Cookie Monsters

Ben, Emily and Hazel enjoying a cookie-break together.
As you can see, Emily and Hazel had just found an orange marker!

Two Cute

Here are the pictures we got of Emily today! There were SO many darling other photos of her, but these are the ones Dan liked the best=) Once I get the link, I'll share the rest of the album that we didn't buy(yet!). She looks so big in these pictures!

Emmie's 2nd Birthday!

I can't, can't, CAN'T believe it! My baby is two. Emily seems to be the ultimate time-bandit; the years are just racing by now that she's on the scene. I hate to even think how quickly it will go by once Callie is born:(We spent a mostly wonderful day with our newly-two year old Emmie, her awesome big brother and our buddy, Hazel. Below is a picture overload that will take you through the days events. The one part of the day we didn't document was Emmie's ouchie:*( Ben accidentally smashed her pinky and ring finger in the hinge-side of the front door this afternoon. Her poor little fingers swelled up, turned black and blue and she cried hysterically. We took a trip to the doctor, and will possibly return tomorrow for x-rays and a splint if they are fractured. She was in better spirits and using her hand pretty easily, so we're hoping it's just a very bad ouchie! Needless to say, it was NOT a fun birthday activity, but she's a trooper=)

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Our morning started off with a yummy breakfast of home-made chocolate-chip pancakes and scrambled eggs. As a special treat, they got to eat on the couch while watching Dora!

Emily, in a sugar/Dora coma!

Ben and Hazel loved breakfast even more than the B-day Girl!



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After breakfast, we headed off to the mall for pro-pictures and Emmie's first trip to Build-A-Bear! She loved picking out and making a new "baby" and Ben loved helping! I worried he'd want one, too, but he's really not into stuffed animals like Emily is. He enjoyed the process, but had no desire to make one, too. Phew!

The Birthday Girl!

She was far more interested in playing on the computers than she was in creating her animal.

Good thing daddy was there to finish up the job!

One part she loved was checking out all the accessories. Here, she does her Bono impression!

Ben liked it, too...preferring Elton John-style specs to the Bono-shades.

Emily wanted to buy every.single.accessory she saw! Can you believe they sell stuffed cars for the animals?! Both Emily and Ben sat in it to try it out, too=)

Hugging her finished animal...a grey kitty, named Kiki, wearing a fetching Hello Kitty t-shirt. Naturally!

Next, it was onto the play zone to spend some time before our pro pictures.

We played until our appointment, and then she had her photo shoot with Dan, while I took Ben and Hazel to get some lunch. After lunch and pictures, we went home for nap time. Emmie missed her nap, due to her ouchie and impromptu visit to the doctor. When she got home, we decided it was time to give her her birthday present!



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Behold! Her very own PINK bike!

She has been desperately wanting her own bike lately. Ben loves to ride his and poor Emmie has to just push her doll stroller or walk with me when he does. We found the perfect solution for our little lady--a trike with a removable push-handle that she can grow into as she learns to pedal! As you can see, she was very pleased!

It's not just fun to ride, it's fun to push, too!

Dan wanted to adjust the seat for her, and Emily was very scared that he was breaking it! she didn't want to get off, even for a second!

She eventually got off long enough for Dan to fix it. She used some tools to help, too!

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After Ben woke up from his nap and Hazel got picked up, we headed off to dinner at Red Robin with Mimi! Emily enjoyed some guacamole and chips, shared a cheeseburger and cantaloupe with Ben and got a birthday serenade and complimentary sundae, too! She was a little crabby during dinner(thanks to the ouchie and no nap), but seemed to enjoy herself, especially once we let her out of the highchair and into the booth with Dan=) She played with Ben, snuggled her pops and shared her sundae with anyone wanting a taste!

Snuggling her daddy

Lucky daddy got most of the sundae fed to him by the prettiest girl in the restaurant!

The funniest part was when she got a dab of whipped cream on Dan's nose and promptly licked it off. Oy. This girl and her licking! She's like a puppy!


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After dinner, we headed home for cupcakes and Mimi's awesome present! She bought Emily an 8-piece baby gear set for her dollies. We are now the proud owners of a new stroller, play-pen, high-chair, swing and carseat, all in hot-pink. I love this gift because they can all play with it and it will help get them ready for Baby Callie's imminent arrival! Emily loved feeding her babies, putting(more like flinging) them to bed in the play-pen and changing their diapers on the changing pad. She had so much fun playing that getting her to bed was quite traumatic. Birthdays are just too fun; when the day is over it's such a let-down!

Contemplating her home-made cupcake=)

Playing with her new dolly stroller!

Happy Mother's Day!

I spent my Mother's Day sleeping in til a luxurious 9 am and awoke to find that Dan had taken B&E to buy me breakfast! After we had eaten, my mom came over and we took the kids to the Farmer's Market, shopping for shoes and pajamas and finished the afternoon with lunch at Willow Street Pizza. Ben and Emily love the Farmer's Market and had a blast. Despite not loving shopping, they were remarkably well behaved and we had a lovely lunch, with only a few tantrums plus a huge mess made by Emily=) It was a great day and totally reminded me of how lucky I am to be a mom to these two little monkeys. I love them so much! No pictures from our day, but here are my favorite pictures of me with my pecious babies. You will notice the drastic decline in my looks as Ben ages and Emily is added to the family. Sigh....children have aged me horribly. They are the loves of my life, and at least I have that, even if I've turned into a MomHag at the ripe old age of 27!

Awww...sweet, newborn Emily and Percoset every 4 hours. No wonder I look so blissful!

Me, with a startled-looking Emmie

Me, with an even more startled Emily!

Celebrating Emily's Half-Birthday

Us with my grandma at her last Christmas with us=)

Us, enjoying a trip down the inflatable slide at Pump It Up

My all-time favorite picture of me and Emily. It's not the greatest pictures, but we look so much alike in it that I love it!

Emmie-Kisses are the best!

My Little Smartie, wearing my glasses

Me, blissed-out on drugs and the euphoria of being Ben's mommy!

My Funny Valentine on his first V-day

Ben, at 9 months old, celebrating with me at my grandma's 75th!

Me, with Ben and my grandma at my 25th birthday party. I was 26ish weeks pregnant with Emily.

Ben and me on our second Mother's Day. I was in labor with Emily!

Enjoying one of my many job-requirements: Human Pillow

Snuggling my birthday boy on his 2nd birthday!

At the park with my little guys

Ben and me on his first day of school!

One Week 'Til TWO!

With one week left until her 2nd birthday, I can't help marveling at how much she's grown and changed in these last 12 months. It's just as remarkable as the first year, in my opinion. She went from being a baby to a toddler to a little girl in just 12 short months. She walks, runs, jumps and climbs. She talks and sings and knows how to charm a crowd. She's funny, sassy, unbearably sweet when she wants to be, just unbearable occasionally and the most beautiful little girl I've ever clapped eyes on(until she shares that title with her baby sister, of course!). I've gotten to focus on and enjoy this second year of life for her in a way I didn't get to with Ben. He wasn't even two yet when she was born, so much of his second year was regrettably overshadowed by Emily's first year. Having two toddlers has been so much more fun than I ever anticipated, though. Watching them grow up together is such a gift=) Enjoy these photos of my sweet girl during her second year of life. Many have been featured on the blog before, but they're cute enough to see again!

13 Months and giving me the Evil-Eye

14 Months and posing prettily in her wagon

15 Months and laughing as her daddy plays with Libby The Dog

16 Months and proudly perching on a rocking horse at the park

17 Months and doing her tiger impression "Rawr!"

18 Months and lovin' the slide

19 Months and gazing lovingly at her new dolly


20 months and looking none too pleased at Red Robin

21 Months and realizing she doesn't actually WANT to be a big sister!

22 Months and getting ready to lick someone. She using licking as a form of affection. She's weird. I know.

23 Months and using licking appropriately; big girl, big cone. Them's the rules!