Updating Posts

Hello Blog friends. I have updated the blog with many posts so to see them all make sure you keep going back. I seem to only be able to update in large chunks instead of one a week but I guess this is better than never. I am still planning on printing out the blog for Emma to look at someday so like to keep it updated with all of our adventures. By the way, has anyone found a good and inexpensive way to do this?????? Any advise would be great.

Milestones

Potty Training

The day after Emma turned 2, she went pee in the potty for the first time (yes Yaya you get the credit for being the first to get her to go). She was so excited and spent all day running in and out of the bathroom peeing. Then we had a couple of days of no interest, then some more days of interest, a couple of packages of diapers purchased and today Emma is almost potty trained. For all you mom's out there that struggled to get your child potty trained you will hate me when I say, I think Emma pretty much trained herself. She now insists on wearing pull ups but has not peed in them for three days (even at night and for naps) but has had a few number two accidents so we do not argue with her insistence on the pull ups instead of underwear. That's it. It was that easy. Go Emma!!! I have some pictures of this but I will not share with you all. For those of you that don't have kids yet and are horrified that I am explaining my child's bowl movements on a blog, you will do this to. I was there and now I am here...

Big Girl Bed

A couple of weeks ago we got Emma a toddler bed and rearranged her room so that we can fit her baby brother when he is home. She was so excited the day Daddy put it together. She got into bed and got snuggled in. John and I left her in the room to read a book and both looked at eachother sadly.....she is growing up. Then she came out and asked to go back in her crib. Of course you can Emma! You are still our baby after all.

About a week later we talked her into sleeping in her toddler bed.




All went well and she slept soundly. We awoke at 1 AM to a bonk on the floor and a crying and confused toddler. Ooops, didn't think to put something on the ground in case she fell out. She was not seriously injured as it was only a couple of inches but still, who wants to wake up like that? Back to the crib she goes.

This week she was half and half. We put the crib mattress at the side of the bed and most mornings she wakes up on that instead of the toddler bed but we are making progress. She still has a couple of months until her crib is taken over so we will let her transition at whatever pace she wants.

One Two Babies

Meet One Two Babies. This is how Emma refers to the babies my mom got her for her birthday. There are three but Emma is learning to count and One Two means more than one. She sleeps with her One Two Babies and kisses them goodnight, laying them face first in their cribs and covering them with their corresponding blankets. She has Cinderella baby in Ariels bed but if you try and switch them she gets very annoyed with you. Be careful when you come to our house because if you are two loud you will wake One Two babies and then you have Emma to answer to....

Emma Turns 2!!

On July 13th, Emma turned two. We celebrated her birthday at Carolina Beach with a cake and some beach time. Happy Birthday Emma!

Emma's Modeling Career

While at the beach, my mom took some great pictures of Emma. Where did she learn to stand like that??? Better stop giving her Cosmo to look at :).....

Beach Time with Stagge Family

In July, Yaya, Papa, Uncle Neet, Aunt Highy, and baby came to North Carolina to visit us and we spent a week at Carolina Beach. We had a great time enjoying the beach. I have lots of pictures to share as my mom is a big picture taker and I end up with HUNDREDS when spend a week together. I have some other pictures to share later on but here are some of pictures of our week at the beach. Thank you so much for coming to visit us!!! Uncle Justi, you were very missed....

Hannah (or baby as emma called her) is in a mommy love stage which means that she wants to crawl back into my sisters tummy and stay there. If we got her distracted from my sister, she was more than happy to play with us but if Heidi was within sight, she wanted to be touching her. Here is one of the only pictures I got with my sweet niece Hannah. She is the cutest little blond headed girls. Very sweet and happy. Emma and Hannah hit it off great and only had a couple of spats over sharing (mostly Emma of course)

Ahhhh TV time....gotta love Elmo.....
We went to Wilmington for the evening for dinner. We got to the restaurant and both girls were being fussy. I being the prepared parent that I am pulled out two suckers. They were both so happy as long as they had their suckers. Suckers before dinner....bad parenting.....or genius parenting........you decide after sitting at a restaurant with two toddlers near bed time....









My mom took these great pictures of Emma and Hannah...don't you think she should be a child photographer????

Meemaw and Papa

Meemaw and Papa came to visit us at the end of June. Our visit started with a softball tournament for the Pell men, then some time with just Meemaw and Papa and ended with a trip to Charleston to have some good full Pell family fun. Here are some of the pictures of our time together.....Thank you for the visit Meemaw and Papa!! Can't wait till we see you again!

Meemaw and Emma feeding the ducks
Some great fun at the beach in Charleston. (Your welcome adults for not posting some great swimsuit pics......maybe next time....)

Emma's birthday celebration.....

Singin In the Rain

Our Little Boy

We got the call today for a beautiful one month old little boy. More details to come.....

Married 7 Years to my High School Sweetheart

Today, John and I have been married for seven years. I can honestly say that they have been the happiest years of my life. For those of you that don't know our story, we met in 6th grade and started dating our senior year of high school (this means we have been together for almost 13 years!). I decided that I didn't want to follow the boy after high school and we dated long distance for a year and a half before I finally realized I didn't want to live my life without him. We got married, traveled around the world, moved across the country, had our beautiful baby girl Emma and did a lot in between. Life couldn't be better. John is an amazing husband and I couldn't imagine a better partner to walk through life with. His ability to make me laugh, his passion for life, and his love for his daughter are just a few of the reasons that I love him more and more every day. Life so far has been quite an adventure and with our son on the way, I am sure it will prove to get even more crazy. Today I thank my husband for the wonderful life that I lead. Here's to many more years and adventures to come.......