My Small Accomplishment!

Growning up my parents would garden 1/2 acre of land every year. Because I lived so close, I never felt the need to grow my own garden. Now that I live 2000 miles from home, I realize that I can't rely on their fresh garden fruits and vegetables. I don't have exactly what you would call a green thumb, so I decided to start small and just plant tomatoes, squash, and zucchini. From what I understand, they are pretty hard to kill. Well, we'll see. I was pretty excited to wake up one morning and see this . . .

and this . . .
I also recently attended an activity where I learned how to bottle my own jam. I have helped my mom make jam for years, but I have never done it myself. I decided to start with strawberries (because they are going out of season soon). Then I got so exicted about it, so I made blueberry and raspberry jam as well from frozen berries. Twenty four jars later I have enough jam to last us until next years strawberry season! Yum! Blueberry is our favorite!

One Year Down!

Well, Brian has officially completed his first year of medical school. He will be working through the summer on a research project which involves a new treatment for osteoporosis. (It has something to do with vibrating a mouse and monitoring bone loss.) Did I mention that he will be paid! Just an added bonus.

Happy Mother's Day!

What a great day!

A Great Purchase!

I made my first ebay purchase the other day. It is a brand new, twelve piece crib set that I got for super cheap. It was also my first purchase for the new baby. We decided that Emily's pink tulip bed set wasn't going to work.

Trying New Things

We have reached the age of, "No, Emi do it" or, "No, my turn!" Which I must say has its perks; however, it can also be a time of frustration. (For me as well as Emily.)

This just happens to be one of the bonuses of this stage.

Potty Training!

Speaking of frustration, yep, potty training is also one of those bonuses that can be very frustrating. Emily has shown all of the signs of being ready to be potty trained except for the biggest on of all, desire. So, I thought that I would help her with her desire by adding some perks. (Also known as bribes.) It honestly took a little bit of everything I could think of. Treats, money, presents, and praise. I have to say though that giving her little presents worked great. I went and bought a 101 piece play food set and gave her a piece of play food every time she went. This was huge for her because she has had a kitchen set since Christmas without any play food. It was definitely something worth working for.
I don't know about you, but this is my kind of soup. Ice cream, donuts, and pie!! YUM!

Disney World!

Grandma and grandpa took a trip to Disney World, so we all know what that means...
Minnie Mouse glasses turn Harry Potter...
and, of course, Cinderella!

Curly Hair?

I thought that we would have a little fun and try some sponge curlers on Emily's hair. Her hair already as a lot of volume and so I thought that it would take a curl really easily.
Well it turns out that after a lot of work, her hair ended up looking the same as it usually does. Not worth the work of putting in curlers. It was just a little too short for curlers. We'll have to try it again when her hair gets a little bit longer. Of course, she still was as cute as a bug.

Baby Update!

It's a boy! We are very excited. Emily has been carrying around an ultrasound photo and telling everyone that she is going to have a baby brother. (She called to tell her grandpa and he thought that she said, "Peanut butter.")
The baby vote was tied for a while and then a few hours before our poll closed, "girl" received one more vote. Brian and I each took opposite sides this time. With Emily, we both thought that it was going to be a boy. This time Brian stuck with boy and he was right!

Spring Break

Brian had a full week off for spring break. It was really nice to have him home. I know that Emily really enjoyed it. The weather was beautiful and we were able to spend some time nursing our small yard back to health. Emily was excited because it was actually warm enough to swim!


She also had fun going through the laundry and playing dress up in daddy's socks and mommy's shirt.

Cast Your Vote!

We'll I am now 18 weeks pregnant. We get to go in next week to find out if it is going to be a boy or a girl. On the right side of our blog under "New Baby" there is a place where you can cast your vote as to what you think it might be. This is just for fun!

Our Dog?

Well I walked into the kitchen the other day to find this little set up on the floor. Take a close look .....

I inquired as to what it might be. "Miss Emily, what is this?" She giggled and replied, "Food for da dog." Well, I don't know about your dog, but Emily's dog uses a Taste of Home recipe book and a spoon to fix meals. It also enjoys ice cream.

"The Duck"

For those of you who have not had the wonderful opportunity of meeting "the duck", now is your chance. At one point Emily had named him, "Dragon". I realized that it was because I am always telling her, "Your duck is draggin, pick him up." Somehow she thought that I was telling her that his name was Dragon. ("Draggin" sounded like "Dragon" to her.) If you ask her his name now she will say, "Name's Duck." I do have to add that the duck is looking better then ever in these pictures. When grandma was here, she talked Emily into giving him a bath. He had a nice scrub down in the sink and then basked in the sun to dry. He looks 100% better then he did.

Happy Easter!

Emily is really into dresses and necklaces right now, so you can imagine her surprise to see, next to her Easter basket, a dress and matching necklace. Brian and I decided to take on the challenge of egg coloring with a two year old. Emily did surprisingly well and loved every minute of it. She would only use the orange dye. Every time she saw an orange egg she would say, "Emily do dat one." We came out with a few colored fingers, but luckily that was the only thing colored besides the eggs.
After cooking and coloring comes peeling. We are at a stage I like to call, "Emi do it." Emily has to do everything that we are doing. It takes a lot of concentration to peel an egg.

Easter Egg Hunt

Emily is finally at an age where holidays become a lot of fun. For easter we were invited to a barbeque and Easter egg hunt. As you can see from these photos, she enjoyed swinging the most out of everything. (That is only because she didn't figure out until later that the eggs were full of candy.)