Pool Time Last Friday

I forgot to post this on Friday.  After work, Joel, Emma and I went to the pool to relax and kick off the weekend.  We love doing this after Joel gets off work.  The water is still warm and we can enjoy some lovely family togetherness.

Oh, yeah...Did I mention we're raising a little criminal?  She's really into stealing license plates right now.

Project Life: Week of August 19-25

This past week was awesome.  We had some fun times.   Here are some highlights.

Emma started Kindermusik classes where they teach singing, dancing, instruments, and lots more.  Emma is the youngest one there, acted shy at first, but then was into everything (and everyone), of course.  She always seems to be marching to her own tune.  When other kids were playing with instruments, she wanted to dance, and when they were dancing with scarves, she's out with the instruments.  I realized she likes to be unique.

We made a play kitchen out of Emma's old carseat box.  Check out our previous post on that.  She loves it!

Emma receives speech therapy weekly and we have been meaning to get a picture of our therapist, Dawn.  She really cares about Emma and her growth.  Since Emma's started therapy, she's started to say all sorts of things, probably 10-20 words or so.  She also receives occupational therapy (feeding therapy) and will be evaluated by a physical therapist soon (for her tippy toe walking).  I will try and document that in a future post.

Also, we went to Hannah Park for the first time.  Playgroup members planned on going to the water park, but the water was not on, so we went to the beach.  Lots of seagulls were out.  Emma has gotten used to going to the beach and loves playing in the water and sand.  She occasionally still eats the sand.  Hopefully, she'll grow out of it.

Anyways, enjoy!

Emma's Play Kitchen

Awhile ago, Emma graduated from a rear-facing carseat to a forward-facing one.  Lucky for us, the box the carseat came in was full of unearthed possibilities.  It took us a while to decide what we wanted to make out of it, but we finally decided on a play kitchen.

Emma loves her new play kitchen!  She has already gotten hours of joy out of this simple old box.  I'm glad she's having so much fun and learning, too.  (Check out this short video of her playing.)

Project Life: Week of August 12-18

I have recently wanted to do better at two things: journaling and digital scrapbooking.  I feel like our lives are the same, and yet they are changing in so many ways, if that makes any sense.  While I feel like my life is the same routine every week, months go by and I am a new person, and so is Emma and Joel.  I would love to look back and see how we've grown, as individuals and as a family.  So, this the first week of what I'm calling "Project Life", or in other words, a weekly documentation of our family.

Chick-fil-A, Potty, and Porch Fun

This August has flown by.  It has been a hot month so far.  In the last couple of weeks, we've gone to the beach, playgrounds, library, and more (despite a stint of Emma being sick before)!  Emma and I have a lot of time together, but it's really fun when we get to hang out with dad after work and on the weekends.  Emma is totally in love with dad (and mom) and loves to be in on the action (anything we're doing).  At the beginning of the month, we supported Chick-fil-A for the owner's stance on traditional marriage.  (Not only that, but they serve some tasty chicken, which those who know me know it's one of my favorite foods.)  We've posted a picture of her "driving" while we waited in line.  (Don't worry, the car wasn't even moving.)

Another thing Emma has been working really hard at is using the potty.  This month it kind of just happened.  I noticed each time when Emma needed to go #2, she would come to me and either whine or tug on my pant leg.  At first, I thought she was being toddler-difficult, but then I realized that she was really letting me know she needed to use the potty!  Well, I'm pretty dense as a first-time mom, but we're learning and it has been so fun taking part in this process with Emma.  She has always been such a happy-natured kid, and this has been no exception.  Every time she goes, she claps for herself because we celebrate her using the potty.  Right now, she has been going on the big potty while I help hold her up, but eventually, we may have to get a smaller one or a step stool so she can go on her own.  We'll see how it goes, but 2 weeks of no poopy diapers has been great!

In the summer we love to BBQ and grill on our porch.  We have sort of rediscovered the "lazy days of summer" on the porch, if you will.  When Emma was a baby, I used to take her out on the porch and sing and talk with her.  We are doing that again because it has been so hot outside, we can't go on many walks during the day without sweating buckets.  This has been a great reprieve from the rays of the sun, and Emma enjoys playing with our (camping) gear we store outside (lighter, camping grill, chairs, cooler, and floaties and boxes).

Here's to many more sunny (shaded) summer days!  We love Florida.