Emerie turns 4 months old!

Happy four month old b-day Emmie! She is such a cute happy baby. She loves to laugh at Madison and is very forgiving of her "love bops" on the head. She has learned to roll around on the floor and from her tummy to her back. She is a snugly baby and makes very cute cooing noises. Emerie also loves bath time. She kicks her arms and legs like crazy and smiles the entire time. We love you Emmie!

Happy 63rd Anniversary!

Grandpa and Grandpa! What a classy picture! You look like movie stars! We hope you have a fun anniversary! We wish we were there to celebrate it with you. This video is video #4 or 5 of my attempt to get a happy anniversary out of Madison this morning. She was a busy girl. I'll have to send you the ones that didn't make the cut, they are pretty funny!

Funny Book #1

Last week I took the girls to check out our new library. I got a new card and let Madison read books for a little while in the kids section. Emerie was starting to get restless and was about to have a crying explosion of I'm hungry. I wanted to feed her at home, not at the library so I bribed Madison to get in the stroller and grabbed a few books of the shelf to take home. I just looked at the titles and checked them out thinking they would be great books. They are good books but fit Madison's life a little bit too closely:) That night Jake and I were going to read Madison stories together and she got our the Hippo book. The story as you can see ends up being about a Hippo who senses something is wrong in his life. His dad is never home, always working, and he waits and waits for him to come home and play but he never does. Finally the hippo traps his dad in a hole and is able to spend some quality time with him. In the end it all works out but not the greatest book for a little girl who's dad is in his intern. year of residency. I look over at Jake, laugh, and assure him I didn't pick this book out on purpose. Jake, you are home much more than Mr. Hippo is:)

Funny book #2

This second book I grabbed of the library shelf looked like it would be about a little baby and how her sister adjusted. That does pretty much sum it up however the sister's adjustments were really quite scary. She scares the baby, tries to make her disappear, and ignores him. She gets sent to time out quite a bit (which Madison can relate to whenever she bops Emerie on the head). She has terrible nightmares about the baby and expresses her true hateful feelings for the baby as she uses her stuffed animal as a baby voodoo doll. We didn't make it through the whole book, I thought I had better sensor it for Madison so she didn't get any ideas. I am sure in the end the develop a wonderful relationship! I should probably look at the contents of the books before checking them out:)

Wonderful Husband!

Jake cooked up a wonderful meal this last Sunday dinner! He is quite the chef! We decided that any Sunday he is home he will take on the responsibility of Sunday dinner. It's been so great! He has made some awesome meals, and it's a nice break for me. You may also notice some new songs on our blog. One in particular (Life is Beautiful) was played for me by Jake when I was having a "mental breakdown". I was stressing over a messy house that still isn't close to being unpacked, the fact that I feel like I can't get anything done in longer than 10 minute increments, and I think that both girls had been very, very needy the last few days, not to mention I was sleep deprived, we were speaking in church on Sunday and Jake had invited two families over for dinner the next day (which turned out just fine). I was also feeling the effects of not having exercised in a long time. I am sure there were many other stresses that I added to the list and looking back it's not a big deal and all kind of silly but at the time I had reached my limit and was in a really bad mood. I used to be such a nice person. So anyhow, Jake just smiled while I was having my moment, turned on this song, and forced me to dance until I gave him a real smile. Then he took both girls to the store so I could get stuff done around the house and have a break. Thanks Jake for being so wonderful! I feel much better now:)

Oh how they have grown!

A few weeks ago we were lucky to have our friends the Ralls come and visit. We shared a duplex in Toledo and it has been so much fun to keep in touch and watch our girls grow up. In addition to Annie and Madison we now have Kate and Emerie. It was quite the challenge trying to get all four kids in one picture. Here are our attempts! Thanks for the fun visit!

Waiting for Daddy to come home!

Madison loves to look out the window and wait for Jake when I tell her Daddy is on his way home. Both girls get so excited to see him and can't wait for him to walk through the door:) I agree!

We love it when Daddy comes home!

Emerie just loves her dad! She loves looking at his face and gives him some of her biggest smiles!

Happy Birthday to Grandpa!

Happy Birthday Dad! Madison sang you a happy birthday song this morning. We made two attempts. The first one is not to long after she woke up and the second video is right before a much needed nap. Thanks for being such a great dad and grandpa! We miss you and hope you have a wonderful day! Oh, and as you know, she likes to call grandpa's grandma so in the first song it sounds like happy birthday to grandma.

Bunny Fountain Park

Columbus has some great Irish history and in the city of Dublin they have the "Bunny Fountain Park". The bunnies sit on a hill above waterfalls and fountains that randomly go off at different times. Madison loved running around in all the water and letting the fountains squirt her in the face. She also love going up the hill and playing my the giant bunnies. What a great place on a hot day!

Learning to share

Madison is learning to share mommy, daddy and getting used to having Emerie around. Madison likes to talk to Emerie and try to make her laugh. She will give her a binky when she is sad and give her toys. Often Madison will decide she wants to play with the toy she is giving to Emerie so she will show it to her for a second and then say, "Emie doesn't want it" and take it back. It's kind of funny. Last night we were driving home from a Craigs list adventure and Emerie decided it was time for her to eat now! She was screaming and Madison kept saying, "It's OK Emie, it's OK, we'll be home in a few minutes!" It was so cute to see her concerned face and hear her comforting words despite the stress of having a baby scream in the car. I am sure they will be great friends as they grow up:)

I pooped on the potty!

Two weeks ago, July 20th Madison pooped on the potty! What an exciting moment! We weren't trying to potty train her yet, it just kind of happened. She wasn't starting to do a little number and I asked if she wanted to poop on the big potty? She said yes, and it happened! Since that day, she has sat on the big potty a few times. I am sure she will do great job when we actually try to potty train her:) It's a good start.

3 Months Old

At three months Emerie can sit up in her Bumbo and loves to roll onto her side and from her tummy to her back. She is so happy when she wakes up in the morning and is all smiles. She also loves to put anything and everything in her mouth. Madison loves to say No Emie! No! whenever she puts things in her mouth. Madison also has spent less time in time out for "boppin" her sister on the head. We are hoping things are a lot safer for Emerie these days. Then again, I guess Madison was trying to poke her eye the other day. It will be a long process of learning to be gentle and pretty soon Emerie will be able to fight back:)

Two Months Old

I couldn't get Emerie to smile in this series of pictures, she just looks kind of scared:) July 2nd she rolled from her tummy to her back and she is learning how to sit up and hold up her head. We were in Utah visiting family and friends for over a month. As you can see Emerie loved being held and snuggled. It was nice to have some extra arms to give her some extra love.