Halloween...

Here are a few shots from this past weekend. Emrey was a trooper! We drug her to two parties and she did really well, with only one small melt down. We're really looking forward to next year, when she'll have much more comprehension of whats going on! She did not appreciate the hood part of her costume and was taking it off the entire night. Luckily, it actually cooled down slightly, so she we did not have a roasted frog by the end of the evening.

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Fall in Texas

It has been a while since I've written. Things have been busy around here. Both sets of grandparents were in town for Emrey's dedication, which was very special. This was a time when we dedicated Emrey, back to God and also dedicated ourselves as parents, to walk with God and be Godly examples for her. It was very special to have both her grandparents here, as well as her Texas grandparents (The Stoneman's). Ellis has been busy with his job, trying to meet a few deadlines, and working on a paper. He is hoping to finish the paper on time so that he can present it at a conference in Montana this spring! We're excited thinking about maybe getting to go skiing and check out Montana, but it creates a lot of pressure and extra work for Ellis, so we'll see. Here are a few pictures of Emrey helping us to pick out our pumpkins a couple weeks ago! She loved playing in the pumpkins, eating the straw and watching the other children running around. She is on the move these days, slowly starting to crawl and pull herself up on the couch, your legs, anything within arms reach! She is also copying phrases, such as "uh-oh"! Eating has become a chore, as she really isn't into baby food any more, and prefers to eat little finger foods! Needless to say, this makes for messy mealtimes and lots of extra time spent cleaning up. Still no teeth, but her gum ms are starting to look a bit more "pointed" which a friend of ours tells us is a good sign teeth are on the way!

Look at me!

I should really be sleeping...but wanted to get a few sweet pictures I got of Emrey tonight, receiving her first dance lesson. She is also showing off her new skill of standing up and holding onto her crib (almost) by herself. She still requires a bit of assistance. She is growing so fast, hard to believe it's almost been a year...

Dance Lessons...

Ballerina girl

Sisters

Well, it's been a while since I've written because we had my beautiful sister visiting from Boston! She was nice enough to make a cross country trip out of her vacation and visit Betsy in Ohio and then came down to see us here in Houston. Unfortunately, the weather was hot, muggy and overcast most of the time she was here, but we still had a blast. We explored the underground tunnels of Houston, finally showed Sarah "Kemah", and did a lot of reading with Emrey. I love my sisters so much and every time we get together, I realize how much I miss living near them, especially now that Emrey is on the scene. We continue to dream about living closer to each other, hopefully some day we can make that a reality. Here are some shots of Sarah and Emrey over the past week.

Cousins

Here are a few shots from our recent trip to Ohio that I promised I would get up. There are some really sweet ones of the girls together as well as with Josh at a fun little kiddy park that we took them to. Emrey had a blast watching all the commotion going on around her, as she is still happy as a clam to sit and watch all the action. She gladly added to the chaos with her shrill little scream whenever she felt necessary.

We got to be there for Anna's baby dedication!

With Nanna

And Pappo

Josh was very sweet and took care of Emrey on this ride.

Hungry Girls....

A common scene, trying to get all the hungry mouths fed!

Emrey LOVED this little doggy and laughed and laughed whenever it came around, I think she thought it was like a little Bailey!

Miss "Personality"

Well, it's been a while since I've written. At first, it was because I was waiting to get pictures from my sister (from our trip out to Ohio) so that I could post some really cute ones we got. But, then things just got busy....

Ellis and I celebrated our third anniversary! We've been outside a little more since things are starting to cool off, relatively speaking. Emrey had her first virus and was no fun to be around for a few days last week and we spent Labor day at home, hanging out with friends and eating great food the whole weekend.

Despite my not writing, little Emrey continues to plod along, developing her vocal cords and acquiring new skills daily. This week, I have been impressed as we watch her little personality emerge. She has developed a hatred for diaper changes and the wiping of her face after meals. She now arches her back, like she's in the circus when we go to do either. Other behaviors of note: she is imitating....and it's really cute. I've had a little cough the past couple days and she has begun imitating my cough and then looks up at me with a big smile, looking for a reaction (which she usually gets). She has also started signing the sign for milk. With one of her little, chubby hands, she will make the motion of milking a cow, while the other is clawing at my shirt! She loves to eat and is eating all sorts of little finger foods, cheese, bagel, mango, banana (a favorite), pasta etc...She has just about mastered getting the little chunks into her mouth, but needs some help with the slippery ones. She continues to be totally content sitting, while other kids crawl and run around her. She is showing some signs of reaching for objects, but still hasn't figured out she needs to put her arms out behind her when she's falling back :( This has made for many tearful screeches when she's playing by herself. She'll get it eventually.....

she loves reading books!

Go Red Sox

This weekend, we traveled up to Dallas to watch the Red Sox play the Rangers and to hang out with my brother, sister in law and their beautiful boys. Being the new mother that I am, I was trying to look out for my little one and suggested we go to a day game vs. an evening game, so she would be awake and happy. Well, I forgot that day games in August, in Texas are very different from Boston day games. I think it would be an understatement to say that it was hot? Luckily, we were able to find some seats in the shade and that made a world of difference, but it was still HOT! Next time, I think we'll push Emrey to stay up a little later. It was so sticky at the game that taking pictures was not on our mind, but here are a few shots of Emrey on the trip up, at the hotel and hanging out with the Hollo boys, who are sooo much fun.

At one of our many pit stops, Emrey was all too excited to get into the drivers seat!

I only feed Emrey on white sheets when staying at hotels :)

Matt was very sweet with Emrey, he's a great big brother.

Mango from the farmers market