Happy Thanksgiving

We had Thanksgiving lunch at Emmie's school the Friday before the holiday. It was fun to see all the kids with their parents. Brent and I both were able to come and enjoy the fun. I am not sure how the teachers get these kids to eat at the same time every day and then how they get them to all lay down for a nap on their cots at the same time. Amazing. Truely. Emmie had a surprise though and was able to go home with her Daddy early.

Parents at the table helping the kids eat. Emmie goto to sit at the head!

Emmie enjoying her first taste of Thanksgiving- Turkey and gravy, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and mac and cheese

Someone was seriously ready for a nap

Emmie and mommy at school

Emmarie's first Thanksgiving was pretty pitiful. We made the best of it and ended up at the doctor before the night was over. We headed to Lake Hartwell to have lunch with the Nichols side of the family. Emmie was so sick. I have never heard laryngitis in a baby like this. You couldn't even hear her cry. Her voice was so raspy. We kept her pumped full of Tylenol and Motrin (my fav). She had fever and just felt terrible, but she still tried to play around a bit with her cousin, Mateo. After lunch we headed to the Kirley household for Thanksgiving dinner. Both meals equally fabulous. We are so lucky to be able to share the holiday with both sides of the family. Anyway, Mimi took over when we arrived. She immediately made it known that "something didn't seem right". What Brent and I knew all day. Emmie got a good bath from Mimi and Papa played her some music on the piano. After she refused her 3rd bottle of the day and the voice was getting even worse my motherly instinct kicked in. (I can't believe it took that long. I am new at this remember...) Anyway, we packed her up and took her to Children's Healthcare immediate care clinic. I was pleasantly pleased with the service at 6pm on a holiday night. She was diagnosed with a double ear infection. We got our first dose of medicine, some more Motrin and we were headed home for dinner. We were in and out in 1 hour. Pretty good in my eyes. My little pumpkin slept all night long and felt like a new child when 630am rolled around.

This picture pretty much sums up her mood this day. What a pitiful face...

We really had trouble getting a picture with Mama Lucy. Believe it or not, this was the best one. Haha!

This is probably one of the better Thanksgiving pictures we got. There were few...

Half smile, but such a cute picture of these two

Wardrobe change and on Papa's lap playing some music

Playing with her cousins McCay and Noelle after her doctor visit

The South's Oldest Rivalry and Santa comes to school!

Emmie had fall pictures at "school". I meant to upload this earlier, but my scanner doesn't work with my Mac, I finally figured this out. Thankfully Brent still has a PC that works with my scanner (that sounded like a nerd alert if I have ever heard one). Anyway...

Fall 2009 School Picture

Emmie tailgated for the second time at the South's oldest rivalry- UGA vs Auburn. She had a lot of people to meet this day so she had to look super cute, not very hard to do in her case :)

Emmie and Daddy in downtown Athens

Mommy trying to entertain by singing songs

Seriously, I mean how stinkin' cute?! Gotta love the flops. Future ADPi...haha!

Santa came to Emmie's "school". What an experience. Santa was running late, apparently caught in traffic on 285. What?! Santa on 285? Anyway, I had to get to work and I kept calling to see when the big guy would be there. I planned on getting over there to take her myself. Well, I get there and I am prepped as I walk in the door by the teachers. I get to the picture room and who do I see, but Emmie. Sitting on Santa's lap and screaming bloody murder! I wish I had snapped a quick shot with my camera for the memory sake, but it was so pitiful. All I could do was get there and pick her up as fast as I could. But have no worries, mommy and Emmie both got their picture taken with Santa.

This is Emmie in her Santa outfit, playing with the glitter squirrel she made.

Soooo cute and Christmassy. Don't you love the moccasins. They don't totaly match but too cute anyway.

Pretty princess with one of her "principals" (administrators)

Look how terrified both Emmie and Santa look!

Mommy had to jump in and save me from the big bearded man (please don't judge me, I was not prepared to be photographed :))

This is just for fun. One of Emmie's new favorite past times. She loves when daddy hangs her upside down and swings her!

Tree update

Whoa! What a mess. So a couple weeks ago Brent spent the weekend tilling the yard (not an easy job) and planting new seed. Our yard was pure weeds before, green weeds, but weeds nonetheless. Then this tree falls and we are going to have to start from scratch again. So if you have never had this happen, FYI... if the tree is on someone else's property but falls onto your property it is your responsibility to have things taken care of. Well, we had to pay a deductible but the tree will be removed, a brand new shed will be built (although it looked like it was still standing the shed was totaled), and landscaping will be done. In actuality the one tree that fell brought done a pine with it and a few smaller trees. Another tree actually fell the opposite way into our neighbors yard and almost hit their house. A lot more damage was done than we originally thought.

Some of the brush that the workers piled on Brent's freshly seeded yard :(

Wood for sale! or some major bon fires to follow...

The shed... so sad!

If a tree falls in the woods (or your backyard)...

...you can definitely hear it. As I was having sweet dreams this morning (and Emmie was soundly sleeping too!) I heard a big crash. I woke Brent- who claimed it was only thunder. sure... I knew something had fallen, it was just a matter of finding where it happened. We checked the front... nothing. We checked the back and low and behold a HUGE oak tree had fallen into our yard! It nearly crushed the shed (and if you only knew of the blood sweat and tears that Brent put into that masterpiece...). Luckily, my handy husband built such a sound piece of construction that the tree only damaged the roof. The shed is still standing. Emmie never woke up, but Champ sure did. He wanted to know what in the world all the ruckous was about. And this is the result...

Only part of the damage to the shed

10 months

Here we are, 2 months away from Emmarie turning 1. I can't believe I said it. Very hard to believe. I guess I am supposed to start planning a party. I know some parents have these big blowouts for the 1 year old party. I can't imagine I am going to hire a clown or have pony rides, but I assume we may have a small gathering. Things to think about.

Emmie, as always, is growing like a weed.

She loves grilled cheese and mac and cheese for dinner. Just like her father she loves ketchup- I should probably buy stock in Heinz. we are still working on the sippy cup. She will drink out of it, but still prefers her bottle. She still loves sweet potatoes and sweet peas. And bananas are always a hit.

She now has a total of 7 teeth. She got a new one on the bottom this week!

Sleep is a bit different. For the most part she sleeps through the night, but this month has been challenging as we have dealt with a bad ear infection and another viral illness with high fever. Of course she recovers and the sleep improves. Temporary lapses in our schedules. She still is down around 7-730pm each night. Now that she is a Busy Bee she is 100% exhausted by the time I pick her up at the end of the day. It is hard to keep her awake til 7 sometimes. We are up each morning around 6-7am. For those of you without children, enjoy it while it lasts. Those days of slothing on the couch are O-V-E-R.

Reading her book about colors before bedtime

She is on the verge of walking. She has a new crawl that is pretty comical. I think it is the next step before walking. She is taking one step at a time. She is pretty timid and once she relizes she may take another step she falls down and decides to crawl. She loves push toys. We had to get a new toy for her at the house. I put Brent to work and she loves pushing it around. Opening and closing doors has become a favorite past time. Now, we really have to baby proof all those dangerous cabinets. Another fun milestone... waving and saying bye-bye. It is awesome and so cute. You have to see for yourself.

Daddy doing his duty, putting together toys!

The finished product

So happy and Griz loves going for a ride

She still wears a size 2 shoe. Small feet. But I think we will have to switch to some bigger ones soon. Target has some pretty cute and cheap shoes. They grow out of them so quick I have a hard time paying $30-40 for shoes she will wear for 1-2 months. I am attempting to become thrifty. A tough task when little girl stuff is soooo cute.

Oh, and while I am updating, she was a ladybug for Halloween. Too cute. See for yourself...

Mimi and Connor's birthday dinner

The Kirley side of the family is continuously growing. More people equals more birthdays. We have started having group birthdays. October is Mimi and Connor's month. Connor is now officially double digits. The big 1-0! It is hard to believe Tim and Shannon now have a 10 year old. Emmie loves birthday parties and loves hanging out with her cousins. So we had a great time.

I can't help but post this. Apparently a new favorite past time. Discovering what this big refrigerator has in it.

Caught in the act

Hmmm... what can I reach?

My favorite part of this picture was when we were taking it. The cutest comment came from Noelle. They were all jumping up on the couch for the pose and Noelle says "Hey Emmie, come sit next to me!" Too cute. Future best friends. I can see it now, inseparables.

Mimi and Papa with their favorite grandkids (Emmie, Noelle, Connor and McCay)

Connor and his cake. Mimi had one too, she was at the other end of the table. Emmie looks excited. I think she liked the song.

Emmie, Papa and her Kirley cousins