Pics from Emily's actual birthday/Thanksgiving day

Dinner at Grandmom and grand pop's house

Thanksgiving/birthday dinner

Decorated for Emily's 1st birthday!

Opening gifts

Ashley wanted to be 1 again too...lol

Emily's "1" pancake

Birthday breakfast

Singing Happy Birthday to the birthday girl

Quite behind on announcing that our baby is ONE!!!

I cannot believe how behind I am in posting about my baby turning ONE, or just posting in general...It's been almost a month. Things have just been super hectic and NON STOP since Emily's birthday....

Well, the birthday event has come and gone...It was very very hectic, but also very very wonderful. Matt's mom was a huge help in preparing for the party, helping me to cook up platters of food to serve to our guests. My mom also helped pitch $ in to get some necessary items. We ended up splitting the party up into two big events, one with my family and friends, then the other with Matt's family and friends. I'm glad we did because we had about 25/30 people at each party! 

Mom, Cheryl and Alyssa came down the day before the first party. They played with the girls/kept an eye on them while I decorated the birthday cakes. I wanted to make Emily's cakes myself since I had done the same for Ashley's first birthday. Since her room is decorated with owls, we thought it was fitting to do an owl theme for her...So it was "Guess Whoos Turning One?"  It was cute. The cakes turned out pretty cute. After that we had a nice dinner, then watched The Elf on the Shelf movie...twice. Lol. We had an early bedtime and did all the prep work in the morning. 

The parties were a blur, just lots of loved ones there to celebrate which was really nice. A lot of people drove from far away (up to 3 hours) to be with us for her special day, so that meant so much to us that they could be there to share in the love and the joy of celebrating Emily.

Prior to the parties, Emily's first birthday actually fell on Thanksgiving this year. I thought it was very fitting, sitting back to reflect on all that we have to be thankful for on one of the days that I am most thankful for--the anniversary of the birth of our amazing little girl. 

We had a really nice birthday day. We of course decorated the place for her, and Matt and I went in and sang Happy Birthday to her when she woke up. We had a special birthday breakfast. Emily absolutely LOVES pancakes and devours them when we have them, so we made that for her. We opened a couple of gifts, then enjoyed a quiet morning together with just our family while we watched the Thanksgiving parade and had fun time. 

That afternoon we went to Lisa and Bruce's for Thanksgiving dinner. The past few years we've hosted Thanksgiving down in SC, but with all the big birthday preparations going on, I was in no mood to tackle that as well. So we were invited to have a nice quiet Thanksgiving meal with Lisa and Bruce, then had a birthday cake while skyping with great grand pop Mike and Lenore.

This past year has had moments of chaos and stress; but also loads of joy, happiness, and pure love. I wouldn't change any of it. I am so grateful that God blessed us with two incredible little girls.

Anyway, more updates. Not only was Nov 28th special with Emily's birthday and Thanksgiving, but it was also a very big day for Ashley. That was the day she REALLY started potty training (and stuck with it).  She's been going a little bit here and there throughout the year, but then decided she really wanted nothing to do with it. I'd still ask her everyday, but she'd say "no thanks". Then somehow Matt got her to try (I think he bribed her with something..lol). Well she went, and kept going since. She's doing great! She has her "big girl" pull up underpants, and we picked out her favorite real underpants and asked Santa for them for Christmas. She is very proud, and likes to sometimes say goodbye and "see you next time" when she flushes. Haha.

Emily isn't completely walking yet, but she will take 5-10 steps before falling/sitting down. She'll also walk only holding one hand and barely hangs on. It should be any day now. Then it will REALLY get interesting...haha.

I also stopped nursing about a week ago. You'd think that I'd be happy to fully have my body back, but I was actually kind of sad to stop. It's the last of the "baby" things we still did, and also because Emily is probably our last baby which means I'll never have that experience again...sad....I'm glad to have had that time. And at least Emily is a snuggle bug, so we still snuggle and rock to sleep each night which is so nice.

We have also been very busy with Christmas festivities. We've done the usual decorating, ornament making, etc. We attended Oakland's Christmas tree lighting with my friend Amy McManus, and after went to a little show they put on. I also took Ashley for some mother-daughter time and we attended Breakfast With Santa, where we ate, made crafts, watched some entertainment, then of course met with Santa. It was so sweet, in one of Ashley's movies The Polar Express, the boy has a bell to symbolize Santa, the Christmas spirit, and his belief...Well on the day we went to see Santa, Ashley took a bell ornament off our tree and brought it with her. When she went up to see Santa, the first thing she did was hand him her bell. It was so sweet.

Last night we actually went on The Polar Express. As I mentioned, it's one of Ashley's favorite movies. We've probably watched it 100 times over the past year...lol. They had it up in NY, so since we were coming up to have an early Christmas celebration, we thought it would be fitting to go. It was lots of fun--the conductor came to greet us, they even had "hobo Joe", the Hot Chocolate dancers, and of course Santa Clause and all of the music from the movie. It was a good time, minus a 35 minute delay due to some technical difficulties on the way back.

We had our "Christmas" today with mom, Cheryl, Billy and Alyssa (her first Christmas). Kristyn and Brian joined in via Skype from Bahrain. Then dad came by. We had a nice day opening gifts, playing games, playing with new toys, and dinner. Then we'll go back to NJ and celebrate with the Shohen side, then do Christmas day on our own this year, making our own Christmas traditions.

Other than that we've just been busy with the regular hustle and bustle of life, play dates, playing in the snow, etc.
Also, I forgot a great update...last weekend we took a trip to Pa. First, we went to the Pocono house to have a little get away. It was pretty stressful getting everything packed up to go (it always is by the time you pack all the clothes, night lights, fans/noise makers, food, baby chairs, their cups, plates, bibs, food, potty, etc etc, but once we got there it was worth it--we just totally relaxed (well, as much as you can when you have two kids), and played games, played in the snow, went sledding, made hot chocolate, etc. Then the next day we drove a couple hours to another part of Pa to see our good friends the Wagners from SC who were up visiting family. We just got together at the house we were staying at for a few hours, had lunch, exchanged gifts, played and chatted. It was SOOO good to see them!!! I really really miss my SC friends and the connections I had/have with them. We are hoping to make a trip to see everyone in the spring. I can't wait!

Well in case I don't get to write again before Christmas, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

First Steps

Yesterday (11/21) Emily took her first steps!! She is not actually walking on her own yet, but Matt and I were holding her and having her take turns walking back and forth between us...she took a total of 5 steps one time! And she stood up on her own balancing for a few seconds as well. Yay! So proud of her. She also can stand up and "lean" on a table using only one hand and barely hanging on. She will be walking before we know it.

I think I had also forgotten to mention that she's getting more teeth...two more on the top, and two more on the bottom.

Also just a cute thing to share about Ashley. Her imagination is soooo much fun. The other day we were "camping", using her blanket as a bonfire and pretending to roast marshmallows, build a tent, etc. Then another time we pretended to make snowballs and have a snowball fight. So cute and so fun!

Well that's all for now...

Just capturing ordinary days for us...

More house pics for Aunt Arlene and Leah :)

So here is the rest of the house....I was waiting until we were finished with updates, but we are taking a little break from projects until we can afford to do a little more....So, these are our works-in-progress. 

The first is the dining room. We still near to add the boxed chair-rail/molding like we had in the dining room at our last house, and we may also change out the light fixture.

 Here is our family room that we are using as a toy room. This room is almost complete, with the exception of adding a few pics to the one wall....We'd also eventually like to replace the bed with a pull out couch or something, but this works for now.

 Here is the downstairs bathroom. We took down wallpaper and painted. Still need to add fixtures and hope to replace floor at some point.

 Here is our mud room/laundry room. We pulled down the "rainbow bright" wallpaper and painted. Also replaced the washer and dryer and light fixture (not shown in pic). We hope to replace the flooring eventually too.

Life these days...

Well I haven't been able to post pics because we are having issues with our hard drive/backing up pictures at the moment, but figured I'd at least do a quick update.

The girls are really just growing up and doing so much right before our eyes! Even Lisa (grandmom) has said how she notices so much more in just a weeks' time.

Ashley is talking so much more, using complete sentences, makes sense when she's talking (and totally makes sense of what you're saying). She is doing great with counting, number recognition, etc.

She has also been so much fun with her imagination and playing. She likes to pretend that I'm Cinderella and she's the fairy godmother, that I am a scary dragon who chases her around the house before she "locks the door", etc, etc.

She has also been very intuitive lately, picking up on moods or expressions. I'd like to say that I am calm and patient 24/7 (I really try hard to be as patient as I can), but if I have a moment of frustration, Ashley will notice and say "you not happy", or "you happy mama?". It's sweet, but I also don't want her worrying. I try explaining that sometimes we all feel happy, sometimes we all feel sad, sometimes we feel mad, etc...and that it's ok...and no matter how we're feeling, we still love each other. (I know, I totally sound like a therapist I'm sure..haha).

She is also already starting to notice/compare/ and "need" what others have (scary that it starts so young). For instance, she was looking through a catalog for Christmas gift ideas, and she saw a picture of a baby wearing a santa's outfit. Suddenly she needed to have that. So luckily I had bought a few Christmas dresses in different sizes for different ages a few years back at a consignment sale...so we proceeded to put on her "santa outfit", along with fall stockings that she picked out, then she "needed"a Santa's hat (we used her hat and mittens) along with her "movie star" sunglasses. It was so hysterical--I will be sure to post a pic soon!

She is also starting to skip naps sometimes. At first I thought it was because she was excited about afternoon plans, or about someone being over at the house, but now it's just hit or miss. There's about a 50/50% chance she sleeps. If she doesn't, there's also a 50/50% chance of grumpy behaviors to follow when she starts getting overtired. Either way, I still have her stay in her room for some quiet time. It's good for her and also for me :)

Emily is doing great. I can't believe she's about to turn one. We've been getting ready for her party, and having fun planning for it. She isn't walking yet (still wondering if she will be by her first party), but she is really getting around quickly--scaling the walls, walking all around the house, furniture, and she's even tried balancing on her own a little bit. It won't be long!

She also is talking more, using words and trying to talk, point and reach for things. She also started to use my phone to call dada. Haha.

She is also teething, getting a couple more on the top and also on the bottom. Fun fun I'm sure.

Emily is also finally starting to sleep a little later, and goes down very easy for bed. Also, she used to wake up crying and upset, and now she is starting to wake up happy and more pleasant which is nice.

She is absolutely loving being a "big girl"...she loves eating like a big girl, playing like a big girl, getting around like one, etc....although there are still moments when she just wants her mama and wants to be held and cuddled.

We are getting toward the end of our nursing too. She's at the real basics now, and I know my milk supply is slowing down too. Kinda sad to think that this is it. I may still stick with the night time nursing a little longer, since she still seems to like nursing (whereas Ashley was totally done and had no issues with giving it up). Emily still loves to be held, rocked, and LOVES to hold/play with my hair all the time. Haha.

Well that's all for now...

11 Months and Halloween Fun!

Well, let's start with the fact that my baby is 11 months old. How is that possible??? I don't know. I feel like this past (almost) year is a blur, it whizzed past me WAY WAY too fast! Emily is doing fantastic. She isn't quite walking on her own, but she does great walking around the furniture, walking with assistance of people and her toys. She is also quite a pro at climbing up stairs and other things.

She is quite expressive these days. She does a lot of babbling, saying words or attempting to. She also lets you know when she's not happy about something too, and will try to demand her way. Haha.
Her new thing is also to reach for things that she wants, and try to point or grab at them.

She is also LOVING foods. She started eating real food about a month ago. A little late start, but with her choking issues the doctor had said to take it slow, and I kind of followed her lead with how she handled her baby snacks. I think she is thrilled to be eating "big people food" now and devours most of it up--from pastas, to veggies, to fruits, and even a little meat. Thankfully she hasn't had any choking issues so I'm hoping we're past that.

She's been on a pretty routine schedule for sometime now. Emily is quite the early bird--she is typically up between 6-6:30, sometimes even earlier (ugh), and on a rare occasion, sometimes later. This is hard for me because Ashley was always a great sleeper and would sleep until 8 (she still does 90% of the time). I am NOT a morning person, so it's a struggle for me waking up that early since I'm usually still in a deep sleep. Anyway, she'll typically get up around that time, nurse, have open playtime and one-on-one mommy time until Ashley wakes up. Then we'll have breakfast around 8:30, and she's down for a nap by 9/9:15. She sleeps for an hour to hour and a half, then we have an open window until 2 where we play, eat, go out, etc. Then she'll nap for about 2 hours at 2, then bedtime at 8. So overall not bad.

Ashley also continues to grow in leaps and bounds. It's funny, I had posted a video on Facebook not long before we moved of Ashley singing the ABCs to Emily. At that time she was a little over two and sang some and then babbled/made up her own song. Now she can sing it, recognize 1/2 the letters in the alphabet, counts good, is learning the days of the week and months in the year. She knows which days are daddys' short days and which are his long days.  She gets what is going on around her, and is also quite observant.

On that note, Halloween was obviously a blast this year. Ashley totally got what was going on and loved it. Emily loved it too! We carved our pumpkins a couple nights before. Ashley had fun picking out the faces to carve on them, and was having fun reaching in and feeling the seeds and pulp, and helping daddy carve.
She loved trick or treating too. She was so anxious to go from house to house to get more candy. She did pretty good about taking only 1 or 2 pieces, although at one house she told the person that she wanted a lollipop. Haha.
She had fun ringing the doorbells or knocking on the doors. One of the first homes she tried to lean in to see the house/people, and asked to go in to play :) She also asked if she could please touch some of the halloween decorations and/or lawn decorations that people had out. It was so cute and fun to watch her.
Emily obviously didn't get it yet, but she had fun going to the doors. She was holding a bag of chips and a piece of candy in her hands and was quite happy and content. She kept holding them up to show people/try to hand to people when we'd knock on their doors. It was too cute. Grandmom and grandpop got to come along to partake in the fun this year too since it's our first local halloween.
Matt and I dressed up too--Matt went as a nascar driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr, and I went as a pumpkin to match Emily.

On our way back we stopped to look at this house in the neighborhood that was majorly decorated. It was like the Christmas Vacation movie, only for Halloween. Ashley had fun trick or treating there.

Well that's about it for now.