a pre-7 am photo shoot to evidence the existence and use of said outfit.  What kind of mother would I be without these things?  The answer is probably one with a happier husband, but I digress.  So here is the best we could do with a wiggly toddler pre-school time.

I thought we were going?  You know they have cheerios waiting on me at school, don't you lady?

One smile.  That's all I'll give you.  Then it's seriously cheerio time.

Whoa, whoa.  How did this get here?

In case you were worried Baby B missed the costume boat.  She was a "pu-kin" as Emery kept pointing out.

As you may recall, last year Miss Em was a peacock.  This year we decided to keep things in the animal kingdom but we traded in a feathered tail for a stinger.  How did we select this costume, you may ask?  Mainly because at the time that I ordered the costume Emery was really into telling you what the bee says (bzzz for those of you who don't speak bee).  Since then, as is common with our diva, once she has mastered something she then quickly gets lazy with it.  Nowadays if you ask her what a bee says she will either look at you bored or say something to the effect of "bbbbb".  I suppose you might call her "efficient".

We had quite the jam-packed Halloween schedule of social events.  At 4:30 PM there was a costume parade at Emery's school.  My parents had decided to come out to the house on Halloween evening to get to witness our Queen Bee in her full glory so they decided to meet up early to take in her school parade as well.  Bless the dear souls who teach at her school who changed ALL these children into their costumes and somehow managed to get them to "parade" in some semblance of an organized manner.  Watching them in action made it very apparent to me that my calling in life was definitely color-coding spreadsheets.  I was pretty shocked at how well our little bee stayed with her class and strutted her stinger.

Hey Spiderman.  Want to race?

Just your average bee/lady bug/pig hand holding trio.

Working it.

She was legitimately confused to see people she knew.

Is everyone else decorating their pu-kin?  I was kind of digging just playing with this glue stick.  Yeah?  We're doing this?

Glue stick or ham & cheese sandwich?  Ohhhh, tough call.

 Nonnie and her little bee.

After this parade we headed home, met up with Daddio, and booked it over to a parade in our neighborhood that we had seen signs out for.  We really had absolutely no idea what it was but clearly we were into parades for Halloween.  We showed up and learned that a firetruck and cop car come, turn on their lights and all the kiddos follow them around for a lap of the neighborhood and then go trick or treating afterwards.  Our little insect had the time of her life chasing after lots of dogs, children and essentially anything else that moved while waiting for the firetruck and cop car to show up.  By the time the parade leaders organized themselves, this Mama's feet were the size of tree trunks and Em was rapidly losing interest in being detained in her stroller.  So we all headed home to eat some dinner and hand out candy.

Ryan somehow managed to procure, receive and hide this "Beekeeper" costume until right before we left for the neighborhood parade.  Little did he know it takes more than a costume to wrangle this one.

Checking out the fire truck.  Or some cowboys.  Hard to say which.

All in all, it was an awesome Halloween and I really look forward to doing it with TWO outfitted lovebugs next year.  (Remind me that I said this when I'm sweating before 7 am during our photoshoot).  I hope you all had just as be-witching of a time as we did!