i(Phone) Spy: Months Thirteen through Fifteen - Emery

You know what 3 months worth of iPhone dumps mean?  MORE PICTURES and thus more distraction from your regularly scheduled work program.  You're welcome.  :c)  Happy (very belated) 15 months, sweet princess!

I'm a toddler now.  That means I think deep thoughts while I'm eating.

Oh, hello there!  I didn't think you saw me sneak these bath toys out of the bath tub.

Still perfecting the dismount.

Stars They're Just Like Us: They eat books rather than reading them.  Wait... is that not how this works?

Alright, everyone line up.  Fish.  I see you over there trying to hide.  You aren't escaping this.  If I have to take a bath, you all do too.

Mario Kart comes to real life.  This is the Princess knocking Donkey Kong out of her way.

Pajama day at school.  We don't normally sleep in bows around here.

Towards the end of the bottle days, Emery refused to sit still and thus forced us to get very creative with our technique.  Pictures like this make me wonder whether I birthed a human or a guinea pig.

Please note the discarded sippy cup.  We were still very anti-sippy at this point.

I have no idea where she gets her morning time smiles.  It's not genetic.

"Somewheeeeere out theeeeere."

Alright, tell me a story.

Foreshadowing for 16 years down the road.  I hate to let the cat out of the bag so early, but her first car is going to have that same Hello Kitty motif.

You know- just sharing some tea with Christmas Baby in April.

We were those people who took our kid to the park pants-less.  I documented it just so you guys don't think we're all caviar and tuxes around here (haaaaaa).

I see how you snuck this sippy cup into my picnic set up here Dad.  Well played.

What's a Wednesday that doesn't start with a curtsy?

Practicing for her strong woman competition by pounding water bottles on the floor with all her might. Added bonus: it drives mama batty.

Weekend breakfast is a war zone.  Bring your own hard hat.

I'm not usually pro naked child posting but this day is when she re-discovered this giraffe that sings and dances.  She was simultaneously scared to death and completely enamored with it.  It made Ryan and I laugh so hard.  So the picture stays because it's my scrapbook and I'll naked baby if I want to!

Yup, you stay riiiiight there, Bucket.  Big Sister boot camp is going swimmingly, clearly.

Excuse me?  Are you accusing me of playing with this cord?  I am appalled.  I would NEVER.  Lola pulled it out here, put it right under my leg and then ran away.

Playing with an old toy of Mama, Uncle Matt & Aunt Julie's at Nonnie & Grampa's.  Mmmm, tastes like the '80's.

Uncle Sam wants YOU to get me some milk, lady.

Look at what a big girl she looks like here as compared to the very first picture in this post.  (Special shout out to Lynda & Derrick for these adorbs shoes  and Jen &Brendan for one of my fav outfits.)

Look Mama, I let Bucket out!

In case you were worried she'd lost her dramatic edge.

We only wear sunglasses inside.  Is that not what you do at your house?

Houston is hot y'all.  Em has her own way of coping.

Lola!  You know that one is mine.  (As you can tell, Lola is real into group play.)

Did y'all know Bucket has a mobile home?

Picture of my big girl swimming at Aunt Mel & Uncle Jonathan's that Daddy sent while Mama was in Finland for work.

Checking out female assets is completely innate.  Pictures don't lie.  (More photo credit for Daddy while Mama was travelling for work.)

Sweet little mama feeding her baby.  (More from the single Daddy archives.)

This is one of my favorites of all time.  She melts my heart.  (Again photo credit to Single Daddy Photography.)

Since Mama was out, Em had to play little Mama herself.  (Last from the work travel archives.)

Emery's first day in her Young Toddler class at school.  We knew Em would be sad so we tried to cheer her up with those new kicks.  That concept works for Mama.

All packed up and ready to take on the next 3 months!  See you kids at 18.

Memorial Day

This past Memorial Day we did the standard thing we do for holidays- we headed up to pay my parents a visit in Conroe.  I really don't have very many pictures from the weekend nor do I have lots of stories to tell, but the summer holidays and their accompanying long weekends are some of my favorites during the year, so I didn't feel right about skipping it.  You can consider this a blog appetizer as there are several long ones headed your way soon!  

To summarize the weekend- we had a wonderful time, we talked, we laughed, we swam, we ate too much food and I took pictures of my child because I am obsessed with her.  I believe that about sums it up.  Much thanks to the family for hosting us and being so much fun.  I look forward to the next one - hopefully I'll do a better job documenting it photographically... but no promises!

Whooooa.  It's a crib with a ceiling?!  (Put down the phone- she walked in herself.  Many times.  Haha.)

Daddy and Miss Em.

She's so cute- I seriously just want to eat her.  Is that a normal parent reaction?

Hey.  Pool boy.  Can I get some service around here or what?!

Kylie's Dance Recital

On Wednesday May 21st, Ryan, Em & I had the pleasure of attending our sweet niece/cousin, Kylie's, first dance recital at her school.  It.  Was.  The.  Cutest.  Thing.  Ever.  I'm sure many of you who have witness my incredible moves will be SHOCKED to know that I was never in dance personally.  This fact meant I had about as much of an idea what was going on as the tiny kiddos did, but I sure did enjoy it.

There really isn't much story to tell, so I'll just post some pics of the tiny dancer herself so you can "ooooohh" and "ahhhhh".  Pretend the quality is better than let's say the iphone of someone who spent about 40% of her time chasing a toddler, mmk?

You did a FABULOUS job Ky and we are so proud of you!  Thank you Tiff for inviting us!!

Miss Kylie.  Is this stage left?  Stage right?  I don't know but I do know she makes that tutu look good!

Already far more graceful than your's truly.

I adore her facial expression here.  She's pretty much saying- can we get on with it already?

Synchronization I think is more of a second or third recital type skill.

Tap, tap, tap it out.

Tell me this doesn't melt your heart?!

What kind of Texan would you be without incorporating a little line dancing?

Sweet ballet star with her Mama.

Zing Zang Boom: A Bachelorette Tale

Heeeeeey!  Look at me getting right back up on the blogging wagon.  I apologize for falling off.  Again.  Let's skip the excuses and hop right into some catching up.

The weekend of May 9th-11th a crew of the coolest ladies you'll ever meet and I met up in San Antonio to throw my hottie sister the bachelorette bash of a lifetime.  As with most bachelorette parties I have been a part of, my memories of said events are not crystal clear, but this time it's due to pregnancy brain as opposed to the usual suspect (read: bartenders over serving me).  Hopefully between what little I do remember and the pictures below I paint just enough of a picture to make those in attendance laugh while still being able to someday run for office.

Friday night we all rolled into the Hotel Contessa town after work and sat around gabbing and partaking in the mini bar we created in the room.  Judging by the decibel levels we managed to hit and the amount of laughter, not only do I feel certain our neighbors had already left for the evening but I also think pretty highly of the soundproofing in the joint.  After everyone got gussied up for the evening, and the trip Mama (me) forced everyone to take a shot, we headed over to River City Comedy Club.   It's hard for me to say what was funnier- a) our grand entrance courtesy of Morgan, b) the drunk obnoxious lady who got asked to leave or c) the comedians but regardless there was plenty of laughter.

Post comedy club we took our badonks to Kremlin to showcase some of our dancing prowess.  Many awesome dance skills were displayed.  Many pictures that should never come off of people's iPhones were taken.  Many accessories were borrowed from fellow dancers.  We will just suffice it to say that an excellent time was had by all.  Post dance party we swung by the local Whataburger because what bachelorette party would be complete without a trip to a fast food joint?  The night ended just as nature intended... with a lot of happy ladies asleep in a sea of cold, discarded french fries and a half eaten apple pie.

It feels weird to buy these things when you're pregnant.  It feels even weirder to have the bellhop wheel them up to your room upon arrival.

Forcing them to take a shot.  Note how pleased they are.

Morgan was taught that it's polite to pull out your chair for a lady.

Laura had her eye (see what I did there?) on these glasses all night.  Special guest appearance by Morgan.

E'rybody.  Caroline, Julie, Leah, Morgan, Rachel, Lauren,Grace, half of Lizzie, Me, Laura & Caroline.

Caroline, the beautimous bride & Laura.

Caroline, Jules, Grace & Lauren.

Saturday we all woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed and headed over to Guenther House for some brunching.  By the time we arrived the wait was too long and our stomachs were too loud so we hopped over to Mad Hatter's Tea House instead.  After re-fueling on some fab food, we headed back to the hotel to work on our tans.  After all, practice makes perfect and sunbathing is a crucial skill for a destination wedding.

Once we had achieved maximum bronze-ness, we got fancy and headed over to Biga on the Banks for dinner.  These people saw us coming from a mile away because they, VERY WISELY, put us in a private room.  There were a few people staring at us oddly through some glass (cough Grace cough) but that's neither here nor there.  I can't recommend this place enough.  The drinks were fab (zing zang boom), the food was ah-mazing, the stories shared were incredible (sisters for LIFE) and our waiter was the bomb.com (see photographic evidence below).  It was the perfect start to the evening.

After dinner we headed over to Pat O's to impress even more people with our moves.  People were getting innovative.  For instance it's the first time I've seen the simultaneous kick/push used in a partner dance.  I believe at one point "the deer" made an appearance.  Various interpretations of turn down for what came out.  If all this isn't making you jealous, you clearly aren't visualizing clearly enough.  Basically an awesome time was had by all as was evidenced by our post-jazzercise perspiration glow as we exited.  We definitely left it all on the dance floor.

Once again the evening ended with too much laughing and more food consumption, only with less food throwing.  

The crew again.  Lizzie, Morgan, Julie, Rachel, Me, Leah... Caroline, Grace, Laura & Lauren.  Julie only allows herself hot friends.

Zing, zang, boom.

This side of the table taught us the importance of always sleeping with your boots on.

Bachelorette scavenger hunt: take a picture with a random in prom pose.  I think we intended for Julie to play the girl, but this also works.

Seriously, our waiter rocked.

Scavenger hunt: take a picture with a guy flexing?  With a tattoo?  Just take a picture with a guy?  Who knows.

The ladies at the best restaurant in San Antonio.

Being on stage is shocking.

Front rooooow.

Sunday morning we all woke up and headed over to Feast for breakfast for one last hurrah and just to recap the whole trip.  After all, what fun is doing ridiculous things if your friends can't all harass you about it the next day?  None at all.  After a delicious, albeit very slow, brunch we all headed out separate ways.  I can't thank you ladies enough for your participation and all the laughing I did.  Jules, I hope you had a stellar time and that it was the best bash you could have imagined.  We all love you dearly!

Somehow I only have a picture of one side of the table.  I promise the rest of us were there also.