Swing city

The Champster. He always wants to play outside, until he realizes it is 104 degrees then he is waiting by the door to go inside. This summer heat is brutal!

Hey pretty!

Playing in the jungle. This is where I have to keep a close eye on her. Big sister usually comes by and tries to step on her. So a bodyguard is needed.

I had to make an investment. I had to have something else to help with Anabelle's need for being held. Swing one worked well. I had already ordered a swing on the internet, but had to have one in the meantime. Hence, swing one and two. Both work perfectly!

Swing one

Swing two

Emmie likes to play with Champ. She is setting out plates for him in this picture. Go figure. I know she can't wait until Anabelle can play with her.

All about Champ

This is the craziness that Champ deals with on a daily basis- a half naked wild toddler and a crying baby. Most of the time his eyes read "get me out of here!" He is super sweet to his sisters and couldn't be better around them.

And then Emmie decides Champ is his play toy. Here she is taking all the magnets off of Mimi's refrigerator and stuffing them underneath Champ. I am not sure why, but this is her kind of pretend play.
You can make out what he is thinking here :)
Well, this isn't about Champ. Just wanted to update that Emmie is still obsessed with her backpack and loves to wear it everywhere. She even wore it to school the other day.
Notice how she has the keys in her hand and ready to "go-go".
Bless this dog. We started out as a family of three. I used to spend all my time at night just petting him. He has definitely taken a back seat, but no less loved. Emmie loves him and Anabelle will someday too! It has been a rough summer for the old guy, but he is still a puppy at heart.

14 months ( almost 15) and many changes

I haven't blogged much lately. Things have been busy. between being pregnant, running around after Emmie, working and selling a house my time has been limited. I have also been taking this photography course which keeps me pretty occupied. But I love it!
Emmie is going to be 15 months old next week. She is changing daily. We have been dealing with a great deal of seperation anxiety. It is really awful when she constantly says "Bye-Bye" and thinks you are going to leave her all the time. We are working on it, but from what I read it is a phase that will pass. Just not sure when.
She isn't eating much. She likes bananas, some other fruits, cheese, macaroni, rice, pizza and that is about it. This is the girl who used to eat EVERYTHING on her plate- all vegetables included. I suppose another phase.
She has become pretty stubborn. If she has her coat or bib on she wants to keep them on. The only time I can get them off is if we are about to take a bath. This really goes for any article of clothing, but the coats and bibs in particular. So many of my pictures lately have her inside the house or wherever in her coat!

Sleeping has improved. She isn't waking up in the middle of the night and is sleeping until 7 most mornings. Amen! The "cry it out method" was tough, especially at 3am-4am, but it worked!
She is funny. She knows when she does something bad, like hitting, and will say "not nice". But now, even if she falls on her own or if you bump into her she wil look at you, wave her finger and say "not nice". She even reprimanded Champ the other day after he ran into her. We laugh at her a lot.

She loves books and is finally at the stage where she will sit and pay attention- at least for a few minutes. She especially loves rocking and reading "A Night Night Prayer" before "night-night" time.

She points to my belly and says "baby". We have that down. Know we are trying to tell her that the baby in my belly is her sister. We are working on it. Thankfully we have a few more months to get that down.

She is a piece of work and definitely keeps us on our toes. She is obsessed with going outside and loves exploring. It is amazing how fast and drastically things change with these little ones. It is hard to believe she will soon have to share the spotlight. We are excited and know she will be a great big sister!

Spring is in the air

What a day! Emmie had a good 12 hours of uninterrupted sleep and was happy as a clam all day. She couldn't have been a sweeter or cuter little girl today. We had a "Girl's Day", just mommy and Emmie.

We started the day by putting our house on the market. Sad, but not real sad until it actually sells. The market isn't a great one for sellers, so we will just wait and see. We may end up staying put, but only time will tell.

I'm not sure if she is too happy about this situation...

Then, we went on a walk to pick up Daddy's car. On the way we stopped and had lunch on the patio at Verde. Emmie was a hit and everyone loved her. She loved her cheese quesadilla.

We went to the park and played on the swing and with the toy cars. By the time we were finished there she was exhausted! The park was awesome today, full of little ones, sunny, with a slight breeze.

We headed to Mimi and Papa's. Emmie played with the neighbor's 2 little girls. Drawing with sidewalk chalk, blowing bubbles and playing basketball. Champ enjoyed himself too and ran himself tired!

Happy Spring! Don't you just love it!?!

My Big Brother

One week from today we will find out if Emmie will have a little brother or sister. As we count down the hours, Emmie wanted to show everyone just how she felt about her big brother Champ. She loves him so much. When I went to get her from school today, Champ was riding in the back of the car. I opened the door, she saw Champ and jumped towards him. She was smiling and laughing. I think she wanted to ride back there with him, but being the good mom I am I buckled her in her car seat.

Tantrum City

Hey there! January is flying by and hard to believe we have a one year old on our hands. She had a one year old check up and her stats were as follows...

Weight 18 pounds, 12 ounces

Height 28.25 inches

I won't even tell you what percentile this is. Let's just say she is petite.

She no longer use bottles. Sippy cups only. No more formula. She is now drinking whole milk. She gets to try new foods and actually has probably already had them. Luckily food allergies don't run in our families so she is doing well with ALL foods. The most exciting new thing she gets to do is turn her car seat around and ride face forward. She loves it. It is like a whole new world. She also has three molars coming in. She has been handling quite well.

As I am writing this she is having a major tantrum. I guess that is part of fun to come. I took her sippy cup to make the top tighter so it wouldn't spill and you would think it was the end of the world. She is still going- laying on the ground, flailing herself around and crying histericaly. She is just waiting for me to pick her up. I promise nothing else is wrong and she is safe, but I can tell she is getting tired. I have been told when they throw these tantrums, don't pay them attention. Make them think it is silly or they will think it is ok to do. Not a habit I want to get into. Thankfully we are in the privates of our own home so no one else has to witness this debacle. Ok, so I did some proof reading and in the meantime crying is slowly tapering off. A few boo hoos, but no more tears and she is drinking out of her sippy cup now. Wow! Unbelievable. I guess she will take a good nap this morning. Now she is walking away trying to find daddy and Mr. Giraffe.

Can you even believe a face this cute could cause such a ruckus

Let's take a break from the madness. This guy doesn't get enough airtime recently. He has been so sweet. I think he knows I am pregnant again. He follows me everywhere. Just like always, but I think more so now.
He loved the snow and wanted to get outside any chance he got. Sometimes we would let him out and he would just go sit in it and smile.
I think I should also take a moment to recognize "The Bean". I feel like I am neglecting the next child already. I am almost 16 weeks along. Doing fine. No more nausea or vomiting. Being pregnant with a toddler is hard. I remember the days in my first pregnancy when I could nap at the drop of a hat. Those days are gone forever. So I am a touch more tired this time around even if I am in my second trimester. But, all in all, I am feeling fine. Let it be said, if you have kids close together you can plan on showing faster the second time around. The bump has appeared, not big, but just a bump. We find out the gender in about 3 weeks. I can't wait to know what we are having and if Emmie will have a little brother or sister. I don't think she cares. She probably won't be too happy either way, but she will get used to it, just like they all do.

Now, back to my beautiful princess. We attempted to take some 1 year old shots, but she wasn't cooperating very well. Timing, I guess... I ended up getting a few good shots. Here are a couple. I may have to try again at a later date.

Are you wondering how the tantrum ended. Well, just when I thought there was a lull it picked right back up again. So at this point I looked at her and asked her if she was finished. She had truly exhausted herself. Now crying with her eyes closed. It started to taper again and that is when I swooped in. I just couldn't take it anymore. So... I picked her up, got her paci and she fell asleep almost immediately in my arms. It is nap time now.

I hope this doesn't become a habit! We have a whole year before we get to the terrible 2s, I hope!

A day in the life (weekday atleast...)

Many may know and some may wonder, but life as a full time working mom is a tough job. Full time work as a nurse practitioner. Full time mom and wife. I sometimes, well pretty much all the time, think to myself there is not enough time in the day. For those of you who stay at home- props, it is a hard job raising little ones all day. But, I am here to vent about my craziness.

Typical day: I wake up about 1-2 hours before anyone, so I can have me time, shower and get ready for the day. Sometimes this entails doing some laundry or picking up the house. Then I attempt to make Emmie's bottles and food for that day of school. Next, can't forget about Champ.

By this time, the little one is up, full force. Hopefully Brent is entertaining her. (Of course when he travels this routine is 10 times crazier.) Next feed Emmie breakfast, her bottle waits until school. Next, get her dressed and ready. Oh, and I am sure I have changed atleast 2 diapers in the interim. Again, hopefully Brent is here and helping. Pack Emmie's things, buckle her up and we are off.

Drop off at school, hugs, kisses and instructions for the teachers. (Interlude... For the first time last week, when I dropped her off and was leaving the room while waving good bye, she chased after me. I had to close the door because I just couldn't stand the look or the cry. It was awful. Another terrible day care moment. I can't tell you how sad I was. I left with tears.)

Get to work at 830am. Work, work, work. Ugh!!! 5pm leave the office and pick up the squirt. (I feel like the Flinstones when 5 o'clock hits, I am out of there like a flash. I can't leave that office fast enough. And heaven forbid we have a doctor's meeting or something. That usually means not home until 730pm. This can only happen if Brent is in town. He did a pretty good job the last time this happened.)

Depending on traffic dictates what we do when we get home. It is a great time to go for a walk, but sometimes she is napping and sometimes I simply just want to hang out with her or play. This gets us to dinner, then bath time. Daddy gets home and play for a bit. Before you know it, time for bottle and then bed time. It's tough because this is her fussy time of day too. Another terrible day care aspect. My daughter's new name is Emmarie "No Nap" Nichols. She hates to take naps at school so she is basically begging to go to sleep at night. Typically she is down by 730pm. Finally, some mommy-daddy time.

Don't judge me. I think she was watching E! news. And yes, her pants are too big.

In a nut shell... life is hectic as a full time working mom. I pray that someday I am able to spend more time with my precious little one. I cherish the weekend time. But they just go by too fast. I think working is great for women and moms, but there must be a happy medium. I have not found that yet. A lot of the time I feel very stressed, but all the while happy and blessed. And don't let me bash day care so much. They teach her new things, play all day long, she is becoming self sufficient and can play alone with out any problems. As a matter of fact, they also have music class (Emmie plays the tamborine) and language class (either spanish or french and they do some signing too).

But then again who can complain when you come home to this...

I am blessed with a wonderful husband, a beautiful daughter, an awesome dog, and 2 sets of family that help us out tremendously. We have great friends- I just hope they don't think we haven fallen off the face of the Earth.

Wow! Longest blog ever, but man... that felt good!

This is just a side note. Emmie decided Champ was going to become her best friend. Actually, I think he likes it!

And, another milestone... She is standing on her own. It lasts about 20 seconds and then she falls. But one more step and she will be on the run. Yikes!

Some favs

How sweet is this guy? He gets cuter with age!

Yes, we have a prodigy... reading already! haha

Daddy taking me for a stroll to the Merckers. Is that a beer in his hand?

So sweet, but up to something...

Some randoms

I felt the need to blog and I had some pictures in my camera that I had not downloaded.

Sleepy doggy...

Hey Emmie, there is a duck on your head silly!

Look who is on the move, we are in trouble...

What a face!

There is a surprise under that bib and I can't believe I didn't take it off so I could show off the Georgia tee shirt. You will see it again, soon...

The bows are getting bigger!